Think India Foundation

Civic woes: Huda to set up 300 mobile toilets

Gurgaon : The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has struck a deal with a private agency to set up around 300 mobile toilets at various locations across the city. The Huda will provide water supply and maintenance for these toilets. The waste will be disposed off in the master drain. At Iffco Chowk, four such toilets have been set up on trial basis. 

“I was satisfied with the operation of the mobile toilets and the most important that the people in good number were seen using these toilets. So I think the 300 mobile toilets would help the city in eradicating this nuisance,” said the administrator, adding that he may allow the firm to install minimum 1000 such public toilets. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Now, an ''App'' to locate where to Pee!

New Delhi : Six teams of IT experts and professors supported by the Water and Sanitation Program presented mobile applications or ‘Apps’ that can help support consumers and governments surmounting the water and sanitation problems in India. The event took place at Vigyan Bhawan on Tuesday.

The prototypes were presented to private firms such as Nokia, Vodafone and Accenture. Read more

Source : expressindia.com

Investment in drinking water, sanitation as important as investment in defence: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: In the upcoming budget to be presented on the March 16, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation may see a hike in allocation that could be anything between 40 to 60 per cent, which means that the allocation could go up from approximately Rs 9500 crore to at least Rs 14,000 crore.

Speaking at the 2nd meeting of National Drinking Water and Sanitation Council, the minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh said, "We must feel that investment in water supply and sanitation is a matter of urgent priority. It is as important as investing in defence. We can invest in missiles, aircrafts and tanks but if we don't have clean drinking water and sanitation, the population is not going to be healthy... We are becoming a wealthy population but not a healthy one." Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Indian minister 'shocked' CO2 emissions cuts seen as U.N. goal

NEW DELHI (AlertNet Climate) - India's rural development minister has slammed a United Nations report which includes reducing C02 emissions as a development target agreed by poor countries, saying it was a "mistake" and that the international body was "sending the wrong signal".

In this 2010 file photo, India's former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gestures during a news conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister, was India's voice - echoing that of many developing nations - in refusing to commit to legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions in international climate change negotiations. Read more

Source : trust.org

In Asia-Pacific, health poses challenge to 2015 goals

DELHI — Sixty percent of the world’s population lives in the Asia-Pacific, which makes its performance critical to achieving the global Millennium Development Goals by 2015.  It stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kirabati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south. 

The latest assessment, however, indicates that the region is performing poorly on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. In 2010, over 3 million children died before their fifth birthday. Read more

Source : smartplanet.com

‘85% wells contaminated in Kochi’

Kochi : Despite the high quality of life indices, acclaimed sanitation facilities and public health consciousness, nearly 85 per cent of wells in the state is contaminated by E.coli bacteria.

The Pampa is the most polluted river in the state, according to studies by Centre for Water Resources Development and Management. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Tribal woman risks marriage for sake of toilet, gets award

Bhopal/Betul : A tribal woman from Madhya Pradesh's Betul district, who ran away from her husband's house barely two days after her marriage over lack of sanitary facilities, has become a brand ambassador for a cleanliness drive.

Anita Narre's insistence on having a toilet at her in-law's place not only compelled her husband to take up the issue with the panchayat at his native in Jheetudhana in Betul district but also made Sulabh International adopt Anita's village for its "Total Cleanliness Drive". Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Flush with money, they clog the drains

BWSSB officials say sanitary napkins and human hair from posh highrises are choking the drainage network, already groaning under the weight of a burgeoning population

With the increased number of calls to the sanitation control room, BWSSB’s 74 jetting machines are just not enough

In IT city, optic fibre cables vie for space with sewerage and the winners are... sanitary napkins and human hair. 

Blocked drains and sewerage lines have always been associated with the urban poor and slum areas where people are said to lack sanitation awareness. Not anymore. It’s the educated class and high net worth residents living in posh homes who are to blame. Read more

Source : bangaloremirror.com

Centre asks state to provide more public lavatories for women

BHUBANESWAR: The building bylaw in Odisha is set to undergo certain modification, keeping the "comfort" of women in mind. Taking strong note of inadequate toilets for women in public buildings and at workplace, the Union urban development department has asked the Odisha government to modify the existing building norms and make way for more number of lavatories for the fair sex.

In a letter to the state housing and urban development department on January 31, the town and country planning organization (TCPO) under Union urban development department has described the present scenario, involving availability of toilet facilities for women, as a "matter of concern". "There is a huge gap between what is available as essential toilet facilities and what is desirable," TCPO's chief planner mentioned in the letter. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Civic bodies not worried with ‘bulging’ waste

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Municipal Corporation's (JMC) 12th general body meeting on Monday witnessed Independent councillor Haji Nawab Ali throwing garbage on the sanitation committee chairman, BJP's Roshan Saini. It seems that the civic body that has the responsibility of keeping the city clean is least interested in solid waste management. 

The population of 3.5 million people in Jaipur produces 1,100 metric tonnes of solid waste every day but only 85 per cent of it gets dumped, leaving the rest inside the premises of the city. JMC has placed a total of 1,794 dustbins. But the bins have been placed only in 41 wards out of total 77 wards. In the rest 36 wards there are open depots where there is no garbage container. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India woman leaves home for lack of toilet

A newlywed woman in a village in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has won her struggle to have a toilet at her husband's home.

Anita Narre refused to go to her husband's home until he built a toilet

Anita Narre left husband Shivram's home two days after her marriage in May last year because the house had no toilet.

She returned eight days later after Shivram, a daily wage worker, built one with savings and aid from villagers. Read more

Source : bbc.co.uk

Thiruvananthapuram Corporation seeks police escort

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : For transporting clay for landfill work

Garbage piled up in the East Fort area in Thiruvananthapuram city. Photo: S. Gopakumar

As part of resuming work on the sanitary landfill inside the Vilappilsala solid waste treatment plant, the City Corporation has requested the Police Department to provide escort for transporting the clay required for lining the various layers of the landfill.

According to officials, around 300 loads of clay will be required for layering the landfill which is being constructed to dispose of the garbage rejects that have accumulated inside the plant over the years. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Housing conundrum: FICCI report on urban infrastructure reveals uncomfortable truths

In 2001, about 286 million persons were living in urban areas of India and it was the second largest urban population in the world. According to the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, the urban population in India over the next 25 years is expected to grow 38 per cent and become 534 million in 2026. Furthermore, as per the Census of India, 2001, 640 cities/towns in 26 States/Union territories have reported slum populations. 

Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of towns (77) reporting slums followed by Uttar Pradesh (69), Tamil Nadu (63) and Maharashtra (61). As many as 42.6 million people lived in slums in 2001. This constitutes 15 percent of the total urban population of the country and 22.6 percent of the urban population of the states/union territories reporting slums. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Govt to provide all facilities to Kashmiri migrants at Jagti

Jammu (Scoop News) – Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has said that the Government would provided all facilities to Kashmiri migrants at Jagti like road connectivity, regular power supply, safe drinking water, healthcare, sanitation, education besides sports infrastructure.

This was stated by the Minister while interacting with Kashmiri migrants after assessing their development related problems during his tour to Jagti Migrant Township, here today. Read more

Source : groundreport.com

Northern region on bird flu alert

Three days after 37,000 pure-bred birds were culled at the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) of the country’s eastern region in Odisha, its northern counterpart is on high alert. The parent stock of poultry birds developed after 15-20 years of research at two prominent research centres of Odisha, CPDO and Orissa University of Agriculture Technology, were eliminated this week in a massive culling operation following detection of bird flu virus in villages of Khurda district.

The northern CPDO located in Chandigarh, which has developed pure line stock of 39,000 birds over 40 years of research has pressed the panic button and sought help from Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh Administration to keep the virus at bay. Catering to eight states and the union territory of Chandigarh in supply of parent stock - it was the first to introduce broilers and is the biggest breeder for quails and is also breeding exotic species such as emus, guinea fowls and turkeys - has started a biosafety drive right from its doorstep. It has restricted entry of vehicles into the farm, created an alternative route for trucks carrying bird feed and uses a sanitising spray on tyres of vehicles parked near its premises. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

Improper urban planning in Northeast

Kohima : Airing concern over the improper urban planning in the north eastern states, the need to adopt a comprehensive strategy and road map for securing a holistic development and reformation of urban areas has been stressed here today at the regional workshop on “Urban Governance, Management and Municipal Finance” for the north eastern states.

Chief Secretary Lalthara told the workshop that the vulnerability of earthquake is very high in North East. Lalthara said most of towns/cities in North East are in congestion coupled with water, sanitation and drainage problem, adding that it is very difficult to rectify now as proper urban planning was not taken into account. Read more

Source : morungexpress.com

SPM secondary school wins prize in state-level competition in Pune

PUNE: City-based SPM secondary school won the second prize in the state level 'Eco folks drama competition', jointly hosted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and Renuka theatres, recently at the Balgandharv Rangamandir. The inter-school drama competition was for students of std V and VI. SPM students enacted a drama titled 'Soyare', which depicted how the earth has lost its forests and greenery due to pollution and urbanisation.

Sharda Vidyalaya participates in sanitation programme

Sharda Vidyalaya recently received the certificate of participation from the Ecosan Services Foundation (ESS) under their SusanEx11 programme. The objective of the programme is to bring a change in the sanitation habits of society. As children are the agents of change, the programme is executed in schools. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Slum-free India our mission

TIRUPATI: Union minister of culture, housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja said the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is committed to making the country slum-free. She visited Gandhipuram slum here on Sunday and interacted with the locals, who complained to her about their grievances.

After inspecting the poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water and poorly maintained drainage lines, the Union minister expressed shock and was unhappy with the civic officials. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

E-toilets opened at Ernakulam Childrens Park

KOCHI: District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth on Saturday inaugurated the e-toilets installed at Ernakulam Children’s Park as part of the Clean City movement initiated by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (CREDAI) in association with Muthoot M George Group.

The e-toilets are constructed on the model of those successfully installed at Kakkanad, with special facilities for women and disabled people. The toilets also have a sewage treatment unit attached to it. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Clean up and save water, says expert

BANGALORE: Wastewater treatment expert Glen T Daigger is president of the International Water Association (IWA), a global network of 10,000 water professionals who research all facets of the water cycle. Headquartered in London, IWA supports a series of strategic programmes designed to engage members on subjects critical to the water sector's wider development. TOI spoke to him on areas of concern for India, mitigation measures and the global water crisis. Excerpts:

What are the prime areas of concern in countries like India? In developed countries like Europe, the average lifespan of people went up significantly once the problem of sanitation was addressed. In developing countries too, emphasis should be on efficient sanitation system to reap economic benefits in the long run. With the global climate rapidly changing, it is getting difficult for countries to tackle long periods of drought and intense rain spells. Proper infrastructure needs to be in place too, to deal with the global water crisis. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

PMC bid to better sanitation in Patna city

PATNA: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has readied an integrated project to process and dispose of solid waste.

"We will invite private parties for door-to-door collection of garbage," PMC commissioner Pankaj K Pal told TOI on Thursday. Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (BUIDCo) is preparing the tender. "It will be floated by February 15," said BUIDCo's MD Anupam Kumar Suman. Read more

Source  : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Nehru Place traders want squatters out, shut down

New Delhi: The shopkeepers at Nehru Place - India's biggest computer goods market - partially closed down services on Wednesday to protest against unregulated vendors, encroachments and lack of cleanliness in the area.

The shops were shut between 10am and 12am and shopkeepers shouted slogans against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the civic agency responsible to maintain the infrastructure and sanitation in the market. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Bangalore Water Summit brainstorms on sustenance

Bangalore (IBNS): The Bangalore World Water Summit, which is being held between the Feb 1- 3 in the city, witnessed a good turn out of audience which included a mix of researchers, technicians, policy makers, solution providers, consultants and industry bodies on its first day.

Speaking at the summit on the issues in water management in an urbanizing world, Dr Glen T Daigger, President, International Water Association said," We have enough water to sustain ourselves however, water management is the key. Read more

Source : indiablooms.com

Vijayawada to be free of Malaria by 2014

VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has declared a war against malaria, one of the major communicable diseases affecting the mankind. With an aim to eradicate malaria completely from the city by 2014, the VMC has embarked on a mission, in association with Cinergy Company, a Mumbai-based nonprofit organisation.

For the effective implementation of the mission, the VMC has decided to seek the help of NGOs and citizens of the city. Vijayawada with a population of 11 lakh, has 111 slums. Many of the slums are on the banks of Bandar Canal, Eluru Canal and Ryves Canal and on hill slopes. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Affordable Southern remedies for better health

When can a baby girl born in Madhya Pradesh expect to live as long and healthy as a baby girl born in Kerala, overcoming the six-fold higher risk of dying before her first birthday? When will a rural Indian have the same level of satisfaction about the healthcare he or she receives, as a foreign medical tourist featured in the brochures of corporate hospitals? Will the 40 million Indians, who are annually pushed into poverty because of unaffordable healthcare costs, be relieved of the crushing burden of catastrophic health expenditures in a country where private, out-of-pocket spending accounts for 71 per cent of all health financing?

Kerala and Tamil Nadu can teach the rest of the country about good health at low cost.

While the Indian media is currently concerned over the fluctuating growth rates of the economy, it is the health indicators which should cause considerable concern. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

22 States to miss universal household sanitation target of 2012

As India celebrates its status as a Republic, open defecation by a vast majority of its people is still a harsh reality, affecting the dignity of women and girls the most.

Taking a serious view of the problem, the Government had set a target of universal household sanitation coverage by 2012 when it launched its flagship Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in 1991. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

India must be cautious over polio milestone: WHO

NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - India may be celebrating a milestone in its fight against polio with no new cases in the last year, but complacency should not set in as a resurgence of the infection can occur if efforts are not sustained, the WHO head in India warned on Friday.

A polio affected man returns after taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganges river and the Bay of Bengal at Sagar Island, south of Kolkata, January 13, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

The last case of the crippling disease was detected on January 13, 2011 in a two-year-old girl in India's West Bengal state. A full year without any new cases will mean India will no longer be "polio-endemic," leaving only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. Read more

Source : reuters.com

Water, water, everywhere

But many Indians still struggle to drink it clean 

Post-independent India is running its 65th year. This is equal to the average span of a person’s life. Tragically, it has taken this long for the Union Government, constituted by the Congress and its allies, to promise the right to clean drinking water and sanitation in a draft National Water Policy, prepared by the Union Ministry of Water Resources.

As the party that has governed the country the longest — roughly 46-47 years — it owes us an explanation on why it failed to provide clean water and sanitation as a basic right to millions of people in the country, and why has it taken so many decades to address these vital issues. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Asia to contribute more than half in gas emissions

Islamabad—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) revelled that Asian cities were likely to contribute more than half the rise in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 years. 

According to The Asian Development Bank data most Asian cities do not have effective wastewater treatment systems - only 10 per cent ofwastewater is treated in the Philippines while in Indonesia it is 14 per cent Viet Nam 4 and India 9 per cent. Read more

Source : pakobserver.net

Efforts on to improve Pune city’s sanitation rating

PUNE: Open defecation is one of the reasons why Pune has been rated 'black' on sanitation front by the Union urban development ministry. As per the guidelines of the Union government's National Urban Sanitation Policy 2012, the city needs to be free from open defecation by December 31. 

The Pune Municipal Corporation has identified 103 open defecation spots in the city recently. A third-party evaluation of public, community as well as pay-and-use toilets, currently underway across the city, will help assess the sanitation facilities impartially and facilitate a plan to improve conditions. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Experts discuss urban poverty

PATNA: Bihar urban development minister Prem Kumar has said the government is on the job to address the issue of urban poverty in the state.

Speaking at a UGC-sponsored national seminar on "Urban poverty: issues and challenges" at Patna Women's College on Tuesday, Kumar said the state government has approved Bihar State Slum Policy-2011 which would help it ensure empowerment of the urban poor. It would also address the issues concerning housing, water supply, sewerage and toilets for the poor. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

Get down into sewerage pits, Karnataka HC tells drainage board chiefs

Bangalore : ‘Experience the plight of manual scavengers’

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday gave a dressing down to the chairpersons of Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board on their failure to implement its orders to prevent manual scavenging in the State.

“Let the officials and chairmen get down into the sewerage pits and experience the plight themselves. We will forget contempt proceedings against them,” Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen remarked during the hearing of petition by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Tamil Nadu to get 1.8 lakh housing units in the next five years

1.43 lakh units for economically weaker sections: R.Vaithilingam

One of the stalls at the exhibition at Municipalika that got under way on Monday in Chennai. Photo: S.S.Kumar.

The State will get an additional 1.85 lakh housing units in the next five years at a cost of Rs.17,230 crore. Of these, 1.43 lakh units would be for the economically weaker sections, R.Vaithilingam, Minister for Housing and Urban Development said on Monday.

Speaking at the inauguration of Municipalika, ‘10 international conference and exhibition on good urban governance for safe, healthy, green, inclusive and smart cities', he said 39,000 units were for other income groups divided into low, medium and high. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Ramesh calls govt stand on sanitation ‘half-hearted’

New Delhi : Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh has called the government's approach to sanitation as half hearted and budget allocations a mere token.

In a strongly worded letter to planning commission deputy chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the minister, who is also incharge of drinking water and sanitation, questioned the panel's 'insufficient fund recommendations' vis a vis the pitiable status in the country. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Virus in check, claim Thiruvananthapuram zoo authorities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The canine distemper virus, which killed eight jackals and two hyenas in the city zoo, has not affected other animals. The sanitation methods carried out in the zoo have prevented the spread of the virus, claim zoo authorities.

The airborne disease, commonly found in stray dogs, was first reported in jackals. Four jackals died of virus infection, while four were subjected to euthanasia. No jackals or hyenas remain in the city zoo now. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

New city to reclaim old Patna

Having officially stepped on the road to Bihar’s development, architect Hafeez Contractor feels Patna can join the league of the most beautiful cities across the globe through meticulous planning

Architect Hafeez Contractor

Rating the Bihar capital as a tier-III city in the country at present with “poor” development, architect Hafeez Contractor sketched a bright future for the riverside city with a meticulous planning mantra. Read more

Source : telegraphindia.com

‘1K kids below the age of 5 die daily in India’

PATNA: Around 1,000 children below the age of five die every day in India from diarrhoea, hepatitis-causing pathogens and other sanitation-related diseases, according to the report of United Nations Children's Fund. 

Sanitary conditions at school heavily influence school attendance, especially by girls. Lack of facilities or unhygienic conditions not only prevent children from participating in school, but also negatively affect their concentration and ability to learn, said Chandra Mohan Rai, minister, public health engineering department (PHED), on Friday. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

PC will issue smart cards

Union home minister P. Chidambaram is expected to issue resident identity smart cards to some residents in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during his two-day visit to the Union Territory beginning Saturday.

The issuance of the identity cards is part of the project started by the MHA to provide smart cards to the 1.2 crore population living in 3,331 coastal villages in nine maritime states and the Union Territories.It is being implemented by the registrar-general of India on behalf of the MHA. Read more

Source : asianage.com

Notice to be served on land owners in Vijayawada

The municipal commissioner, Mr G. Ravi Babu, on Wednesday asked the public health officials to serve notices to the owners of lands which became breeding ground for the mosquitoes in Ajit Singh Nagar area.

He said the owners of the open lands are not raising the level to check water stagnation. He asked the officials to serve notices on the land owners to immediately raise the level and prevent water stagnation in Doctors Colony, Visal-andhra Colony and Ajit Singh Nagar. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Far too many marathon sprinters, far too few loos

Mumbai : Runners standing on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and relieving themselves in the Mahim creek below was hardly a sight that organisers of Mumbai Marathon may have expected to see.

Driven to the edge due to the total lack of toilets at the starting point in Bandra, hundreds of half-marathon runners thought little about standing on the sea link and answering nature’s call in full public view at the crack of dawn. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

DLF City residents’ small step is a giant green stride

Gurgaon : Amid a rapidly depleting water table, residents have found a way to keep the city clean and green. Instead of using potable water to irrigate green belts, the DLF City Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) is all set to use treated sewage water for the purpose.

The civic administration used to irrigate parks with the water supplied by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) so far. But now, the RWA has hired a tanker to collect water from the sewerage treatment plant in DLF City Phase 5 to irrigate green belts in all five phases. In total, DLF City has about 70 parks. The whole initiative would cost about Rs 50,000 a month for the RWA. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

How India went from 741 cases to zero in just two years

CHENNAI : “Only one third of the journey has been completed”

The last case of wild polio virus reported in India was exactly one year ago, on January 13, when stool samples showed that 18-month-old Rukhsar Khatoon in West Bengal had polio. She has since recovered, but it is the progress of whittling down from the largest number of cases in the world to zero that is fascinating to public health experts globally.

Clearly, the nation had to overcome tremendous challenges to get here – not least of them, a huge population, the logistics of covering a vast geographical area, poor sanitation and infrastructure, resistance among some groups of people to taking the vaccine, and children of migrant communities who were difficult to cover. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Phokhungri area students asked to conserve Pochury land

DIMAPUR : The 8th general conference of Phokhungri Area College Students Union (PACSU) was held at Sütsü village of Phek district from January 6-8 on the theme “Elevating the status” with Neihu C. Thur, IAS, secretary to the government of Nagaland, urban development as the chief guest.

Thur reminded the students that the Pochury land covered 50% of Phek district and asked them to protect, care, conserve and preserve their land environmentally and ecologically. Read more

Source : nagalandpost.com

Court notice to Centre, Madhya Pradesh on Indore city's civic woes

INDORE: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, state and eight others on a PIL about various issues of the city that include the poor hygienic condition and management of waste. The court directed the parties concerned to submit their replies within six weeks.

The petitioner, Kishore Kodwani, who is the convener of an NGO Vikas Mitra Drishti 2050, in his petition alleged that the sanitation and hygiene in the city were in a bad shape. He claimed that the Indore Municipal Corporation failed to ensure proper management of drinking water and also the ADB-funded sewerage management project in city is also been delayed. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Panel on infra funding to assess bottlenecks today

New Delhi: A high-level committee is set to meet on Tuesday to assess the bottlenecks likely to impede fund flows in ten key areas of the infrastructure sector during the Twelfth Plan period (2012-17).

Headed by former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, Rakesh Mohan, the committee would ascertain the extent of foreign and domestic fund flows in the projects in these sectors — electricity, roads and bridges, telecom, railways, irrigation, water supply and sanitation, ports, airports, storage and oil and gas. “The committee would make recommendations on the role that the government could play in developing the capital markets for intermediating long-term savings for investments in infrastructure projects. It will identify areas and activities to be financed by the government, PSUs and the private sector,” Rakesh Mohan told The Indian Express. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

India Marks a Milestone for Child Health

Four years ago, I visited India and saw again what polio does to children. I was in a slum in East Delhi, when I met a 9-month-old girl named Hashmin -- paralyzed by polio -- cradled in her mother's arms. She will never be able to do many of the normal things kids do because she has polio. Watching her was the strongest of reminders of the imperative of ending this terrible scourge once and for all.

The following year, in 2009, India had more polio cases than any other country in the world. But much has changed since then, and this Friday will mark a full year since the last case of wild poliovirus was detected in India. This is a huge milestone in the history of global health. Read more

Source : huffingtonpost.com

Kind of smooth in Nagpur

With 13 wards, the Hanuman Nagar Zone which comprises of many old localities and slums faced a major water shortage problem due to the old water pipeline distribution network. However, with the new water pipeline network spread under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) all over the 13 wards and after the inauguration of the 240 MLD (million litres per day) capacity water treatment plant (WTP) at Kanhan, the water woes of scarcity hit south Nagpur (Hanuman Nagar Zone) localities evaporated. With this, the long-pending requirement of regular and adequate water supply throughout the year, especially in the south Nagpur has been met.

Zone chairman Kailash Chute informed that Hanuman Nagar Zone's six BJP and five Congress corporators unitedly raised the water shortage issue for five years. Finally, their efforts bore fruit as all the wards have started getting adequate water supply. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Now, zinc tablets in ORT for kids suffering from diarrhoea

LUCKNOW: Five years after being approved by the Union health ministry's child health division, the state government health facilities will include zinc tablets as a part of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for kids suffering from diarrhoea. Till now, oral rehydration solution (ORS) was a part of ORT. "The ORT has now assumed the shape of a kit which will contain two packets of ORS and 14 tablets of zinc to be given to the unwell child," said Dr Ashok Mishra, chief medical officer, Lucknow, which is one of the eight selected districts where ORT kits will be available .

The health officials claim that the facility will be extended to other districts from 2012 financial year. The World Health Organisation (WHO) was the first to prescribe use of zinc with ORS. The WHO had cited that zinc along with ORS reduces the duration of diarrhoea episode by up to 25 %, besides checking loss of water from the body by causing 30% reduction in stool volume. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

City no heaven: Karnataka Governor

After refusing to toe the BJP government’s line on the appointment of the Lokayukta, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Friday directed his energy to criticising the government for its lack of vision and poor governance which has severely affected the state’s capital – Bengaluru – in the recent past.

Unscientific constructions and rapid urbanization has changed the face of Bengaluru—once considered a people’s paradise— for the worse, he said. Speaking at the 60th National Town and Country Planners Congress on “Planning and Development, 2025: Challenges and Reforms”, Mr Bhardwaj singled out the capital and expressed dismay over the fact that statutory bodies like Bengaluru Develop-ment Authority (BDA) have failed to check unplanned urbanisation. The result: All water bodies have been encroached upon by builders, sanitation facilities have been damaged beyond repair while the roads are in a permanently dug-up state. There is a deficit in governance, he remarked. “A former IAS officer submitted a report to me on how builders have encroached on water bodies in Bengaluru. I told the chief secretary about this. The government should check illegal builders and regulate construction activity”, he said. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Lack of railway loos hits women hard

MUMBAI: The suburban rail network-the lifeline of the city-signifies gender discrimination in urban planning which even disregards the basic sanitary needs of women commuters . Statistics show that of the 1,443 toilets and urinals at stations on the suburban network, only 259 are for women commuters. 

Nearly 6.3 million passenger travel daily on the suburban network. The number of commuters also keep increasing every year by 3% on WR and CR and 10% on the Harbour line. It is estimated that nearly 15-20 % of all commuters are women. Despite this, the railways have failed to provide toilets and urinals for them. The statistics show that of the total number of toilet/urinals in suburban stations , only 17% were for women. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com