Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Abhishek Panwar Vs Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board & Others dated 20/05/2025. The miscellaneous application was registered on the basis of the report of the joint committee dated July 20, 2024 filed by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) …
The story of Chinchurgheria, a village in West Bengal, is a chilling expose of the apathy of businesspersons, the government and politicians. In 1986, the people of Chinchurgheria and a few neighbouring villages joined a new stonecrushing unit. Within 2 years, villagers working as labourers started suffering from silicosis. With …
Traffic police in Delhi will be granted an allowance for breathing polluted air. The compensation amount will be graded according to rank, ranging from Rs 100 for constables to Rs 200 for inspectors. A study conducted by the capital's Central Road Research Institute and the All India Institute of Medical …
THE PACIFIC island-state of Nauru, once abundant in phosphates deposited by birds, now lies devastated and desolate. Most of the phosphate was mined by Australia and royalties made the Nauruans one of the richest people in the world. Now, they are left without any natural resources and only an investment …
IN THE eight or nine years she has spent building a resistance movement to the Narmada dam project, Medha Patkar has certainly learnt to state her case. And her ability in this direction was evident in Zee TV's Aap ki Adalat, where she fielded with considerable panache, host Rajat Sharma's …
IT IS THE economics of a dam and not the plight of the people it displaces that makes a good news report for national and international media and earns a quick invitation from the government for a dialogue. Citing the Sardar Sarovar as an example, a senior Union government official …
CIVILISATIONS have grown by clearing jungles, draining swamps and reclaiming deserts to produce more food, build cities, mine the earth, establish a variety of infrastructure and develop industry. This displaces people who must obviously be compensated and resettled. And nothing displaces as many people as dams. Understandably these have attracted …
AUTHORITIES at Dudhwa National Park are wallowing in smugness at the ease with which they evicted tribals who occupied forest land near the park. Boasts Lakhimpur-Kheri superintendent O P Singh, "Without even raising a baton, we deported the encroachers to Bichhia." Sixty-two tribals were arrested. Although the deportation exercise went …
AFTER the tragedy, comes the gold rush. In the three Agra localities where several people died after drinking contaminated municipal water, self-styled social workers have surfaced, looking for a slice of the compensation. These "leaders" have assumed the mantle of "champions of poisoned-water victims" and promise the bereaved families almost …
The Union and Madhya Pradesh governments have been ruled culpable by a Rome-based tribunal of violating the rights of the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The Permanent People's Tribunal (PPT) based its ruling on hearings conducted in October 1992 in Bhopal. The PPT ruling noted the failure of industry …
IN 1987, the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi offered to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Assam as one of the sops to quell the student agitation in the state. Five years later, the country's sixth IIT is all set to come up in Silagrant village in …
THE CLAIMS courts set up in Bhopal's gas leak-affected areas are rejecting more than half the compensation claims for death due to lack of evidence. Of the 40 courts that were to be set up, only 17 are functioning and have settled to date 396 cases involving disbursement of Rs …
ON OCTOBER 16, 1992, the Supreme Court directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make Rs 1,482 crore available to Madhya Pradesh gas relief commissioner K Shankaranarayan for doling out to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak. But for the victims, who have waited three years since …
THE SUPREME Court recently ordered that one lakh people be paid interim relief of Rs 200 per month. The total amount these victims will get as interim relief of Rs 7,200 for which they need a pass book issued by the State Gas Relief Department. Touts operating in collusion with …
After years of inaction, things seem to be moving with lightning speed in Bhopal. The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to transfer the money paid by Union Carbide as compensation to welfare commissioner A G Qureshi for payment to victims after the processing of claims. Almost …
A Nigerian judicial commission of inquiry has uncovered a gruesome incident in which the police massacred 80 unarmed villagers demonstrating for compensation in lieu of their land taken over by Shell International. The Guardian alleges that not only did Nigerian authorities cover up the killings, they also suppressed the commission …
THE NATIONAL Environment Tribunal Bill (NET) introduced in the recent monsoon session of Parliament, aims at providing a mechanism for speedy compensation of victims of industrial disasters. The bill was introduced by the government after rejecting a proposal to set up environmental courts in the country. The bill states it …
THE RECENT ammonia gas leak in a Haryana factory claimed 11 lives ans brought back the nightmare of the Union Carbide (UC) and Shriram gas leaks. Now, as the eighth anniversary of the UC disaster in Bhopal draws near, some questions remain: How were the victims compensated? What roles did …
THE RESETTLEMENT and rehabilitation (R&R;) policy for project-affected persons, proposed by a sub-committee of the national water board, under the ministry of water resources, appears to be far from satisfactory. Commentators say its scope is restricted to large reservoir projects and it does not provide for any legislative backing. The …
• National policy should only indicate guidelines. • Involuntary displacement should be minimised. • A widely-representative body should take decisions. • Fair standard of living, not lower than that before displacement, should be guaranteed. • Full compensation of losses should be paid both individually and collectively. • All rights and …
THE PROMULGATION of the Public Liability Insurance Act (PLI) -- to ensure that victims of chemical accidents get quick compensation -- is brewing into a controversy with public sector enterprises reluctant to take out policies under the new scheme. Under this law, insurance cover of a maximum of Rs five …
