People claim forest officials seized honey belonging to them; director says investigation is on

Sir MV Layout residents’ woes continue as BDA is unable to solve problem

Water woes continue to dog residents of Sir M Visvesvaraya Layout in Ullal near Kengeri here, as they brave one of the worst summers.
Ten years since the layout’s formation, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has not provided water connectivity to residents and site owners, despite promising to do so before the properties were purchased.

Suffering staff crunch, officials try to meet February 2014 deadline for registrations

With a 60 per cent shortage in the number of food safety officers, implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, has become a problem in Karnataka. Unable to meet the targets of registrations of and issuance of licence to firms/units under the new Act, the deadline has been extended twice.
Officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the State are now concentrating on registering and issuance of licences to firms and units in the business of manufacturing, transporting, processing, storing and selling easily perishable items (milk, vegetables, ice cream et al) to bring them under the ambit of the new rules, on a priority basis.

Decision taken minutes before poll code came into force

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who is also the Chairman of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), has selected Tata Projects to execute the Rs 2,184-crore power project at Bidadi. The decision was taken minutes before the Election Commission of India on Wednesday announced that the model code of conduct would come into force in the State with immediate effect, ahead of the May 5 Assembly elections.

Water pollution is a problem the residents of villages under Byramangala Gram Panchayat have been struggling to deal for more than two decades.

The river, channel and the underground water lines in the 20-odd villages are all contaminated by chemical and other waste. The channel has not been desilted for about a decade. Worse, the people have to deal with the utter apathy of the authorities concerned, says Kumar, a GP employee. The farmers complain of the condition of their fields. The 17,000 acres of agricultural land in the villages are losing value. Also, the crops are affected by the pollutants. “Breeding cattle is a huge challenge as we have to keep a constant eye on them, lest they fall ill drinking water from the channel or the river,” said Rangaiah, a farmer from TB Doddi.

In the first week of December 2012, the state government awarded a Rs 2,184-crore gas-based electricity project to Alstom, Switzerland. The company will set up the facility at Bidadi. The company will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the 700-mw project.

But it is ironical that the company has been debarred by the World Bank. On February 22, 2012, the World Bank had said: “The World Bank group today announced the debarment of Alstom Hydro France and Alstom Network Schweiz AG (Switzerland)—in addition to their affiliates—for a period of three years following Alstom’s acknowledgment of misconduct in relation to a bank-financed hydropower project.”

The State government has begun the process of identification of malnourished children below the age of six and not enrolled in the anganwadi centres, on the direction of the High Court.

The first health camp for such children is scheduled for July 15. However, sources in the Women and Child Development Department and the Department of Health and Family Welfare, responsible for the implementation of directions of the High Court, said this will be only a one-time exercise as there is no specific policy to deal with the problem yet.

Killer landfill: Large-scale contamination leads to health hazards

Feasting dogs, scavenging crows and kites dot the three-kilometre dirt trail that leads to the settlement in Mavallipura, Bangalore’s official dump yard, a sea of plastic bags, batteries, shoes, tyres, discarded clothes and rotting food that decays in the sun and floats during the rains. The stink of garbage, which for many Bangaloreans is a vague, indistinct smell, is unmistakable and overwhelming for Mavallipura’s occupants.

Among the southern states, death toll highest in Karnataka As many as 320 people in Karnataka have lost their lives to H1N1 (swine flu) from the time it was first detected in the country in May 2009.

Accounting for 12 per cent of H1N1 deaths in the country, Karnataka has lost more number of people than Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Maharashtra, which accounts for 34 per cent of the deaths, saw 1,883 people lose their lives to the virus.

In a clear message to the Centre, the State government, toeing the line of the BJP central leadership, has decided to keep the CBI out of the State’s boundary as far as the investigations into illegal mining is concerned.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said: “We have no trust in the CBI and we do not think we want them to probe into illegal mining here. The Supreme Court had asked us to submit a status report on illegal mining. We have submitted that and also sought that the CBI does not investigate into the matter.”