Shimla: The 775-MW Luhri Hydroelectric Project has run into rough weather with the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests for river valley projects expressing concern over its environmental fallout in view of the extremely long head race tunnel (HRT) and reservoir, which will affect a large number of people due to submergence of land.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Irrigation Department to moot a proposal for amending the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act to check the growing malpractice of water theft in the state. In a meeting held to review the functioning of the department this morning, Badal asked the Chief Engineer (Canals) to submit a comprehensive proposal for making amendments to the Act on the pattern of Haryana and Rajasthan.

The Punjab Government today swung into action following The Tribune expose on rampant illegal mining in the Sutlej riverbed in Ropar and arrested 20 persons after registering as many as 30 FIRs. The accused were arrested on charges of theft (of minor minerals through illegal quarrying) and under various sections of the Mining Act.

Shimla: The government has proposed a Rs 3,700-crore annual plan for 2012-13, an increase of 12.12 per cent over the current year’s plan of Rs 3,300 crore.
Stating this while initiating discussions with MLAs for finalising the priorities here today, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the growth rate at 9.5 per cent was being fixed for the 12th Five-Year Plan period as compared to 9 per cent fixed at the national level. It would be a challenging task, but not difficult and would be achieved fully with the effective implementation of developmental schemes.

Shimla: Fruit growers are a happy lot as the apple belt in the Shimla region recorded the heaviest snowfall in January in the past six years, raising hopes of a good crop. However, power generation in the state plunged to the lowest level as the discharge in rivers and streams declined sharply due to extreme cold conditions. The Shimla region had not received much snow over the past two days during the current spell as the focus of the western disturbance remained more towards the Kangra, Chamba and Kullu areas.

A large quantity of silt that makes its way into the 10,000-hectare Gobind Sagar, the country’s largest fishing pond, every year has spelt doom for fish breeding grounds over of the years. The fish production in the reservoir has nosedived by nearly 50 per cent in the past five years.
This year alone, the fish production has declined by 150 tonnes as compared to last year. If the silt discharge into the Gobind Sagar continues unabated, the time is not far when the state’s fishing pond will be pushed to extinction, caution biologists.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has decided to take legal action against two municipal committees (MCs) for allegedly failing to prevent sewage water from flowing into rivers and has directed two other civic bodies to stop all other work and focus on building sewage treatment plants immediately. The pollution body had set November 30th as the deadline for municipal committees to take effective measures and prevent dirty water from flowing into the state’s rivers.

As many as 7,500 trees will be axed to pave the way for the 775 MW Luhri Hydroelectric Project being constructed by the public sector Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam on the Sutlej near Nirath downstream Rampur.

Multiple high tension power transmission lines passing through some of the state’s eco-sensitive zones, involving felling of trees, and criss-crossing mountain valleys in Himachal Pradesh, could finally give way to separate “power corridors” for each river basin.