India witnesses 40 percent rise in farmer suicides in a year

Between the years 2014 and 2015, farmer suicides in the country have increased by over 40 percent. In 2015, the country witnessed 8,000 farmer suicides as against 5,650 in 2014. With 18 percent jump in farmer suicides, Maharashtra witnessed the highest number of suicides, followed by Telangana and Karnataka. Despite the severity of drought and its consequences, the drought-hit states of the country did not follow Supreme Court orders, says a recent survey conducted by ActionAid India.

Water level in most Gujarat dams fall below 50 percent

Despite the state receiving medium to heavy rains during August this year, out of 203 dams, 136 have less than 50 percent water available for drinking purpose. The worst affected are the north Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch regions. Narmada being the only lifeline for drinking water in many parts of Gujarat, the government is planning to supply water from the Narmada dam if the water crisis deepens. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), monsoon deficit has stood at 22 percent in the state. The deficit, however, has decreased from 45 percent to 22 percent in the last one month. 

Cracks in Temghar dam: Maharashtra need to spend Rs 104 crore for repairs

The Temghar dam, one of the drinking water source of Pune, was completed in 2010 with an expenditure of Rs 323 crore. It started leaking in 2012. Now the repair work will require an additional Rs 104 crore which is almost one third of the total amount spent on its construction. Following the revelation of faulty construction, a complaint has been lodged against 34 people, including the employees of the private construction firms and government officers, for alleged misappropriation of funds in the construction of the dam.  

Solar water plant established in Barmer

The first-of-its-kind solar-operated community-based RO plant has come up in Sewniwala in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, under the MoU between Cairn India and Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) of Rajasthan. The plant, which is India’s largest solar-run plant, will generate five kilowatt power and the water from this plant will be sold at 25 paise per litre to the local community. Following this installation, Semniwala has been put on the world map for providing safe drinking water to the locals at their doorstep. A total of 331 clean water plants will be established under this MoU. 

Coca Cola shuts Dasna plant in UP

The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages has shut production in its Dasna plant of Uttar Pradesh. Following the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reports on the Dasna plant discharging untreated wastewater, the unit has been under the National Green Tribunal’s scrutiny. Along with this, there are claims that the plant was running without the no-objection certificate (NOC) since January 2015 and one of the two effluent treatment plants was also not functional for quite sometime. But the beverage giant says that the plant was under operation in compliance with all regulatory norms and that it has temporarily suspended operations.  

This is a roundup of important news updates from August 15 - 21, 2016. Also read last week's policy matters update.