Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has started construction work on Darawat dam and Nai Gaj dam in Sindh province.

THE state government seems to be spending double the amount it has estimated on irrigation projects for the last three years.

In a significant development indicating a sub-regional strategic alliance, Nepal, India and Bangladesh (NIB) have decided to join hands to cooperate and exploit the hydropower sector and use water resources management for mutual advantage, including jointly developing and financing projects in the Ganga river basin.

Indicating its seriousness to give a boost to this initiative, India has already approved the composition of a working group on water and power that will coordinate with Bangladesh and Nepal.

Amid fresh concerns in Bangladesh over the construction of two proposed dams in Meghalaya, State Power Minister Clement Marak said on Wednesday that construction of the hydropower projects would no

SHILLONG: With just only 10 MW power production during the lean period, the Opposition on Wednesday demanded a white paper on the status of the Myntdu-Leshka hydro-electric project completed at the cost of over Rs 1000 crore.

Ardent Basaiawmoit (HSPDP) raised a question in the Assembly on the status of the hydel project. Opposition members Paul Lyngdoh and Dr Donkupar Roy also wanted to know whether the project is viable considering the cost incurred for the project.

Relief to farmers hurt by Ajit Pawar’s remark

Even if Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar responded to the demand for water in Solapur in crude terms, the Bombay High Court has stepped in to give relief to farmers in the parched district in western Maharashtra.
The court on Tuesday asked the State government to release water from upstream reservoirs to the Ujani dam which is bone dry. On a public interest litigation petition, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M.S. Sanklecha directed that as much water as possible be released within 24 hours.

State Authority, Affected People Not Consulted

Mumbai: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar might have apologized for his callous “urinating-in-the-dam” statement that belittled the tragedy of Maharashtra’s farmers facing the worst drought in decades. But his apathy for them predates the blunder by years.
Between 2003 and 2011, as the water resources minister and then finance minister, Pawar chaired or partook in a high-powered committee that diverted almost 2,000 million cubic metre (mcm) of water meant for irrigation to industries.

Mumbai: Even as politicians are busy criticizing Ajit Pawar’s jeering comment on drought, water stocks in all the dams in Marathwada touched the lowest level ever on Tuesday.

Going by the information released by the water resources department on Tuesday, stock in all the dams in the entire Marathwada region stood at 8% of the total count, compared to 18% the same day last year and 42% the year before that.

Jayalalithaa seeks Manmohan's intervention

As Karnataka is planning to construct a dam across Thenpennar, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to stop the project. Responding to a calling attention motion, PWD Minister K.V. Ramalingam said the Chief Minister had also asked the Prime Minister to ensure that Karnataka was not allowed to implement any project without the knowledge of Tamil Nadu.

PANJIM: Water Resources Minister Dayanand Mandrekar admitted and regretted that powers to grant or deny No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to constructions within the command area of Tillari, Anjunem and Selaulim were withdrawn from the Water Resources Department since 2006.

Mandrekar also promised to activate the Command Area Development Authorities (CADAs) of all the irrigation projects in the State. Replying to the discussion on demands for grants to the Water Resources Department, the minister said that the powers were revoked by the Town and Country Planning Department in 2006.