The News Review:
- People in Need completed an EC funded water supply project in…
- Sangha to gherao Yediyurappa at Tungabhadra Canal work site today
- Bennethora drinking water project likely to be abandoned
- Don’t charge irrigators: PM
- Opposing views PROP. 84: Promoting water interests at taxpayers’…
People in Need completed an EC funded water supply project in…
Reuters AlertNet – Oct 27, 2006
In every target community, Village Water Committees were trained to supervise the future use and maintenance of water sources. A new pipe scheme delivering drinking water to 7000 inhabitants has been built in Bazare Suchta, the administrative centre of the district. A four kilometers pipe system with 40 new fountains supplies a heavily populated area with clean potable water. “As a father, I am very happy for the pipe scheme – said Sheikh Hussain Alli, Head of local CDCs – because my children can drink clean water while attending our school. As a shopkeeper I don’t have to transfer water from the river anymore and our bazaar becomes cleaner place for every visitor. “PIN staff conducted hygiene education trainings in 80 villages, bringing basic knowledge about safe water usage, excreta management and prevention of water born diseases. Special attention was paid on women and their hygiene habits during pregnancy.
Sangha to gherao Yediyurappa at Tungabhadra Canal work site today
Hindu – Oct 27, 2006
Yediyurappa who is expected to inspect the ongoing repair work at the Tungabhadra Canal near Maski town of Lingsugur on Friday. The sangha took this decision in protest against the failure of the State Government to provide uninterrupted water supply to the tail-end command areas under the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC). It also decided to boycott the special meeting called by Minister for Water Resources K. Eshwarappa here on November 10 with farmers and elected representatives of Raichur and Koppal districts to find a permanent solution to end frequent breaches in TLBC. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chamarasa Malipatil, vice-president of the sangha, said the Government was aware that the water supply in the Tungabhadra Canal was being disrupted at frequent intervals owing to poor quality embankments and other structures…
Yediyurappa who is expected to inspect the ongoing repair work at the Tungabhadra Canal near Maski town of Lingsugur on Friday. The sangha took this decision in protest against the failure of the State Government to provide uninterrupted water supply to the tail-end command areas under the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC). It also decided to boycott the special meeting called by Minister for Water Resources K. Eshwarappa here on November 10 with farmers and elected representatives of Raichur and Koppal districts to find a permanent solution to end frequent breaches in TLBC. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chamarasa Malipatil, vice-president of the sangha, said the Government was aware that the water supply in the Tungabhadra Canal was being disrupted at frequent intervals owing to poor quality embankments and other structures. So far, it only initiated temporary measures to repair vulnerable stretches in the canal even when several expert committees had suggested comprehensive solution to end recurring problems.
Bennethora drinking water project likely to be abandoned
Hindu – Oct 27, 2006
45 cr to replace existing concrete pipeline from Bennethora with mild steel pipeline A barrage at a cost of Rs. 33 crore will have to be constructed GULBARGA: The Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) is now planning to abandon the existing Bennethora Water Supply Scheme and retain the old drinking water pipeline from the Bhima. As per the original proposal of the KUWSDB, the existing pipeline from Saradgi barrage across Bhima river, which is partially meeting the drinking water requirement of the city, was to be abandoned after the completion of the ongoing World Bank-assisted Rs. 45-crore project of laying a new mild steel pipeline from Saradgi barrage to the new filter bed. Frequent leaks The existing pipeline from the Bhima has the capacity to pump 6 MGD of water and the decision to install a new pipeline was taken after the existing pipeline burst at different points on a regular basis. Official sources told The Hindu that the repair and revival of the Bennethora drinking water project was included in the World Bank project and the KUWSDB authorities began removing and re-laying of the existing pipeline at the initial reaches up to 2…
Besides this to ensure continuous supply of water from Bennethora river, a barrage at a cost of Rs. 33 crore would have to be constructed. Sources said the scrap value of the existing concrete pipeline from Bennethora to old filter bed worked out to be around Rs.
Don’t charge irrigators: PM
The Australian – Oct 27, 2006
module-subheader –> IRRIGATORS should be exempted from fixed water charges in an effort to help them through the worst drought in living memory. John Howard made the proposal to the Iemma Government yesterday during his two-day "listen to the drought" tour across NSW. The NSW Government waived water supply fees two years ago for some severely drought-affected regions and irrigators have been campaigning hard for similar exemptions now. NSW Water Resources Minister David Campbell said last night the Prime Minister’s proposal was a "knee-jerk" reaction while his Government continued to shun drought assistance for key regions in the state. Mr Howard criticised charging irrigators for water supply infrastructure at a time when they were able to access little or no water. "The idea that you should charge irrigators for water you won’t give them is preposterous," he said. He made the comments while addressing a meeting of about 50 farmers and contractors in an empty grain shed on the outskirts of Forbes, in central NSW…
John Howard made the proposal to the Iemma Government yesterday during his two-day "listen to the drought" tour across NSW. The NSW Government waived water supply fees two years ago for some severely drought-affected regions and irrigators have been campaigning hard for similar exemptions now. NSW Water Resources Minister David Campbell said last night the Prime Minister’s proposal was a "knee-jerk" reaction while his Government continued to shun drought assistance for key regions in the state. Mr Howard criticised charging irrigators for water supply infrastructure at a time when they were able to access little or no water. "The idea that you should charge irrigators for water you won’t give them is preposterous," he said. He made the comments while addressing a meeting of about 50 farmers and contractors in an empty grain shed on the outskirts of Forbes, in central NSW. Mr Howard said most Australians were willing and able to assist farmers after six years of continuous drought.
Opposing views PROP. 84: Promoting water interests at taxpayers’…
San Francisco Chronicle – Oct 27, 2006
tmpl –> Proposition 84 is as misleading in its title as its drafters are shameless in their self-interest and self-dealing: “The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006. ” A careful reading of the fine print of the initiative reveals that there is no assurance that one dime will be spent on actual flood control (levee construction or repair), and that there are no funds for increasing water supply through dams, reservoirs or other storage. Why, then, you may ask, would the drafters of Proposition 84 label this $5. 4 billion bond a “clean water and flood control measure?” Because it sells! Over the last decade, the California environmental “industry” has succeeded in passing five bond measures, worth $13 billion to them, using “clean water” as the bait. Why fight success? Proposition 84 was drafted by a Sacramento lobbyist — Joe Caves — whose clients include many environmental organizations that stand to profit from passage of this measure and several of which have made huge contributions to its qualification and passage, namely: The Nature Conservancy (more than $3 million), National Audubon Society (more than $150,000), The Peninsula Open Space Trust, and many more. (There are examples of other contributors and beneficiaries on my organization’s Web site:…
Why should we expect any better results this time, with more money at stake and more groups involved? Proposition 84’s crass self-enrichment, self-serving dimensions are not unique. Unfortunately, the initiative process, which was designed as the people’s safety-valve for fundamental political and government reform, is being egregiously abused. The success of the earlier “water” bonds spawned imitators in the form of Rob Reiner’s Proposition 10 (which raised taxes on cigarettes to fund programs for preschool children, Robert Klein’s Proposition 71 (which sold bonds to fund the state’s stem-cell research program) and the mental-health industry’s Proposition 63 (which raised the income tax on the wealthy to fund county mentalhealth programs). But this November’s ballot is ground zero. In addition to Proposition 84, it contains Proposition 86 (the hospital industry’s self-serving $2 billion annual assault on smokers), Proposition 87 (alternative-fuel venture capitalists’ $4 billion bond with a $140 million slush fund for their political use), Proposition 88 (school construction proponents’ introduction of a new, per-parcel property tax), and Proposition 89 (the California Nurses’ Association’s effort to take the business community out of the initiative process so they can impose a socialized medicine scheme on California). We must stop Proposition 84 — and these other self-serving measures — in order to restore order to the initiative process and to close the door on those who would promote their own interests at taxpayers’ expense.