Cities in India are dreaming of becoming New York and London but we seldom worry about as basic an issue as sewage and its disposal in our country. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has brought out a two-volume book titled Excreta Matters: Report on the State of India’s Environment to highlight how only 20 per cent of sewage is being treated in the country. Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, talks about the murky issue plaguing the water sources in this interview to Rashme Sehgal.

Increasing use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture is playing havoc with the farming community apart from resulting in increased levels of water contamination.

A recent epidemiological study has shown the presence of arsenic, cadmium, chromium and mercury apart from much higher levels of pesticides in the water across Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Haryana tops the list of 16 States where environment and forest clearance norms are being violated, fully or partially, by projects.

In the 2011-12, a total of 86 projects in Haryana reported partial- or non-compliance with stipulated environmental norms, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State (Independent) for Environment and Forests, told the Rajya Sabha recently.

A total of 42 projects in Punjab, 38 in Himachal Pradesh, 37 in Goa and 29 in Tamil Nadu were also reported as not complying or partially complying with green norms, she added.

The British government was on Tuesday accused of being part of a “conspiracy of silence” over Dow Chemical's controversial sponsorship of the London Olympics as MPs, cutting across party lines, called for the multi-million pound deal to be scrapped because of the company's links with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

They also demanded an independent investigation into the procurement process by which the sponsorship was given to Dow, describing the whole exercise as a “sham.”

Dow Chemical Co hoped an Olympic sponsorship would boost its global cache, but the company's link to a gas leak tragedy 28 years ago threatens to curb some of the benefits from the $100 million advertising deal.

As many as 25,000 residents of Bhopal, India, died in the aftermath of a 1984 gas leak at a pesticide factory that was owned by a subsidiary of Union Carbide, which sold the facility in 1994. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001.

Bhopal : State government on Thursday assured the state Assembly to seriously consider supplying water to the citizens on a daily basis from January 2012. Urban Development and Administration Minister, Babulal Gaur gave the assurance during Question Hour while replying to a query from Arif Aqueel of opposition Congress. Since 2008, Bhopal received scanty rainfall following which the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) was forced to supply water on alternate days as the water level in Upper Lake, Kolar and Kerwan dams went down drastically.

Bhopal : Houses will be provided to about three lakh poor families living in slums of six cities of the state under Rajiv Awas Yojna. These cities are Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain and Sagar. An appeal will be made to the Union Government to bear 80 percent cost under the scheme while 10 percent each will be shared by the State Government and the beneficiary. At present there is a provision that the Union Government will bear 50 percent, the State Government 20 percent and the beneficiary 30 percent of the cost.

Bhopal : A report on clinical drug trials was submitted to Minister of State for Medical Education (independent charge) Mahendra Hardia here today. Chairman of the committee constituted in this connection and Principal Secretary Medical Education I.S. Dani and members including former Vice-Chancellor of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Dr. Bharat Chhaparwal, former Director Medical Education Dr. N. R. Bhandari and Director Medical Education S.C. Tiwari were also present on the occasion.

AROUND 300 tonnes of toxic waste still lies unattended at the former factories of Union Carbide in Bhopal. Dow Chemicals, which now owns Union Carbide, the company responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, will spend £7 million on the 2012 London Olympics. The same company has refused to clean up Bhopal or pay additional compensation to the families of the dead in the horrific industrial accident of 1984. Survivors of the tragedy and activists demand that the Olympics be boycotted by India.

AROUND 300 tonnes of toxic waste still lies unattended at the former factories of Union Carbide in Bhopal. Dow Chemicals, which now owns Union Carbide, the company responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, will spend £7 million on the 2012 London Olympics. The same company has refused to clean up Bhopal or pay additional compensation to the families of the dead in the horrific industrial accident of 1984. Survivors of the tragedy and activists demand that the Olympics be boycotted by India.