The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
The focus of the country study is to prepare on overview of the mining (including processing of ore) and mineral industry and its impacts on sustainable development.This report seeks to provide an overview of the mining and minerals sector in India and the issues that have a bearing on the …
Among the vehicles that dot Delhi's roads in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's ruling to convert diesel buses to compressed natural gas (cng) is Tata's lpo 1510 cgs bus. The vehicle gets the second position in the ratings and has several advantages. The bus has scored the highest points …
Benny Peiser, an anthropologist at Liverpool John Moores University has shown through a computer simulation that more than 1,000 fatal impacts in a 100,000-year period. These fatal impacts were mostly airbursts over land. For instance, a 60-meter-wide object blew up above a remote Siberian forest. Other blasts occurred in or …
The US government agency has reported that toxic materials are continuing to be released from the smouldering wreckage of the World Trade Centre (WTC) Even after a month of the terrorist attack, carcinogenic benzene was found to be 58 times higher, at one site close to ground zero, than the …
Poor management of Nigeria's environment is costing the country around us $5 billion a year in ruined land and lost forests, an ecology expert claims. Muhtari Aminu-Kano, executive director of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (ncf) said that much of the damage resulted from oil and gas extraction in the Niger …
A supposedly scientific expedition into the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (ndbr) has stirred the minds of people in Lata village of district Chamoli, in Uttaranchal. They say the expedition was a farce. They claim it was a surreptitious attempt to open the region to high-end tourism with tour operators and …
the biggest coral structure in the world might be threatened very soon. The Australian government has left the option of future oil drilling open near the Great Barrier Reef. tgs nopec Geophysical, a Houston-based multinational company, has recently proposed to carry out exploration for oil near the world heritage area …
Conservationists in Brazil have got some success in their struggle for saving a precious tract of rainforests. The Brazilian government has decided to launch an environmental impact study for a proposed hydroelectric power plant to be built on river Xingu in Para state. This decision was taken in the wake …
Nothing is clear about India's nuclear establishment. A scheduled public hearing on the environment impact assessment of the ambitious prototype fast breeder reactor ( pfbr ) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu was abruptly called off on June 15. This would have been India's first public hearing on any nuclear installations. …
Groundwater sources in Thailand are being contaminated due to poor selection of waste sites. "Studies point out that the dumpsites lack rock barriers that prevent contaminants from leaching,' said Cherdpong Siriwit, director of the country's mineral resources department. An old dumpsite at the Mae Hia area in Chiang Mai is …
Six members of Koel Karo Jan Sangathan (KKJS), Jharkhand, where killed and 50 others injured on February 2 when police opened fire on their protest march. The group had assembled at the Tapkara police station to protest against the beating up of Amrit Guria, a member of KKJS. "On February …
In-depth Life Cycle Analysis of the environmental performance of major players in the Indian automobile sector. Also analyses technological issues, comaprative analysis of best practices with global players and recommends future outlook.
A recent report of the World Commission on Dams ( wcd ) has stated that certain dam projects envisaged for Lesotho and Uganda will prove to be very harmful to the environment. The wcd is an independent body and has been sponsored by the World Bank to review the performance …
close on the heels of the Supreme Court verdict on Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ), a recent report by the World Commission on Dams ( wcd ) has clearly stated that dams have exacted a high price in terms of human and environmental damage. The commission is an independent …
Get on with it The Supreme Court's go-ahead to the Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ) was long overdue. It is a good judgement. It lays down the framework within which the project can continue. This will ensure that the work on the dam moves forward swiftly. The message is …
Bangalore. A poor person's Silicon Valley. It's 11 am on July 5, 2000. The scene is Yavanika Auditorium. The occasion is what has come to be known as a public hearing. Outside the hall, protesters demand that farmers and members of the
In the early 1990s, the Birla-led Indo-Gulf Fertilisers Limited was scouting for land near Mangalore to establish a copper smelter plant. Tokur and surrounding villages near Baikampady were proposed as a possible site, an area full of paddy fields and plantations. In 1994, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Parisarasakta Okkoota ( …
W hen you cry, in fact cry hoarse, and yet not be heard, what do you do? Experts contend that going to courts should be the last straw. "Firstly, there is a kind of misplaced loyalty towards the formal justice delivery mechanism as the be-all-and-end-all,' says Ramesh. Secondly, there is …
• The executive summary is invariably not readily available at the prescribed locations as in the case of the proposed barge-mounted power plant at Bengre, Dakshin Kannada. Even if a copy is available, the quality of information is sketchy. The stakeholders cannot assess the likely impact of the project. In …
Under the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 1994, amended in 1997, the company seeking environmental clearance submits to the concerned state pollution control board (SPCB) an executive summary (ES) of the project The SPCB gives a 30-day notice for environmental public hearing with details of the time, date and venue. The …
