All that was discussed in the House through the day
5,191 more fire stations are required by the country
India does not have adequate number of fire stations, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed Parliament.
According to data presented by him in the Rajya Sabha, the country has just 3,377 fire stations as against the 8,559 required to fight fires in the buildings. Maharashtra has just 157 against 1,054 required by it.
No new red clay brick kilns within 300 km of thermal power plants
No new red clay brick kilns shall be installed and operated within 300 kilometres (km) from thermal power plants, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar told Parliament.
Gangwar quoted the draft amendment to fly ash notification dated February 25, 2019. He made the statement in response to a question on banning red clay brick kilns.
90% of target met under Ujjwala
More than 7.23 crore connections have been provided to poor families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) against the target of 8 crore connections.
While stating this, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan added that Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 64,76,981 connections, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 31,30,613 connections.
A sum of 12,800 crore has been earmarked for the PMUY scheme.
No guidelines in Smart Cities Mission to rehabilitate slum dwellers
Under the Smart Cities Mission, no specific guidelines for acquiring land on which to rehabilitate slum dwellers have been issued, Parliament was told. This, even as 27 out of the selected 100 cities have proposed a total of 41 slum redevelopment projects at an estimated cost of Rs 3,797 crore.
Expedite construction of approved houses under PMAY (U)
States and union territories (UTs) have been requested to expedite the construction of approved houses so that construction of all houses may be completed by 2022, stated Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry Of Housing And Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri. This was in response to a question on the slow progress made under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
Based on the project proposals received so far from the States/UTs, a total of 81,03,196 houses have been approved under the PMAY(U), out of which 47,57,987 are at various stages of construction and 26,07,913 are completed, Puri told the Rajya Sabha.
57% of India’s land is vulnerable to earthquakes
According to the third edition of the Vulnerability Atlas of India, nearly 57 per cent of land in the country is vulnerable to earthquakes of varying intensities, 18 per cent is vulnerable to high wind velocity and seven per cent of land vulnerable to floods.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed Parliament the Atlas was a tool to natural disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation for housing and related infrastructure.
However, there was no specific mechanism to avoid disaster before its occurrence. But, there were well-established institutional mechanisms at the national, state and district levels for effective management of natural disasters in India.
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