Down To Earth on 12 May 2026 published its Daily Court Digest summarising three major environment orders affecting India's biodiversity hotspots, mining belts and groundwater regime. First, the National Green Tribunal heard Oil India Limited's defence of its Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) project inside the eco-sensitive zone of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Assam; the company argued that the project was granted environmental clearance under Supreme Court and National Board for Wildlife oversight purely for research purposes with no commercial extraction. Second, the Central Pollution Control Board, in an inspection report placed before the NGT, found that hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) concentration in the treated effluent at the Kaliapani Chromite Mines of Jindal Stainless Limited in the Sukinda Valley of Odisha was 0.16 milligram per litre, more than three times the prescribed standard of 0.05 milligram per litre, with the effluent being discharged into the Dharamshala Nalla which meets the Brahmani river. Third, the NGT directed Ultratech Cement's Bichhapuri coal mine in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, to construct groundwater recharge structures in nearby villages and ensure regular drinking water supply to Senduri-Baigatola, Kalyanpur and Bicharpur villages where water service has been disrupted. Hexavalent chromium is a recognised carcinogen and Dibru-Saikhowa should not be described as a Ramsar Site; PIB lists Assam's Ramsar Site as Deepor Beel. The Sukinda Valley historically holds about 95 per cent of India's chromite reserves and has long been listed among the most polluted industrial zones in the world.