The drinking water situation in Chennai is comfortable and the city will not face any water shortage even during peak summer, Secretary to Public Works Department S. Audiseshiah said here on Saturday.

Nine more towns in Rajasthan have been selected for creating sewerage infrastructure under the Urban Infrastructure Development of Small and Medium Towns (UIDSMT) programme of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). A grand total of Rs.389 crore has been sanctioned for the projects which are likely to get going from this coming July in a fast track mode.

A board meeting of the World Bank held yesterday approved a grant assistance of US$ 127 million (Rs 8.26 billion) to Nepal to support the ongoing peace process, expand primary health services in rural areas and improve rural water supply and sanitation.

Four Chinese companies have bid for construction of the 26.5 kilometer diversion tunnel of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. The companies vying for the project are China International Water and Electric Corp (CWE), China Overseas Engineering Company, Trans Tech Engineering China and China Railway 15 Bureau, said senior officials at the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board. "We expect that the bidding process will be completed by mid-July," said Purna Kadariya, Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works at a press meet held here Wednesday.

The Union Government is initiating steps to minimise Arunachal Pradesh's present 50 per cent share to 10 per cent in the centrally sponsored drinking water supply schemes.

A growing international water crisis is forcing governments to rethink how they value and use and manage water, especially because economic development hinges on water availability. Freshwater resources Drinking water supplies, agriculture, energy production and generation, mining and industry all require large quantities of water. In the future, these sectors will be competing for increasingly limited freshwater resources, making water supply availability a major economic driver in the 21st century.

Provincial minister without portfolio, Syed Ali Mardan Shah, has blamed vested interests and corrupt officials of Irrigation Department for

Delhi chief min ister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday said that the city requires more water due to the large number of influx of migrants from different states. She said that it is the right of the city to get its due share of water as decided by the Central government from the neighbouring states. The chief minister was replying to the allegation of the Union water resources minister Saifuddin Soz that the city has been wasting water during a function to launch the estamping for the registration of properties.

Though successive Governments at the Centre and in the State have adopted several ambitious schemes like Sajaldhara to supply safe drinking water to people, due to the alleged indifference and lack of proper follow-up action of the Government, there has been no desired results. The Government observed 2003 as the year of safe drinking water. But it is a matter of great regret that even after five years, the objectives of the scheme have been relegated to the background as is evident from the dismal water supply schemes in several parts of Barpeta district.

Residents of Palaskata, Makdem, Kajumal, Nandran, Kasavalim, Satpal and Gawaliwada have complained of acute water shortage since March, after the Water Supply department disconnected public taps in many parts of Mollem. "At present, there is about 10 to 12 thousand litres of water shortage per day in the area,' Mollem panch Mr Shahu told Herald. Most of the residents are without water connections and are dependent on public taps. The water supply department has arranged to supply water through tankers, said sources.