Monsoons in the North affect people and wildlife

Heavy rains in the last week have water-logged Delhi, flooded Gujarat, caused landslides in Uttarakhand & cloud-bursts in Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh is on a high alert. Char Dham Yatra pilgrims have been stranded because of the landslides in Uttarakhand. The floods in Gujarat in Saurashtra and Amreli have not only killed nearly 70 people but also affected wildlife killing 10 Asiatic lions. In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rains have disrupted road communication, hit power generation and triggered flash floods.

Two weeks and NHPC still cluelss about disaster in Chutak Hydel Project

On the night of June 28, 2015, NHPC's 44 MW Chutak hydropower project in Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir, was submerged. However, the project proponent NHPC has no idea about the hows and whys of this disaster. Locals claim that such a breach takes place every year due to the use of sub-standard material in the power house. The Chutak project is one of the costliest projects currently, and the Prime Minister dedicated it to the nation less than a year ago.

Gujarat and TN at the top in granting coastal clearances

A recent report by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Namati has shown that Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have topped the list in giving green signals to proposed coastal projects in the last two decades. Gujarat ranked first with a 93% rate of project clearance -- only one project was rejected out of 76 proposals. Tamil Nadu has achieved an 86% rate of project clearance, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Odisha featured at the bottom of this list.

Swachh Bharat ads have cost India nearly Rs 100 crore: RTI

An RTI application has revealed that the Government has spent Rs 94 crore on print, radio and television ads alone to promote the mission. Per Government claims, ambitious programs such as the Swachh Bharat Mission need massive awareness and it's important that these campaigns reach schools, malls, street vendors, truck drivers and rural areas.

Water table rises in Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab

When the water table in most parts of the State is going down, Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district celebrates a rise in the water table from one to two meters. All credit goes to the desilting efforts initiated since 2005 in the 164 km long Kali Bein rivulet. Now the work is ongoing to remove excessive vegetation from the rivulet for which nearly 30 to 40 volunteers work daily and have been able to clear a 1.25 km stretch of the river in just one week.  

This is a roundup of important news from July 7 - 12, 2015. Also read last week's policy matters updates.