Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Sonya Ghosh Vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Others dated 17/02/2025. The matter related to conservation and protection of Delhi Ridge which is an extension of Aravali Range extending from Tughlakabad and branching out in Wazirabad in the north …
The ministry of agriculture is planning to push through a bill in the current Parliament session which, if passed, will thwart last year's Supreme Court (SC) decision to ban coastal aquaculture farms with effect from March 31, on grounds of soil degradation, marine pollution and hampering traditional fishing. The bill …
The city of Mysore in Karnataka has become the scene for an interesting battle royal. In contention is the People's park in the heart of the city, fought over by the Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP), a local organisation initiated by a few residents of Mysore, and the municipal corporation. The …
Stringent criticism by the erstwhile Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi and adverse public opinion apparently forced the United Front (UF) government to do a Volte face on its plan to push, in Parliament, for a Public Interest Litigation Bill, 1997 (Down To Earth, Vol 5, No 20). The …
The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down for immediate consideration, pleas by the Union Government and the state of Gujarat for permission to increase the height of the Narmada dam from the present 81.5 metre (m) to 85 m. The SC declined to entertain two applications placed by the latter, …
The Supreme Court of India recently directed the Union ministry of environment and forests to enforce the laws prohibiting the use and dumping of banned hazardous substances. The court remarked that despite passing several orders to this effect in the past year, no steps have been taken against erring units …
In another case of delinquency, the Karnataka High Court has censured the Karnataka pollution control board (PCB) for its inaction in "matters relating to serious instances of water pollution". The court also quoted instances wherein the government itself had prevented action against "errant parties or interfered with the proceedings and …
Bangladesh would be introducing tough new pollution laws and bringing to book polluters, Sajeda Chowdhury, environment and forest minister, announced in Dhaka recently. "None, be they poachers, illegal fellers or earth removers, will be spared," she said adding. "A bill incorporating hem for the environmental destroyers... will be tabled soon …
The ongoing dispute between the US and four Asian nations over shrimp exports will now be decided by a panel which was recently appointed by the World Trade Organization. Lost year, the US had passed a law which prevents shrimp exports from India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand unless they take …
Iraq is facing lawsuits claiming billions of dollars in compensation by Kuwait and its allies including the US, for environmental damage caused during the Gulf War. Iraqi troops are alleged to have unloaded millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf waters in January 1991 and set fire to more …
Karnataka has won the latest round of the legal battle over the construction of Almatti dam across the river Krishna. The Supreme Court recently rejected a petition seeking a stay on the construction of the dam. The court was ruling on a special leave petition by the Karnataka government and …
In a desperate bid to stop mushrooming legal claims against the industry, the British tobacco firm, BAT Industries PLC, is considering settling compensation claims brought by Americans who are suffering from smoking-related illnesses. The company's shares fell sharply after a jury in Florida ordered its US tobacco unit to pay …
On not being assigned any environmental cases, although he is known for being interested in environmental affairs: I have been deliberately kept away from anything to do with the environment as far as assignments are concerned. The reason for not assigning any such case to me can only be answered …
the Supreme Court's (sc) warning to senior officials of the ministry of environment and forests to enforce laws banning industries from using and dumping prohibited noxious chemicals or face the consequences, is laudable. In the order passed on a public interest litigation (pil), which noted that industrial waste was being …
The existence of laws and policies in Australia that affect wetland protection and rehabilitation has been ascertained. There is a diverse range of environmental legislation, primarily at the state level, that potentially affects wetlands. There are environmental planning instruments made under legislation in New South Wales and Western Australia, which …
ominous promises that were being made by Prime Minister (pm) H D Deve Gowda, undermining the environment and people's rights, are now being kept one by one. The latest is an ordinance amending the National Highways Act, 1956, to facilitate speedier acquisition of land for national highways (nh). According to …
The Centre will transfer more authority to the West Bengal pollution board, announced the governor on January 24. The state government also plans to prepare an environmental status report and implement risk management plans for the Asansol Durgapur and Haldia industrial areas. The ministry of environment and forests has demanded …
Local pharmaceutical groups in Jakarta have decried a draft law aimed at a drug patents crackdown by the government. The roaring medicine business in the city is attributed to several copies of same drugs being sold. And there is nothing to stop any of Indonesia's 240 drug companies from launching …
Notwithstanding accusations and criticism within state government agencies themselves, for almost two decades units at the Ankleshwar industrial estate were functioning without drainage connections, releasing effluents onto open grounds all around. For the last two decades, untreated effluents from industrial units at Ankleshwar and Panoli are being released into the …
the ministry of environment and forests (mef) has finally drafted a set of "terms and conditions for granting access to genetic material'. The move will lead to a much-needed legislation for regulating access to the country's genetic resources. "It will be in the form of a public notification and is …
Reuters, the information agency, is considering legal action against the British government after the latter blocked a computerised prescription system to be marketed by the company. Healthplus, the system, allows family doctors to use computers for transferring prescriptions to pharmacists, saving both time and paperwork. The department of health recently …
