Environment

The CDM Executive Board has approved two controversial Indian mega projects: a new coal fired power plant and a hydro power plant which had recently made headlines because of its non‐additionality and the harm reportedly caused to the local population. The CDM Executive Board once again ignored criticism of environmental integrity of coal projects by approving yet another supercritical coal project. The project is part of Reliance Power Ltd, owned by Anil Ambani. Over the next 10 years the plant...

Could the floods in Odisha that are still raging across the state been avoided? A team of journalists and social workers who toured around the Hirakud dam area argue that it certainly could have been. The floods in the region are being described as “man-made”. Far from controlling the floods, dams have only aggravated the situation. The dams were also allegedly allowed to be filled up to the brim in order to retain waters for a dry season so that they could supply power and water to resource...

The thermal power capacity in India which has already received environmental clearances or is in the clearance pipeline is far in excess of what is needed in the coming two decades. Data from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) analysed by the Pune-based Prayas Energy Group shows that the ministry has accorded environmental clearances to a large number of coal and gas-based power plants whose capacity totals 192,913 MW. Another 508,907 MW are at various stages in the environmental...

The villagers here are employed at the nearby mines as labourers. The daily wage fixed by the government is Rs 156, yet the contractor rarely pays them Rs 100. Anyone who raises the issue with either the contractor or company officials gets himself blacklisted from the roll. The village in question is Chilika Daad in Sonebhadra district of coal-rich Singrauli region in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. It stands out as a cruel example of people being displaced several times by different projects and...

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had fled Nagaland in May 1994 in the face of stiff opposition from both the people and militants. The oil exploration giant returned to the state a few years ago to resume operations, since a semblance of peace had apparently returned in the backdrop of the ongoing ceasefire between the insurgents and the Indian government. In March 1994, ONGC was served with an ultimatum by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) demanding a...

Tension prevails in the remote Saal Valley of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been turning a blind eye at repeated attacks on villagers protesting against the Hul hydropower project. All attacks have been allegedly carried out by goons hired by the Hyderabad-based Hul Hydro Power Private Limited (HHPPL). The attacks were carried out in the backdrop of the people of eight panchayats of Saal Valley, under the banner of the Saal Ghaati Bachao...

Over a third of Indian pharmacies continue to sell diclofenac to livestock farmers. Manufacture and sale of this drug for veterinary use has been banned in India since 2006, because of its toxicity to critically endangered vultures. Farmers are still illegally purchasing human diclofenac to treat their cattle. Diclofenac was held responsible for bringing three South Asian species of Gyps vultures to the brink of extinction. The population crash was first noted in the late 1990s. Nepal and...

South Africa has made a move that will not please rhino conservationists anywhere. It’s a move that may soon seek lifting of the global world ban on rhino horn trading, something that has been in place for 34 years. The Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa last month placed two advertisements on its tenders website to initiate a series of studies that could pave the way for a resumption of controlled rhino-horn trading. These are ostensibly meant to include a detailed assessment...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recalcitrant stand on the sharing of the Teesta river waters with Bangladesh has been widely criticised in that it has severely strained bilateral relations. In the bargain what has been sidelined has been the issue of the river itself. The cruel truth is that the last stretch of the Teesta river is under threat of disappearing underground — forever. The cascade of “run-of-the-river” dams being built on the Teesta and its tributaries require extensive...

It has been 15 years since Khajan Singh’s land went under water. A single crop earlier could have feed him and his family for two long years. But today, they are a victim of dire hunger and unmitigated malnutrition. Khajan is from Aanjanwada village of Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the 15 villages been affected in Alirajpur due to the submergence caused by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP). The only way to reach this community is by a boat from the nearest small town. SSP...