Gujarat Government allocates Narmada water to Coca Cola plant at Sanand

The Gujarat Government has allocated about 3 million litres per day (MLD) of water from the Narmada Canal to the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCBPL) for its upcoming plant at Sanand. Along with this, the Government has also allocated 1.85 lakh square meters of land to the company for setting up the Rs 500 crore bottling plant. The plant is expected to produce 450 kilo litres of effluent discharge/day, although government officials say that the plant will have zero-effluent discharge.

Natural disaster displaced 22 million globally last year

Floods, earthquakes and storms have displaced nearly 22 million people across the world in 2013, according to the estimates by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee Council. 87% of these people are from Asian countries alone, with Philippines topping the list. In India, nearly 2.4 million people have been displaced due to flash floods in Uttarakhand, floods in other states and Cyclone Phailin in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

44 out of 75 districts in UP are drought-hit: CM

Following Haryana, the Uttar Pradesh Government has also declared that 44 of its district have been 'drought-hit' this year and has sought relief funds of Rs 6,000 crore from the Centre. The State received less than 50% of normal rainfall this year and a majority of the districts in western and central UP have been affected due to the dismal monsoon. In the wake of drought, the State Government has also waived off collection of land revenue and irrigation charges from farmers till March 31, 2015. 

Jharkhand's polluting power plant neither makes profits nor electricity

The Patratu Thermal Power Station in Ramgarh, Jharkhand, can generate only 10-15% of its total installed capacity as its functional units are based on outdated technology. The plant which isn't making any profit to the state has been discharging huge quantities of oil and ash in Nalkari river, which is a tributary of the Damodar river. However, plant authorities claim that it is following all pollution control guidelines and practices. The pollution caused by the plant is not unknown to the Jharkhand State Electricity Board, which has suggested replacing the plant with one based on new technology.

Groundwater of Sipcot laden with carcinogens

According to the Sipcot Area Community Environmental Monitors (Sacem), the groundwater in and around the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Sipcot) in Cuddalore is contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals and is not suitable for drinking purposes. Carcinogens like cadmium and chromium were found in the samples, which were much above the permissible limit. Post-analysis, Sacem has asked the State Government to provide drinking water as per WHO's guidelines and ban the discharge of industrial effluents and extraction of groundwater for industrial purposes.

This is a weekly roundup of important news from September 15-21, 2014. Also read last week's policy matters updates.

 Lead Image Source: S. Subramanium in The Hindu