Daily milk production in the state is seeing a surplus by 28 lakh litre, with drastic rise in contributions from the drought-hit talukas like Jat and Mann leading to a massive production of milk powder. Of the 1.13 crore lakh litres of milk being produced a day, 28 lakh litre is surplus.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said decision would be taken soon on drought-related assistance demanded by Maharashtra. "A central team visited Maharashtra after the state sought aid and submitted its report. The high-powered committee comprising Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, myself and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia have seen the report and we would take a final decision soon," Pawar told reporters, at a function here.

Dispur has chalked out 10 models of rainwater harvesting under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for drought-prone areas of the state, where groundwater level has been falling over the years. The 10 models include micro-rainwater harvesting programme for the benefit of people living below poverty line, who, in the absence of a tubewell can opt for rainwater, harvested through the GI sheets of houses built under the Indira Awas Yojana.

The government has ruled out auction of water to private bodies but may consider publicprivate partnership (PPP) in wastewater treatment, Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said. “There are no plans to auction water to private bodies or to include them in any regulatory framework,” said Bansal. He was speaking at the curtain-raiser event of the first ever India water week.

BANKURA, 7 SEPT: The state Public Health Engineering department today entered into an agreement of sharing 50 per cent of river water with a private steel unit in drought-prone Bankura.

Months ago, when a bunch of “foreigners” came to meet Nileema Mishra, she considered it as just another visit by people who wanted to see her work. But later, when the group closely started vetting her work at the Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan (BNGVN), an organisation she started in 1995, it got Mishra concerned. Without divulging much, the group’s members just said they were in the drought-prone Bahadurpur village of Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district to study the work pattern of her organisation.

As part of the efforts for extension of irrigation facilities, the State Government has chalked out a plan for construction of 67 new reservoirs under a multi-purpose project for drought-affected areas in the State. This will bring an additional 1,000 hectare under irrigation apart from developing other facilities.

Accepting the logics and rational of the state the Central Planning Commission has approved the annual plan of Rs 47000 crore for the 2011-12 on Monday in Delhi.