Crusade for revival of environment and wildlife ( CREW) will organise the Central Indian Highlands Wildlife Film Festival on the theme " Tiger Habitat" at the end of February. The idea is to showcase Satpura- Maikal ranges to build a national- level campaign among students and youth and create greater awareness about nature and wildlife, which is so crucial for survival of humankind.

The State cabinet, on Monday evening, approved annual budget to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore with a focus on social sectors'programmes, schemes and major allocation of funds to on going schemes. The annual budget reflects the state governments preparation for the next assembly election - two years away at present. Finance department made presentation in the meeting, showcasing allocation of fund to different departments.

A demand has been raised with the Union Government to provide Rs 10 lakh compensation each to the kin of 15,342 persons who died in Bhopal gas tragedy. Representatives of gas victims will be taken to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. This information was given at a quarterly review meeting of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department here on Monday, which was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Ahmedabad: City’s Kankaria Lakefront project will lend its design to the country’s oldest manmade lake in Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh government has awarded Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University the project of making a detailed concept plan for the lake.

After studying the present scenario of the lake, experts at Cept University have planned to divide the 25 kilometer-long periphery of the lake into five zones including an ‘active recreational zone,’ which will resemble the revenue generating model of the Kankaria Lake.

Bhopal : Considerable reduction in transmission losses has been registered in the state during the last nine years. The percentage of transmission losses was 7.93 in the year 2002-03, which has come down to 3.74 in the year 2010-11. The Power Transmission Company has chalked out a comprehensive action plan for strengthening and upgrading the transmission grid in Madhya Pradesh. Work of laying 18.47 circuit kilometer transmission lines was completed in the year 2010-11. The capacity of high-tension sub-stations was increased by 2193 MVA.

Madhya Pradesh accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the total area under certified organic farming in the country. Though most of it is due to cotton fields, the state has an immense potential to bring even food crops under organic cultivation.

What may help the state’s cause is that agriculture is already organic by default in many tribal-dominated districts because farmers either don't have the resources to use chemical fertilizers or lack access to them.

Rahul Wadke

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has asked Mumbai Waste Management Ltd, a hazardous waste management company with a facility near Mumbai, to incinerate 10 tonnes of toxic waste from the Union Carbide's Bhopal plant.

The company is keen to dispose of the waste, provided the pollution control boards of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh give clearances.

The proposal to bring 346 tonnes of hazardous waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster site to a disposal facility in Taloja outside Mumbai has been opposed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). If implemented, the agency feels, it will set a precedent and Mumbai will become a dumping ground for such harmful waste.

On the night of December 2, 1984, leaking methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal killed nearly 4,000 people and injured over 500,000. The plant was sealed off after the disaster and the hazardous wastes continue to remain at the site.

The Centre has approved six national highway projects measuring about 500 km for Madhya Pradesh after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s letter to Union Road Transport and Highways (RTH) Minister CP Joshi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last year. The total project cost of these projects, to be awarded under public-private partnership (PPP) mode, is over Rs 2,917 crore. Two projects have been approved by the Finance Minister while the other four by the RTH Minister. Besides these, the Centre has also cleared four projects for Rajasthan, the home State of the RTH Minister.

A remarkable improvement has been witnessed in the condition of malnourished children in Madhya Pradesh. A national survey conducted by an independent agency has found that the number of malnourished children in the State has come down by 50 per cent and those of underweight children by 25 per cent. This information was given during a quarterly review meeting of Woman and Child Development Department taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here on Monday.