When homemakers unite

Every once in a way, one comes across an instance that reestablishes faith in the tools of the establishment. Take the case of the Behala public interest litigation (pil), for example. About a hundred housewives from Behala, situated in the southern part of the city of Kolkata, approached the green bench of the High Court of Calcutta in February 1997.

Valley of despair

"It is unique, it is gigantic and it is beyond the means and purview of the (Orissa Pollution Control) board to solve the problem" -- Orissa government on hexavalent chromium pollution in Sukinda valley, which has India's largest chromite reserves

Dengue - reality bites

recognising the worsening global epidemiological trends for dengue, the recently held 55th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation (who) passed a resolution urging the international community to spend more funds and expend efforts on dengue research.

Waiting for a miracle

THERE is no need to establish here that all Indian cities face chronic water shortage, particularly during summers. That government agencies are increasingly failing to meet the water demand of a rising urban population. And that the water table is falling all the time due to over-extraction from underground aquifers. All cities in the country relied on lakes and other waterbodies — managed mostly by local bodies — that stored the monsoon rains for the remaining part of the year. But that was before the government took over water supply. And after the government took over most public lands in cities, the state of these lakes has become very sorry: they are waterless, polluted, silted up, encroached, built upon, commonly used as defecation grounds or simply outlets for sewage.

Real estate on water

Concrete drama Actsaid the court. The government did not. The realtors are at the deep end now

Construction Prohibited

In a significant decision, the Orissa High Court has banned all construction activity within a one-kilometre radius of Nandankanan, the wildlife sanctuary-turned zoo. The high court gave the judgement while responding to a public interest litigation which alleged that builders were not only offering plots around the park but had also started construction violating the Orissa Land Reforms Act and Forest Act. The petitioner said that the construction work would affect the ecology of the region.

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.