Major metros like Delhi and Mumbai face huge water and environmental crises as infrastructure tries to keep pace with the increasing population, says a new study of 71 Indian cities. The report, Excreta Matter, prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), comes at a time when India is urbanising at the highest rate in the world and half of all Indians are expected to be living in cities by...

Mamata Banerjee today lent her voice to a pitch to facilitate land acquisition for a life-saving project — an uncommon plea that betrayed the government’s frustration at the slow pace despite the urgency and the promise of generous compensation. The chief minister persuaded the people of Sunderbans to offer their land to build embankments in low-lying areas of South 24-Parganas, which were devastated by the Aila cyclone in 2009. The embankment project...

The Bengal government had introduced a remote-area incentive system that rewarded doctors working in Calcutta for all practical purposes but not in some places that could be reached only by crossing Rivers. Calcutta High Court today stayed the order, which was issued by the Mamata Banerjee government last year but did not draw much attention beyond medical circles. The government order denied several doctors who had served in villages the advantages due...

A first-ever water pollution audit carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pegged Jharkhand at the bottom of the performance chart with most river conservation projects lying incomplete in the state. According to the report, Performance Audit of Water Pollution in India, the Ganga, Damodar and Subernarekha were selected for pollution abatement projects in Jharkhand under the National River Conservation Programme (NRCP), which was launched in 1995. As part...

-The Times of India   MOGRAHAT (SOUTH 24-PARGANAS): The poison that has killed over 170 people on Kolkata's southern fringes flowed like Rivers on Tuesday as policemen smashed bhattis and dumped the illegal liquor in dried-up ponds and canals. The don who ruled over the area, Khora Badshah, is a hunted man but is it really an open and shut case? Amid cries of conspiracy from Trinamool Congress leaders, it has not escaped...