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| Gurgaon polluting Najafgarh drain,
draws Minister`s ire: The polluted water being discharged by the sewage treatment plants of Gurgaon has become a bone of contention between Delhi and Haryana. The Delhi Government has complained Haryana of the poor-quality water discharge to Najafgarh drain, which is apparently polluting Yamuna. |
| The Pioneer, New Delhi, July 27, 2006 |
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| Ground water alarm in Sangrur, Moga; Jalandhar in peril too:Alarmed at the dangerously worsening ground water situation in many blocks of Sangrur and Moga districts, the Central Ground Water Board has issued a notification seeking a ban on hand pumps, tube wells and other ‘energised sources of water abstraction’ in these blocks. |
| The Tribune, New Delhi, July 24, 2006 |
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| Govt. exceeds target on safe drinking
water: Madhya Pradesh has taken major strides towards safe drinking water in the rural areas. Against a target of supplying safe drinking water in 2,961 villages, 8,451 villages in the State were provided access to it during the three- month period between February and March this year. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has conducted a survey and ranked Madhya Pradesh second in the country when it came to implementing the safe drinking water project. Under the accelerated rural water supply programme, 20,500 rural habitations were provided access to safe drinking water in Madhya Pradesh within a two- year period. While access to safe drinking water was ensured in 10,700 habitats in 2004-05, the number of habitats covered under it was 9,924 in 2005-06. |
| The Hindu, New Delhi, July 24, 2006 & www.hinduonnet.com |
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| Manmohan for campaign on recharging
groundwater level: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a national campaign for recharging groundwater levels that had fallen by over four metres in 306 districts in the last 20 years with many blocks having been categorised as "over exploited" or in "critical stages". It has been found that about 58 per cent of the country`s groundwater resources had been overexploited mostly in Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. He said this while inaugurating the first meeting of the newly constituted Advisory Council for Artificial Recharge of Groundwater. |
| The Hindu, New Delhi, July 23, 2006 & www.hinduonnet.com |
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| Panel in place to regulate industry
water use: To check groundwater exploitation by large industries, including multinationals, a panel was today set up to work on a policy for water for industries. It has been aimed to provide both a regulatory framework and incentives. The sub-committee, set up by the advisory council for artificial recharge of ground water, ‘‘would look into the needs of the industry, scientifically examine the kind of water being used and provide framework for regulation for large users of groundwater’’, informed Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz. |
| The Indian Express, New Delhi, July 23, 2006 |
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| Council to discuss Bill on regulation
of ground water: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will open the first meeting of the Advisory Council of Artificial Recharge of Ground Water on Saturday that will discuss with State Governments among other things, the Model Bill for Regulating Ground Water. The Bill calls for regulation and control of the development and management of ground water. Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz heads the Council. |
| The Hindu, New Delhi, July, 21, 2006 & www.hinduonnet.com |
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| MCD faces HC ire over dhobi ghats at
Yamuna: The Delhi high court on Thursday summoned MCD commissioner and additional commissioner of slum and J J wing of MCD to court for the corporation’s failure to carry out its order of demolishing unauthorised structures within 300 metres of river Yamuna. Acting on the report of Usha Mehra committee, a Division Bench comprising acting chief justice Vijender Jain and justice Kailash Gambhir ordered the MCD to file a status report by August 10. |
| The Times of India, New Delhi, July 21, 2006 |
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| Panchayats to manage water supply
schemes: The Himachal Government has decided to transfer the control and management of rural water supply schemes to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in a phased manner. In the first phase 10 per cent schemes will be handed over for which modalities were being worked out. Steps are also being taken to ensure effective implementation of the Swajaldhara programme which aims at creating a demand-driven approach for establishing rural drinking water supply system in the state with community participation. Services of NGOs are being utilised for activities such as social mobilisation, communication and capacity- evelopment through participatory mode. Since carriage of drinking water in villages is primarily done by women, they are being actively involved in planning, selection of technologies, location of systems, implementation, operation and maintenance of water supply schemes. |
| The Tribune, New Delhi, July 10, 2006 |
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| Delhi, Mexico City to cooperate in
water conservation: The Science and Technology Ministry is working on a plan to ease the problem of water scarcity in Delhi by linking through a project the best practices and water management strategies of the Capital with Mexico City. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, who visited Mexico, the USA and the UK last month, has discussed the water management project with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Mexico City has a population of 20 million while about 13 million people live in Delhi. Mr Sibal said a mega city project on water in the context of needs of residents of Mexico city and Delhi would be jointly implemented. “It would involve a range of stakeholders with the objective of delivering water to all,” he said. |
| The Tribune, New Delhi, July 8, 2006 |
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| Bid to harvest rainwater in capital
valley: The Forum of Non Government Organisation, Nepal Red Cross Society of Kathmandu District, and Guthi with the help of UN Habitat, is conducting a rainwater harvesting training in different parts of the Kathmandu valley. The training aims to generate awareness about the use and technology of rainwater harvesting and to reach the rainwater harvesting technology to every doorstep. If rainwater can be collected then the demand for water for daily use would easily be fulfilled. The training would in turn help address the problem of water logging in the streets. |
| The Rising Nepal, July 7, 2006 |
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| DJB permitted to bore 100 tubewells to solve
water crisis The Delhi Jal Board has taken special permission from the Central Ground Water Board to bore hundred tubewells in different areas of the national Capital to overcome the perennial water crisis. The majority of these tubewells have been bored in South Delhi areas where the water problem continues to be acute and people do not have even water to drink, sources said. In effect, in some areas of Delhi the residents are using ground water that is not fit for human consumption. According to a study conducted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and Central Pollution Control Board, the official said ground water in most parts of the Capital is contaminated with fluoride and nitrate and is unfit for drinking without treatment. |
| The Tribune, New Delhi, May 11, 2006 |
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| Flouting ban, pvt tankers tap groundwater in
south dists On paper, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has banned the extraction of groundwater in the Capital’s south and south-west districts. And the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has ruled that water from such sources is unfit for consumption. However, in practice, groundwater is being tapped rampantly in these areas. Private water tankers line the roads leading to the farmhouses in Chattarpur, Vasant Kunj, Aya Nagar, Badarpur, Meethapur, Jaitpur and Bhatti mines. At a farm in Dera Mor, Chattarpur, for instance, there is a queue of tankers, all waiting to fill water from an underground borewell. The cost: about Rs 150 for a 5,000-litre tank and Rs 80 for the smaller ones, just a fraction of what the tankers charge from consumers. |
| The Indian Express, New Delhi, May 6, 2006 |
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| Panel on artificial recharge: The Centre announced setting up of a high-level advisory council to popularise the concept of artificial recharge among all stake holders and to create public awareness. To be headed by water resources minister Saifuddin Soz, the council would have representatives of various central ministries including rural development, urban development, Planning Commission besides experts/representatives of farmers, financial institutions, industry and NGOs as its members. |
| The Financial Express, New Delhi, May 3, 2006 |
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| Move afoot to regulate paddy transplantation The Punjab Agriculture Department is keen to regulate the transplantation of paddy in the state to check the rapidly declining water table. Informed sources said today that the department was of the view that no farmer should be allowed to transplant paddy in the state before June 10, a date fixed by the department in consultation with the Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana. Because of heavy extraction of ground water to meet the requirment of paddy crop, vast areas in Punjab has become what is technically called dark zone. Asked in this connection, Mr Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Parliamentary Secretary, who deals with the Agriculture Department, said agriculture experts and others had consulted various farmer organisations in this regard recently. |
| The Tribune, New Delhi, May 2, 2006 |
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| W B: falling water tables and arsenic
contamination: Much of West Bengal’s urban water supply depends on its falling levels of groundwater. Plus, there is the problem of arsenic contamination, both in urban and rural areas. It is reported that 79 of 340 blocks have high concentration of arsenic in groundwater. Pockets of Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and Bardhaman districts, that have the largest concentration of industry and urban population after Kolkata, suffer from arsenic contamination. |
| The Financial Express, New Delhi, April 24, 2006 |
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| Thirsty Orissa has six rivers flowing through: With six major rivers running through the state, Orissa has abundant water resources. Groundwater in the state is still at a comfortable level. The real problem is poor infrastructure to supply drinking water to the people. Berhampur city in the southern district of Ganjam reels under scarcity of water with the onset of the summer. So also Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Angul and Dhenkanal towns in the state. Water riots become inevitable during summer in these cities and towns. At present 667 mld of water is supplied per day to 101 urban local bodies. People are benefited through 1.86 lakh house connections and 18,501 public stand points. Besides, there were 17,017 handpump tubewells functional in uncovered areas. |
| The Financial Express, New Delhi, April 24, 2006 |
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| Harnessing the elixir of life: Jaladhaare Karavan, an awareness programme on water conservation, organised by Raashtra Bandhu, the All-India NGOs Federation, in association with Coca Cola India, was inaugurated by Mr Chaturvedi, at the Raj Bhavan in Karnataka. The Karavan comprising a rainwater harvesting tableau and five camels is expected to cover 28 industrial areas over the next couple of weeks. Besides the Karavan, the campaign includes 13 seminars by environmentalists and rainwater harvesting experts. The aim is to motivate people to adopt rainwater harvesting and other means to improve groundwater recharge, Raashtra Bandhu President B N Sureshwara said. The first phase of the campaign will cover the industrial areas of Bangalore with the help of government departments and involve industrialists, layout developers, builders, engineers and contractors in adopting water conservation methods, he added. |
| Deccan Herald, Bangalore, April 18, 2006 |
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| Govt works at one authority for rainfed area
development: To bring focus to watershed schemes in rainfed areas, the government is pushing hard to get the National Authority for Sustainable Development of Rainfed Areas (NASDORA) off the ground. The plan is to create a body of professionals that will manage the entire watershed programme that is funded by the Central government. At the moment the Centre’s watershed development programme is spread across a number of ministries from the Ministry of Rural Development and Agriculture Ministry, to Water Resources Ministry and the Environment Ministry to the Planning Commission. This, according to officials, has hampered watershed programmes. |
| The Indian Express. New Delhi, Jan. 24, 2006 |
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