Monday Feature: Green News and Media Roundup for Week 12, 2012
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 12 (starting March 19, 2012) 2012.
1. 14,300 trees likely to be felled for Delhi Metro’s 3rd phase
Nearly 14,300 trees are likely to be felled during the construction work of Delhi Metro’s third phase. The “Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has submitted a tentative proposal indicating removal of 14,298 trees for construction of following of metro lines in Phase-III,” Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha today.
2. Are house sparrows being driven away?
Sparrows are seen as a mascot for ecological conservation but birdwatchers are worried that adverse environmental factors such as shrinking habitat may be driving them into hiding.
3. What is BRT without timely, safe buses?
Five years ago, Delhi government came up with a globally-tested solution to the capital’s transport woes. Bus Rapid Transport system did not require constructing overhead tracks or underground tunnels. So the capital cost involved was low and a speedy rollout in sight. The project, however, took off, uprooting hundreds of trees along one of the Capital’s most pleasant roads, and barricading a long signal-free stretch to New Delhi.
4. Councillors’ clean up act fails to amuse locals
It is a case of too little, too late. For five years, residents of Dwarka have lived with stinking heaps of garbage lying on roadsides and under flyovers, waiting for authorities to take notice. It is, however, only now — a time when the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections are just a month away — that sanitation workers have begun sweeping the roads meticulously for hours. But Dwarka residents are not amused.
5. Mobile tower companies go green
On March 14, Indus Towers, the world’s largest telecom-tower company, said it would replace diesel generators with batteries on 20,000 of its 1,10,000 towers by next year with the objective of reducing its carbon footprint.
6. Bil Akbarpur wetland issue under Environment Ministry scanner
The sale of Dadri wetlands, home to several wildlife species, in Greater NOIDA to a private builder has come under the Environment Ministry scanner for flouting environmental laws.
7. Earth Care to fete South Asia’s green heroes
The South Asian sub-continent faces the worst brunt of climate change in years to come, scientists of the UN’s Inter-governmental panel on climate change have warned. The sub-continent faces a challenge that it can only surmount acting in cohesion.
All the water that will ever be, is, right now. A simple statement, yet so often forgotten. With the 340 million people living in cities across India expected to double by 2030, water use and waste discharge are expected to explode. Forcible ‘re-allocation’ of water between urban and rural areas is already causing serious conflict. To prevent these from escalating, we need to manage water use in our cities better.
9. World Water Day: City asked to use water judiciously
With the fate of Renuka Dam hanging in balance, water experts have finally started declaring that Delhi has to become self sufficient and instead of augmenting its supply, needs to manage its demand. On the occasion of World Water Day, Delhi Jal Board and The Times of India organized a seminar on water conservation, ‘Be Water Wise’.
10. Dry leaves make officials worry
The MCD’s sanitation department has stumbled upon a peculiar problem. Disposing of dry leaves scattered across the city has become a big headache for the department.
