Heat wave claims 300 lives across the country

With soaring temperatures, the country has faced more than 300 deaths in this month alone, which has led to officials ordering a ban to daytime cooking in some parts of India. Telangana has been worst hit with the heat wave that has claimed 137 lives, followed by Odisha and Andhra with 110 and 45 deaths, respectively. This is the second consecutive year when southern India is suffering from a deadly heat wave. However, this year, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur and Ahemdabad are among the few cities that have launched a heat wave program to educate people on how to stay cool, provide shelters and train medical workers on dealing with heat-related illnesses like sun stroke and dehydration. 

Uttarakhand's forests in the grip of fire, followed by HP and J&K

Since the last three months, Uttarakhand's forests have been burning which has destroyed nearly 3,000 acres of forest cover so far. Moreover, 1,200 fires have broken out in the State in the last one month alone with Pauri, Nainital, Rudraprayag and Tehri among the worst-hit districts. However, with the efforts of the Army, the Air Force, three teams of the National Disaster Relief Fund and 6,000 firefighters, the massive forest fire has been brought under control. After Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have also come under the grip of the forest fires. However, per the Himachal Chief Minister, it is nothing new. 

None of the 11 major rivers of Odisha safe for drinking: Minister

The State Forest and Environment Minister has informed that water in none of the 11 major rivers or their tributaries in Odisha are suitable for drinking. Both the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total coliform (TC) bacteria have been found beyond the permissible limits and the worst polluted rivers in the State with very high BOD and TC levels are Kathajodi river in Cuttack and Daya river in Bhubaneswar. However, per the Minister, the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board has begun drives to prevent entry of wastewater into the rivers in cities to reduce river water pollution.

Punjab, Andhra plans to cover their canals with solar panels

Going the Gujarat way, the Punjab and Andhra Pradesh Governments are also planning to cover their canals with solar panels in order to boost solar power generation. With a total outlay of Rs 51 crore, Punjab has commissioned two projects to install solar panels on the Sidhwan Branch Canal and Ghaggar Branch Canal while Andhra has identified the Losari Canal and the Polavaram Right main canal in West Godavari district for putting up the solar panels. Gujarat has already implemented the innovation on Narmada Canal and has experienced that energy generation from a canal top solar plant is higher than the same capacity plant erected on the ground. 

Central Government Bodies owe crores of rupees to DJB

The Central Government Offices complex in Central Delhi which houses a clutch of Union Ministries, including, the Ministry of Water Resources, owes a whopping Rs 188.8 crore to the Delhi Jal Board. Moreover, in March-April alone the CGO complex have consumed water to the tune of Rs 85.4 lakh. Not only the CGO complex, other guilty parties include Northern Railway, IIT-Delhi, BHEL, DRDO, CPWD and HUDCO. However, per the officials, CGO complex’s outstanding dues have been settled a while ago and the disparity is because DJB moves its files quite slowly, but on the contrary DJB claims to update its online records daily.

This is a roundup of important news updates from April 26 - May 2, 2016. Also read last week's policy matters update.

Lead Image Source: PTI via Deccan Chronicle