Bangalore The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has increased power tariff across all categories by an average 13 paise per unit with immediate effect. This is the fourth such hike in the last two years.

The hike varies from 10-20 paise a unit for different category of consumers. For the industrial and commercial categories the increase has been 20 paise per unit while in the domestic segment it has been 10 paise.

These hydro projects have capacities exceeding 25MW

As many as 24 hydro power projects, having capacity above 25 MW, are pending for want of environmental and forest clearances, Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal said today. "Twenty four hydro electric projects (installed capacity above 25 MW), which have been accorded concurrence by the Central Electricity Authority are pending for want of environmental and/or forest clearance," the Minister said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The fire which ravaged several forests of the State this February was not an accident but a man-made act, according to the report of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).

B K Singh, PCCF, in his report to the State government, has stated that a total of 3,624 hectares of forest land were affected by the fire. However, there has been no damage to the flora and fauna or the wildlife in the forests, except 460 hectares in Nagarahole National Park.

Conservation effort

The State government has given its nod for the construction of an alternative road connecting Mysore and Mananthavadi, bypassing the Nagarahole National Park. The existing road had led to controversies, as it passes through critical tiger habitat. The government released Rs 18 crore for the alternative road last week. The problem began five years ago when it was proposed to construct a 28.5-km road between Mysore and Mananthavadi to connect Karnataka with Kerala. Fourteen kilometre of the proposed road was to pass through the Nagarahole Park.

Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda is scheduled to inaugurate on Monday a BDA project on the improvement of the St John’s Hospital-Koramangala 100 Feet Road junction, which may involve a piece of land that the agency had told the High Court it did not need.

The BDA issued a land acquisition notice to the Indian Institute of Astrophysics for improvement of the St John’s Hospital-Koramangala 100 Feet Road junction, days after submitting before the High Court that the project did not require any land.

A probe by the Karnataka Lokayukta into the supply of food to the Integrated Child Development Services has found that Department of Women and Child Development officials in connivance with the con

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will purchase as many as 975 buses to add to the City bus fleet, said BMTC Managing Director K R Srinivas, on Thursday.

Women admire paintings at the newly-inaugurated BMTC Central Office at Shantinagar TTMC on Thursday. Speaking after the inauguration of an airconditioned lounge for airport passengers in Shantinagar bus terminal, Srinivas said of the newly-purchased buses, 175 buses are luxury buses.

The State government was resorting to “jugglery of words” when speaking about the Netravati diversion project and the Yettinahole project, member of the Western Ghats Task Force B.M. Kumaraswamy said here on Wednesday.

Speaking to The Hindu here on the sidelines of a programme organised by the task force and the Department of Forests, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the government was denying that there was any attempt to divert the Netravati, and instead it was saying that it would supply drinking water to Kolar, Chickballapur, Chitradurga and Bangalore Rural districts from the Yettinahole, a tributary of the Netravati, he said.

The illegal mining scam has not deterred mining companies from making a beeline for Karnataka. Over 19,000 applications seeking permission to excavate ore in the State are pending with the government.

Data compiled by the Union Ministry of Mines shows that of the 42,535 pending applications seeking permission for mining in various mineral-rich states in the country, (as on April 19), more than 45 per cent (19,351) of them are pending in Karnataka alone — the highest in the country.

Bellary Thermal Plant may become operational in May second week

Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje has said the State will purchase 990 MW of power to meet the demand during summer. The State is finding it difficult to purchase more power because of lack of corridors to evacuate electricity.