By Diken Patel* To Whom It Should Concern… We, the race known as humanity, have been relocated, due to unruly activity here on Mother Earth. The move was rather sudden, although the build up to it took ages. Our landlord was exceptionally patient with our behavior. We were not as kind. You may likely hear … More Our home became so infested with us that Mother Earth had no choice but to serve us eviction notice

By Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon* Recently the Uttarakhand High Court ruled that hydropower operators and road developers in the state have used ‘rivers as dumping sites’. Urgent action was needed as the problem had persisted despite repeated warnings. Through its judgment on June 11, the court has halted all construction activities on riverbanks and directed … More India’s ‘catch up’ model has already exhausted the good, healthy environment around us

Comments on the Draft Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2018 by the Centre for Social (CSJ), Darya nu Dayro and Paryavaran Mitra, Gujarat The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently released the draft of the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2018 for comments from the public and civil-society organisations. For close to three … More Opening floodgates to several activities which may irreversibly damage sensitive ecosystems

Executive summary of the study “Source apportionment, health effects and potential reduction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in India”, May 2018, by the Air-Weather-Climate (AWC) Research Group Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Louisiana State University, USA: In recent years, severe pollution events occurred frequently in India, which are of significant concern of the public. … More Thirteen solutions to air pollution that can help reduce pollution levels by 40% nationally

A South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) analysis: In 2016-17, for the first time in independent India’s history, hydropower generation from large hydropower projects in India fell below 10% of total electricity generation. In 2017-18, for which the Central Electricity Authority figures have just became available, the trend has continued, with proportion … More India’s hydro generation again below 10% in 2017-18: Things unlikely to change in coming years

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* One of the most common sights in urban India is a herd of cows around a garbage bin, apparently having a ‘royal feast’ of leftovers and other rotten thrash dumped into them, which are usually tied into plastic bags. Sadly these bovines, cannot but help swallow the complete ‘parcel’ – … More One third of plastics escapes collection system, ends up clogging city streets, polluting environment

Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli* The Tamil Nadu government has announced the permanent closure of the Vedanta copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi after 13 people died in a clash between the police and protesters opposing the project’s operations. People affected by the plant have shown evidence of pollution and other illegalities by the company. The … More Thoothukudi case: India’s flawed system allows political control over environment regulation