ELAW Bulletin

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) has tirelessly taken on polluters and defended communities and ecosystems since it was founded in 1992 by Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque. We are thrilled to announce that BELA, now lead by ELAW Partner, Rizwana Hasan, has been awarded a 2020 Tang Prize for Rule of Law.

ELAW Bulletin

Last week, ELAW partners in South Africa shared their latest victory: South Africa’s Constitutional Court slammed one door shut on plans to build a new coal mine inside an Mpumalanga Protected Area.

ELAW Bulletin

We are inspired by many victories this past year for communities and the environment around the world.

ELAW Bulletin

More than 20 years ago, Udupi Power Corporation Ltd received permission to build a 1200 MW coal-fired power plant near the coast of Karnataka, without a public hearing and with an environmental impact assessment (EIA) that placed the plant 100 kilometers from its actual location! The plant began operating in 2010 and poses serious threats to human health and ecology.

ELAW Bulletin

Tackling coal-fired power plants and other polluters in India is a serious challenge. According to recent rankings, nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

ELAW Bulletin

India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has mandated that new coal-fired power plants must comply with "Human Health and Environment" criteria as part of the environmental clearance process. This includes baseline community health assessments and periodic health monitoring.

ELAW Bulletin

India's National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered quick remediation of 25,000 cubic meters of asbestos waste in a towering pile in the village of Roro in the State of Jharkhand. 

ELAW Bulletin

We are pleased to announce that our photo essay collection is now available online!  Enjoy 12 inspiring stories of communities around the world fighting for a healthy environment, and winning.

ELAW Bulletin

ELAW is working closely with Shweta Narayan at Community Environmental Monitors (CEM) to hold polluters accountable and protect communities in Tamil Nadu from hazardous air.

ELAW Bulletin

The Times of India quotes ELAW Staff Scientist Dr. Mark Chernaik speaking out about pollution in Chhattisgarh, a heavily forested state in central India known for its temples and waterfalls.

ELAW Bulletin

ELAW partner Rahul Choudhary and his colleagues at the Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE), have filed a petition on behalf of Ridhima Pandey, seeking to protect the climate.

ELAW Bulletin

Congratulations to ELAW partners at the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) who have worked for more than 20 years to protect communities and waterways from toxic tannery emissions.

ELAW Bulletin

ELAW partners achieved tremendous victories in 2016.
We will continue our work fighting for the environment and human rights around the world in 2017, and look forward to more victories for the planet and communities.

ELAW Bulletin

A car rally proposed in the Aravalli Hills in the State of Haryana, India has been rerouted away from ecologically sensitive areas.

Five years ago, a cargo ship sailed from Indonesia loaded with 60,000 metric tons of coal, heading for a power plant in Gujarat, India.  It was not seaworthy and sank off the coast of Mumbai, spilling fuel oil that contaminated the ocean and coastal beaches. The Indian government rescued the crew and responded to the oil spill, but the ship and the coal remain on the ocean floor.

ELAW Bulletin

The small Himalayan village of Lippa in far north Himachal Pradesh, India, won a David and Goliath battle last week against the State which sought to move forward on a hydroelectric project that would destroy forest and likely bury Lippa village in a flood of silt.

ELAW Bulletin

Martin Luther King, Jr.  once said: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." This proved true in last week's victory, after 15 years, for nearly 600 former workers exposed to toxic mercury at a now-closed Unilever thermometer factory in Tamil Nadu, India.

ELAW eBulletin

India's unique environmental court -- the National Green Tribunal -- continues to make waves taking on egregious environmental abuses, including tanneries in Kanpur that have dumped untreated waste into the Ganges for decades.

ELAW Advocate, Summer 2015

ELAW eBulletin

Great news!  India has shelved plans for a massive expansion of one of India's largest coal mines, which would have forced the relocation of 17 villages and impacted 135 schools and 90 public health centers.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partner Shweta Narayan at Community Environmental Monitoring has sent terrific news: The National Green Tribunal blocked plans for a huge coal-fired power plant in the coastal city of Cuddalore, in Tamil Nadu.

ELAW eBulletin Scientists at the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide use Google Earth to "ground truth" environmentally destructive proposals across the world, writes Camilla Mortensen in today's Eugene Weekly.

Google Earth for Justice

ELAW Bulletin A long-fought battle to protect the water supply of Mehdiganj was won last week when Coca-Cola abandoned its newly built, expanded bottling plant near Varanasi, India.

ELAW Bulletin Last weekend, Live Mint & Wall Street Journal celebrated the work of three ELAW partners -- Norma and Claude Alvares at the Goa Foundation and Ritwick Dutta at the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). This dynamic trio and other inspired advocates in India co-hosted our 2012 ELAW Annual Meeting.

The Indian press celebrates the work of three ELAW partners -- Norma and Claude Alvares at the Goa Foundation and Ritwick Dutta at the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE)

ELAW partners in India urge re-location of Ultra Mega coal-fired power plant proposed for Cheyyur, Tamil Nadu

ELAW Bulletin ELAW partners in India have sent good news! The Chennai Bench of the National Green Tribunal has shelved plans for a private airport in Kerala that threatened key wetlands.

Saying No to Coal

ELAW Bulletin India's National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the inspection of 956 factories that release effluents into the India's most sacred waterway.

ELAW Bulletin "Ultra Mega" is the term for 12 new super-sized coal-fired power plants proposed to meet India's energy needs. Communities near Cheyyur Lagoon are concerned about plans for an Ultra Mega coal-fired power plant.

ELAW Bulletin ELAW partner Norma Alvares of the Goa Foundation has won a tremendous victory in India. The Bombay High Court ruled that the Grand Hyatt Hotel was illegally constructed in the protected Coastal Regulation Zone, which prohibits development within 200 meters of the sea coast and 100 meters of tidal rivers.

ELAW eBulletin
ELAW partners are speaking out for clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet. Enjoy some recent press clips featuring our partners in Tanzania, India, and Israel.

ELAW eBulletin After four hard fought years, the National Green Tribunal has shelved a coal-fired power plant proposed for Komarada Village in Andhra Pradesh. Ritwick filed the case on behalf of Samata, a social justice organization that defends the rights of the Adivasi people in Andhra Pradesh.

ELAW Press ELAW partner Ritwick Dutta fought his first case at the age of 28 against Vedanta, representing the Dongria Kondh tribals of Niyamgiri, who wanted to stop the London-listed giant from mining bauxite.

ELAW Press An op-ed in The Hindu by ELAW partner Ritwick Dutta talks about the impact the National Green Tribunal is having on environmental decision-making in India. According to Ritwick, “the [National Green Tribunal] NGT has emerged as a new hope for the environmental movement in [India].” The National Green Tribunal is responsible for reviewing evidence on environmental disputes and affaires within the Indian Parliament.

ELAW eBulletin An op-ed by ELAW partner Ritwick Dutta was recently published in The Hindu. Ritwick describes how the National Green Tribunal is transforming the way environmental decisions are being made in India.

ELAW eBulletin A report on ELAW Fellow Rahul Choudhary in the Eugene Weekly. Rahul defends communities and ecosystems before the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

ELAW eBulletin Only 400 Asiatic Lions are left in the world. They all live in and around Gir National Park in the State of Gujarat, India. With all the lions living in one place, an epidemic could wipe out the entire population.

ELAW partner Leo Saldhana at the Environment Support Group is pleased to announce that plans to clear valuable grasslands and forests to make way for nuclear, defense, space, and other high tech projects are on hold.

ELAW eBulletin: ELAW partners Ritwick Dutta and Rahul Choudhary have won a great victory protecting communities in India from short-sighted plans to build a coal mine.

ELAW eBulletin: ELAW partners in India have won a stunning victory protecting communities in Dhinkia, Gadakujanga, and Nuagaon Gram villages from short-sighted plans for an enormous steel manufacturing facility and port. India's newly formed National Green Tribunal has suspended plans for a project that would have cut forests and forced communities to leave lands that they have lived on for generations.

ELAW E-Bulletin: ELAW partner Hemantha Withanage sent fabulous news this week: Children in Sri Lanka will be protected from toxic lead. Sri Lanka's Consumer Affairs Authority has enacted new, stringent standards limiting the amount of lead in paint used in children's toys.

Victory in India! We are pleased to announce a big victory in India that will protect the public from excessive exposure to radiation! Last week, ELAW partner Ritwick Dutta successfully argued a case in front of India's newly formed National Green Tribunal.

India’s sacred Ganges River begins in the glaciers of Uttarakhand State. Big dams jeopardize communities and the fragile ecosystems of this region. Communities threatened by the proposed dams in Uttarakhand have called on ELAW partners for help.

The tribal people of the Niyamgiri Hills in eastern India have won a David and Goliath battle protecting their ancestral lands from a London-based mining giant! Authorities in Delhi recently denied permission for Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite from hills in Orissa State where the Dongria Kondh live as subsistence farmers.