Groundwater level has increased by 0.6 metres
Rs. 20 crore has been allocated for supplying water across the State, says TWAD Board managing director The groundwater level has increased from 18.10 metres below ground level (pre-monsoon) to 17.5
Rs. 20 crore has been allocated for supplying water across the State, says TWAD Board managing director The groundwater level has increased from 18.10 metres below ground level (pre-monsoon) to 17.5
Census is carried out in tiger reserves and sanctuaries twice a year Nearly 1,000 persons including forest personnel, nature enthusiasts, environmentalists and members of Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) continued with the wildlife census in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) for the second day on Friday. The five-day census to enumerate the wildlife population in the 958 sq km area of ATR spread over six ranges of Pollachi, Ulandy, Manomboly, Valparai, Udumalpet and Amaravathy began with a training on Wednesday. The field level census commenced on Thursday.
A plea to the district authorities to check over exploitation of ground water by a bottling plant at Suriyur in Tiruverumbur union on the outskirts was made at the district panchayat council meeting on Thursday. Raising the issue at the council meeting, chaired by T.Rajathi, chairperson, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member Chithravel alleged that though the unit was said to be only a bottling plant, it was tapping ground water heavily using six borewells for manufacture of soft drinks.
Road widening works saw a large number of trees pulled down on either side of Mettupalayam Road. But, the green cover on the road may be back, if the efforts of the Mettupalayam Road Protection Association pay off. The association has identified 28 varieties of trees. For 6.5 km from Sanganur Pallam to NGGO Colony, trees will be planted on either side of the road and shrubs will be planted on the median space. The association plans to start the green drive in March this year. It plans to approach the industries on the Mettupalayam Road for support to maintain the trees.
The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday ordered notice, returnable by three weeks, to the State Government seeking its reply to a public interest litigation petition filed by an individual with a plea to establish a special court for exclusive and expeditious trial of a number of criminal cases registered by Madurai district police in connection with the multi-crore granite quarry scam. A Division Bench of Justice K.N. Basha and Justice P. Devadass directed a government counsel to take notice in the PIL filed by P. Somasundaram (54), a resident of Nondikovilpatti in Melur Taluk near here.
Nearly 100 people to be involved in the exercise The five-day census to enumerate the wildlife population is all set to begin in the 958 sq km area spread over six ranges of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) from Wednesday. Talking to The Hindu , Field Director of ATR Rajiv K. Srivasatava said that nearly 100 people including Forest Department staff, NGO volunteers, nature enthusiasts and environmentalists will be involved in the exercise. The staff and other volunteers will be divided into teams of three or four and will be involved in carrying out the census in Amaravathy, Udumalpet, Pollachi, Valparai, Manomboly and Valparai ranges.
The Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) will tap solar energy in its quest for alternative energy sources. Hospital authorities are working on putting in place solar panels in a phased manner at key points on the premises. The Dean, N. Mohan, said on Tuesday that the hospital was falling in line with the government’s push for an exclusive Solar Energy Policy 2012, unveiled in October. “We will start by installing solar water heaters in some wards. The plan is ready and will be implemented soon,” he added. The heaters will be put in wards such as obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatric wards and in the intensive care units. After seeing the results, the proposal will be extended to general medicine and other departments where the in-patient strength is greater.
A meeting of Tamil Nadu Tribals Association (TNTA) state office-bearers held here has appealed for immediate implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, in the State and also steps to avoid delays in issuing community certificates to tribal groups. Disclosing the contents of resolutions passed at the meeting held a few days back, TNTA state president P. Shanmugam said that of all States, only Tamil Nadu had not put into effect the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as Forest Rights Act, till now.
Many industrial units functioning near Kalingarayan Canal Farmers in the Kalingarayan ayacut areas in the district are now forced to use water from Kalingarayan Canal that is mixed with untreated effluents and waste water discharged by textile processing and tannery units. The Public Works Department stopped on December 20 the discharge of water in the canal that feeds the ayacut. But the 56-and-a-half mile long irrigation canal connecting River Bhavani with River Noyyal still carries water. “The canal should be dry by this time. But there is still good flow in the canal because the industrial units are dumping thousands of gallons of untreated effluents and waste water every day,” alleges Kalingarayan Pasana Sabhai president V.M. Velayudham.
HIV positive persons can avail of a monthly assistance of Rs.1,000 under the farmers protection scheme, said N.R.Sivapathi, Minister for School Education, Law, Youth Welfare and Sports, here on Saturday. At a function to mark the World AIDS Day observation, Mr.Sivapathi said HIV positive persons holding identity cards issued under the Farmers Protection Scheme are sanctioned the assistance without any precondition.
A 65-strong group of natives of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — all of them former manual scavengers — is on a nation-wide tour educating the masses on the need to do away with manual scavenging. The National Maila Mukti Yatra (National Dignity Campaign) plans to travel 10,000 km across 200 districts in 18 States. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Sanjay Dumane of the National Dignity Campaign said despite statutory provisions, scavengers are still employed to remove human excreta from railway tracks and open spaces. According to the 2011 census, there are 7,94,390 dry latrines in the country, where human excreta is cleaned by humans.