Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Shri Babulal Gaur called on Union Urban Development Minister Shri Kamalnath here today and handed over to him an action plan chalked out for Narmada River’s conservation by the State Urban Administration & Development Department. He demanded funds to the tune of Rs. 1298.87 crore for solid waste management, sewerage, construction of rain-fed drains and nullahs, cleanliness and plantation.

The Supreme Court has refused to re-examine its judgement and expunge the adverse remarks made in it against Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) on the issue of land acquisition for Omkareshwar Dam project in Madhya Pradesh. The apex court dismissed the review petitions filed by the NBA saying that the May 11, 2011 judgement “does not suffer from any mistake” and “no ground is made out” for review of the September 29, 2011 order by which it had declined to expunge the adverse remarks against the NBA in the verdict.

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on May 3 dismissed petitions filed by Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan to review an apex court judgment and expunge adverse remarks made against the organisation in connection with the issue of land acquisition for Omkareshwar dam project in Madhya Pradesh.

A Bench of Justices R M Lodha, Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan observed in its order that they had decided to dismiss the review petition filed by the NBA against its May 11, 2011 judgment after careful consideration of the available material.

With the onset of the scorching summer, would-be brides fight shy of getting married into families in two villages in Gujarat because they have to trudge long distances each day to fetch water in intense heat.

The acute water crisis that stares at Jetpur and Devaliya villages in Vadodara district has not only spelt hardships to the people there, but also brought problems of finding girls for youths of marriageable age.

Gandhinagar: Amid loud talk about spread of canal irrigation, especially Narmada-based, leading to asharp fall in the amount of electricity going into the farm sector, a recent Planning Commission document has revealed just the opposite.

Titled “Annual Report 2011-12 on Working of State Power Utilities and Electricity Departments”, the document, prepared by the power and energy division of the Planning Commission, has found no decrease in the share of agriculture in the total sale of power in Gujarat.

The Congress on Monday announced a Save Narmada Campaign that will be launched by Hindu saints. Accusing the ruling BJP of allowing rampant mining along the banks of the Narmada, the Opposition party said that the holy river’s religious and cultural significance had been endangered during the past eight years.

The BJP had taken to the streets recently to protest the insult to ‘Ma Narmada’ after Congress MP Sajjan Singh Varma accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family of “raping the river”. The agitation had been called off after Varma’s apology.

A multi-benefit pilot project generating one-MW electricity from solar panels atop the Narmada branch canal was dedicated to the nation by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Besides producing “clean energy” without causing any pollution, the solar panels would spare an enormous amount of land otherwise required if the solar power project was land-based. In addition, they save a huge quantity of water in irrigation canals from evaporation.

Water experts warn that India’s major rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Krishna, Godavari and Chambal, could soon dry up due to blatant sand and gravel mining being spearheaded by the mining mafia.

So blatant are their activities that the water experts warn entire river systems are being destroyed by their illegal activities.Sand is vital for the health of the river system because it acts like a sponge helping to recharge the water table. Its progressive depletion results in plunging water tables and increased velocity of river flow.

Gandhinagar: With summer setting in, the Narendra Modi government does not want to take any chances with rural folk in an election year. In a massive drive to make full use of Narmada waters across Gujarat for drinking purposes, complete plans have been worked out to ensure that not only do they reach in all parts of Gujarat, but also to as many as individual households as possible. Funds have been made available, and administrative sanction obtained, to begin tens of big and small projects.

The ruling BJP has taken to the streets accusing a Congress MP of insulting the Narmada. Sajjan Singh Varma, the MP from Dewas, had accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family members of being involved in illegal sand mining along the banks of the Narmada, and warned that “the river knows how to deal with those who rape and exploit it”.