Residents from Maina, Pirla, Cavrem, Colomba and adjoining areas are gearing to oppose Goa Pollution Control Board's public hearing for renewal of mining leases. According to sources, Goa Pollution Control board has fixed three pubic hearings of three mines at Chandreshwar Temple, Cotto, Amona-Quepem on June 21. Villagers alleged that the mine owner who had applied for renewal of mining lease has already started mining operations, causing extensive damage to the environment. "The mine owner was booked and fined by the forest department for illegal cutting of trees,' said a local.

With no let-up in pollution by ash let loose after burning rice husk by industrial boilers the State Pollution Control Board has served notices on 15 units in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area to switch over to alternative fuels like furnace oil, diesel or petrol for all boiler operations within a month. These units which comprise textile and paper mills have been directed to submit an action plan about switchover to an alternative fuel.

Favouring the removal of mobile phone towers from residential areas due to emission of radiation, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit today said that it was the responsibility of the municipality to remove them. Speaking on the sidelines of a function here, she said, "We are aware that mobile phone towers are not safe for health. They are a threat I > the environment. However, it is the MCD's job to remove them," Ms Dikshit said.

While municipal councils have foiled several attempts of the High Court to get them to attend to the garbage problem in their respective jurisdictions in the last two years, the High Court on Wednesday contemplated imposing fine on defaulting civic bodies would work as deterrent.

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.

In an effort to make people aware of the rapid and alarming change in the environment worldwide, Tripura State Pollution Control Board along with Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and Cine Delve, a film society of Agartala will screen a series of special films here on September 26 next. The Agartala film fest will actually be a part of country-wide similar show to be organized by CMS. Besides Agartala six other selected State capitals

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.

A half-day workshop on "Facilitating Door to Door Collection of Segregated Waste' was conducted at Hotel Woodlands, Margao on Thursday, to coincide with "World Environment Day' by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Western Regional Centre in Goa. The interactive workshop was designed to sensitize members of Margao Municipal Council to develop a strategy for door-to-door collection of segregated waste in Margao. The workshop was attended the councilors and the staff associated with waste management.

Environmentalist and Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan Vice President Nandkumar Kamat is at a loss of words to explain the Government's inefficiency to check whether water supplied in people's homes was actually safe for drinking. Addressing a press conference on the eve of World Environment Day that falls tomorrow (June 5), Kamat lamented, "What we are drinking is actually poison water. There are no quality checks and the Government has not bothered to address the problem in spite of reminders and individual representations.'

Hyderabad is on the move not just on the progressive front but also in terms of pollution. The levels of dust, water and sound pollution in the city are alarming and increasing by leaps and bounds every year. According to the state Pollution Control Board, the total suspended particulate matter (TSPM), which denotes the dust levels in the city, has increased from 241 ug/m to 254 ug/m since last year.