Marine litter is heavy along Mumbai’s beaches: Study

In a first-of-its-kind study to document marine litter accumulating in the oceans and marine bodies on earth, Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute created a world map called Litter Base that has the coastal areas in Mumbai, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar in India marked as the most polluted areas in the world. In Mumbai, the study has been conducted on Juhu, Dadar, Aksa and Versova beaches and it has been found that plastic accumulation has drastically increased over the years in the four beaches, with the highest quantity of microplastics found in Juhu. 

Government gears up for Hilsa conservation

For a better conservation and management of the Hilsa fish, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved a budget of Rs 2.5 million for conducting a study on the Hilsa fish in the Ganga river. The objective of the study is to assess the present catch of Hilsa in the Ganga, in the upstream and downstream of Farakka barrage, in the feeder channel and in the navigational channel. Apart from this, in order to establish the habitat of the fish, the survey is going to assess the availability of life stages of Hilsa in the selected stretches. 

Centre to revive 45-year-old North Koel river irrigation project

The Centre has decided to go ahead with the remaining works of the 45-year-old North Koel river irrigation project at an estimated cost of Rs 1,622 crore. Once completed, the project is going to provide irrigation facilities to over one lakh hectare of farmland in Daltonganj and Palamu region. Ninety percent of the project was completed in 2007 but it was stopped due to pending clearances. To take care of the clearance and rehabilitation issues, the government has proposed to reduce the height of its main dam by 26 meter. 

Mission Kakatiya is impressive: Centre

The 30-member central team which had visited Telangana to study Mission Kakatiya was highly impressed with the state's flagship programme which is yielding good results. The team that visited the Medak district to observe the implementation of the scheme had officials from Central Water Commission along with irrigation officials from Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The team has been impressed by the state's efforts and how the programme has been able to impact socioeconomic conditions of the people, especially farmers. 

Agricultural assets to be geotagged

The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) of the agriculture ministry and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) have joined hands to geotag agricultural assets of the country for real-time monitoring and effective utilisation. As per the ministry, the project is going to bring transparency in governance, avoid duplication and help in preparing the contingency plan. Along with the agriculture assets, the project will also include ponds, crop area, warehouses and laboratories for geotagging. 

This is a roundup of important news from April 3 - 10, 2017. Also, read the policy matters this week.