A study of automobile pollution in Kolkata has been made using CALINE 4 model. This model was selected as it offered several advantages over other models. It has been first used as the base model to develop the correction factors for the application of this model for the city of Kolkata, and then the modified model with the correction factors has been validated. Carbon Monoxide was chosen for the model because it is principally emitted from vehicular sources and daily background concentration data of this gas were available for a year for comparative studies.
After learning its lessons from Nandigram, the West Bengal government is willing to try out alternative models of land acquisition and rehabilitation policy
Programmes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission hold the potential for transforming the urban water supply and sanitation sector. The mission is in its third year of implementation. Four urban service providers discuss the progress and their future plans in addition to the key to smooth implementation of the programme.
Attempts to patent inappropriate innovations in the country have met with opposition. In May 2006, drug major Glaxo filed a patent application in Kolkata for hiv drug Combivir, which was a combination of Lamivudine and Zidovudine. The company withdrew the application following opposition from human rights organisations like the Indian Network for people living with HIV/AIDS and the Manipur Network of Positive People.
Particulate matter less than PM10 and aromatic chemicals formed during incomplete combustion of organic matter are major environmental pollutants because of their toxic potential.
Supply-led water deprivation prevails in major cities in India. The per capita water availability in these cities is nowhere near the standards laid down by the World Health Organisation or the Bureau of Indian Standards (1993), and it is also far lower than that in other large cities in the world. The availability of water in Indian cities varies with socio-economic groups and areas.
Benzene exposure from vehicular sources and its health impact are relatively unexplored in India. We have investigated in this study hematology and lymphocyte subsets of 25 petrol pump attendants, 25 automobile service station workers and 35 controls matched for age, sex and socioeconomic conditions.
There is a continuous increase in expenditure for running municipal water supply systems in India. Many water treatment plants of various capacities are being constructed to cope with the increasing water demand. Now the most efficient and cost effective way to supply water to a locality with maximum production cost is to be found out to maximize the benefit from the fund spent.
Titagarh's slum upgrading experience demonstrates that social pressure and lobbying, particularly by women's groups, can be very effective in controlling rents, even when there is no legal contract between tenants and landlords.
