Order of the High Court of Uttarakhand (WPPIL No. 202 OF 2024 with WPPIL NO.174 OF 2024) in the matter of mining operations in Bageshwar district, Uttarakhand. The order was passed by the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Guhanathan Narendar and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari. In compliance with the …
dte reporters met the pollution control authorities in some industrial areas of the country, spoke to the local people about the effects of pollution and met representatives of the civil society to gauge the extent of the problem on the socio-economic level. They also got in touch with industrialists, but …
For the people of Patancheru and Bollaram in Medak district, what goes around comes around. But with an evil twist. At night, tankers are used to carry effluents to the neighbouring state Karnataka, which is about 25 km away, or to far-off places for dumping. The same tankers supply drinking …
There are several industrial units in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh (AP) that have directly or indirectly polluted groundwater. AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) officials reveal that Reliance Cellulose is releasing effluents with very high chemical oxygen demand levels into a nearby stream. Standard Organics of Patancheru used to pump …
Adulteration of milk is not a new problem in the town of Bulandshahar in western Uttar Pradesh (UP). However, it is leading to another type of slow poisoning. Local people complain that dairies pump their effluents containing urea and other chemical additives into the ground. "Some workers from a dairy …
"Industrialists believe it is cheaper to purchase the regulators than abide by the regulations,' says K Purushotham Reddy of the Hyderabad-based ngo Citizens Against Pollution. "If I am not wrong, more than 90 per cent of gpcb officials are corrupt. In the present circumstances, only God can save Gujarat from …
How serious is the groundwater pollution problem in India? Groundwater pollution is very difficult to evaluate as till now, there is no nationwide survey or study of it except the few studies done by CPCB. On that basis I can say that it is very serious and needs special attention. …
Once polluted by industry, groundwater is very difficult to clean up. This is the lesson learnt from the Bichhri experience. Situated about 12 km from Udaipur, the groundwater of Bichhri, spread over an area of 300 hectares, is stark red. And as the groundwater moves naturally to other aquifers, it …
It was like the loss of innocence, one of the first incidents to open humankind's eye to what industrial pollution can do. One of the earliest tragedies caused by chemical pollution was the painful death and disability that afflicted thousands of people living around Japan's Minamata Bay in the 1950s-60s. …
in february 1999, a Delhi newspaper reported that a tubewell sunk to a depth of about 200 feet (61 metres) by Suruchi Dyeing Udyog, a factory south of the G T Road in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, was yielding yellow-coloured water. Arun Agarwal, the factory’s owner, was quoted in the report …
On August 1, 1999, social activist Anna Hazare began a maun vrat (silent fast) at Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra against the delay in action against officials allegedly involved in the Rs 32.66 crore drought scandal. He also alleged that there has been a cover-up at the ministry level on the …
retribution caught up with former Maharashtra minister Baban Gholap when officials of Maharashtra's anti-corruption cell raided numerous residential premises and a farmhouse owned by him on July 1. Just a year ago, noted Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare had levelled corruption charges against Gholap. At that time, the minister …
A PEOPLE'S march demanding the right to information will be taken out from Pune in Maharashtra to Delhi, according to Gandhian activist Anna Hazare. This is for the first time that such a march is being held. Speaking in Ahmedabad, Anna Hazare said an anti-corruption movement should be connected with …
THE president and two senior officials from Otsuka Pharmaceutical, a Japanese drugs firm, have been arrested on suspicion of bribing a university medical professor to provide training courses. Public prosecutors and police arrested company president Akihiko Otsuka, drug development chief Yoichi Yabuuchi and former head of judicial affairs Shigeki Kawaguchi. …
THERE is no action plan of the Indian government to tackle air pollution in the short term, pointed out Anil Agarwal, director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), at the second anniversary function of the release of its book Slow Murder. In his presentation at the World Wide Fund for …
A lot of trees are planted on paper and forests are created on government files. Between 1980-81 and 1988-89, the government claimed that some 24 billion trees had been planted under afforestation programmes on private and public lands at an expense of over Rs 3,000 crore. In other words, taking …
The sandalwood policy of the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments have created just the right environment for corruption to thrive. It involves major kickbacks for all those involved, it leads to scarcity of the raw material and promotes black market trade. The powerful and the corrupt corner the bulk of …
State regulations are extremely important to protect various elements of the ecosphere like air and water against pollution, and from over exploitation. But corruption, lack of public awareness of the importance of natural resources for daily survival, and policies that exclude the participation of the people can render the laws …
Why did the chicken cross the road? Simple. It wanted to bypass the forest official. Otherwise charcoal would never reach the town and poor would starve for the lack of a livelihood. In the early 1980s, St Xavier's Behavioural Science Centre, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, encouraged poor farmers living in the …
Corruption can steer even Supreme Court orders astray. In an effort to curb pollution in Delhi, the Supreme Court ordered all government vehicles to start using compressed natural gas (CNG) on an experimental basis. But the order was met with strong resistance, not from powerful bureaucrats but from the drivers …
