The tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and other higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh received another spell of moderate snow while rain lashed other areas. Keylong and Kalpa in tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur recorded 25 cm and 18.7 cm of snow while Rohtang Pass, Mari, Darcha, Kunzam and Saach and Chansel passes had 40 to 50 cm of snow.

In order to make Chandigarh a slum-free city, the Chandigarh Administration has proposed to make it “mandatory for all private houses and industrial plots of one kanal and above, who engage servants or labour to make available suitable accommodation for them within their premises”. This has been stated by the Chandigarh Administration in its voluminous report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Despite a second sewage treatment plant on the verge of becoming operational in Panchkula, residents will have to wait for more time before treated water is pumped into parks and lawns. The new plant, constructed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is housed in Sector-22 and will have the capacity to treat 39 million litres per day (mld). It will become operational in a week’s time. At present, Panchkula has one sewage treatment plant in Sector-20 which treats 18 mld.

The Panchkula administration on Tuesday informed a local court that action is being taken for removal of stray cattle, but as per law, “statutory time” and “proper opportunity” is to be given to defaulters, which delays complete eradication. In a joint reply filed by Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and Municipal Council Panchkula before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Gurvinder Kaur, pleaded that action is being taken for getting rid of stray cattle nuisance.

Wastage of water in the city, lack of recharge facilities and the problems in water supply were some of the issues raised in the meeting of the newly constituted General House of the Municipal Corporation. The officials of the civic body has been asked to prepare a status of the recharge facilities available and the affect of the initiatives like treatment of water. It was decided to constitute a committee that would make suggestions on the ways to conserve water.

The long awaited slaughterhouse in Panchkula is likely to see the light of the day. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), which constructed the slaughterhouse in Industrial Area, Phase I, will hand over the possession to Municipal Corporation (MC), Panchkula shortly. The MC has to, however, get an environmental clearance before making it operational.

In this poll season, environmentalist baba and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) member Balbir Singh Seechewal has taken up sensitising candidates towards the poor condition of the environment in the state. He has been travelling all around the state to make commit them towards environmental issues and asking them to take a pledge in front of the Guru Granth Sahib regarding the same.

Originally planned for a population of 5 lakh, Chandigarh city now caters to 10 lakh people, 9 lakh registered vehicles and a floating population of 1 lakh vehicles The problem of shrinking parking spaces is looming large over the city that boasts of one of the highest vehicles per capita. The lack of parking reforms and initiatives to tackle the issue has ensured that the parking facilities are completely chaotic. Whether it is the commercial establishments, residential areas or institutes there is a lack of adequate parking spaces.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday issued notices to Haryana, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and Ministry of Environment and Forest on a plea challenging the acquisition of land for setting up 2,800 MW Gorakhpur atomic power project. A division bench headed by Justice Hemant Gupta also issued notices to the Land Acquisition Collector, Fatehabad.

The Haryana government on Thursday proposed to give Rs 20 lakh per acre for sandy land and Rs 32 lakh per acre for irrigated land to the farmers whose land is being acquired for setting up a nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district. The compensation was calculated at a meeting chaired by Commissioner, Hisar division, M P Bansal. The meeting was also attended by the officials of Nuclear Power Plant Corporation of India.