-The Times of India Rs 4,439 crore has literally gone down the drain called the Yamuna. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have told the Supreme Court that they have spent Rs 4,124 crore on making the river's water potable, but the Central Pollution Control Board's latest report shows that Yamuna's water still resembles that of a drain.  The New Delhi Municipal Committee and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi have spent an additional Rs...

-Outlook Mumbai: Maharashtra government plans to formulate a new social forestry policy which will be implemented in non-forest areas of the state to increase green cover. "In Maharashtra, the forest land is about 19 to 20 per cent, which comes under the Forest Department. The Social Forestry Department has decided to provide green cover to 80 per cent non-forest area and will elicit co-operation from the local self government bodies in this...

-The Hindu ‘Vision document mooted to designate them as ‘separate urban natural resources’ The Urban Development Ministry has constituted a working group to suggest ways to preserve water bodies. Rapid disappearance of water bodies from the urban landscape has sounded an alarm vis-à-vis water shortfall and has also put a considerable strain on States’ spending to meet the demand for water. A case in point is Bangalore. Despite having a Lake Development Authority that...

-The Economic Times Where will India get its water from in the coming years? The water challenge is already grave and could get graver. By 2050, for instance, it is estimated that demand would go up to 1,180 million cubic metres, 1.65 times the current levels, a situation that would be made worse by fast dwindling fresh water resources. That's why desalination — removing salt from seawater to make fresh water —...

-The Economic Times With carbon markets at an all time low and prospects of international long-term finance dim, the Planning Commission has suggested reworking the Rs 23,000 crore National Action Plan on climate change. It has reduced the number of missions and refocused them in line with "priorities". In 2008, the government had laid out a national strategy that would address India's development concerns and the challenges that climate change would present....