Page 910 - Environment
Many development projects miss deadlines in Kashmir
The development in Kashmir is a story of missing deadlines and work in progress. Many projects are under construction for the last so many years, with extensions issued to them year after year - reflecting the lack of capability of successive state governments to execute mega projects. The governments and the executing agencies blame the situation in the valley or weather conditions for not meeting deadlines - taking refuge in excuses -- which often leads to an escalation in the project costs. Kashmir valley's longest flyover from Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh here is one such example. Announced in 2009, the construction on the flyover, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at an estimated cost of Rs 359 crore, began in 2013, but the project is far from completion even after missing several deadlines. The latest was December 31, which was set by the government for the completion of phase one of the flyover -- from Tulsi Bagh to Barzulla Bridge. Then last year, the Jammu
NGT orders 'intensive survey' of rivers in western UP
The NGT has ordered "intensive survey" of the Kali, Krishna and the Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh and directed the inspection of 316 industries which are allegedly polluting the water bodies. The order comes after a plea filed by an NGO alleged that 50 villagers have died of cancer in western UP. A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi constituted a committee comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state pollution control board, UP Jal Nigam to jointly inspect and carry out survey of the rivers and groundwater in six districts in the western part of the state. "They shall collect samples, cause analysis to be made of such samples at the Central Pollution Control Board Laboratory," the bench said in its order. "They shall carry out joint inspections of 316 industries...as well to give answers to the queries already made and ascertain contribution of each of the industries in terms of the contaminants generated by ...
Dharmendra Pradhan takes part in cyclothon to promote fuel conservation
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday congratulated Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) for a successful Saksham Cyclothon in Indore asserting that it has set a good example for fuel conservation."Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) and Indore Cycle Association organised a mega cyclothon. More than 30,000 people participated in it. Today's cyclothon set a good example of fuel conservation," saidPradhan who was present at Saksham Cyclothon.Earlier in the day, Pradhan flagged off the Cyclothon and said, "Heartiest congratulations to the city of Indore for hosting the world's largest cyclothon. Indore has left an indeliable mark in the global map in its efforts in reducing city's pollution & contributing towards a healthier future for our generations to come."He added that Saksham Cyclothon is driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call to citizens to not use petrol or diesel for at least once a week and adopt healthier ways of ...
Varity of medicinal plants being grown at U'khand Forest Research Centre
Around 18 varieties of medicinal plants are being grown at Forest Research Centre in Uttarakhand's Haldwani.The plants are used in making medicines for curing various diseases including diabetes and asthma.The cylindrical plants that are being developed in the Haldwani Forest Research have medicinal properties that play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity.Haldwani Forest Research Center, in-charge Madan Singh Bisht, said that according to a research, it is useful to create a contagious drug to cure deadly diseases such as dementia asthma."The specialty of all these cylindrical plants is that they all play a very important role in biodiversity. However, in Uttarakhand, more than 70percent of the vegetation is proving to be a boon for biodiversity besides medicines, which has become very important in view of their protection. It should be expected that the forest research will bring a plan to preserve the extinct species of Haldwani's celestial plants," Bisht added.
Boat ride in Thane creek from next month for nature lovers
Come February and bird enthusiasts in Mumbai will be able to watch the winged creatures, including flamingos, in the creek in neighbouring Thane district. The mangrove cell of the Maharashtra forest department has decided to start a 10 km boat ride in the Thane Creek where nature lovers will be able to watch several birds and the dense cover of mangroves. "All the necessary permissions have been obtained and we are ready to sail in the Thane Creek to take the tourists to the dense mangrove cover from next month," Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests N Vasudevan told PTI. "We want people from the highly commercialised Mumbai region to get a feel of the nature and environment. There is an unexplored biodiversity around Mumbai which we want the people to see," he said. The Thank Creek stretches over an area of around 1,700 hectares from Airoli to Vashi in Navi Mumbai. The mangrove covers around 900 hectares while the rest is land. "It would be a nearly ...
Icy poop from aircraft addles residents of Gurgaon village
A rumble in the sky and a loud thud a few seconds later shook villagers in Fazilpur Badli yesterday, leaving them wondering what had happened. Rajbir Yadav was in a wheat field when a "large rock" made its way to the ground, forming a one-foot crater. Was it a missile, a bomb or a meteor? A terrified, befuddled Yadav sprinted to the village head, another villager, Sukhbir Singh, said. The news spread like wildfire and a few minutes later, a large number of the villagers had circled the frigid "rock", which later turned out to be human poop. While the elders wracked their brains to make a good guess, the children brimming with curiosity declared it was a gift by the aliens. "It is a white, holy stone gifted by the aliens," a child exclaimed. "Jaadoo" from the film "Koi Mil Gaya" had one, he said. Others conjectured it was a rare mineral or a celestial object, sneaked a few pieces into their homes and stowed them in the fridge, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Pataudi, Vivek Kalia
Germany faces risks, higher costs without focus on green finance: report
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany faces growing risks and high costs if it does not revamp its financial system to focus more on climate change and sustainability, according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund and finance groups including Deutsche Boerse.
Digvijay wants a new lease of life for India's "oldest" river
Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, who is on 'Narmada Parikrama' yatra since the last four months, is worried about the plight of the revered river due to illegal sand mining, and wants urgent measures to ensure its revival. The 70-year-old former Chief Minister and his wife Amrita started 'parikrama' (circumambulation ) of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh as a "religious and spiritual" exercise. Singh said the Narmada is the "oldest" river in India and advocated its revival. "Rampant illegal sand mining with machines is being done in the river. Roads have been built in the bed of the river," he told PTI. To back his claim, Singh pointed at temporary roads that have come up for sand excavation in the Narmada at Babri area in Narsullaganj tehsil of the Budhni constituency represented by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "Such is the worrisome condition of Narmada - the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh," he said. "The flow of the Narmada is much reduced. Water from the ...
Saudi to build 9 desalination plants on Red Sea
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia plans to build nine desalination plants for more than 2 billion riyals ($530 million) on the Red Sea coast, its environment minister said on Sunday.
Commercialise use of ISRO's Li-ion battery for EVs: Govt panel
A panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha has recommended commercial use of ISRO's lithium-ion battery technology under the 'Make In India' initiative for electric vehicles, official sources said. The Committee of Secretaries also recommended that the power ministry should initiate "requisite power tariff and access policies" for enabling development of charging infrastructure, in consultation with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and others concerned. Official sources told PTI that the panel has firmed up the strategy for increasing use of zero emission vehicles to lower India's dependence on oil imports and improve the ambient air quality. The panel, they said, has advised that "ISRO may consider transferring" its lithium-ion battery technology used in electric vehicles to interested parties on a "non- discriminatory basis for commercialisation with Make in India condition", after obtaining approval of the Space Commission and other authorities. In ...
Dolphins spotted at Olive Ridley nesting site in Ganjam dist
The Rushikulya river mouth off Ganjam coast in Odisha, famous for mass nesting of endangered Olive Ridley turtles, has attracted quite a few dolphins too, a forest official has said. Forest personnel sighted the dolphins belonging to different species in the sea from Purunabandh to Prayagi during a census conducted on Friday. The dolphin census was carried out by the forest departent in the 54-km coastline off Ganjam. Twenty-six dolphins of two species - 15 humpback dolphins and 11 bottlenose dolphins - were sighted, said divisional forest officer (Berhampur), A K Behera. "Of the 26, nine were found between Purunabandh and Prayagi, the rookery of the Olive Ridley turtles," he said. Between Prayagi and Nua Boxipalli, 11 dolphins were sighted and six were found in the stretch fro Markandi to Pati Sonepur. Last year too, some dolphins were sighted off the Ganjam coast. "The coast houses different species of the sea mammal," said the DFO. "We will submit a report to the ...
This MP village still awaits electricity
Residents of Phutera Dhane village located around 15 kilometres away from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district still await an electricity connection in their village.With only 15 families living in the area, the vicinity neither has proper roads and nor has any water facility."We face a lot of problem due to non-availability of electricity and good roads. Every day we travel 8 kilometres to reach the school. We use oil lamps to complete our work," said a local.Narrating her ordeal, the local also urged Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to pay heed to their problem.Meanwhile, another local said that they have been urging the government to address their woes but no action has been taken in this regard.Interestingly, as per 'Soubhagya Yojana', the Centre has aimed 100 percent electrification of the country by 2018.
Grasim Industries gets green nod for Rs 2,560cr expansion proj
Grasim Industries has received green nod for expanding the production of manmade fibre VSF at Bharuch, Gujarat that would entail an investment of Rs 2,560 crore, according to an official document. The company has four VSF (Viscose Staple Fibre) plants in India, of which two are located in Gujarat, one each in Kharach and Vilayat in Bharuch district. As per the proposal, the company's Grasim Cellulosic Division wants to expand its Vilayat plant. In a letter issued to the Grasim Industries, the Union environment ministry has said it has given the environment clearance to the company's proposal on expansion of Vilayat unit subject to compliance of certain conditions. The company's proposal is to increase the production capacity of VSF from 1,27,750 tonnes per annum (TPA) to Rs 2,55,500 TPA. It also wants to set up a production facility of Solvent Spun Cellulosic Fibre with a capacity of 36,500 TPA. Besides, the company has proposed to expand the production capacity of ...
City lights setting traps for migrating birds
Scores of migrating birds are being lured by artificial light pollution into urban areas - which may prove to be deadly ecological traps, a study has found. Researchers at University of Delaware in the US used 16 weather surveillance radars from US over a seven-year period to map the distributions of migratory birds during their fall stopovers. Since most of the birds that migrate in the US are nocturnal and leave their stopover sites at night, researchers took snapshots of the birds as they departed. "Shortly after sunset, at around civil twilight, they all take off in these well-synchronised flights that show up as a sudden bloom of reflectivity on the radar," said Jeff Buler, from University of Delaware. "We take a snapshot of that, which allows us to map out where they were on the ground and at what densities. It basically gives us a picture of their distributions on the ground," he said. The researchers wanted to see what factors shape the birds' distributions and .
India's automated ocean pollution system to begin this year
India is all set to have its own automated ocean pollution observation system this year which will help keep a tab on ocean pollution levels apart from offering insights on how the marine system is changing, a top scientist has said. According S S C Shenoi, director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), the system will become functional by April this year and the cost of the project is estimated to be at Rs 100 crore. INCOIS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Shenoi said that the new ocean data acquisition system, called automated moorings, will do away with the present practice of collecting water samples from sea and studying their pollution levels thereafter. "This is for the first time India will have such kind of system. In the US you will find it. This is a very effective system in getting the data about the ocean pollution. We will use those data to understand the quality of water," Shenoi told PTI. He added ...
'Meteorites brought water to Earth in first two million years'
Water may have been brought to our planet by meteorites during the first two million years of after the birth of the solar system, a study has found. Since elements such as water and carbon are essential ingredients to life on Earth, researchers are keen to know when they arrived on our planet. "We're looking at as many meteorite parent bodies as possible right now to figure out where they were in the early solar system and how much water they had," said Adam Sarafian, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. Angrite meteorites formed in the inner solar system extremely early, roughly 4.56 billion years ago. At that point, the Earth was likely still just 20 per cent of its current size, while Mars, which formed more quickly, was probably close to its current size. Scientists are not sure how quickly Mercury and Venus were formed. During this time, the inner solar system was a hot and dry place. Protoplanets and asteroids had molten surfaces and, ...
Tension near Gurgaon village over threat to heritage stepwell
Tension prevailed in Badshahpur village near Gurgaon after the Haryana Urban Development Authority announced to build a sector road on a 100-year-old heritage stepwell in the area. HUDA has proposed to built the road to ease traffic congestion on the busy Sohna Road. The stepwell, or "baoli", is said to be the biggest obstruction in the way of the road. HUDA officials said they would soon visit the stepwell, believed to have been built in 1905, to decide its fate. Villagers have expressed fears that the "baoli" might be damaged if HUDA goes ahead with its plans. However, HUDA administrator Yashpal Yadav said officials would assess the situation first and then decide the future course of action. "We will see what the course of the road is and whether or not the stepwell would be on the intended route. We hope to preserve the structure and find a way to complete our project without building over it," Yadav said. Ranvir Chaudhary, a Badshahpur resident, said construction ...
Javadekar visits Bellandur lake in Bengaluru
Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday visited Bengaluru's Bellandur lake, which had been on fire, to take stock of the situation."Those were in power never worked for the lake. This lake has now turned into a sewage tank," Javadekar told ANI.The lake caught fire yesterday and was later doused. A cooling operation was conducted today.According to media reports, residents living on the Yemlur side of Bellandur spotted smoke in the lake, known to be full of chemical effluents and construction debris, around noon on Friday. Shortly thereafter, flames started rising.The lake, according to the Karnataka Lake Development Authority, is the largest of the 262 lakes and accumulates about 40 per cent of the city's sewage.The cause of the fire is being attributed to locals burning the grassy land near the lake to get a fresh crop to feed their cattle.
Funds for forest sector 'highly inadequate': Minister
Jammu and Kashmir Forest minister Choudhary Lal Singh today said that the fund allocation for the sector was "highly inadequate" and it amounted to just 0.04 per cent of the total state Budget. The minister was speaking during a debate on 'Demand for Grants of the Forest, Ecology, Environment and allied departments' in the state Legislative Assembly. There is a requirement of around Rs 10,000 crore for treating 9,00,000 hectares of degraded forest area of the state and at the rate of present funding, it would take more than 350 years to rehabilitate the area, Singh claimed. "Keeping in view the massive mandate of the department including protection and conservation of flora and fauna and the goods and services being provided along with the ecological security of the state, the fund allocation for the forest sector is highly inadequate. It amounts to 0.04 per cent of the total state Budget," he said On January 11, Finance minister Haseeb Drabu unveiled a Rs 80,313 crore ..
Karnataka pushes millets as smart food at trade fair
Thousands of people, including women and children, flocked to the International Trade Fair on Organics and Millets, wherein Karnataka is promoting the grain as a "smart food" for health and to help farmers reap monetary benefits.
