On August 26, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned, taking responsibility for the disastrous meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was caused by the March 2011 undersea earthquake and ensuing tsunami.  In India, on the other hand, the deliberate contamination of a drinking water tank with radioactive waste in the Kaiga nuclear power plant in Western Ghats in the state of Karnataka has gone unpunished for two whole...

Sehal Sagar village in Rajasthan has won the national water award instituted by the water resources ministry Nestled in Rajasthan’s bone-dry Tonk district, Sehal Sagar village boasts of lush green fields, wells full to the brim and healthy cattle. The surprise transformation has been possible because the village follows rainwater harvesting and develops its pasture land. Sehal Sagar has an elaborate network of ponds, canals and chaukas which ensure that every drop...

-The Hindu   A few recommendations by the Indian Council of Forestry and Research and Education (ICFRE) have upset the National Council for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR), which is fighting a legal battle against illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The ICFRE which carried out a macro-level Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study of Bellary district following a direction from the Supreme Court had submitted its report to the court recently. Recommendations such...

Study commissioned by Supreme Court calls for output cut after finding extensive damage to Biodiversity, air quality A Supreme Court commissioned study on iron ore mining in Karnataka’s Bellary district has suggested production of the steel-making raw material should be cut by as much as 40% to prevent environmental degradation. The environment impact assessment (EIA) report, prepared by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), has recommended that the district...

Water, the most vital of all resources, has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. After all, the driest continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater is not even half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic metres per inhabitant. When the estimated reserves of rivers, lakes, and aquifers are added up, Asia has less than...