The state government on Wednesday launched a fresh round of regularisation for land declared as surplus under the Urban Land Ceiling Act, which was repealed recently. The lands which to be regularised are those which had been taken into possession by the government but were later encroached upon. Applications for regularisation can be submitted till August 30, 2008 .

The Opposition parties on Tuesday asked the the state government to keep the Rs 10,000-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail Project in abeyance for six months. Mr P.L. Srinivas of the Telugu Desam, Mr Bandaru Dattatreya of the BJP, Mr Ramulu Naik of the TRS, Mr Y. Venkateswara Rao of the CPI(M) and Mr K. Srinivasa Rao of the Lok Satta, requested the government to keep the opening of financial bids and awarding of contracts on hold.

Before it became a hi-tec city, Hyderabad was famously known as the city of lakes. There are over 532 water bodies in and around the state capital with Hussainsagar Lake being the most prominent one. However, rapid urbanisation in the past few decades has all but destroyed the water bodies in the city. The unending discharge of domestic and industrial effluents and sewerage has turn-ed the once-pristine lakes into cesspools. All this has also caused widespread ecological degeneration.

Believe it or not. The National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad records thousands of earthquakes everyday. In fact, a quake is recorded every second by the highly sensitive machines installed at the NGRI campus. However, it is surprising how the people of the city or elsewhere in the state do not feel the many "tremors" or "quakes" recorded by the NGRI machines. No, the equipment is not faulty. The trouble lies with the heavy traffic and the consequent "tremors" caused by vehicles.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has failed to curb the practice of dumping garbage in open drains by slum dwellers. With monsoon fast approaching, clogged drains are sure to create havoc once it starts raining. Officials fear that unless the slum dwellers stop dumping garbage, the city may witness severe flooding in several areas. After a lot of hue and cry, the civic body has now decided to supply tricycles in every slum where the major drains are situated for door-to-door collection of garbage.

In which we attempt to assess what average Indians living in big cities think about India's environment, and to gauge their levels of awareness, attitudes, perception and concerns Methodology

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 government is under pressure to increase the project cost of metro rail from the present Rs 9,696 crore. The bidders, who were short-listed after technical scrutiny, made it clear that the project cost was financially unviable. Accordingly, the government is believed to have decided to extend the deadline of June 20 for submission of financial bids for a rethink on the project cost. There were also apprehension over the quality of infrastructure and mechanical components, including rolling stock and coaches, to be used in the project.