Pune: The house sparrow is now the fourth most commonly-sighted bird in India, with the first three being the Rock Pigeon, which has emerged as the most common bird in India, the house crow and the

Pune: Swine flu has claimed 20 lives in the state since January, nine in March alone, say state health officials.

Among the total number of casualties, Pune district accounts for the highest number (10), said state surveillance officer Pradip Awate. “Six people died of H1N1 influenza within Pune municipal limits while four were from Pimpri-Chinchwad,” he added. Following the recent spurt in cases, doctors have warned citizens to be vigilant and take precautionary measures. “The virus has infected 170 people across the state since January,” said Awate.

SURGE IN CASES OF CHRONIC CONJUNCTIVITIS THAT TAKE MONTHS TO CURE

Pune: It took almost seven months for 32-year-old Bharati to fully recover from conjunctivitis, a common eye infection. The initial redness in her eyes subsided within seven days but she continued to experience pain, irritation and blurred vision for a couple of months. Bharati’s case is not an unusual one,say doctors, who have been receiving a slew of patients where conjunctivitis - an otherwise self-limiting and harmless eye infection – has turned chronic and,in some cases,even damaged the cornea and taken as long as a few months or even a year to get cured.

Civic Body To Take Steps For Construction Of Toilets: Mayor

Pune: There are just 47 public urinal blocks in Pimpri Chinchwad for about 9 lakh women, reveals a Right to Information (RTI) application.
Vikas Bhumbe, president of Aadhar Social Foundation, who sought the info under RTI, said, “Women face hardships when they travel to the city for work. There is an urgent need for the civic body to construct more toilets for women. The population of Pimpri Chinchwad city, as per the 2011 census, is 17.5 lakh and about half of them are women. This is shocking because the city has a woman as the mayor and the leader of the ruling party.”

PUNE: The Dhule-based solar power plant which is expected to generate 150 MW power is likely to be made operational from March 20 this year. The first phase would add 50 MW power to the state grid, said government officials.

The solar panels spread over 350 hectares of barren land will have 'thin film' and 'crystalline' technology based photovoltaic cells. The aim is to maximize the output from the solar panels. The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption. The project was delayed by one year because of the dispute between the state revenue and forest department. Later the dispute was resolved and the project was cleared.

Total Contribution Would Be Close To 150 Crore

Pune: The state cooperation department has decided to raise funds for people in the water scarcity-hit areas from cooperative banks and credit societies. The total contribution would be close to Rs 150 crore, said officials from the state cooperation department. Last week, state cooperation minister Harshvardhan Patil had made an announcement that funds will be raised for the scarcity hit areas. In the backdrop of the announcement, the cooperative department has come up with a fund raising plan.

Power Use Contributes 56.38% Of Total Release, Per Capita Emission Bit Lower Than National Average

Pune: The first-ever carbon footprint report for Pune has revealed that the city emitted over 46 lakh metric tonnes of the gas in 2010-2011. The per capita carbon release in the city is around 1.46 metric tonnes, which is slightly lower than the national average of around 1.5 metric tonnes. However, the per capita emission is way below that of several western countries — for instance, the per capita release in the US is around 17.3 metric tonnes.

PUNE: The number of villages and hamlets in the state facing water and fodder scarcity has increased by 850 after the first week of February.

In the first week of February, 5,294 villages and hamlets were facing severe water scarcity. The number has now increased to 6,153. The number of tankers supplying drinking water to villages and hamlets has also increased from 1,730 in the first week of February to 2,136 by the first week of March, said a senior revenue officer.

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)'s Rochem Green plant to generate energy from waste will soon start generating 10 mega watt electricity.

"The plant currently uses 300 metric tonne waste to generate 3 mega watt electricity. It will soon upgraded to take 700 metric tonne waste to generate 10 mega watt electricity," said Suresh Jagtap, joint commissioner and incharge of municipal solid waste at PMC Pune city generates around 1,600 metric tonne garbage every day. Of which, waste to energy projects make use of 375 metric tonne waste.

PUNE: The PMC has planned a ward-level water management system to address the problems in water supply in view of the water scarcity. A series of meetings with all political parties have been scheduled to discuss the initiative.

"Though there are some major issues in water management, some problems are very local and do not get addressed at the general body meetings usually. But solving these problems is very important. So, the administration has decided to start special meetings at ward level," a senior official from the water department told TOI.