-The Hindu As the operations of organised gangs that seek to make a killing out of the insatiable demand for sand are in focus, environmental concerns posed by indiscriminate mining grow. Nitin Sethi discusses the imperatives. Should India have a river regulatory zone, on the lines of the coastal regulatory zone, to manage development and mining activity? The devastation in Uttarakhand, and the controversy over the sand mafia's control on river beds,...
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Sand mining causes Yamuna to shift 500m east, threaten Noida -Vandana Keelor
-The Times of India NOIDA: The sand mafia, against which suspended IAS officer Durga Nagpal had started a campaign, has been responsible for the Yamuna shifting course about 500 metres east, posing a threat to sectors 150, 151, 153, 135, 167 and 168 of Noida. Irrigation department officials here say they have repeatedly warned the district administration about this and also filed several FIRs with the police, the last one in March...
More »In Chhattisgarh, contamination of water claims 20 lives -Suvojit Bagchi
-The Hindu Raipur: Water contamination in flood-affected panchayats of Abujhmarh in Narainpur district of south Chhattisgarh may result in a huge death toll, it is feared. The secretary of one of the affected panchayats, Kamluram Netam, has told journalists of Narainpur that several panchayats of the area are "severely affected and the death toll will go up." So far, more than 20 persons have died due to water-borne diseases, the locals said....
More »Enough transparency without RTI: Govt
-The Telegraph New Delhi: When the Union cabinet yesterday decided to amend the Right to Information Act to exempt political parties from its ambit, it argued that citizens already have several legal avenues to find out about the donations the parties receive and details of their poll candidates. The cabinet approved the draft bill to be introduced in the coming Parliament session to amend the 2005 act, excluding political parties from the...
More »Sulabh helps families hit by Uttarakhand floods -Kavita Upadhyay
-The Hindu Dehradun: "I am the only one left in the family now," says Vasundhara Devi, 32, whose husband and two sons are among those who have gone missing in the Kedarnath floods in June and are now ‘presumed dead'. Poonam Tewari, whose husband Suresh owned a restaurant in Kedarnath, says, "I only have a three-year-old daughter for a family now. I need money to educate her." Sarita Bagwadi's father and two...
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