For the first time, the State government filed cases of cheating and criminal breach of trust in 18 districts against Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) for failing to deliver the promised quota of a single variety of Bt cotton seeds in th0e 2011 kharif season.

Official sources said before sowing last year, Mahyco had accepted bookings from dealers and retailers for 16.76 lakh packets of MRC 7351 variety Bt cotton seeds but delivered only 9-10 per cent of what was assured.

Several parts of Maharashtra are reeling under water crisis, even before the onset of summer. The state government on Thursday said 212 villages and 1,203 wadas (hamlets) are facing severe water crisis as water sources have dried. The administration has deployed 230 water tankers to reach out to the villages.

Two days after it imposed planned load-shedding across the state, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board on Tuesday announced 16-hour power cuts for industries starting Wednesday.

The load-shedding for industries will be imposed once a week — on different days in different areas — coinciding with days when plants observe their weekly off, said an official from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.

Construction of a dam over the Kalu river in Murbad is crucial to address the water woes of Mumbai, the state government informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday in response to a petition challenging the dam project.

Vijaysinh Parmar | TNN

Rajkot: Word is spreading about the watershed development projects in the villages of Rajkot district carried out by Vruksh Prem Seva Trust, an NGO, run by Premji Patel, 80. A team of 25 senior government officials from Maharashtra would visit watershed development-related works in the villages of Jamkandorna taluka on January 6.

Meena Menon

Shut water supply, lock guards people living in village Vadgaon Dadahari in Beed district of Maharashtra have been inhaling flyash-laden air for the past five years. The pollution is caused by the nearby Parli power plant that generates 690 MW power for the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited. On July 19, when strong winds carried large quantities of flyash

Firecracker factory was operating illegally an explosion in a firecracker factory in Maharashtra

Unlicensed firecracker factory did not observe safety rules SEVEN girls, mostly adolescents, working in a firecracker factory in Beed district of Maharashtra were killed and six others injured when the explosives kept on the premises caught fire causing an explosion. Eyewitnesses said the impact was so severe that the workers were blown apart. Their body parts were strewn in a