Only 8 Indian cities treat 50% of their sewage
Seventy per cent of municipal sewage and effluents from over 900 cities and towns is being discharged untreated into rivers that are a major source of drinking water, according to a recent study by the Central Pollution Control Board
'Very alarming' levels of pollution in 10 industrial clusters: report
A study of 88 major industrial hubs in the country finds that almost all of them are heavily polluted, with 10 needing urgent attention
Higher global warming alert
A new study suggests that increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere could lead to a steeper rise in global average temperatures than has been previously believed
Tribal village first to get right to manage its forest resources
As climate change negotiators try and figure out how to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, a tribal hamlet in Maharashtra has shown the way
COP15 hears that GHG emissions are higher than reported
The UN climate change conference in Copenhagen heard from US scientists that the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is more than that suggested by official data, and that this could be because of under-reporting in the carbon exchange programme
India announces cuts in carbon intensity, prior to Copenhagen
India goes to the climate change summit in Copenhagen, beginning on December 7, with a voluntary commitment to cut carbon intensity by 20-25%
Govt call for research into MIC has few takers
Twenty-five years after it killed thousands of people in Bhopal, there has been no research into the effects of the deadly methyl isocyanate gas, and a call for research proposals earlier this year has met with a lukewarm response
India's forest cover registers marginal increase
There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that India’s forest cover grew, though marginally, between 2005 and 2007. The bad news is that it has declined in several states and union territories
India's pollution norms to be on a par with Europe
The Union government, after a gap of 15 years, has decided to revise its norms to check air pollution in the country. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has introduced six new parameters, and, for the first time, has made it mandatory for industrial areas to conform to residential zone standards
55% of Indians do not have toilets, says UN
55% of Indians, or 600 million people, do not have toilets and most of them defecate out in the open, according to United Nations reports. In the slum areas of India’s financial capital, Mumbai, an average of 81 people share a single toilet; in some places as many as 273 people share one toilet