CareEarth Trust helps restore three wetlands in Chennai city

Along with the public works department and the civic body, Chennai-based CareEarth Trust has managed to restore three urban lakes. While many of the smaller wetlands have vanished over time, many mid-sized wetlands seem to have shrunk by almost 65 percent. Thanks to their joint effort, invasive hyacinth was removed from the Narayanapuram Lake in Pallikaranai, while sewer lines, which emptied into the Perungalathur Lake, have now been plugged. A detailed restoration proposal has been forwarded to the PWD regarding the Korattur-Madhavaram-Ambattur lakes.

Data shows only 18 projects completed under the Namami Gange programme

Statistics from the National Mission for Clean Ganga reveal that only 18 projects have been completed out of 95 sanctioned under the Namami Gange programme. In his budget speech, finance minister Arun Jaitley had mentioned that 47 projects were completed out of the 187 sanctioned ones. Launched in 2014, Namami Gange focuses on river surface cleaning and infrastructure development along the Ganga with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore for 2015-2020. The government has identified 10 cities responsible for the most pollution and plans to clean 80 percent of the river by 2019. 

Air and water quality to be monitored real time at 14 locations across river Narmada

The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board is mulling over setting up stations to monitor air and water pollution along river Narmada between Amarkantak and Barwani in the state. The real-time quality analysis measures water parameters such as dissolved oxygen and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) every two minutes and displays the results on a board set up at the location. A similar testing facility is already in place at Omkareshwar on the Narmada and in Upper Lake, Bhopal. 

Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojna will incentivise groundwater use instead of augmenting or regulating it: SANDRP

The Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojna which will be taken up at 96 deprived irrigation districts aims at bringing assured irrigation to farmlands. But experts feel that the programme will end up incentivising groundwater use instead of augmenting or regulating the fast depleting resource. With assured irrigation, the focus will no longer be on the appropriateness of the cropping pattern, making the entire cycle unsustainable similar to how a water-intensive cropping pattern has been adopted in the Marathwada region despite it being critically water starved.

Floating treatment wetland in place to clean up Hyderabad's Neknampur Lake

Meticulously chosen plant species such as tulsi, aswagandha, citronella and hibiscus have been used to create an artificial island to clean Hyderabad’s Neknampur Lake. The treatment islands are composed of four layers of which the bamboo base keeps the entire structure afloat. Based on soil-less hydroponics, these floating treatment wetlands absorb excess nitrates, thereby reducing the chemical content of the lake water. Microorganisms present in the wetland break down organic matter while the root systems filter out pollutants and sediments. 

This is a roundup of important news from January 30 – February 5, 2018. Also, read the policy matters this week.