This is a story of justice denied.
On February 13, 1996, the Supreme Court, the highest seat of justice in the country, ruled that five units of a particular company, producing toxic chemicals in Bichhri village in Rajasthan's Udaipur district, be shut down. In reality, the main errant units had already been closed for the last five years...people's protests and NGO action had forced them to scoot. But not before they had completely poisoned the aquifer. Today, there is no drinking water from natural sources for either the humans or the animals of Bichhri. Agriculture has touched rock bottom. Every monsoon, rainwater rushes over the sludge, and more toxic chemicals seep into the aquifer. The water has become carcinogenic. The villagers had been waiting for the last seven years for compensation. But none is coming forth...the Court has told them that they will have to file writs once again in local courts. There is confusion. There is also anger. And there seems to be no one, anywhere, to turn to. Meanwhile, the same company has shifted base and is merrily doing an encore in Vapi, Gujarat, arrogantly confident that no one can touch it
In the current election, campaign, mainstream parties were once
again caught napping on their environmental commitments, spurring a
novel people's protest
A Supreme Court ruling to install waste incinerators in India is under a scathing attack from environmental activists
Russia's forests receive a shot in
the arm following a recent international decision to protect them
from logging
The Vedas have hit cyberspace, and a modern institute, which follows an ancient system of imparting knowledge, is India's answer to the myriad systems 'on, the world wide web
Denying education to women may erode fundamental human solidarity, affecting social cohesion, says a United Nations report
'Welcome to tomorrow' seems to be ARTHUR C CLARKE's motto in life. He was the first to hit upon the notion of global broadcasting networks using communication satellites (coms...
A team of British specialists in population ecology have made a breakthrough in the collection of rare data on some endangered animals by developing the technique of DNA fingerprinting
The Darwinian theory on biodiversity which advocates the planting of more species of grass to achieve higher yields, has been upheld by a recent study
conducted in the US. Indeed, the well being of the ecosystem hinges on the vicissitude displayed by its components
The establishment of a research station called the Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) marks Denmark's maiden effort to study climate change. ZERO hopes to provide valuable information on the region's ecology apart from being of service to the world scientific community
The Mercedes-Benz has developed biofilters to eliminate the bad odour emitted by metal foundries. The use of these filters shall replace the ineffective conventional method of using acid baths to scrub the stinking exhaust air
Repetitive work done by hands can lead to serious nervous disorders,
from numbness in fingers to permanent nerve damage
The cure for problems like drug addiction and Parkinsons disease can be found but not before some unknown ingredients in cigarette smoke are isolated
Food that one finds allergic can cause problems in the respiratory tract according to a group of scientists inspecting children with breathing disorders
Oral intakes of a proteinaceous natural substance may replace the unwelcome injections and other drugs used to cure rheumatoid arthritis
Fermilab's observations of large numbers of hard and violent collisions
in an accelerator brings the revered Standard Model of particle physics
under re-evaluation
Astronomers on the lookout claim to be finally on target with their observation of what appears to be an old isolated neutron star. This discovery might serve to throw more light on the evolutionary processes of galaxies in general and neutron stars, in particular
While the conflicting theories and functions to explain the phenomenon of high temperature superconductivity point to scientists' continuing fascination
with this field, IBM researchers zero in on the d-wave function as
a plausible enumeration
Use of linear accelerators and free-electron lasers is all set to revolutionise the creation of fourth generation X-ray sources
A project in Rajasthan involved rural communities to evolve better
communication methods by integrating local talents and traditional methods for dissemination of agriculture-based information
Development of a low-cost kiln for baking pottery in rural areas comes as a boon to those dependent on this ancient craft for a living. At the same time, it
reduces pollution considerably
Computers have played second fiddle to analogue techniques in safety-critical systems and though airlines are switching to fly-by-wire technology, an unknown safety record is their major worry
A new method for detecting fingerprints at the scene of crime is sure to give criminals some second thoughts
A new software which is less expensive, swift and easily adaptable will soon be used in computer-assisted clinical trials
The new high speed radio network is set to take over the UK. its cheaper and more convenient, but watch out for the aesthetics
Should the remaining two stocks of the smallpox virus be wiped out
permanently from the face of the earth? The question, which brings to fore certain scientific, technical and ethical issues, awaits an answer from world's scientists
..but that is not the end of problems for Ukraine, as answers to
important issues' like the future of workers and alternate energy and monetary resources are still to be found
Earth, the cradle of all lifeforms, should not be transformed into a
graveyard for want of serious monitoring of soil degradation all over India and the world
Beef, the staple food of the British, finds itself out of favour as a
ban on its sale sweeps across UK and also the European Union
Time has come for tribal medication to be revalidated
From archangels to archfiends - the reputation of IAS officers has certainly nosedived. Anil Agarwal, director, Centre for Science and Environment, and N C
Saxena, director, Lai Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, share their views
Villagers in Bidar have taken up the cudgels against industrialists
and lax state officials responsible for turning this backward district
into a dumping ground for toxic waste
IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA,
GREAT JOB MR. PARMAR
SALUTE YOU
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