In short
bacco off the shelf: Thailand has taken a strong step against tobacco sales in the country. They ordered vendors in September to remove all cigarettes from display or risk a US $50,000 fine.
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A smog project
Researchers are studying a weather phenomenon that can trap pollutants in urban mountain valleys in the hope of creating better forecasting methods and lessening the impact of the pollution on
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Thawing ice triggers Yellow River flood
More than 13,000 people were evacuated after sections of the main embankment of China's Yellow River collapsed on March 19. The collapse occurred along the river's southern bank in Ordos city in the
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Spill over
Untreated domestic and industrial effluents is polluting Bangalore s Ballandur lake
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Water bug can check filariasis
Devours larval and pupal stages of the culprit mosquito
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Civic bodies given permission to dump garbage at Perungudi
Over the past few months, the Chennai Corporation has given permission to four municipalities in the Chennai Metropolitan Area to dump garbage in Perungudi. The site currently receives a few thousand tonnes of garbage and 200 tonnes of debris every day from the Chennai Corporation alone. Pallavaram, Madipakkam, Kottivakkam and Valasarawakkam municipalities have been allowed to use the site. The first three were granted permission with retrospective effect by the Corporation Council at its meeting on Friday. The local body is charging them Rs.261 per tonne, the same disposal charges levied on private parties dumping garbage at the site. Pallavaram, which generates about 75 tonnes of garbage a day, was using a 2.5-acre plot in Ganapathypuram for 35 years. As garbage had piled 15 feet high at the site, the High Court instructed the local body to immediately find an alternate site, according to a resolution passed by the council. The local body has been dumping part of its daily collection at Perungudi as a temporary measure. It hopes to use the solid waste management facility being developed for Pallavaram, Tambaram and Alandur local bodies at Venkatamangalam village at a cost of Rs.40 crore, which is expected to be ready in a year. It dumps about 50 tonnes of garbage daily at Perungudi. The Valasarawakkam municipality has been using the site for about two months now. The Madipakkam municipality was using a site in Karapakkam, where works on solid waste management improvement are currently being undertaken, and had sought permission to use Perungudi three months ago. Kottivakkam was using a lake to dump garbage. It was asked by the government to clean it up for rainwater harvesting. No information was available on when alternate sites would be identified by the last three municipalities in the resolutions passed on Friday. The Chennai Corporation was initially allotted 30 hectares on the Pallikaranai marsh that was later expanded to 58 for the dumping site. The Corporation had written to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to help it identify a new dump site in 2004.
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Dhumal govt yet to take decision
Even as the fate of the Himalayan Ski village hangs in the balance, the new regime is yet to take a decision on a number of mega tourism projects for which bids have come in from big industrial houses. During Congress rule some prime government properties were advertised with a view to inviting investment for tourism promotion. This included setting up of a golf course at Baddi, a mini golf course at Baragaon, near Manali; a health resort at Jhatingiri in Mandi and setting up a lake resort at Bilaspur. Some big names in the hospitality industry like Raddison and Holiday Inn had sent in their bids for setting up a golf course at Baddi. Being close to the industrial estate of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh and to Chandigarh, the golf course is likely to emerge as a favourite haunt for those who love the game. The government will provide about 400 bighas of land for the golf course at Baddi. The Dhumal regime is yet to take a decision on the bids. "The fact that some very big names in the hospitality industry have sent in their bids is reason enough for us to go ahead with the bids,' admitted a senior official. However, no final decision has been taken with regard to the Himalayan ski village, a project about which the new regime has a lot of reservations along with other projects. Similarly, about 110 bighas of land is being offered at Baragaon, near Manali. The government has received about 12 bids in response to the advertisements for the setting up of a mini golf course at the picturesque locale in the Kullu-Manali valley. There is no dearth of takers even for the setting up of a health resort at Jhatingiri in Mandi. The proposed site was the erstwhile property of the rulers of Mandi and is a completely virgin area with not even the slightest traces of urbanisation. "The cool and clean environs of the place are ideally suited for a health spa for rejuvenation and relaxation,' informed an official. The Tourism Department is keen that Himachal can attract a lot of tourists through spas, the way Kerala has done. To showcase the tourism potential of Himachal, the government had organised a conclave where 15 government and 105 private properties had been offered to entrepreneurs on the theme
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Guests under surveillance
With the bird flu assuming serious proportions, it seems that some regular guests to the country aren't very welcome. The needle of suspicion has pointed at migratory birds that visit India every
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Antarctica's volcanic hot seat
the Antarctic ice cap is melting fast. The melt is attributed mainly to global warming. Now there is evidence of a volcano beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists say it would also be
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New challenge
Tamil Nadu wants height of Mullaperiyar dam raised
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South Asia
Water deaths: Over 75 people, mostly children, have died after drinking polluted water in the past one-and-a-half months in Pakistan's Sindh province. Another 6,600 have been admitted to various
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SIKKIM Identity crisis
Kanchendzonga, or the "five big treasures of ice' in the language of the Bhotia tribe of Sikkim, is the symbol of Sikkim's cultural identity, which is closely linked to nature. It is also venerated
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Ironing out a problem?
Water in acid lakes formed after the abandonment of mining activities can now be treated with a technique that manipulates the properties of iron based heavy metal contaminants called ferrites
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JNNURM: a Nehruvian farce
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was introduced in 2005 with Rs 50,000-crore central aid. Another Rs 50,000 was to be raised from the private sector. The aim was to
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SRI LANKA
The booming prawn industry in Sri Lanka has Worried environmentalists. They fear that mangroves will be destroyed to make way for prawn farms and that prime land will be encroached
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Sacred dumpyard
It is a sad commentary on ate of the world's cnous peoples that about in northern Canada, are to turn their sacred nto a nuclear dump - hange for jobs. The ps that make up the ow
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Peace isn't elusive
Kashmir s economy is nothing but a sensitive and organised use of its ecology. After 15 years of living under the shadow of the gun, finally, when hope is making a comeback in the state, Kashmir will have to turn to its immense environmental resources to
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Disappearing species
in a recently released report, the World Wide Fund for Nature (wwf) says golden toads are disappearing in Costa Rica due to change in natural habitat induced by global warming. The
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Steep crisis
UNESCO asked to list Mount Everest as endangered
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Ban on brimstone
A RECENT UN accord on acid rain committed its 26 signatory nations to drastic cuts in sulphur dioxide emissions -- largely responsible for the phenomenon that wreaks havoc with humans, crops, lakes