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High Court

  • Court notices to oil companies over LPG shortage in NCR

    The Delhi High Court issued notices to the Union Petroleum Ministry and two public sector oil companies, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, on Monday on a petition by a voluntary organisation praying fo

  • "Majority of mines operating illegally in M.P.'

    The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board has informed the High Court at Jabalpur that of the total 4192 mines in the State 2697 mines were operating illegally without obtaining necessary environment

  • Goa flouts CRZ notifications

    Goa flouts CRZ notifications

    latest data on constructions in the Coastal Regulatory Zone (crz)- iii in Goa show that the number of structures in the coastal villages of Goa has almost doubled in the past 15 years. During

  • Landless people encroach upon private estate in Kerala

    Landless people encroach upon private estate in Kerala

    uncertainty continues in Chengara village in south Kerala's Pathanamthitta district where about 10,000 landless people forcibly settled in a rubber plantation in August 2007. The settlers, mostly

  • dumping the city's garbage

    With the High Court directing the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) to stop dumping the city's garbage at its present disposal site at Tonca, there is now nowhere for the city's rubbish to

  • High Court issues notice to M.P. Govt.

    Public Interest Litigation by NBA on alleged corruption in rehabilitation The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the State Government, Chief Secretary, Chairman of the Narmada Valley Development Authority and others in response to a public interest litigation petition by Narmada Bachao Andolan against alleged corruption in the rehabilitation process of Sardar Sarovar Project affected families in Madhya Pradesh. NBA leader Medha Patkar herself pleaded the case. The Bench consisting of Chief Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice Prakash Shrivastava heard the plea by Ms. Patkar and issued notices to the respondents, including the State Government, Chief Secretary, Chairman NVDA, Chairman, Narmada Control Authority (NCA) (who is also Secretary to the Union Ministry of Water Resources), State Secretary, Revenue Department, Director-General of Police, Inspector-General Stamps and Registration, District Collectors of five districts --Badwani, Dhar, Jhabua, Khargone and Dewas. They have been asked to file their replies within a month. The petition filed through senior advocate N. S. Kale on October 16, 2007, was heard on March 3. The petition alleges that there was a nexus between the NVDA officials and contractors when it came to setting up the rehabilitation sites and this has resulted in preparation of "shoddy and uninhabitable' rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) sites. It goes on to point out that thousands of eligible project affected families (PAFs) have been kept out of the ambit of rehabilitation and resettlement while those not eligible have been declared as PAFs. It is the contention of NBA that the nexus between officials, middlemen and advocates has led to huge corruption and swindling of public money meant for rehabilitation. The petition says the Madhya Pradesh government policy has allowed the land and house-based rehabilitation directives of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award (NWDTA) to be twisted and this has led to corruption. The State rehabilitation policy induced fake registries, where PAFs who were given cash for buying lands actually ended up giving commission to officials and middlemen, it is alleged. By signing fake registries, they facilitated a process where crores of rupees were amassed by officials and agents as commission, depriving PAFs of basic resource security and a better living condition after resettlement. NBA has said in a statement signed jointly by NBA activists Ashish Mandloi, Clifton Rozario and Kamla Yadav that FIRs were filed against PAFs and about 35 of them were arrested. Later all of them except one were released on bail and no action was taken against the NVDA officials though notices were issued to 30 of them. Out of a total of 2,600 land registries claimed by NVDA as part of SRP, 758 are already officially accepted by the government as fake registries, after preliminary enquiry by special departmental officers, NBA has pointed out demanding a CBI probe into this matter.

  • Wait for sewage treatment plant may get longer for Mohali residents

    Sas Nagar: The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) recently tested its sewage treatment plant. But there is neither an approach road to the plant, nor any arrangement to transport the sewage water to the main treatment plant. According to sources in GMADA, the work for the approach road has not started yet because of a legal tussle between Authority and farmers, who own the land over which the road will be constructed. The pipes, which will bring sewage water to the treatment plant, could not be laid as a railway crossing falls in the way and the pipes would have to be laid beneath the rail tracks, for which the GMADA has not yet received the permission. However, according to a GMADA official, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued directions to Railway authorities to fix the pipes beneath the track soon. While the treatment plant is yet to start functioning, sewage water, stink and filth have become breeding grounds of mosquitoes, posing serious health problems for Mohali residents. Jaspal Singh, a resident of Phase-IX, said that due to the foul smell emanating from the nullah passing through the phase, residents have been suffering for the past many years. Singh said the nullah was a seasonal drain but with the passage of time, the garbage and sewage water from Chandigarh and Mohali started flowing into it and now it has become impossible to livge near it. "I want to sell my house but there are no buyers and in case some people turn up, they offer very cheap price as compared to houses in other sectors or phases in Mohali,' he said. Singh said that there were hundreds of other residents in the area, whose health has been ruined due to the poor health condition around the nullah. "The authorities in the past have submitted many affidavits in the High Court promising to start the sewage treatment plant on a stipulated date, but before the date arrives, they seek further extension,' he added. When contacted on the issue, GMADA Chief Administrator Vijay Pratap Singh said the GMADA is already working on both the issues. "Chandigarh MC and GMADA have taken up a joint survey to plug the points from where the sewage is being thrown into the drain. Gradually, we will also be able to solve the problem of the stink emanating from the nullah' he added

  • Wetlands curbs tightened

    The state government has imposed curbs on "sale, purchase and change of character' of plots within the East Calcutta Wetlands, off EM Bypass, to prevent unauthorised construction and other activities that are harmful for its ecology. The order specifying the curbs was issued on February 29 by M.L.Meena, the principal secretary in the state environment department and member-secretary of East Calcutta Wetlands Authority. It came into force immediately. The wetlands, spread across 12,500 hectares, have been declared a "no-development' zone by Calcutta High Court. But there are often complaints of violation of the ruling. "A large number of unauthorised structures are coming up in the wetlands, violating environment norms and creating ecological imbalance. There are also reports of other unlawful commercial activities in the zone,' said Meena, explaining the rationale for issuing the order. The order bars "transfer (of) land to any person or persons in any manner through deed of sale or providing lease or tenancy right' without "prior clearance of East Calcutta Wetlands Authority'. The authority was set up under the chairmanship of the chief secretary in 2006 to preserve the character of the wetlands. The land and land reforms department has been asked "not to issue any certificate for the change of the character of land', while those dealing with registration have been been directed "not to allow registration of any land, house or pond' without the authority's consent. Similarly, the municipal or panchayat bodies have been debarred from sanctioning plans of buildings to be used for commercial purposes, keeping the authority in the dark. "If anyone wants to transfer plots within the East Calcutta Wetlands, he/she has to approach the member-secretary of the authority, who will decide on the applications within two months,' said Biswajit Mukherjee, a senior law officer in the state environment department. Environmentalists, however, are sceptical about implementation of the order. "The idea is good but will it work?' wondered Dhrubojyoti Ghosh, who was the first to document the ecological role of the wetlands. "There are numerous instances of landfill in the Ramsar zone but the violators have all gone scot-free, despite the high court ruling. Any day, you can find middlemen involved in land transfer in the wetlands,' he pointed out. "A number of big housing estates and a college have come up within the wetlands. And there are quite a few smaller violations. But the government has done nothing to honour the judicial verdict,' said another green activist.

  • Supreme Court judgment on mining leases in Ponda Taluka, Goa

    Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa in Writ Petition no.41/93 filed by the respondents. The writ petition no.41/93 was filed seeking quashing of the orders dated 3rd January, 1991 passed by the Directorate of Mines and Labour and dated 22nd March, 1999 passed by the Secretary, Mines, Government of Goa.

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