This book contains 11 chapters covering various essential aspects of spring-shed management like database assessment, standard definitions and classifications, mapping methodologies, discharge measurement
The high rate of population growth and high level of urbanization in NCT, Delhi has resulted in over-development of ground water resources. Thus in about 75% area of NCT, Delhi ground water levels are declining at an alarming rate of 0.20 m per annum.
Rapid urbanization causes disorganized and uplanned growth of towns and cities. The pressure of an ever growing population becomes a burden on the limited civic amenities which are virtually collapsing. Asymmetrical growth of urban centres consumes agricultural land adjacent to these, resulting in lower agricultural productivity.
The World Bank (WB) would provide 25 million dollar for Balochistan Small-Scale Irrigation Project (BSSIP), which will support efforts by the Government of Balochistan (GoB) to improve the management of scarce water resources in the Pishin Lora Basin (PLB) by reducing the overall impact of the present water crisis. The project's objectives include increasing surface water availability and reducing groundwater depletion, increasing water productivity through a combination of engineering, management and agricultural measures and expanding local capacity and participation of farmers to implement similar schemes and formulate plans for sustainable water resources development and watershed management. The project will focus on the PLB in the northern part of Balochistan. The project will follow three components that include partial restoration of the water storage capacity, developing small-scale irrigation schemes in the PLB and strengthening and building the capacity of the Irrigation and Power Department, water management institutions, and farmer and community organisations, and implementing studies. The project can contribute to strengthening provincial water management capabilities. The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved the credit with maturity of 35 years and 10 years grace period. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008
The Sholinganallur Phase I and Phase II TNHB Affected Residents Welfare Association has filed a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the respondents, who included the Tamil Nadu Housing Board to protect the waterbodies in various survey numbers at Sholinganallur. The association, represented by its secretary, K.Appadurai, submitted that the TNHB while promoting a satellite township at Sholinganallur had encroached upon several waterbodies by land filling and developing housing plots on them also. This resulted in deprivation of water sources due to disappearance of waterbodies in the locality. Such unplanned development of plots would lead to reduced ground water table and salination of the existing good quality of ground water. Unless the existing water bodies were protected, the locality would face an environmental disaster. The petitioner sought an ad-interim injunction restraining the board from acquiring the waterbodies in survey numbers 290, 292, 393 and 315. In its order, the First Bench comprising the Chief Justice A. P. Shah and Justice F. M. Ibrahim Kalifulla directed the TNHB to maintain status quo in respect of the four survey numbers. The matter was adjourned to March 10.
Coca Cola India earned itself a drop of hard-earned joy this week for its corporate social responsibility initiatives in the form of the Golden Peacock award for CSR for 2008. But the award which cites its work in water management comes just a few weeks after it had received advice from The Energy Research Institute or TERI run by R K Pachauri to shut down its bottling plant in Kaladera, Nabipur and Mehdiganj in Rajasthan saying that these were bringing down ground water levels at an alarming scale.
The Centre for Environment and Development (CEAD) said on Sunday that riverine forests were disappearing rapidly because of reduced flow of water, unchecked practice of illegally cutting down trees and encroachment upon forest lands. The CEAD office-bearers said in a statement that the entire world was advocating increase in forest cover to face the growing threat of climatic change but unfortunately in Pakistan, forests did not receive much attention. They said that forests were significant for the survival of humanity. In Sindh, forests covered only 2.5 per cent of the total land area and were entirely dependent on monsoon floods in riverine tract and canal water in mainland area, they said. According to recent reports, trees were disappearing due to shortage of irrigation water, arid climatic condition and illegal clearing of forest land, they said. The impact of deforestation included soil depletion, loss of soil fertility, reduction in recharge of aquifer, enhanced sedimentation, lowering of water table, loss of biodiversity and loss of ecosystem, they said. They said that the forests in the areas below Kotri Barrage were the worst affected where many had been cleared of any vegetation and turned virtually unproductive. They said that some time ago, many forests in Kachho area were cut down on the pretext of security fears while the root cause of law and order problem remained unaddressed even this day. They urged people of the area as well as civil society organisations to help protect forests and hoped that the Sindh Forest Department would ensure that all the encroachments were removed, existing forest area was protected and efforts were made to bring further area under forests. Trees helped control soil erosion, check run-off, reduce desiccation of crops, add favourable nutrients to soil, improve physical and chemical properties of soil and enhance rate of biological processes, the CEAD officials said.
The conclusions of the recent report of the Planning Commission's expert group on groundwater management and ownership, from an earth-science perspective, are poorly informed and simplistic. The report is conspicuous in its failure to seek counsel from the nation's scientific, professional and public institutions that have expertise and interest in a wise utilisation of groundwater resources. Feb 16-22, 2008
Demanding to be heard
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Kerala High Court verdict quashing an order of a panchayat that canceled the licence of soft-drinks major Pepsi's plant at Kanjikode in Palakaad district. A Bench headed by Justice Arijit Passayat dismissed the appeal filed by the state government against the HC judgement, which held that the Puthussery panchayat had no jurisdiction under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act in the matter of issuing, renewal or cancellation of license since the area had been excluded from the Act's purview.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a judgment of the Kerala High Court quashing the Pudussery grama panchayat's order cancelling the licence of Pepsico India Holdings Private Limited for running its factory at Kanjikode in Palakkad. The panchayat cancelled the licence in 2003 stating that there was scarcity of drinking water in the areas near the company due to over-exploitation of groundwater.
