Chromium afflicts borewells in India's largest industrial area

A survey by the Karnataka Pollution Control Board in Bangalore's Peenya industrial area has found chromium contamination in 20 out of 72 borewells. A carcinogenic metal, the extent of chromium in some wells was found to be 600 to 700 times above the national permissible limit of 0.05 mg/litre. The informal electroplating industry is the main reason behind this contamination.

NEERI develops technology to clean effluents

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute has developed an "Electro-oxidation" technology to clean water of chemical effluent from industries. A new plant with this technology, which will treat 50 lakh litres of effluent daily, has been set up in the Nandesari Industries' Association's premises in Gujarat's Vadodra district. The main advantage of the technology is that it operates at room temperature and reduces organic load in water.

Water crisis in 22 big cities

According to the Urban Development Ministry, 22 out of the 32 big cities in India are facing severe water crisis. With 70% gap between demand and supply, Jamshedpur faces the worst situation. In Kanpur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Meerut, Faridabad, Visakhapatnam, Madurai and Hyderabad, the gap between demand and supply is 30%. The shortfall in Delhi and Mumbai is 24% and 17% respectively.

CAG slams Farakka barrage authorities

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has slammed the management of Farakka barrage on the Ganga in West Bengal for inadequate maintenance of the project, which had six major gate failures from 1985 to 2011. The CAG report tabled in the monsoon session of the Parliament states that the barrage gates' remote control systems and navigational locks have remained inoperative for nearly three decades. The management did not have enough spare gates and bed protection because of which they didn't undertake maintenance work on the feeder canal.

Gates' Foundation to fund sanitation programmes in South Asia

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is collaborating with the Asian Development Bank to fund santitation programmes in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The Foundation will invest USD 15 million into a trust fund that will focus on non-sewered sanitation expansions and sewage management solutions. This will be complemented by an investment of USD 28 million from ADB.

This is a weekly roundup of important news from September 9-15. Also read last week's policy matters updates.