JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government's apathy towards upkeep and conservation of water bodies in the state continues as the draft plan for setting up of a Lake Development Authority is lying in cold storage.

The draft of the bill which was first prepared in 2009 is yet to be tabled before the cabinet. Despite a heavy rainfall, most of the lakes in the state are parched. To regulate and revive natural water bodies, especially lakes, the state government drafted a legislation which suggests instituting a monitoring body called Lake Development Authority.

40,000 Families Including 19,000 From Jaipur To Benefit

Jaipur: Altogether 4,000 families, who lost their houses in the recent heavy rains, would be the first batch of beneficiaries of the Rajasthan Special Housing Scheme, launched by chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday. Under the Special Housing Scheme, the state’s BPL families whose houses were destroyed completely will be provided with a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 while for partial destruction, the assistance would be Rs 25,000. The money would be provided in three installments along with an additional fund of Rs 5,000 for construction of toilets in urban areas and Rs 4,600 in rural areas.

Termed first of its kind in the country, it will make available Rs.50,000 in three instalments to the poor

Rajasthan has launched a special housing scheme for rehabilitation of both urban and rural poor affected by natural and manmade calamities. Termed first of its kind in the country the special housing scheme, named Rajasthan Vishesh Awas Yojna, comes in the wake of Congress president Sonia Gandhi suggesting permanent measures to rehabilitate the victims of recent spell of excess rains in Rajasthan during her visit the previous day.

Jaipur: Conservation with people's participation seems to be the salient feature of the eco-tourism guidelines released by the state government on Thursday. From seeking their help in the actual implementation of the guidelines to involving them with conservation work, the guidelines have paved way for community participation in a variety of ways.

As a first step, the guidelines seek the involvement of honourary wildlife wardens wildlife experts, NGOs and other independent stakeholders for assisting the Tiger Conservation Foundation and the forest department for the implementation of these guidelines in tiger reserves.

Jaipur: A day after the Supreme Court invited suggestions and objections for framing guidelines for conservation of tigers, Rajasthan on Thursday came up with its own guidelines, the first state to do so.

The guidelines, to be submitted to the court as an affidavit by Friday, seeks to promote tourism but disperses it over a wider area than just confine to the national park only. It also seeks to promote eco-tourism in lesser known areas, non-forest areas and even on private lands adjoining tiger reserves by developing them into alternative wildlife land use options. Currently tourism in the state has been confined to areas of government ownership and is managed solely by the forest department.

UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, will inaugurate the Rs 688.65 crore lift drinking water project in Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Thursday.

In a boost to its indigenous nuclear power programme, India has discovered large uranium deposits at Rohil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district.

Four new varieties of seeds, two each in wheat and barley, developed by the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Durgapura near here, have been approved for country-wide introduction.

The All-India Wheat & Barley Improvement Research Worker’s meet, which concluded here the other day, approved a total of 10 varieties developed by various research stations after rejecting 22 others taken up for consideration.

In a major boost to the quest for deposits of uranium ore in the country, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has come across another site with a large deposit of the mineral in Rajasthan.

The deposit found at Rohil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district is estimated at 5,185 tonnes, which makes it the fourth largest in the country after Tummalapalle, Chitrial and Peddagattu extension in Andhra Pradesh.

JAIPUR: The European Union is all set to extend the 80m euro (Rs 558 cr) support for Rajasthan's water sector projects by another two years. European Union ambassador to India Joao Cravinho was in Jaipur on Tuesday and his visit incidentally coincided with World Water Week (August 26 - 31).

EU's projects in the state namely 'State Partnership Programme,' which focuses on state-wide water sector reform, improvement, enhanced water supply and groundwater recharge, is already in progress and the EU Ambassador to India has agreed to recommend its extension.