Even amid the hue and cry of environmentalists over the shrinking wetlands, an effort initiated by the Revenue Department to prepare a revised data bank of the actual area of wetlands in the district has reached nowhere.

Though the updated list was expected to be completed by the end of 2012 in the district, many of the villages failed to furnish the latest records other than just forwarding the old records containing smooth figures.

Environmentalists in Gujarat have claimed that the March 5 environmental public hearing (EPH) for the 6,000-MWe nuclear power plant in Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar district will be on the basis of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) by Engineers India Limited, which did not have the necessary accreditation.

Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, a leading environment action body in Gujarat, has demanded that the public hearing for the project at Mithi Virdi be stopped and the EIA submitted by Engineers India scrapped.

Various farmers’ unions, environmentalists, social groups, scientific and health organisations as well as individual intellectuals came together on Friday to oppose the decision of the Punjab Government which recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the multi-national company Monsanto to what was projected as promoting crop diversification.

In a joint statement these organisations claimed that the company had no expertise in diversification. On the contrary, it was averse to any diversification and had a history of monopolistic as well as exploitative practices that favoured monocultures.

ALLAHABAD: Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday said that the holy Ganga should be freed of pollution right from Himalayas to Ganga Sagar.

A visit by K.

MUMBAI: The state government has approved a hefty compensation package for farmers opposing the Jaitapur nuclear power plant.

The revised package offers affected farmers Rs 22.5 lakh per hectare instead of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh announced earlier. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) plans to set up a 9,900 MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district. "The new package is much higher than the existing ready-reckoner rates. The package is lucrative and has been designed to benefit farmers. With the revised financial package, we hope that farmers protesting against the project will withdraw their agitation and part with their land," revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat told TOI.

Mumbai: Mangroves in the city are in peril. Green cover in Mahul, Chembur has come under threat after toxins were dumped there last week.

The incident was reported behind a Slum Rehabilitation Authority building (SRA) in Mahul where trucks have reportedly been discarding oil residue on the mangroves. Locals said that the activity has been going on since the last one week. The matter was reported to the forest department and the mangrove cell has already inspected the area and taken samples. However, those dumping the deposits remain unidentified.

In A Month, 7 Crushed To Death In Bhavnagar

Rajkot: Gujarat’s first cablestayed bridge built over a sea creek in Bhavnagar may have helped the business boom with better connectivity to the city. But, barely 14 kms away, the road connecting this bridge is turning into a graveyard for the endangered blackbucks around the Velavadar Blackbuck National Park. Over the last one month, speeding vehicles have killed seven blackbucks on the five-km stretch between Khetakhatli to Kalatalav village.

Noida: Adopting a stern outlook on wastage of groundwater by packaged water companies, the National Green Tribunal has sought details of all such factories operating in the Noida-Greater Noida region. Aclarification has been sought asto whether such industries have the consent of the authorities of the twin cities and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to operate. The tribunal has also sought details about the ‘sources’ from which these factories collect water.

The tribunal has directed the Central Ground Water Authority and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to furnish guidelines regarding conservation of groundwater and provide data pertaining to groundwater levels from 2006.

Filling It Artificially Will Save Animals, Say Officials | A Wrong Move: Experts

Bangalore: The government’s proposal to artificially replenish water holes in national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves has drawn flak from wildlife experts. The proposal was floated last month due to drought-like condition and water crisis in forest areas. In a letter to Dipak Sarmah, the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and chief wildlife warden, Karnataka forest department, the experts said it’s disastrous to have water tankers enter wildlife reserves