Study undertaken to determine pollution guidelines for underground metro stations

IIT-Delhi's civil engineering department has undertaken a study to help frame guidelines for air pollution in the underground metro railway stations in Delhi. Data will be collected at two metro stations—Chandni Chowk and Patel Chowk—for a year before it is analysed.

Revised draft national water policy restores priority to agriculture

The ministry of water resources has made public the revised draft National Water Policy (NWP) that will determine water allocation for different purposes in future. The revised draft, uploaded on the ministry website earlier this week, was prepared after taking into account numerous newspaper reports and more than 600 comments received before February-end, in response to the initial draft. The earlier draft had been severely criticised by civil society groups for giving priority to industrial needs over agriculture.

May of 2012 second warmest since 1880: US agency

The month of May this year was 0.66°C (1.19°F) warmer than the 20th century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F). That makes it the second warmest May since 1880, says the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The agency, which is a part of the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), published its findings in a report, titled State of the Climate: Global Analysis for May 2012.

When will Indian scientists unbolt?

At a recent gathering in Bengaluru, science journalists from around the country bemoaned that Indian scientists, professors and academicians are lousy communicators and criticised them for their general unwillingness to interact with journalists. The fact that their foreign counterparts, especially those from countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, always respond to us promptly makes this shortcoming all the more glaring.

Can the National Water Policy do away with priorities?

M Dinesh Kumar executive director Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy (IRAP)

National Water Policy, 2012 silent on priorities

The Union Ministry of Water Resources recently uploaded the draft of the new national water policy on its website, inviting comments and objections from the public. Water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the policy, under preparation since 2010, is being framed with a “participatory approach”.

More forest diversions likely in Singrauli

The Madhya Pradesh government envisions Singrauli district, a part of the coal belt it shares with Uttar Pradesh, as the Singapore of Central India. But protection of the environment in the region has taken a back seat because of the race between power companies to set up coal-based thermal power projects in the region. Despite recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to control pollution from coal-fired power plants, more and more forest areas are being opened up for open cast coal mines in Singrauli, says a report by a fact finding team of Greenpeace, an international non-profit.