Environmental News and Media Roundup for Week 12, 2013
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for Week 12 (starting March 18, 2013) 2013.
1. Carcinogens in groundwater in areas near Najafgarh drain
The groundwater table near the Najafgarh drain has been contaminated with metals such as the cancer-inducing lead, and cadmium apart from other health hazards such as arsenic, nitrate, manganese and iron.
2. Pushed to wall, govt may extend Re 1 power subsidy
Cornered by Resident Welfare Associations and the Opposition, the government is likely to announce a subsidy of Rs. 1 for domestic consumers.
3. Delhi govt goofs up on World Sparrow Day
Sparrows have become so rare in the capital that it seems not even Delhi’s environment department can identify it correctly.
4. Environment is Delhi’s Achilles heel
Having scored high on the scale of affluence, environment remained Delhi’s achilles heel, says the economic survey of Delhi for 2012-13. The pollution levels in Delhi rose consistently while the forest cover went down.
5. Focus on garbage, Yamuna pollution
In her budget speech on Thursday, chief minister Sheila Dikshit admitted that disposal of solid waste had become a major issue, with huge landfills causing air and groundwater pollution.
6. Delhi joins the world to celebrate Earth Hour
Delhi joined many cities across the globe to observe Earth Hour on Saturday with its important monuments such as India Gate, Qutab Minar and Humayun’s Tomb along with government buildings switching off lights at 8-30 p.m. for an hour.
7. Three-month plan to revive water bodies
The Delhi government has prepared a three-month action plan for the revival of water bodies in the Capital, which have been dying a slow death because of neglect.
8. Need to check gases at landfills: study
An exhaustive study supported by the Union ministry of environment and forests has shown that there is no mechanism for trapping harmful gases being released at a landfill in Okhla and preventing mixing of toxins with groundwater and drains.
9. Wanted an eco-friendly, green disposal system
Delhi’s green watchdog, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, has warned of a critical environmental crisis if the Capital cannot manage its municipal waste properly.
10. Kejriwal begins his ‘civil disobedience movement’
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday started his indefinite fast against inflated power and electricity bills from a house in Sundar Nagri, a low-income group resettlement colony in North-East Delhi.
