Open plots reserved for development of parks and green belts in the city are becoming breeding grounds for diseases. The situation is even worse in posh localities such as Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills.

People are using the open plots to dump garbage and as open air lavatories. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation-owned “park land” on Road Number 78 of Jubilee Hills is a classic example of how vacant land and open plots are being misused with officials of the civic body turning a blind eye.

The Centre has sanctioned Rs.706 crore toward immediate drought relief to the State from the National Disaster Response Fund.

This was in response to the letter written by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on March 24. Responding to the letter of the Chief Minister for release of funds on March 24, Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Sharad Pawar mentioned that Rs.706.15 crore from NDRF would be subject to adjustment of 75 per cent of balance available in the State Disaster Response Fund for the drought of 2011.

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Srikumar Banerjee said that the most valuable uranium ore in the country was in M. Tummalapalle in Kadapa district.

He formally launched an uranium ore mine and processing plant at M. Tummalapalle in Vemula mandal of Kadapa district on Friday. Speaking to mediapersons on the occasion, he said that they had detected valuable uranium ore in the area in 2004, and the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had launched the project on November 20, 2007.

Atomic Energy Commission chairman Srikumar Banerjee will commission the Rs. 1,106 crore uranium ore mine and processing plant set up by Uranium Corporation of India at Thummalapalle village in Vemula mandal in Kadapa district on Friday, April 20.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had cleared the uranium ore mining and processing plant at Thummapalle in August 2007 and then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid foundation stone in November that year.

The Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia cautioned Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy against delay in the execution of Hyderabad Metro Rail project. “The delay in the implementation the project could lead to huge cost over-runs,” Dr Singh told Mr Reddy, when they met on Wednesday to discuss the state plan outlay for fiscal 2012-13.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation is funding a pilot project to enable the state’s farmers to reverse the environmental degradation and rural poverty in the state by applying scientific methods to groundwater management.

Baseline studies jointly conducted by the FAO, Centre and state government have identified seven districts in Andhra Pradesh to effectively implement the best practices in sustainable cropping patterns to combat climate change.

With water crisis slowly taking on alarming proportions, substandard packaged drinking water, without proper labels and ISO certification and quality checks, are more freely available in the market, raising risks of contracting water-borne diseases.

With the Water Board failing to supply adequate safe drinking water, residents are forced to buy water from private companies. But water bottles or pouches of many companies are sold without proper labels or adequate quality checks, officials said.

Groundwater levels in the state are receding at an alarming rate. While groundwater in many areas was already in the ‘critical’ category earlier, village after village in the state is now nose-diving into the ‘over exploited’ category when it comes to harvesting groundwater.

This perilous status of groundwater in AP has been conveyed to the authorities by the groundwater department. What is worrying the experts is that while on one hand, despite the rains, there is little recharge of groundwater due to massive urbanisation, on the other hand, rampant deep borewell drilling continues to lead to depletion of groundwater resources.

The state government has proposed to amend the existing rules to curb illegal sand quarrying in the state by increasing the penalty three-fold; from Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000 per truck carrying sand without a valid permit. According to the proposed amendment, the penalty imposed on each tractor carrying five tonnes of sand will be Rs 15,000 and Rs 3,000 per additional tonne. As per existing rules, the government can grant a lease for a period of more than one year.

Farmers in 143 villages spread over nine pilot hydrological units in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh will soon show the world their expertise in estimating the available water resources and accordingly plan whether to go for a short or a long-duration crop.

This will be proof of their complete empowerment and considering the impact in the future of climate change, it will be the ultimate, said Peter E. Kenmore, India Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO-UN).