1/ 1/ 2013
Green Tribunal spells its mandate
The National Green Tribunal has pointed out that state governments must pass the final order regarding legal action against diversion of forestland for non-forest use and make these forest clearances public. This will provide a chance to the aggrieved party to contest the clearance in the tribunal even after the Centre has cleared it.
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1/ 1/ 2013
Costly push to mega projects
Despite concerns from civil society groups, the Union Cabinet gave in-principle nod for setting up a Cabinet Committee for Investment on December 13. CCI is being set up for expediting clearances for mega projects with investment of above Rs 1,000 crore, and will be chaired by the prime minister and comprise members from various ministries as decided by him. CCI may dilute environmental and forest clearances.
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2/ 1/ 2013
Green tribunal wants PUC status for horns
Senior officials with state pollution control board and environmental activists have welcomed the national green tribunal directive to the Delhi road transport department and traffic police to measure the decibel levels of pressure horns installed on vehicles while issuing pollution control certificates. The national green tribunal had followed a public interest litigation on noise pollution.
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5/ 1/2013
Centre appoints Sajwan as member of National Green Tribunal
The Centre has appointed outgoing principal chief conservator of forest of Arunachal Pradesh Bikram Singh Sajwan as member of the National Green Tribunal.
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8/ 1/ 2013
Hon'ble Minister of State (I/C) for Environment and Forests reviews recent elephant deaths due to collision with trains in Odisha and West Bengal
Minister of State Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan chaired an urgent meeting of a Coordination Committee of officials from the Railway Ministry and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to review the deaths of elephants due to collision with trains in Ganjam District of Odisha, and in West Bengal.
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8/ 1/ 2013
Land grab in the Aravalis: Green tribunal steps in
Taking suo motu cognizance of a news report for the first time, on how common hilly and forest land in Aravalis is getting fragmented and privatized in the name of consolidation, National Green Tribunal on 7th January issued notices to the principal conservator of forest and the chief secretary of Haryana.
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9/ 1/ 2013
NHAI, MoEF slug it out over highway clearances
The tussle between the environment ministry and the National Highways Authority of India over who caused the alleged delays in approvals in highway projects came to a head on 8th January with the NHAI threatening to take the ministry to the Supreme Court, accusing it of failure to comply with an earlier court directive to de-link forest and environmental clearances.
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11/ 1/ 2013
National green tribunal bars construction on Mutha riverbed
The National Green Tribunal, Delhi has issued an interim order imposing stay on any construction going on around the Mutha river, dumping debris in it. The order was passed by Justice Swatanter Kumar (Chairperson), Justice AS Naidu, Dr GK Pandey, Dr. PC Mishra, and AR Yousuf, of the Coram in three petitions filed by local activist Sarang Yadwadkar before the National Green Tribunal.
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14/ 1/ 2013
Tribunal pulls up MoEF over green nods
Stating that it's approach, while trying to provide justice, cannot be 'hyper-technical', the National Green Tribunal has reiterated that the ministry of environment and forests follows its obligation of publishing its "entire orders" of granting environmental clearance in local newspapers properly and not just a "cryptic notice" and also observed that the ministry publishes its orders regarding granting of EC invariably after 30 days, which is the time period limitation for filing appeals against such green clearances.
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14/ 1/2013
After NGT order, Noida builders stop construction
After the National Green Tribunal order prohibited the use of groundwater for construction, builders in Noida and Greater Noida have stopped work to take stock of the situation.
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15/ 1/ 2013
Eco-sensitive zones near sanctuaries to be marked
The Forest and Wildlife Department will work on demarcating ecologically sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the State as per directions of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). The eco sensitive zones would be identified as per Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act as well as Rules 5 (1) of Environment Protection Rules.
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15/ 1/2013
Himachal Pradesh High Court bans junk food in non-biodegradable packs
Barring essential food items like milk, vegetable oil and medicine, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday ordered the state government to ban sale of junk food in non-biodegradable packs. The ban would be effective from April 1.
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16/ 1/ 2013
National Green Tribunal forms committee to find causes of pollution
The National Green Tribunal constituted an expert body on 25th January to determine the 'causes' and 'extent' of environmental pollution in Noida, which 'is certainly affecting the life of residents'. The committee, to be headed by a joint secretary-level official of the Union environment ministry, will comprise, among others, the member secretaries of the CPCB and the UPPCB and a technical expert to be appointed by the Noida Authority.
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16/ 1/2013
Public hearing for coal-fired unit in Trombay power station ends in fracas
The public hearing for replacing an oil-based power plant unit with a coal-fired one at Tata's Trombay thermal power station was marred by political squabbling, sidelining any significant consultations on environmental concerns of Chembur residents and non-profits.
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19/ 1/ 2013
Delhi High Court orders shifting of biomedical waste incinerator from Okhla
The Delhi High Court has questioned the setting up of waste incineration plants in residential neighbourhoods. The residents hope the court verdict will pave the way for shifting another incinerator in the vicinity- Jindal's waste-to-energy plant.
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22/ 1/ 2013
Madhya Pradesh proposes 15 more eco-sensitive zones around sanctuaries
The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed 15 eco-sensitive zones around its wildlife sanctuaries and parks, where illegal commercial activities including mining will be prohibited. A site specific proposal recommending eco-sensitive zones around Ken Gharial Sanctuary, Pachmari Sanctuary and Satpura National Park, Nauradehi Sanctuary and Karera Sanctuary has been approved by the state government.
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22/ 1/ 2013
Panel to recommend eco-sensitive status for Silent Valley buffer zone
A panel constituted to work on demarcating ecologically-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state on Monday visited the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad and held deliberations with the public.
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22/ 1/2013
Navi Mumbai Airport: Bombay HC rejects Cidco's plea for FCA exemption
The Bombay High Court has rejected a plea by City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the nodal agency for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport, to exempt the airport project from Forest Conservation Act clearances.
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22/ 1/2013
SC notice to Centre & Goa on ore export
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the Goa government on a plea which alleged that the state government, in violation of its order, had allowed export of iron ores, purportedly extracted from Maharashtra. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Aftab Alam, sought the replies of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and various private companies to the allegation.
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24/ 1/2013
Maharashtra now seeks wildlife clearance for Navi Mumbai airport
The Maharashtra wildlife board recommended the Navi Mumbai airport project to the National Board for Wildlife for clearance. Clearance from the wildlife board became necessary because the Karnala bird sanctuary is within 10 km of the proposed airport site.
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24/ 1/2013
Green tribunal issues warrant against MPCB, irrigation dept, JNNURM
The National Green Tribunal in Delhi has issued a bailable warrant against the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the state irrigation department and the JNNURM in a separate case alleging illegal construction on the river bed.
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25/ 1/2013
Public interest litigation against Delhi's waste plant sent to National Green Tribunal
The Delhi high court has sent a PIL seeking closure of a waste-to-energy plant near a residential colony in the capital, to the NGT for hearing and subsequent decision. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain cited a verdict of the Supreme Court which had said the courts would desist from hearing matters, relating to environmental issues and, rather send all of them to the green panel which came into being in 2010.
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25/ 1/2013
Green tribunal orders halt on all non-forest activities in the Aravallis in Faridabad
The National Green Tribunal has come to the rescue of forest patches in the Aravallis near Mangar village in the outskirts of Delhi. It has directed the Haryana government to stop all the "non-forest" activities in forest areas of Kot, Mangar and Roz-ka-Gujjar villages in Faridabad district.
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25/ 1/2013
Environment, Tribal Ministries to stand by forest rights while meeting PM
In a joint strategy for their meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week, Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan and Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo both reportedly plan to oppose any dilution of tribal rights in forest areas. This, despite the fact that their respective secretaries have signed on to a deal with the Prime Minister's Office last month agreeing to such a dilution.
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27/ 1/2013
GMR power project stalled for using Himachal forests
The operations of infrastructure conglomerate GMR Hydro Power Ltd. have been stopped for making use of forest land for its upcoming mega hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh till the state gives a green signal in this regard. "GMR Hydro Power is converting forest land for non-forest activities bereft of a formal order passed by the state government under section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980," said the NGT in its order.
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28/ 1/2013
MoEF spells out parameters for identifying inviolate forest areas
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has put out the report on parameters for identifying inviolate forest areas. These are supposed to be pristine forests where any mining activity would lead to "irreversible" damage and hence the need for their protection. The report made public on January 24 is open for public comments till February 23.
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30/ 1/ 2013
Green tribunal sets March 1 deadline for panel report
The principal bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to place the report of Kasturirangan committee, which is reviewing the Western Ghats Expert Ecology Panel (WGEEP) report; by March 1.The green tribunal has also directed the chief secretaries of all states to cooperate with the Kastrurirangan expert committee.
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31/ 1/2013
Coal mine expansion made easy
Buckling under pressure from the power and mining industries and the Prime Minister's Office, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has eased clearance norms for expansion of coal mining projects. The ministry had issued an office memorandum, allowing existing coal mining projects to skip the process of 'public hearing' for one-time capacity expansion.
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