Illegal stone quarrying near Almatti can have disastrous consequences, fear greens. Stone quarrying goes on unhindered on the banks of River Krishna, even as locals allege that officials of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) are turning a blind eye to the illegality.

The national river policy stipulates that stone quarrying should not be conducted on the banks of any river. It is feared that the quarrying may cause damage to the nearby bridges on the Parvati Katta road (a road bridge and the railway bridge) and the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. The dawn to dusk stone quarrying in and around the Krishna river basin has invited the wrath of environmentalists.

New Delhi National Green Tribunal has sought a reply from the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) on a plea challenging the environmental clearance granted to Kudgi Super Thermal Power Project Stage-I (2,400 MW) in Karnataka.

A bench headed tribunal’s acting chairperson AS Naidusought MoEF's response on the plea seeking quashing of clearance granted on January 25, to the NTPC project in Bijapur.

State-owned power producer NTPC today said it got Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) clearance for its 2,400-Mw (3x800 MW), Stage-I Kudgi Super Thermal Power Project being set up in Bijapur district of adjoining Karnataka.

The board of directors recently cleared the investment proposal of Rs 15,166 crore for setting up the project, NTPC said in a statement here.

NTPC Ltd's first ultra-mega power project (UMPP) of 4,000 MW, coming up at Kudgi in Bijapur district of Karnataka, is all set to award contracts for the first phase of 3 by 800 MW once it secures nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. “The investment for the Rs 15,166-crore phase-1 project has been approved, the tenders for the project have been shortlisted. Within days, we are expecting nod from the MoEF,” Mr R. Venkateswaran, Regional Executive Director, said.

At least one person was killed and scores of villages inundated in the torrential rains that lashed the state since Monday night. All three regions of the state received heavy rains with Nalgonda district being the worst hit. Several tanks breached and rivulets overflowed leaving the main and artillery roads in the district under water.

The steel project at Gadag won

An expert team of seismologists from Bangalore will visit villages near Almatti reservoir on May 7 to study the mild tremors occurring frequently in the region.

Hyderabad, May 3: The state has demanded a survey by technical experts to decide the actual height of the controversial Almatti dam in Karnataka.

Hyderabad, April 20: The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday strongly objected to Karnataka

Vijayawada, April 5: The minister for animal husbandry, Mr K. Parthasarathi, has made it clear that the government would safeguard the interests of the people on the issue of surplus water of Krishna river.