Residents of most villages whose land was acquired for the Bokaro steel plant have no jobs or means of living. Those who were compensated are demanding more.

Environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals is reaching alarming levels and is set to rise. New partnerships between drug companies, the public-health sector and those who deliver environmental sustainability are urgently needed to tackle the issue. (Correspondence)

Conflict poisons both land and sea, and lost natural resources lead to more violence. Ecology is an unlikely objective during wartime, but one that can help to secure peace. (Editorial)

Leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) containing gasoline represent a significant public health hazard. Virtually undetectable to the UST owner, gasoline leaks can contaminate groundwater supplies. In order to develop remediation plans one must know the extent of gasoline contamination. Centrifugal simulations showed that in silty and sandy soils gasoline moved due to the physical process of advection and was retained as a pool of free products above the water table.

Thermal power plant industries produce million tonne flyash (after burning of coal) each year which consists of fine particles of unburnt raw materials and some trace elements. Generally, most common practice regarding management of this ash is making slurry of it with water and disposing in ash dyke. Although it is a temporary process, due to leaching of metals, surrounding ground water and soil may get contaminated. So, proper maintenance and regular examination of the ground water and soil quality is necessary.

India's coal demand is expected to increase with the setting up of more and more coal based power projects and to meet the demand from metallurgical and other industries. Indian coals being of drift origin contain as high as 40% ash in some cases. The coal is, therefore, required to be washed in coal washing plants so that the ash content is brought to an acceptable level, before being utilised by the industries.

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster spewed radiation across northern Japan in March, some feared that farming there would be shut down for years. But early studies of how the radiation has accumulated in plants and the soil now suggest that farmers in much of the region can go back to work.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110713/full/475154a.html