Recommendations by Shankar Sharma, Power Policy Analyst, based in Sagara, Karnataka, to Jairam Ramesh, Chairman, Standing Committee of the Parliament (Science & Technology, Environment, Forests & Climate Change), which had sought inputs for a  report on environment, climate change and public health:  Greetings from Sagar, Western Ghats, Karnataka. This has reference to your tweet of 10 April … More India must adopt developmental paradigm to move from industrial to ecological civilization

Senior activists and experts* write letter to the Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara, with copies to the Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India (GoI); Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, GoI; Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat (GoG); Additional Chief Secretary, Forests & Environment Department, GoG; Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department … More Prevent anticipated disasters, flooding, and water logging in Vadodara due to negligence

Opposing the decision of the authorities for floating tender for “rejuvenation” and “flood mitigation” for the Vishwamitri River in Vadodara, several concerned citizens* have said that this has been done “amidst chaotic conditions in the city, Gujarat and the country, in the wake of the world-wide pandemic, COVID-2019.” In a representation, they said that the … More Vishwamitri project proposal for Vadodara problematic, high-handed, is a rushed attempt

By Manju Menon, Debayan Gupta, Kanchi Kohli* On April, 10 2020, the dyke of a fly ash pond of Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh collapsed. The slurry collected in the pond made its way into agricultural fields and swept away six people, of whom at least two people are reported to be dead. This … More Criminality of fly ash management: Reliance on coal is rarely assessed against public health costs

Mahesh Pandya, director, Ahmedabad-based environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra, having observer status at the UN FCCC and special consultative status at the UN ECOSOC, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested actions to be taken against the backdrop of “positive Impact on environment due to lockdown. Text of the letter, whose copy has … More Lockdown: Environment may have improved temporarily, what will happen after April 14?

By Mayank Aggarwal* The government of India is in the process of finalising its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights to ensure that businesses are sustainable and responsible towards the rights of communities that are being impacted by them. Experts have identified land rights, extractive industries and rights of marginalised, vulnerable and poor … More Indian businesses to consider their human rights impact under proposed government plan

By Avinash Chanchal, Chetna Chauhan* India was expected to have a total of 3000 stations established in Class I (population of one million or more) and II (population of 50,000 to 99,999) cities and towns by 2022. Although the data availability through the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which covered 342 operating stations in 127 … More Ambition plan to reduce air pollution by 20-30% by 2024 won’t lead to breathable air quality