AHMEDABAD: The state government's ambitious Kalpasar dam project, which is estimated to cost Rs 30,000 crore, could lead to earthquakes in the state.

Ahmedabad: Two cities of Gujarat, both industrial hubs, top the list of cities with lowest sex ratio in India.

Birds Continue To Fall Prey Despite Arrest Of 9 Men

Ahmedabad: The forest department claimed to have cracked the case of the poaching of 64 lesser flamingos in Venasar village in the Little Rann of Kutch when its officials arrested nine people on January 4. They had even recovered the nets used to trap the birds, after TOI had reported the massacre.

AHMEDABAD: Imagine sudden floods at Sabarmati River arising out of climate change and a loss of Rs1,200 crore for Gujarat's Sabarmati Riverfront project!

A prior understanding of the effects of climate change and including features to adapt to these effects of climate change in the project could avoid such loses.

Gandhinagar: Closely following the draft Gujarat Water Policy 2011 sent to the chief minister’s office (CMO) for finalization, a fresh high-level document, prepared for the Planning Commission of India, has proposed major water reforms in rural Gujarat.

This document proposes introducing availability of water 24x7 through water meters at the individual household level. Suggesting that this can be done on a pilot basis in 50 selected villages in the first year of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the document says other villages can follow “based on results and response of the community towards water usage.”

Shell and Total, operators of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Hazira in Gujarat, have decided to take the terminal's annual capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

The terminal at present operates at a capacity of 3.6 million tonne (mt). By 2013, this would be expanded to five mt. “With new gas pipelines being laid and LNG consumption in the country on an increase, more gas would be required. To meet the market requirement for future we intend to increase the terminal's capacity to 10 mtpa,” a senior company executive told Business Standard on condition of anonymity.

AMC Gets Strict; To Impose Hefty Fines

TOXIC SPREAD - Vapi:The Daman administration has initiated stringent vigil over its territory which is seeing massive illegal dumping of untreated industrial effluent from Gujarat industries.

The Gujarat government has approached the Urban Development Ministry seeking 25 per cent Central funding for the Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Metro Development Project.

Though the ministry has generally followed a model as per which it provides 20 per cent of the cost project as financial assistance, it was currently evaluating the Gujarat government report, sources said.

Gandhinagar: Gujarat government may have to go in for major changes in the state’s land-related laws which are currently being applied for regularizing land titles – in case it wants to apply the new impact fee law, passed in the state assembly in September 2011 for legalizing illegal structures constructed on plots of land without necessary clearances. Top Sachivalaya sources said this is particularly crucial as of 15-lakh-odd illegal structures, which the law seeks to regularize, two-thirds are land related.