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After five days, West Virginia water crisis nears end

CHARLESTON (West Virginia): Officials today partially lifted a ban on tap water that was tainted by a chemical spill, while some in West Virginia had to wash, cook and brush their teeth with bottled water for a fifth straight day. Questions lingered about how and why the leak occurred and whether the company, Freedom Industries, took too long to let officials know about the problem that affected about 300,000 people and effectively shut down the state capital. Tests over the weekend showed that levels of the chemical used in coal processing were consistently below a toxic threshold, but testing continued today. "We see light at the end of the tunnel," Governor Earl Ray Tomblin told reporters. He announced today that the ban was lifted on parts of the region. Residents had been urged not to use the water for anything but flushing toilets. Some people left town to take a shower and find an open restaurant. Water distribution centers have handed out bottled water

10 Glasses of water a day to cut fat

We have all heard this advice innumerable times. Drink eight to 10 glass of water a day. Experts say that if you are overweight or tend to get most of your calories from processed and salty food, eight to 10 glass of water could actually help you reduce your weight. Water could lower your BMI. If you drink eight to 10 glass of water everyday you will end up eating less and also drink fewer calorie-laden beverages. Drinking about 500 ml of water before meal can cut the calories and help in losing weight and as a result lower body mass index (BMI). Water helps in burning fat. You can burn about 50 per cent more fat after drinking water compared with a higher calorie beverage. Water helps you play your sports better. Sweating away just two per cent of your body's water content affects the performance of a sportsperson to a great extent. Drinking enough water can improve your game and save you from the risk of dehydration. Water can fight hangovers. Being adequately hydrated is t

Arvind Kejriwal: Will order 700 litres of free water within 24 hours of taking oath

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal will pass orders to fulfill his election promise of providing 700 liters of water every day to each household within 24 hours of taking oath as chief minister of Delhi on Saturday. In an exclusive interview to TOI on the day President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the way for him to be the CM, Kejriwal also declared that he would order an audit of the accounts of power distribution companies in the city to check whether they have engaged in fudging their records. "We are not claiming that we will make water available to everyone, at least at the present. But we are promising to make 700 liters of water free for each family for which only an executive order is needed," Kejriwal said. He said that distribution of water, and not availability, was the problem. (Read Arvind Kejriwal's full interview here) On the audit of the books of power companies, he asserted that such an audit was possible and comes within the ambit of the Comptroller and Audit Gener

Karnataka MLAs to go to Latin America for 'studying water falls in Amazon forests'

BANGALORE: A 30-member Karnataka legislators delegation is planning to take off to three Latin American countries in January, to "study the water falls in the Amazon forests and sporting activity," which will cost the state exchequer Rs 2.25 crore. Confirming the junket, Congress MLA Mallikaiah V Guttedar, who heads the legislature committee on estimates told TOI here on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong in the fortnight trip they are planning. "We legislators get only one opportunity to undertake a study tour abroad in five years, whereas MPs go often. There is nothing wrong in us going on these junkets," he added. Guttedar said the dates are yet to be finalized and most likely would be after the brief legislature session in January. The trip would cost Rs 7.5 lakh per member. "We will visit the Amazon forest and study the waterfalls there to see how it can be replicated in Karnataka as we have thick forests here. We will also visit Brazil to see the spo

Rs 11-cr metro funds diverted to water plant

PUNE: With no signs of any work on the metro project taking off this year, the standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation diverted Rs 11-crore allotted for the project in its annual budget to compensate the educational institute that gave up its plot for the Wadgaon water purification plant. The committee also pulled out Rs 6.25 crore funds set aside for works under two heads for the Baner-Balewadi grade separator to pay over Rs 17 crore to the institute. The total budgetary allocation for the metro project was Rs 12 crore. The civic administration, with help from Jawarlalal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, has planned the treatment plant to purify 125 MLD water. Source - TOI - timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Rs-11-cr-metro-funds-diverted-to-water-plant/articleshow/27876171.cms

Kolhapur Municipal Corporation to start water audit to plug losses

KOLHAPUR: The civic body has decided to conduct water audit through hydraulic modeling of the existing water network in the city to improve supply efficiency and reduce deficits in the operational cost and revenue generated. At present, the loss in the water supply system is more than double than the permissible limit. The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) lifts about 120 million litres of water a day from the Panchganga and supplies only 80 MLD to various parts of the city. According to the rules of the urban development ministry of central government, a loss of around 15% while supplying water is permissible. But the loss that the civic body is incurring is around 34%. KMC chief hydraulic engineer Manish Pawar said, "The loss in the water supply system costs us around Rs 10 crore a year in the form of deficit between operational cost and revenue generated through bills. To plug the flaws in the supply system, we will conduct a comprehensive survey of the consumers. For this,

Why must you drink water

Regular intake of water is essential for maintaining good health Most of us know that up to seventy per cent of the total body weight is due to water. Although it is present in all parts of the body, it is more present in organs such as lungs and brain and fluids such as blood, lymph, saliva and secretions by the organs of the digestive system. The common belief is that we feel thirsty only when our body needs water. While this is true, recent research studies have indicated that there are several other indicators of inadequate water in some or all parts of the body. Ignoring these indicators can lead to several major diseases. Most of us spend a lot of our working hours in air-conditioned environment so naturally we don't feel thirsty but that does not mean that our body does not need water. Lack of water can lead to fatigue too. So, for your glowing health, drink enough water. Importance of water for maintaining normal health: Just as water helps a seed grow into a tree, it also