LUCKNOW: The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, an ambitious projects of the Mayawati government, proposed during the fag end of the regime, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) has sought a clarification from the state government on the project. And work on the project is yet to be started.

LUCKNOW: The first elephant sanctuary of the state seems to be gradually taking shape, with the habitat management for the Elephant Reserve, coming up in Saharanpur and Bijnore districts, going on. In 2012-13, fresh projects have been proposed for the development of the habitat. The projects have been announced for the maintenance of massive plantation, which has been done in the last two years, to resurrect the wildlife corridors, check soil erosion and put up anti-poaching infrastructure in place.

The best developed district in Uttar Pradesh is six times more so than the worst, state government figures indicate. Districts in western UP, closest to Delhi, far outpace those in other regions, not just those in Bundelkhand, according to the department’s Niyojan Atlas, which considers 36 indicators. The atlas is published every year but it is so delayed that the latest available edition is that for 2008. It gives Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) a composite development index of 431.44, against which even western UP neighbours like Ghaziabad (170.52) and Meerut (147.72) pale in comparison.

The Uttar Pradesh Government on Thursday approved the setting up of a 1,500 kilowatt Khara hydro power project in Saharanpur district.

“The Cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, approved a proposal to set up a hydro power project near Badshahibagh village in Behat tehsil to augment power generation,” an official spokesman said here.

He said the project would be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 9.28 crore, of which 30 per cent (Rs 2.78 crore) would be contributed by the State government.

The coal ministry on Thursday issued orders to revoke mining licences of five blocks of NTPC, Damodar Valley Corp and Jharkhand State Electricity Board with combined reserves of 1,000 million tonnes.

Ever since mango trees began flowering in both western and eastern Uttar Pradesh this season, farmers as well as scientists at the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow, are working overtime to save the crop.

In the districts of Sandila, Barabanki, Malihabad in Lucknow, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, scientists are helping farmers in pest management.

Starting March, CI

New Delhi: Once the biggest recycler of electronic waste in the country, Delhi is now the biggest scrap market for it.