A total of Rs 11 crore was sanctioned to Prakasam district as assistance at Rs 5,000 each to 23 lakh farmers who failed to benefit under the agricultural loan waiver scheme, said the minister for transport, Mr Kanna Lakhsminarayana. Speaking at the rythu sadassu programme at the Kandula Obula Reddy Gundlakamma project on Sunday, the minister said the government is supplying urea, pesticides and seeds for the next agricultural season at subsidised rates.

The Rythu Sadassu in Paloncha revenue division succeeded in achieving its goal for sustainable farming and expanding bio-agriculture. Farmers from 18 mandals including Aswapuram, Burgumpahad, Manuguru, Pinapaka, Kukkunur, Velie-rpad and Paloncha attended the meeting. The farmers decided to start bio-farming in 30,000 acre in the 18 mandals and they would not use pesticides and inorganic fertilisers.

The minister for major irrigation, Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, said on Thursday that tenders wo-uld be soon called to launch a water project to supply Godavari water to seven mandals in Mulug division. The minister said government was keen to fulfil the wish of the division peoples' long-pending demand for supply of Godavari water.

After 150 years, irrigation canals in the Krishna delta are going in for major renovation. The works actually started this summer may take another four years to complete. The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy would launch the Krishna delta modernisation works at Avanigadda on June 6. He will be arriving here by helicopter from Guntur district at 10 am.

The SCCL management planned to make the underground mines air-conditioned. It is the first of its kind in Indian coal mines. The decision was taken keeping the problems of miners with the increasing temperature in the underground mines. The miners, coal fillers, shot firers and general mazdoors working in these mines are unable to work properly there due to the unbearable temperature.

The state government needs Rs 430 crore for the first phase in the acquisition of zerayati land spread over 9,237 acres around Kolleru lake in Krishna and East Godavari districts. The land is situated in fifth contour of Kolleru lake that is being restored after the Supreme Court's directions.

Hyderabad is on the move not just on the progressive front but also in terms of pollution. The levels of dust, water and sound pollution in the city are alarming and increasing by leaps and bounds every year. According to the state Pollution Control Board, the total suspended particulate matter (TSPM), which denotes the dust levels in the city, has increased from 241 ug/m to 254 ug/m since last year.

With humans invading and capturing their habitats to erect their high-rises, big cats are entering towns and cities as if to demand their due. Panthers once roamed in the Hitec city area of Madhapur, but they lost their habitat after the scrub jungle was levelled for erecting a cyber city. Similarly, scrub jungles in the fringes of Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and other urban areas were also destroyed for construction. These scrub jungles were the connecting links (marginal habitats) between the thick forest and human habitations. For long years, the borders were inviolate.

The state is preparing to constitute Andhra Pradesh Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (APRWSS) project with an objective to increase efficiency in supply drinking water to the rural population in the state. The proposed APRWSS project will be entrusted with the task of planning, designing, construction and operation of rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the state. So far, the Rural Water Supplies (RWS) is taking up these works. Preparations are under way to transfer these responsibilities to the Panchayat Raj institutions for their effective implementation.