Chandigarh: SC orders bar on razing of any construction which has come up till May 21. In an immediate relief for those facing demolition of their buildings/ constructions in the Sukhna catchment area, the Supreme Court today ordered a stay on the demolition orders. Making it clear that the Administration authorities will not demolish any construction which has come up till May 21, a division bench of the Apex Court today also ruled that no further construction will be allowed to come up in the catchment area till further orders.

Once a source of fresh water for irrigation, Kadaperi lake is now rapidly degrading

Due to unchecked pollution, abetted by government agencies, a sprawling water body in Tambaram is under siege. The Kadaperi Lake in West Tambaram, has fallen a victim to pollution caused by unchecked discharge of grey water and sullage from homes and commercial establishments, as well as effluents from the Tambaram Depot of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

Contractors stay away from projects citing lack of profit

It has been over four months since the government ordered the rejuvenation of four water bodies in the city suburbs. But, the project is yet to take off as no bidders have come forward so far. The Water Resources Department had issued a Government Order in December about desilting water bodies in Cholavaram, Nemam, Porur and Ayanampakkam to create additional storage that could used to supply water for the city.

SRINAGAR: In order to streamline ever-increasing vehicular movement in summer capital, Minister of State for Home, Nasir Aslam Wani, today directed Traffic Department, SMC and SDA to immediately operationalize 56 bus bays and 6 parking lots which have been identified at different spots.

The R&B Department is constructing 15 out of the 56 identified bus- bays in Srinagar city. The rest will be constructed by SMC and 35 of these will be ready by June this year.

JAIPUR: Following the empowered committee's directions that was constituted to develop Pink City as a world-class city, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Monday will start its anti-encroachment drive in the Walled City area.

During the 10-day drive JMC is targeting to remove temporary encroachments from the roads and verandas in the Walled city area. The authority, however, is not planning to remove any permanent encroachments during this drive.

NGO City Connect gives design inputs to Chennai Corporation

Residents of the city may soon have more recreation spaces at an unlikely venue – beneath flyovers. The Chennai Corporation has planned to turn untidy, unused areas beneath all its flyovers into vibrant public spaces. Accepting many of the proposals made by a consultant City Connect, an NGO, for optimum use of space beneath five flyovers at a meeting on Thursday, the civic body decided to cover all the flyovers in the city under the beautification scheme.

As the city’s wetlands struggle for survival due to persistent construction activity and water pollution, a bunch of nature enthusiasts are hoping to transform some of these lesser known sanctuaries of tranquility into tourist spots. Recently, environmentalists organised walks along several coastal and mangrove areas in Sewri, Bandra, Andheri, Bhandup and Dahisar to sensitise nature lovers and the government to start an initiative to protect and promote the wetlands as tourist spots, instead of letting them fall into the hands of encroachers.

KOLKATA, 6 FEB: Despite repeated attempts the Kolkata Environmental Improvement Project (KEIP) has failed to finish the dredging work of Tollygunge-Pachannagram canal (T-P canal) due to illegal settlements. The dredging is necessary to save a vast areas from water-logging during the coming monsoon.

The future of biodiversity parks (BDPs) is in limbo, thanks to petty politics by parties, bureaucrats and those who will benefit from its constructions on the hills.
The environmentalists insist that no construction be allowed on these hills. However, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said he wants 4% construction on the hills. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) city chief, Vandana Chavan, joined the activists, but the party leadership favours 4% construction.

Drive on against hawkers who encroach upon footpath

A series of measures has been initiated by the city police to check illegal parking of vehicles on roads and footpath, and to ensure that road users are fully benefitted by the road corridors that have been developed under the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP) in the capital.