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
Keen on avoiding community opposition of the kind seen for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) will launch a sensitisation initiative ahead of starting work on two more 500 MW reactors in Kalpakkam, IGCAR Director S. C. Chetal said on Wednesday. Addressing the media on the sidelines of the three-day national symposium on radiation physics, hosted by the Indian Society for Radiation Physics (ISRP), Mr. Chetal said the series of public hearings would seek to address the often unfounded radiation-related fears in the minds of the local population before proceeding with the new fast-breeder reactors.
Chennai Corporations plans to introduce specially-designed bags; move follows study by civic body The Chennai Corporation has planned to replace garbage bins with specially-designed bags to facilitate better collection of refuse in the city. The new system is intended to prevent ragpickers from spoiling the area around a garbage bin, according to sources in the Chennai Corporation. A study by the civic body has found that ragpickers contribute to scattering of garbage on the roads. Most of the garbage being taken out of bins by thousands of ragpickers on a daily basis is strewn all around to facilitate easy identification of recyclable items in the garbage. The ragpickers fail to put the garbage back in the bins, thereby spoiling entire stretches on roads, the study had found.
Rs.1.95 crore allotted for installing 865 solar streetlights About one-third of streetlights in the panchayats in the district are likely to be converted into solar-powered ones over the next four years. Solar-powered streetlights were being installed in the panchayats under a special scheme announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa through the rural development department.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project plans to establish monitoring stations in a few villages around the project site for measuring radiation, if any, according to a senior official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). Unlike thermal power stations, which emit huge amount of particulate matter, fly ash and bottom ash, nuclear plants do not emit effluents in large quantity. Though the waste produced from reactors is minimal, it will be highly radioactive. However, safety measures incorporated in reactors will not allow the radiation to be transmitted from the reactor core, the official said.
With just five days left for registering for the agricultural insurance, farmers who have taken land on lease are in a quandary as to whether they will be benefited anyway by the insurance for which the State Government is prepared to pay the entire premium. With prospects for samba crop looking bleak, this assumes great significance. Leasing cultivable land is a common practice. Besides, there is another system called “vaaram” under which the landowner shares the cost of cultivation.
Protesters opposing the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) on Monday demanded that the Union government organise a nationwide debate on the country’s energy policy, particularly on the ongoing as well as proposed nuclear power programmes. Convener of the Anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Struggle Committee, S.P. Udayakumar, said the current agitation against the KKNPP would be suspended if voters chose to support the Congress overwhelmingly in the next Lok Sabha polls even after a transparent nationwide debate.
If things go as planned, the Coimbatore Corporation may ask households in the city to compulsorily go in for solar water heaters. The civic body was asked to do so at a meeting the Union Government's Ministry of Urban Development conducted in association with the State Government in Chennai recently. According to sources, the Corporation, like other urban local bodies (Municipal Corporations and Municipalities) had been asked to make it mandatory for residents in its jurisdictions to install solar water heaters. But this comes with a caveat – that this is applicable only for those households with over 1,500 sq.ft.
In 46 village panchayats of Dindigul district Village panchayats have intensified installation of solar streetlights not only to face acute power shortage but also scale down expenses. To begin with, installation commenced in 46 village panchayats at an estimated cost of Rs.1.1 crore. On completion of the first phase, the rest of the villages will be covered in subsequent phases, according to Collector N. Venkatachalam.
Tests conducted on soil samples to determine level of macro and micro nutrients Study on the availability of micro and macro nutrients in soil samples collected from Valapurnadu Panchayat atop Kolli Hills reveals that it lacked three of the four main macro ingredients – organic carbon, nitrogen and potash. “On the other hand availability of zinc (micro nutrient) is also below average,” M. Janakiraman, a Soil Pedologist and Consultant said.
Environment Minister M.C. Sampath chaired a review meeting here on Saturday to discuss the pollution situation and steps to be taken to bring down pollution by industries. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) officials of Salem, Namakkal, Erode and Krishnagiri Districts along with Industries Minister P. Thangamani were also present. Mr. Sampath asked TNPCB officials to inspect effluent treatment plants and functioning of the air pollution preventive equipment every month. He emphasised the need for proper plastics disposal mechanism.