We generally take toys for granted but this may no longer be the case atleast not if we are concerned about the health of our young children.
On October 1, 2008, Pali - a textile town in Rajasthan near Jodhpur - witnessed a unique jan sabha (public meeting) wherein the farmers, industry and the government sat together to discuss the solutions to deal with a long pending issue of pollution in the rivers Bandi and Luni.
River Ganga is now a ‘national’ river. The Prime minister of India announced this on November 4, 2008 after a meeting, with the ministers for water resources, environment and forests and urban development, to discuss how to bring the river back to life. Though a very important step, it is too early to predict what this ‘national status’ would actually mean to India’s most revered river and its people.
CSE has closely scrutinised the detailed project report of the interceptor plan prepared by the consultants appointed by the Delhi Jal Board and found this hardware plan to be a complete waste of money. The river will remain dead despite the massive investments planned during 2009-2012.
With growing urbanisation and industralisation India faces the challenge of providing clean and safe drinking water to all citizens. In the name of economic growth most rivers and streams are turning into sewers. As more and more rivers are getting polluted, the municipalities are finding it difficult to treat river water to safe levels and supply it to citizens.
It is 25 years of the Bhopal gas disaster—the night when chemicals spewed out of the Union Carbide factory to kill and maim thousands over generations.
Kanpur, December 17, 2009: Efforts to reduce air pollution in Kanpur are in danger of being wasted, as pollution levels are once again creeping up in the city: says a latest analysis of recent air quality data done by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation.
One often finds unsuspecting people buying bottled water or packaged drinking water thinking its safe. Well think again. As the Centre for Science and Environment laboratory report found after analysing bottled water samples from Mumbai and Delhi these products can be far more lethal than one can imagine. The samples contained a deadly cocktail of pesticide residues. What is worse most of the samples contained as many as five different pesticide residues, in levels far exceeding the standards specified as safe for drinking water.