NEERI's history of botch ups

• NEERI's clean chit, over a decade ago, to the toxic effluents of Zuari Agro Chemicals, Goa, was found to be wrong by the Goa State laboratory. Zuari Agro remained closed following a movement till its effluent quality improved.

• NEERI"s reports on the environmental aspects of aquaculture farming (1995) have recently been criticised in Supreme Court (SC). Its report to the Marine Products Export Development Agency, which seeks to promote aquaculture in India, and the report submitted to the Court, took contrary positions.

• Environmental experts have recently criticised another study by NEERI - Carrying Capacity of the Doon Valley- on the grounds that most of the data relating to biodiversity, natural resources, demography and tourist sites were 'unrealistic', and that repeated references to limestone mining had no justification, as it had been banned by a SC order years ago.