The Uttarakhand high court has issued the first legal notice to the Ganga river, which was accorded human status recently. The court has sought a response from the river for allowing construction of a trenching ground in its land in village Khadri Khadag without consulting the villagers. Along with the river, a notice has been issued to the union government, central and state pollution control boards and the Rishikesh municipality. The court has ordered the respondents to file a reply before May 8.
The water ministry has launched a water conservation programme for Bundelkhand for drought-prone areas in the region. Under the programme, the ministry has proposed to build thousands of percolation tanks, small check dams or nala bunds and recharge pits in both, the UP and MP regions of Bundelkhand. The programme aims to effectively improve groundwater conditions in stressed blocks of Bundelkhand, ensure sustainability of resource, participatory approach in groundwater management and institutional strengthening.
An inter-state water dispute is arising between Jharkhand and West Bengal over sharing of water from four common river basins. The dispute is over the the 1978 water agreement which was signed between the undivided Bihar and West Bengal governments. While Jharkand has blamed its counterpart for not building dams on the river as promised, on the other hand West Bengal has refused to do so, citing the impacts the projects will have on its irrigation facilities. However, in order to resolve the matter, the central government will be helping the two states “re-do” the water-sharing agreement.
The state industrial infrastructure development corporation (IDCO) has decided to withdraw the 1,880 acres of land allotted to POSCO to set up its 12 MTPA capacity steel plant and has also informed the South Korean company of the same. The state government and POSCO had signed an agreement to set up a steel plant worth Rs 52,000 crore but the project had to be stopped due to agitations from local villagers. However, there is news that the state government is planning to reallot the land to some other prospective investor.
The Bombay High Court has ordered the Goa government to ensure clean drinking water to villagers of Sonshi in North Goa's Sattari sub-district. Along with this, the court has also ordered the state to come up with a solution to pollution issues in the region caused by transportation of iron ore by trucks from mining leases. Earlier this month, the village was in the news after 45 residents were arrested for protesting against water pollution due to iron ore transportation.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from April 25 - May 1, 2017. Also, read news this week.