Sunshine Story: Village cuts down on electricity; pools 50 lakh for clean, drinkable water

From cutting down on electricity use to saving up nearly Rs 50 lakh from its gram panchayat fund for a purifying plant, how a Bhiwandi village, fought back to receive clean, drinkable water Until recently, the 40,000-odd residents of Shelar, a village in Bhiwandi, were a harried lot.
Leaks in their pipeline network meant that villagers received contaminated water, and that too, with poor force.
If that wasn’t bad enough, cases of residents suffering from water-borne diseases had become commonplace.
After decades of neglect at the hands of the authorities, the Shelar Gram Panchayat and villagers finally decided to take matters in their own hands, a few years ago.
The Shelar Gram Panchayat invested over two years into making the dream project of setting up the water purifying plant, a reality A fight for clean water Situated 40 km from Mumbai, Shelar has been facing the brunt of polluted and poor water supply for several years now.
Sandeep Patil, 27, the present sarpanch, said that around three years ago, the gram panchayat tried to get a separate water pipeline from the corporation.
"We started getting quotations from everyone in Mumbai, but all of them had given us a budget of more than Rs 3 crore," said Patil.
As a starting point, the gram panchayat decided to save the Rs 27 lakh that it received annually from the Central government, for at least two years.
We also got the villagers to assist them, in order to reduce the labour cost," said Bhoir, adding that the company finally agreed to install the plant with a budget of Rs 57 lakh.
Today, the plant purifies three lakh litres of water per hour.

No funds for pipe spurs water crisis

Dhanbad: More than 5 lakh residents of Jharia are facing water scarcity for over a month because of a delay in the repair of a 25km pipeline at Patharbangla locality near Bhaga station by Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada) owing to cash crunch.
Jharia residents have been suffering water crisis for over a month because of a leak in the 25km pipeline that supplies water from Jamadoba plant to Jharia.
Expressing concern, former councillor of Ward 37 of Jharia Anup Sao said, "Lesser supply of water creates lower pressure in the pipeline due to which several areas situated on higher altitude such as Upper Rajbari Road, Poddar Para and some parts of Koiribandh do not get any water for 2-3 days in a week."
Sahu said they had taken up the issue with Mada authorities several times, but they had cited funds crunch as the reason behind their inaction.
SDO of Jharia division of Mada Shravan Kumar said the repair work would cost Rs 10 lakh.
"The salaries of our employees are pending for more than 26 months.
Therefore, we are unable to repair the pipeline immediately.
We are waiting for some more funds after which we will issue a tender to implement the project through an agency as we are short-staffed," he said.
Kumar said they were also waiting for the right time to begin the repair work because it would necessitate stoppage of water supply for at least three days.
"Public notices will have to be issued in the newspapers informing people about the disruption of water supply," he said.

Water crisis

It’s a ticking time bomb.
The latest report by the Niti Aayog on water scarcity in the country makes a depressing reading.
By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for millions of people and an eventual 6% loss in the country’s GDP.
With nearly 70% of water being contaminated, India is placed at 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index.
Groundwater is getting depleted at unsustainable rates.
The augmentation of watersheds that can store more groundwater for agricultural use and other purposes and strict enforcement of pollution control measures are the two key areas that require urgent attention.
The Water Index scores, which have been put together on the basis of 28 indicators including groundwater, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, and drinking water, are below 50% in most States.
As many as 15 of the 24 States studied are categorised as low performers.
There is a need for adopting a user-centric approach to water management, especially in agriculture.
Rapid adoption of technologies that help conserve, treat and reuse water is the need of the hour.

Lakhs of Maharashtrians join in Aamir Khan’s new water revolution

On the occasion of Maharashtra Day -May 1- lakhs of residents or ‘Jalmitras’ will be coming out to work shoulder to shoulder with villagers as a part of Aamir Khan’s the Paani foundation, which aims to combat the drought in the state.
Satyamev Jayate, Khan’s TV show that started in 2012, focused on issues that required social change.
The response to the show was phenomenal as people from various walks of showed keenness to make a difference.
They zeroed in on the issue of water scarcity and decided to work in Maharashtra, thereby starting their non-profit, Paani Foundation, which aimed to spread knowledge about water management and groundwater replenishment.
Villages are assessed on watershed management and water conservation works for the competition.
The secret is Aamir‘s unique charisma that serves as the glue to enthuse and bind the people.
Each competing village then sends five representatives, including two women, for training.
The four-day training includes technical as well as repair and maintenance training.
The Paani Foundation arms the representatives with solid technical resources.
The Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), based in Ahmednagar, is Paani Foundation’s knowledge partner.

BJP slams Odisha government for drinking water crisis

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Monday lambasted the State Government for making tall claims of achievements when many parts of the State have already started experiencing drinking water scarcity.
Criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for making the Panchayati Raj Divas a party programme, leader of the BJP Legislature Party KV Singhdeo dared the former to provide a correct picture on the drinking water supply position in rural areas to the people during his interaction with them and elected representatives of panchayats.
Claiming that only two per cent of rural population has been covered under piped water supply in the last 18 years, Singhdeo said drinking water scarcity is being felt in many parts of the State especially in areas which received scanty rainfall during last monsoon.
With rising temperature, the situation will be more acute in the coming days.
Disputing the State Government’s achievement in rural housing sector, the former minister said the ruling BJD is making a false propaganda.
While the State Government is claiming to have constructed 11.5 lakh housing since 2014-15, this is the cumulative achievement of the last 10 years.
As per the State Government’s progress report, 9,73,273 houses have been constructed under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), 2,31,467 houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), 13,226 houses under Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana and 2,392 houses under Niraman Shramika Pucca Ghar.
Of the total houses constructed till January 2018, over 3.17 lakh houses were built during the current year.
Claiming that the State Government has not made any budgetary provision for Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana this fiscal, Singhdeo sought to know from the Chief Minister about his government’s achievement under the State-funded housing scheme in 2017-18.He further alleged that selection of beneficiaries under rural housing scheme is made on party lines.

From power transmission success, Railways hiring 2 lakh workers to, Delhi airport, how India’s infrastructure is progressing

From power transmission success, Railways hiring 2 lakh workers to, Delhi airport, how India’s infrastructure is progressing.
The grid now has more than 3.7 lakh circuit km of extra-high voltage AC lines with a transformation capacity of 7 lakh MVA and inter-regional capacity of 75,050 MW.
Sensible: CivAvMin rationalises parts of UDAN regional scheme.
Changes relate to dilution of route exclusivity & Proximus airports defines UDAN tweaked The VGF for helicopter operations has been increased, and small planes are allowed.
The ‘150-km distance’ (between origin and destination) rule has been abolished while multiple carriers may fly on a particular route, with NOC from airline with the winning bid.
Push: SEZs generated huge buzz in UPA times.
NDA’s Coastal Econom Zones is a relevant idea but needs to be pushed far more aggressively Make coastal economic zones a priority The Sagarmala programme envisages the creation of 14 coastal economic zones, with port-proximate industrial clusters as its backbone.
Clean chit for Solar projects: EnvMin announces that Environmental Clearance for solar projects will henceforth not be required.
The govt has drawn up a `2.8 lakh crore investment plan for the Railways, with improving safety as one of the targets.
Delhi Airport in for massive `16,000 cr expansion that will 2X capacity by 2021.

As city reels under water scarcity, 5-7 lakh litres used to tackle Chennai Silks blaze

As city reels under water scarcity, 5-7 lakh litres used to tackle Chennai Silks blaze.
According to Revenue Minister Udayakumar, 85 water tankers had to be deployed to fight the flames that have still not been fully extinguished more than 31 hours after the fire began.
While 75 water tankers had been deployed till 10pm on Wednesday night, around 10 more tankers had been called in till Thursday morning.
According to officials, most Metrowater tankers possess a capacity between 6,000 to 9,000 litres.
Experts and fire officials say that the massive blaze was able to get so far out of control as the building had violated many fire safety norms, and this had made it much harder for fire and rescue personnel to access and control the fire in time.
One of the main problems was the building’s lack of ventilation, which filled the interiors with thick, heavy black smoke that prevented firefighters from entering the building and tackling the flame up close.
On Wednesday afternoon, they finally had to use a crane to break down parts of the façade of the building so that it could be ventilated and the fire could be controlled.
Another major problem was the lack of space in which to manoeuvre firefighting vehicles and equipment, as the building had ignored norms on the setback space required for this purpose.
For much of Wednesday morning and afternoon, firefighters thus had to resort to spraying the building from atop the T Nagar flyover which runs right next to the building.
Although the flames seemed to be coming under control on Wednesday night, a major setback came when the interior structure, massively weakened by the flames, started collapsing at around 3am.

Water woes of Guruvayur station ends; 1 lakh litres of water daily

Water woes of Guruvayur station ends; 1 lakh litres of water daily.
Guruvayur: The hotline connection of the Water Authority has been renewed bringing relief to the water problem prevailing in the Guruvayur railway station.
The Water Authority will provide 1 lakh litre of water to the Guruvayur Railway Station daily.
Officials of the Water Authority reached the Guruvayur railway station on Thursday and operated the hotline pump house.
The toilets in the station were also re-opened and all tanks were filled up with water.
The bogies lying in the station were also filled with water and the seats and the station were washed and cleaned.
Water scarcity has been witnessed in the Guruvayur station for quite a long time.
The water woes of the Guruvayur station was resolved based on a Mathrubhumi report.
The station needs atleast 1 lakh litres of water and presently water is being transported from Ernakulam by a private agency with double the rate.
With Mathrubhumi highlighting the news, it was decided to renew the Water Authority project.

Kerala: 12.35 lakh litres of water supplied in 43 LSGs

Kerala: 12.35 lakh litres of water supplied in 43 LSGs.
KOCHI: The district administration with the support of local bodies has taken series of measures to resolve the drought like situation and drinking water scarcity, District Collector Muhammad Y Safirulla said on Saturday.
A total of 12.35 lakh litres of drinking water is being supplied in 43 local bodies in the district, he said while addressing the district development committee meeting.
As many as 51 tanker lorries, fitted with GPS tracking devices are supplying water to parched areas.
The DDC meeting attended by MLAs M. Swaraj, Anoop Jacob, P.T.
Thomas, V.P.
Sajeendran, district panchayat president Asha Sanil, Kochi Corporation development committee chairperson Gracy Thomas and district planning officer Saly Joseph discussed various issues such as drinking water scarcity, traffic woes, septic waste dumping, encroachments near district collectorate, relaying of Kaloor – Kathrikadau Road, shifting of pipeline from Thammanam – Pullepady Road and construction of the permanent check dam at Choondi to resolve water scarcity at Tripunithura.

Sathanur dam water not distributed properly: Velu

Sathanur dam water not distributed properly: Velu.
Velu, Tiruvannamalai MLA and DMK district secretary, on Tuesday said the administration had failed to properly distribute water available in the Sathanur Reservoir.
Earlier, he visited pick-up dam of Sathanur Reservoir from where water is tapped for irrigation and drinking water needs of Tiruvannamalai town and other villages.
Mr. Velu said water supply schemes helped supply water to 200 villages, Tiruvannamalai municipality, Chengam and Pudupalayam town panchayats.
First of the three Sathanur Combined Water Schemes was initiated in 1972 through which 25 lakh litres were supplied to Tiruvannamalai town.
The second scheme implemented in 1974 supplied another 80 lakh litres to Tiruvannamalai.
Using these schemes, the administration claimed that 120 litres of water per day per person was being supplied to Tiruvannamalai town.
Thandarampattu, Radhapuram, Sirupakkam, Mel Chettipattu, Keel Chettipattu and Nallavanpalayam were supposed to get water from Sathanur CWSS.
But it was not sao.
Thanippadi village located near Sathanur was not getting sufficient water and the available water too was not clean.