Thrissur city is reeling under an acute water crisis. All wells, ponds and water sources in and around the city have either gone dry or filled up by real estate sharks. There is already a fall in water supply and the situation is bound to deteriorate during summer.

In this grim situation, an interesting success story of rainwater harvesting in Kolazhy, a village in the district, could serve as an inspiration to the Thrissur Corporation. The soil in the village, located just 6 km away from the city, is loamy on the top and has a laterite carpet at the bottom. The average depth of the wells here is nine metres from the ground level.

NONGPOH: With the aim and objective to avoid acute shortage of drinking water and to prevent the State from shortage of portable water, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) of North Eastern Region, Guwahati, Under the Ministry of Water Resources launched a two-day training course on village level aquifer management plan to preserve the ground water on Tuesday at C&RD Block office, Umsning.

Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioners Akash Deep, who inaugurated the training, and P Kalita, Scientist, CGWB, were the special invitees at the programme.

This is sounds like crisis.

SHILLONG: As global warming is taking its toll, a remarkable change in climate is seen. The same is experienced in Meghalaya, where the crisis for drinking water is one of the biggest problems despite the state receiving good rainfall.

To tackle this problem before it goes out of hand, an immediate need to provide information, educate and communicate with the masses on the water-related issues was felt. With this thought in mind, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry of water resources, government of India has started a nation-wide campaign amongst the school children through painting competition with the theme, ‘Replete ground water before it depletes’.

Jaipur: With TOI repeatedly highlighting the continued discharge of effluents into the Bandi river, the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) on Sunday ordered closure of all textile units in Pali for the next two days.

“About 400 textile units have been told to remain shut for two days as there were reports of excess effluent generation and discharge by them into the Bandi river,” said O P Gupta, regional officer RSPCB, Pali. He said the Pali Water Pollution Control Research Foundation (PWPCRF) Trust will look at the effluents discharged from the industries and ensure that the norms are regulated. The PWPCRF is one of the very first co-operative pollution control bodies in the country and was initiated by the industry itself.

Lays emphasis on long-term monitoring

Groundwater resources in Kerala have come under increasing stress from rising levels of exploitation and pollution, the first aquifer atlas of Kerala has revealed. The atlas, compiled by the Central Ground Water Board, estimates the net annual groundwater availability in the State at 6.01 billion cubic metres as on March 2011. The stage of “groundwater development” for the State as a whole has been computed at 47 per cent. The utilisation pattern is, however, uneven across the State, with groundwater-stressed conditions in some parts and sub-optimal groundwater development in some others.

There has been a sharp decline in groundwater levels in several parts of Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan over the years, the government said on Friday.

According to the data released here, which is part of country’s first ever aquifer atlas, Himachal Pradesh has the best groundwater level as water exploited is quickly recharged. The atlas, first ever compilation of aquifer systems in India, says that within the national capital, southwest Delhi is the worst affected by depleting groundwater levels.

56% of samples highly polluted; filtration not up to mark.

In a bid to curb the exploitation of groundwater by posh colonies and shopping malls, the Delhi Government has decided to rein in those drawing potable water from illegal borewells.