EIA A nice formality

Today a lot of state governments promise companies investment opportunities free of 'encumbrances'. Investors are assured of government assistance in securing requisite clearances for projects. Sample, for example, the following sentence from a memorandum of understanding (mou) between an international investor of a high profile project and the Orissa government.

Protest against plant near Tanzania's Lake Natron

Plans to establish a soda-ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is facing strong opposition. Conservationists fear harm to the rare flamingo. The plant is to be set up by the Indian company Tata Chemicals Limited, which manufactures inorganic chemicals.

Karachi expressway elicits protests

pakistan's plan of a 25-km elevated expressway in Karachi, linking the city's airport and two ports, has triggered protests in the country. Opponents of the us $350 million project point at financial unviability and a skewed environment impact assessment (eia) report. But the City District Government Karachi (cdgk), the project proponent, argues that the expressway will minimise traffic load. The project will be built by

Meghalaya limestone quarries closed

French multinational Lafarge's limestone quarries in Meghalaya, which supply raw material to its cement plant across the border in Bangladesh have been shut down by the government. This comes nearly a year after an official of the Union Ministry of Environment and forests (moef) found that the mining lease area was forestland. The official had also found that environmental consultants and a local

Virus-resistant maize in the making

South African crop scientists have come up with a new genetically modified (gm) maize variety that is resistant to maize streak virus (msv). Field trials of the crop are scheduled to begin soon. The finding was announced on July 8, 2007, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists in Chicago,

Deluge of dams without any impact assessment

that the non-confrontational Lepchas are on an indefinite hunger strike against dams in north Sikkim shows how much of a threat they perceive these projects to be. The surge of support from across the north east again brings to fore the vexed issue of big dams in this socio-politically complex region. In 2001, the Brahmaputra river system in the northeast was identified as having the "potential to be India's future powerhouse". Since then, plans for over 160 large hydel dams with a cumulative installed capacity of 63,328 mw

Controversy over uranium mining project in Meghalaya

Efficiency versus democracy

Industrialist Ratan Tata has reportedly written to the prime minister cribbing about delays in implementing big buck projects. In his capacity as the chair of the government's investment commission he says over us $50 billion is tied up because of delays in allocating land and resources. His list includes major steel, thermal power, mining and aluminium projects of powerful houses--South Korean corporate Posco, uk's Lakshmi Mittal and India's Essar, Reliance, Jindal and, of course, Tata itself.

Sighting of leopard in Orissa's Niyamgiri hills raises debate on mining

while the Supreme Court was deliberating if mining for bauxite at the Niyamgiri hills would irreplaceably affect wildlife there, out at the proposed site, on May 17, a big cat quietly padded past a Down To Earth photographer. Appearance of the leopard (Panthera pardus)--enlisted as endangered species by the Zoological Survey of India and as a Schedule I mammal

Update Andaman Trunk Road controversy

The controversy over the Andaman Trunk Road (atr) continues (see 'Questions about a road', Down To Earth, May 31, 2007). Survival International, a London-based organisation working for tribals, has charged the Andaman administration of ignoring a Supreme Court order. The apex court had ordered the closure of some portions of atr to save the Jarawa tribe from extinction. "It is extraordinary that the Indian government has completely ignored the country's own Supreme Court for five years," says Stephen