Category Archives: Ecology and Environment
Courts battle over polluting Sterlite plant. Meanwhile, people continue to suffer
BY NITHYANAND JAYARAMAN From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 41, Dated October 16, 2010 On 29 September, the Madras High Court ordered the closure of Sterlite Industries’ copper smelter in Thoothukudi for violating environmental laws. The final judgement was delivered 14 years after the NGO National Trust for a Clean Environment claimed that Sterlite, a prominent […]
Illegal mining threatens Sariska
JAIPUR: Despite crores being spent in the name of conservation and Project Tiger, illegal mining activity is back in full gear in the protected area of Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary.
The dust that kills
By Jagdish Patel. Published on InfoChange News & Features, April 2009 The longest word in the English language is the full form of silicosis. No one knows it, just as no one knows that 10 million workers in India are at risk of silicosis, a fatal disease often mistaken for tuberculosis. Some industries, like the […]
The Earth Is Rumbling
By ANURADHA RAMAN For the last one year, the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district of southwestern Orissa have been reverberating with protests and demonstrations. The tribals of the area—the Khonds, Kutiyas and Jharaniyas, who worship the hills as living gods—are taking on Vedanta, a UK-based mining major that has acquired a licence from the government […]
There’s nuclear gold in this sand. And it’s being sent out with impunity
BY KUNAL MAJUMDER. From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 41, Dated October 16, 2010 VV MINERAL, a two-decade-old company, has been mining beach sand that includes radioactive minerals on the Kanyakumari coast. The company says it doesn’t have the technology to separate thorium from monazite, a rare earth ore found in the area — a claim […]
The rules are in place. But they are broken all the time
BY TEHELKA BUREAU. From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 39, Dated October 02, 2010 After the legwork, it’s time to fix accountability. What exactly are India’s existing safety guidelines relating to functioning of nuclear power plants and mining of radioactive material? If rules have been breached in the past, what hope is there that any regulations […]
The nuclear park at Jaitapur will be huge. So will the human cost
BY NIKHIL GHANEKAR. From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 37, Dated September 18, 2010 THE PROPOSED site for the Jaitapur nuclear park is a sight for weary eyes with blankets of lush grass covering the plateau 25 metres above sea level. The N-park will house six reactors, the biggest one having a capacity of 1,650 MW, eclipsing […]
Accident Sites – radiation, cancer, blindness, tardiness, cover-ups. The lessons from the Kalpakkam nuclear facility
BY KUNAL MAJUMDER. From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 36, Dated September 11, 2010 In the end, loud voices were all that mattered. After three months of extended discussions, legislators in the Indian Parliament yelled their assent. The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 was a legislation.
Nuclear energy. Ministries warn they are far from ready
BY SANJANA From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 35, Dated September 04, 2010 WHEN CONGRESS president Sonia Gandhi, in her recent address to the Congress Parliamentary Party, acknowledged “inadequacies” in dealing with the Bhopal gas tragedy, it made headlines. The collective gasp as the country heard her proclaim — “We cannot remain prisoners of the […]
HIGH-GRADE ENERGY, LOW-GRADE SAFETY
by G VISHNU From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 38, Dated September 25, 2010 It was in 1967 that Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), a public-sector undertaking, opened its first mine in Jaduguda. This region in East Singhbhum district has rich deposits of copper, uranium and iron ore. For the past 20 years, activist […]