Faridabad mining clearances questioned by SC

the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (moef) has attracted serious criticism after granting clearances for two mining projects in Faridabad in July 2006. The Supreme Court of India has directed the ministry to explain its criteria for granting the clearances. A ministry official, however, says the court's order has been wrongly interpreted.

Update

The Tanzania government has put Tata Chemicals's soda ash plant around Lake Natron on hold. National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), the country's environmental watchdog, has recommended a new environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). The recommendation came after NEMC called for a meeting between conservationists and Tata Chemicals to review the previous ESIA of the project. Conservationists have been alleging that a previous assessment by Norconsult had loopholes (see 'Bird hit', Down To Earth, September 30, 2007).

Green rating problems

griha, a rating system for green buildings developed by The Energy and Resources Institute ( teri ), has been formalized as the first national rating system. teri signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to this effect on November 1.

Malls in Ahmedabad violate green norms

an ngo has asked Gujarat's pollution control board for details of the clearances granted to over 12 large-scale shopping malls in Ahmedabad. It has alleged that most of the malls in the city violate environmental norms. The Ahmedabad-based ngo Paryavaran Mitra, filed a right to information rti) application on

Ecological reasons to oppose Sethusamudram project

before the Sethusamudram project began, many had cautioned the government against going ahead with the shipway. The ambitious project has claimed its casualty even before the first brick has been laid on it: specialist opinion. The government had long poured scorn over ecological objections against the proposed shipway in the Palk Straits. Many were bought in by its argument that the route by the new canal would drastically shorten the journey between India's eastern and western seaboards.

Opinion divided on Bangalore metro rail project

Construction work on the Bangalore metro rail project is on amid protests from environmentalists. While activists say the project will lead to further traffic congestion, officials justify the project saying it will meet the increasing number of commuters.

Proposed Tata plant in Tanzania threat to flamingo habitat

Tata Chemicals is getting considerable stick from conservation groups and environmentalists in Africa over its plan to set up a soda ash facility jointly with the Tanzanian government. It is being feared that the venture, for which a memorandum of understanding has been signed, may drive the world's rarest bird--the lesser flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor)--to extinction.

A public hearing that worked

in a country seeking rapid industrialisation at all costs, suspension of an industrial project on environmental grounds is a rarity. But that's precisely what happened to a project of Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited in Chattisgarh. What is even rarer, in this case, is that the much abused environmental clearance process has come to the rescue of the communities fighting against a project whose basis is flawed. We are so used to hearing about fraudulent environmental impact assessments (eia) and stage-managed public

People reject EIA for Chhattisgarh steel project

in an unusual incident, Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd's public hearing in Raigarh was called off because "the company was unable to adequately answer issues raised by the public". The company's plans to expand its iron and steel plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, has further run into trouble with allegations of irregularities in environmental impact assessment (eia) report. New

In court

pulp appraisal: A federal court in Australia agreed to expedite an appeal hearing over an Aus $2 billion pulp mill proposal in Tasmania state. Environmental groups had challenged the government's environmental assessment of the proposed mill. A lower court had rejected the groups' challenge, following which they appealed the federal court and requested it to expedite the hearing. Blocking Shell: A US federal appeals court in San Francisco county has upheld an order blocking the Royal