As of December 5, 2024, details of 81,188 government buildings with a total feasible rooftop solar capacity of about 3.1 GW, and approximately 818 MW of rooftop solar capacity already installed, have been reported on the National Portal for Rooftop Solar, Shripad Yesso Naik, minister of state for Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and Power, told the Rajya Sabha.
In Haryana, around 3,000 government buildings have been surveyed, revealing a potential rooftop solar capacity of 90.5 megawatts (MW). To date, solar plants with a combined capacity of 16.6 MW have been installed in approximately 550 government buildings in the state, the minister said.
A total of 68,558 deaths from tuberculosis have been reported nationwide this year as of November 19, 2024, according to data available on the Nikshay portal, Anupriya Patel, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told the Rajya Sabha. In 2023, 85,231 deaths were reported due to TB.
Findings from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for 2019-2021 indicated that among children under five years of age, 35.5 per cent are stunted, 32.1 per cent are underweight and 19.3 per cent are wasted, Patel told the Rajya Sabha.
Nipah virus cases have been reported exclusively in Kerala from 2021 to 2024. In 2024, two deaths due to the virus were recorded in Malappuram district, Prataprao Jadhav, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.
The government has not conducted a specific study to assess the long-term economic impact of air pollution in Delhi-National Capital Region or nearby states, nor to quantify the effect of severe smog on industrial output and supply chain delays in Northern India, Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of state for Union Ministry of Finance told the Rajya Sabha.
However, during episodes of severe air pollution (Air Quality Index reading of 401-450) or higher, stages III and IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) are enforced. Under these stages, activities such as construction, stone crushing, mining, and the playing of vehicles like Bharat Stage (BS) III and BS IV light motor vehicles, light commercial and medium vehicles carrying goods, and entry of trucks are restricted, the minister said.
The Watershed Development Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY) aims to increase the area under cultivation, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
Under this scheme, 1,150 projects covering 5 million hectares have been sanctioned across all states and union territories, including Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, with a total cost of Rs 12,303.32 crore. To date, Rs 4,548.70 crore in central assistance has been disbursed, and the projects are set to continue until March 2026, with all of them in various stages of implementation.
The livestock population in India increased from 306.60 million in 1956 to 536.76 million in 2019, marking a rise of over 75 per cent in 63 years. The population of cattle and buffaloes combined grew by approximately 49 per cent during the same period, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying, told the Lok Sabha.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (Phase I), 101.4 million individual household latrines were built between 2014-2015 and 2019-2020, Kamlesh Paswan, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Rural Development, told the Lok Sabha. In Phase II, 16 million toilets have been constructed over the past four years. Toilet provisioning is thus a continuous, demand-driven process.
Similarly, under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, 6.37 million individual household latrines and 636,000 community and public toilets have been constructed, exceeding their respective targets. Additionally, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, 5.68 million toilets have been built so far, the minister stated.
The National Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Risk Mitigation Project has been approved for implementation in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand with a financial outlay of Rs 150 crore, Nityanand Rai, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, told the Lok Sabha.
Of this, Rs 135 crore is allocated from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund, while the states will contribute Rs 15 crore. On November 13, 2024, the first instalments of Rs 1.83 crore and Rs 8.35 crore were released to Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, respectively.