An expert panel has blamed the increase in commercial plantations for destroying forests, erosion of soil and water bodies in the Western Ghats. According to a Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report, which was submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) by its Chairman, Prof Madhav Gadgil, water guzzling crops and monoculture plantations such as tea, coffee, and cardamom are responsible for depleting forest wealth. “These crops have aggravated the...
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Untreated groundwater a serious health issue, says survey-Aarti Dhar
A survey of 71 cities across the country conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that officially 82 per cent of all the water that municipalities of these cities supply comes from surface water resources, and the rest comes from groundwater resources. But of these 71 cities, 11 depend almost completely on groundwater for public water supply. In the remaining, agencies supply water from surface sources by...
More »Supreme Court orders end to cancer-causing water in Bhopal by Vijetha SN
You have three months to give Carbide victims clean supply, Madhya Pradesh told The Supreme Court has set a three-month deadline for the Madhya Pradesh government to ensure supply of clean drinking water to victims of the Bhopal gas leak tragedy living in settlements around the Union Carbide Factory. They have been forced to drink contaminated water for over 30 years. The court this past week also directed the setting up of...
More »Poison in India’s groundwater posing national health crisis-Nitin Sethi
Depletion of groundwater and its increasing pollution could be leading to a silent, nationwide public health crisis as aquifers in many stretches across India are becoming unfit for drinking, according to the government's own figures. Data submitted in Parliament by the water resources ministry on Monday shows groundwater in pockets of 158 out of the 639 districts has gone saline. It says in pockets across 267 districts, groundwater contains excess fluoride;...
More »'Alcoholism, viral hepatitis causes of liver ailments'
-The Hindu Alcoholism and viral Hepatitis infection are the leading causes of liver disorders, B. Sankara Sarma, head of department of Gastroenterology, Kurnool Medical College, has said. Addressing a meeting in connection with the World Liver Day here on Thursday, he said alcoholic liver disorders like cirrhosis of liver accounted for 30-35 per cent while Hepatitis B and C infection caused 30-35 per cent of the diseases. Obesity, diabetes mellitus and hyper lipidamia...
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