INDIA
• More than 40 people were killed and hundreds injured when a massive earthquake hit Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district in the earthquake- prone Narmada valley on May 22. The earthquake, which measured six on the Richter scale, was felt in several parts of northern and western India.
• Only two government hospitals in Bangalore have incinerator facilities -and that, too, on paper. This has come about when the c problem of disposal of hospital waste is reported to be looming large, coupled with the threat of AIDS and hepatitis infections. Experts recently urged that syringes and needles should be prevented from being recycled. Crores of rupees worth of sandal- wood is illegally sent across the Tamil Nadu border to cater to the needs of sandal oil factories in neighbouring Kerala despite denial by the state government. From the Coimbatore division alone, an estimated Rs 10-15 crore worth of sandalwood is being smuggled to Kerala, forest department sources recently said.
• The Gujarat pollution control board has decided to draw up a list of recognised 'environment auditors' to undertake checking and issue 'clearance certificates' thrice a year to prevent violation of environmental guidelines. This system has been evolved on the directive of the High Court following complaints against hazardous chemical units.
• The Delhi Rickshaw Chalak Malik Sangharsh Morcha recently staged a demonstration at the headquarters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Morcha members were demanding abolition of fines and a time limit for releasing these non-polluting vehicles, their licences and stopping rounding up of vehicles till a proper policy is evolved.
• The West Bengal pollution control board would soon undertake studies of major waterbodies in Calcutta to determine their ecological status. This move came close on the heels of hundreds of fish that were found dying in Subhas Sarovar at Beliaghata. On inspection, it was found that the DO (dissolved oxygen) level in the water of the lake was too low for the fish to survive.
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