With Lambapur-Peddagattu uranium mines in Nalgonda district next in line for excavation, nuclear physicists from Osmania University, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Chaitanya Bharati Institute of

The Indian Supreme Court yesterday ordered the government to implement an ambitious project to link the major rivers of the region in a “time-bound manner”.

The AP government is in principle against interlinking peninsular rivers as it fears that it might lose its quota of “assured waters” to other states and would have to depend on “unpredictable” surplus waters from others. The state is, however, working towards linking rivers flowing within AP.

Major irrigation minister P. Sudarshen Reddy said on Monday following the Supreme Court ordering interlinking of rivers: “We’ve already started projects like Polavaram and Dummugudem for linking major rivers such as Godavari, Krishna within the state to meet irrigation needs.

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner and appointed a high-powered committee for its planning and implementati

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner and appointed a high-powered committee for its planning and implementation.

Observing that the project has already been delayed resulting in an increase in its cost, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said the Centre and the concerned State governments should participate for its “effective” implementation “in a time-bound manner”.

There is no doubt that increased urbanisation and industrialisation have caused pollution of rivers in Andhra Pradesh. Studies conducted at various stations along the Godavari, Krishna, Pennar and Nagavali rivers by the Andhra Pradesh Pollu-tion Control Board show that increased human and industrial activity have compromised the health of the rivers and those who depend on them for sustenance.

New monitoring parameters were used in the study. Since there is a growing concern about pesticide residues and heavy metals in water sources, the Central Pollution Control Board directed the APPCB to collect samples of water in addition to the routine samples collected once a year, preferably in the month of April, to ascertain the presence of micro-pollutants,

The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is burning the midnight oil for speedy implementation of the river regulation zone (RRZ).

Environment minister Jayanti Natarajan admitted that the rules of the RRZ are in the process of being framed. She expects that once this notification is passed, a major hurdle to end the operations of land mafia grabbing thousand of acres of land along the Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Krishna , Cauvery and Godavari rivers (to name a few) will be halted.

The city’s drinking water distribution network consisting of Krishna, Manjira, Singur, Osmansagar and Himayatsagar and the proposed Godavari will be interlinked. Interlinking is crucial as water from any source can be diverted to areas facing shortage. For example, there were complaints of foul smelling water from Osmansagar and Himayatsagar two years back as the water level had reached dead storage levels. Krishna water was then diverted to the areas that were fed by these two reservoirs as they were interlinked.

CHENNAI: With a view to checking rain water from flowing into the sea and storing water received from Krishna River for the residents of Chennai and its surrounding areas, Chief Minister J Jayalali

It was pushed through at the Cabinet meeting