Private venture in Vadodara's public park

The Sayaji Baug garden in central Vadodara, spread over 46 hectares, is often called the lung of the city.

Gujarat pollution board washes hands of creating buffer zones around waste treatment facilities

Even as disposal and treatment of waste in Gujarat continues to pose a threat to residents in urban and rural areas, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has washed its hand of any responsibility of buffering residential and commercial estates from waste treatment facilities under its jurisdiction. It has told the Union environment ministry that there are “practical issues” related to creating buffer zones around such facilities.

Industrial units in Vapi continue to flout pollution norms

Fourteen months after they assured to clean up their act, as many as 37 industrial units in the industrial town of Vapi in Gujarat have been found flouting pollution norms.

Urban renewal: more talk, less infrastructure

on january 25, 2007, the Union government approved 22 more urban development projects in 11 cities across the country. The Union ministry of urban development (moud) approved Rs 795 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (jnnurm), a central government initiative for infrastructure development in cities.

Healthy dining: Organic restaurant

Apna Dhaba Vadodara

Coot falls prey

poachers are posing a threat to common coot, which is being sold for its meat. The bird, known as bhagatdo, is found on the periphery of Ajwa and Simda lakes in Vadodara. According to sources, in Rampura village near Ajwa lake, a hunting party has set up its own marketing network which has customers relishing common coot for just Rs 35.

Pollution Pvt. Ltd.

a polluting industrial unit in Gujarat continues to operate with the help of a minister, despite the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (gpcb) issuing notices to shut it down. In a bid to close the unit, the board suspended its production and cut its power supply. But a mere phone call allegedly made by a Gujarat minister restored the unit's power.

Lakeside woes

the lakes of Vadodara city face extinction due to the imprudent attitude of the city's municipal corporation. A good example in this regard is the permission granted to the Vadodara dairy for filling up lake Masiyu with waste. In order to save the lake and many others like it, the Baroda Beautiful Council (bbc), a non-governmental organisation, has filed a case against the municipal corporation. "The laws for protecting our lakes are already in place.

Mahi in trouble

The Mahi river flowing into the Gulf of Khambhat is on the verge of extinction due to pollution and salinity. Fisherfolk and non-governmental organisations (ngos) of Vadodara, Gujarat, blame the construction of bunds on the Mahi by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation for the situation. "The bunds constructed to collect water have stopped the surface movement of the river," say the ngo s. Consequently, the river is facing an intrusion of saline water from sea as there is no surface flow to push the seawater back during a low tide.

Malaria menace

THE threat of malaria epidemic looms large in Vadodara, Gujarat. The city has witnessed an alarming rise of such cases in the past one month. The Baroda Medical College (BMC) is registering more than 200 malaria cases every day, says a senior doctor in the hospital. Private medical practitioners, however, claim that more than 400 patients are being admitted to the hospital everyday. Ironically, government officials are silent over the whole issue.