Monday Feature: Green News and Media Roundup for Week 09, 2015
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 09 (starting February 23, 2015) 2015.
1. Delhi most polluted among 16 NCR cities: CPCB study
India’s top pollution monitoring body, the Central Pollution Control Board, has said in a report that Delhi has the most polluted air among 16 cities in the National Capital Region.
2. Study finds high level of toxic benzene in Delhi air
For Delhiites, there’s more bad news in the air.
3. Capital’s dust pollution chokes unprotected construction workers
Jitendra Kumar goes around in the dusty terrain of south Delhi’s Moti Bagh, where metro construction is progressing in full swing, supervising his subordinates as they go about their daily duty of mixing cement and setting the mortar.
4. After US, European Union diplomats in Delhi to get air purifiers
The European Union has directed its diplomats in Delhi to install air purifiers at home and office to reduce exposure to high air pollution levels.
5. US, Japan & German embassies contemplating reduction of tenure of diplomats due to Delhi’s poor air quality
Embassies of the United States, Japan and Germany are actively contemplating a reduction in the three-year standard tenure for their diplomatic staff posted in Delhi to two years because of concerns over poor air quality in the national capital.
6. NTPC says Badarpur plant doesn’t pollute
The 40-year-old Badarpur thermal station has repeatedly made news for being ‘inefficient’ and ‘polluting’.
7. Massive deforestation found in Yamuna floodplains, NGO demands action
A green area as big as 25 football fields in the Yamuna floodplains in northeast Delhi has been flattened in the last decade, an environment group has found, asking the government to take immediate action.
8. Rail budget gives green light for solar power, clean fuels
The Indian railways took a step towards becoming green on Thursday, with rail minister Suresh Prabhu announcing a slew of environmentally friendly measures — from the generation of 1,000 MW of solar power to running more trains on cleaner fuels like Compressed Natural Gas.
9. Government seeks ties with European nations on hazardous waste management
While India was “cleaner than other countries” in term of climate change impact at this stage of economy, there is concern over hazardous waste management and the country was looking for cooperation from European countries in the area.
10. River ghat project only on paper
The environmentalists who had criticized the Centre’s Rs 100-crore Budget proposal for development of river ghats are crying foul, saying these funds may not have been spent at all.
11. Biodiversity body awaits new head after cabinet panel rejects earlier choice
After months of uncertainty, the Cabinet’s Appointments Committee has rejected the selection of V Rajagopalan as chairman of the Chennai-based National Biodiversity Authority, forcing the Environment Ministry to restart the process of finding a suitable candidate for the job.
12. Underwater vision: Exploring the growing environmental hazards
Anybody who has dabbled in Greek mythology at any point in time will be familiar with Gaia, the creator and mother of Earth and the universe.
13. India’s tiger success story may be based on inaccurate census, says study
Reports that India’s tiger population has risen by a third in four years are based on an unreliable count method says a new Oxford study.
National Green Tribunal (NGT) Special
14. NGT flays DTC over report on inspection of buses
Delhi Transport Corporation has come under fire from National Green Tribunal after it failed to submit a compliance report on inspection of its buses by a team constituted by Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee.
15. Submit information on members of state pollution control boards: National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to submit detailed information about members and office bearers of all State Pollution Control Boards on their designation, experience and qualifications.
16. NGT to get Dadri wetland images in two weeks
The Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Lucknow, told the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday that it will produce remote images of Bil Akbarpur wetland in Dadri in two weeks.
17. River expert files report on Chandrabhaga River to NGT
A report filed by river expert Kalyan Rudra to the National Green Tribunal pointed to ‘total extinction of biodiversity’ in the Chandrabhaga River in Birbhum due to dumping of fly ash from the Bakreswar Thermal Power Project.
18. NGT seeks Railways, Corpn Reply on Open Defecation
The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday directed officials of the Southern Railways and the Corporation of Chennai to appear before it in connection with a petition seeking to abolish open defecation and urination in Chennai.
19. NGT team to inspect Pondy chemical unit
The principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi has constituted a team of experts to inspect Chemfab Alkalis Limited in the Union territory of Puducherry and submit a report within three weeks.
20. Environment ministry to explain stand on relaxation to linear projects, NGT stays order
The National Green Tribunal has taken a serious view of the environment ministry’s decision to allow developers of linear projects such as roads and transmission lines to fell trees in forest areas once the ministry gives an in-principle approval and before the final forest clearance is awarded.
Image by Ville Miettinen via Flickr over Creative Commons.
