ENVIRONMENT - 2004 - Indian Social Institute

the mental disorder among the children in the sample group but the difference was insignificant,"
said Green-peace campaigner Divya Raghunandan. (Hindustan Times 10.4.04)
19 th April
Make environment poll issue (9)
ENVIRONMENT ISN'T just about trees. It's about eradicating poverty, improving health and wellbeing,
creating livelihoods and more. Yet, in this election season, despite the talk about
unemployment, there is little discussion on how we would deal with these broader environmental
issues that impact our future. But then, you can't bury an important issue. In Karnataka, the
drought is threatening to impact poll outcome. In Punjab, farmers' plight will not be forgotten when
votes are cast. And in Delhi, the improvement in air quality mattered during last year's polls.
Voters can, however, force the agenda on the new government. It's been done before with suc
cess. Think of these issues: pesticides in water and food, import of toxic wastes into India, overproduction
and over-consumption of plastics and bio-diversity conservation. They issues grab
attention because of the huge public effort to highlight them. (Hindustan Times 19.4.04)
20 th April
Women honoured for Union Carbide fight (9)
SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 19: TWO Bhopal women who have defied social norms, poverty and
sickness in a quest to hold Dow Chemical Company accountable for the 1984 Union Carbide
disaster that killed more than 20,000 people are being honoured here today as environmental
champions. Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla are among seven grassroots activists from
around the globe being awarded this year's Goldman Environmental Prize. Each award, referred
to as the Nobel Prize for the environment, comes with US $ 125,000 that the winners are free to
spend as they wish. "Getting this award is going to, once again, bring the issue of continuing
disaster in Bhopal to the world's attention," Bee said during an interview in the Goldman offices.
Shukla and Bee plan to use the prize money to create a trust fund dedicated to providing medical
care for children of survivors and developing employment options. Some of the cash willbe used
to institute an award for "people who are carrying on extraordinary battles against corporate
crime," Bee said. (Indian Express 20.4.04)
21 st April
Bhopal tragedy activists get the ‘Environment Nobel’ (9)
New Delhi, April 20: Two women survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster — the Bhopal
gas tragedy, have won the most prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, dubbed as the Nobel
Prize for Environment, for their role in keeping the memories of Bhopal alive and leading the
struggle for justice since 1984, Rashida Bee, who herself suffers from respiratory and vision
problems and has lost six family members to cancer since 1984 and Champa Devi Shukla, who
lost her husband and has one grandchild born with congenital deformities due to the gas leak,
jointly received $125,000 as prize money which they plan to use in setting up a trust, to provide
medical care and surgery to children suffering from the gas disaster and provide job opportunities
for women whose families have been victims. "Bee and Shukla's courage has galvanised the
grassroots and has drawn low-income, illiterate women like themselves from the margins of
society to the centre in order to hold chemical companies accountable for the gas leak and its
deadly legacy," said the Goldman Foundation. (Asian Age 21.4.04)
Hospital incinerators the biggest polluters (9)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 20. Hospital incinerators are the biggest polluters in the Capital, states a
report complied by Toxic Links, which also points out that the government hospitals, despite the
many rules and guidelines, have turned blind eye to the harmful effect of the incinerators.
The study, titled "Incinerators in Delhi --State the Biggest Polluter", points out that it is shocking to
note that government hospitals continue to threaten the health of the city's population by
releasing carcinogens through the burning of medical waste. Burning of waste of any kind causes
the emission of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) like dioxins and furans. Dioxin exposure is
linked to a variety of health problems such as impairment of the nervous system, the endocrine
system, and the reproductive system. Medical Waste incineration, too, has been linked with the