The West Bengal government has
introduced a water pricing policy for
affluent users and industries.
Accordingly, they will not only have
to pay the operation and maintenance
costs of running a water supply system, but also help the municipalities
generate a surplus.
Urban Environmental Maps of Shimla, a report prepared by the Academy for
Mountain Environics, Dehra Dun,
was recently released in Shimla. The
report will help identify specific programmes to deal with the serious
problems of water supply and solid waste management.
A global observation and research
workstation to be set up in Pune in a
couple of months will help India contribute to global research by identifying ozone layer depletion in the country. The centre is being established
with the assistance of the Instituto
Nacional De Tecnica Aerospacial of
Spain, a leading research centre in
atmospheric sciences.
According to a report on the drought
situation in Madhya Pradesh, almost
all 45 districts in the state are likely
to face water scarcity conditions
in the summer season this year.
About 6i,000 villages spread over 24
districts are already facing a severe
water crisis.
With a view to regulating the
removal, storage and transplant of
human organs for medical purposes
and preventing their commercial
dealings, the Jammu and
Kashmir
government passed the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1997,
last month.
A bill drafted by the Union government aims at setting up a central
energy conservation authority to
manage the conservation of electrical
and fossil fuel energy. The proposed
authority will be a central body with
coordinating agencies at the state
level. The bill also includes provisions
for the constitution of an energy conservation fund.
Assam has witnessed a sharp increase
in the number of tuberculosis (TB)
patients in recent years. According to
state health department figures, there
are now more than 82,000 TB patients
in the state. In 1995-96, around
20,619 new cases were detected, while
140 people had died of TB.
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