The environment department has directed all hotels, resorts and even tents for tourists within a kilometre of forest areas to take the state pollution control board's permission to continue operations. The directive follows a string of complaints of violation of environment norms against hotels and resorts
Don't think no record was broken at the Eden dust bowl while you were baking in the stands yesterday: the Calcutta temperature breached a decade-old barrier. When the mercury bubbled up to 39.6
Households in Bengal affected by arsenic-laced water are likely to reap economic benefits even if they pay for clean water supply, a study by Jadavpur University has indicated. The study, described by researchers as among the first to assess the costs of arsenic-contaminated water on households, has shown that investing in safe drinking water is economically feasible.
BM Birla Heart Research Centre is planning to expand its chain of hospitals in the city and abroad. "We have plans to set up multi-speciality hospitals in Rajarhat, Siliguri, Haldia and Jharkhand, and also in Dubai and Bangladesh,' said Suyash Borar, the chief operating officer of the centre. According to Borar, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has promised to provide the centre two acres in the proposed Rajarhat health city.
Use of clean fuel is mandatory within 30 sq km of Victoria Memorial The state pollution control board and police will soon launch a drive to identify hotels, restaurants and other establishments violating a high court order banning the use of coal for cooking within 3 km of Victoria Memorial Hall. Violators may attract closures, fines and even FIRs. The decision to launch the joint drive was taken at a recent meeting between environment department officials and Calcutta police top brass at Lalbazar.
The Union Minister of State for Power, Mr Jairam Ramesh, on Friday said that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is planning to tap the capital market either through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or a wholly owned subsidiary. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Jairam Ramesh said that the statutory organisation, which itself is not eligible to reap the benefits of the capital market, has appointed KPMG to recommend the measures to restructure the organisation. "The restructuring is expected in end-2008,' the Minister added.
About 35 per cent of municipal water is wasted daily in the city because of leakage and misuse, scientists said today. Out of seven million children aged less than five years who die in the world due to water-borne diseases, 1.5 million are from India alone. Alarming figures such as this were revealed during the National Symposium on Environment and Water (NSEW) organised here today by the Indian Association of Hydrologists (IAH), West Bengal regional centre.
Interference in a state government undertaking by the state environment department is not a frequent occurrence. But Mackintosh Burn has been pulled up for creating severe sound pollution at the construction site of the underground car parking plaza, bang opposite the Writers' Buildings. The car park project has been undertaken by the state public works department (PWD) who appointed Macintosh Burn for the construction work.
The Centre on Thursday said that construction work on the metro rail projects in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi would commence within two years. Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy said: "The metro projects for Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi are in different stages of approval. The government's effort is to expedite the process.
Governor Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi urged students of animal and fishery sciences to extend their learning to the rural areas such as the Sunderbans where primitive methods of fishing is used. The new technique that the students have will save the rare organism of the coastal waters who are killed indiscriminately due to the fishing practice of the locals.
