Audit of reluctance

The ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has decided to postpone from May 15 to September 30 the date for industries to submit their first environmental audit. This corresponds to the date by which companies are expected to file annual reports.

Supreme Court orders incineration of Bhopal's toxic waste at non-functional treatment facility in Dhar district

The Supreme court has ordered the disposal of the toxic waste lying in the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal at the Pithampur waste treatment storage and disposal facility (TSDF) in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. But the facility, located 200 km from Bhopal, is yet to be made operational.

MoEF drags feet over law for safe disposal of CFLs

Anyone who has tried to return used compact fluorescent bulbs or lamps (CFLs) so that they are disposed safely, knows the task is next to impossible. Disposal of CFLs is a major environmental concern because these bulbs contain mercury, a neurotoxin, which can damage the brain and cause behavioural disorders. But there is no law yet in India to ensure the safe disposal of CFLs, though it was supposed to be in place beginning 2012.

Centre for incinerating toxic Bhopal waste in Navi Mumbai

After losing battle to environmentalists against incineration of toxic waste from Union Carbide factory in Bhopal at Nagpur, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has now turned its attention to Navi Mumbai. It has written to Mumbai Waste Management Limited, a waste management company, to incinerate the waste lying in the factory since past 26 years there.

Cash clogged

Industry sets the rules to dispose of CFLs safely

Gentle on critical pollution

Over a year ago, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) undertook an exercise to assess pollution levels in some of the highly polluted industrial areas of India. It then released a list of 43 most polluted areas, terming them critically polluted, and imposed a moratorium on their expansion. The aim of the whole effort was to identify areas that required urgent intervention and pollution abatement measures. The exercise proved futile as these areas remain highly polluted and have brought no change in the lives of people living near them.

Deafening Noise

Ask Priyabrata Kanjilal, a grocery store owner in one of the bylanes of south Kolkata, for a Vim washing bar. Chances are he will produce an egg (dim in Bengali), for he cannot distinguish between the two words. Twenty years at the store has taken a toll on his hearing ability. During his eight hours at the store it’s not the good old radio that he listens to, but the steady groan of traffic on the 4.5-metre alley. Impatient honks and noise of trucks, buses, autorickshaws, cars and bikes are a constant. The 50-year-old is also a captive listener of the many religious, social and political processions that often pass through the road, all expressing their emotions through blaring loudspeakers.

Home truths

Modern houses are suffused with harmful chemicals. One of them is lead, present in paints. It is banned in several countries but not in India. The Centre for Science and Environment tested popular paints in India for lead content. It found 72 per cent of the samples had lead much higher than the voluntary limit specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Only the Dulux brand of ICI was lead-free; Asian Paints cleaned up later.

Too hot to handle

India has tightened guidelines for storage of toxic industrial waste. But is it enough? A fire at Ankleshwar forced India to rethink how it handles hazardous waste. Drums carrying dangerous industrial sludge flew amid leaping flames and burst in the air at a waste storage at the industrial complex in Bharuch district of Gujarat on April 3 last year. Ash fell all around. People in nearby villages were told to evacuate; many suffered coughing, headache, nausea and burning sensation in the nose and throat.