Weekly Green News Update for Week 25 (June 15 to 21), 2015

national-conference-on-climate-change-delhi

Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Y.S. Chowdary at the inauguration of the 4th National Conference on Climate Change, in New Delhi on June 18, 2015.

Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 25 (between June 15 to June 21) 2015.

1. Delhi focus won’t work, pollution pervasive

Experts in the field of air pollution got together on Saturday to prepare a list of suggestions for mitigating pollution in the city and will submit it to the Delhi government.

2. Delhi Jal Board Constructing Rs. 127 Crore Pumping Station to Improve Sewage System

To improve the sewer system of a number of colonies in East Delhi, a sewage pumping station at a cost of Rs. 127 crore is being built by Delhi Jal Board.

3. Rat snake rescued from public toilet

An exceptionally large rat snake was rescued by the Wildlife SOS rapid response team after being found in a public toilet in Talkatora Stadium.

4. DDA blames Delhi Police for butchering green cover ‘as big as 12 football fields’ 

The Delhi Police have butchered a green swathe as big as a dozen adjoining football fields in north-east Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority has found in its initial report.

5. Arvind Kejriwal government moves to corner BS Bassi over green massacre

Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi is in the line of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s fire.

6. Delhi govt hikes security deposit for cutting trees

The Delhi government has increased the security deposit for cutting down trees and the compensation cost for the loss of greenery under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994.

7. Bus depots, train shed, villages could be forced to leave the Yamuna

Bus depots, the Delhi Transco office, DMRC casting yard, power plants and the Central Reserve Police Force and Police camps, DMRC depots at Shastri Park and the Yamuna bank that are coming in the flood plain may soon need to be relocated.

8. Yamuna floodplains: Panel against regularisation of several colonies

The principal committee constituted to examine delineation of boundaries along the Yamuna’s floodplains has recommended against the regularisation of several colonies in southeast, east and north Delhi that have been included in the list of 895 unauthorised colonies for regularisation.

9. Delhi Government launches bid to save the Capital’s trees

The Delhi government has decided to “substantially” increase the security deposit for cutting down a tree, a move that aims to deter mindless felling while also helping to fund replanting efforts in the hope of saving green spaces in the Capital.

10. Desilting Work Way Behind Schedule, Only 223 Of 1,014 Drains Cleared

Two weeks remain for the monsoon to reach Delhi but the public works department has desilted only 223 of the city’s 1,014 storm water drains so far.

11. National Green Tribunal orders industrial units to shut down

The National Green Tribunal has asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to shut 1,200 industrial units found to be spewing toxic waste into the Yamuna through rainwater drains without cleaning it up.

12. National Green Tribunal asks government to tackle pollution

The muck that is removed from the drains in your neighbourhood ahead of monsoon and dumped on the roadside is extremely toxic and poses serious health hazards, pollution watchdog has found.

13. NGT to hear plea on loading, unloading of goods on July 13

The National Green Tribunal has fixed July 13 for hearing the plea of Confederation of All India Traders seeking modification of ban order on loading and unloading of goods in the capital between 11 AM and 8 PM.

14. WCCB seeks timely report on wildlife offences

In a move to step up action against offences involving wildlife, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau as written to various agencies including CBI, paramilitary forces, customs and state police units, asking them to report all such crimes to it.

15. Experts to mull ways to improve Delhi’s air quality

About 150 air pollution experts from all over the country will attend a day-long meet on Saturday (June 20) to discuss ways to improve the national capital’s air quality, it was announced on Tuesday.

16. Let treated sewage into Najafgarh drain: NGT to Gurgaon

The National Green Tribunal has ordered the Haryana Urban Development Authority to complete the construction of a proposed sewage treatment plant in Gurgaon by March 2017, two years earlier than planned.

17. Delhi government fumes at DDA as officials say they have no spare land for bus depots or landfill sites

The Centre and the Delhi government are heading to another flashpoint, this time over two of Delhi’s most critical issues — public transport and waste management.

18. Campaign for free trees

Delhiites and activists who are concerned about the issue of environment have started a new campaign called ‘Tree Not for Free’.

19. Farmers evicted from Yamuna floodplains

For 43-year-old Yash Pal and his family of five, their daily income of Rs 400 has been crushed by bulldozers.

20. Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan to deploy youth volunteers to clean Ganga

The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan on Tuesday said it will deploy youth volunteers to help clean the Ganga river.

21. Govt mulling threefold hike in water cess

The environment ministry is mulling a threefold increase in cess on water consumption in a bid to check excess use of water by industrial units and encourage use of treated waste water.

22. Gir lions’ relocation to Madhya Pradesh faces hurdle

Will the Asiatic lion remain restricted to Gujarat’s Gir forest? Looks like that may be the case as the ministry of environment, forests and climate change has decided to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court about difficulties of relocating the animals from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh.

23. New Committee to Assess Hydro Projects on Ganga in Uttarakhand

The ministry of Environment and Forests has formed an 11 member committee to assess the cumulative impact of hydroelectric projects in upper reaches of River Ganga in Uttarakhand which had come under scrutiny after the June 2013 Uttarakhand floods.

24. Haryana govt opens mining at Aravallis, Yamuna river bed

Haryana government has decided to allow mining in selected locations of the Aravalli mountain range and river bed of Yamuna to facilitate builders and stakeholders involved in the construction sector.

25. Lingambudhi Lake to be conserved as biodiversity hotspot

The Lingambudhi Lake,a major bird habitat in the city, is set to see better days as the Forest Department proposes to develop it on the lines of the Karanji Nature Park and conserve it as a biodiversity hotspot

26. Traditional knowledge on biodiversity in Telangana being gathered

In the fledgling Telangana State, the aged are being approached to find out from them traditional knowledge pertaining to medical plants and the richness of the bio-diversity in the areas.

27. BHEL begins construction of biodigester toilets along Ganga

As part of its corporate social responsibility, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has begun construction of biodigester toilet clusters in Haridwar.

28. Most of world’s groundwater reserves depleted, Nasa satellite study finds

About one third of Earth’s largest groundwater reserves are being rapidly depleted by human consumption, according to a new study led by the University of California, Irvine.

29. Polar bears now eat Dolphins, thanks to global warming

Faced with a rapidly changing habitat, polar bears are adapting with a new entrée.

Shilpi Chakravarty

Shilpi Chakravarty is an environmental professional with a master's degree in environmental studies from the University of Delhi. She works to use her professional skills for making the planet a better place to live on.

One thought on “Weekly Green News Update for Week 25 (June 15 to 21), 2015

  1. Please also update about the teaching jobs (Environmental Science) advertised in various DU colleges.

    Thank you

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