All that was discussed in the House through the day
Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) has been mandated to prepare and periodically update comprehensive master plans for flood management in the Ganga basin, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, minister for jal shakti (water resources), told the Lok Sabha.
These comprehensive master plans are shared with the concerned states for preparing specific schemes. GFCC has prepared comprehensive plans for 23 river systems in Ganga Basin, including the Kiul-Harohar sub-basin.
The recommendations for addressing water logging in the Mokama Taal area in Patna district, Bihar, have been included in the comprehensive master plan for the Kiul-Harohar sub-basin.
“State Government of Bihar has informed that no agency has been engaged by them for preparation of master plan of Ganga Basin,” the minister said.
The Central Electricity Authority issued renovation and modernisation (R&M) guidelines in February 2020 to promote renovation, modernisation and life extension (LE) in coal-based thermal units, RK Singh, minister of power, told the Lok Sabha.
R&M/LE have been completed in 35 hydro units from 2017-2022.
All regions with groundwater contaminated by arsenic and fluoride have been provided access to safe drinking water, Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of state for jal shakti, told the Lok Sabha.
As of August 7, 2023, of 1.68 million rural pockets suffering from arsenic and fluoride pollution, 17,207 habitations face issues around drinking water, Patel added.
Nearly 90 cities monitored under National Clean Air Programme have shown improvement in air quality, Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), told the Rajya Sabha.
These cities have shown improvement in annual PM 10 concentrations in 2022-23 compared to the baseline 2017-18.
MoEFCC does not issue licences for the export of exotic birds, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state in MoEFCC, told the Rajya Sabha.
The Indian Tariff Code prohibits the exports of live exotic birds except for the following species: Albino budgerigars, budgerigars, Bengali finches, white finches, zebra finches and jawa sparrows (restricted).
MoEFCC notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules in November 2022. These rules replace E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, effective April 1, 2023.
The rules were notified for properly managing e-waste generated from electrical equipment, including solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, panels, or cells. These rules mandate every manufacturer and producer of solar PV modules or panels or cells to obtain registration and maintain an inventory, among others, Choubey told the Rajya Sabha.
According to the Action Plan for the Introduction of Cheetah in India, the estimated project cost for the first phase is Rs. 91.65 crore, Choubey told the Rajya Sabha.
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