Jindal pays for flouting law

JINDAL Power Limited (JPL), the power bigwig of the private arena in India, is making news.

Asbestos Unit Disturbs Chainpur's Peace

An 18 hectare plot straddling lychees orchards and farms in Chainpur village of Muzaffarpur district is in the middle of a dispute. Balmukund Cement and Roofing Ltd, a cement and roofing company, is constructing an asbestos fibre and cement roofing plant on the land. Villagers nearby are opposing it because they say the company bought land from them on the pretext of building a farmhouse but instead started constructing the factory.

On a skewed track

Metro rails are under construction in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Smaller urban centres are also drawn to it. It is fashionable to place metros in city planning and budgets. Invariably, a coterie of engineers, bureaucrats and ministers make such public transport choices.

Centre’s notice to Maheshwar dam

The Union environment ministry has threatened to revoke the environmental clearance to the Maheshwar dam on the Narmada river in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh. On February 17, the ministry issued a show cause notice to the private company building the dam asking why work on the project should not be stopped. This was after the project affected people held a demonstration at the ministry’s gates.

Church of England sells Vedanta shares

Mine-boggling

The mining scam unfolding in Orissa shows companies, big and small, have been illegally extracting ores worth hundreds of crores of rupees for years. The state vigilance department began probing the scam after the opposition highlighted irregularities in mining in July last year. Till date it has registered 11 cases against individuals and mining companies, including big names like Rungta Mines and Ms Serajuddin and Company. The department has also filed cases against some forest and mining officials who allegedly connived with mining companies.

AGP wants freeze on hydel projects

Assam’s  opposition political party, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)  has demanded suspension of work on all mega hydel power projects in Arunachal Pradesh till they are assessed for their environmental and community impact in downstream areas. The demand followed consultations organized by the party in Guwahati on January 23 and 24.

‘Coal emissions nourish trees’

An expert  panel of the Union environment ministry has justified the setting up of coal-fired power plants in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. It has said the thermal power plants may prove beneficial for mango plantations as the trees could draw sustenance from the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen emitted by them. Ratnagiri is famous for its Alphonso mangoes and farmers here export their produce to Europe.

47 power plants in Vidarbha

Maharashtra’s target is to generate 33,000 MW from 47 new thermal power plants. This is a measure for its power-starved western part; some of it would go to the Nor-thern Grid. Vidarbha, in eastern Maha-rashtra, is power surplus; the region produces 67 per cent of the total power in the state. A chunk of this is already supplied to western Maharashtra. Why then is the state keen on 47 more power plants?

Villagers nail EIA lies

Draft report says: The EIA project consultant, Shiva Test House, says project land is barren Dwells on the population within a 10 km radius to hide the population density near the site Shows Roksa village at 3 km distance from site; mentions a river Baya Project will draw 300 cubic metre groundwater daily but does not show what impact it will have on people Ground reality: