Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
Environmental squads to monitor and control pollution may soon make their appearance all over the country, as per a recent Supreme Court order. The squads will mainly play the role of watchdogs, keeping an eye on vehicular and industrial emissions. They will also be empowered to decide and act on …
The much publicised recent vehicular pollution control drive, which created much more than a stir in the Capital, has come heavily against vehicle owners without conclusively proving any positive gain. The drive has ignored the oil and vehicle producing companies, who could be credited with supplying the paying public ineffecient …
Eco-terrorists are for real. All over the world the establishment derisively uses the term to describe zealous environmental activists and groups on the fringe. For much of May, however, the term could easily apply to the establishment itself -- in this case, the Central government and the government of Delhi, …
A GROUP of American and British scientists claims to have developed an instrutment to measure the levels of fine air-borne particles from vehicle exhausts, which cause respiratory disorders in thousands of people each year. The vibrating tube impactor (VTI), developed by scientists led by David Booker Of AEA Technology, along …
MOVE over, Montego and Daewoo. You're far too stick and soft for India's terrible terrain. Outside the cities in Punjab and Haryana, the highways - and the fields - belong to this rumbling, dyspeptic roadhog called Maruta, a contemptuous corruption of a simpering cousin, the Maruti. The Maruta is rural …
The energy, especially oil, consumed to transport goods and people is galloping. Almost uncontrollable urbanisation in India, especially in and around the larger cities, highlights the acute problems concerning urban movement: the increase in income levels and private vehicles, inadequate and risky public transport, and the centring of cities as …
ENVIRONMENTAL problems, like other real-world concerns, never make for soft solutions. Even on the eve of its implementation, the laudable scheme whereby all new cars registered in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras will be mandatorily equipped with catalytic converters was dogged by controversy. Telltale ironies about April 1, Fool's Day, …
The Government of India announced its decision in 1973 to set up a 6 million tonne per year Petroleum Oil Refinery at Mathura under the Indian Oil Corporation of India. Some apprehensions were expressed about the possible adverse effects on the historic monuments in the Agra-Mathura region from the gaseous …
THE roar of a V8, the smooth looks of a shark, the power of a freight train, the goggle-eyed gullibility of a citizenry used to driving biscuit tin -- India is a gold mine for automobile manufacturers. An indicator of their serious intent was a closed door workshop on Environment …
Radioactivity should be added to the list of potential carcinogens in motor-vehicle exhausts, say scientists from the University of Bristol, UK. Denis Henshaw and colleagues have found raised concentrations of radioactive polonium-210 in the environment and in the teeth of children living up to 10 km from the country's busy …
A DREAM blown to dust is how you could describe today"s wheezing New Bombay, the once promised green haven on the fringe of gas and smog smothered Greater Bombay. Two decades ago, the Bombay Municipal Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) had decided to develop a clean, self-sufficient residential area west of …
The coordination committee of 4 ministries -- environment and forests, petroleum, surface transport and industries -- has decided to advance the enforcement of auto-emission norms specified for 1996 to cover vehicles sold in the 4 metropolises after April 1 this year. This follows the decision of the committee to register …
The Green Buyer's Car Guide rates the environmental friendliness of various cars. It ranks each model's polluting potential from exhaust pipe emissions, engines, fuel systems and airconditioners. An average vehicle emits 53 pounds of hydrocarbons a year. The Mercedes-Benz received 93 points while Buick Century got 40. It takes a …
LAST autumn, the Greenhouse Debate -- one of the objectives of the Greenhouse Tour (Down To Earth, December 31, 1994) -- organised by Friends of the Earth (FOE)-Netherlands, sought to show how Dutch society can contribute towards reducing energy consumption. The stated objective of 50 per cent less carbon dioxide …
Scientists from a Munich-based German company, Ficht, have developed a fuel injection system for 2-stroke engines -- used commonly in motorcycles, lawn mowers and chain saws -- which can cut hydrocarbon emissions by up to 90 per cent, reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 75 per cent and improve fuel consumption …
DELHI school students are evidently becoming increasingly environment conscious. Recently, Chief Minister (CM) Madan Lal Khurana reeled under a barrage of questions and suggestions from students of the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road: why can't Delhi have separate lanes for cyclists, ensuring a low vehicular population? How about neighbourhood committees …
From March 1, 1995, the Union ministry of surface transport will register only those cars in the metropolitan cities that are equipped with catalytic convertors -- all in order to enforce the use of unleaded petrol. The move follows requests by the Union ministry of environment and forests to help …
Mexico is fighting hard to correct its ozone levels on ground. According to the Metropolitan Commission for the Prevention and control of Mexico City Pollution, lead levels have decreased by almost 90 percent a and CO levels are "with in norms equivalent to those of the US environment protection agency". …
IN a bid to reduce vehicular pollution, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 1994, has stressed upon incentives for the utilisation of vehicles run on non-conventional energy. The amendments, which have received Presidential and Parliamentary assent and are to be notified shortly, gives the Union government more powers with regard to …
ANXIOUS to curb air pollution, the US government is tightening the screws on automobile manufacturers. Air quality laws in California and Massachusetts now stipulate that 2 per cent of the total sales in the car market by 1988 should comprise "zero emission" vehicles, a requirement that only electric cars can …
