Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
THOUSANDS in the Kolaghat area of Midnapore district in West Bengal are suffering from silicosis, due to dumps of flyash generated by Kolaghat's 1,260 megawatt thermal power project, according to a retently published booklet, Anusandhan: Jal, Vayu, Matee, compiled by Nagarik Manch, a Calcutta-based group. Silicosis is a major respirlory …
THE controversy over the 1,000 megawatt Cogentrix power projecr in Mangalore, Karnataka, has come to an end with the Centre formally giving its approval to the project in principle and the Cogentrix management promising to adhere to strict environment standards. However, the final environmental clearance for the project will be …
Worried at the growing mountain of flyash being produced by the 70 thermal power stations across the country, the ministries of power, environment and science and technology of the Indian government have come together to jointly set up a flyash mission to identify various applications of the toxic material, whose …
Union minister of state for power P V Rangaiah Naidu has said that his ministry is considering the setting up of a National Ash Utilisation and Marketing Corp to promote utilisation of fly-ash from thermal power plants and marketing the end products. Addressing the national workshop on FaL-G (fly-ash-lime-gypsum) organised …
With a view to check pollution and discourage thermal power plants from using coal with high ash content, the Union ministry of environment and forests is preparing draft guidelines for a tax on fly ash. The ministry is also working on a move to give environment clearance to new thermal …
RECENT Canadian studies suggest that hydroelectric power generation may, in some cases, be a major source of greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, and so be as polluting as thermal power generation (Ambio, Vol 22, No 4). The gases are produced, explain John W M Rudd of the …
Officers' associations of major public sector power undertakings have warned of a crisis in the energy sector if the government's liberalisation policy in power generation and distribution is pushed through. The officers' association of the National Thermal Power Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Central Electricity Authority have submitted a …
A US APPEALS court has ruled that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can be forwarded to Congress without an environmental impact statement, even as a power plant near the border fuelled a row about environmental damage. The US court agreed with the Clinton administration that private groups could …
IGNORING vehement protests by environmentalists, the Sri Lankan government has decided to go ahead with construction of a coal-fired thermal power plant in Trincomalee, on the island republic's eastern seaboard. Ecologists have been objecting to the project ever since it was first proposed in 1987 by the Ceylon Electricity Board. …
ENVIRONMENTAL NGOs in the US are rushing ahead of their government in both their desire and actions to act as the world's green helmets. A statement issued by the Environment Defence Fund and other US environmental groups at the time of the G-7 Tokyo Summit against the World Bank loan …
Why have some World Bank members opposed the NTPC loan on environmental grounds? Our plants meet almost every Indian emission standard, which was a bank conditionality. If we can be trusted with projects worth $9 billion, we can be trusted to look after the environment, too. The Environment Defense Fund …
AS ONE of the most ambitious blueprints for energy and industrial development takes shape in Singrauli, the inhabitants of the region are sinking deeper into misery for they know a new project always means another displacement for them. In 1960, when the Rihand dam was built on the Son river, …
THOUGH Singrauli's thermal power plants have affected the availability of potable water in the area, studies show they have contributed only marginally to the high levels of dust and gaseous effluents there. None of the wells in the area supply potable water that meets official Indian standards. Water from wells …
AN ENVIRONMENTAL and socioeconomic survey of Singrauli was commissioned in May 1988 by the National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) and executed by the French public sector corporation, Electricite de France International. Indian voluntary and environmental groups working in the area protested against being left out from the assessment team and …
WITH THE World Bank sanctioning a $400 million loan to the National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station (SSTPS) has received a fresh lease on life -- but only just. USA, Germany and Belgium abstained from voting at the bank's June 29 meeting, citing environmental reasons. …
BIPUL Adak is a puzzled man. "Why does the government flout its own rules?" he asks of the move to set up a thermal power plant on rich, fertile agricultural land near Calcutta. Disregarding environmental guidelines, the West Bengal government allowed the privately owned Calcutta Electric Supply Corp (CESC) to …
SHAH JAHAN'S dream in marble is at greater risk from pollution today than two decades ago, when protest over damage to the Taj Mahal was at its peak. But even after 20 years, experts are still at odds on how serious is the threat to what is arguably the world's …
UNDER pressure from influential figures in the US congress, the Clinton administration has exempted ethanol and methanol from the proposed energy tax. The tax is to be levied at 25.7 cents per million British thermal units, with a surcharge of 34.2 cents per million BTUs on refined petroleum. Oil for …
FIVE WEEKS after an order to shut down Delhi's Rajghat thermal power station (RTPS) for excessive pollution, it was back in operation again, belching smoke and discharging overheated water and effluents. The polluting units of the power station were shut down on November 24 because they continually exceeded the Delhi …
