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Environmental Pollution
As the Centre has proposed setting up standing bodies to expedite the green clearance process in states and Union territories, experts have raised concerns about the criteria for selecting the members for the new bodies, which could lead to a weakened scrutiny of projects. According to a draft notification issued on March 5, the new bodies would assume the functions of the existing State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) and State Expert Appraisal Committees (SEAC) whenever these state-level institutions become non-functional due to the expiry of their tenures or delays in reconstitution. While the SEIAA grants environmental clearances, the SEAC advises it in appraising the project. The new bodies Standing Authority on Environment Impact Assessment (SAEIA) and Standing Committee on Environment Impact Appraisal (SCEIA) would comprise "ex officio members", meaning government officials or bureaucrats, nominated by the Central government. Subhrajit Goswami, a research
India and Finland have renewed their MoU on environmental cooperation to deepen collaboration on pollution prevention and control, waste management, climate change, forests and natural resource management, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has said. The renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) comes during the four-day visit of Finnish President Alexander Stubb. "Happy to note that India has renewed the Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Cooperation signed in 2020, deepening cooperation on pollution prevention and control, waste management, climate change, forests and natural resource management through knowledge and technology cooperation," Prashan said in a post on X. According to officials, the renewed MoU will continue to provide a structured framework for collaboration and exchange of best practices between the two countries on, inter alia, prevention and control of air and water pollution (including remediation of contaminated soil); waste management ...
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has admitted it has not conducted any research or study on pollution caused by diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years that form the basis of the overage vehicle ban in Delhi-NCR. In a reply to an RTI application filed by environmentalist Amit Gupta, the CAQM said it has not undertaken any pollution research or study regarding the impact of such vehicles. Asked if there were any other research that formed the basis of the ban, the commission said the restrictions on "end-of-life" (EoL) vehicles stem from the National Green Tribunal's order in Vardhman Kaushik vs Union of India & Ors and the Supreme Court's order in M C Mehta vs Union of India & Ors. Last month, the CAQM put on hold until October 31 the enforcement of its earlier directive that fuel stations in Delhi should not supply petrol or diesel to such overage vehicles. The decision came after the Delhi government cited "operational and .
In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court has upheld the powers of the pollution control boards to impose restitutionary and compensatory damages for environmental harm, saying that prevention and remediation must be at the heart of environmental governance. A bench comprising justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra held that under provisions of the Water Act and the Air Act, pollution control boards are constitutionally and statutorily empowered to levy damages for actual or potential environmental harm. Having considered the principles that govern Indian environmental laws, we have held that the environmental regulators, the Pollution Control Boards exercising powers under the Water and Air Acts, can impose and collect restitutionary or compensatory damages in the form of fixed sum of monies or require furnishing of bank guarantees as an ex-ante measure to prevent potential environmental damage, Justice Narasimha wrote in the judgement delivered on Monday. The verdict said these .
Russian officials warned of severe environmental damage Wednesday as thousands of people came out to clean up tonnes of fuel oil that spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers more than two weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, near Moscow-occupied Crimea. More than 10,000 people, largely volunteers, raced to rescue wildlife and remove tons of sand saturated with mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product, according to Russian news reports. Authorities in Russia's southern Krasnodar region last week announced a region-wide emergency, as the fuel oil continued washing up on the coastline 10 days after one tanker ran aground and the other was left damaged and adrift on December 15. The move came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an ecological disaster. On Wednesday, New Year's Day, Krasnodar officials said the oil kept on surfacing on the beaches of Anapa, a popular local resort. More than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed along 56 ...
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for making the environment protection law toothless, and said the provision under the CAQM Act which deals with penalty for stubble burning was not being implemented. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanulllah and Augustine George Masih said the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act of 2021 (CAQM Act) was enacted without creating required machinery for implementing the provision to curb air pollution. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said section 15 of the CAQM Act, which deals with penalty for stubble burning, will be implemented effectively as regulations for it will be issued in 10 days. She submitted that an adjudicating officer will be appointed and all necessary actions will be taken to enforce the law effectively. Bhati pointed out that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has issued notices to senior ...