Shimla, July 31 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted forest clearance to Stage-II of the 450 MW Shontong Karchham Hydro Electric Project in Kinnaur district.

The clearance of around 85 bighas, which had been pending since 2018, was essential for the construction of the project.

“The persistent efforts of the state have played a crucial role in achieving this milestone. This land was needed for the construction of the barrage, essential for completing the project. The clearance under the Forest Conservation Act had been pending with the Union Ministry for a long time, but the state government diligently worked to secure the necessary approval from the Centre,” Sukhu said in a statement.

The Chief Minister also added that the Stage-I clearance was initially granted by the Union Ministry on March 19.

Following this, the state government submitted a compliance report addressing the conditions stipulated for the in-principle approval and subsequently requested the Centre for final approval.

He said the construction work of 450 MW Shongtong Karchham Hydro Electric Project, which was awarded in 2012, is expected to be completed by November 2026.

“In preparation for the commencement of power generation, a transmission line is also being laid. The tender process for this transmission line has been initiated to ensure its timely completion, to avoid financial losses to the state,” the Chief Minister added.

He said it was important to harness hydropower along with other renewable energy sources, as power sector was the two key area to bolster the economy of the state and the Shontong Karchham Hydro Electric Project would significantly boost the state’s power generation capacity and contribute to its economic growth.

The Chief Minister added that apart from this, the state government has also laid special focus on promoting green industry in Himachal Pradesh by initiating initiatives, enabling it to contribute to the state’s economy.

–IANS

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Chandigarh, July 31 (IANS) Gulab Chand Kataria was sworn in as the 37th Governor of Punjab on Wednesday.

Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Sheel Nagu, administered the oath of office to Kataria at the Raj Bhavan here.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann were present on the occasion.

Kataria took the oath in Hindi. He signed the oath form that was counter-signed by the Chief Justice. Later, Kataria signed separate charge reports, both as Governor of Punjab and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Earlier, the Governor designate arrived at the Guru Nanak Dev Auditorium of the Raj Bhavan in a ceremonial procession.

He was accompanied by the Chief Justice. Chief Secretary Anurag Verma sought permission to start the ceremony and read out the warrants of appointment of Kataria as the Governor.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 31 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Wednesday that he insisted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene to implement the ambitious Mekedatu project, which will ensure drinking water to IT city Bengaluru and surrounding regions.

While answering a query on the Mekedatu project in Delhi, he added that Prime Minister Modi inquired about the rains in Karnataka.

“I informed him (PM Modi) about the rains. Later, Prime Minister Modi asked us (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) to sit together and settle the issue. But, I told him that until the Centre intervenes it will be difficult,” Shivakumar said.

“I have informed him (PM Modi) about Karnataka releasing 80 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water whereas the stipulated quantity was 40 TMC. I have informed you that we have no objection to Tamil Nadu using water and utilising it which is flowing into the sea. Prime Minister Modi promised that he would re-examine it. The Prime Minister also conveyed that it is best if both the states resolve the matter by themselves. Let’s see, he has promised to convene a meeting in this regard,” the Deputy Chief Minister added.

“I have also informed the Prime Minister that convening one meeting would resolve the Mahadei project as the contentious issue is quite small,” Shivakumar said.

“Nearly 2.25 lakh cusecs of water has been released to Tamil Nadu from the reservoirs in Karnataka. This is the first time such a huge quantity of water has been released from the Cauvery catchment area. From Wednesday, the inflow has been reduced and 1.75 lakh cusecs of water is released,” he added.

“We have announced a red alert in the state. The water is also coming from Kerala to Kabini River and KRS reservoirs and we are releasing it to Tamil Nadu without storing. We were supposed to release 40 TMC of water. However, till now, Karnataka has released 80 TMC of water,” he said.

“We are appealing to the people on the banks of the rivers and catchment region not to venture within a radius of 1 km of the river in the state,” Shivakumar added.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday summoned the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and Investigating Officer (IO) over the deaths of three UPSC aspirants in the city’s Old Rajendra Nagar on July 27.

A Bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Manmohan was hearing a PIL seeking the constitution of a high-level committee to enquire into the incident wherein three UPSC aspirants died in a basement following heavy rain.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, raised eyebrows over the “freebie culture”, observing that the city government was left with no money to upgrade infrastructure.

It remarked, “You have to decide on this freebie culture. There is a population of 3.3 crore people in this city whereas it was planned for 6-7 lakh people. How do you plan to accommodate so many people without upgrading infra?”

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court agreed to a urgent hearing of the PIL on Wednesday.

ACJ Manmohan assured advocate Rudra Vikram Singh, who appeared on behalf of the PIL litigant and mentioned the plea for an urgent hearing, that the matter will be listed on Wednesday.

The PIL said that due to “huge corruption” in public departments many people have been losing their lives for years and the national Capital has faced many terrible and scary incidents in the past few years.

“In Delhi, more than 50 per cent of the commercial buildings are running in an illegal manner and many of them are running in residential areas that, too, without having any proper approval and clearances, and the respondents (authorities) are well aware of their illegal functioning but are allowing them just for the sake of some bribery amount,” it said.

The plea said that the right to die with dignity is also a Fundamental Right like the right to life with dignity as provided by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, however, the Delhi authorities failed to provide life with dignity or at least the right to die with dignity to the citizens and people are dying because of their “negligence”.

It may be recalled that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday formed a committee to enquire into the incident that claimed three lives in the national Capital.

The committee, comprising the Additional Secretary (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs), Principal Secretary (Home) Delhi, Special Commissioner of Delhi Police, Fire Advisor, and the Joint Secretary (MHA), will submit its report within 30 days.

On Saturday evening, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar area, which was being used illegally as a library.

The incident trapped 17 other students for several hours, highlighting the dire safety issues in these establishments.

The basement of the coaching centre was used as a library in violation of the rules since the space was allowed to be used only for parking and storage purposes.

–IANS

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Chennai, July 31 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government opened the Kallanai Dam and released the water in the delta districts of the state on Wednesday.

State Ministers K.N. Nehru, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, C. Meyyanathan and TRB Raaja along with collectors of the 11 delta districts of the state operated the sluice gates of the reservoir and released water into the Cauvery.

Initially, 1,500 cusecs of water were released into Cauvery; 1,000 cusecs into Vennaru and 400 cusecs into the Kollidam River.

The water released is expected to augment the irrigation of Kuruvai paddy which is already cultivated using ground water and to fill 925 system tanks spread over in 11 districts.

The ministers, officials and farmers gathered at Kallanai also showered flower petals, and paddy seeds on the water gushing out from the regulators.

Special poojas were held in the Anjaneyar temple located at the bed of Kollidam river, Adhi Vinayakar temple in the park and Karuppannasamy temple on the banks of Cauvery.

“The water will be used for cultivating 7.95 lakh acres of samba paddy besides supplementing irrigation of Kuruvai paddy crop already cultivated using groundwater,” said Municipal Administration Minister K.N. Nehru.

Cauvery water was released from Mettur on July 28th, instead of the customary date of June 12, due to the non-availability of adequate water in Mettur.

–IANS

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