Bihar's government offices to soon become free of plastic bottles

As part of its green initiatives, Bihar Government has prohibited all its offices from using or buying plastic packaged water bottles. Officials have been advised to serve purified water in steel tumblers and glasses in place of plastic bottles. Moreover, no bills related to the purchase of packaged water bottles will be cleared, in order to ensure strict implementation of the ban. 

Centre, states gear up for 'clean Ganga' mission

Centre has initiated the Ganga river clean up from Jharkhand, which is to become the model state for the 'clean Ganga' drive, as the river stretch is shorter here when compared to other states through which the river flows. In Uttar Pradesh, authorities have initiated the closure of 98 factories in Kanpur for polluting the Ganga. The Uttarakhand Government has selected 15 towns and cities located within a 10 km distance from Ganga and its tributaries to implement 12 projects, worth Rs 240 crore. The West Bengal Government has also initiated work on an integrated sewerage network in North 24-Parganas and Nadia districts, as part of the 'clean Ganga' mission. 

NGT orders Meghalaya Authorities to make the state's rivers pollution free

The National Green Tribunal has ordered the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to demolish all unauthorized constructions along the banks of the Wahumkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers within three months. The order has come after the High Court permitted MUDA to inspect along the Wahumkhrah river banks to identify various unauthorized constructions. Along with this, immediate intervention has also been demanded to formulate a time-bound action plan to reclaim and protect the state's rivers.

Maharashtra to make drip irrigation mandatory for sugarcane farmers

Like Karnataka, the Maharashtra Government is all set to make drip irrigation systems mandatory for sugarcane farmers. The state is working out the fund raising and modalities of the massive plan that will require shifting the 9.37 lakh hectares of sugarcane farming to drip irrigation. However, implementation of the state's decision needs to be fine-tuned as the farmers will require the right amount of subsidy, regular power supply as well as training on drip irrigation.

Maharashtra Government cancels 128 irrigation projects, worth Rs 624 crore

The Maharashtra Government has scrapped 128 irrigation projects that were cleared by the previous Government. The reason behind scrapping these projects were non-reception of the project tenders through e-tendering method and hurried clearance of projects in the last four months before the model code of conduct. The collective budget of these projects is Rs 624 crore, and the sum can be saved as the work orders have not been passed for these projects. 

Submit report on curbing sand mining in Chambal: HC to MP Government

The High Court has ordered the Madhya Pradesh Government to submit a report explaining steps to tackle illegal sand excavation in the Chambal national sanctuary, Morena. Illegal sand mining has put the existence of the endangered ghariyal in Chambal river at danger. Chambal is home to 948 ghariyals, species of tortoise and birds and fresh water dolphins. However, the use of trolleys and dumpers for illegal extraction of sand is threatening the aquatic life in the river.

Himachal seeks exemption to environment clearance for mining in smaller areas

The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to move the Supreme Court to seek exemption from environment clearance for carrying out mining in areas less than 5 hectares. The objective of the move is to make the mining process simpler and help the state in catering to its day to day mining material needs. Nearly 90% of mining areas will be out of the ambit of environmental clearance post exemption.

No mining or stone quarrying in Sariska tiger reserve without environment nod: NGT

The National Green Tribunal has prohibited stone quarrying or mining of any sort without the mandatory environmental clearance near the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The order has come following a petition that claims that nearly 85 illegal stone quarrying units are being operated within a 10 km radius of the sanctuary. Also, an RTI has revealed that only two of the 85 quarries have received the consent to operate.

This is a roundup of important policy matters from January 26 - February 08, 2015. Also read last week's news updates.

Lead image source: Pixabay.com