The Justice M.B. Shah Commission inquiring into illegal mining across the country has finally landed in the state which has been emerging as the epicentre for the loot of minerals and ores by mining barons.

Though delayed, the commission will probe illegal mining in various districts including Anantapur where Mr Gali Janardhan Reddy’s Obulapuram Mining Company allegedly plundered precious ore worth thousands of crores of rupees and exported it. Mr Janardhan Reddy was arrested by the CBI along with then mines secretary Y. Srilakshmi and then mines director V.D. Rajagopal in the mining scam.

An expert committee of APPCB has pointed out the presence of unapproved products in samples of 15 drug and pharmaceutical manufacturing units. The findings were part of a report sought by the Appellate Authority under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, with respect to an appeal filed by 18 drug and pharmaceutical manufacturing units.

The report has mentioned that the products were other than those permitted under Consent For Establishment and Consent For Operation given by the APPCB.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has told his officials to keep the public interest in mind while acquiring land for companies to establish industries in the state. “Think twice where land acquisition is involved. The public interest is as important as the industrial development,” he told them yesterday, while reviewing the status of agreements signed for various investment proposals made in January this year.

Allotment of land by the state to industries in the 2004-09 ministry of Rajasekhara Reddy has become the subject of much controversy, with more than one probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Groundwater levels have been constantly diminishing over the years in Andhra Pradesh. There are reports about heavy exploitation of groundwater, to the extent that a significant chunk of the state falls in the ‘critically polluted’ category.

The result is that even heavy rains are unable to bail out the situation. Under such circumstances, experts in the groundwater department are considering the concept of sharing of groundwater, while there is a ban on thousands of villages under the AP WALTA Act prohibiting further drilling of deep borewells.

Scientists at the city-based National Geophysical Research Laboratory (NGRI) are optimistic that if water conserving measures such as rainwater harvesting are put in place in a joint venture of citizens and civic bodies, the monsoon will be enough to ensure the city does not experience another parched summer.

Dr Shakeel Ahmed of the Indo French Centre for Groundwater Research said, “Even though it is too early to predict the impact of the monsoon on groundwater levels, if it continues on the same scale, we are sure we won’t have to suffer next summer.”

Night surveillance concept has failed in its aim to check the flouting of pollution control norms by industrial units during dark hours, due to lack of manpower and organisational deficiencies.

New Delhi Petronet LNG, the country’s largest gas importer of liquified natural gas (LNG), is planning to raise around R4,500-5,000 crore over the period of next three years for its proposed terminal at Gangavaram Port in Andhra Pradesh. The company also intends to increase 5 million tonne additional capacity for it’s first terminal at Dahej.

“The gangavaram terminal project will have a capacity of 5 million tonne and is due to start operations in 2016. We are looking to raise around R4,500- 5,000 crore and in talks with various banks and financial institutions in India and abroad.

A month after the deadline to install GPS in vehicles transporting hazardous waste in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam has passed, the devices are yet to be installed. Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) had in March asked the authorities to install GPS devices on these vehicles and link them to the Board’s server within two months.

The decision, taken during the tenure of Dana Kishore as member-secretary of APPCB, was seen as a means to link updates of handling and disposal as also enable constant monitoring of treatment, storage and disposal Facilities (TSDF) of hazardous wastes in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.

The use of Bt cotton seeds has had a positive impact on the overall socio-economical development of the farmers in the country, including in Andhra Pradesh, over the last decade, says a study.

Cotton production in Andhra Pradesh has increased 79.45 per cent per hectare with hybrid Bt cotton seeds, while the area under cultivation and cotton productivity have increased 9.45 per cent and 2.32 per cent respectively, leading to a 575 per cent increase in net returns for the farmers.

The MoU between Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation and Rakshana Steels, which the state has decided to cancel, had an inbuilt clause that automatically made the agreement null and void in the absence of any mining rights to the state agency. As per rules, mines in tribal zones are declared as “reserve areas” and the Centre has to accord permission before mining can be taken up in those areas.