Weekly Green News Update for Week 31 (July 27 to Aug 2), 2015
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 31 (between July 27 to Aug 2) 2015.
1. 43.5 Per Cent School Children in Delhi Show Lung Function Reduction
A study to assess long term impact of air pollution on children showed lung function reduction in 43.5 per cent schoolchildren in Delhi, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
2. No quick solution to city water woes
There seems to be no immediate solution to Delhi’s water woes, particularly for the slum dwellers, as the city continues to grapple with inadequate infrastructure and insufficient availability of raw water supply.
3. Trial run of Pappankalan waste water treatment plant begins
Delhi Jal Board has started trial run of the 20 MGD Waste Water Treatment Plant at Pappankalan, which will benefit around nine lakh people apart from helping reduce pollution in the Yamuna river.
4. NGT issues notice to illegal nurseries on Yamuna floodplains
The National Green Tribunal today issued notice to around 3,000 illegal nurseries and private persons causing pollution on the floodplains of river Yamuna here.
5. Construction debris: NGT slams DMRC, others for shifting onus
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday rapped the Delhi Metro and civic authorities for shifting responsibility from one to the other over removal of construction debris in the national capital.
6. NGT notice to two treatment plants
The Lawrence Road and Okhla Common Effluent Treatment Plants were issued a showcause notice by the National Green Tribunal on Friday, asking them why an environmental compensation not be imposed on them for lack of upkeep and performance.
7. Following NGT Order, Residents To Pay A Minimum Of 100
The New Delhi Municipal Council has decided to charge residents ‘environmental compensation fee’ on directions of the National Green Tribunal.
8. ‘Delhi needs effective solid waste management’
Delhi Environment Minister Asim Ahmed Khan on Friday stressed the need for proper and effective management of solid waste which is consistently rising in the national capital due to increasing population.
9. Waste-to-power plant delayed, likely to start rolling in two months
It will be another two months before the Ghazipur waste-to-energy treatment plant, set up to provide a solution to the problem of garbage disposal, becomes operational.
10. AAP government to launch comprehensive plan to improve Delhi’s environment
The Aam Aadmi Party government will in August launch its first comprehensive, and high-octane ‘public programme’ to help clean up Delhi’s extremely toxic air that-as per a global study-kills 80 people a day.
11. HC to Delhi govt: How much money did you make from felling trees
Pulling up the counsel for the Delhi government for failing to file details on the number of trees felled in the city in the last 10 years and the revenue generated by granting permission for cutting down trees, the high court on Wednesday directed the forest department to submit its affidavit within one week.
12. Missed deadlines take Yamuna to its deathbed
The National Green Tribunal in January this year raised hopes of Yamuna’s revival when it ordered authorities to execute a comprehensive clean-up programme.
13. Steps need to be taken to control particulate matter in air: Delhi HC
Delhi High Court Wednesday expressed serious concern over high levels of particulate matters in the air affecting the health of the people in the national capital and directed the city government to take steps to check unregulated building activities and plant trees.
14. ‘Neither Jayanthi Nor Jairam Did Anything, Javadekar Will’
Even on a rain soaked holiday, environment minister Prakash Javadekar sat in his expansive bungalow clearing files.
15. Environment ministry seeks report on coal mines
The environment ministry has asked the coal ministry to provide efficiency details of coal mines across the country in the wake of the government facing criticism for diverting forest land for mining and underutilization of existing mines.
16. NGT slaps Rs 15 lakh penalty on sarpanch for felling trees
The National Green Tribunal has slapped a penalty of Rs. 15 lakh on a former sarpanch and a gram sevak for felling 3000 trees in the forest area of a village.
17. Can’t maintain Yamuna flow, Haryana tells NGT
The Haryana government on Tuesday informed the National Green Tribunal that it won’t be able to maintain a continuous flow of at least 10 cumecs of water at Hathnikund barrage on the Yamuna during the lean season.
18. Government expects river Ganga to be clean by 2020
Cleaning of river Ganga is expected to be completed by 2020, by which time desired results of initiatives taken up for the purpose will be visible, the government has said.
19. ‘Tree Fern’ faces extinction threat due to mining in C’garh
‘Tree Fern’, a rare plant species found in Bailadila hills of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, is facing the threat of extinction owing to mining activities in the area, environment experts have warned.
20. ‘Carbon sink’ detected underneath world’s deserts
The world’s deserts may be storing some of the climate-changing carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, according to a new study which found that massive aquifers underneath deserts could hold more carbon than all the plants on land.
