What does it all add up to?

On an industrial roller-coaster, Chhattisgarh has not once stopped to take stock of the cumulative environmental impact of the many projects. On a spree to usher more and more, the government does not consider important an analysis of a project's incremental impact combined with the effects of other projects.

Desperate for Expressway

Setting aside environmental concerns and ignoring the threat to one of the most fertile belts in India, Uttar Pradesh government is set to start work on the eight-lane expressway along the Upper Ganga Canal. The 147.8 km expressway will connect Greater Noida in Gautam Budh Nagar district and the Uttar Pradesh- Uttarakhand border.

Clampdown on Vedanta

FOR months there has been speculation in Delhi about an imminent clampdown on metals giant Vedanta's bauxite mining operations in Orissa.

Clearance based on false claims

A COMMITTEE set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has confirmed the existence of wetland at the thermal plant near Sompeta and the Bhavanapadu thermal plant site near Kakrapalli village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.

Reform for reform’s sake

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has initiated discussion on regulatory reforms with the belief that setting up an independent and autonomous National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA) will solve all problems of governance.

Mango resistance

Sushil Kumar Lodhi, 32, walks about Dashehari village with newspaper clippings, which carried news of his grandfather’s death. His grandfather suffered a heart attack on his way back from Lucknow.

Power plant’s clearance challenged

FOUR months after the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) cleared a thermal power project in Vizianagaram district in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, two civil society group moved the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) challenging the decision.

EIAs by registered consultants only

INSTANCES of revoked environmental clearances have cast doubts on the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) being carried out across the coutry.

Public taken for a ride

People in eight villages in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar have been protesting the construction of an asbestos fibre-cement roofing plant nearby since January when work began at the site without the mandatory environmental clearance.

GMR jumps the gun

GMR Energy, the flagship power venture of the GMR group has started constructing a coal-fired power plant in Raikheda village near Raipur without obtaining environmental clearance.