By : Kalpana Palkhiwala : The pollution load on major rivers has increased over the years due to industrialization and urbanisation. Use of water for irrigation, drinking, power and other purposes compound the challenge.
Source of Pollution
The rivers are polluted by the discharge of treated and untreated municipal waste and industrial effluent. All the large and medium industries have installed effluent treatment plants and are generally meeting the prescribed standards (30 mg / 1) with respect to Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). However, the cumulative impact of many industrial point sources adds …

A ‘water calculator’ was launched on thursday, jointly by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
The advantage of the micro processor based calculator was that it calculated the water requirement specific to each crop and location, Dr S Raman of IWMI, inventor of the device, said at the launch function.
It could also make exact recommendations of water requirements for each crop, he further said.

5 Feb : Advocating the need to adopt the path of ecologically sustainable development, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday said that the country has a legacy of according high value to environment and ecology.
“There is no doubt that the objectives of economic and social development of our people and the eradication of poverty are overriding. Nonetheless, the development path that we adopt has to be ecologically sustainable,” she said while addressing a symposium on ‘Urgency in Addressing the Needs of Environment and Conservation of Wildlife’ in Bhopal.

The symposium …

CHANDIGARH, FEB 3 :To commemorate world’s wetland day and to encourage student to have a better understanding of wetlands, in order to observe the ecology on wetlands, plants and animals as well as discover the relationship between wetlands and humans, Saint Soldier International School, Sector 28 B, Chandigarh organized poster making competition echoing the theme “Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change” of World Wetlands Day on 2nd Feb., 2010. Students were enlightened about the effects of climate change on biodiversity and wetlands. In the contest, students were required to prepare posters …

16 Dec : Climate change negotiations are in full swing at the UN summit at Copenhagen where India is actively participating along with other like-minded nations to press developed countries to take deeper emissions commitment, the govt told the Lok Sabha.
“…the developed countries are also being pressed for transfer of financial resources and climate change friendly technologies to the developing nations at the earliest,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, currently holding charge of Environment Ministry said.
In a written reply, he said “at this stage it is difficult …