Cement, Energy & Environment

The treaty also spells out rules on the appropriate management of waste and wastewater containing the harmful heavy metal. But Japan's request for the inclusion of the polluter-pays principle in the pact was rejected. The U.N. Development Program in 2009 decided to draw up an international treaty to restrict the use and emissions of mercury. Mercury is released into the environment during smelting, drilling for gold and power generation at thermal power stations. Emissions are particularly high in developing nations such as China and India as they depend heavily on thermal power plants and their regulations against pollution tend to be lax. Under the planned treaty, the production, imports and exports of products containing certain amounts of mercury will be banned basically in 2020. Such products include batteries , fluorescent bulbs, pesticides, thermometers, soap and cosmetics. In Japan, the impact of the ban is expected to be limited compared with other nations, because shifts to mercury-free products have substantially progressed. As smoke resulting from the combustion of coal is a key source of mercury in many countries, measures to reduce the release of the poison into the air, water and soil are specified in the draft treaty. The draft also calls for reducing in stages the use of mercury in small gold mines seen mainly in developing countries. (Jan. 21, 2013) Courtesy: The Daily Yomiuri, published by The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan WATER DIVERSION FOR THERMAL POWER PLANTS TO REDUCE IRRIGATION POTENTIAL IN VIDARBHA: REPORT Amidst the ongoing controversy over the multi– crore irrigation scam, a study by Greenpeace reveals that the diversion of water of the Wardha and Wainganga rivers for the upcoming thermal power plants in the underdeveloped Vidarbha region would reduce irrigation potential and worsen agrarian crisis. As of 2010, more than 55,000 fo!!W of coal-based power plants are proposed in the Vidarbha and they would require 2,050 million cubic metres (MCM) or 72 thousand million cubic (TMC) ft water. According to the Greenpeace study, almost 1,700 MCM water is being proposed to be taken from the Wardha and Wainganga river basins that would other-wise have irrigated about 340,000 hectares of farmland. The report comes at a time when the Maharashtra government has released a white paper, which clarifies that the irrigation potential in the state has been 28 per cent in the last decade, and not a mere 0.1 per cent as portrayed in an earlier State Economic Survey. However, according to Greenpeace, if all power plants of 55,000 MW are commissioned , the water availability for irrigation would be reduced in Vidarbha region, which may, in turn, increase the irrigation backlog. Jai Krishna, a Greenpeace campaigner, told reporters that analysis of a 24- year period from 1981 till 2004 shows that there has been variation in rainfall in these two river basins. Water availability for the Wardha and Wainganga basins mostly depends on the monsoon months between July and October. "The water availability in the Wardha and Wainganga sub basin shows a definite reduction upon the completion of all reservoirs for any other purposes like irrigation or urban uses. The various thermal power plants proposed in the region further reduce it by 1,706 MCM. Since water use of thermal power plant is consumptive, all the 1,706 MCM of water required would be available for any other purposes. This, in terms of water available for futu re uses, translates to reduction of about 40 per cent of the water available in the Wardha basin and 16 per cent for the Wainganga basin," said Jai Krishna. Courtesy: The Business Standard Mumbai, 04.12.2012. CEMENT PRODUCER TO TAKE ECOLOGICAL PRECAUTIONS Jaypee Associates has been directed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court to ensure protection of environment and ecology at Baga, Solan where 30 (