Jaipur: With TOI repeatedly highlighting the continued discharge of effluents into the Bandi river, the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) on Sunday ordered closure of all textile units in Pali for the next two days.

“About 400 textile units have been told to remain shut for two days as there were reports of excess effluent generation and discharge by them into the Bandi river,” said O P Gupta, regional officer RSPCB, Pali. He said the Pali Water Pollution Control Research Foundation (PWPCRF) Trust will look at the effluents discharged from the industries and ensure that the norms are regulated. The PWPCRF is one of the very first co-operative pollution control bodies in the country and was initiated by the industry itself.

Jaipur: The Rajasthan high court on Friday came down heavily against political interference in the bid to remove encroachments from catchment areas of rivers, dams and ponds. The court also pulled up the state government for playing with citizens' health by not keeping water bodies free of pollution.

During the state assembly's recently concluded session, legislators had cut across political lines to criticize HC orders to evict squatters from the city's Amanishah Nullah. The high court had earlier ordered removal of encroachments from the district's Ramgarh Dam too. The legislators had said the court orders would render thousands of people homeless overnight.

"A study has proved that in Balotara and Pali the water has so much fluoride that children there are now being born with twisted bones. In Balotara the water is not even fit for bathing," Justice Bhandari said.

A monitoring committee of the high court recently reported that the state government was discharging sewer water without passing it through water treatment plants. IN fact, some of these plants were of low capacity. The single bench of Justice Bhandari noted that the government saved the Jal Mahal water with the help of a treatment plant, but polluted water was still being discharged into the Kanota Dam. Untreated industrial water was also being discharged into a couple of lakes and dams.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan high court on Friday took a strong note of the Union telecom secretary's letter directing the state chief secretary not to order removal of mobile phone towers from hospitals.

As the high court had earlier ordered that the towers be instantly removed from the school and hospital buildings, the division bench headed by chief justice Arun Kumar Mishra said the Union secretary's letter was tantamount to contempt of court.

JAIPUR: The infant mortality rate (IMR) in the state has come down from 55 per 1000 live births to 52 per 1000 live births, says the recently released Sample Registration Survey (SRS), 2011, conducted by the Registrar General of India.

The IMR in the state has reduced by 3 points over the last one year, which is equal to the amount of decrease in the IMR in the country. As per the SRS 2010, the IMR in the state was 55 per 1,000 live births. Also, the IMR in India was 47 as per SRS 2010 but it has come down to 44 according to the survey released in October.

A 12-member team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan on Monday for carrying out an in-depth safety review of two units of the atomic power station in the town. This is the first operational safety review team (OSART) mission in the country being conducted at the Union government’s request.

The team comprises experts from the nuclear power plants of Canada, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. The OSART mission will stay at the Rawatbhata plant till November 15. The review will check adherence to the nuclear regulator’s safety standards and proven good practices.

Jaipur: The state capital of Rajasthan will soon join the club of top ten most populated cities of urban agglomerations in the country.

Villagers Allege That Blasting Was Not Permitted At The Mine Where Body Was Found

Jaipur: Lack of safety measures and unauthorised use of explosives during mining on Jaipur outskirts allegedly claimed one more life. The body of a man was found near a mine at Naradpura village in Harmara area on Saturday morning. A former sarpanch has lodged an FIR against the mine owners alleging that the deceased, who was working at a stone mine, was killed during blasting of explosives. Villagers alleged that blasting was not permitted at the mine where the body was found.

Jaipur: After receiving normal rainfall consecutively for two years in the state, the government is all set to make roof water harvesting system mandatory at all constructions with 300 square meters area and above. The policy has been drafted by the water resources department and is likely to be place before the cabinet in November.

The draft policy makes it mandatory for any sort of construction in 300 sq m and beyond in the state to have roof water harvesting. The earlier notification made by the urban housing department has already made it mandatory to have such system in constructions in areas less than 300 sq m.

Jaipur: The medical health and family welfare department on Thursday kicked off a campaign against food adulteration and collected samples of sweets and mawa from different parts of the city.

Teams of the medical health and family welfare department swung into action and inspected sweet shops and restaurants to collect samples of suspected adulterated food items.

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