More than 110 of the 138 water blocks in Punjab have shown a steep fall in the water table, ringing the alarm bells.

Accelerating work on its ambitious 3,300-km-long dedicated freight corridors project, which is being constructed on the eastern and western flanks of the country at the cost of R90,000 crore, the railways has shortlisted two consortiums led by major Japanese infrastructure firms to develop a major portion of the western freight corridor stretch.

The final contract, for the construction of a 640-km-long route from Rewari to Palanpur at the cost of R6000 crore, will be awarded to the firm selected by the end of this month.

Industrial units in Punjab continue to discharge untreated effluents in open drains and water channels even though the state government has been campaigning for a greener Punjab.

The lackadaisical approach of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in taking stern action against the industrial units flouting the norms is one of the major reasons behind the non-compliance of the norms.

Confirming Punjab government's worst fears, a door-to-door survey of the health department — covering almost 98 per cent of the state's population — has found that the incidence of cancer is higher than national and international average.

When compared to World Health Organisartion's point of reference — 80 affected among a population of one lakh — Punjab's survey discovered that 90 in a population of one lakh were suffering from cancer.

The 266-km project is estimated to cost Rs. 20,000 crore

Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and the Centre have agreed to construct an access-controlled Delhi-Ludhiana Expressway at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,000 crore.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s proposal to revise the Delhi-Chandigarh Expressway to one connecting the national Capital with Ludhiana was ratified by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Delhi Public Works Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan at a meeting chaired by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways C.P. Joshi.

With the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) failing to keep a check on health institutes in Patiala, healthcare centres, nursing homes and hospitals have started dumping bio-medical waste in the

The Punjab Industries Department’s claim that it was set to rake in Rs 234 crore through the auction of 22 sand quarries across the state has turned out to be a pipedream. Having basked in the glory of raking in huge revenues for the state by auctioning its sand quarries with all environmental clearances, the department was in for a shock when just two successful bidders came forward to deposit the bid amount. The state thus received just Rs 11 crore.

Sources in the Industries Department informed The Tribune that they had received 50 per cent of the bid amount from just two successful bidders. While Rs 9 crore has been received from the highest bidder for Parchian Biharipur quarry in Ludhiana, Rs 2 crore has been received from the bidder for Gag Digara quarry in Jalandhar.

8 quarries fetch Rs 101 cr against reserve price of Rs 4.02 cr

High bidding may lead to higher sand, gravel rates. The first e-auction of sand mines, having environmental clearance in north India, today generated a lot of interest among mining contractors from across the region. The auction was held for eight quarries — three each in Jalandhar and Kapurthala and one each in Mohali and Ludhiana — spanning over 337 acres of land. Against the Punjab Government's reserve price of Rs 4.02 crore, the quarries fetched a record Rs 101.09 crore.

To keep a check on depleting underground water table in the state as well as in the city, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is mulling over supplying canal-based water to city residents.

The first global vaccine for the prevention of dengue, the outbreak-prone fatal viral disease, is in the final stages of development.