Delhi—a city and union territory of India containing the country’s capital, New Delhi—continues to grow in population, posing challenges to civic agencies in the provision of citizens’ essential needs.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to explore the possibility of an alternative alignment or any other route for the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project without damaging Ramar Sethu and to consider whether an archaeological study could be conducted to declare Ramar Sethu a national monument. Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, heading a three-judge Bench, asked senior counsel Fali Nariman, appearing for the Centre, to consider an alternative alignment and said that by this the government could avoid the controversy (of damaging Ramar Sethu).
The government on Friday called for reinforced collaboration with Unicef to effectively address water and sanitation problems. In a meeting between Federal Minister for Environment, Hameedullah Jan Afridi and Unicef Representative in Pakistan, Martin Mogwanja, the minister pressed for the need to offset additional hygiene related expenditures through launching a comprehensive national programme in collaboration with the Unicef, said a statement issued here.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to consider conducting an archaeological survey to ascertain whether the Ram Sethu can be declared an ancient monument.
Residents of Boro Maghbazar, Siddeshwari and Ulon moujas yesterday demanded cancellation of the current design of the Hatirjheel project, as about 400-500 families of these moujas will be homeless if the project is implemented with the current design. They urged the government to implement the much-awaited project with the previous design for the sake of their lives.
A growing international water crisis is forcing governments to rethink how they value and use and manage water, especially because economic development hinges on water availability. Freshwater resources Drinking water supplies, agriculture, energy production and generation, mining and industry all require large quantities of water. In the future, these sectors will be competing for increasingly limited freshwater resources, making water supply availability a major economic driver in the 21st century.
The Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project should be scrapped altogether if the government cannot proceed further without destroying Ramar Sethu (Adam's Bridge), Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy argued in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The Delhi government has given approval to the artificial recharge of groundwater in the city. The irrigation department will implement nine different works in the different parts of the city to improve the water table. The government has also approved a Rs 110-crore proposal for the improvement of drainage in the city.
When Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, was asked to ponder the future of the world before an audience of powerful businessmen and politicians, at a meeting in Switzerland earlier this year, he could have chosen any topic he liked. What he focused on was both a hoary old favourite, and a newly popular preoccupation, of debates on world affairs: the rising risk of wars over fresh water, as populations increase and the world gets drier.
J&K needs to move beyond the stage of rhetoric
Twice as much autumn rain and early winter ice helped Lake Superior, the biggest of North America's Great Lakes, bounce back from record low water levels reached last year. The deep, cold lake on the Canada-US border -- the largest freshwater body of water in the world by surface area -- rose about 31 cm (1 foot) in seven months, with half of that in April alone as the spring thaw melted heavy winter snowfall that arrived late in the season.
