The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is planning to regularise illegal water connections in the City.

The BWSSB has relaxed existing rules to regularise water connections and has directed officers to collect documents and to issue RR (Revenue Register) number as a proof. Consumers with unauthori­sed connections have been told to submit documents like sale de­ed of the property, general power of attorney, telephone bill, electricity bill, ration card along with an affidavit on stamp paper of Rs 20 from the owner/occupant to get their water connections regularised.

The practice of washing the dyed fabrics in River Cauvery still remains unchecked in the district, adding more pollution to the river water that is already too dirty and becoming unfit for human consumption.

The units have been carrying out the practice with much impunity and the authorities here have not initiated any serious efforts to deter them. Many units resort to the practice of washing the toxic dyes and dirt from the fabrics in the river as it is much cheaper and it involves less trouble.

A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here to forbear the Public Works Department from carrying out sand quarrying operations along the stretches of rivers Cauvery, Amaravathi and Kollidam flowing through Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.

When the case came up for hearing before a Division Bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi and Justice G.M. Akbar Ali on Monday, the judges adjourned the case to July 9 as the lawyers representing the PIL petitioner, B. Juliaan (31) of Lalgudi Taluk in Tiruchi district, were not present in the court due to a boycott call given by one of the advocates’ association.

The City’s rapid growth has come at a heavy price – in the form of the loss of its lakes and ponds, according to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report.

“These water bodies are now either repositories for sewage or have been turned into prime real estate,” a study conducted by the CSE revealed. “As a result, even with huge investments and projects for bringing water to the City – including the much debated Greater Bangalore Water and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) – the water crisis has become real and regular,” the report said.

Taking strong exception to Kerala government's plan to construct a dam across Siruvani River at Attapadi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Thursday asked the Centre not to accord it technical clearance as it 'violates' the final order of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she asked him to advise Kerala not to proceed with the proposed Attapadi irrigation scheme or any other scheme on the river Siruvani in violation of the Tribunal's final order.

Persons running the manual dyeing units on the Kaliyanoor Road protested the demolitions stating that the TNPCB spared the bigger units and targeted the manual dyers. TNPCB District Environmental Engineer (DEE) K. Gokuladas who headed the drive, told them that all illegal units would be removed without any bias.

The protestors then guided the TNPCB officials to a unit on a sugarcane field on the Kaliyanoor Road. “It would have been impossible to identify it without the help of the villagers. The unit with three winches was in a concrete building that looked like a house and was locked from outside,” the DEE said.

Thirumalairajanar river is being ravaged, exposing the village to vagaries of monsoon

At the stroke of dawn, tractors can be seen along the embankments of the Thirumalairajanar river at Polagam. Here, in Polagam panchayat of Thirumarugal union in Nagapattinam district, illegal mining of sand in the river reigns supreme. Each day, even before the sun ascends the horizon, the bed and banks of this tributary of the Cauvery is slowly and steadily ravaged, exposing the village to the vagaries of the monsoon, which is often accompanied by cyclone.

Reckless behaviour of devotees at Kooduthurai is one reason; HR & CE Department workers too responsible

The River Cauvery is fast turning into a garbage dump at Kooduthurai, a famous religious spot located in Bhavani. Huge amount of discarded cloths, garlands, pooja materials, polythene bags and other waste end up in the river every day, leaving this holy site to stink.

A total 10 illegal dyeing units that were polluting water bodies and River Cauvery at villages near Pallipalayam in Tiruchengode Taluk, were demolished during a raid that was conducted there on Wednesday.

The eviction drive was jointly organised by officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), TANGEDCO and Police at Aavathipalayam, Manalmedu and Samayasangili near Pallipalayam.

Colour of water turned black and acidic smell emanated

While people in the world observing the World Environment Day and discussing measures to protect the Earth on Tuesday, it is business as usual for many textile processing and tannery units in Erode district. A few textile processing and tannery units located in BP Agraharam and its nearby areas dumped huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents in a water carrying channel that flows into Cauvery River. The colour of the water turned black in the channel and the acidic smell emanated from the effluents.