Singapore Has Sorted Out Its Waste Problem With Four Plants, Limited Landfill Site To One

The visible part of the waste to go to Germany first, buried part in next phase

The 350 tonnes of toxic waste dumped on the premises of the erstwhile Union Carbide factory in Bhopal would be flown to Germany to be incinerated, either there or in any other part of Europe in line with the proposal of GIZ, the German state agency. Yesterday’s cabinet approval of the proposal marks a milestone in the nearly three-decade wait to clean the 32-acre site housing remnants of the toxic pesticides left by the company after the industrial disaster there in end-1984.

PANJIM: Stepping up their campaign against ‘illegal’ land-filling of the mangrove khazan land, behind the Heera Petrol pump near the Kadamba Bus-stand, Panjim, Goa Bachao Abhiyan, has complained to the Town and Country Planning Department and to other authorities, expressing frustration at the lack of action.

In a letter sent to the Chief Town Planner, the Member secretary, North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), Panjim, Police Inspector, Panjim Town Police station and the Member Secretary, Mangrove Society of India, the GBA has asked for prompt action.

Killer landfill: Large-scale contamination leads to health hazards

Feasting dogs, scavenging crows and kites dot the three-kilometre dirt trail that leads to the settlement in Mavallipura, Bangalore’s official dump yard, a sea of plastic bags, batteries, shoes, tyres, discarded clothes and rotting food that decays in the sun and floats during the rains. The stink of garbage, which for many Bangaloreans is a vague, indistinct smell, is unmistakable and overwhelming for Mavallipura’s occupants.

Faced with the challenge of finding a solution to the worsening waste management crisis across the State, the State government has initiated steps to establish integrated municipal solid waste treatment plants in five more urban local bodies in the State.

Suchitwa Mission, the government’s nodal agency for implementation of public sanitation and waste treatment schemes in the State, had earlier invited tenders to set up large scale waste treatment plants in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

In a setback to 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims, a United States court has held that neither Union Carbide nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liable for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims at the firm’s former chemical plant in Bhopal.

In his written opinion, US district judge John Keena concluded that even when viewing the evidence in the most favourable light for the plaintiffs, UCC is not directly liable, nor liable as an agent of UCIL, nor liable under a veil-piercing analysis.

AHMEDABAD: It's quite surprising that despite an existing ban on construction of residential colonies within 500 metres of the hazardous landfill sites, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has built houses for economically weaker sections in Vastral area, well within the banned limit. The ban was imposed by the central pollution control board.

Locals here, including those living in private colonies have been complaining of stench that is emanating from the landfill site. "During monsoon, the strench gets worse . Its impossible to sit at home. We are worried as the landfill site may even effect out ground water," says Dhaval Parmar, a resident here.

PANJIM: It’s more than a month that the E-waste Management and Handling Rules, 2012 - notified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Central Pollution Control (CPCB), Govt of India, has come into force, but till date barely 1% of e-waste manufacturers and users have woken up to the reality of the new regulations.

The e-waste handling rules, which came into effect from May 1, 2012, through a gazette notification on May 12, 2011 - has come fixing the responsibility on all stakeholders including mainly manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

A month after the deadline to install GPS in vehicles transporting hazardous waste in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam has passed, the devices are yet to be installed. Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) had in March asked the authorities to install GPS devices on these vehicles and link them to the Board’s server within two months.

The decision, taken during the tenure of Dana Kishore as member-secretary of APPCB, was seen as a means to link updates of handling and disposal as also enable constant monitoring of treatment, storage and disposal Facilities (TSDF) of hazardous wastes in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.