A large number of "economic instruments" are already being used in industrialised countries, according to a recent survey conducted by J B Opschoor of the Free University of Amsterdam. These economic instruments can be classified into five types: charges,

Tax reforms, which would penalise the unlimited use of nature, are fast becoming an imperative part of preparing national budgets, prodded by the realisation that ecological costs have to be accounted for, here and now. But will Manmohan Singh pay heed to

The Damodar is the most polluted river in the country today, thanks to the several industries that have sprouted on its mineral-rich banks. Experts say the only way to save the Damodar valley is for these highly polluting industries to make massive invest

That is what Lata Srikhande, a Pune housewife, did to solve her domestic waste disposal problems. Now her neighbourhood is following suit

On the basis of hydrochemical and biological studies, a trophic gradient has been established between the inshore and the offshore areas of the Dal lake. The inshore areas receive large quantities of raw sewage and agricultural runoff as a result of which high nutrient concentration of water and the presence of dense phytoplankton populations have been registered at these sites.

Calculated loading rates of trace metals into the three environmental compartments demonstrate that human activities now have major impacts on the global and regional cycles of most of the trace elements. There is significant contamination of freshwater resources and an accelerating accumulation of toxic metals in the human food chain.