JAIPUR: Climate change, the greatest global challenge, is already a reality for the farmers of Rajasthan. It is increasing the pressure on already scarce resources and if proper measures are not taken, migration towards the cities will soon reach new heights.

According to the Rajasthan State Action Plan on Climate Change (RAPCC) report by the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board prepared with the help of a multi-disciplinary team of experts from TERI with support from GIZ says, 'enough is already known to start action'. And more than the factual situation the action plan that the report suggests is a writing on the wall for farmers.

JAIPUR: The two under-construction power generating units and the proposed Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) in Rawatbhata have raked up a major controversy wi

JAIPUR: In a bid to facilitate hassle-free movement for pedestrians, the Jaipur Development Authority is planning to develop footpaths on major city roads.

In this regard, the Jaipur Development Authority's engineering wing has been directed to prepare a status report on city roads on the basis of which the design for the footpaths will be drafted. JDA chief engineer Lalit Sharma said, "The footpaths will be designed according to the road width and the vehicular movement. The plan for footpath on every city road will be different."

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has promised funds to Rajasthan in the power sector besides the bank's traditional areas of agriculture and rural development. The State has been told that if it can spend, additional funds to the tune of Rs.500 crore could be made available in the current year itself in the mandated sectors.

ALWAR: A team of police and forest officials had to run for their life when some people employed by the mining mafia in Alwar's Kherali police station area pelted stones on them on Wednesday night. The officials had to hide themselves in agricultural farms to save their lives.Itis the second such attack in two days.

According to the police, forest conservator Girraj Prasad lodged an FIR with Kherali police station against 25 people over the incident. The police had arrested four of the attackers.

ALWAR: Just a few days after the Supreme Court issued notices to the state government over illegal mining in Alwar, a man was killed and another injured at an illegal mine Narayanpur area in the district on Tuesday.

Initially the police were saying that the victims were involved in illegal mining but later they changed the stand saying that the man was killed in a freak accident when the brakes of his truck broke down.

JAIPUR: Ten investment proposals worth Rs 9,800 crore will be tabled for approval by the state Cabinet committee in a meeting scheduled on Wednesday. If cleared, these companies, ranging form automobiles to automatic teller machines, cements and pharmaceuticals, will open their manufacturing units in the state.

The proposals include Brazilian firm Perto which plans to set up a manufacturing plant for automatic teller machines with an investment of Rs 200 crore. The unit will have a capacity of 1,000 machines per month and will come up in Mahindra Walled City.

JAIPUR: The national agriculture and rural development board (NABARD) is set to decide on the soft loans proposed by the public works department (PWD) of the state government on Wednesday. The department has forwarded projects worth Rs 1,562 crore to NABARD for refurbishing roads in the state.

NABARD chairman Prakash Bakshi will be on his two day visit to Jaipur starting from Tuesday and is scheduled to meet chief minister Ashok Gehlot and PWD department officials.

JAIPUR: The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has agreed to fund the drinking water supply projects in the Alwar district of Rajasthan worth Rs. 1,132 crore. The state government on Wednesday also gave its consent for these projects. The three schemes sanctioned by the state government are water supply to Alwar city from Chambal river, upgradation of distribution system, 24/7 water supply in urban areas of Tijara, Behror, Rajgarh and augmentation of urban water supply scheme at Bhiwadi.

Jaipur: The draft report of Rajasthan State Action Plan on Climate Change has brought out some alarming facts about the water situation in the state. According to the report, the state has the highest probability of drought occurrence in the country. It also falls within areas having greatest climate sensitivity, maximum vulnerability and lowest adaptive capacity.

According to the report, “high dependency on groundwater has resulted in its overexploitation, with nearly 80% of groundwater witnessing depletion. The quality of groundwater has also progressively deteriorated. The stage of groundwater exploitation which was 35% in 1984 has reached a level of 138% in 2008