The small big polluter

Mere plans

Interestingly, this unregulated and technically incompetent industry sector has been exclusively entrusted to manufacture items, which pollute the most in processes like the garments, leather tanning, dyeing and electroplating. "The economic logic behind this kind of reservation is a fraud," says Shreekant Gupta, reader, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.

Have technology, will survive

It is clear that small-scale industries (SSIs) can no longer afford to remain dirty and defiant. The same is true for the government. Not only is it a question of the livelihood of 20 million people but also about cleaning up India's environment, which again affects people. What is required is a shift in paradigm from pollution control and treatment to pollution prevention.

Penetrating evidence

For those immune to the known dangers of vehicular pollution, a new study comes up with a shocker. The study paints an even more scary picture of the losing battle fought by the lung's defence mechanism against air pollution. Genetic disruption and neurobehavioural problems are also part of the package. The study shows that whether on road or at home, there is no respite from the clutches of toxic fumes, especially of vehicular emissions. "Indicting any particular pollutant means targe-ting respirable suspended particulate matter," the study states.

When homemakers unite

Every once in a way, one comes across an instance that reestablishes faith in the tools of the establishment. Take the case of the Behala public interest litigation (pil), for example. About a hundred housewives from Behala, situated in the southern part of the city of Kolkata, approached the green bench of the High Court of Calcutta in February 1997.

Cruelty by royalty

Can peace be ensured by sacrificing animals? Nepal's King Gyanendra thought it could and in doing so invited the wrath of animal activists. After he offered animal sacrifices at temples in Guwahati and Kolkata, animal rights groups accused the royalty of violating wildlife laws. They said that the King had committed a crime and he should be punished. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, animal sacrifice is a crime punishable by five-year imprisonment in India.

Kolkata

The high-decibel revelry during festivals like Durga Puja and Diwali prompted the State Pollution Control Board and experts from the Kalyani University in 1993 to probe deeper into the harmful impact of noise.

Mumbai

The noise level around the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) head office often goes up to a high of 79 dB. Near King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEM), it touches 68 dB. The prescribed daytime norm is not more than 65 dB for a commercial area like the BMC, and 50 dB for a silent zone like a hospital. In 1985, the Anti Noise Pollution Committee (anpc), an association of medical consultants and other organizations concerned about noise pollution, filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court.

Alappuzha

In this small district of Kerala, P P Sumanan, a retired arts teacher, tormented day and night by loud noise emanating from religious institutions in his Kalarcode neighbourhood, approached the Principal Municipal Court of Kerala in 1981.

Kodaikanal

During the mid-80s, the sleepy town of Kodaikanal woke up to commercialisation and well, noise. Worried, locals, school principals and doctors of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kodaikanal branch, approached the police against the increasing noise levels. Disappointed with inaction, they complained to the Consumer Protection Association of Kodaikanal (CPAK), recently formed in 1993, to cater to public grievances. However, cpak lost this case in the Madras High Court in 1998, when the inspector of police proved in court that the area was noise free.