-TheWire.in Environmentalist and water management expert Ravi Chopra says river inter-linking will sow the seeds for future conflicts between states. There is nothing new about the proposed river-interlinking project being pushed by the government, and this ‘unnecessary excess’ of a project will create more problems than it promises to solve, says environmentalist and water management expert, Dr Ravi Chopra, the director of People’s Science Institute, Dehradun and a managing trustee of the...

-The Telegraph The Left in Bengal had often criticised him whenever he red-flagged excessive local tyranny, and spoke about the industrial decline in Bengal. The incumbent ruling party may make tall claims about changes in Bengal since the Trinamul government came to power but he has been candid enough to suggest that he hasn't seen much change either in industrial expansion or in investment in infrastructure. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal has shelved Delhi Development Authority's new building bylaws which exempt realty projects from undergoing environment impact assessment (EIA).   In a detailed judgment dated December 8, published on Wednesday, NGT also stayed the Union environment ministry's notification of December 9 which exempted real-estate projects (up to 1,50,000 sq m built-up area) in the country from undergoing EIA and obtaining Environmental Clearance (EC). Aimed at...

-TheWire.in While synergising state and business interests through ‘single window’ mechanisms helps investors, it can compromise the role of regulatory agencies like the state pollution control board. On November 16 ,2017 Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik launched an online system called GO-SWIFT for supporting the state’s existing ‘single-window clearance system’. Odisha continues to be ranked high among different states in India on the ease of doing business index. It is part of a...

-Down to Earth New laws to regulate sand mining have not had much impact Illegal sand mining is a perennial problem in India. But it assumes gargantuan proportions right before the onset of monsoon because swollen rivers make extraction extremely difficult during the rainy season. To make most of the lean period, mine owners and hoarders try to dig out as much sand as possible, through legal and illegal means, in...