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
While being confident of a good samba crop this year, the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Welfare Association (CDFA) is pushing for a permanent solution to the perennial problem of the north east monsoon rain water running off into the sea. While the bounty from south west monsoon is controlled by Karnataka as the major Cauvery catchment area is located in that State, north east monsoon benefits Tamil Nadu directly.
Submit petition to Collector demanding its closure Around 250 children from the coastal hamlets in Tirunelveli district submitted a petition to Collector R. Selvaraj during the weekly grievance day meeting held at the Collectorate on Monday demanding the trashing of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP). The children, accompanied by a few ladies from their hamlets — Idinthakarai, Koodankulam, Koottapuli, Perumanal and Kooththenkuzhi — said in the petition that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, after ignoring the year-long protest by their parents and elders of their villages, was establishing nuclear reactors near their hamlets without conducting the mandatory disaster management exercise and eliciting public opinion.
Under the Centrally-sponsored Nirmal Bharat Abiyan scheme it has been proposed to construct as many as 53,405 individual toilets in Villupuram district during 2012-2013, according to Collector V.Sampath. Addressing a review meeting here the Collector said that the Centre had rechristened the Total Sanitation Programme as the Nirmal Bharat Abiyan. Under the scheme individual toilets would be built at a cost of Rs 10,000 each. For the purpose the district administration had sought a financial assistance of Rs 76.51 crore, the Collector said.
The Cauvery eco-system is in deep trouble with the current year being one of the worst drought years that the river has witnessed. The delta region, known as ‘Marudha Nilam’, can no longer have that nomenclature as it is now shorn of Marudu trees, a native plant. The ‘minimum viable population’ (MVP) size of this tree has gone down and has become virtually an ‘endangered species’. Frequent loss of flows in the river over the past four decades has resulted in gradual degradation of the eco-system, laments K.V.Krishnamurthy, former Head of the Department of Botany, Bharathidasan University, considered an authority on the Cauvery’s flora and fauna.
Scrutiny reveals plenty of alleged violations At least five water bodies appear to have been destroyed by granite quarry operators. This is the finding from the teams which are in the process of inspecting the granite quarries for alleged violations in Madurai district till Wednesday. Based on the former Collector U. Sagayam’s report on the deviations allegedly committed by granite companies in mining activities, the officials got into the act of carrying out an inspection.
The Madurai district police arrested 21 persons accused of violating various norms in connection with the granite quarry operations here on Wednesday. Based on the complaints from the Village Administrative Officers, the Keelavalavu and Othakadai police had registered criminal cases against granite quarry staff and operators including the partners/directors of PRP Granites and Exports, Sindhu Granites and Olympus Granites, among others. In the process of granite quarrying, the workers had allegedly indulged in trespass, encroached into government land, suppressed evidence and deviated from licence norms for quarrying.
Water Resources Department attempts to rejuvenate contaminated waterbody under National Lake Conservation Plan To infuse life into polluted lakes around the city, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has recently submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forests to restore these water bodies under the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP). The NLCP’s objective is to rejuvenate urban and semi-urban lakes that have been polluted by the release of sewage into them.
District Administration has decided to implement mandatory restrictions on production, sales and usage of plastic containers strictly from August 15. According to a release District Collector Vijay Pingale has revealed the plan at a meeting of officials convened to discuss the issue here recently. Dr. Pingale said that carry bags and containers used to pack food stuff, medicines and water should be manufactured in white colour or using permissible colourants and pigments as per ISO/ IS: 9833: 1981.
Vellore Collector Ajay Yadav on Wednesday laid the foundation for the Rs.45-lakh `Electricity Generation from Bio-Wastes’ project in Arcot Municipality, which he said was a pilot project for municipalities throughout Tamil Nadu, aimed at keeping the towns totally garbage-free. Mr. Yadav sought the cooperation of the public in the successful implementation of the project, especially in the daily collection of bio-degradable vegetable wastes from houses, marriage halls and hotels.
Vallam town panchayat and Neelagirivatta panchayat near Thanjavur will be made models for solid waste management said N.Ramachandran, Vice-chancellor, Periyar Maniammai University, and chairman, Clean Thanjavur Movement, here on Tuesday. Presiding over the executive committee meeting of Clean Thanjavur Movement, Ramachandran said "Valam Kundra Vallam" is a project aimed at making the town panchayat a model for solid waste management.