Interim report by board could not identify the source of around one-fifth of Calcutta’s PM2.5 pollution Environmentalists have raised questions about an ongoing study ordered by the state pollution
Two of the six power units that had collapsed in Kolaghat on Tuesday were revived this evening, but the districts still stayed dark because generation was low. The 210MW units had collapsed after the switchyard of the Kolaghat thermal power plant got flooded. Six pumps helped clear the water in the switchyard. "But there was a thick layer of slush in the switchyard which had to be cleared. This led to delay in repairs,' a power department official said.
The jet-cum-suction machine that could have reduced the waterlogging in Howrah. Picture by Gopal Senapati A jet-cum-suction machine, worth Rs 24 lakh, has been lying idle at the Howrah Municipal Corporation, while several stretches of the town remain inundated. Civic engineers said the accumulated water could have been drained out from several areas had the machine been pressed into service.
- Eleven people die in Midnapores as Met office forecasts more rain in coastal areas The flood killed 11 more people in East and West Midnapore today, taking the toll to 20 and prompting the government to add to its relief purse. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who will be travelling to Kolaghat in East Midnapore tomorrow, held a meeting with finance minister Asim Dasgupta, health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra and relief minister Mortaza Hossain in Calcutta. He might visit some of the flood-hit areas tomorrow.
Ballygunge Circular Road. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Talat Salahuddin Ballygunge Circular Road, that winds its way from Ballygunge Phari in the south and meets Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road in the north, is a tree-lined avenue with a lot of surrounding greenery. The sprawling Ballygunge Maidan Camp and the Ballygunge Science College campus are the dominant green zones here. A part of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation's (CMC) ward No. 69, this is primarily a residential area populated by a cosmopolitan crowd and of course the most elusive Calcuttan
Waterlogging woes in some pockets of Calcutta will be as bad as last year, or even worse. In the rest of the city, the mayor hopes, the problem will persist with "much less' severity. The pockets that are feared to be worst hit include Thanthania, Madan Mohan Burman Street, Chittaranjan Avenue and Camac Street-Wood Street in Calcutta proper and Behala in the added areas.
Islampur : At least 12 children have died of an unknown fever in villages of two gram panchayats in North Dinajpur over the past four days. The outbreak of the fever has prompted the district health department to send a team of doctors to the affected villages in Rasakhawa and Domohana gram panchayats. According to health sources, at least 25 more children in the area are suffering from fever. The sources added that most of the children who died were aged between three and 10 years. The death of a two-month-old girl has also been reported from the area.
India has introduced a fuel-guzzler tax, making heavyweights of the road heavier on your pocket. Big cars will cost Rs 15,000-20,000 more with the Centre slapping an additional excise duty in what officials claimed was an attempt to discourage fuel consumption and emission. The levy, which will help the government mop up extra revenue, drew howls of protest from the automotive industry. However, the green lobby, which had been advocating a discriminatory tax on big vehicles, welcomed the step.
Malda : The Farakka Barrage authorities have decided to deploy the Central Industrial Security Force at Manikchak where residents have stalled anti-erosion work along the Ganga. At an all-party meeting at the district magistrate's office here today, the administration endorsed the barrage authorities' decision to deploy the para-military force from tomorrow to enable them to go ahead with the work.
Environmentalist Subhas Dutta on Monday filed a petition in Calcutta High Court, alleging that the state government had failed to carry out court orders to protect the Victoria Memorial Hall from pollution. The order, passed on September 28 last year by a division bench, had asked the government to follow certain guidelines to cut down on the pollution level around the monument.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has taken personal responsibility to find land in Trinamul Congress-ruled South 24-Parganas for a university promised to Muslims. The government had announced a year ago that the Calcutta Madarsa college would be upgraded to Aliah University, but all its efforts to acquire the required 50-odd acres have failed so far.
