Death toll in Chennai rises to 450

Chennai rains claim 450 lives

Last Tuesday heavy rainfall resulted in the breaching of major lakes and rivers, mostly in southern parts of the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Not only did the unprecedented rains rendered thousands of people homeless, but it also took away the lives of 450 residents. Not just Chennai but other delta districts of Tamil Nadu have also been severely affected by the floods. Illegal encroachment of lakes due to rapid urbanisation in the city is being blamed for the deluge in the region. Rescue operations are ongoing, and the Prime Minister has announced an immediate relief of Rs 1000 crore to the State. 

China plans three more dams on the Brahmaputra

Following the commissioning of the Zangmu hydroelectric project on the main stream of the Brahmaputra in Tibet, China has approved the construction of three more dams on the river. To this, the Ministry of External Affairs of India has responded that it is carefully monitoring the water flow in the river in Indian states. China has already been requested to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by any activities in upstream areas. 

27m litres of sewage flow into the Hindon river daily

For the first time, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) has admitted that 27 million litres of untreated sewage enters the Hindon river daily. It has further stated that it needs around Rs 27 crore to build pumping stations to pump away the sewage from eight entry points to the treatment plants. However, this cost only includes the pumping stations while no measures are included to increase the sewage treatment capacity as the two existing sewage treatment plants in the city are not performing up to par. 

No detectable presence of arsenic contamination in rivers: Water Ministry

The Water Ministry has informed that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data does not show any "detectable" presence of arsenic contamination in rivers that are being monitored. CPCB is monitoring water quality at 1,275 locations on 445 rivers including Ganga. Along with this, the Ministry has also informed that Rs 6,191 crore has been sanctioned under Namami Gange as on September 30, 2015, out of which Rs 1501 crore has been released to five States while Rs 1348 crore has been spent until now. 

21% increase in country's forest cover: Environment Ministry

According to the India State of Forests Report 2015, the country’s forest cover has increased by 3,775 sq. km since 2013 bringing up the total to 701,673 sq. km. The report highlights that 15 states and Union Territories have more than 33% of their geographical area under forest cover. Also, the top three states that saw a maximum increase in forest cover were Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir while the ones that showed maximum decrease were Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Telangana.

This is a roundup of important news updates from December 1 - 7, 2015. Also read last week's policy matters update.