HYDERABAD: After designing and commissioning several low-cost groundwater defluoridation plants in flurosis -affected villages of Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is now looking forward to set up model defluoridation units in Rajasthan. Defluoridation refers to methods of water treatment that reduce the concentration of fluoride in the water, normally, in order to make it safe for human consumption.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation is funding a pilot project to enable the state’s farmers to reverse the environmental degradation and rural poverty in the state by applying scientific methods to groundwater management.

Baseline studies jointly conducted by the FAO, Centre and state government have identified seven districts in Andhra Pradesh to effectively implement the best practices in sustainable cropping patterns to combat climate change.

With Lambapur-Peddagattu uranium mines in Nalgonda district next in line for excavation, nuclear physicists from Osmania University, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology have established ‘baseline data’ for background radiation in villages in this uranium-rich belt near Nagarjunasagar reservoir.

The expert team has found that mean radiation levels in the area are relatively high when compared to national and international averages.

The Tummalapalle uranium mine located in YSR district of Andhra Pradesh would be commissioned by early April.

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has estimated uranium reserves of the mine at 1.5 lakh tonnes, which are one of the largest in the world.

The DAE Spokesperson, Mr S.K. Malhotra, said that the mine is ready but the uranium processing plants are still under construction, which will take another two months to complete. The mine is a part of the Kadapa basin and has significant reserves of uranium therefore the DAE is concentrating its energies on this area.

The Andhra Pradesh Government plans to further streamline the sand mining process in the State to ensure there is no pilferage.

The Mines and Geology Department may consider a crackdown on those violating State regulations and taking to illegal mining of sand, particularly from areas where there are curbs barring permission to mine for housing for the poor.

The 12th five year plan will address the farmers concern regarding UPA’s flagship job guarantee programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The plan approach paper says that while the growth in agriculture in the 11th plan is likely to average 3.3 per cent per year, inflation is causing concern among farmers who are not only facing higher costs but also adverse effects of certain policies like export bans to cope with inflation. Some other concerns of the farmers like effect on wages of MGNREGA will also be considered by the 12th plan.

Identification of work under the Rs 650 crore AP Rural Connectivity programme of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has come to a halt in the state.

A local bodies association from Nalgonda approached the High Court with a plea that the identification of work under the scheme should be entrusted to local bodies and not the government department.

The detailed project report (DPR) for the Krishna phase-III project that will bring an additional 90 million gallons of water per day to the city has been submitted to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Board by the Tata Consultancy Engineers Limited, Mumbai.

Fluoride in drinking water in Nalgonda district is no longer news. It’s been a problem for ages. What is news is the presence of uranium in the water far beyond maximum permissible levels as prescribed by international agencies.

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.