A Division Bench of Justice Mr Aniruddha Bose and Justice Mr Sanjib Banerjee of Calcutta High Court today directed the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) to inquire into the possibility of any construction work harming a 2,000-bigha waterbody in Howrah and file a report by 30 October. The matter will come up for hearing again on 6 November.
KOLKATA: The flood situation in five southern districts of West Bengal is serious with the death toll going up to three and 14.5 lakh people affected. More than 37,000 people have been rendered homeless.
Describing the situation as grim, State Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said here on Wednesday that the situation in Hooghly and Howrah districts was particularly serious.
KOLKATA: Two people were killed and nearly 11.5 lakh affected in certain districts of south Bengal by floods caused when large quantities of water were released over the past two days from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reservoirs .
Vast stretches of Howrah, Hooghly, the two Midnapores and Burdwan could go under water tomorrow as the DVC released 2.5 lakh cusecs today following heavy rain in Jharkhand and parts of Bengal.
Ananya Dutta
KOLKATA: Twenty-three persons were killed when a severe cyclonic storm accompanied by heavy rain brought by Cyclone Aila lashed the city and some districts of West Bengal on Monday. The death toll could be higher: reports from the districts were only coming in. Many people were injured.
Residents of two villages in Howrah ~ which were declared Nirmal Gram by the Centre ~ do not have safe drinking water, basic sanitation system and power.
Marsh Mongoose Herpestes palustris is the only extant endemic mammal of the East Kolkata wetlands, which has been declared a RAMSAR site in 2002. Since its first description by the scientists of the Zoological Survey of India, the population of this species has dwindled to an alarming state due to reclamation of the Salt Lake City and Rajarhat expansion, as well as from other anthropogenic causes. Recently, during a field survey only a small population of this endangered mongoose was found in a single location.
Birds at the Santragachhi jheel. (Sanat Kumar Sinha)
Fewer birds have made the Santragachhi jheel their home this winter. Overgrowth of water hyacinth in the 13,75,000sq ft lake, the largest hub of waterfowl around the city, could be one of the reasons, according to experts.
A STAFF REPORTER
Calcutta, Jan. 14: Food and beverage company PepsiCo today announced its decision to pump an additional Rs 250 crore into its factory at Sankrail, Howrah.
PepsiCo subsidiary Frito-Lay manufactures and markets a variety of chips and snacks from the Rs 500-crore unit.
