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.

Raids conducted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on 68 electroplating industries in Jalandhar and Ludhiana have found 42 of them flouting norms that make it mandatory for industries to ensure waste is treated at the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in Ludhiana.

There is an enormous potential for exploiting hydroelectric power in Himachal Pradesh, but implementation needs political and administrative support
NATURE has compensated hill states with vast hydropower potential in lieu of the sound agricultural system that is available in the plains. If Arabs have oil, Himalayan states in India have the hydropower wealth. Now, it entirely depends upon the ingenuity of the state concerned how expeditiously it mines/milks its treasure trove.

A river regulation zone (RRZ) notification should be top priority for the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to stop annual flooding of rivers in the sub-continent.

In Orissa, the state government has had to evacuate nearly one lakh residents from low-lying areas with floods having affecting 2,550 villages and 13 towns. This year alone has seen major floods in the state of UP, Punjab, Bihar, Assam and Manipur with major rivers, including Ganga, Sutlej, Kosi and Brahmaputra rivers, flowing in spate.

Forest Dept seeks compensation from NTPC
Shimla: The Forest Department has sought adequate compensation from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), executing the 800 MW Kol Dam project, to rejuvenate the prime habitat of the “cheer pheasant” which is likely to be submerged under the dam water in Bilaspur.

About 9 sq km of the 39.38 sq km Majithal forest area, considered the birthplace and main refuge of the “cheer pheasant”, is likely to be submerged under the dam water.

Growing concerns about China’s plans to divert waters of the Brahmaputra in Tibet has prompted a Parliamentary panel to seek from the government complete data of major river systems in the country for the past 10 years.