Karnataka to seek more time to release Cauvery water
Karnataka government aims to buy more time to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu by moving the Supreme Court. The SC had earlier asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs per day to Tamil Nadu till September 27, which chief minister Siddaramaiah had termed "unimplementable". The state’s legislative houses have already passed a unanimous resolution directing the state government to use the Cauvery water in the state's reservoirs only for meeting the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other areas of the state fed by the river.
Ken-Betwa river link up approved, tiger reserve to be submerged
A panel headed by the environment minister has given nod to submerge more than 100 square km of Panna Tiger Reserve to link Ken-Betwa rivers. The river linking project has received the approval of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife, even as a wildlife activist plans to approach the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to challenge this decision.
India signals rethink on Indus river water treaty with Pakistan
Against the backdrop of the escalated tension between India and Pakistan, India has signalled that it could revisit the 1960 treaty on sharing the water of river Indus with Pakistan. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to scrap the Indo-Pak water treaty and put the losses incurred by the Indus Water Treaty to nearly Rs 25,000 crore.
Cabinet approves River Ganga Authorities Order, 2016
The Centre has approved the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016. This will give the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) more powers in taking action against polluting industries, which now lays with the Central Pollution Control Board.
Five rivers in Gujarat being explored for Inland Water Transport
The Centre is set to explore five rivers in Gujarat for inland water transport, under the National Waterway Act, 2016, that proposes to develop 111 waterways across the country for shipping and navigation. The Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for over 1,100 kilometers of four of these rivers are already being prepared.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from September 18 - 25, 2016. Also read last week's news roundup.
Lead image source: Ashwin Kumar via Wikimedia Commons