Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
Logjam: A federal appeals court has blocked logging of trees scorched in one of the US's largest wildfires. It is unlikely that the dead trees can be harvested before rotting. The court order came after a two-year old court battle. The 2002 blaze that burnt 202,343 hectares in southwestern Oregon …
bangalore's lakes were spared the annual deluge of toxic Ganesh idols during this year's Ganesh Utsav, the Hindu festival. Instead of immersing the idols in the lakes, people immersed them in mobile tanks, provided by the Karnataka state pollution control board (kspcb), civic agencies and the Lake Development Authority. Some …
Phalli ki sabzi Take one kilogramme of guar ki phalli, string them and chop into fine pieces. Boil them for 15 minutes in adequate water. Thereafter, squeeze the excess water from the beans. Subsequently, heat three teaspoons of oil in a pan and add a little bit of hing. Put …
in the face of overexploitation of rare medicinal plants, the Jammu and Kashmir government has imposed a ban on collecting minor forest produce from demarcated forestlands. It has prohibited people from collecting medicinal plants. But it is encouraging people to grow these plants on private lands and nurseries and has …
Safe or unsafe, that is the question. Chief Minister of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim has ordered the Dadu District Coordination Officer (DCO) to reinvestigate the contaminated waters of the Manchar Lake (see Down To Earth, August 31, 2004). A special team constituted for the purpose, is scheduled to visit different …
legal backing: The Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and other civic agencies to permit water harvesting in as many public sector buildings as possible. In an order issued on August 25, 2004, it also directed authorities concerned to allow the activity on flyovers that have …
a sensor that calculates exactly how much nitrogen a crop needs is slashing fertiliser use in field trials. The system will not only save farmers money but also reduce fertiliser run-off, and hence reduce nitrate pollution in waterbodies. "The pollution problem is serious. For instance, every summer the run-off of …
with the menace of arsenic contamination in groundwater continuing unabated in Bangladesh and India, reuse of surface waterbodies has been proposed as a way out. These waterbodies were abandoned in the past because of bacterial contamination owing to poor sanitation practices. Instead of cleaning them up, the officials had propagated …
Four Japanese electricity workers were killed and seven injured when turbine steam escaped at a nuclear plant in Mihama, on the Sea of Japan. The incident, involving the highest number of fatalities at a Japanese nuclear power plant, has heightened concern about the nuclear industry. The Kansai Electric Power Company …
A plant in the Scottish Highlands, will be the first such in the uk to recycle lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are mainly used in mobile phones, camcorders and laptops. Less than 2 per cent of consumer disposable batteries are currently recycled, with the rest being disposed of in landfill sites. …
As has happened in other cities, adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) for public transport in Ahmedabad is stuck in a bureaucratic tangle. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is to introduce 100 new CNG buses and convert 300 existing buses to CNG by December 31, 2004. This is part of …
eight years ago the Gujarat High Court had fined 756 industrial units in Odhav, Naroda and Vatva industrial areas in Ahmedabad district for polluting 20 villages in Ahmedabad and Kheda districts. The factories were asked to pay one per cent of their gross turnover of one year as compensation. The …
a new timber tax has hit the coffee growers of Karnataka's Coorg district. Faced with a sharp drop in coffee prices since 1999, they depend on timber felling, mainly of the silver oak tree. It is now feared that the new tax would make them resort to increased felling, harming …
a new study is yet another evidence of the Damodar valley facing a health and environmental apocalypse thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the officials. The research, conducted by Nitish Priyadarshi of Jharkhand-based Ranchi University, proves that coal mined in the region contains substantial levels of arsenic, which is leaching …
It has been alleged that a recent recall of tainted meat products in the us is shrouded in secrecy to protect the food industry at the expense of public health. The newspaper Spokesman-Review had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the identities of over 580 distributors, restaurants and …
a new study is yet another proof of the fact that an environmental apocalypse can have wide-ranging impacts. Researchers studying the population living near central Asia's shrinking Aral Sea have found that the residents exhibit a high level of dna damage, which is linked with the region's alarmingly cancer rates. …
A water quality assessment of 54 different sites in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, revealed that 57 per cent of the water samples were contaminated with faecal coliform. The assessment was conducted by a non-governmental organisation called Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO). "Of the total samples, 28 per cent are in …
oversized sports utility vehicles (suvs) may soon be history in Paris. A resolution passed by the city's council on June 8 proposes implementation of a ban on suvs in the French capital within the next 18 months. The plan now awaits the approval of the city's police chief. "These vehicles …
