Eminent geophysicist Vinod K. Gaur has described as “flawed” the earthquake hazard assessment study carried out for the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant.

New Delhi Maharashtra has banned the sale and distribution of the genetically modified cotton seeds of Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) with immediate effect on charges of supplying inferior quality seeds, a senior state government official said on Thursday.

“Mahyco has not received any official communication from the Maharashtra government about the cancellation of its license to sell Bt cotton seeds in the state,” the company said in a statement. “Mahyco has complied with all the guidelines set by the state agriculture department and has always provided required information to the agriculture department....We will address the concerns raised by the authority once we have received the official communication from the department,” the statement added.

The controversial Adarsh housing society building did not have a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance from either the state or central government, a former environment ministry official told the

Reiterating its stand on the Adarsh housing society, a former Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) official told a judicial panel here on Monday that the building has to be demolished as it does not have environmental clearance.

Former MoEF director Bharat Bhushan told a two-member inquiry commission set up by the state government to probe into the scam, that the Adarsh building stands in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and hence environmental clearance is mandatory.

The failure of the city’s two important dumping grounds to handle garbage efficiently has forced the civic administration to approach the steel conglomerate Jindal Group to set up a waste-to-energy plant.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has approached Jindal Ecopolis — a subsidiary of steel major Jindal SAW Ltd — to set up a waste incineration plant at one of its three dumping grounds. The civic administration is planning to approach the Asian Development Bank to fund the project.

Despite the civic administration’s assurances that the garbage collection crisis in the city has been nearly resolved, the central government mandate to adopt the Euro IV vehicle emission norms could upset the civic body’s plans.

Sources said the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ decision on implementing the Bharat Stage IV (Euro IV) emission norms in 13 major cities since April 2010 has put the brakes on important acquisitions by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s solid waste management department.

H1N1 claiming a life in Mumbai and two in Navi Mumbai over the past week, the respective civic bodies are now taking measures to ensure the situation does not turn worse.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s tree committee on Friday approved a proposal to cut 481 trees in Goregaon (East) to make way for the construction of a single residential project.

In 2011, the committee had permitted cutting 278 trees in the same plot being developed by Kingston Properties Pvt Limited, known as Oberoi Realty Pvt Limited since 2009. Of the 481 trees, only 194 can be replanted. The decision has, however, been severely criticised by corporators and environmentalists.

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on drought, chaired by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, today gave in-principle approval for a Rs 2,519-crore package to Maharashtra to tackle drought-like situation in the state.

The package is part of the total demand of Rs 4,919 crore the state had proposed and would address issues such as availability of drinking water, fodder and irrigation works.

Within nine months of inviting proposals for building the much-delayed Sewri-Nhava Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the city’s development authority has hiked the project cost by Rs 830 crore to Rs 9,630 crore.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) invited requests for qualification for the project in November last year and had pegged the cost at Rs 8,800 crore. It is now in the process of inviting final technical and financial bids from the shortlisted consortia to implement the project on a public private partnership model.