JAMMU: The Government has decided to develop six mini hydel projects in the State with a cumulative capacity of 9.95 MWs under Independent Power Producers (IPP) mode.

Minister of State for Science and Technology, Feroz Ahmad Khan approved the proposal to this effect today. These six projects have been taken up under the first phase among the 108 identified projects across the State for which the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) has already prepared the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).

The Nationals and Greens encourage the PM's Warragamba dam plan, but disagree on moves to expand the policy nationwide.

ITANAGAR: The denizens of Miya village under Lower Subansiri district for whom continuous electric supply was a distant dream, have at last heaved a sigh of relief from erratic power supply with the commissioning of the Pico hydro electric power project.

The two kilowatt project was formally commissioned by Arunachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (APEDA) director Marki Loya on Saturday last, an official communique informed here today.

The Gujarat government on Tuesday tabled an irrigation Bill in the Assembly which seeks to make it compulsory for farmers to get a licence to draw water from canal or ground well beyond a certain limit and prescribes penal action, including imprisonment, against the errant farmers.

The Bill also seeks to charge farmers for irrigation water reaching any cultivated land within 200 metres of a canal either by percolation or leakage, surface flow or by means of a well-sunk from the canal.

Hundreds of oustees affected by the Kol Dam project from the districts of Mandi, Shimla and Solan, besides Bilaspur, held a demonstration in the town today.

They carried banners and placards displaying their demands and raised slogans against the Kol Dam management of the NTPC and the district administration. They alleged that both had collaborated in trying to end forcefully their peaceful agitation and the latter had tried to vitiate the atmosphere at the dam site.

Kolhapur: A fresh study of the earthquake-prone areas in the Koyna-Warna reservoir area is under way. A team of scientists from the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, has arrived here and is expected to study the areas where seismic activity has been prevalent at low or medium intensity.

The scientists will use the Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and photographic data acquisition and processing system for geomorphological and structural studies. The one-month study will focus on the tectonic activities around the Warna and Koyna dams.

About 20 years after the state introduced drip and micro-irrigation system to check the depleting water table, the Department of Soil and Water Conservation (DSCW) claimed of covering over 25,000 h

Seeking to bring around Bangladesh to support the construction of two dams in Meghalaya, India is considering offering a stake in the two projects.

BHUBANESWAR: To meet the growing demand for energy in the state, the Odisha government is planning to set up 12 new medium and major hydro power projects, which can generate 2,000 MW of electricity. Besides, survey work for 600 MW pumped storage project at Upper Indravati has also started.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced this here on Thursday while inaugurating the global seminar on 'Hydro Power and Sustainable Development' being held under the joint aegis of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP), New Delhi, and IIT, Roorkee. He said, "We are trying to have a positive mix of hydro and thermal power sources with more emphasis on the former."