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BWSSB promises not to dump sewage in two lakes

Monday, 03 February 2014 05:03 administrator
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The Hindu             03.02.2014 

BWSSB promises not to dump sewage in two lakes

Upalokayukta S.B. Majage, accompanied by the BBMP and BWSSB officials, supervising development work taken up at the Allasandra lake inBangalore on Sunday.
Upalokayukta S.B. Majage, accompanied by the BBMP and BWSSB officials, supervising development work taken up at the Allasandra lake inBangalore on Sunday.

The Allasandra lake and the Puttenahalli lake in Bangalore North may soon be rejuvenated with authorities of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) promising to stop flow of sewage into the two water bodies by February 20.

The BWSSB authorities agreed to stop sewage flow into the two lakes when Karnataka Upalokayukta S.B. Majage directed them to do so here on Sunday.

The Upalokayukta visited the two lakes and saw that sewage was being let to flow into the lakes and both the water bodies had been polluted.

At Allasandra lake, the sewage flows into the lake through two storm water drains – one connected to Yelahanka and another to Judicial Layout.

Mr. Majage said that as untreated sewage was entering the lakes, all efforts being made by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to develop the lakes was going waste. So, he said flow of sewage into the lakes should be stopped.

He also suggested that Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation should provide boating facility at the Allasandra lake, and authorities concerned should develop aquatic life in the lake to attract birds.

While the BWSSB officials accompanying Mr. Majage said that flow of sewage into the lake would be stopped by February 20, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike officials promised to provide a temporary bund in the lake to act as natural filter to stop sewage polluting the entire lake. Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) secretary B.M. Narayan said that the BWSSB authorities had also agreed to set up a sewage treatment plant near the lakes soon.

BWSSB has agreed to study the feasibility of commissioning a sewage treatment plan at the inlet points and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has agreed to fund 30 per cent of the cost of the plant, Mr. Narayan added.

Last Updated on Monday, 03 February 2014 08:38
 

Corporation Plans to Tap Solar Power

Friday, 31 January 2014 07:09 administrator
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The New Indian Express               31.01.2014

Corporation Plans to Tap Solar Power

Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is mooting the project at an estimated cost of Rs 12.204 crore and obtain the approval of the government to include in the JNNURM transition phase. 
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is mooting the project at an estimated cost of Rs 12.204 crore and obtain the approval of the government to include in the JNNURM transition phase. 

When it comes to the issue of electricity, it is always advisable to look for an alternative as the availability and price of this scarce resource has a nature of unpredictability.

Planning for a better future, the City Corporation is mooting a solar streetlight project, so that all streetlights coming under its ambit can be lit by tapping solar energy. It is mooting the project at an estimated cost of Rs 12.204 crore and obtain the approval of the government to include in the JNNURM transition phase.  If all goes according to plan, one of the biggest headaches of paying the electricity bills for the street lamps, now numbering 76646 and which may increase in future, would be a thing of past.

  ‘’The current plan is to pilot the project at first in select locations. Priority would be for tourist spots, areas comprising the heart of the city and coastal areas. We are in the process of drawing a detailed plan for the project,’’ said works standing committee chairman of the corporation V S Padmakumar.

 He said this is an individual project and will not come under the Solar City project,  the master plan preparation of which has hit a roadblock.  In addition, for attaining energy efficiency, the civic body is considering promoting LED lamps for the streetlights.

 Now, fluorescent lamps and sodium vapour lamps comprise a lion’s share of the street lamps. In their place, if LED lamps are used for the streetlights, energy efficiency can be ensured.

 The present method is that the City Corporation pay the power bills based on calculating the number of burning hours. The automatic streetlight control with metering system was expected to cut cost in this regard, but KSEB’s plan to bring out a standardisation throughout the state has been  indefinitely extended.

 

HMDA plans fruit seedling nurseries at Moinabad

Friday, 31 January 2014 06:10 administrator
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The Hindu              31.01.2014

HMDA plans fruit seedling nurseries at Moinabad

T. Lalith Singh

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is planning to set up two scion bank nurseries in Moinabad mandal towards providing high-value grafted fruit seedling to farmers and home gardens at an affordable price.

It has a similar nursery at Tellapur, spread over 50 acres, which has 60,000 mango grafts of nearly 13 different varieties apart from other fruits such as pomegranate, ‘kala jamun’, ‘sapota’ and seedless lemon.

These grafts in the size of three feet to five feet are offered at a price of Rs.16 each.

Tellapur scion bank nursery which has four blocks earmarked to propagate grafts for mango varieties including ‘Benishan’, ‘Mallika’, ‘Himayat’ and ‘Dasheri’ and other blocks for six varieties of ‘kala ‘jamun’, tamarind and ‘usiri’. “We raise high value grafted fruit seedlings through approach, bud and veneer grafting techniques for farmers, individuals and also for supply to different agencies,” said an official.

Tellapur project

The HMDA is now looking at replicating the Tellapur initiative at two more locations in Moinabad with a 50 acre site at Peddamangalaram village and 100 acres at Kanakamamidi village at an estimated cost of Rs.20 crore. “In the two new projects, we have drawn plans to have sector-wise development for different graft seedlings and will ensure high quality such as at Tellapur facility,” said HMDA Director (Urban Forestry), M. Raja Ramana Reddy.

Govt. lands

The HMDA Commissioner, Neerabh Kumar Prasad, said the land sites identified for new nurseries at Moinabad were government lands that are covered under conservation zone regulations of the GO 111. “The government has sent our plans to the Revenue Department and we are awaiting necessary orders and once we get possession of land, the work will start,” he added. As part of the urban afforestation initiative, the urban planning body over the decades has come up with a total of 10 big and small nurseries in the city which together boast a collection of nearly 14 lakh seedlings.

The nurseries will come up on a 50-acre site at Peddamangalaram and 100 acres at Kanakamamidi in Moinabad.

 
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