Mumbai: The BMC and not the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), will undertake the next water supply project for the city.

The city will receive 865 million litres daily (mld) once the project is completed, which is expected in a decade.
The MMRDA had announced in 2010 that it would develop the Rs 8,500-crore Pinjal water supply project at its cost. The state irrigation department had even granted in-principle approval for the project. But the MMRDA recently informed the department that it was no longer interested in taking up the project as it has been able to tap water from other sources for the metropolitan region.

Thane: With a water-scarcity situation in 93 villages and 183 hamlets in Thane district, especially the tribal pockets, the district administration has planned a string of initiatives to rejuvenate the old wells and other water sources here.

Thane district guardian minister Ganesh Naik held a meeting of all elected representatives and officials on Tuesday to put in place a plan of action to ensure that not a single village remains parched. Instructions were issued to all officials of the zilla parishad and the district collectorate that providing drinking water was the administration’s first priority and trucks should be requisitioned to facilitate water from tankers into the hilly and remote tribal terrain of Thane district.

A proposed 12-km detour of the new Dedicated Freight Corridor passing through the ecologically fragile taluka of Dahanu in Thane district has raised protests from local farmers, including tribals,

Extensive experimental research has been devoted to the study of behaviour related to public goods, common-pool resources and other social dilemmas. In a majority of these studies, it is found that subjects tend to cooperate if they are allowed to communicate and make their own rules of use. In the context of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, a number of questions are being raised at public forums. Are communities capable of managing a valuable resource like a forest? Will transfer of authority not result in large-scale deforestation?

Mumbai: Mangroves in the city are in peril. Green cover in Mahul, Chembur has come under threat after toxins were dumped there last week.

The incident was reported behind a Slum Rehabilitation Authority building (SRA) in Mahul where trucks have reportedly been discarding oil residue on the mangroves. Locals said that the activity has been going on since the last one week. The matter was reported to the forest department and the mangrove cell has already inspected the area and taken samples. However, those dumping the deposits remain unidentified.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will launch a new child health screening and early intervention service at Palghar in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Wednesday.

The initiative, titled Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, under the aegis of the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), aims to provide a comprehensive healthcare package for all children up to 18 years of age. The programme will soon be extended to cover all districts of the country in a phased manner. This ambitious scheme, when implemented, is expected to benefit over 27 crore children.

As many as 47 sand mining spots in the two creeks and four rivers of Thane district have been identified to analyse the environment impact of sand dredging operations and guide the authorities to a

In India, with the introduction of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) from 2005 to 2006, utilization of healthcare services at the peripheral level has improved. This study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating knowledge, attitudes and practices of ASHA workers in relation to child health.

Palghar in this tribal-dominated district is fast emerging as a hub of highly-polluted industries categorised as "red" by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, according to a report.

Painting a bleak picture, a recent report of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) mentions that out of 7418 classified industries in the district, 2384 or 32 per cent fall in the Red zone, while Palghar accounts for 754 such industrial units.

A Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has stated that the state government project to build a dam on river Kalu in Thane district should be scrapped.

Pages