the mix of salt and freshwater at Everglades in Florida, us, makes it the only place on earth where alligators and crocodiles co-exist. It has a massive network of lakes, creeks, swamps and rivers

Valdez Victims Spurned: Almost 20 years of legal battle ended in frustration for victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, as the US supreme court reduced an earlier damages award of $2.5 billion to $507 million. The new figure amounts to just $15,000 for each of the plaintiffs, a group of 33,000 commercial fishermen, cannery workers, native Alaskans and others affected by the disaster, called

with the first spell of monsoon in mid-June people in Bargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Sambalpur districts in Orissa experienced something they had never seen before: a grayish layer on leaves, vehicles and elsewhere.

Suggests steps to curb pollution at MPT

VASCO, JULY 23

JOWAI: Concerned over the devastating effect of mining on environment and its components, the Jaintia Forum for Biodiversity and Cultural Heritage (JFBCH) has urged the Central and the State Government and all the concerned authorities to stop issuing the clearance certificates for expansion of all the existing cements plants in Jaintia Hills District.

Eight out of ten factories and industrial parks in Vietnam breach environmental regulations, state media reported, citing a government study in the rapidly-industrialising country.

The survey of more than 400 enterprises found many "lacked even the most basic awareness of environmental issues,' said the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Department, Nguyen Hoa Binh, according to the state-run Vietnam News daily.

The Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, threatened the state government with a mass agitation if the latter failed to initiate action against the industrial units discharging effluents in Budda Nullah.

BHUBANESWAR: With increasing clamp down on sponge iron units over pollution issues, the manufacturers in Orissa have pleaded for a little more time for adoption of proper practices and infrastructure.

The sponge iron industry in the State is only eight years old and is making gradual improvement in putting in place mandated systems, practice and equipment for control of pollution, they said.

Salem

AGITATED by the lack of transparency in the functioning of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), 100 people, mostly farmers, on Tuesday sought clarifications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the District Environmental Engineer's office.
"TNPCB has consistently treated citizens as trouble-makers and enemies, and has gone out of its way to support polluters,' they alleged.