Tamil Nadu Government fails to implement its long-term rehabililation plans post tsunami 2004

It has been 10 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed nearly 11,000 people in India and affected 2,750,000 in the south-eastern coastline of the country. Centre has released Rs 700 crore towards the calamity and and the state governments have also received nearly Rs 5,280 crore from external funding sources. Though the Tamil Nadu Government's relief efforts were commendable but the Government has failed to wrap up its long-term rehabilitation projects. Moreover, the natural disaster has turned into a man-made one due to commercial buyers exploiting the trauma of the fishing community.

IUCN's atlas 'Rivers Beyond Borders' is out

The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has brought out its first such publication that maps the course of 54 rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh. The atlas, Rivers Beyond Borders, is part of the IUCN's initiative 'Ecosystem for Life' and provides maps, infographics, stories of people and cultures along the riverbanks and tales behind the names of the rivers. The information is not only restricted to the major rivers in the region but the less-known rivers have also been placed in the atlas. However, the atlas is not available in the public domain.

Water cess paid by industries increases by over 40 crore in past three years

According to the recent released figures the total amout of water cess collected from industries in Uttar Pradesh, united Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab has increased by over 40 crore in the past three years. This is an indication of how the industries' water use has been increasing gradually over the years. As anticipated, the 'Make in India' project will further increase the share of water usage by industries which will then make the task of water conservation much more important.

Now an SMS service for extreme weather events

Under the Digital India Programme of the Government of India, the Indian Meteorological Department has launched a SMS service to give information about weather events. Initially, the focus will be to disseminate the information on the extreme events to authorities at the local level. Within a year, the system will be able to send information to people in affected region at negligible cost and has started its first service with the forecast of cyclone.

UP's new clean green city will be disastrous for the already choked Ganga

The Uttar Pradesh Government has planned to create a new city in Unnao district that will be spread over more than 400 hectares and will be located opposite Kanpur city on the banks of Ganga river. However, the project is a threat to Ganga river which is already choked in Kanpur due to the industrial pollution, moreover, UP authorities have not been able to manage the existing drains in Unnao. Also, encroachment of floodplains calls for major flood disaster in the region, says Professor Chandan Ghosh, head of Geo Hazards, National Institute of Disaster Management.

This is a weekly news roundup of important news updates from December 23 - 29, 2014. Also read last week's policy matters roundup.

Lead image source: Kavaiyan via Wikimedia