A Rs.1,000-crore project of building one lakh concrete houses in cyclone-hit districts such as Cuddalore and Villupuram was the highlight of Governor K. Rosaiah's address to the Assembly on Monday.

Mr. Rosaiah, who delivered his first address as Governor since assumption of office in August, said the State would take up the construction immediately to replace the damaged huts in the districts

The Tamil Nadu Government would construct one lakh concrete houses at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore to replace the damaged huts in the cyclone Thane affected districts of Cuddalore and Villupuram, the Governor, Mr K. Rosaiah, said today.

The State Government has also presented a memorandum spelling out the quantum of damage and has sought an assistance of Rs 5,248 crore from the Centre, he recalled.

The Government would take up construction of one lakh concrete houses immediately to provide safe shelter to the affected families, he said in his address to the Assembly.

Chennai Metrowater will soon start monitoring groundwater level and quality in the expanded areas of Chennai Corporation. It will also intensify rainwater harvesting campaign and assess the impact of RWH structures in the newly-merged localities.

The monitoring would help in understanding the groundwater level in those areas where rainwater is not being harnessed properly. For this purpose, the water agency is in the process of identifying observational wells.

Hyderabad is staring at a drinking water crisis as Osmansagar and Himay-atsagar are fast drying up. The water available in the two reservoirs will be sufficient up to May only through gravity . After May, water will reach dead storage levels forcing officials to use high power motors to pump water. However, the water quality is not good at the dead storage level as citizens had complained of foul odour and coloured water supply from the two reservoirs.

A United Nations report on global economic prospects has projected India's economy to grow at a pace a tad lower than 8 per cent in 2012 and 2013 in view of the sharp increase in downside risks stemming from the problems in Europe and the U.S.

In its report on ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012,' released here on Tuesday, it said: “India's economy is forecast to expand at a pace similar to 2011 in the following two years ... at 7.7 per cent in 2012 and 7.9 per cent in 2013.”

TURA: The residents of Dakopgre, a locality in Tura, have lodged a complaint with the SDO and Executive Engineer of the Public Health Engineering department, criticizing the alleged supply of contaminated potable water in the locality.

The residents allege that for the past five days the water being supplied to the locality through the Second Phase water pipeline smells of diesel and kerosene.

Karnataka has sought Rs 2,605.99 cr

Citing that the drought situation in the State is indeed of a serious nature, the Central team which visited the State to assess the drought situation in December has opined that there is no exaggeration in Karnataka’s claims.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from various civic bodies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), on a Public Interest Litigation that sought directives for improvement of sanitation and cleanliness in the Capital.

A bench of acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw sought responses from various civic authorities, and asked them to file responses by January 25, 2012, the next date of hearing.