-The Telegraph Jail and racetrack on beach bully list New Delhi: An audit has identified dozens of public and private projects that have breached India’s coastal regulations — beach resorts, ports, roads, a racetrack, and even a jail near an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. The exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged deficiencies in the Union environment ministry’s project approval mechanisms and lapses by state coastal regulatory authorities that...

-Down to Earth A lot needs to be done to ensure faecal sludge is treated before reaching water source Are we losing focus of the Prime Minister’s dream project Swachh Bharat Mission (grameen)? Whatever the answer is, the fact is we cannot afford to do so.  In October 2019, rural India was declared open-defecation free. By this, the department of drinking water and sanitation under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti meant that...

-Down to Earth A breach in the dam could affect millions of lives and damage property Gandhi Sagar Dam on Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh is in need of immediate repair, warned a new report. It is one of the five water reservoirs of national importance.  Absence of regular checks, non-functional instruments and choked drains are the major problems plaguing the dam for years, the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of...

-Down to Earth 77% packaged drinking water units in 18 states operating without no-objection certificates The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) conducted the performance audit of groundwater management and regulation to analyse the extent of groundwater scarcity in the country. The audit report was presented in the Parliament December 21, 2021. The audit was conducted on the basis of five years of data (2013-2018) on groundwater management and regulation in India. The...

-Down to Earth From floodplain identification to flood hazard map to availability of rain gauges, CAG report points out shortcomings in Kerala’s flood response Could poor response on part of the Kerala government have caused the massive floods of 2018 in the state? A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed at severe lapses on the part of the government in planning, capacity building, flood forecasting and dam...