Land Acquisition

High nitrate content in Delhi groundwater

Bottled drinks are commonplace and we often reach for them without a thought. We may even feel good about our purchase as we read about the companies' commitment to water security' printed on the label. 

What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? This article examines the case of one such plant in Mehdiganj, PO Benipur, Arajiline block, Dist Varanasi and its effect on the groundwater levels in the area. The village has led an agitation against 4 specific negative impacts of the plant, acheiving moderate but measurable success.

This year, the movement comes to a crisis point as despite a warning by the Central Groundwater Development Board, the plant applies for a four-fold expansion.  

Environmental degradation & climate change have induced human mobility by creating environmental migrants.

Land use changes  hydrologic system and have potentially large impacts on water resources. An assessment in an area with seasonally limited water availability and which is subject to rapid socio- economic development and population growth will provide an exemplary view on the local impacts of major recent developments in India. In this backdrop this paper analyzes past land use changes between 1989 and 2009 and their impacts on the water balance in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of Pune. The aim of the paper is:

• assess the land use changes between 1989/1990 and 2009/2010
• analyze the impacts of these changes on the long-term water balance components in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune.

This paper in Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) by Patrik Oskarsson deals with the bauxite (aluminium) project which is very similar to the Vedanta project in Odisha and is coming up in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

AnRak Aluminium, a company of the government of Rasal-Khaimah of the United Arab Emirates and Penna Cement of AP has secured approval for both an aluminium complex and the bauxite mines, but the final forest clearance for the mines is awaited.

The AnRak project has replicated the Vedanta model of first building the refinery and then setting up the mine. The mine is to be operated by the state government to circumvent the ban on non-tribal landownership.

The issues surrounding the food security bill, which proposes to confer double benefits-procurement at a remunerative price for the public distribution system are dealt with. This is followed by a discussion on the contribution of usar (sodic land) development to food security in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Ajit Pawar reinstated as deputy CM of Maharashtra