ALLAHABAD: Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking preservation of underground water and implementation of the rainwater harvesting system, the Allahabad high court on Wednesday directed the district magistrate, Allahabad and vice chairman of Allahabad Development Authority to set up an inquiry committee and submit a report before the court on May 28. The committee will submit a report on the underground water crisis at Allahabad and also the implementation of rainwater harvesting system.
The above order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice Dilip Gupta and Justice Suneet Kumar on a PIL filed by the team of law interns working with the Human Rights Law Network, Allahabad Adarsh Srivastava and others.
The petitioners' counsel Smriti Kartikeya assisted by Vishal Kashyap argued that underground water is fast going down in the city and as a result, there is going to be a serious problem of underground water in the city in future.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Allahabad-high-court-orders-inquiry-into-underground-water-crisis/articleshow/34148071.cms
Friday, 25 April 2014
Severe water crisis grips Imphal
drying up owing to scanty rainfall, Imphal valley is witnessing a mad rush for potable water even as the government is contemplating pumping water from the Loktak lake in Bishnupur district to combat the growing crisis.
Water levels in Singda dam, Imphal and Iril rivers, which provide drinking water to the state capital after being routed through several treatment plants, have drastically decreased, compelling the state public health engineering department (PHED) to cut down on the normal supply rate of drinking water.
Imphal residents are coughing up Rs 1,000 for 5,000 litres of water from private suppliers. Despite paying such exorbitant rates, residents are being forced to wait for a couple of days for the water to reach them, with demand overtaking supply.
"After waiting for two days, I purchased 5,000 litres of water from a private supplier today. But this will last only for a week and I have already booked for the next delivery," said SG Sharma, an Imphal resident on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Rs 1,000 would have fetched 12,000 litres of water, he added.
Doubts remain about the quality of water being sold by private companies as no government agency has checked whether it is suitable for human consumption.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Severe-water-crisis-grips-Imphal/articleshow/34144729.cms
Water levels in Singda dam, Imphal and Iril rivers, which provide drinking water to the state capital after being routed through several treatment plants, have drastically decreased, compelling the state public health engineering department (PHED) to cut down on the normal supply rate of drinking water.
Imphal residents are coughing up Rs 1,000 for 5,000 litres of water from private suppliers. Despite paying such exorbitant rates, residents are being forced to wait for a couple of days for the water to reach them, with demand overtaking supply.
"After waiting for two days, I purchased 5,000 litres of water from a private supplier today. But this will last only for a week and I have already booked for the next delivery," said SG Sharma, an Imphal resident on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Rs 1,000 would have fetched 12,000 litres of water, he added.
Doubts remain about the quality of water being sold by private companies as no government agency has checked whether it is suitable for human consumption.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Severe-water-crisis-grips-Imphal/articleshow/34144729.cms
On Bangalore outskirts, water price doubles
BANGALORE: Water is GS Ramanna's biggest headache. The 65-year-old resident of Sidedahalli, north-west Bangalore, buys water from private operators who supply through tankers. Ramanna's water bill has doubled in the past 12 months. He paid Rs 250-300 for a tankerful of water, about 4,000 litres, last year; he shells out Rs 600 now. And summer demand will push prices higher.
Ramanna says: "Cauvery water is still a distant dream. The groundwater level has fallen to 1,100 feet. Those who dig borewells get contaminated water. Supply through BWSSB tankers is just once a week."
Amrutha G Katte of Channasandra in the Mahadevapura zone says residents depend on private tankers despite exorbitant rates. "Those who can't afford tankers buy water in pots. A pot costs Rs 3-5. We are in no man's land. While erstwhile panchayat representatives are not bothered because we are not their voters, the corporators are yet to connect with our problems. We don't come under the erstwhile CMCs either."
Private suppliers have jacked up rates because the demand is high. Ramesh S of Siddalingeshwara Water Supply in the Byatarayanapura zone says: "If the destination is close by, we charge Rs 350-400. As the distance increases, the rate goes up."
The 110 villages (covering 225 sqkm) added to Greater Bangalore are spread across different zones: Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Dasarahalli. The IT City tag holds no meaning for them because they lack one of the most basic facilities.
Of the 490 borewells maintained by the BWSSB, 169 have been declared contaminated; the level of dissolved solids in them has crossed the permissible 500 mg/litre. Eighty other borewells are defunct. Water from the remaining 241 borewells is just not enough.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/On-Bangalore-outskirts-water-price-doubles/articleshow/34132760.cms
Ramanna says: "Cauvery water is still a distant dream. The groundwater level has fallen to 1,100 feet. Those who dig borewells get contaminated water. Supply through BWSSB tankers is just once a week."
Amrutha G Katte of Channasandra in the Mahadevapura zone says residents depend on private tankers despite exorbitant rates. "Those who can't afford tankers buy water in pots. A pot costs Rs 3-5. We are in no man's land. While erstwhile panchayat representatives are not bothered because we are not their voters, the corporators are yet to connect with our problems. We don't come under the erstwhile CMCs either."
Private suppliers have jacked up rates because the demand is high. Ramesh S of Siddalingeshwara Water Supply in the Byatarayanapura zone says: "If the destination is close by, we charge Rs 350-400. As the distance increases, the rate goes up."
The 110 villages (covering 225 sqkm) added to Greater Bangalore are spread across different zones: Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Dasarahalli. The IT City tag holds no meaning for them because they lack one of the most basic facilities.
Of the 490 borewells maintained by the BWSSB, 169 have been declared contaminated; the level of dissolved solids in them has crossed the permissible 500 mg/litre. Eighty other borewells are defunct. Water from the remaining 241 borewells is just not enough.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/On-Bangalore-outskirts-water-price-doubles/articleshow/34132760.cms
Saturday, 12 April 2014
New technique converts astronaut pee into fuel, drinking water
LONDON: Researchers are developing a technique that can convert human waste aboard space stations into fuel and much-needed drinking water that would otherwise have to be delivered from earth at a tremendous cost. Space organisations have been pondering over the challenge of what to do with astronaut pee, other than ejecting it into space.
Researchers Eduardo Nicolau and Carlos Cabrera from the University of Puerto Rico and NASA'S Ames Research Centre point out that human waste on long-term journeys into space makes up about half of a mission's total waste. Recycling it is critical to keeping a clean environment for astronauts, especially when onboard water supplies run low.
Previous research has shown a wastewater treatment process called forward osmosis in combination with a fuel cell can generate power. Nicolau's team decided to build on these initial findings to meet the challenges of dealing with urine in space. They collected urine and shower wastewater and processed it using forward osmosis, a way to filter contaminants from urea, a major component of urine and water.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/New-technique-converts-astronaut-pee-into-fuel-drinking-water/articleshow/33581681.cms
Researchers Eduardo Nicolau and Carlos Cabrera from the University of Puerto Rico and NASA'S Ames Research Centre point out that human waste on long-term journeys into space makes up about half of a mission's total waste. Recycling it is critical to keeping a clean environment for astronauts, especially when onboard water supplies run low.
Previous research has shown a wastewater treatment process called forward osmosis in combination with a fuel cell can generate power. Nicolau's team decided to build on these initial findings to meet the challenges of dealing with urine in space. They collected urine and shower wastewater and processed it using forward osmosis, a way to filter contaminants from urea, a major component of urine and water.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/New-technique-converts-astronaut-pee-into-fuel-drinking-water/articleshow/33581681.cms
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Moon may not have much water
LOS ANGELES: The amount of water present on the Moon may have been overestimated by scientists studying the lunar rock samples, a new study has claimed.
Researchers led by Jeremy Boyce from the University of California - Los Angeles created a computer model to accurately predict how mineral apatite would have crystallized from cooling bodies of lunar magma early in the Moon's history.
Their simulations showed that the unusually hydrogen-rich apatite crystals observed in many lunar rock samples may not have formed within a water-rich environment, as was originally expected.
This discovery has overturned the long-held assumption that the hydrogen in apatite is a good indicator of overall lunar water content.
"The mineral apatite is the most widely used method for estimating the amount of water in lunar rocks, but it cannot be trusted," said Boyce.
"Our new results show that there is not as much water in lunar magma as apatite would have us believe," said Boyce.
For decades, scientists believed the Moon was almost entirely devoid of water.
However, the discovery of hydrogen-rich apatite within lunar rocks in 2010 seemed to hint at a more watery past.
Scientists originally assumed that information obtained from a small sample of apatite could predict the original water content of a large body of magma, or even the entire Moon, but Boyce's study indicates that apatite may, in fact, be deceptive.
Boyce believes the high water content within lunar apatite results from a quirk in the crystallisation process rather than a water-rich lunar environment.
When water is present as molten rock cools, apatite can form by incorporating hydrogen atoms into its crystal structure.
However, hydrogen will be included in the newly crystallising mineral only if apatite's preferred building blocks, fluorine and chlorine, have been mostly exhausted.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Moon-may-not-have-much-water/articleshow/33140979.cms
Researchers led by Jeremy Boyce from the University of California - Los Angeles created a computer model to accurately predict how mineral apatite would have crystallized from cooling bodies of lunar magma early in the Moon's history.
Their simulations showed that the unusually hydrogen-rich apatite crystals observed in many lunar rock samples may not have formed within a water-rich environment, as was originally expected.
This discovery has overturned the long-held assumption that the hydrogen in apatite is a good indicator of overall lunar water content.
"The mineral apatite is the most widely used method for estimating the amount of water in lunar rocks, but it cannot be trusted," said Boyce.
"Our new results show that there is not as much water in lunar magma as apatite would have us believe," said Boyce.
For decades, scientists believed the Moon was almost entirely devoid of water.
However, the discovery of hydrogen-rich apatite within lunar rocks in 2010 seemed to hint at a more watery past.
Scientists originally assumed that information obtained from a small sample of apatite could predict the original water content of a large body of magma, or even the entire Moon, but Boyce's study indicates that apatite may, in fact, be deceptive.
Boyce believes the high water content within lunar apatite results from a quirk in the crystallisation process rather than a water-rich lunar environment.
When water is present as molten rock cools, apatite can form by incorporating hydrogen atoms into its crystal structure.
However, hydrogen will be included in the newly crystallising mineral only if apatite's preferred building blocks, fluorine and chlorine, have been mostly exhausted.
Read More Here - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Moon-may-not-have-much-water/articleshow/33140979.cms
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