<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Mahesh Chandra Saxena Vs Central Pollution Control Board & Others dated 24/04/2024.</p> <p>The matter related to rain water harvesting systems
Despite much talk of Delhi making the transition from
The health ministry is planning an emergency mop-up operation that will vaccinate three lakh children living in and around Kirti Nagar against polio to contain further spread of the deadly P1 strain of the virus in Delhi. The decision was taken after the country's first PI strain of wild polio virus sprung up this year from Darbangia Colony in Kirti Nagar. Since this is the first P1 polio case in Delhi after August 2006, which had made officials declare the city free of the virus last year, shocked state polio eradication experts have now identified 2,500 high risk clusters, mostly occupied by migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
The Delhi government is planning to go to the Supreme Court to seek a direction to the Haryana government for releasing adequate water from Tajewala so that the Yamuna reaches an optimum level in the national Capital. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that neighbouring state governments were aware of Delhi's problem. Thousands of people come from various states. There is pressure of civic amenities and water supply of the Capital. Still some times Uttar Pradesh reduces water supply to Sonia Vihar and some times Haryana. Now the government will approach the Supreme Court to get its share of water, she said. Two water treatment plants
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said her government would soon provide better sewer facilities to about 200 villages in the Capital. Dikshit, who is also the Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), said the jal board would build 58 underground reservoirs, including 28 in east Delhi, in the Capital by 2009. The Chief Minister, who was laying the foundation stone for a 58 lakh litre capacity underground reservoir at Narela in west Delhi, said the DJB has commissioned a city-wide study, which has created a workable model to commission 109 reservoirs by 2011. "The total cost of construction of the reservoir is about Rs 782 lakh and this work is likely to be completed in 12 months. The reservoirs will improve availability and ensure pressure of water in various parts of Delhi,' Dikshit said. The reservoir would get water from Ranney wells and tube wells at Palla, jal board officials said. After this reservoir is commissioned, about 1.15 lakh people will benefit with augmented water supply at adequate pressure in Singhola, Singhu, Hamidpur, Bankuli and Khampur, the officials said. "At least 25 underground reservoirs need to be built at various locations to rationalise the distribution of water in north, west, north-west, south-west and central Delhi. The DJB has already approved a scheme at an approximate cost of Rs 263 crore to construct 14 underground reservoirs and Booster Pumping Stations (BPS) at various locations in the Capital,' Dikshit said. East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, local MLA Charan Singh Kandera, Councillor Sharad Chauhan, CEO (DJB) Arun Mathur were also present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.
Officials with the National Polio Surveillance Programme today said the first polio case detected in the Capital this year could have come from Bihar. The 14-month-old Baby Gulnaaz from Kirti Nagar was detected with the P1 strain poliovirus, known for its propensity to cause large outbreaks. According to government records, Gulnaaz was taken to Moti Nagar Colony Hospital on February 15 when it was found that her right limb was immobile. "She had high fever and investigations confirmed that she has polio. Though we are yet to do any genetic analysis, it seems that that the virus has travelled from Bihar,' said a senior official with the National Polio Surveillance Programme. Till date this year, 106 polio cases have been isolated in India but all of them have been P3 strains. This is the first P1 polio case in Delhi after August 2006. The neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad and Faridabad have been put on high alert, the official said. "If such a case is reported from an area, what follows is an immunisation drive. The government will try to do that as soon as possible,' a Delhi government official said. In the present case, the patient is a resident of Darbhanga jhuggis, a slum populated mostly by migrant labourers from Bihar. Officials said Gulnaaz was administered 11 doses of polio vaccine in the last two national immunisation rounds in January and February this year. While Delhi recorded seven cases of polio P1 virus in 2006, the state government had last year, claimed the Capital was free of the P1 virus. However, there has been an outbreak of the dreaded P1 virus in Bihar this year with 83 cases being reported from the state. Gulnaaz's family reportedly came to the Capital from Bihar six months back. With focus on the polio scare in the country, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram allocated Rs 1,042 crore for a revised strategy on the crippling disease. India recorded 864 cases in 2007 as against 676 cases the previous year. The poliovirus enters the body through the mouth when people eat food or drink water contaminated with faeces. The virus then multiplies in the intestine, enters the bloodstream and may invade certain types of nerve cells, which it can damage or destroy.
Frazzled by the frequent disruptions in the supply of water meant for the Capital, the Delhi Jal Board wants the Centre to step in and ensure that Haryana sticks to the terms of water sharing agreement signed by the two States. Delhi and Haryana have been at loggerheads over the sharing of Yamuna waters and the recurrent reduction in the city's share over the past few months has brought matters to a boil. Options DJB officials say with most options already exhausted, the Board is now exploring the possibility of getting the Centre to establish a central monitoring mechanism that will act as a referee. "Our officials have been communicating with their counterparts in Haryana, we have already brought the issue to the attention of the Chief Secretary Haryana, written to the Central Water Commission and the Upper Yamuna River Board and even sent a legal notice with regard to the violation of agreement on providing water for the Nangloi plant,' said Arun Mathur, the Chief Executive Officer of the Board. A central monitoring mechanism he explained "would help in keeping a check on the flow of water between Haryana and Delhi.' "A neutral party that will keep an eye on the sharing of water will be able to alert both the States as soon as it observes a dip in the water levels of the Yamuna. We are only asking Haryana to abide by the agreement that has been signed and give Delhi its legitimate share of water,' he said. Mr. Mathur said while the Board is hopeful of getting Haryana to release the scheduled quantum of water, it wants to rule out any possibility of water shortage during the coming summer months. VIP areas Many parts of the city including the VIP areas have been witnessing water shortage for the past few days. Production of water at Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants has reduced following a cut in the water supplied by Haryana.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi, has written to Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz drawing his attention to the Capital's water woes and demanding proper allocation of the Yamuna waters. He has urged the Union Minister to convene a meeting of the Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to discuss the issue of water sharing and to evolve a strategy to ensure that all States get their allocated share. Referring to the 1994 agreement on water sharing among Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, and the decision to construct a pucca canal for carrying water from Haryana to Delhi, the BJP leader said the Congress Government had failed to ensure timely construction of that canal. "The Delhi Government was directed to get the pucca Munak canal constructed, through which water would reach Delhi from Tajewala. It is a matter of concern that in spite of the lapse of 12 years the canal has not been constructed,' the letter stated. Pointing out that almost a third of Delhi is deprived of potable water today, Prof. Mukhi said the recent reduction in water supply had compounded the woes of the people. Cautioning that the ground water level in the Capital was fast depleting, Prof. Mukhi said at some places the level had reached a precarious stage. Seeking Prof. Soz's intervention, Prof. Mukhi said the Centre should find a solution to the water crisis in the Capital, which had become a perennial problem. The letter also referred to the flow of sewage into the Yamuna, which is making the process of river cleaning impossible despite a huge amount of money being spent on the cleaning works.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced on Saturday that her Government would soon provide sewer facilities in about 200 villages of the Capital to ensure facilities at par with the other approved colonies. Laying the foundation stone of a new 58-lakh-litre capacity underground reservoir and booster pumping station at Narela, Ms. Dikshit, who is also Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, said the Board would construct 58 underground reservoirs by 2009, of which 28 would be in East Delhi. Asserting that the Delhi Government was committed to providing drinking water supply to rural areas, she said a comprehensive plan had been chalked out for this purpose. "The Delhi Jal Board has commissioned a city-wide study with a planning perspective of 2011. This study had created a workable model to commission 109 reservoirs. "This would go a long way in improving availability and ensuring pressure of water in various parts of Delhi,' she added. East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, local MLA Charan Singh Kandera, Councillor Sharad Chauhan and Delhi Jal Board Chief Executive Officer Arun Mathur were among those present at the function. Ms. Dikshit said in order to rationalise water distribution in North Delhi, West Delhi, North-West Delhi, South-West Delhi and Central Delhi, 25 underground reservoir and booster pumping stations would be constructed at various locations.
This year's first P1 wild polio virus strain has been isolated in Delhi. Fourteen-month-old Gulnaz from Darbangia colony in Kirti Nagar area is the victim. Daughter of a rickshawpuller, the girl's family migrated from Bihar just six months ago. She was supposedly administered 10 doses of oral polio vaccine in the last two national immunization rounds in January and February this year. Till now this year, 106 polio cases have been isolated in India but all of them have been P3 strains. This is the first P1 polio case in Delhi after August 2006. P1 has been India's major enemy with the global advisory committee on polio giving top priority to its eradication. The Union health ministry successfully contained its spread in 2007 with just 36 cases. For the first time since 1999, the number of P3 cases had outnumbered the number of infections caused by P1 strain. P1 travels faster and infects more children, which is why the emphasis was on eradicating type 1 first. P3 is a very slow moving virus with low virulence. P1 causes paralysis in one out of every 200 children, as compared to P3, which causes paralysis in one out of every 1,000 infections. Health ministry sources told TOI that a polio vaccination round is scheduled to take place in Delhi this month. But states can undertake an emergency mopup operation whenever a P1 strain crops up. Polio has been crippling India, with 864 cases in 2007 compared to 676 cases in 2006. This made finance minister P Chidambaram allocate Rs 1,042 crore just for polio in the Union Budget for 2008-09, most of which will be spent to contain the virus in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar, which reported 193 fresh cases of the crippling disease in 2007, has been exporting polio strains across India. An alarmed health ministry has now marked 72 blocks in Bihar as high risk. These blocks or the ones adjacent to them accounted for three-fourths of the total polio cases in the state in the past five years. In 2007, 90% of P1 cases were found in these blocks. According to experts, polio immunisation activities are being intensified in these blocks. A special immunization drive was conducted on January 13 in these 72 blocks. A ministry official told TOI:
The Delhi government would provide sewer facilities in over 200 villages of the Capital. Chief Minister and chairperson of Delhi Jal Board Sheila Dikshit announced this during the foundation ceremony of a boaster pumping station at Narela. Over Rs 782 lakh would be spent on the construction of Narela underground reservoir. The work is likely to be completed in 12 months. Expressing the government's commitment to provide water supply in rural areas of the Capital, Dikshit said, "By 2009, 58 underground reservoirs would be constructed in the Capital. Out of these, 28 would be constructed in East Delhi.' The Delhi Jal Board has approved of Rs 263.00 crores for the construction of 14 underground reservoirs. Sandeep Dikshit, MP from East Delhi, expressed his gratitude towards the Chief Minister for the all-round development of the Capital during the last nine years. Area MLA Charan Singh Kandera also thanked the Chief Minister for approving the commissioning of 58-ML capacity underground reservoir in the area.
