The Karnataka government is planning to construct a reservoir across the Cauvery river near Mekedatu, to tackle Bengaluru's water crisis. However, the plan has been opposed by the Tamil Nadu government that claims that the former did not sought any permission from TN and has taken a unilateral decision. It has also demanded the centre’s intervention in the issue and the constitution of the Cauvery Water Board, a competent authority for taking decisions on sharing the river water.
Centre has given its approval to a series of measures for reducing pollution and the conservation of lakes in Bengaluru. Some of the major steps include 24X7 online monitoring of all Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and the water quality of lakes, restoration of lakes in a bio-diverse manner in Public-Private Partnership mode. Along with this, five companies- Biocon Ltd, Wipro Ltd and UB Group- have signed an expression of interest for providing funds for the revival of six polluted lakes in the city. According to a research done by the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), the highly polluted Bellandur and Varthur lakes in Bengaluru can be rejuvenated in 18 months.
Going by the estimation of the social movement, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), nearly eight lakh rural people of Bharuch district in Gujarat are facing severe drought due to lack of water in the Narmada river. The river has shrunk from 1.5 km to just 400 meters in the region that is already water stressed owing to its geography. Industries in the upstream Madhya Pradesh are being blamed for the prevailing drought in the region. These industries are lifting 172 crore litres of Narmada water daily, thus affecting the water flow to the Sardar Sarvor Project and the downstream areas.
The Kerala government has decided to take up farming on land identified for construction of the Aranmula airport and the Methran Kayal eco-tourism projects. Both the projects have been held on grounds of environmental concerns. The move by the government to take up farming has made farmers and environmentalists happy. However, the government officials and farmers’ representatives are sceptical about the implementation of the decision as farming cannot be initiated until the land is taken back from the project promoters.
In order to cope with the climate change, the Haryana government has agreed to the climate resilient agriculture practices project worth Rs 25 crore. The project that is going to benefit 75,000 farmers will help make agriculture production system in the state more flexible. The project will be implemented in the northern part of the state and proposes to sustainably intensify crops and cropping systems by adopting low-cost climate resilient technologies.
This is a roundup of important news updates from June 11 -17, 2016. Also read last week's policy matters update.