Congressmen of Kolar Road under the leadership of Rahul Singh Rathore on Thursday staged massive demonstration against prevailing water crisis in the entire area. A signature campaign was also carried out on the occasion. Indulging in Gandhigiri, the demonstrators presented water pouch and rose to the passersby and urged them to pray to God for water. They have also requested them to give the water pouch and rose to any BJP leader they meet on their way so that as to embarrass them.

Water crisis has turned acute in the Rajshahi city due to frequent power outages and sharp decline in the groundwater level, causing immense sufferings to the city residents. The Rahjshahi City Corporation is now producing only 106 lakh gallons of water against the demand for 226 lakh gallons, according to corporation sources. Due to frequent load shedding and voltage fluctuation, the corporation cannot operate all its 46 pumps at a time to lift water for supply in the city areas.

Poor planning, mismanagement and vested interest are major factors behind prevailing water crisis in Thatta district, this correspondent has learnt after gathering information from relevant quarters. Thatta and surrounding Katchi Abadis have a population of over 70,000 which are being supplied water through 13 average size water reservoirs under the supervision of the taluka nazim. Experts believed that if once these reservoirs were filled to full capacity water would be sufficient for at least 15 days for the population.

Accra, Apr 22 Climate change in Africa could leave 250 million more people short of water by 2020, spurring conflicts and threatening stability on the world's poorest continent, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner said on Tuesday. Rajendra K Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations panel of climate experts who shared the prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore last year, said the responsibility lay with wealthy developed nations to curb their carbon emissions.

The BMC has decided to put its foot down in the issue between Mumbai and Thane over water supply. At a meeting between the two municipal corporations and state Water Supply and Sanitation department on Wednesday, the BMC officials will state that that using Mumbai's conveyance system for supplying 100 million litres a day (mld) of water from Bhatsa dam to Thane will result in the city reeling under a water shortage.

Dirty and unsafe water is being supplied to citizens of Kurnool city. But the municipal authorities are content with an explanation for the reason without taking any measures for the purification of stagnant tank water. Despite opposition corporators raising the issue and expressing concern at the authorities over supply of poor quality water in the recent council meeting, the authorities merely told members that the reason lay in the lower levels of the supply water tank but gave no assurance of addressing the problem.

Had the Gujarat State Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GSWSSB) repaired this leak, some 5,000 people in Surendranagar would have been going thirsty. Living on the outskirts of the town, it is a routine for women of this middle-class locality of Khann to spend hours standing by the leaking pipeline. And fights are common too. The pipeline supplies water from Dholi Dhaja dam to surrounding villages. If there was no leak, people here would have had to drink extremely brackish water from hand pumps.

A water supply programme to provide fresh drinking water for residents in Batticaloa district has been expedited. Under this programme, the Unnichchai drinking water programme has been given priority, Water Supply and Drainage Board, Batticaloa Engineer D.A. Pragash said. This programme is implemented under the patronage of the Asian Development Bank.

Cyprus, facing its worst drought in a decade, will start importing water from Greece within the next two months, Agriculture Minister Michalis Polinikis said on Monday. Reservoirs are dangerously low and the crisis has forced emergency water rationing and sped up plans by Cyprus to desalinate more seawater. Its two desalination plants are already running at full capacity. "We are looking at many options to find conclusive solutions to this issue," Polinikis told reporters.

Numerous localities in the city including Desi Mehamandari, Rajpura Colony and Factory Area have been facing an acute shortage of water for the last couple of weeks. Even though municipal corporation officials have been informed about the menace, they have apparently not seen it fit to ensure round-the-clock water supply. "On normal days water is supplied twice during the day