Deadline for disposing UCIL (Union Carbide Plant) waste
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 16 issued fresh directions to dispose the toxic waste lying at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. The waste is to be incinerated at the waste treatment site in Ankleshwar industrial area of Gujarat. The court directed the Gujarat government to dispose the hazardous waste by January 31, 2009.
The waste has been lying at the plant since 1984 when the Bhopal gas tragedy occurred. The 350 metric tonnes of waste is at the centre of a legal wrangle between Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat governments.
The Gujarat government did not comply with similar orders passed by the high court in October 2007. A fire at the hazardous waste treatment facility (managed by Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Ltd. or beil) and opposition from local non-profits were cited as main reasons for non-compliance. Continue reading »
Filed under News, Pollution | Tags: Bhopal Gas Disaster, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Gujarat, Hazardous Waste, High Court, Madhya Pradesh, Supreme Court, Toxic Wastes, Union Carbide, Waste Disposal, Waste Incineration | Comment (0)POSCO: Villagers Demand 5% of Share in Company’s Profits
Some people in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district, in a complete turnaround from their earlier stand, agreed to give up land for the POSCO steel plant on January 5, but with conditions. They have asked for a 5 per cent share in the profits of the company, among other demands.
In another development, the Central Empowered Committee, which advises the supreme court on forest-related cases, recommended that mines, steel plant and captive port— POSCO‘s proposed projects—should be considered as one and reviewed in entirety for its ecological significance and rehabilitation plans rather than as three different projects. POSCO filed an affidavit in the apex court on January 4, contesting the recommendations and asking for separate clearances for its three “separate’ projects. The case will come up for hearing in the third week of January. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Livelihood, News | Tags: compensation, Conflicts, Displacement, India, Iron And Steel Industry, Land Ownership, Land Resources, Mining, Orissa, Ports, Supreme Court | Comment (0)MOEF Defination of Waste, Material etc. Skewed
The terms ‘waste‘ and ‘material‘ are synonymous in the draft hazardous material rules of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (moef). The rules have been criticized for violating norms of the Basel Convention – an international treaty on cleaner production, minimization of hazardous waste and control on its movement—to which India is a signatory.
“The rather unusual use of two similar meaning yet different terms—waste and material—is bound to lead to enormous confusion,’ note D B Boralkar and Claude Alvares, members of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes and say that the state pollution control boards won’t be able to deal with the confusion. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, Pollution, Save environment | Tags: * Government Of India (GOI), Hazardous Industry, Hazardous Products, India, Legislation, Ministry Of Environment And Forests (MOEF), Supreme Court, Toxic Wastes, Waste Disposal | Comment (0)