NOT IN MY BACKYARD - Solid Waste Mgmt in Indian Cities
The book is an attempt to highlight the present status of solid waste management in the country and what should be the way ahead.
Garbage is about recycling
It is time we accepted that each household and commercial establishment is a waste generator and so a potential polluter Last fortnight, I discussed the need to reinvent garbage management in our cities so that we can process waste and not “landfill” it. This, as I wrote, required households and institutions to segregate their waste at source so that it could be managed as a resource. It also means that we need to limit how much is dumped by imposing a tax on landfill. I want to follow up on this idea this fortnight.
Ganga needs water, not money
It was way back in 1986 that Rajiv Gandhi had launched the Ganga Action Plan. But years later, after much water (sewage) and money has flowed down the river, it is as bad as it could get. Why are we failing and what needs to be done differently to clean this and many other rivers?
Excreta does matter - A report: March 4-5, 2013
On World Water Day, we release the report of the Second Anil Agarwal Dialogue: Excreta Does Matter. This two-day meeting attempted to join the dots between improper and inadequate sewage treatment and India's growing water crisis. It brought together about 500 people from NGOs, private sector, academia and the government to present and debate the challenges of urban sewage treatment and water supply. Please click here for the full report.
The River needs water
The Yamuna River continues to attract bad press for being a sewage canal.
Kumbh: time to come clean
Maha Kumbh in Allahabad has perhaps no parallel in terms of the sheer size of the congregation. In less than two months over 100 million people are expected to come to this city, which sees the confluence of two rivers of India—the Ganga and the Yamuna. People come to worship on the banks of the Ganga. Even as they celebrate the river it seems they don’t see the river, but only the ritual.
The Kasaragod Declaration
A National Workshop to develop a Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Rebuilding Program for the Survivors and Rejuvenation of the Eco-systems in the Endosulfan affected areas of Kasaragod District, was held on July 21-22. The two day program, CONCORD 2012, was held under the chairmanship of P Karunakaran, MP and it was inaugurated by the Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy. Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment was the key note speaker on the occasion. Read more
The Kasaragod Declaration
We, the Participants of the National Workshop, that assembled under the Chairmanship of Sri P Karunakaran, MP and that was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of the Kerala State, Sri Oommen Chandy and consisted of the People's representatives and leaders, activists and members of social, cultural, health and environmental organisations, experts in various fields, the victims and survivors of the endosulfan induced tragedy, the District administration and
Disposal of Endosulfan begins in Kasaragod
KERALA has started disposing of expired stocks of endosulfan. A task force, chaired by deputy collector of Kasaragod district, started Operation Blossom Spring at a Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) godown in Kasaragod on June 17 Read more
Bhopal to Germany
Twenty-eight years after the lethal gas leak at Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the 350 tonnes of toxic waste lying at the defunct factory is likely to be airlifted to Germany for safe disposal. The disposal process, however, will start only after India’s Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules of 2008, which forbid export and import of hazardous waste, are amended. Read more
Why excreta matters
Water is life and sewage tells its life story. This is the subject of the Citizens’ Seventh Report on the State of India’s Environment, Excreta Matters: How urban India is soaking up water, polluting rivers and drowning in its own excreta. It has a seemingly simple plot: it only asks where Indian cities get their water from and where does their waste go. But this is not just a question or answer about water, pollution and waste. It is about the way Indian cities (and perhaps other parts of the world that are similarly placed) will develop.
High risk
Problem: Tall buildings risky in high seismic zones; Status: Hill-stations are getting concretised and growing vertically; Challenge: Use local construction material; regulate traffic
Let there be CFL
When the kerosene supply went down sharply in Nagpur four years ago, Bharat Parihar's business of renting out Petromax lamps to vegetable vendors began to look fragile.
Light on mercury
Regulations to check mercury pollution take backseat as Centre promotes fluorescent light
Process Package for Disposal of SEP Contents at UCIL, Bhopal, NEERI Report 1992
The Government of Madhya Pradesh proposes to utilise the land occupied by the erstwhile solar evaporation ponds (SEP) at Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), Bhopal.