Hearing a petition against transportation of effluents from industries manufacturing H-acid, the Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to specify particulars about such industrial units and details of sale price of their products.

The MPCB has also been asked to furnish information on whether such industries are located within the limits of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) or not.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to conduct a site inspection of mangroves in the protected Sewri Bay area. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar was suo motu hearing a PIL, taking cognizance of a complaint on destruction of mangroves due to the storage of coking coal used in furnaces by the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). The Sewri Bay area consists of mudflats, wetlands and mangroves.

MUMBAI: For a dynamic city like Mumbai, it is difficult to stop new constructions or renovations of old buildings. But it is these constructions combined with the chilly weather that are making Mumbaikars unhealthy. Certain pollution levels are more than 100% higher than the normal limits that a person should breathe on days when the temperature dips unusually low.

A US-based geologist has dismissed Maharashtra government's claim over the safety of the proposed nuclear plant site at Jaitapur, stating that the site is vulnerable to quakes. "Since Jaitapur lies in the same compressional stress regime that has been responsible for generating two major earthquakes at Latur and Koyna in the past five decades it can be argued that a similarly intense quake could possibly occur directly beneath the power plant," Prof Dr Roger Bilham of the University of Colarado said here.

The findings of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, soon to be tabled before the state Assembly, show the presence of several active pharmaceutical ingredients in the effluent released by bulk drug units at Patancheru.

MUMBAI: The environment status report published by the BMC in September this year lays the blame of greater pollution levels on construction in the city.
The report reiterates what has been observed for the past couple of years. A report concluded by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute last year had blamed construction activity for contributing to the maximum amount of pollution.

More than six years after it was proposed, the civic administration has now asked the Central Government to fund the Rs 1,675 crore Mithi River Project, with a view to ease the financial burden.

So far the the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the MMRDA have spent Rs 827 crore on the project.

With a view to effectively deal with the menace of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in India and 10 neighbouring countries, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) formally inaugurated its Stockholm Convention Regional Center on POPs for Asia region in Nagpur on Monday.

Raw industrial waste killing Yamuna, corroding sewer lines

Untreated effluents from industries making their way into the sewers and eventually reaching the Yamuna are not only killing the river but are also said to be behind the rapid corrosion of the city's sewer lines. The Delhi Jal Board, which is responsible for maintaining sewer lines and sewage treatment plants in the city, has identified this as a major reason why their sewer lines are rotting easily and the STPs malfunctioning.