JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Monday came down heavily on the state government over illegal allotments and encroachments in the catchment area of water bodies in the state, saying the government was encouraging such illegality with active aide of its officials.

The harsh criticism came soon after the government moved an application demanding that the PIL related to encroachments of water bodies shall be heard by a division bench when the court was about to pronouncement its judgment after several months of hearing.

JAIPUR: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) proposal of operating and maintaining of the Jaipur Metro for one year after completion of the project may not be accepted by the Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC). To operate the Jaipur Metro under the surveillance of experts, the DMRC has proposed that JMRC should take over after one year when the new staff is well-versed with the operations and maintenance.

However, JMRC chief managing director N C Goyal says, "We are confident of handling operation and maintenance from day one. As some day we have to take the responsibility, it's better to take it from the start." He added, "The option of DMRC assistance and expertise is always available."

Jaipur: It’s time Rajasthan moves out of dependence on rain to solve the perennial water crisis. If the government honestly takes up water-harvesting and conservation, backed by technology innovations, people may not face the crisis every summer.

Recently, two teams from the state have made it to the finals of annual Microsoft Imagine Cup competition, a premier international student technology competition. The India finals for the same would be held at

Bill Proposes Penalties To Keep Check On Uprooting, Felling Of Trees

Jaipur: The bill framed to check shrinking green coverage and to increase plantation in the state is yet to be presented before the cabinet due to the state government’s lackadaisical approach.

Jaipur: The state government would soon come up with a new policy for construction of roads, minister for public works department (PWD) Bharat Singh announced in the assembly on Thursday. The present policy has been there since 1994.

The minister also announced to connect nearly 3,000 villages, which could not be covered by the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana, with the tar roads under the newly framed Mahatma Gandhi State Sadak Yojana.

Cairn can raise output from its largest oilfield in Rajasthan block by 25,000 barrels per day to 150,000 bpd

After more than six-month wait, the Government today gave approval to Cairn India to raise output from its largest oilfield in Rajasthan block by 25,000 barrels per day to 150,000 bpd. Rajasthan block oversight committee, called Management Committee, at its meeting today approved raising Mangala oil field production from 125,000 bpd to 150,000 bpd, sources privy to the deliberations at the MC meeting said.

Court Asks Govt To Comply With Supreme Court Guidelines While Allowing Gravel Mining

Jaipur: The Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday gave conditional sanction to sand mining from Banas river. The court asked the state government to comply with the Supreme Court guidelines while allowing mining of sand from the river.

The Supreme Court today asked the Jaipur Metro Development Authority to seek permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for carrying out sand mining from river bed for its metro rail project.

A special forest bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad said the MoEF shall consider within 10 days any application moved by the metro corporation for excavating sand from the river bed. The apex court passed the direction after Attorney General G E Vahanvati told the bench that the project development had been adversely affected after the Rajasthan High Court recently restrained any type of mining activities from Banas river.

JAIPUR: Though the Public Health and Engineering Department is claiming that the 'yellow water' is safe for drinking, the health and medical department is yet to give its approval on the quality of the yellow water, which is being supplied to the city from Bisalpur.

The medical, health and family welfare department collected samples from various parts of the city on Monday. It has sent the samples to the Jaipuria laboratory for testing its quality.

The Jaipur Metro Project on Monday rushed to the Supreme Court complaining that its construction work was badly hit by an order of the Rajasthan High Court extending the SC's ban on mining in Aravalli hill range to extraction of sand from Banas river bed.

Appearing for the metro project, scheduled to be completed by June 2013, attorney general G E Vahanvati informed a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad that there never was a ban on extraction of sand from the river bed.