Steps for resolution of issues raised by him to be discussed

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has deputed a senior official from his office to meet Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand to discuss further measures that could be taken for an early resolution of issues raised by the Ganga Seva Abhiyanam. The Swami is on a hunger strike to save the Ganga. In a statement issued here on Friday, the Prime Minister's Office said the government is committed to improving the ecological health of the river, to make sure that there is continuous and pollution-free flow of water.

Prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the report flashes a red light with regard to the hydroelectric projects that add up to 2,600 MW and make for about a tenth of all small and big dams on the anvil in the state.

NEW DELHI: A report commissioned by the government has recommended that 34 dams on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers - the two main tributaries of the Ganga - should not be allowed to come up as they will cause irrevocable harm to biodiversity in Uttarakhand.

The health of rivers in Uttarakhand has deteriorated substantially due to violation of environment laws by various hydroelectric projects in the hill State. Important rivers such as the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda are either disappearing downstream of dams or are being used as dumping ground. Garbage dumped in the Tehri dam reservoir has made the Bhagirathi ‘untouchable’ for even local residents. In a letter written to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, T Chatterjee and member

The government expressed willingness to halt all power projects coming up in the Ganga’s Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basi-ns as part of its concessions to 80-year-old Prof. G.D. Agarwal (Swami Gyansw-aroop Anand) to persuade him to break his prolonged fast at the AIIMS here on Friday.

These include the 330MW Srinagar hydroelectric po-wer project, Singoli-Bhat-wari and Phata-Byung on the Mandakini, Khotibhal IA on the Bhagirathi, Vish-nugad-Pipalkoti and Alakn-anda-Badrinath on the Ala-knanda and Devsari on the Pindar.

Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of sadhus and saints in the country, has strongly criticised Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand's (also know as Prof GD Aggrawal, who has been sitting on fast under the banner of Save Ganga in the premises of Matra Sadan) recent statement saying that people who respect river Ganga should boycott Char Dham Yatra.

KRISHNAGAR, 7 AUG: The state public health engineering department (PHE) today started two water supply projects at Kashiadanga in Nakashipara and Bhagyabantapur in Kaliganj to provide arsenic-free drinking water to the residents of the areas.

New Delhi: After Posco, the environment ministry is likely to produce another conflicting report assessing a project

Around 80,000 people living in Manikchak are in panic with rains bringing to halt anti-erosion work along a 4km stretch of the Ganga.

Heavy rain last night inundated low-lying areas in Malda district and increased water levels in many rivers.

People of Domhat in Manikchak have rued that the anti-erosion work started just one week back when the monsoon was about to set in.