Hardly a month is left for the arrival of thousands of birds from Siberia and other parts of the world to Uppalapadu bird sanctuary in Guntur district but the renovation and repair works at the sanctuary are going at a snail's pace. Funds crunch is one of the main reasons for the poor condition of the bird sanctuary which is the second in importance in south coastal districts. About 10,000 birds from various countries take refuge at the sanctuary every year. The birds will start arriving in June and will stay there till March next.

The prevalence of filaria has declined in East Godavari district as health authorities have intensified a drive to contain it. Its prevalence was recorded at 2.8 per cent in 1995 and it came down to 0.27 in 2006. Health authorities collected 19,640 blood smears from January 1 to April 30 in 2008 and found 26 micro-filaria positive cases coming up to 0.13 per cent and 36 filaria diseases which come up to 0.18 per cent. More filaria cases were noticed in Amalapuram and Rama-chandrapuram municipalities and some cases from Biccavole and other areas in the district.

With several irrigation projects in the state falling in the moderate seismic zone, the state government will conduct tests to ascertain their structural safety. The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, has already taken a decision on the issue, following the recent earthquake in China, which the scientists attributed to the Three Gorges project.

CROSSING OVER: A little girl in Rajasthan goes to a state school supported by Mahindra & Mahindra

GOING HYBRID: The Mahindra group will launch a mild hybrid version of the Scorpio later this year. The full hybrid will come later

It's a simple strategy of protest with no pretensions of winning. The aim of the Polepally protesters: "That we get our land back, our lives back. Our one and only demand.' COMMON APPEAL: "Voting for the Jadcherla 13 means saluting with love our Mother Earth.'

Suicide by over 17,000 farmers in 2006, the latest year for which systematic official data are available, is a huge national tragedy. In fact, the trends revealed by the National Crime Records Buresu (NCRB) on farmers' suicides are appalling. While there have been ups and downs in the annual figure, there has been no let up in the trend since 2001. The figure for 1997, in itself disturbing, was approximately 14,000. From 2002, there has been no year in which fewer than 17,000 farmers' suicides have been recorded. The 2006 figure confirms the trend.

The East Godavari district rural water supply department, as part of summer contingency plan, took several steps for continuous drinking water supply in the rural areas. With irrigation canal closure for two months from April 20 as part of the modernisation programme taken up in the district, the department has taken extra precautions for the supply of uninterrupted drinking water to remote areas and habitations. With canal reopening slated for June 20, almost a month from now, the department has initiated several measures in addition to existing water supply facilities.

As many as two lakh people of the town are severely hit with the scarcity of drinking water in the scorching summer. The two summer storage tanks of the town have failed to meet the demand for drinking water though officials state that they will resolve the issue soon.

Drinking water in Dosaludiki, Sayala and Kasapuram villages in Guntakal mandal has been contaminated for quite some years with authorities doing nothing so far. A summer storage tank was constructed at Kasapuram village which is filled by pumping water from the Gooty sub branch canal. Water to this canal is released at the regulatory pipeline located in G. Kottala from the Guntakal branch canal. The Gooty branch canal which passes through Guntakal has been converted into a drainage canal by residents living on either side of it.