Issue 33
August , 2011
As demand for computers, iPads and mobile phones sky rockets in India, driven by a buoyant economy and increasing affluence, thousands of tonnes of electronic waste is being created each year. In a bid to tackle this problem the government has enacted legislation that w...Read Full Story
Indian paint majors are showing their true colours in neighbouring markets, by including dangerously high levels of lead in their products, according to a study conducted by some non-governmental organisations in India, Nepal and Bangladesh....Read Full Story
The e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, have the potential to turn a growing problem into a development opportunity. With almost a year to go before the rules take effect, there is enough time to create the...Read Full Story
A trial court has slapped a fine of Rs 35,000 on an industrialist, convicted for discharging huge quantity of untreated water from his factory into a drain after he pleaded guilty for the offence....Read Full Story
People living in the Iron Ore mining belt of Goa inhale more dust particles than permissible levels which can be highly hazardous to their health, according to a State Pollution Control Board study....Read Full Story
DDT, the most controversial Persistent Organic Pollutant is banned by almost every country in the world due to its acute toxicity. However, in India the chemical is still widely used for the vector control. It’s an irony since India itself banned its use against agricul...Read Full Story
The admission process at Delhi University has been eco-friendly this time around. By not giving out forms this year, the university has saved a large amount of paper while some colleges also cut down on the number of prospectus they printed. Contributing to the environm...Read Full Story
Delhi hospitals are sitting on 200 kg of highly toxic mercury because there is no law to enforce the Central Pollution Control Board's guidelines on its disposal. Another 500 kg - in thermometers and blood-pressure measuring devices - is to be disposed of by 2012, accor...Read Full Story
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has sought clarification from Jindal Ecopolis, the waste management company setting up a waste-to-energy plant at Okhla, saying that it would not be permitted to operate if the company fails to provide technical details about p...Read Full Story
Convergence of its schemes by the Union Rural Development Ministry has benefited many villages in Gujarat. This has helped many women self-help groups (SHGs) to reap wealth from waste....Read Full Story
Close on the heels of an inter-ministerial group recently proposing mandatory declaration of radiation levels on each mobile handset, doctors in the city have welcomed the move....Read Full Story
The Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB) has identified 21 sites in the state, where soils have been contaminated by the existing or earlier industries....Read Full Story
For the past three years, the month of June has been the only time when Jai Krishna and his 13 friends, all employees of TCS, travel by public transport to office as part of their extended support to Environment Day celebrations. And this is not all –“no tissue paper, n...Read Full Story
Putting the onus of re-cycling of electronic wastes (e-waste) on the producers, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has for the first time notified e-waste management rules....Read Full Story
It’s summer vacation for Mohammad Ismail. But instead of playing with friends, the 14-year-old sits in the midst of computer circuit boards, unscrewing dozens of mobile phone chargers at his father’s scrap shop in Kurla....Read Full Story
The Supreme Court has issued notice to gutka manufacturers on an application alleging that even after the ban order restraining them from using plastic material in package sachets they were flouting the law and were still using plastic pouches....Read Full Story
Issue 32
May , 2011
Picture this: The market for desktops and laptops in India grew by about 16.2 per cent to nearly 27 lakh units in the fourth quarter of 2010. According to Gartner, this growth rate was more than five times the worldwide PC market’s growth average in the quarter....Read Full Story
The Union Government is setting up a National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA)....Read Full Story
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and all the States on a petition for a nationwide ban on endosulfan, given the pesticide's harmful effect on the people....Read Full Story
The embattled operator of Japan's radiation-leaking Fukushima nuclear complex today said the level of toxic water in two of the six reactors of the plant has risen, which is hampering the critical work of restoring its cooling functions....Read Full Story
Fungus, un-permitted colour and non-permissible particles were found in food samples such as turmeric powder, black pepper and masoor dal lifted from various city markets by Prevention of Food Adulteration department. Officials from PFA department said they have found u...Read Full Story
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved a Rs.7,000-crore project to clean the Ganga. It will be implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)....Read Full Story
On the occasion of World Earth Day, OneWorld speaks to Delhi based environmentalist Ravi Agarwal who effortlessly merges his cause for a cleaner and safer planet with his passion for photography art. It’s the time to rethink older models of growth, consumption and energ...Read Full Story
NEW DELHI: The Central Pollution Control Board has told Jindal Ecopolis, the company setting up the waste-to-energy plant at Okhla, that it would not be permitted to operate if it fails to provide technical details on pollution control at the incineration plant....Read Full Story
Provisions for prevention of such serious ailments as silicosis and asbestosis are going to become important parts of the new National Labour Policy....Read Full Story
At the ITO nursery on Outer Ring Road, trees felled for various infrastructure projects are getting a new lease of life. To make sure that none of the trees cut in Delhi are wasted, the Forest department has started a drive, which involves replanting tree stumps and dev...Read Full Story
The Supreme Court on April 21, 2011 asked the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to explain as to why UK’s Vedanta Resources’ Indian arm Sterlite Industries should not be allowed to mine bauxite in the eco-sensitive Niyamgiri hills to feed its alumina refinery i...Read Full Story
WHEN Sharad Pawar, India’s powerful agricultural minister, recently spoke in defence of endosulfan in Parliament, it was a first of sorts. Probably, never before had a mere chemical attracted the interest of such a highprofile minister....Read Full Story
The Punjab Government today decided to strictly implement ‘The Punjab Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Usage and Disposal) Control Act’, prohibiting the manufacture, disposal and usage of polythene bags from virgin plastic of thickness not less than 30 micron and size not les...Read Full Story
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has told Jindal Ecopolis, the company setting up a controversial waste to energy facility in Timarpur-Okhla, Delhi that it will not be permitted to operate if it fails to provide technical details on pollution control at the in...Read Full Story
Issue 31
February , 2011
Highly toxic mercury thermometers have made their way out of the Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital as it turns into South India's first mercury-free hospital....Read Full Story
Congress in Kerala today demanded a nationwide ban on endosulfan, in view of the serious health problems caused to the residents in Kasargode district, due to aerial spraying of the pesticide in state-owned plantations 20 years back....Read Full Story
The US Environmental Protection Agency tightened water pollution controls in recession-hit Florida on Monday, but the state's citrus growers expressed concern the rules would cost business too much....Read Full Story
More than 300 commercial units in Madhya Pradesh are causing pollution by emitting harmful air and water effluents beyond the permissible limits, the State Pollution Control Board has said....Read Full Story
Delivery of healthcare services to the rural population through mobile phones could could be the cheapest medium to penetrate the bottom of the pyramid and Public Private Partnership could be the best way to make this happen....Read Full Story
From the perception that pesticides are linked to health hazards to addressing issues such as traceability and market access - the estimated Rs 8,000-crore domestic pesticide industry is looking to raise these challenges at a multi-stake-holder conference in Delhi next ...Read Full Story
In the first of a two-part series, Mint reveals how rising demand and the entry of new firms into the market, along with lack of proper attention to collection and recycling, have led to increased levels of lead exposure among factory workers....Read Full Story
Green technology is a technology that is environment-friendly and ensures that natural resources are conserved. Green technology is the ‘future’ at large, and the main aim of this innovative technology is to avoid any deterioration to the environmental resources....Read Full Story
The Coimbatore Corporation plans to begin in January next year privatised door-to-door collection of garbage in nine model wards in the city....Read Full Story
New Delhi: Natural rubber prices remained unchanged on Monday at record Rs.207.5 a kg in Kerala, despite the government's decision to cut import duty to 7.5 per cent to boost the domestic availability....Read Full Story
Climate change is affecting the cultivation of Assam tea, with rising temperatures reducing yields and altering the distinctive flavour of India's most popular drink, researchers say....Read Full Story
Coal deficit being faced by power utilities in country is expected to double to 104 MT in next fiscal....Read Full Story
Issue 30
October , 2010
As the overwhelming evidence of accelerating climate change builds up, governments across the world see in the ‘built up environment' an opportunity to bring down greenhouse gas emission to address the crisis, says Mr Tony Arnel, Chairman, World Green Building Council....Read Full Story
The Commonwealth Games are nearly half way through but the 'green calculators' - to calculate the carbon footprint during the mega sporting event - are yet to come up at the Games Village and six sporting venues....Read Full Story
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has expressed hope that enactment of a new law would pave the way for raising "real" environment issues instead of land acquisition woes related to projects awaiting clearance....Read Full Story
The offloading of Pune’s garbage at Urali Devachi might be a cause for much angst among the villagers, but the dump has turned a surprisingly welcome sight for ornithologists....Read Full Story
A school dropout, 28-year-old Simarjeet Singh Aulakh from Punjab’s Faridkot district now gives lessons in beekeeping....Read Full Story
The Jamia Millia Islamia University Monday submitted a draft master plan on feasibility of rainwater harvesting for Gurgaon....Read Full Story
After ensuring the fact that the city has a functional solid waste management system in place, the municipal corporation is planning to have a construction and demolition waste recycling plant....Read Full Story
The state steel and mines department would accept most of the draft guidelines on joint ventures (JVs) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued recently by the Department of Mines, Government of India....Read Full Story
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Government of Punjab and Pubjab State Power Corporation on 07 October 2010 for setting up 2640 MW (4x660MW) coal based Thermal Power Project at Gidarbaha in the State of Pubjab....Read Full Story
Issue 29
September , 2010
And, perhaps, its Waterloo. With the Union ministry of environment and forests refusing to allow the company to mine bauxite in Orissa's Niyamgiri hill, the UK-based mining giant's troubles have multiplied....Read Full Story
Now, a 'green candle' that does not pollute. A Punjab-based company, the country's largest producer, processor and exporter of honey, will soon launch candles from bee wax, a byproduct for bee-keepers....Read Full Story
Pesticide industry body loses defamation case against CSE, twice
The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), a pesticide industry body, has twice lost the defamation case it filed against Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi....Read Full Story
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Friday banned use of old-style, energy intensive incandescent bulbs in offices across the state and ordered the use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to save power....Read Full Story
Chennai, Aug 20 (PTI) More than 120 tonnes of e-waste imported from various contries by different companies in violation of Customs Act and hazardous waste management rules have been seized at the port here....Read Full Story
In case of another approval being taken back because of environment issues, Indian authorities have overturned an approval given to Lafarge for setting up unit in North India....Read Full Story
Environment activists, rejoicing at the recent jolt to the Vedanta mining project in Orissa, seem to be on a collision course yet again with industry groups in the country....Read Full Story
The cost of keeping tigers alive in the wild is about $80m (£50m) per year, say conservationists - but only about $50m (£30m) per year is being pledged....Read Full Story
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has issued a show cause notice to the city’s Christian Medical College & Hospital regarding gross violations of the Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules of 1998...Read Full Story
Real estate development along Mumbai’s multi-billion-dollar coastline has got an immediate boost with the relaxation of the new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2010 notification....Read Full Story
According to a study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment on major honey brands, most of the top honey brands contain considerable quantity of antibiotics which may have serious effects on health....Read Full Story
The Government is studying the green tribunal order quashing clearance granted to French giant Lafarge promoted Rs 900-crore integrated cement plant in Himachal Pradesh,...Read Full Story
A fortnight after the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) served a show-cause notice on Vedanta Aluminium, asking why its existing one million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district in Orissa should not be closed down, the embattled company tod...Read Full Story
Issue 28
August , 2010
The oil leak from MSC Chitra could not have happened at a worse time. This is the breeding season for marine animals, and environmentalists fear that the spill may impact not only the breeding cycle, but also much more in the future if the oil contaminates the sediments...Read Full Story
Government assured Parliament that it would soon carry out a research on the effects of chemicals like oxytocin and copper sulphate on human health. These chemicals are being illegally used to ripen fruits and vegetables....Read Full Story
Even as the ‘Adi Amavasai' celebrations of Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple within the Kalakkad – Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) are going on, Collector M. Jayaraman visited the temple and inspected the surroundings on Tuesday evening and instructed the officials to strictly...Read Full Story
Regular use of paracetamol, the over-the-counter painkiller, can more than double the risk of developing asthma and serious allergies, findings of a new study claim....Read Full Story
The Centre has set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into cases of illegal mining of coal, iron ore and manganese across the country. The decision seems to be a fallout of the cases involving the controversial Reddy brothers in Karnataka and some multinational companie...Read Full Story
Should industrialisation be at the cost of environment? In the Dhaula area of Barnala, where the Trident group has factories, it seems the industrialists don’t care for environment and have an eye only on making money. The various units of the group are directly pumping...Read Full Story
The Government, for the first time, has accepted the guilt of Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Replying to a day-long debate on the subject, Home Minister P Chidambaram told Parliament: “I hope that 25 years later we can all look back with a deep sense of regret and guilt that we di...Read Full Story
The government on Tuesday assured the Rajya Sabha that fishermen who could not carry on with their vocation after the August 7 Mumbai oil spill would be given compensation after the impact on them was assessed....Read Full Story
We are all big consumers of electronics, from multiple cellphones to our big-screen television sets to the little computer that runs our car. But all of them have a life, at the end of which it becomes garbage, waste that goes into landfills, and then pollutes the earth...Read Full Story
The Centre has informed the Parliament that a group of ministers, among others, is looking at regulatory deficiencies regarding illegal mining in the country....Read Full Story
Though the city generates over 3,500 tonnes of waste daily, so far a comprehensive solution for management of solid waste has eluded policy-makers....Read Full Story
Issue 27
July , 2010
Mumbai: Cracking the whip on all those throwing plastic bags in drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined nearly 150 people and collected a fine of Rs1.32 lakh in a fortnight....Read Full Story
The Confederation of Indian Industry and the Andhra Pradesh Technology Development Corporation have come up with a strategy for solid waste management, perceived to be a major urban management issue needing funds and focus....Read Full Story
Environmentalists in the Capital have accused the Delhi Government of dragging its feet over the issue of managing hazardous waste as the city is yet to have a proper data bank of its scrap dealers, the amount of hazardous waste being generated and its proper disposal....Read Full Story
Police and local bodies will now have to ask devotees to remove clothes and ornaments from idols before immersing them into water bodies....Read Full Story
Next time you think of adorning your children with in-vogue costume jewellery, pause and think. These flamboyant, mix and match embellishments have been found to contain as much as six times more than the prescribed limit of lead, a potent neurotoxin capable of IQ defic...Read Full Story
India would be confronted with the threat of accumulation of E-waste in the coming years if necessary policy and regulations are not put in place to check its growth now, says a paper presented at the recently held 'Kerala Environment Congress-2010.'...Read Full Story
The country’s premier technology institutes, the IITs, have been roped in to help develop a plan for cleaning the Ganga. To implement the scheme, the Union environment ministry has signed an agreement with a consortium of seven IITs to prepare a comprehensive basin mana...Read Full Story
BATHINDA: After discovery of high levels of uranium in hair samples of a large number of mentally retarded children in Punjab’s Malwa region last year, another study suggests Punjab has become a hotspot of environmental toxicity of multiple types....Read Full Story
New Delhi: The herbal remedies for various diseases may boomerang if proper care is not taken in their application, caution medical experts....Read Full Story
As the planet warms, floods, storms, rising seas and drought will uproot millions of people, and with dire wider consequences. Barack Obama, collecting his Nobel peace prize, said that climate change “will fuel more conflict for decades”. He took the analysis not from e...Read Full Story
Residents living in the vicinity of three major landfills — Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur—in the city will get rid of the foul smell coming out from these sites soon....Read Full Story
Issue 26
June , 2010
Asserting that the UPA government was committed to cleaning up the Ganga, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 1, 2010 said no untreated waste and industrial effluents would flow into the river by 2020. “Under ‘Mission Clean Ganga', it would be ensured that by 2020 no ...Read Full Story
Millions of rupees were already spent in the past and investment of huge funds is currently being made to clean the national river Ganga.
But, not much positive change can be seen in the health of the river. Local authorities claim three dyeing and printing units that ...Read Full Story
Large number of children of Teja Rawela and Dona Nanka villages falling in the Jalalabad Assembly segment are exhibiting stunted growth. Young girls are facing premature greying and thinning of hair and the number of such kids is much larger than the normal population d...Read Full Story
First the bad news: More than half of 130 Indian cities being monitored for air pollution are at critically polluted levels. Now the good news: Air pollution in Indian cities has been proved to be reversible, with improvements in public transport or changing over to gre...Read Full Story
The newly elected Mayor has expressed apprehension about the three landfill sites of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as they are already full beyond their capacity. The Mayor, P.R. Sawhney, said the corporation was facing space crunch and did not have place for...Read Full Story
The city which produces 8,000 metric tons of e-waste each year, ranks third in the country when it comes to e-waste generation, thanks to the lack of re-cycling and treatment units.Mr Biswajit Mukherjee, senior law officer of West bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB),...Read Full Story
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) is not working to reduce pollution. Noted environmentalist and PPCB member for one year Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal stated this at a workshop on Religion and Environment organised here by Mahatma Gandhi State of Public Administr...Read Full Story
In a move that could cause concern, the telecom department has given the mobile operators six more months to self-certify that radiation from their towers meet the prescribed limits....Read Full Story
In a bid to have better outcome in biomedical waste management through upgraded technology, the Directorate Health Services (DHS) has gone into overdrive to have new biomedical waste management (BMW) facilities, one at Okhla and other at Nilothi in outer Delhi....Read Full Story
Issue 25
May , 2010
Concerned over the threat posed to the environment by e-waste generated in the State, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has launched a project ‘Crystal’ to bring waste treating companies together and help them in treatment of waste using state-of-the-a...Read Full Story
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board organised a radiation safety awareness programme for metal scrap dealers at Mayapuri here on May 6, 2010y.Sharing details of the operation carried out by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board experts to recov...Read Full Story
The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) has given clearance to a private waste management company to dispose 346 tonnes of toxic waste of the now-defunct Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)'s pesticide plant, officials said.Madhya Pradesh Waste Management Project...Read Full Story
The state government is keen to reduce its carbon footprint. The Environment Department has created a list of instructions that may soon become mandatory for all government offices. The list will be put up before the state cabinet for approval on Thursday. “We are commi...Read Full Story
On April 10, 2007, a uranium pipeline burst in Jaduguda, causing a spill of the fuel that keeps our nuclear energy schemes running. Further, adds Half Life, a report on radioactivity in India by environmental group Toxic Links, on August 16, 2008, another uranium pipe b...Read Full Story
A day after it emerged that the radioactive scrap that killed one and poisoned seven came from Delhi University, the central varsity got a showcause notice from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.The Board directed DU to stop nuclear radiation-related operations for two...Read Full Story
To walk through the squalor of Mayapuri, a grimy industrial area of hundreds of tiny scrap-metal shops, is to bear witness to the industrial detritus of the world: tons of rusted iron pipes, twisted steel poles, copper and other discarded metals from Europe, Russia, Jap...Read Full Story
The Delhi government will announce new, stricter guidelines for disposal of bio-medical waste by hospitals. The decision came after the recent incident of radioactive waste ending up in Mayapuri scrap market that claimed a life, and a recent Central Pollution Control Bo...Read Full Story
Issue 24
April , 2010
The tanneries in Ambur and Vaniyambadi regions have been given a deadline up to this month end to complete the installation of the reverse osmosis system for treating effluents through individual and common treatment plants. This was disclosed by district environment en...Read Full Story
A day after HT exposed how iron ore dust from West Singhbhum’s mines and crusher units was choking and killing locals, the Jharkhand government swung into action. “The government will shut down all polluting crushers and mining companies,” said Jharkhand Food and Civil ...Read Full Story
Painting a frightening picture of the extent of violation of children's rights in the mining areas across the country, HAQ, a child rights organisation, has said that the government must recognise that children are impacted by mining.“The impacts must be considered and ...Read Full Story
Member of the Ridge Management Board (RMB) on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has given no green clearance to Municipal Corporation of Delhi's plan to create a new garbage disposal dump at the abandoned Bhatti mines area in the Ridge area. Citing a 10-year-old stu...Read Full Story
The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India is planning a comprehensive audit of water pollution in India that would cover the extent and causes of pollution of lakes, rivers and ground water. The aim of the audit would be to identify critical issues and suggest soluti...Read Full Story
Vedanta Aluminium has violated forest conservation guidelines and failed to follow the Forest Rights Act in letter and in spirit at a proposed bauxite mine project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa, according to a report submitted by a three-member team to the Union Envi...Read Full Story
Every lease holder will have to rehabilitate and reclaim the area once mining ends in the Aravallis. The Haryana government has proposed an extensive rehabilitation plan in the Aravallis and a detailed proposal has been submitted before the special bench of the Supreme ...Read Full Story
Five people fell seriously ill after being exposed to some “radioactive material”, reportedly present in medical waste equipment at a scrap dealer’s shop in Mayapuri in west Delhi on Thursday night, police said.The skin of two persons reportedly turned completely black....Read Full Story
A multi-dimensional art project that looks to initiate the public display of art works begins in the Capital today. In Context: Public. Art.Ecology focuses on social interventions in the public sphere, with themes ranging from weather patterns and the effects of climate...Read Full Story
Sunscreen might protect your skin from UV rays but it is actually bad for your health as a new study has found that nano particles present in it are toxic. Researchers at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of University of Utah found evidence that sunscreens ...Read Full Story
Environment is an important aspect not only for the environmentalists but also for the common man, said Kailash Vijayvargiya, Science and Technology Minister. He was speaking during the inaugural session of two-day seminar organised in the Jehan Numa Palace, under the j...Read Full Story
As part of its 40th Anniversary, Earth Day is helping organize and support many programs throughout India....Read Full Story
The Mayapuri radiation incident has for the first time exposed the lack of control on the usage of radioactive material and raised fears whether the government is really standing guard against toxic radiation. This is because of the presence of Cobalt 60 and other highl...Read Full Story
Issue 23
March , 2010
In the 1850s, the Thames in London was so polluted and stinking that the Parliament had to be shifted away from the river, says Robert Oates, director of the Thames River Restoration Trust. A century and half on, the river is much cleaner and Britain, he says, is now in...Read Full Story
Sudden decline in IQ levels of children and unexplained retardation or hyperactivity among them can now be traced to unacceptably high levels of lead in their blood-sugar levels. In a significant study that could form basis of India’s first legislation on lead-free pain...Read Full Story
With the Ministry of Commerce according its principle approval to Rs 60 crore Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) for the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) at a meeting in Delhi today, the pollution woes of the area would be eased. Officials of the BB...Read Full Story
It was quite shocking to see a press report that almost 1500 tonnes of medical waste such as hypodermic needles, syringes, surgical masks gloves, dead bodies, human limbs and blood socked cottons dumped in Kodungaiyou load fill in Chennai. This steep rise in the toxic a...Read Full Story
With an aim to upgrade the sewage system of Allahabad, the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has sanctioned over Rs 315 crore project for this holy city. "The Empowered Steering Committee of the NGRBA, that met recently, has sanctioned a Rs 315.30 crore proje...Read Full Story
An ecological code for the Commonwealth Games was released on Wednesday, encapsulating a series of measures to be taken by the Delhi government as well as the Games organising committee to offset the carbon footprint left by the event.The Delhi 2010 Ecological Code was ...Read Full Story
With Delhi emerging as a leading hub of electronic waste dumping — according to estimates, Delhi dumps 12,000 tonnes of e-waste every day, next only to Mumbai — the Delhi government has finally woken up to the need for a clear mandate on e-waste disposal in the city. In...Read Full Story
We all know Yamuna water is not fit for bathing, let alone drinking. But the latest report from the Central Pollution Control Board, sure to raise a stink before the Commonwealth Games in the capital, says the river is so full of excreta that its water resembles that of...Read Full Story
Customs officials have seized about 500 tonnes of hazardous waste, which arrived at Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu from Greece and Reunion Island, a territory controlled by Greece and France. The hazardous waste in 20 containers was to be received in the name of a paper f...Read Full Story
Bio-medical waste is being dumped in the open in Noida district hospital. It is disposed of in the hospital compound and in front of the operation theatre gate. The waste includes injections, needles, blood-soaked dressings, cotton, bandages, etc. Though separate waste ...Read Full Story
Two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured the Parliament of “no-panic” on the food front, an alarming new report by the World Bank has shown that an increasing number of aquifers in India are reaching unsustainable levels of exploitation, endangering long-ter...Read Full Story
The Master Plan Delhi 2021 calls for environment assessment before any new project or upgradation of the extant infrastructure. However, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) hardly seem to care about it. Currently, the civic bod...Read Full Story
Researchers at IBM on Tuesday said that they have discovered a way to make an Earth-friendly plastic from plants that could replace petroleum-based products, which are tough on the environment. The breakthrough promises biodegradable plastics made in a way that saves on...Read Full Story
Issue 22
February , 2010
A warning that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to be retracted after the United Nations body that issued it admitted to a series of scientific blunders. Two years ago, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPC...Read Full Story
A week before the government is expected to lift a two-year ban on import of toys, a study has found that many toys sold in India contain an asthma-triggering chemical way above European limits. Content of phthalates — chemical used to soften plastic — is three to 160 t...Read Full Story
The pace at which Rajasthan is drawing groundwater for consumption has overtaken the pace at which it is replenished. At this rate, the state's groundwater table - its main source of water - will soon run dry, experts warn.In 140 of the state's 237 blocks, the water tab...Read Full Story
To make Delhi an environment-friendly city like London or New York, the city will get country's first noise polluting monitoring system and air polluting forecasting system before Commonwealth Games in October.“Both the systems synchronized into each other will be in pl...Read Full Story
The Centre has imposed temporary restrictions on new development projects in industrial clusters that score more than 70 points on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The restrictions on projects from...Read Full Story
The environment ministry has banned till August any new projects in 43 industrial hubs identified recently by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as "critically" polluted."The directives will remain in effect till August by which time the pollution watchdog along...Read Full Story
The campaign launched by civil society groups against the huge quantities of toxic waste being generated in India has forced the United Nations to send UN special reporters Okechukwu Ibeanu to get a first hand take on practices being followed here in New Delhi. Mr Ibean...Read Full Story
With the growth of the city’s IT sector, e-waste menace continues to plague the city. But the authorities are yet to come up with a solution for its disposal. Pune is one of the 10 Indian cities that generate large quantities of e-waste but it is yet to set up an e-wast...Read Full Story
As the negotiations for signing free trade agreements (FTAs) with trade partners such as Japan and the European Union (EU) gather momentum, so do concerns over environment and waste dumping.Experts fear the FTAs would facilitate trade of wastes from the developed econom...Read Full Story
Is Gangotri glacier receding at an alarming pace: shrunken by a kilometre in the past 30 years? That’s the question often debated by environmentalists and glacial experts. On Sunday, the question was once again thrown open to experts and media through a short documentar...Read Full Story
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has finally woken up to the plight of people staying in Khed and other villages in the vicinity. The board has issued closure orders to over two dozen chemical industries at the Lote Parshuram industrial estate after water ...Read Full Story
Accumulation of trash and extensive water pollution has curtailed the diving expeditions along state's only diving site, Grande Island, located off-port town of Vasco. The site, rich with algae and corals, is slowly getting chocked with garbage churned out from sea, whi...Read Full Story
Rivers, seas and other water bodies in urban India are going to waste, with untreated water flowing into them like never before.Nearly 90 per cent of the liquid sewage — 38,254 million litres — generated daily by cities that flows into streams, rivers and sea doesn’t me...Read Full Story
The former Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shobha Karandlaje, has launched a fresh struggle in her new role as an activist: she spearheads a campaign for a nationwide ban on endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide, used as an aerial spray on...Read Full Story
Despite the ban on discharge of industrial effluents into River Noyyal imposed by the Supreme Court, which came into force on (January 6), large quantities of coloured effluents were seen passing along its stretch in the city throughout the day . According to the Suprem...Read Full Story
The Centre has expressed confidence that by 2020 the polluted river Ganga would be cleaned and Rs. 15,000 crores will be spent on it.“The Union Government is confident of getting the holy Ganga river cleaned by 2020. Rs. 15,000 crores will be spent for this purpose unde...Read Full Story
Issue 21
January , 2010
Delhi may have become the first state in the country to finalise a city-specific 'Climate Change Action Plan', but one of the government's two proposals for notching up carbon credits — through a complete switch to CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) lights — has just lost i...Read Full Story
After the solid, bio-medical, industrial and agricultural waste, now it will be the e-waste that may pose a grave challenge to the pollution regulators in Gujarat in the coming days. The extensive use of computers and other electronic devices — in government and corpora...Read Full Story
The good news is Gurgaon has got its first aero aviation club offering fantasy flights (motorised paragliding) with paramotor trikes at the Aravali Hills. The flip side is it may have come at the cost of greenery.The hovering sound of the flying paramotor trikes in Rais...Read Full Story
In an initiative to make the Ganges pollution free, the city's municipal corporation has banned littering of pan masala pouches and polythene bags on the banks of the river .Mayor, Kanpur Nagar Nigam, Ravindra Patni said that those found violating the order would be fin...Read Full Story
While Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh believes glacier melting has little to do with climate change, expert Dr Shakeel Ramshoo has rung the alarm bells, saying the Valley’s biggest glacier, Kolahai, may disappear altogether. The convenor of the Climate Change Researc...Read Full Story
The amount of groundwater pumped out by Delhiites and others across northern India is highest in the world and is contributing as much as 5% to the total rise in as 5% to the total rise in sea levels. A new study using satellite data has found that the region — a swathe...Read Full Story
The developing world will suffer about 80% of the damage from climate change despite accounting for only around a third of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the World Bank said on Sunday. “The damage of climate change, about 75 to 80%, will be suffered by developing c...Read Full Story
By end of January this year Tamil Nadu government will put in place a policy specially to deal with the problem of e-waste . According to sources, if this happens, it will be the first State in the country to have such a policy. The move is a shot in the arm for e-waste...Read Full Story
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has asked cement units in the country to reduce their dependence on coal and turn towards the use of plastic waste to bridge the supply gap for coal....Read Full Story
As the owner of Landscape Development, a family-run company that has been around for three decades now, Dev Gujral gives plants on rent to some of the big multi-national companies and PSUs. This is part of the bigger business of landscaping, which is the core activity. ...Read Full Story
Chennai might soon turn home for patients of respiratory diseases and cancer, if there is nothing done about the unexplored area of health impacts due to hazardous disposal of e-waste in the city, warn medical experts.
Unexplored, yet an emerging problem are the heal...Read Full Story
Even as global leaders are busy negotiating for a solution on climate change, the problem of e-waste management continues to haunt the domestic industry. According to a report released by the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MATI) and German technic...Read Full Story
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will soon become the first government body in Delhi to auction its electronic waste. Fused bulbs, discarded computers, compact discs (CDs), floppy drives, keyboards, etc, will be collected from the civic body’s headquarters — the N...Read Full Story
There could be bad news for the Delhi government, which is bracing for next year's Commonwealth Games, as the Najafgarh drain basin in East Delhi has been being ranked eleventh in the country's highly polluted 88 industrial clusters.According to the report "Comprehensi...Read Full Story
In what is being described as the first such conservation step in Asia, more than 25 acres of land has been donated to the Karnataka forest department so that wild elephants can move freely through a dedicated corridor between two reserve forests. Wildlife Trust of Ind...Read Full Story
Corbett national park, India's best known tiger sanctuary, has allegedly become a hunting ground for party animals at the cost of real ones? A study commissioned by the Union tourism ministry on Corbett has found that 70% of the resorts around the park are venues for we...Read Full Story
India’s alleged eco-unfriendly and labour-unfriendly policies, particularly in shipbreaking activities in Gujarat and on e-waste disposal, are going to be probed from next week, when the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Okechukwu Ibeanu undertakes a fact-finding missi...Read Full Story
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to impose a ban on all types of plastic bags which are thinner than 50 microns. Going one step ahead to curb the menace, the civic body plans to include thermocol and metal plastic under the purview of the ban.Le...Read Full Story
Rivers, seas and other water bodies in urban India are going to waste, with untreated water flowing into them like never before.Nearly 90 per cent of the liquid sewage — 38,254 million litres — generated daily by cities that flows into streams, rivers and sea doesn’t me...Read Full Story
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board cracks down on chemical units .The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has its guns set on the chemical factories at the Lote Parshuram industrial area in Chiplun. These factories, which are blatantly violating environment prot...Read Full Story
Issue 20
December , 2009
No municipal, industrial waste will flow into Ganga by 2020 The government has decided that no untreated municipal sewage or
industrial effluent will be allowed to be released to river Ganga by 2020, environment minister Jairam Ramesh told the Lok Sabha on Nov 25, 2009...Read Full Story
All hazardous waste generating industries in Goa have been via a notice issued by the Goa State Pollution Control Board...Read Full Story
Chemical and bacteriological contamination has been found in drinking water samples in eight districts of Gujarat, a recent study by agovernment-aided body here has revealed....Read Full Story
Amateur nature photographer Kunal Deshpande was taken by surprise when he compared a photograph of the Sewri mudflat taken a week ago to a two-year-old picture on his computer screen. "There are too many gaps in the canvas. The flamingos are fewer in number," said the 2...Read Full Story
Paying condolences to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas leakage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh affirmed on Wednesday that his government's commitment to addressing all issues connected to the tragedy, including safe drinking water and expeditious clean-up of the site. ...Read Full Story
A new scheme proposed to clean the Yamuna is on a shaky ground even before it could take off. The project consultant, the Engineers India Limited ( EIL), had told the Delhi government while seeking approval that the fresh plan was similar to the one being followed succe...Read Full Story
Is it really time to think about our health and survival? Yes, the time has come where the things are either getting diminished or vanishing from this planet earth. Other than the terrorism and nuclear bombs, the biggest threat to the mankind is underway, which is the C...Read Full Story
The Dera Mandi forest area near Delhi’s southern Ridge would have remained a useless patch of land but for the fight against climate change. The Delhi government has marked these greens as a systematic earner of thousands of carbon credits, contributing to the global ef...Read Full Story
Delhi is going green, and not with envy! The city's green cover reached the 20.20% mark in 2007, the area under tree and forest cover having reached 299.58 sq km. The India State of Forest Report 2009 released by Forest Survey of India has also indicated that the city, ...Read Full Story
Just days after dead fish was found floating on the Sutlej and industrial pollution wreaking havoc in the state, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal today sought the release of Rs 302 crore from the Union Environment Ministry to control pollution in the Sutluj and Ghaggar riv...Read Full Story
With its new, more comprehensive solid waste management plan in place, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has said it will generate 28 mega watts (MW) of power from treated solid waste. The civic body has announced that it will implement two ambitious projects on ...Read Full Story
Just before starting his lecture on ‘Atmospheric Brown Clouds,’ Prof V. Ramanathan admits that people think he has come to dismantle Indian progress. The Director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, in a recen...Read Full Story
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Saturday today blamed the thick smog observed over the NCR region today to rising to polluted and urged the Centre to notify proposed new air quality standards at the earliest. Even as the government agencies maintained th...Read Full Story
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission has taken cognizance of the incident of death of thousands of fish in the Sutlej waters at Nangal. The commission has sought report in this regard from the state government, through the Chairman, Punjab State Pollution Control Bo...Read Full Story
Children’s toys carrying the Barbie and Disney logos have turned up with high levels of lead in them, according to a California-based advocacy group — a finding that may give consumers pause as they shop for the holiday season. The Center for Environmental Health tested...Read Full Story
Plastic bags are non bio-degradable. So when they are thrown away, they create a problem that lasts for many years. Municipal officials have regularly found and reported about how drains have been clogged with discarded plastic bags. They retard flow in sewage pipes and...Read Full Story
More than a billion people in Asia depend on Himalayan glaciers for water, but experts say they are melting at an alarming rate, threatening to bring drought to large swathes of the continent. Glaciers in the Himalayas, a 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) range that sweeps t...Read Full Story
The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) has issued directions to all nursing homes, clinics and hospitals , directing them to ensure that the storage time for bio-medical waste should be reduced to 24 hours. Instructions have been issued following the directio...Read Full Story
The Central Government is not proposing to ban the use of controversial insecticide endosulfan in the country, said Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held to inaugurate the pilot project for replantation ...Read Full Story
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the recession of Himalayan glaciers was part of the natural cyclical process which could be attributed to various reasons, including Climate Change. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said the melting of Arctic i...Read Full Story
Issue 19
November , 2009
The rich countries blame India and other developing nations for the world's rising emission levels...Read Full Story
The success registered in managing e-waste at educational institutions, apartments and private offices has now goaded an NGO associated with this programme to spread its reach....Read Full Story
A central team on Monday began a probe into allegations that a radioactive contaminated US ship has been anchored at the Alang coast in Gujarat even as NGOs demanded a CBI probe....Read Full Story
First the Delhi government went out of its way to promote the use of ‘energy efficient’ CFL bulbs...Read Full Story
The Supreme Court’s “conditional permission” for resumption of mining in the Aravalli region of Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana is cause for concern....Read Full Story
The national capital will have at least 100 'green buildings' in next three years with Delhi Government inking a pact with The Energy Research Institute (TERI) to implement the ambitious project....Read Full Story
The amount of groundwater pumped out by Delhiites and others across northern India is highest in the world and is contributing as much as 5% to the total rise in sea levels....Read Full Story
The government is changing its approach towards cleaning the Ganga....Read Full Story
Landfills are supposed to keep the city clean. Here, it is the other way round....Read Full Story
In an exercise to ensure zero-discharge in Buddha Nullah following directions of state government, municipal corporation (MC) and other authorities are now going to propose a three-point action plan to state...Read Full Story
Supreme Court has come down hard on industries polluting water bodies, applying the `polluters pay' principle against 150-odd dyeing units in Tirupur's garment export which had been discharging their waste in Noyyal river...Read Full Story
In a major exercise, all toys — whether manufactured in India or abroad — available in the domestic market will be screened for toxicity under the guidance of the ICMR by experts of the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, National Institute of N...Read Full Story
Issue 18
October , 2009
The annual bio-medical waste generation in the country is around 5.4 million tonnes, but only 29 per cent of the health care institutions in the country are taking measures for its safe disposal....Read Full Story
The chain smokers might have to face tough times in New Delhi as the Delhi government seems to have reached the next level of controlling air pollution in the city. The health department of Delhi government is gearing up to keep tabs on the indoor air quality of bars, c...Read Full Story
The already highly polluted Yamuna faces a fresh threat of toxic elements during Navaratra festival when religious articles are immersed in the river as the government has not so far earmarked separate enclosures for dumping the materials as directed by the Delhi High C...Read Full Story
India generates 150 million tonne of waste in a day and most of it is left in the landfills at the city outskirts leaving a stinking smell and vultures hovering over heaps of hazardous material....Read Full Story
President Barack Obama on Sep 22, 2009 warned time is running out to fight global warming but said the US was determined to act and that climate was the biggest issue in its ties with countries like India and China often blamed for the stalled talks....Read Full Story
Think again before opting for some fancy plastic footwear for these contain toxic materials harmful to health as well as environment, a study has claimed....Read Full Story
Belatedly though, the state pollution control board has taken an initiative to ensure cost-effective use of plastic waste for road surfacing to help find a lasting and workable solution to the problem of non-biodegradable waste disposal....Read Full Story
The New Delhi Municipal Committee’s reported plan to tie up with a private company to get electronic waste (e-waste) recycled and disposed of safely seems a well-conceived move aimed at tackling the health and environmental hazards posed by discarded modern gadgets....Read Full Story
Tuticorin port recently impounded containers allegedly carrying hazardous wastes, says /Shipping Gazette/, quoting the Malaysian news agency Bernama....Read Full Story
At a time when the vulture population has all but disappeared 99% of India's four crore vultures have died in the last three decades the sighting of around 200 bearded variety of the species in Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, comes as a ray of hope for wildlife enthusia...Read Full Story
While plans for a hosting a green Commonwealth Games are rife, the city’s main civic agency, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) doesn’t have a plan in place yet for clearing the garbage from the Games Village between October 3 and 14, the duration of the event. Th...Read Full Story
To create public awareness about the need for a pollution-free Yamuna, a musical show and human chain will be organized in New Delhi on Sep 7,2009....Read Full Story
Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh on Aug 4, 2009 said the government had identified 24 critically-polluted areas in the country and was trying to focus on these “critical environment hotspots”. These hotspots are Angul Talcher in Orissa, Ankleshwar in Gujar...Read Full Story
Issue 17
September , 2009
Two years of prodding by the Bombay high court appears to be showing results. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on Two years of prodding by the Bombay high court appears to be showing results....Read Full Story
Laughing gas or Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is the most abundant ozone depleting substance in the 21st century as the emissions of CFC (Chloro-Fluoro Carbon), another green house gas, has come down...Read Full Story
A giant Bhetki fish weighing 320 kg has been found floating in the Ganga....Read Full Story
Rather than dump your electronic waste (e-waste) in the garbage bin or sell it off to the scrap dealer, you will soon be able to dispose of it in an environment-friendly manner....Read Full Story
Mobile towers are posing a threat to honey bees in Kerala with electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers and cell phones having the potential to kill worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers...Read Full Story
The country’s per capita emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) will continue to be low until 2030-31, and it is estimated that the per capita emission in 2031 will be lower than per capita global emission of GHG in 2005...Read Full Story
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Council on Climate Change on Aug 24, 2009 approved “in principle” the National Mission on Efficiency which the PM said will enable about Rs 75,000 crore worth of transactions in energy efficiency...Read Full Story
In setting up the Bio-medical waste management plant in the City Beautiful, the city administration’s aspirations seems to have dashed if one goes by the expert’s opinion which says that the City Beautiful will be choked if the plant is set up...Read Full Story
Delhi will be producing 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases during next year’s Commonwealth Games scheduled from October 3 to 14....Read Full Story
The Centre has agreed to include Himachal Pradesh in the “national river conservation programme”....Read Full Story
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered the closure of illegal slaughterhouses and furnaces used in extraction of animal bone fat in Meerut city of Uttar Pradesh because the blood and animal waste flushed into open drains has started polluting drinkin...Read Full Story
At least 45% of the country's land is degraded, air pollution is on the rise in all cities while rare flora and fauna is diminishing at a rapid rate, according to the State of Environment Report India 2009....Read Full Story
Issue 16
August , 2009
After banning use of plastic bags by the shopkeepers, the Delhi Government is planning to impose a similar restriction on 100-bedded hospitals to eliminate plastic from their premises....Read Full Story
Increasing levels of air and water pollution continue to ring alarm bells for India. If the air quality in 85 Indian cities has deteriorated further in the last one year, the pollution load has increased on 139 different stretches of 37 major rivers in the last few year...Read Full Story
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi started its much talked about door-to-door garbage collection scheme on a trial basis in two city wards here in Delhi on July 20, 2009....Read Full Story
The 300 and odd bleaching factories in Erode closed indefinitely, demanding the state government not to insist them to erect Reverse Osmosis Plant (ROP)....Read Full Story
Fish once again swam to the surface in a desperate attempt to get air, near Kudiaghat, as levels of dissolved oxygen in the particular stretch of river plunged drastically sending officials of UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) into a tizzy on July 20, 2009....Read Full Story
Oil giant Exxon Mobil plans to announce today a $600-million investment to produce liquid transportation fuel from algae, The New York Times reported....Read Full Story
The State government will release a comprehensive e-security and e-waste policies in the current financial year, according to Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Information Technology Minister....Read Full Story
Issue 15
July , 2009
The Assurance Committee of Jammu and Kashmir legislature suggested stringent measures to check growth of "unlicensed and illegal" industrial units especially brick kilns and stone crushers which are causing environmental pollution in the valley....Read Full Story
It is developing a world-class international airport complex. It will now produce electricity from garbage. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company that has taken up the job of transforming Indira Gandhi International Airport...Read Full Story
Residents of Deonar (M-wards) are up in arms against the BMC for its decision to install a bio-medical waste treatment plant (BMWTP) in the area despite opposition from the local people and their 19 corporators....Read Full Story
Not in the mood to fine or book those violating the ban on using plastics in Delhi just yet, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee proposes to carry out a massive awareness drive giving Delhiites a chance to comply....Read Full Story
This summer, your complaints about vegetable adulteration may actually get addressed....Read Full Story
Large amounts of industrial pollutants being drained into the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) here have become a source of misery not only for local residents but also for those living downstream of the canal....Read Full Story
The E-Salvage project to dispose of 200 tons of electronic waste generated every month in the city is yet to see the light of day....Read Full Story
The Buddha Nullah seems to have become a major concern. Industrialists feel they have to face taunts due to a few unit owners who do not treat industrial effluents as prescribed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB)....Read Full Story
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has found 15 per cent of the Delhi’s water to be unfit for drinking....Read Full Story
Indian has banned the import of mobile phones without a unique international mobile equipment identify (IMEI) number....Read Full Story
As the energy conservation becomes a necessity, the incandescent lamps have paved way for CFLs, ‘the green bulb’ considering their longer life and least energy consumption....Read Full Story
While the government has banned the use of plastic bags in the city, other civic agencies seem to be flouting rules while allegedly issuing factory licences to such polluting units, including plastic bag manufacturers....Read Full Story
In view of the evident effect of human-induced climate change on the erratic and unpredictable Indian monsoon, the Greenpeace has stressed on adopting a National Renewable Energy Law to control the greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on the monsoon....Read Full Story
Toxic plastic bags may become a thing of the past if the Centre approves a proposal to make the production of eco-friendly biodegradable ‘green bags mandatory in the country....Read Full Story
The state seems rather serious about doing its bit for the environment....Read Full Story
Issue 14
June , 2009
Residents of various villages around Kuthambakkam, near Poonamallee, on May 27,
2009staged a demonstration against the proposal to set up compost yard, meant to handle waste generated in five local bodies, in Kuthambakkam....Read Full Story
The answer to Delhi’s water woes may lie in a previously untapped resource: the Yamuna floodplain. The river’s floodplain has the capacity to absorb at least half the volume of Yamuna and can help ease water woes for more than half the Capital’s populace, a committee of...Read Full Story
Residents of Jammu division will be relieved of the polythene problem as the manufacturing of polythene bags has been banned with the Jammu and Kashmir Non Bio-Degradable Material (Management, Handling and Disposal) Act 2007 coming into force from May 11....Read Full Story
Taking a lenient view on allowing construction in green areas, the government is likely to allow raising of double-storied structures in the 17 designated greenbelts in the state capital....Read Full Story
India, along with Bangladesh and Pakistan, figured at the United Nations International Maritime Organisation’s convention on ship recycling held in Hong Kong recently....Read Full Story
In 2003, Central Pollution Control Board gave Ahmedabad the ignominious tag of being the most polluted city in the country, with dangers label of lead and sulphur found in the air....Read Full Story
After creating its own action plan on climate change, Delhi is now set to get an institute dedicated to research and planning on issues
related to climate change....Read Full Story
The complete ban on plastic bags may be far from reality but the Delhi Government has claimed that it has largely succeeded in eliminating the hazardous material from the National capital....Read Full Story
The Maharashtra Government is formulating a policy for disposal of increasing amount of electronic waste (e-waste) in cities like Mumbai and Pune in a scientific manner, a senior official said...Read Full Story
If you feel dizzier in summer, there is a good reason for it. As the mercury mounts, a little-known summer pollutant comes to play, jeopardising public health. Ozone — not the atmospheric layer that protects us from ultraviolet radiation — but a hovering pollutant creat...Read Full Story
Non-judicious use of pesticides by farmers is leading to yearly crop losses exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore. It is also harming 20 per cent of the agrarian land, which have irrigation facilities, in terms of yield and fertility, according to a study by Associated Chambers of ...Read Full Story
The 16-member BMC standing committee and the civic administration are again at loggerheads after the committee called for a new round of bids for the project to close the Deonar dump....Read Full Story
After the district administration gave into public protests and scrapped a sponge iron plant project in Udanabad, it is now an NGO of Dhanbad that has joined the war against pollution caused by these units....Read Full Story
Issue 13
May , 2009
WHEN British consumers are compelled to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs from 2012, they will save up to 5m tons of carbon dioxide a year from being pumped into the atmosphere....Read Full Story
The Ministry of Environment and Forests on Friday told the Supreme court that it will
conduct a survey in six weeks to demarcate boundaries of various mining companies in
Anantpur mining region bordering Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh....Read Full Story
The state government has proposed to set up a Rs 3 crore garbage disposal system in Katra, the base camp of the Vaishno Devi shrine....Read Full Story
The Allahabad High court castigated Uttar Pradesh government for having failed to take adequate steps and release sufficient funds for controlling pollution in the river Ganga....Read Full Story
The construction and housing sector will get a tad greener by the end of the next year....Read Full Story
The Navsari Agriculture University (NAU) has undertaken a research project to study the impact of pollution on farming and agriculture in the industrial belt stretching from Bharuch to Vapi in South Gujarat....Read Full Story
Power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission is in favour of a fixed capital cost for renewable energy projects on the lines of thermal power projects, and a draft regulation for the same is likely to be notified within a week....Read Full Story
The Delhi airport extracts 5,000 kilolitres of water per day (KLD) from the ground though it does not have Central Ground Water Authority’s permission to draw this amount, pollution control panel officials said.In further violation, they said the Delhi International Air...Read Full Story
It was once the lifeline of the Bangladeshi capital. But the once mighty Buriganga river, which flows by Dhaka, is now one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh because of rampant dumping of industrial and human waste....Read Full Story
The waste management plan ofLucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) seems
to be taking off finally....Read Full Story
In a bid to ensure that all healthcare units comply with the rules related to disposal of bio-medical waste, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has initiated action against 230 erring establishments....Read Full Story
Instead of disposing of garbage and other waste material at a dumping ground, the municipal authorities here are directly throwing garbage into a nullah (stream) in Rajouri...Read Full Story
Issue 12
April , 2009
In a bid to conserve water, industries, residential areas, restaurants and government enterprises have geared up towards waste water management....Read Full Story
French brands using animal logos such as Lacoste and its crocodile are being asked to help save endangered species via a new international campaign titled "Save your logo"....Read Full Story
Danger to the whatever is left of the Aravali Hills has become a big issue....Read Full Story
In an effort to raise awareness about rising pollution in river Ganga, hundreds of students today formed a seven-kilometre long human chain through the ghats here on the occasion of World Water Day....Read Full Story
Corporates and NGOs have decided to come together to work on, and connect, two burning causes: the girl child and trees...Read Full Story
India's tiger count has dropped by at least 17 in the last 11 weeks since January 1...Read Full Story
Raising a strong objection to the Central Pollution Control Board’s failure to recommend a ban on asbestos in its latest report titled “Human health risk assessment studies in asbestos-based industries in India”, non-government organisation Ban Asbestos Network of India...Read Full Story
A covert campaign spreading misinformation has brought banned plastic bags back to the shops in several parts of the city. Local retailers appeared to be under the impression that the Delhi High Court has put a stay on the ban till March 19, which is the date of the hea...Read Full Story
Claiming that approximately 2 lakh rag pickers help dispose of almost 25 per cent of waste generated in Delhi—saving Rs 21.6 crore annually on segregation and transport—rag pickers are protesting the entry of private companies in solid waste management in Delhi...Read Full Story
Iceland is now the leading exporter of geothermal expertise to the rest of the world...Read Full Story
Litter-free roads may soon become a reality in the city. The Chennai Corporation is all set to kickstart source segregation of waste with the help of a private agency....Read Full Story
Delhi is slated to get four new biodiversity parks dedicated solely to the city’s original biodiversity....Read Full Story
From Satara and Pimpri-Chinchwad to Taloja near Thane, at least 1,200 kg of bio-medical waste from Pune is transported every day for over 140 km for disposal....Read Full Story
Taking serious note of the violation of the Punjab Plastic Carry Bags Control Act, the Rural Medical Services Association (RMSA), Punjab, has initiated a campaign against the manufacture and use of polythene bags in Punjab....Read Full Story
Issue 11
March , 2009
Demanding that the universally accepted concept of ‘polluter pays’ be applied to those who generate hazardous sludge at Karur, the affected farmers have demanded immediate remedial measures and a study to work out safe disposal of the sludge...Read Full Story
After trying it out in six colonies in the city, ITC Limited looks set to tie up with five corporations (three in Tamil Nadu and two in Kerala) to expand its Wealth Out of Waste programme, under which it pays for paper waste collected from houses....Read Full Story
The Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad on Friday considered several raids across the city and recovered huge quantities of used syringes and other medical wastes, suspected to be the reason behind the recent Hepatitis B outbreak....Read Full Story
Tropical trees have grown bigger over the past 40 years and now absorb 20% of fossil fuel emissions from the atmosphere....Read Full Story
Findings by Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., who compared the greenhouse gas emissions caused by producing and transporting various categories of food in the United States indicate "If you're looking across everyt...Read Full Story
New York wants to use the sun's power to provide clean drinking water for its nine million residents without adding more of the potentially harmful chlorine it uses as a disinfectant....Read Full Story
While the US scientists and their international counterparts are breaking their heads over how to control climate here is a whammy from NASA...Read Full Story
The Maraimalai Nagar municipality has served a notice to SRM university for letting out untreated biomedical waste in the open, polluting ground water in the surrounding residential areas....Read Full Story
The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) is firming up plans to implement a technology-based reporting system for gathering information of medical waste generated by hospitals and clinics across the state....Read Full Story
Bollywood biggies might disagree, but a vast majority of Indians (98 per cent) support the ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars, and an overwhelming 99 per cent favour enforcement of a smoke-free environment at the work place....Read Full Story
Constructed at a cost of Rs 26.59 crore, the Delhi Jal Board on Monday commissioned its first waste water recycling plant in Haiderpur....Read Full Story
Though the government has banned polythene bags in the city, it has not yet come up with a better environment-friendly alternative....Read Full Story
The Delhi government’s Irrigation and Flood Control Department (IFCD) is gearing up to do its own bit towards reducing pollution in the Yamuna....Read Full Story
Issue 10
February , 2009
The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and MP and Gujarat govts to resolve the issue relating to disposal of around 350 metric tonnes of hazardous toxic waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide India Ltd's plant in Bhopal. The uncertainty over the fate of the toxic w...Read Full Story
The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has stated in its additional report filed last week that it will treat the entire Aravalli range area as a prohibited zone for mining, barring specific locations, to ensure their environmental sustainability....Read Full Story
Walking along the long stretch of platforms along the Chausatti Ghat, on the way to famous Dashashwamedh Ghat in the city, one may come across a number of old buildings that are directly discharging their sewerage into the holy Ganga....Read Full Story
Inestimable efforts and huge sums of money have gone into resuscitation of the Yamuna, but the river within the limits of the city remains the “worst affected”. The river has again found mention in the list of the worst polluted ones drawn up by the Central Pollution Co...Read Full Story
With glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) posing a huge development challenge to the countries in the Himalayan belt, the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention yesterday said it would hold a special workshop to discuss the issue....Read Full Story
India may have banned import of Chinese toys till June, but children will continue to be exposed to risks of liver damage or disruption of mental health due to alarming levels of toxic lead and cadmium found in toys that are still being sold, experts maintain....Read Full Story
Facilities meant to convert solid waste into compost are being used as open dumping sites in the Tiruvottiyur and Manali municipalities. In Manali, a composting project involving self-help group members a few years ago was shelved “because no one came forward to purchas...Read Full Story
The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) on Feb 1, 2009 launched the country’s first carbon dioxide measurement exchange tower here in Lamachaur (Uttarakhand)...Read Full Story
Concerned that the notification banning the use of plastic bags in Delhi that came into effect this past month would not be able to cover the entire gamut of plastic use in the city, environmentalists have now demanded that the Government also look “into other non-biode...Read Full Story
Even as regular plastic bags have been banned in the Capital, the Delhi Government is all set to introduce a new kind of plastic bag: woven bags using old plastic....Read Full Story
The market for Chinese toys has landed itself in a spot of bother with the director general of foreign trade, Department of Commerce, stating that they were toxic. This was conveyed to the Bombay High Court on Thursday by the Central government. The import of these toys...Read Full Story
Rising sea levels are causing salt water to flow into the Ganga, threatening its ecosystem and turning vast farmlands barren, a climate change expert warned...Read Full Story
The UP Project Development Corporation (UPPDC) has been entrusted with the task of taking care of the Gomti. It was decided on Feb 2, 2009 that the agency would be carrying out the dredging operations in the river, the cost of which would be borne by Lucknow Development...Read Full Story
Issue 9
January , 2009
The world's worst man-made disaster - the Bhopal gas tragedy - occurred on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, and the Madhya Pradesh High Court had set a Jan 31, 2009, deadline to remove the poisonous waste from the plant site....Read Full Story
Facing flak for ordering destruction of bulbs worth nearly Rs 7 crore, collected in lieu of CFLs distributed across the state, the electricity board has finally withdrawn the controversial order....Read Full Story
MCD will launch the much-awaited door-to-door garbage collection scheme and waste disposal and recycling mechanism will be implemented in some parts of the city by March this year....Read Full Story
Toxic medical waste, including mangled human limbs and foetuses, discarded in a private agricultural farm at Thumbalapati village in Coimbatore district of western Tamil Nadu, sparking off a furor among local farmers. They caught three truck drivers and informed the Kom...Read Full Story
Endorsing the general concern on imported toys containing toxic and poisonous materials flooding the country, the Government has now taken measures to set stricter compliance standards for the toy manufacturers....Read Full Story
Faced with the recurring problem of contaminants released into the Yamuna by industries in Haryana, the Delhi Jal Board has decided to take up the issue with the Central Pollution Control Board and the Haryana Pollution Control Board . The water utility has in the past ...Read Full Story
Blanket ban on the use of polythene bags is no solution, rather such bans are a complete failure. This was stated by Hemant Goswami, chairperson, Burning Brain Society, during a seminar organized by the Panchkula chapter of the Indian Media Centre (IMC) in association w...Read Full Story
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) clean-up marshals could penalise only 73,655 litterbugs across the city in the last one year. The corporation had appointed 186 marshals to monitor cleanliness and penalise citizens who mess up the city. Though Rs2.4 crore ...Read Full Story
Sauntering through the villages and small towns, it is not uncommon to see smoke emanating from the tiny windows of houses with thatched roofs. In fact, the sight of women seated in front of traditional stoves and cooking for large families is an endearing scene in Indi...Read Full Story
The air pollution has touched dangerous levels in the National Capital Region (NCR) towns of Noida and Ghaziabad due to increasein vehicularraffic and industrial growth, officials said. The levels of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), comprising of gases such as sulphu...Read Full Story
A new study has revealed that performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, which adversely affects the environment....Read Full Story
Faced with various problems of garbage collection system and mushrooming of the sahaj safai kendras here, a meeting of the Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) under the banner of the Federation of Sector Welfare Association, was held at the Sector 21 community centre ...Read Full Story
Following High Court directive — Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), has beginning from today (Thursday) started inspection of hospitals, veterinary hospitals, dispensaries, pathological laboratories, nursing homes and blood banks to determine whether bio-medical...Read Full Story
Issue 8
January , 2008
Flagging the issue of waste management as a critical public health and environmental concern, organisations, experts and professionals from across India have urged that the issue of waste management should not be reduced to projection of waste as an economic resource at...Read Full Story
A global green labeling system, Better Environmental Sustainability Targets (BEST) certification for lead battery manufacturers was launched at the recent Auto Expo in New Delhi....Read Full Story
Delhi Government hospitals are on the fast track to eliminate toxic heavy metal mercury from the health- care system. After the latest meeting between medical superintendents of 30-odd hospitals and representatives of the health department, it was decided that hospitals...Read Full Story
As Delhi grew, pushing its limits to include new colonies and sub-cities, it sat on a huge pile of garbage. The city’s landfills could take no more trash and the government’s waste management strategy was clearly not working. That’s when a few colonies in Delhi decided ...Read Full Story
Issue 7
November , 2007
Toxics Link has released a pioneering study on the e-waste scenario in Kolkata, revealing that not only is the city fast joining other metros in e-waste generation, but is also emerging as a major centre for hazardous e-waste recycling in its residential areas that is b...Read Full Story
Toxics Link has welcomed the draft guidelines on electronic waste management announced by the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, but added its reservations over the lack of focus on creating systems and institution for management of wa...Read Full Story
It's not just the Left allies and the opposition BJP that are gunning for Congress for stalling and subverting the Forest Rights Act. Fissures are building within the party too on the issue. The environment ministry has received a letter from Congress general secretary ...Read Full Story
British mining giant Vedanta Resources' plan to operate a US$900 million refinery in eastern India hit a fresh obstacle on Friday when the Supreme Court set new conditions for the project....Read Full Story
A Toxics-Link and CNN-IBN investigation has found that branded toys, many claiming to be non-toxic, in fact, contain dangerous amounts of lead. The Special Investigation Team began the probe by randomly buying toys from across various toy stores in Delhi....Read Full Story
Issue 6
July , 2007
Delhi-based Toxics Link has urged the Indian Government to take a cue from the recent move against mercury by the European Union Parliament through a resolution seeking to ban trade of the heavy metal by 2010 and take some strong steps for replacement and phasing out of...Read Full Story
When global climate change seems to have drawn most of the attention on account of rising temperatures across the planet in the recent times, this World Environment Day, Toxics Link, called for an associated focus on the worsening challenge of electronic waste, partic...Read Full Story
Citizens of Delhi have been voicing concern over the damage that is being caused to the city trees and environment for the mega transport projects, like Metro and High Capacity Bus System. Tired of waiting on the sidelines, residents from some of the residential colonie...Read Full Story
Vegetables grown in semi-urban areas, which use industrial waste water for irrigation, have high levels of heavy metals such as lead, which is neurotoxic brain and cadmium, which can cause cancer, according to a new study by Indian and UK scientists....Read Full Story
Global consumers are increasingly becoming environmentally conscious and this is pushing the demand for organic and eco-friendly products, particularly textiles. Demand for organic cotton is accelerating with brands and retailers continuing responding to consumer choice...Read Full Story
The Union Government has urged the Supreme Court it to wind up its Green Bench on the ground that it has outlived its utility and is hurting the objective of preservation of forests.The Bench's orders on the basis of advice given by lay persons have contributed in accen...Read Full Story
Issue 5
May , 2007
The fact that close to 30,000 trees have been axed in the past few years for moderninsing and decongesting transport in the National Capital Region seems too much to be swallowed without any reasoning. The question that has been haunting people, who are faced with these...Read Full Story
Over 75 people, including scholars, students and staff, from University of Delhi have written to the Vice Chancellor Professor Deepak Pental, stating their deep concern over reports of 1,000 trees on the campus sports facility having been marked for felling to erect a r...Read Full Story
Close to 40 of JNU's faculty members have drawn Vice Chancellor B.B. Bhattacharya's attention to the fact that the development of campus for addressing the needs of the academic community should be carried out only by integerating a long-term perspective of the environm...Read Full Story
At a time when the National Capital is witnessing one the greatest assaults on its green cover in its history, a new study has revealed that the Delhiites draw half of their water quota from the groundwater. More concrete areas and fewer trees in and around colonies wou...Read Full Story
Environmental and health NGOs have welcomed the results of the 1st reading vote from the Environment and Public Health Committee of the European Parliament on the proposed regulation to ban EU mercury exports and ensure the safe storage of surplus mercury....Read Full Story
Jeevika, South Asia Livelihood Film Competition, is currently accepting entries for its annual documentary film festival. The event that showcases celluloid works on challenges of livelihood faced by urban and rural poor is scheduled from July 20-23, 2007 at India Habit...Read Full Story
Issue 4
March , 2007
A recent survey by an industry grouping has claimed that though the National Capital has the largest number of people engaged in the recycling of urban or municipal waste compared to all other metros, yet it is the worst in managing its trash and figures below Mumbai, C...Read Full Story
In a bid to counter the growing problem of municipal waste management in Mumbai and its inability to address this, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will float a tender seeking expression of interest by private firms for generating energy from waste....Read Full Story
The city of joy, Kolkata, is peaking a productivity figure that it isn't quite ready to handle. The city is generating 3,000 metric tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste and its only landfill, Dhapa, is overflowing.This has forced Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) to look...Read Full Story
In a grim reminder of the increasing environmental and health hazards in India's urban centres, a new study has revealed that Mumbai is not just the leading generator of electronic waste in the country, but also that the rate at which the commercial capital is throwing ...Read Full Story
A half-day workshop was organised in the National Capital's National Science Centre to observe the World Wetland Day on 2 February by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and The Energy Research Institute for highlighting their ecological importance, the threat they ...Read Full Story
Issue 3
February , 2007
Findings from a recent global study on mercury exposure reaffirms what scientific reports have shown conclusively over and over again, that even low-level exposure to mercury in the womb can damage metal growth in children....Read Full Story
India's Toxics Link joined a large number of non-governmental organisations to call upon Governments across the globe to place a ban on mercury exports in a bid to check increasing mercury pollution at the 24th United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Counc...Read Full Story
The death of a 47-year-old man who had worked for a Hindustan Lever thermometer factory for 18 years brought out hundreds of ex-employees, who had also been exposed to toxic mercury, to the streets in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu....Read Full Story
Dangerous levels of mercury have been found in the indoor air of two Delhi hospitals, indicating a persistent toxic exposure to the healthcare staff and those visiting these and similar facilities, according to a new study by Toxics Link, a Delhi-based environmental gro...Read Full Story
Scientists from 113 countries issued a landmark report stating that global warming is caused by humans and that hotter temperatures and increase in sea levels would continue for centuries no matter how much humans control their pollution....Read Full Story
The UN Development Programme and the UN Environment Programme have launched a joint Poverty and Environment Facility in Nairobi, Kenya with the aim of expanding the world body's environmental work around the world, especially in Africa and Asia....Read Full Story
Issue 2
January , 2007
A U.S. research claims that India's rice harvests have been declining since the 1980s owing to polluted clouds shrouding most of South Asia and in the process reducing sunlight and rainfall....Read Full Story
Stating that the three major challenges the planet faces are the availability of water, food, and energy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called upon those present at the recent 94th Indian Science Congress (ISC) to deliberate on these issues, adding that though we we do ...Read Full Story
The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Reserach (PGIMER) will soon undertake a nation-wide study, in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), to investigate the prevalence of respiratory diseases like asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstruc...Read Full Story
The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board says air pollution levels in Banglore from vehicular emissions may be stabilising in some parts, but the huge number of vehicles nullify this positive effect....Read Full Story
Issue 1
December , 2006
Electronic waste generation is on the rise across the country with the metro cities emerging as the centres for trade and recycling of this new age trash. A trip to the by-lanes Kolkata reveals that like Delhi and Mumbai, e-waste recycling is emerging as a highly profit...Read Full Story
In a rare gathering of diverse stakeholders, ranging from national and international non-governmental organisations to state pollution control body and software corporates, came together in Mumbai to not just blow the whistle on the emerging threat of e-waste but also t...Read Full Story
While most of the e-waste used to find its way into the Asian countries like China and India, tighter environmental regulations imposed by these countries have forced the developed world to look at Africa as the dumping ground. According to a study by the Basel Action N...Read Full Story
In a move that has been widely welcomed for its potential to make governance more participatory and facilitate dialogue within communities, the Government of India has allowed setting up of Community Radio Stations by non-profit organisations and educational institution...Read Full Story
The much hyped decline in Delhi's air pollution for the past five years or so may become a short-lived success. As a new research by the Centre for Science and Environment (C.S.E.) claims that the process has been reversed this winter, as the air pollution levels in th...Read Full Story
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