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.

A well-equipped multi-story residential complex would be built under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the slum dwellers to be removed from Govindpura industrial area. The building would be constructed by Bhopal Municipal Corporation. This decision was taken at a meeting convened for redressing problems prevailing in Govindpura industrial area. The meeting was chaired by Industry Minister Malaiya. Commercial Taxes Minister Babulal Gaur and Mayor Sunil Sood were also present.

THE government has set up a highpowered expert committee to estimate investment requirements for urban infrastructure in India for the next 12 years. The 11-member expert committee will be chaired by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, chairperson of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

Aarti Dhar Centre will take initiative soon to work out modalities Committees on various rehabilitation aspects will be subsumed Drinking water from Kolar reservoir for localities around Carbide plant by year-end NEW DELHI: The Centre has agreed "in principle' to set up an empowered commission to rehabilitate the survivors and victims of the Bhopal gas leak that happened 23 years ago.

Civic body may lose Rs 150 cr from the funds allocated to it under JNNURM The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) stands to lose up to Rs 150 crore from the funds allocated to it under JNNURM. This situation has come to pass as the Centre, in a directive to the civic body, has sought to change the parameters and resubmit plan for construction of storm water drains and channelisation of nallahs.

The failure of elected representatives of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation to make the maximum of the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission plan of the Central Government stands as a glaring example of negligence of public work. Though the JNNURM has provisions for Community Participation Fund (CPF) facilitating many benefiting projects for the common people, very little has been done by the councillors, always crying for funds to carry public work, to tap the existing resources under the mission.

With the growing threat of water scarcity in the state capital and suburbs, the Tripura Government has sent a proposal of Rs 665 crore for a project to transport water from the Gumati river, about 70 km away, through pipelines to ensure water supply to an additional 1.5 lakh families in the city. Official sources said here today that a high level committee, headed by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, approved the project earlier this week and sent it to the Union Urban Development Ministry for funding under the Jawaharlal Neheru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

A non-government organisation has urged the Delhi Government to continue expansion of the Bus Rapid Transit corridor in the Capital. Reacting to reports that the BRT corridor would not be implemented beyond Moolchand, Hazards Centre has written to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to review the decision to curtail the corridor. Disturbing signal

First tranche of funding for 13 projects disbursed under urban renewal scheme. Five state governments have been granted Rs 4,691 crore for 13 projects under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), all of them for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, the efficacy of which is still being tested in its first trial ground in Delhi. Figures available from the urban development ministry show that these projects have already received the first tranche of funding.