The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) on Monday signed a contract with the Council of Scientific Industrial Research–National Geophysical Research Institute (CSIR-NGRI) to implement a pilot project on using advanced geophysical techniques to map shallow and deep aquifers. The project is being implemented under World Bank-funded hydrology project and would be implemented in Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over a period of 15 months. The total project cost is about Rs 44.39 crore, out of which the CGWB component is about Rs 16.98 crore and NGRI's is about Rs.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)-organised international conference on Himalayan glaciers concluded in the capital today.

The five-day gathering, ‘Cryosphere of the Hindu Kush Himalayas’, brought scholars and practitioners from across the globe together to discuss recent research on snow, glaciers, glacial hydrology, and capacity building in cryospheric research in the Himalayan region.

The risk of there not being enough water in the stream — the ‘hydrology risk’ — is the “single largest risk” that a small hydro project faces, says a study of the rating and analysis agency, ICRA.

The study went into the question of why small hydro projects — projects of less than 25 MW capacity — have not been happening on a scale consistent with the potential in India. It found out that after ‘hydrology risk’, the risk of ‘containment of capital cost’ was the second biggest stumbling block.

The report of the Empowered Committee, though subject to condtions, was in favour of constructing a new dam to replace the existing one at Mullaperiyar, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.

The nominee of the State on the committee, K.T. Thomas, had done his best to protect the interests of Kerala. He had expressed the views of Kerala in his dissent note and had listed six reasons for keeping the water level in the reservoir at 136 feet. The only objection was that he had not made any dissent on the finding that the dam was safe, Mr. Chandy said.