-TheThirdPole.net Authorities in Himachal Pradesh want to legalise unauthorised buildings in highest quake-risk region After years of legal tug of war, the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh could see a new relaxation of its urban planning rules, despite repeated warnings about the dangers of unfettered development on its cities’ fragile terrains. According to a 2015 report on landslide vulnerability, most of the built-up areas in Himachal Pradesh, northern India, are in a high-risk...

-The Indian Express The plan lists a number of immediate, medium and long- term measures that need to be taken over five years to manage and restore the trans-boundary lake shared between Haryana and Delhi, which lies southwest of the capital. An expert committee set up by the Delhi government has prepared an environmental management plan for Najafgarh lake on directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The plan lists a number...

-Down to Earth Mining and disposal of these elements add to the environmental damages and ecological burden Naturally abundant wind, geothermal, solar, tidal and electric energy are being hastened as the future of the planet's energy needs. And rare earth elements are used in a bevy of technolgies to generate this cleaner, renewable energy. These include wind turbine magnets, solar cells, smartphone components, cells used in electric vehicles, among others. Also called rare earth...

-Down to Earth Manpower minimised, water used in the process recycled; environmentalists hail the model, but implementation under cloud Idol immersion in Kolkata has turned a new leaf in the wake of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic through the ‘wash-and-melt’ model. Tridhara Akalbodhon, a club in south Kolkata, used water jets to melt its durga idols instead of immerising them. Environmentalists, too, have hailed the model as environment-friendly. The idols were positioned through...

-The Indian Express Urban areas require a different approach to end open defecation. The Swachh Bharat Mission is being executed by two different ministries — the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for rural areas and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for urban areas. In the rural areas, the major challenge was to change the mindset of the populace so that they would start using household toilets rather than...