Sabarmati not polluted? Gujarat CM 'lied' on Gandhi martyrs day: Top envionmentalist

Taking strong exception to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani stating during his poll campaign in Delhi on January 30 that Sabarmati river has become clean after the Riverfront Development Project was implemented, senior environmental activist Mahesh Pandya has said it doesn't augur well for him to "lie of the Gandhi martyrs day."
Commenting on Rupani, Pandya, who is director of the NGO Paryavaran Mitra, and has been working in close coordination with Government of India and Gujarat government agencies on environmental issues, said, on two different occasions, two separate GoI ministries qualified Sabarmati as one the most polluted Gujarat rivers.
Citing a report by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) dated March 23, 2019, Pandya, who is an invitee from India to the United Nations for climate change and environment, said, even the 11-kilometre stretch Sabarmati Riverfront Front has been qualified as polluted.
He added, "It should also be remembered that the Riverfront does not have any Sabarmati river water. It is filled with Narmada waters... Rupani was making his statement purely for electoral gain."
On November 28, 2019, Rattan Lal Kataria, minister of state for water resources, in an answer to an unstarred question to the Lok Sabha, identifying Sabarmati as one of the 323 polluted rivers of India, said that this to "due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents."

Kataria continued, "Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. also contribute to pollution of rivers", adding, as per the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), "351 polluted river stretches have been identified on 323 rivers based on the value of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)."
The 20 polluted rivers identified by CPCB are -- Amlakhadi, Bhadar, Bhogavo, Khari, Sabarmati, Vishwamitri, Dhadar, Triveni, Amravati (tributary of Narmada), Damanganga, Kolak, Mahi, Shedhi, Tapi, Anas, Balehwar Khadi, Kim, Meshwa, Mindhola, and Narmada.
Answering another unstarred question, Babul Supriyo, minister of state for environment, forests and climate change, said on July 19, 2019, "As per a report published by CPCB in September, 2018, 351 rivers stretches are identified as polluted. Out of these, 20 polluted stretches of rivers have been identified in Gujarat based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), a key indicator of organic pollution."
He added, "Water bodies including rivers in the country are mainly polluted due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents. Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. also contribute to pollution."

Comments

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Search This Blog