Delhi

On June 7, 2000, the Delhi Jal Board and the Municipal Corporation announcement that they would create 150 ponds for rainwater harvesting. TAPAS, a non-governmental organisation, approached the Delhi High Court on June 22, 2000, to force government authorities to improve water availability and quality in the national capital. It sought restoration of neglected lakes and depressions in the city as well as the implementation of the announcement made by the authorities. On May 31, 2001, the court asked for a joint survey to identify Delhi’s waterbodies. It issued notices to the Union ministry of urban development to amend building bylaws and issue fresh notifications on rainwater harvesting. The court directed various government bodies to come up with a plan to relocate those buildings that had encroached on waterbodies.

Hyderabad

The Andhra Pradesh High Court is hearing three different public interest petitions to protect the Hussainsagar lake. One seeks to prevent construction on or around the lake or its catchment area. Another aims to prevent heavy siltation due to annual immersion of idols in the lake during religious occasions.

Bhimtal

The lake region of the Kumaon Himalaya — including Nainital, Sattal, Bhimtal and Naukuchiatal — has paid a steep price for being a tourist hotspot. The rich but fragile ecosystem of the region — more than 60 per cent of the region is under forest or lakes — has been facing several environmental problems for the past 25 years: a falling water table, drying up of streams, degradation of the lakes’ catchment, heavy siltation and pollution due to drains garbage entering the streams, among others.

Surajkund

In a landmark judgement on October 5, 1996, the Supreme Court (SC) directed that “no construction of any type shall be permitted now onwards within 5 km radius of the Badkal lake and Surajkund” lake in Haryana. This was in response to a public interest petition by lawyer M C Mehta, who sought protection of the lakes from pollution caused by mining and stone crushing operations in the lakes’ catchment area.

Kolkata

Since 1980, the Howarh Gantantrik Nagarik Samiti (HGNS) has been trying to raise awareness about civic problems in Howarh area of Kolkata. It filed almost a dozen public interest petitions in the Calcutta High Court between 1982-1995.

Change is for the obdurate

I never thought I would be writing an article about airports. But I am provoked to repeat what we know and to say what would not be said often in connection with the sorry state of our public spaces.

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.