India's first river interlinking project inuagurated
BJP leader LK Advani inuagurated the first phase of the Narmada-Kshipra river interlinking project in Ujjaini village near Indore. The 432 crore project will lift water from the Narmada with pumps upto a height of 350 metres from a distance of 50 km and bring it to the origin of Kshipra river
Not enough budget to continue Delhi's free water scheme
After the ouster of the AAP Govt, the Delhi Jal Board says the financial burden for the free water scheme will be at least Rs 165 crore per month, making it difficult to continue it beyond March
Water privitisation costs Nagpur Rs 70 crore loss
The Corporation pays the private company Orange City Water Private Limited for 250 million litres per day (MLD) even as the actual water bill is only for 190 MLD. Besides this, the Corporation also bear the payment of power, raw water and supply through tankers
Centre approves water projects worth Rs 529 crores for Gujarat and Punjab
The projects, to be funded partly under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, will include water treatment plants, water reuse and recycling. The projects are to be completed within 36 months
800 endangered turtles die on Andhra coast
Trawl nets used by fishermen from Tamil Nadu are being seen as a cause of the death of the Olice Ridley turtles, who came to lay eggs on the beaches of Nellore. Local fisherme use gill nets which are held vertically in water, making it easy for turtles to escape
Fishers suffer the brunt of diplomatic relations
A month long ban on fishing in Palk Bay, the waterway between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, to create an amicable environment for talks between the two countries on joint fishing, has hit livelihood in Rameswaram
DDA plans landfills on the Yamuna riverbed
The land earmarked by the Delhi Development Authority an agricultural area and also an important water recharge zone. Environmentalists fear leachate from the landfill may contaminate groundwater and also the river
Coke's water recharge claim lacks merit
A Michigan University professor finds that the company's claim to recharge groundwater near its plant in Rajasthan's Kala Dera by 15 times more than what it uses is not backed by evidence
Biodigester based sewage treatment for DRDO housing complex
Defence Research and Development Organisation has used its high altitude biodigester technology, that accelerates microbial degradation of human waste, for the first time in its residential complex in Delhi. The entire water in the complex will also be recycled
This is a news roundup of February 26, 2014.