Environmental News and Media Roundup for Week 26, 2013

Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for Week 26 (starting June 24,  2013) 2013.

1. Delhi: residents approach green tribunal to save trees

Fed up with non-responsive authorities, a bunch of alert residents on Wednesday approached the National Green Tribunal to save about 2,500 trees from being felled for an elevated road in north Delhi.

2. NGO protests concretisation around Ghaziabad trees

A voluntary organization launched a protest here on Sunday against concretisation of areas around trees along streets and in residential areas, and claimed this would cause serious ecological imbalance.

3. Experts slam Jal Board’s water testing parametres

Water and health experts have raised doubts about Delhi Jal Board’s  claim of supplying pure water, when it is carrying out quality tests for less than required parametres for samples from its distribution network.

4. Hauz Rani village cries for clean drinking water

When four-year-old Sanjana from NCERT Colony died after allegedly drinking contaminated water earlier this week, it was sort of déjà vu for one Abdul Qadir, a resident of neighbouring Hauz Rani area.

5. Rickshaws join the garbage fleet

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s garbage disposal fleet is getting more ‘innovative’ with the addition of the smallest wheels available – rickshaws.

6. Cabinet relaxes green nod norms for highway projects

In a major relief to highway widening projects, the Cabinet on Thursday allowed exemption of environmental clearance requirement for stretches up to 100 km in length. Earlier, this was for stretches up to 30 km, as a result of which most expansion projects required green nod from the environment ministry.

7. Check rampant construction, tourism to prevent Himalayan tragedies: Experts

While thousands have suffered the fury of floods in Uttarakhand, experts say worse tragedies may strike the region unless the rampant violation of the Himalayan state’s sensitive ecology is checked.

8. Manmohan Singh’s speed clearance plan kicks off

Under attack for its poor project implementation track record, the government plans to remove environmental and coal-related hurdles for large projects on a weekly basis.

9. Uttarakhand: Did green norm violations lead to massive destruction?

After the Uttarakhand disaster, questions are now being asked about the repeated violations of environmental norms. In fact the Ministry of Environment and Forest has made adverse observations about several projects in the state. Experts say in some cases every rule in the book was ignored.

10. Urgently review Uttarakhand’s environment policy: Karan Singh

Talking of the “extensive deforestation” in the Himalayas, Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh said on Friday that a review of Uttarakhand’s environment policy was immediately needed.

11.  Australia extends help to check pollution in Ganga river

To save Ganga from industrial pollution, the Victorian government in Australia is preparing an eco-friendly business model for tanneries, which discharge effluents into the river.