Judgment of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Raghubir Singh Garia Vs State of Uttarakhand & Others dated 22/04/2025. The matter related to illegal mining of soap stone in village Papon, District Bageshwar, Uttarakhand. The complainant, a resident of the village said that illegal mining of soap stone …
In a significant development on role of hydropower projects in Uttarakhand flood disaster of June 2013, the Expert Body (EB) headed by Dr Ravi Chopra has recommended that at least 23 hydropower projects should be dropped, that hydropower projects played significant role in the Uttarakhand disaster and that there is …
On 8 August 2010 in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu, a rainstorm-triggered debris flow devastated the small county of Zhouqu. A modeling study, using a new multiple-phase scalable and extensible geofluid model, suggests that the cause is an intersection of several events. These were a heavy rainstorm, not necessarily …
There is a need to develop short term, medium term and long term strategy for reconstruction, rehabilitation and developmental activities of Uttarakhand. This include: Damage assessment, geographical mapping of hazard zonation, reconstruction of damage houses, roads and communication infrastructure, enhance livelihood opportunities for rural people, strengthening of communication systems for …
This report was prepared for grant of Environmental Clearance to ONGC's project titled 'Development Drilling of 40 wells in KG Basin in East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh' in Godavari Onland and West Godavari PML Onland blocks.
The end of the world is coming – but not for a while yet. That’s according to a new study indicating that we have 1.75 billion years left until Mother Earth gives up the ghost. Researchers from the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences analysed other planets outside …
Dams are being built in different sizes depending on the requirements and the height permissible at the particular site. The higher a dam, the larger the concerns for undesirable impacts that have to be mitigated and the assurance that has to be given to everyone that the dam is not …
Heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc on the region because of the fragile nature of the Himalayan range and poor soil stability in its steep slopes. But it is mand-made factors that have compounded the scale of the disaster. Read this special report by Down To Earth.
An important challenge in geomorphology is the reconciliation of the high fluvial incision rates observed in tectonically active mountain ranges with the long-term preservation of significant mountain-range relief in ancient, tectonically inactive orogenic belts. River bedrock erosion and sediment transport are widely recognized to be the principal controls on the …
Sixty hot springs are spread over 18 regions in the west coast of Maharashtra, India. The area is covered by Deccan Basalts. Periodic water sampling was done for more than 5 years from Tural and Rajvadi hot springs along with waters from other deep wells for hydrochemical and isotopic analyses …
The present study investigates and analyses the behavior of a concrete gravity dam during the strong ground horizontal motions due to an earthquake with CADAM. The model in thesis is the structure of Hirakud gravity dam. Hirakud dam across river Mahanadi in eastern India is a composite structure of earth, …
GUWAHATI, Aug 27 – The National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) which today had a discussion with the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), has agreed to keep in abeyance its work on the Lower Subansiri Hydro-electric Project till its next round of …
An angry protest is gathering momentum in Mithi Virdi, a picturesque village in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district. Four villages have united forces to oppose a nuclear plant coming up in their vicinity. Mithi Virdi is likely to become as famous as Jaitapur and Kudankulam. In 2008, Mithi Virdi was placed on …
The debate surrounding the safety of shale gas development in the Appalachian Basin has generated increased awareness of drinking water quality in rural communities. Concerns include the potential for migration of stray gas, metal-rich formation brines, and hydraulic fracturing and/or flowback fluids to drinking water aquifers. A critical question common …
Shale gas can be a powerful tool in combating climate change. However, its exploitation may also lead to undesired environmental effects that can conversely worsen climate change.
Decline In Monsoon Weakened River Dynamics, Leading To Collapse Washington: Climate change may be the main culprit behind the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization around 4,000 years ago, says a new study, which also claims to have resolved the long-standing debate over the source and fate of the Saraswati, …
After two decades of hardwork, on 5 February 2012, a team of Russian scientists began drilling at Lake Vostok, the largest of more than 140 sub-glacial lakes and the most deeply buried of the lakes hidden under the Antarctic ice cap.
The continuing low-level seismicity in the vicinity of the Idukki Reservoir, Kerala, is interesting from the perspective of hydrologically triggered earthquakes. While the frequency of triggered earthquakes in the vicinity of a reservoir usually reduces with time and the largest earthquake usually occurs within a few years on the initial …
Since September last year, when an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 rocked Sikkim, scientists have recorded nearly 300 aftershocks in the region and predicted the possibility of a quake up to magnitude 9. As such, they have recommended that parts of Sikkim be upgraded to Zone 5, the classification that carries …
All around the world, oil and gas companies are being forced by resource declines to drill in less accessible areas, and the Arctic is their newest frontier. The geology above the Arctic Circle—that is, everything above latitude 66.56°N—holds an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil and 1,669 trillion cubic feet …
The Meghalaya government today said preliminary investigation suggests the sudden death of fishes in Ranikor River in West Khasi Hills district is probably due to “use of toxic substances by locals” or coal mining and that uranium radiation has slim chance of causing the deaths. “If uranium radiation was the …
