Transportation of coal by trains, ash by trucks and use of sea water illegal'

[email protected] (CD Network)
March 17, 2011

UPCL

Udupi, March 17: Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi has denied to grant the amendment to the environment clearance to Udupi Power Corporation to transport coal by railway, ash by trucks and the use of sea water. This means transportation of coal by trains, ash by trucks and the use of sea water for the UPCL project is totally illegal.

Executive President of Jana Jagruthi Samithi Nandikur Balakrishna Shetty in a press release said that during the end of last year the UPCL approached the Ministry for the amendment to the Environment Clearance dated 20th March 1997 although it has been already using Konkan Railway for transportation of coal from NMPT to project site, trucks for transportation of ash from the plant to Santhur dumping area and sea water for cooling and ash mixing purposes without authority since early 2010.

The Environmental Clearance stipulates transportation of coal by closed conveyor system with dust suppression mechanism, transportation of ash by pneumatic system through pipelines to the dumping area and desalinated water for the plant, he said.

Pneumatic technology is nothing new and UPCL, which is publicly boasting of state of the art technology in the plant should not have adapted the cheaper and environmentally damaging method.

The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry in its 15th Meeting on Jan 10 this year had recommended the amendment without considering all the facts or site visit. The Samithi had raised strong objection to the Chairman of the Committee

VP Raja to review its recommendation. The Samithi reminded EAC that the Ministry had already carried out the impact assessment of transportation of coal by trains and had even filed an affidavit before the Honorable High Court of Karnataka in the case of Maneka Gandhi and Janajagrithi Samithi v/s Congentrix in Feb 1997 stating that after considering the environmental implications it had stipulated closed conveyor for transportation of coal from harbor to the project site and ash from the plant to the dumping area.

The Samithi also reminded the Ministry of the soil vulnerability in the area and potential contamination of the surface as well as the underground water resources and the consequent threat to human health and to crop due to dumping of fly ash and use of sea water by the project.

Upon receiving the objection by the Samithi, the EAC decided to withheld the recommendation. The EAC meeting held on Mar 14 and 15 refrained from granting the amendment.

It is absolutely clear that UPCL has been violating the terms of the Environmental Clearance. “The Ministry of Environment & Forest should seriously consider shutting down the plant permanently and invoke Public Liability Insurance Act for compensating to all those affected by pollution”, said Samithi President Balakrishna Shetty. He urged the Konkan Railway to stop transporting the coal by its goods trains in the absence of the amendment and the Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board as well as the District authorities to prevent the use of trucks for ash dumping and the pumping of the sea water.


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News Network
February 20,2020

Gadag, Feb 20: A 33-year-old Muslim man is all set to become a seer at Muruga Rajendra Mutt in Gadag.

Ordained by Sri Murugarajendra Koraneswara Swami of the mutt, Dewan Sharief Mullah claims he was taking the step not under any duress but after being "guided by the almighty".

"Nobody asked me to do it. The almighty came in my mind and guided me.... They have put the sacred thread and given me the responsibility. They have given me the 'Ishta-linga' and this honour. I have done the 'Ishta-linga dharan'. I will walk on the path of dharma. Love and sacrifice is the message given to me. That is what I want to propagate," he said.

Sri Murugarajendra Koraneswara Swami said, "It does not matter what caste you belong to. If God appears to you for a path of goodwill and sacrifice, you will do it regardless of the manmade restrictions of birth and caste."

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 2,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 2: All the seven Airports in Karnataka have seen poor traffic even after the restoration of domestic flight services post covid-19 lockdown. Interestingly, Mangaluru International Airport, the second biggest in the state, has slipped to third position in number of number of passengers and flights. 

Of all the seven airports in State-- Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Vijaynagara (Hosapete)-- it was the Sambra (Belagavi) airport which saw the highest number of passengers and flights after Bengaluru. 

According to Airports Authority of India report released on their website recently, the Sambra airport outperformed the Managluru international airport in June. 

As many 10,224 passengers travelled to or from Belagavi airport in June, whereas Mangaluru airport saw a footfall of only 8,608 passengers including 3,726 international and 4,882 domestic passengers. Belagavi airport handled 391 flights whereas Mangaluru airport handled 190 flights.

Even the Bengaluru international airport saw a decline in the number of passengers and flights in June. Only 3.69 lakh domestic and 10,654 international passengers arrived or departed from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru in June as against 27.59 lakh total passengers in June 2019. 

Between April-June 2020 the Bengaluru airport saw only 4.54 lakh total passengers (domestic and international) as against 84.11 lakh total passenger during the same period last year. The number of flights to and from Bengaluru also saw a huge dip in June with only 731 international (2,582 in June 2019) and 4290 domestic (16,216 in June 2019) flights.

Though the Mysuru domestic airport handled a higher number of flights compared to last June, the number of passengers either arriving or departing saw a decline. Last year June 4,775 passengers travelled in 96 flights, whereas in June 2020 the airport handled 3,158 passengers and 330 flights.

Hubballi airport saw the least number of passengers or flights among the seven airports in Karnataka in June. It saw only 55 passengers either arriving or departing from the city's airport in 14 flights in the month of June. In the same month last year, Hubballi airport, which was third busiest before the pandemic, had facilitated 45,973 passengers and handled 604 flights.

Since April 2020 to June, the Hubballi airport has handled only 18 flights (as against 1,958 during the same period last year) and 122 passengers (1,50,416 between April-June 2019).

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: The Delhi Police has traced Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, who has been on the run after an FIR was registered against him for organising a religious gathering last month despite restrictions to combat the coronavirus, sources said on Wednesday.

The cleric has been traced to Zakir Nagar in southeast Delhi, sources said.

His lawyer Tauseef Khan, however, said Saad is under self-quarantine and will join investigation after his quarantine period is over.

On March 31, Delhi Police's Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by Station House Officer Nizamuddin for holding the congregation here allegedly in violation of the orders against large gathering and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A day later, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch wrote to Saad and others, seeking the details under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A second notice was also issued to him this week.

"Saad is currently under self-quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over," his advocate, Tauseef Khan, told PTI.

Saad's quarantine is expected to end next week.

His lawyer said a reply to the second notice will be given soon.

In an audio message last week, Saad said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamudddin markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

Visited by thousands last month, the Nizamudddin centre also turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in national capital and country.

According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the centre on March 21 and reminded them of the government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

However, no one paid any heed to the police's direction, it said. Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.

On March 24, the government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering.

The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of the centre.

The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.

So far, several hundred cases of COVID-19 cases across the country have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi last month.

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.

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