Engineers require retraining, not the Ganga. This is where I left our conversation in my previous column. Why did I say this?

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a conference on 'Green Norms for Green Energy', organised today, brought together different stakeholders to discuss environmental impacts of these se

PANJIM: At least 99 villages including around 90 in the heart of the State’s mining belts of Sattari and Sanguem have been declared ecologically sensitive areas under the Environment Protection Act, 1976, by the Kasturirangan report, amidst accusations that it had sought to dilute the Gadgil panel report.

The high-powered committee was formed by the Centre to study and recommend ways to implement the Madhav Ghadgil report on UNESCO featured biodiversity hotspot, the Western Ghats.

Hydropower is important. But how important? Is it important enough to dry out stretches of our rivers? Or is there a way to balance energy needs with the imperative of a flowing, healthy river?

I have been grappling with these issues for the past few months. But now that the committee (of which I was a member) on the hydropower projects on the Ganga has submitted its report, let me explain how I see the way ahead.

A report by an environment ministry-appointed committee says that it has found "incontrovertible evidence" against Adani Group of violating environmental norms in its Mundra port and SEZ project.

In a setback for the Ahmedabad-based Adani Group’s Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited, an environment ministry committee, citing incontrovertible evidence, recommended levying a fine of

Around 60,000 sq km of Western Ghats, spread across six states, should be turned into a no-go area for commercial activities like mining, thermal power plants, polluting industries and large housing plans, the high-level working group headed by Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan has recommended.

The committee has not recommended an outright rejection of the Athirappilly hydroelectric project in Kerala and Gundya dam in Karnataka. It has warned that the state government must assess if the Athirappilly dam is viable and if the trade off against the loss of irreplaceable biodiversity is beneficial.

Identifying 37 per cent — or about 60,000 square km — of the Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive, a high-level panel has recommended that “destructive” activities such as mining, thermal power, major construction, and some hydel power projects should not be allowed there.

However, the panel was silent about any restrictions in the remaining 96,000 square km area, thus creating the perception that it had diluted earlier recommendations that the entire Ghats should be declared as an eco-sensitive area.

Recognizing that the plethora of dams built and planned in the Ganga basin could almost empty the river of its waters in the winter season, an inter-ministerial group has recommended that the proje

Since glass traps heat, buildings require more air conditioning. As a result, energy use goes up

Building green is definitely important. But it is equally important to know how green a green building is. Take the glitzy, glass-enveloped buildings popping up across the country. It does not matter if you are in the mild but wet and windy climate of Bangalore or in the extreme hot and dry climate of Gurgaon - glass is the in thing.