The National Green Tribunal has reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh government, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Agra Development Authority and Agra Nagar Nigam for not ensuring cleanliness and proper disposal of untreated sewage in the Yamuna river near the Taj Mahal. The stagnation of Yamuna's water due to rampant dumping of municipal solid waste in the river has led to the breeding of an insect called Chironomus Calligraphus in the water which is causing greenish-black pigments on the iconic white marble of the monument.
The National Green Tribunal has issued notices to several authorities including the Andhra Pradesh government over the misuse of the free sand policy. There are reports of use of heavy machineries to suck out sand from the river banks. As per the policy, however, only manual mining is allowed; the machinery for the excavation of sand is prohibited. The policy has led to indiscriminate sand mining in the state. Moreover, the state government has no monitoring mechanism in place to control sand excavation.
The Supreme Court has ordered the central government to pay Rs 450 crore to Himachal Pradesh in a week’s time towards compensation for the land acquired for Renuka dam worth Rs 5,242 crore. Along with this, the latter has been asked to waive off Rs 1,090 crore meant for forest clearance in the second stage. The dam project which has been declared as a ‘national project’ in 2009, is getting further delayed due to the centre not paying the land acquisition cost.
The Rajasthan government is all set to launch the second phase of the ambitious Mukyamantri Jal Swavalamban scheme (MJSS) from November this year. Under the scheme, which aims to take up mass conservation of water, the state government would cover 4200 villages at a cost of Rs 2100 crore using high-tech applications. The government claims that the first phase achieved 98 percent of its target by constructing one lakh watershed structures in 3529 villages.
In order to help hilsa fish breed in freshwater, the state government is planning to install fish ladders in Ganga river near the Farakka barrage in West Bengal. Following the construction of the barrage, there is a steep decline in the hilsa population due to sea-water seepage in the river which interferes with the breeding of the fish. The government has also given a nod to various projects, worth Rs 400 crore, under Namami Gange.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from July 31 – August 6, 2016. Also read last week's news roundup.
Lead image source: Ekabhishek via Wikipedia