Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Naresh Kumar Vs Government of NCT of Delhi & Others dated 13/05/2025. The matter is related to illegal extraction of groundwater in Manakpura, Delhi by the water supply mafia. According to the complainant, one Hemant has illegally drilled a borewell …
Groundwater plays a critical role in the agricultural economy of Gujarat state. The lack of surface water resources has put more pressure on groundwater to meet both agriculture as well as industrial and domestic sector demand. More than 90 per cent of the total irrigated area is covered through groundwater …
Will multinational soft drink companies never learn to value natural resources? While Coca-Cola is still in the middle of a controversy over unmindful groundwater exploitation in Kerala's Palakkad district, Pepsi is now charged with a similar crime. In a petition to prime minister Manmohan Singh, the Forum on Social and …
In the Kerala High Court, a village panchayat loses its battle for water with Coca-Cola. The Perumatty village panchayat in Palakkad district of Kerala has lost its legal battle for the right to water with Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Ltd., the soft-drink manufacturer. A Division Bench of the Kerala High …
Justice prevails: The Supreme Court on March 15, 2005, ruled that states will have to allot alternative cultivable land to even those people who have been affected temporarily by the Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada River. The judgement is expected to have a major impact on the relief and rehabilitation …
People who understand water management will tell you that India is a traditional water economy and that it has to make the transition to a modern water economy. In other words, the water sector has to become part of the formalised economy. As with any feel-right challenge, this is normally …
the supply of recycled water for Bangalore's public parks has not started yet, although, a year ago, the Karnataka government banned the use of potable water and groundwater in such places. The reason: the Bangalore City Corporation (bcc) has no vehicles to transport recycled water from Bangalore Water Supply and …
The draft National Environment Policy (nep) released recently by the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) identifies major environmental problems, outlines their causes and puts forward a set of principles to address problems. But glaring loopholes remain. The most obvious ones pertain to the draft's contradictions with current government …
when you buy a bottle of Coke, the company's sales figures increase. The stock price goes up, encouraging, activists claim, it to support dubious labour practices in Latin America, deplete groundwater in Kerala, and sell drinks laced with pesticides all over India. And now Max Keiser, a former New York …
A briefing paper on "Arsenic Contamination of Ground Water - an exhaustive set of FAQs on key issues, it's causes, spread and technology available to mitigate the effects. Contains an exhaustive database of resource person and institution working in the area.
A cruel summer has been left behind. Pipes are gurgling to life and the surge of water tankers on Chennai's streets is on the ebb. People and leaders are now free to discuss issues non-aqueous. There are even days when Chennai's papers skip the almost mandatory columns devoted to water. …
Uncertainty in the occurrence of rainfall with respect to time and quantity is a major contraint to agricultural production in rainfed areas. To alleviate the constraint, groundwater is pumped at an unsustainable rate causing continuous water table decline. Groundwater recharge by the rainwater and runoff harvested in percolation tanks can …
Western Ghats form the catchment of all the 44 rivers that sustain the agroeconomy of Kerala. A study was conducted to assess the effect of land use on runoff from small watersheds of Western Ghats. Three small mono-culture watersheds, planted with cashew, coffee, tea and one small watershed with dense …
Any discussion on the water problems of Kolkata is a paradox indeed, as the city is situated in the lower reaches of one of the world's largest delta regions. But like all other Indian metropolitan centres, Kolkata too is facing water woes, with both its freshwater and groundwater sources dying …
the Andhra Pradesh government has introduced new measures to check over-exploitation of groundwater resources. The Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002 (walta), which was amended in August 2004 and came into force recently, regulates the drilling of borewells for irrigation purposes. The drying of borewells was a major …
When Neena Khanna from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences called to tell us that her patient who lives in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh had high levels of arsenic in his blood, hair and nails, we were stunned. Why Ballia? We knew of arsenic in West Bengal and …
karnataka treats its groundwater with utter callousness, a recently released government report illustrates. Not only has the water level in the state depleted further and the water quality declined, the area under exploitation has also increased. The situation in 84 of the 380 watershed areas in the state is critical. …
Dinanath Singh has a cancerous wound on his left foot from which blood and pus continuously ooze. He has black and white spots (lesions) all over his body. The 61-year-old also suffers from skin cancer. Two fingers of his left hand had developed ulcers and had to be amputated. His …
In July 2004, the Union ministry of water resources was asked a question in parliament on the extent of contamination of water by arsenic and fluoride. The ministry replied that arsenic had affected the following eight districts of West Bengal
The government deigns to recognise the arsenic problem only in West Bengal and one district of Bihar. But recent studies prove the presence of the contaminant in several other states too: Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. As early as 1991, the Jadavpur University of West Bengal and the United …
There is no doubt that arsenic is present in Ballia. But why is it there? Is there anything common between the geology of this place and West Bengal, or any other affected area? Why aren't natural arsenic poisoning cases reported from Delhi or Mumbai on a widescale? Why are most …