Netsol Water Solutions

BANGALORE: After house rent, it's now water rent. That's what desperate residents of Rajagopalnagar, Peenya second stage, pay their more fortunate neighbours to access drinking water. "Our borewell dried up five years ago and we don't get Cauvery water supply on this street. The house beside mine has a borewell which still yields good quantities of water. So we have a mutual agreement - we pay the owner Rs 150 per hour as rent to get drinking water from their well," said Choodamani Chikkegowda, homemaker and resident of 6th main Rajagopalnagar. This is nothing new here. A helpless Choodamani has been paying her neighbour for drinking water for about a year now. The house, which is not occupied by the owner, has been put to commercial use. The tenant, a hardware shop operator, refused to speak to TOI. The whole street depends on this borewell for drinking water. Another resident of the same area, Chandramma R pays Rs 2 per pot of drinking water from private tank

Govt approves 24x7 water supply project for Ludhiana

LUDHIANA: State government has embarked upon an ambitious plan of Rs400 crore on canal based water schemes to cater the need of 50 per cent of city in next two years as a pilot project. A decision to this effect was taken by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal during a high level meeting on Tuesday. Badal has asked the secretary, local government department, to chalk out the modalities for the project. He also approved the proposed Rs 200 crore water supply project of the local government department to ensure 100% water supply for Ludhiana in next two years. He further asked the department to prepare a detailed plan to utilize storm water for irrigation purpose. Expressing the dire need to conserve water and obtaining zero water waste, Badal called upon the industrialists for the optimum utilization of the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) treated water instead of wasting fresh water as the treated water was fully recommended for any other industrial use except drinking. The chief m

Maharashtra to release water to Bhima

HUBLI: Maharashtra is set to release 5 TMC water to all barrages built across Bhima river in border area of Indi taluk of Bijapur district from Ujani dam. People of around 60-70 villages of Indi and Sindhagi are reeling under severe water crisis after Bhima river dried up completely in the summer season. Bhima is the lifeline for the people of Indi and Sindhagi taluk of Bijapur district. As Bhima river flows into Indi and other parts of Bijapur and Gulbarga district from Maharastra, there is agreement between both Karnataka and Maharashtra to share the water equally. According to the agreement, Maharastra will release water from Ujani dam to fill the barrages built across Bhima river in Indi taluk. In a joint venture, both Karnataka and Maharashtra governments built about 8 barrages across Bhima river in the border area of Indi taluk. Each barrage is 4.5 metres in height and all barrages have a capacity to store 1.6 tmc water, said sources. Besides, Karnataka government had also b

KRS has no water to spare for Bangalore

BANGALORE: An acute water crisis looms over Bangalore city. For, not a drop of water will flow out of the Krishnarajasagar, the city's major source of water, towards Bangalore as the water level stood one feet below the dead storage level of 65 feet on Tuesday. Confirming this, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) said as on Tuesday it was receiving 110 MLD of water. BWSSB officials explained this was the water that had been released from the KRS two days back. They are unclear the same amount of water will reach the city on Tuesday. "The situation is grim and we are in constant touch with the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam to release enough water to KRS dam and further to our charging lines. We have also requested the irrigation department to compensate us with whatever amount," said T Venkataraju, engineer-in-chief, BWSSB. Though the crisis has been on the horizon for some time, the BWSSB has no contingency plan to mitigate the acute water scarcity staring

40% of water wasted daily in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: At least 40% of Hyderabad's precious water is wasted everyday and unless the age-old pipelines carrying water to the city homes are replaced immediately the shortage of water could spiral out of control, top water board officials said. Unbelievable as it may sound, upto 3 million gallons of water from Osmansagar reservoir gets poured out every day due to leakages in the old lines, installed way back in 1935. "Normally in any country 17% is the admissible rate of water loss. In Hyderabad, however, it is at 40%," Manohar Babu, director (operations), Water Board told TOI. At a time when thousands of Hyderabadis spend hours waiting in long queues with buckets in hand to get water or order tankers at high prices to meet their household needs, Water Board officials said big institutions and even hospitals pay little heed to leaking pipes, taps or reservoirs that cause loss of water. Many areas in the city are reeling under acute water shortage and the Water Board

Workshop to be held on efficient managment of water distribution

AURANGABAD: The Water and Land Management Institute, Aurangabad (WALMI), has organised a joint workshop for its engineers and Tamil Nadu executive engineers on 'Efficient management of water distribution through polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipeline' on Tuesday. "The aim is to create awareness about the innovative technique which is economical and very easy to operate," said assistant professor Pradeep Bhalge. "Around 40 engineers from across the state including Pune, Mumbai, Nasik, Kolhapur and Sangli are participating in the training session," said Bhalge. "Generally, 83% of stored water is used in irrigation sector. The water is released as per the availability and demand of the beneficiaries. In general open channel gravity flow, water distribution is used to supply irrigation water. The conveyance losses in these systems are significant and are increasing day by day. Poor maintenance is one of the major causes," explained Bhalge. He said, "

Water filtration plant at Satpur to be revamped

NASHIK: The mechanical department of the Nashik Munciipal Corporation (NMC) has proposed to revamp the water filtration plant at Satpur at an estimated cost of Rs 13.09 lakh. The plant has been operational for the last eight years and needs repair and maintenance at various levels. For the purpose, the mechanical department had prepared the proposal, which has been approved by the municipal commissioner. The proposal include repairing the building of phase II of the filtration plant, colouring it and constructing a compound wall for it, fitting mesh over the chambers, a pipeline for liquid alum and other important works. An engineer of the department said that the works related to buildings inside the filtration plant, cleaning up of water tanks, etc., will be done through a contractor by inviting tenders. "At present, there is only one pipeline for passing liquid alum for purifying water. If this pipeline gets chocked, then we will need to have another line as a standby as liq

Report on water release to Ujani dam today

PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) water supply department will submit a detailed report to municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi on Tuesday on the issue of release of water from Pavana dam to Ujani dam in the drought-hit Solapur district. This was after the state government had asked the PCMC to provide its opinion on the release of water to Ujani dam. M T Kamble, officiating city engineer and chief of PCMC water supply department, said, "The civic body received an e-mail last Friday from the state government to give its opinion to Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) on or before May 14 about the release of water from Pavana dam to Ujani dam." "A detailed report will be tabled before municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi tomorrow (Tuesday). He will take a final decision on the opinion, which will be forwarded to the state government," he said. The e-mail sent by the state government said that the Bombay high co

Three Chinese ships spotted in disputed islands waters: Japan

TOKYO: Three Chinese government ships remained in the waters off disputed Tokyo-controlled islands for nearly 12 hours on Monday, Japan's coastguard said, as a long-running row shows no sign of fading. Maritime surveillance vessels were spotted in the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea shortly after 9:00 am, the coastguard said. They left the zone shortly before 9:00 pm. It is the latest episode in a fraught few months which have seen repeated stand-offs between official ships from both sides as they jostle over ownership of the strategically-important and resource-rich islands. In a separate maritime incident in the East China Sea, a foreign submarine was spotted sailing underwater near Kume, one of Japan's Okinawan islands, from late Sunday to early Monday, the dfence ministry said. The submarine was thought to be Chinese, Japanese media said. It sailed close to 12-nautical-mile territorial waters off Kume,

Water bill anomalies abound in Sec 17: MC

CHANDIGARH: There are no exact records of water consumption in Sector 17 but an ongoing MC survey has found that many commercial buildings of the sector either have faulty meters or none at all. They get direct supply of potable water through main pipes. The situation in rented offices, shops and institutes is particularly bad. The survey found that even meter reading employees of the civic body authority have not been checking buildings properly. They have, in fact, been sending out readings on their own, leading to poor income generation against optimum supply. "This is shocking. I came to know that shops, offices and other commercial establishments in almost 50% of buildings in Sector 17 either have faulty meters or no meters and they are getting supply through main pipes. In many cases, current bills are being paid, but arrears worth lakhs have not been paid. I have already ordered disconnection of such connections and things are being done by the engineering wing of the MC&

Existing water cuts to continue in Nashik

NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Monday announced that there would be no further water cuts, however they civic administration will continue with the existing water cuts. The decision was taken by city mayor, Yatin Wagh after a review of the water storage in Gangapur dam, by the officials from the NMC's water department. The dam is the main source of drinking water for the city. The NMC has already enforced 15-20 % water cuts with water supply once a day across all six divisions of NMC since February 19. This was done with an aim to avoid any water crisis in the future. Mayor Yatin Wagh said, "The period of water reservation for the Gangapur dam is from October 15, 2012 to July 15, 2013. The NMC's reservation in the Gangapur dam for the period is 3,600 million cubic feet (mcft). As of May 13, we have used 2,500 mcft of water in the dam and our remaining reservation is now 1,100 mcft. Around 770 mcft will be used by July 15, while the rest of the 330 mcf

Dalit woman attacked for drawing water from handpump

MADHUBANI: A dalit woman was injured when a man attacked her with a sharp weapon today for drawing water from a handpump in a village in Bihar's Madhubani district, police said. Mantorami Devi(33) was attacked by Marhu Yadav who was infuriated with her for drawing water from a public handpump at Jhauwa village. The woman was injured in both her hands when she tried to fend him off, police said, adding she was rushed to the local primary health centre which referred her to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The attacker is absconding and raids are on to nab him, police said. Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Dalit-woman-attacked-for-drawing-water-from-handpump/articleshow/20035001.cms

'Save water': fan's social message for Madhuri's birthday

An ardent Madhuri Dixit fan, who has been celebrating the actress' birthday for two decades here, has launched a 'save water' campaign in this parched city ahead of the Bollywood diva's 46th birthday on May 15. A small chaat shop owner, Pappu Sardar, who starts his day with worshipping the portrait of Madhuri, has launched the campaign by putting up banners in the city including one before his shop at Sakchi and another in front of 'Cheshire Home', a home for differently abled women, at Sundernagar. The banners with Madhuri's photo appealed to the people to save water. The 42-year-old Pappu said he would distribute around 5000 cards with 'save water' message among the people to motivate them to save water. "We have failed to check corruption but can save water unitedly considering it as nectar," Pappu said. Besides the usual free distribution of chat on the birthday of the "Dhak Dhak girl", he said he would distribute over 500 e

Experts express concern over depleting water resources

LUCKNOW: Experts here expressed concern over fast-depleting water resources at a recently organised two-day workshop, 'PaniaurSamaj'. The workshop, which was presided over by state minister Rajendra Chaudhary, discussed various measures to conserve water. Former director of Geological Survey of India (North) VK Joshi, in his keynote address, emphasized the need for better water management and also highlighted the areas where we have gone wrong. "We have concretized the Khadar of rivers affecting ground water recharge. We have made bunds to save the habitations along the rivers (generally Khadar) from floods," Joshi said. "No doubt the habitations are saved but these bunds dam the flow of rain water towards the river during the monsoon. This leads to water logging in the habitats and blame, counter-blames are hurled at each other by the inhabitants of such areas, local bodies and the government," he said. Joshi said the Ganga plains of Uttar Pradesh can

White water rafting in Goa soon

PANAJI: Shortly the adventure of white water rafting could be experienced in Goa too. Goa tourism development corporation (GTDC) has floated a tender for empanelment of contractors to start the activity. The process for starting white water rafting was initiated two years ago after Goa forest development corporation (GFDC) allowed a promoter to conduct trial runs on the Surla tributary and Mhadei river. After testing the safety and feasibility aspects, the exercise was declared successful for commencing the activity in the hinterland. "But the proposal was held up due to some factors," GTDC source said. The feasibility exercise was carried out on the 18-km stretch of Surla-Mhadei. "The Surla tributary and Mhadei river stretch has 35 rapids and holds good potential for white water rafting," a source said. The white rafting location is around 15 kms away from the Valpoi town. The GTDC is considering of interlinking this activity with other attractions in Sattari e

Land litigation wreaks havoc on Water Board

HYDERABAD: Improvement of water distribution network and implementation of sewerage master plan in the Rajendranagar circle of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation seems to be a distant dream for locals. The Rs 314 crore mega project was taken up by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission a few years ago. However, the project's main work like construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Mir Alam has not even begun due to land acquisition problems. Though the contractor of the joint venture project MEIL-BRCCPL-AIPPL is ready to execute the work, the authorities could not complete the acquisition process. The project has been proposed in five zones of Rajendranagar circle which includes construction of ground level storage reservoir (GLSR) of 23 million litres (ML) at places like Budwel (two), Golden Heights, Shastripuram and Suleman Nagar, trunk mains, sub mains, lateral sewers

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to use water filters to fight cholera, jaundice

AHMDABAD: For years more than 400 slum clusters of Ahmedabad have been plagued by problems of water contamination and diseases every summer. Periodic cases of jaundice and cholera have been often traced to mixing of sewage with drinking water. But now the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) health department is toying with the idea of making nanoparticle composite-based water filters being made available to the residents in these slum clusters. "The AMC can't have a direct association with the companies which manufacture these products. But these companies which make these filters can be asked to provide them at concessional rates. The filters are affordable," claimed a senior AMC official. The AMC's health department claims that occasional outbreaks of jaundice and cholera are worrisome and the filters are a sure short way of reducing the numbers. In the first phase of the campaign, women in each of these slum clusters can be introduced to the product. "We m

Haryana chief minister for equal water across state

GURGAON: Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said the state government was committed to provide equitable share of water to all parts of the state. Hooda made this announcement at a rally organised at Anaj Mandi, Ateli in Mahendergarh on Sunday. In view of the scarcity of water in south Haryana, the state government has already prepared the scheme of constructing a canal for bringing water from Bhakhra to this area, he said. A sum of about Rs 400 crore has been spent on this project, he said. Hooda declared that Kanina will be made a sub-division and Ateli will get the status of tehsil and announced Rs 10 crore for the development of villages in Ateli constituency and Rs 2 crore each for the Municipal Committees of Ateli and Kanina. He also announced that five major roads in this area will be improved at a cost of Rs 43.55 crore. Referring to other demands, Hooda added that a 50-bedded hospital will be constructed in Kanina, on availability of land. Source - TOI

Kisan Sabha takes up cudgels against water crisis in district

ALLAHABAD: All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) has launched a campaign against the acute crisis of potable water in the city and trans-Yamuna area. On Sunday, the Sabha accused the district administration of apathy and blamed state government of pursuing a water management policy that was anti-people. AIKMS general secretary Raj Kumar Pathik said that humans and animals both were forced to consume dirty water in villages. Accusing government of favouring water merchants, he said people were being deprived of drinking water to benefit MNCs selling water and cold drinks. He claimed that Yamuna had already receded in the city and the Sangam had shifted several metres towards the fort. He warned that as the downstream river bed had already dried up, city would face an acute water crisis in future. He also said that farmers who depend on canals for irrigation too would suffer. Accusing the administration of hiding facts under the garb of secrecy, he said that it was not even ready to sh

No water woes for three villages in Sinnar

NASHIK: Revival of the British era check dams in Devnadi and Malungi rivers has changed the face of Bhatwadi, Wadgaon and Temburwadi (Ashapur) villages in drought-hit Sinnar tehsil in Nashik district. Even when the area is reeling under severe drought and is dependant on tankers for drinking water supply, these villages boast of not just sufficient drinking water but also enough water for farming. Sunil Pote, one of the founders of Yuva Mitra (NGO) which had revived the check dams in Sinnar in 2011. "These are the only villages which do not need water tankers. The check dams are providing water to 1,280 hectares of land in Bhatwadi, 1,800 hectares of land in Wadgaon and Temburwadi (Ashapur). Revival of the check dams has led to diversion-based irrigation systems in these villages. Farmers in the area have also grown better rabbi crops than last year." Encouraged by the success of the check dams, the NGO has also revived check dams at Lonarwadi last week and is now working o

SBI presents water filter to destitute kids

BHOPAL: "We know that we cannot create waves at least we can create ripples which if joined together would certainly form waves'' expressed Anita Khara, president SBI ladies at a function organised by the club at Ummeed, a home for destitute children, where the club members gifted a water filter, bed linen, steel cupboard and food provisions to the inmates of the home. The children were happy and presented a few cultural items for the guests who had fulfilled their long felt need. Archana Sahay of Umeed proposed vote of thanks and expressed her gratitude to the club members for their kind gesture. Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/SBI-presents-water-filter-to-destitute-kids/articleshow/20010012.cms

Nod for supplying untreated water to flats, restaurants

KOCHI: The district administration will soon permit water tanker owners to supply untreated water to restaurants and apartments having proper treatment facilities. The move is aimed at redressing the city's water crisis. "Separate permits will be issued to tanker owners soon to supply untreated water. However, they will be allowed to supply water only to those apartments that have water treatment facilities. Permission will also be given to tankers to draw water from the Periyar river," said district collector P I Sheik Pareeth. He had convened a meeting on Friday to chalk out a plan in this regard. He discussed the matter with food safety officials and other departments concerned. The decision was taken after apartments and restaurants in the city experienced acute water shortage. The supply through tankers had decreased drastically over the past few days with the drying up of wells and other water sources. The closure of two water sources had further aggravated the c

Blame game on, water woes remain

KOZHIKODE: Technical issues have thwarted attempts to address the serious issue of drinking water scarcity even though special orders had been issued by the chief minister for speedy implementation of drought relief schemes. Chief minister Oommen Chandy had promised that limited tenders will be sanctioned for the emergency completion of drinking water projects in the district including repair of pumping motors, laying additional pipelines and cleaning water resources. Following this, all 15 MLAs in the district volunteered to submit a set of proposals requiring immediate attention of KWA and revenue officials. Though the direction was to complete all emergency works in three days' time, more than 95% of the proposals are still pending before the officials, owing to delay on the part of KWA. "Nothing has improved after the CM's meeting. Though promises were aplenty, the officials have started the usual blame games while the common man is still denied drinking water facili

Water rules finalised, sent for gazette publication: Government

AURANGABAD: The state government on Thursday told the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court that it has finalised the Maharashtra water resources regulatory authority rules and has sent them for publication in the official gazette. Following a petition filed by Marathwada Janata Vikas Parishad, the high court had on April 17 directed the state government to finalise the rules within two weeks. The Marathwada Janata Vikas Parishad had approached the high court, seeking directions to the government on various issues, including release of water into Jayakwadi from upstream dams and to frame the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Rules. The rules pertain to the authority's functioning, including ensuring equitable distribution of water as contemplated under Section 12 (1) (c) of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act (MWRRA), 2005, said senior lawyer Pradeep Deshmukh who represented the Vikas Parishad. The petition came up for the hearing before

DJB takes steps to stem water crisis

NEW DELHI: In the absence of additional water from the Munak canal, Delhi Jal Board has put in place several measures to ensure that water distribution is not affected this summer when demand is expected to rise. The water utility will try and ensure an average production of 835 million gallons per day of water during the summer months. The water will be supplied to various areas through a network of 87 underground reservoirs. Officials said that about 200 km of old pipelines have been replaced while 333 major leak points were repaired in the last year. "Preventive maintenance works like flushing of water mains, cleaning of underground reservoirs and servicing of equipments at the pump houses has been carried out to ensure uninterrupted functioning of water installations during summer. Additional tube wells have been installed or re-bored where it was technically possible. We have also acquired 400 new water tankers with stainless steel containers. These tankers are fitted with

Andhra Pradesh's biggest hospital faces water crisis

HYDERABAD: Osmania General Hospital, the biggest state-run institute, is receiving just 10% of its daily requirement of around 3 lakh litres of water and is struggling to meet its water needs, officials said. Patients and doctors have been hugely inconvenienced as sterilization of instruments, cleaning of operation theatres is being compromised, exposing patients to more infection, doctors said. Also, water shortage also increases the use of disposables, thereby increasing the hospital expenditure. "Though we pay Rs 2 crore annual bill to the Water Board, the supply is pathetic," said a senior doctor at the state-run hospital. "Water and power are the basic requirements in a hospital set up, but their availability is always found wanting," he added. Authorities said because of the persistent water shortage, a second connection was taken, which cost the hospital Rs 4-5 lakh, but in vain. Sources said that casualty ward wears a dirty look due to water scarcity. Fo

Residents protests over erratic water supply in Janathanagar in west of Mysore