The flipside of the BMC policy banning installation of cellular phone towers atop and around hospitals has come to the fore.

Doctors complained deactivation of towers at Lilavati Hospital was causing connectivity problems, so much that communication on the premises had become difficult affecting patient care. Relatives of several patients also complained “no connectivity” was making it tough for them to contact doctors. People on almost all floors of the hospital building were seen trying to position phones in such a way to catch network.

Pune: A 150 MW solar power plant will be commissioned in the state by end of March this year. The Rs 1,600 crore plant is coming up near Nizampur village in Dhule district, around 330 km from here.

Dhule, in north Maharashtra, is known for dry land, bright sunlight and high solar radiation, mainly because its proximity to the tropic of cancer. V S Patil, executive director (solar power generation) of the Maharashtra state power generation company ltd (MSPGCL), said that “The Dhule plant would be the first solar power project that will be connected to the national grid.”

Residents of villages near Khaparkheda and Koradi power plants, under the aegis of Kisan Manch, have lodged one more police complaint against officials of the two plants of Mahagenco for excessive

Bombay High Court on Monday refused to quash seizure order of over Rs 3-crore gutkha consignment, observing export of any food product, the manufacture of which is in contravention to the Food Safe

Pune: The state government has decided to set up water testing labs at district and sub-district hospitals across the state to provide safe drinking water in rural areas.

As part of this initiative, the state health department will set up 137 labs at the cost of Rs 15 crore. The aim is to increase the frequency of water testing and to decentralize monitoring and surveillance of all drinking water sources in the state. The Union government, under the National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme, granted funds to the state’s water supply and sanitation department which in turn channelized them to the state’s health department for setting up labs as they do not have the required infrastructure.

Coastline Is Most Prone To Pollution In 1st Week Of Jan

An India-UN survey has revealed that solid waste disposed off on the beaches of Sindhudurg is voluminous enough to pose a serious threat to the district’s rich marine biodiversity. What is true there is true in the rest of coastal Maharashtra as well. It is in winter, especially in January, that tourists in large numbers descend on the beaches of Devgad, Malvan and Vengurla—three talukas that are the state’s prime holiday destinations.

Mumbai: If one goes by the survey conducted by citizens groups and NGOs, there are 227 errors in the existing land use (ELU) plan for two wards in the eastern suburbs M East and M West wards in Chembur. The plan was recently made public by the civic body.

The errors were identified by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, YUVA (Youth for Voluntary Action), SMS (Stree Mukti Sangathan) and Apnalaya. “All these errors are in M-East and M-West wards, which have the worst human development index in Mumbai.

Pune: The state government has disbursed Rs 413.98 crore so far to tackle the water scarcity situation in different parts of the state. Western Maharashtra and Marathwada are the worst affected regions in the state as they have received the lowest rainfall in the state during the last monsoon.

The government has allocated over Rs 400 crore to the department of water supply and the department of revenue, a senior secretary from the state revenue department said. “Besides, the government has given powers to the district collectors for spending up to Rs 2 crore as emergency funds. The funds are meant to ensure quick payment to water tankers, as many of them are privately owned.”

The Bombay High Court has rejected a plea by City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the nodal agency for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport, to exempt the airport project

The tehsil officer at Vahera village in Beed district of Maharashtra was having a hard time of it, after being held hostage for an entire day by a mob of about 100 villagers.