Relief for Pallavaram Municipality

The Pallavaram Muncipality got some relief from the National Green Tribunal, Southern Bench, on Thursday on the issue of dumping garbage. The Tribunal directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to make a spot inspection on the new site at Venkatamangalam mooted by the municipality and to accord ‘consent to establish’ without further delay.

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has decided not to grant environmental clearance to any proposals coming under the Ecologically Sensitive Zone-1 of the Western Ghats.

The decision comes in the wake of a direction issued by the National Green Tribunal that the recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report should be considered while granting environmental clearance to projects in the ESZ-1 in the Western Ghats. ESZ-I areas are those which fall outside the boundaries of wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests but have been given the status of a protected area in the WGEEP report.

Noida: Adopting a stern outlook on wastage of groundwater by packaged water companies, the National Green Tribunal has sought details of all such factories operating in the Noida-Greater Noida region. Aclarification has been sought asto whether such industries have the consent of the authorities of the twin cities and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to operate. The tribunal has also sought details about the ‘sources’ from which these factories collect water.

The tribunal has directed the Central Ground Water Authority and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to furnish guidelines regarding conservation of groundwater and provide data pertaining to groundwater levels from 2006.

Giving a boost to what will be the first major cluster redevelopment project to take off in the city, the state-level expert panel has decided to recommend the Bhendi Bazaar proposal for environmental clearance.

The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) screens proposals for construction projects spread over 20,000 sq m and recommends them for clearance to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). The latter, headed by the environment secretary, will now accord approval to Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment, which will be spread over a plot of 66,264.74 sq m.

Will be valid for a period of five years

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has granted environment clearance for 11 more sand quarries in the Cauvery-Coleroon river basin. A few days ago, the SEIAA had granted clearance for 10 new sand quarries in Tiruchi, Karur, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Namakkal districts. In the second batch of clearance, 11 quarries have been approved, sources told The Hindu on Friday.

The State Government has urged the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to place minerals enlisted in List-1 of Minor Minerals Rules under B-2 category.

The Madras High Court has permitted 10 sand quarries on the Cauvery-Coleroon river beds to continue its operations for a further period of two months.

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which has received applications for opening 44 new sand quarries on the Cauvery-Coleroon river basin, is clueless about how to proceed further, in the absence of Central guidelines on such project proposals.

As a sequel to the August 3 order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the PWD had to secure approval of the SEIAA for setting up 44 sand quarries and running 21 existing quarries. Twenty-seven sand quarries over five years old were closed down.