Karnataka government on Thursday decided to take up the second phase of Chief Minister’s Small and Medium Town Development Programme at a cost of Rs. 1,738 crore, to be spent on road and drainage works in areas coming under urban local bodies (except city corporations).

Eight per cent of these funds would be utilised on road development and the remaining 20 per cent on drainage works, Urban Development Minister S. Suresh Kumar told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar.

The Chennai Corporation is likely to construct a stormwater drain network, totalling nearly 1,055 km, in the eight added zones as part of the measures to prevent water-logging.

The network, which will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 3000 crore, will cover four basins of Kosasthalaiyar, Adyar, Cooum and Kovalam. Kosasthalaiyar basin will be divided into watersheds covering zones such as Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram and parts of Ambattur. Adyar basin will cover zones of Valasaravakkam and Alandur.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Jaipur Development Authority for allowing illegal constructions in the basin of Amanishah Nullah.

The high-rise buildings coming up in the basin of the nullah has forced one P L Mandola to file a PIL which was heard by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice N K Jain Senior on Tuesday.

Residents of Maraimalai Nagar in Chennai can now hope to get gold without spending any money. All they need to invest is some time and store as many empty plastic sachets, polythene covers and other plastic waste below the thickness of 40 microns.

The local body will give a gram of gold for a minimum of 125 kilograms. “We want to combat the menace caused by plastic waste, especially those below the thickness of 40 microns. While most plastic waste collected from households is recycled by workers engaged in primary collection, discarded water sachets and thin polythene covers end up choking drains and water channels,

Rain and festival shopping spree add to waste mounds and stench

The consistent rain over the past couple of days and the Onam festivities have only added to the garbage crisis in the city. The situation at the busy Chala market has become so severe that shop-owners here have started terming it the “next Villapilsala.” V.S. Padmakumar, chairman of the works standing committee of the city Corporation, said on Friday that the local body was awaiting the green signal from the State government to transport waste to Parassala for platform construction.

Since 2009, when a campaigning Rahul Gandhi sold Jaipur a “world-class city” dream, residents had been under the impression that such a city had almost arrived.

A large number of cities across the country continue to function without a Master Plan, despite the Centre offering funds to carry out the exercise and the recognised benefits of a plan. The Union Urban Development Ministry on Wednesday claimed that only 24 per cent of the total cities and towns have a Master Plan.

Secretary Urban Development, Sudhir Krishna used Delhi and its water-logged roads as an illustration of just how important a Master Plan is for a city. “The Master Plan should include information on all the crucial aspects of a city, for instance the natural drain network.

JAIPUR: The empowered committee constituted by the state government for immediate clearance of debris in public areas and draining of flood water in affected areas of the city has sanctioned Rs 52 crore to JDA and Rs 48 crore to JMC. The amount has been sanctioned for cleaning of drains, repairing of potholes on roads and for purchase of new equipment.

The funds released by the empowered committee to civic authorities are part of drainage-repair package announced by chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday. Out of Rs 52 crore, JDA has been asked to spend Rs 15 crore on cleaning of sewage lines, Rs 18 crore for repairing of roads and Rs 30 crore to initiate construction under master drainage plan.

Civic bodies do not prepare in advance for the recurrent problem: Petition

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi Chief Secretary to set up a high-power committee taking on board all stakeholders to suggest long and short term measures to deal with water-logging in the Capital. Passing the direction, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Vipin Sanghi said the committee will have officials of the Public Works Department, the East, South and North Delhi Municipal Corporations,

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the city’s civic agencies for not taking measures to desilt drains in order to prevent the problem of water-logging during monsoon.