PM expresses grave concern on depleting groundwater levels - Roundup of the week’s news (February 4-10, 2013)

PM expresses grave concern on depleting groundwater levels

Manmohan Singh expresses grave concerns on depleting groundwater levels while speaking on the urgent need to focus attention on water conservation and water efficiency. He lamented on how farmers have little incentive to conserve groundwater. Even though practices such as drip irrigation vastly reduce water consumption, the capital costs are high and hence deter investments.

Merger of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Program (NWCP) into new scheme

For conservation of lakes and wetlands, the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( MoEF) presently, implements two separate schemes, namely the NWCP and the NLCP. To avoid overlap, promote better synergies and to ensure conservation and management works, an integrated scheme, National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) is proposed, with the objective of conserving aquatic ecosystems (lakes and wetlands).

Badal directs health department to work for making Punjab a cancer-free state

Badal asks the Health and Family Welfare department to make concerted efforts for making Punjab a cancer-free state by providing free proper treatment to the people detected with symptoms of this fatal disease in recently concluded statewide door to door survey. Agriculture in this food bowl state has become increasingly unsustainable with more indiscriminate use of pesticides, something which is now being linked to the alarmingly high incidents of cancer in Punjab, way above the national average.

Gram sabhas in forest areas stripped of their power to approve or reject proposals

The Environment Ministry amended its critical August 2009 circular dealing with the implementation of the Forest Rights Act by exempting projects like construction of roads, canals, laying of pipelines/optical fibres and transmission lines etc., which involve linear diversion of forest land from the requirement of obtaining consent of the concerned gram sabha(s).

Mining lobby protests against ban in Goa

The mining lobby attacked Goa Governor and accused him of being callous to those affected by the ban on iron ore mining in Goa. Silence pervades the mines in Goa, which for decades have remained a source of employment for thousands, and today wear a deserted look. The mining industry faces a challenging time ahead, struggling for cash flow. In an interview, Claud Alvares, whose public interest litigation in the Supreme Court brought to a grinding halt the entire mining, speaks on various issues involved.

Rainwater harvesting made mandatory

Delhi civic body decides to make it binding on all households of 32 square yards or above to have the provision of rainwater harvesting on their rooftops. The initial focus will be on houses which will be constructed in future and old existing houses will be taken up subsequently.