Sydney
another water contamination scare : For the second time in a month, Sydney residents today awoke to warnings that tap water in the city that will host the 2000 Olympics is unfit to drink. In a city that considers itself one of the world's most modern, water fountains in school …
Govt proposes cess on hydel power to fund investments
The government , announcing a policy on hydro electric development, proposed to impose a cess on consumption of power throughout the country. The cess will help in creating a fund for promotion of hydel projects. The policy, approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, envisages increasing public and private investment …
Darjeeling water crisis will end
The West Bengal government has drawn an ambitious scheme to solve the potable water crisis in Darjeeling and provide permanent relief to residents and tourists. State minister for housing, and public health engineering Gautam Deb said on Tuesday that according to the plan, entailing a cost of Rs 35 crore, …
Rs 105 cr for water supply announced
Union Minister of State for Urban Development Dattatrya Bandaru announced Rs 105 crore for the water supply scheme to the Madhya Pradesh cities of Bhopal, Indore and Guna.
Ox-bow lake discovered in Kerala
The formation of an ox-bow lake in Kerala - a rare natural phenomenon in this part of the world - has aroused the interest of environmentalists who plan to delve deeper into it and prevent its conversion into paddy fields. The ox-bow lake - not a common feature in Kerala …
World's wettest spot goes without potable water
The world's wettest spot is hit by an acute water shortage. In fact, the area is showing signs of desertification. Mawsynram, a mountainous tribal hamlet in Meghalaya, shot into international limelight four years ago when meteorologists declared it received the maximum rainfall in the world - 12,000 milli-metres.Perched top a …
Yangtze Floods
Three Gorges dam can not protect the region : Probe International issues a special report today dismissing the argument that the Three Gorges Project could have protected the Yangtze basin from disastrous floods. Published in the latest issue of the "Three Gorges Probe," the first bilingual (English and Chinese) Internet …
Move against filling up of water bodies
Persons filling up ponds to build houses, and their agents, will be fined Rs two lakhs or sentenced to two years of imprisonment or both. The state government's latest directive says that the reclaimed land has to be reverted to its original state and the owner or his authorised agent …
China offers world's largest hydro-electric power market
Ambitious efforts to solve energy shortages and control flooding have transformed China into the world's largest hydro-power market. China surpassed the United States in terms of total capacity of hydro-electric power plants, both operational facilities and plants under construction, by the end of 1997.
Water tax in all civic areas
Residents of all municipalities in West Bengal will have to pay for the water they are supplied, the state public health engineering minister said today. In Calcutta-- the only place in the state where residents pay for water -- there are plans to bring all houseowners within the tax network. …
Government plans to build 30 more midsized multipurpose dams by 2011
The South Korean government plans to build about 30 midsized multipurpose dams across the country by the year 2011 to more effectively cope with future downpours as well as secure stable supply of water, officials said yesterday. According to the officials at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, in addition …
First private water supply project hits a dry patch as fresh review is called for
Political opposition threatens to derail India's first private water supply project in Pune. Financial institutions (FIs) who have committed over Rs 300 crore for Rs 750 crore project, are worried over the implications of Maharashtra's Water Supply Minister Anna Dange's order to stop the privatisation process for a fresh review.
GIDB to set up new water supply grid
The Gujarat Infrastructure Development board (GIDB) in a meeting held at Gandhinagar on Monday decided to set up a new Water Supply Grid Corporation that would prepare a full-scale Rs 4,700 crore project for developong drinking water network for Saurashtra and Kutch.
Joint irrigation scheme flounders in West Bengal
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard)'s experiment to rope in farmers as private partners in creating irrigation infrastructure has misfired in West Bengal. The programme suffered a setback when farmers did not respond to the requirement of providing 15 per cent contribution for the execution of ground …
Narmada project battle proves costly
If Punjab and Haryana have wasted costly water resources while contending on the bloody Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal, then Gujarat , Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have not been wise either . They have deprived their people of drinking water, irrigation and power while wasting scarce resources. If the northern …
Gujarat water project caught in cross fire
The BJP government in Gujarat has for the second time cancelled the Narmada pipeline project aimed at supplying drinking water to the people in the arid Saurashtra region. Originally, the scheme was estimated at a cost of Rs 300 crores but paucity of funds and delay in securing approval from …
Punjab to spend Rs 1.3 billion on irrigation scheme
The Punjab government will spend an amount of Rs. 1.3 billion on improvement of water supply schemes and provision of water for irrigation purposes during the current fiscal to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency in agricultural production in the province of Pakistan.
China launches large-scale hydropower construction
China is launching a vigorous drive to develop hydropower projects by utilizing foreign funds totalling 4 billion US dollars, and has so far built 23 hydropower stations with a total generating capacity topping 18.84 milliom kw.
Rs 7,000-cr scheme to raise water supplies to villages
Plans have been worked out by the Maharashtra State Government to make all the villages in the State tanker free by 2000, as per a Governemnt statement. As per the plans, the job to supply water 14,520 villages of a total of 27,654 villages in the State, has been entrusted …
