SHILLONG: Admitting that the progress of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in the State has not been upto the mark, Power Minister AT Mondal said that show cause notices have been given to the concerned contractors for the delay in commissioning of the scheme.

The RGGVY scheme aims at electrifying all villages and habitations besides providing access to electricity to all rural households and also to provide electricity connection to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families free of charge. Under the scheme, 1, 14,507 BPL families will be provided free electricity connection in the state.

SHILLONG: An amount of Rs 493.13 crore was released by the Centre under the Horticulture Mission for the North East & Himalayan States during the year 2011-12.

SHILLONG: Realising the importance of water for both human and animal life, the proposed draft document of the State Water Policy has laid emphasis on the need to regulate exploitation of ground water resources.

“There should be a periodical reassessment of the ground water potential on a scientific basis taking into consideration the quality of the water available and economic viability of its extraction,” the draft document prepared by the State Government, which is available on the official website of the Water Resources department, states.

SHILLONG: Petrol prices in Meghalaya would become cheaper by Rs 1.05 per litre from Friday after the State Cabinet decided not to charge Value Added Tax (VAT) on the price of petrol which was recently hiked.

Announcing this on Wednesday, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said, “The exemption of VAT would be applicable only on the recent hike of Rs 5.48.” Petrol prices were hiked by Rs 7.50 on May 23, but following widespread protests, the Government brought down the price by Rs 2.02.

SHILLONG: In order to improve the power transmission and distribution infrastructure in the Northeastern region, the Centre has sought $1.5bn from the World Bank.

SHILLONG: To control the spread of malaria the State Government proposes to introduce larvivorous fishes popularly known as ‘mosquito fishes’ in a big way. Meghalaya continues to have high incidence of malaria especially in Garo Hills and parts of Khasi Jaintia Hills.

“We will conduct a detailed study on the efficacy of larvivorous fishes to control the spread of malaria since these fish feed on mosquito larvae. If this option proves effective in controlling the spread of malaria then it would provide the Government with an alternative to control the disease,

Illegal and unscientific mining of coal has threatened the very existence of the famous stone bridge over Thlumuwi river, 15 km from Jowai

This bridge on Jowai- Amlarem-Dawki road is close to the regulated area declared under the Ancient Monuments and Archeological sites and Remains (Amendment and validation) Act, 2010. The Thlu-muwi stone bridge, which was constructed 500 years ago by one of the Jaintia kings, may disappear if precautions are not taken by concerned authorities.

KLEW: A serious irregularity has been unearthed over the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in the Unitarian Lower Primary School in Upper Klew village in Ri-Bhoi district.

Students of the school are not getting their mid-day meal even though official records claim that mid-day meals are being provided to the students on a regular basis.

New Delhi: The Annual Plan for Meghalaya for 2012-13 was finalised at Rs 3939 crore here on Thursday at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and his Cabinet colleagues.

This is an increase of Rs 1212 crore over the preceding year. Interestingly, the State itself had sought Rs 3535 crore for the year 2012-13 but the Planning Commission was magnanimous in sanctioning Rs 404 crore more than what was sought for after a marathon meeting at the Yojana Bhawan here that lasted about three hours.

Shillong: The death of thousands of fish at Wah Lukha in Jaintia Hills and Ranikor river is directly linked mushrooming of cement plants and unscientific mining activities being carried out in the two districts of the state, says the KSU.

“The rise in number of cement plants in Jaintia Hills has posed a great threat not only to the forests and environment but also the aquatic lives to the extend that all the rivers are poisoned making survival of aquatic lives almost impossible”, KSU Environment and Cultural Secretary J Marbaniang said.