The Lieutenant Governor has directed the Delhi Development Authority not to allow any construction for recreational use on the Yamuna river front (Zone

The Save Ganga Movement, which began with a fast unto death by a former IIT professor, may turn into a major political issue ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. After more than 30 Hindutva outfits supported the movement, Baba Ramdev announced the formation of the Ganga Raksha Manch at Haridwar on Tuesday. Although it was said that the manch would not be affiliated to any political party, the presence of senior VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia raises many questions.

Our rivers are in a bad state, have been for a long time. That is not surprising, seeing that we have been concerned about the situation for years. What now appears to give it a new twist is the result of a survey carried out on some of the rivers, 25 in total. Predictably, the quality of the water in the rivers has dwindled to a precarious state. Worse is the knowledge that some of these rivers may actually have reached a point where they are no longer capable of nurturing or supporting aquatic life forms in them.

Residents from Shivsorem and Colomba in Rivona are gearing up to oppose an iron ore mining lease, with a public hearing slated for June 18 from 11 am at Rivona V K S S Society, Rivona. Residents have alleged that the mine owner started operating from the mine since September 2007 without obtaining any permission from mining department or Ministry of Environment and Forest. However, Mines department in May stopped the operations.

Missile man and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, in the role of an environmentalist, has called upon Delhites to be involved in cleaning of the city's lifeline, Yamuna river. The ex-president is a man of his own stature and thinks very deeply. These days Dr Kalam is busy in social works. As regards the river Yamuna, it has been polluted from whereever it is flowing, near Kanpur, Allahabad and Agra by industrial units established there as also the people living there. Near Kanpur Dehat, the dirty water from leather factories is drained in the river.

By Rashme Sehgal June 16: Prof. G.D. Aggarwal, who is sitting on a fast unto death in Uttarkashi from June 13, fears the construction of six hydel projects on the upper Ganga between the Gangotri glacier and Uttarkashi will see a drying-up of the river for over a 50-km stretch.

Operation Godavari Clean-up programme was taken up by Puducherry minister for tourism Malladi Krishna Rao on Sunday. Mr Krishna Rao brought about 500 volunteers of the Yanam Pourula Sankshema Sangam and took up the cleaning. The programme started at 7 am and continued till 5 pm. Volunteers picked up all floating waste material like polythene bags, plastic and other materials from the various Godavari ghats.

The Gawda Kunbi Velip and Dhangar Federation of Colomba unit on Friday filed a complaint at the Quepem police against a mine operating at Gulkon Donger for releasing polluted water and mining silt into their agricultural fields.

It is aimed at creating public awareness about the city's ecological units

Even the most ardent proponents of industrialism would acknowledge that we are in the midst of an environment crisis. Rates of species extinction are 1,000 times more than what they were before human beings dominated the earth. The rate of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere today is 30 times more than when the Industrial Revolution started. Urban India is slowly waking up to this inconvenient truth.