Chilika Lake — the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia and one of India’s 26 sites included in the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance — is facing threats to its existence because
The Orissa government on Thursday breathed easy as over 11 lakh cusecs of flood waters in the Mahanadi river system passed without causing damage to the tune it was anticipated.
Amidst political controversies, land acquisition for the Rs. 52,000 crore Posco steel project resumed with tight security at Gobindpur village in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district.
Twelve platoons of armed police forces entered Gobindpur, part of the Posco steel project site near Paradip, early on Sunday morning and evicted people from dozens of betel gardens to acquire 700 acres of government land.
While some people, apparently fearing government backlash, parted with the government land under their “illegal” possession, a few others resisted and clashed with the security personnel.
The Orissa government which faces the allegation of large-scale irregularities in mining operations, has sparked off yet another controversy by bringing out an “ambiguous” resolution to regulate the sector.
The resolution is viewed by mining experts as a “hurried” move to give an impression to the visiting Shah Commission that it is serious to check illegal mining.
The Orissa government has decided to ask all the thermal power plants operating in the state to set up cement plants for utilisation of fly ash. The state will have more than 21 million tonnes of fly ash generated by thermal power plants in the coming years.
Worried over its adverse impact on the environment, the state government has decided to prepare a roadmap for shifting from earthen brick to fly ash brick for building purpose.
