The News Review:
- Water supply project is yet to take off
- Geelong may sink teeth into Bracks’ water plan
- Separate water scheme for city
- Judge denies request to reduce pumping in delta fish tussle
Water supply project is yet to take off
Hindu – Jun 23, 2007
5 crore in Cuddalore town, has been put on hold for about two years. The project, to be executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank, does not seem to attract any contractors. The TWAD Board sources told The Hindu that it had floated tenders five times, but so far it had drawn a blank…
5 crore in Cuddalore town, has been put on hold for about two years. The project, to be executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank, does not seem to attract any contractors. The TWAD Board sources told The Hindu that it had floated tenders five times, but so far it had drawn a blank. However, the TWAD Board was persistent with its efforts to find suitable contractors and hence, it had initiated the tender procedure for the sixth time. When asked why the contractors were shying away from the project, the sources said the highly complicated work required deployment of both skilled and unskilled labourers. First of all, neither Cuddalore district nor Villupuram district could boast of contractors and skilled labourers who could take up a project of such magnitude.
Geelong may sink teeth into Bracks’ water plan
The Age – Jun 23, 2007
Acknowledging the move would be made in the face of stiff localresistance, Premier Steve Bracks said fluoridated water wouldreduce tooth decay for people in Geelong and the Barwon region. In Geelong yesterday to “sell” the contentious water plan, MrBracks said he had personal experience of the benefits offluoridated water. His oldest children, Nick and Amy, were born in Ballarat, wherethere was no fluoride in the water, whereas the youngest, Will, wasborn in Melbourne, which has fluoridated water. “I can tell you, the dental bills are extraordinarily differentbetween them,” Mr Bracks said.
Separate water scheme for city
Hindu – Jun 23, 2007
Though this scheme is part of the proposed Rs. 113-crore Pilloor Phase II drinking water project, the Union Urban Development Ministry has asked the Coimabtore to pursue it as a separate one. The Corporation now has to prepare a detailed project report for city-level distribution of an additional quantum of 60 million litres a day the new scheme will provide.
Judge denies request to reduce pumping in delta fish tussle
OCRegister – Jun 23, 2007
The Associated Press Comments | Recommend FRESNO — A federal judge denied environmental groups’ request for a temporary order to cut back water supplies sent to farms and Southern California, but asked all sides to reconvene so experts can present evidence about whether pumps in the delta are killing off a threatened fish species. In recent weeks state and federal officials briefly halted operations at pumping plants drawing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but authorities switched the pumps back on when they found most of the tiny, silver-colored delta smelt had swum into the San Francisco Bay. In the last week, however, the Department of Water Resources found that state pumps killed more than 380 smelt, a three-inch long fish considered a bellwether for the delta’s health, a vast ecosystem that also provides drinking water to 25 million Californians. Yesterday, 30 fish were ground up in the pumps, according to the department. “There isn’t anybody in the courtroom who wouldn’t agree that the species is in a critical stage,” said U…
The Associated Press Comments | Recommend FRESNO — A federal judge denied environmental groups’ request for a temporary order to cut back water supplies sent to farms and Southern California, but asked all sides to reconvene so experts can present evidence about whether pumps in the delta are killing off a threatened fish species. In recent weeks state and federal officials briefly halted operations at pumping plants drawing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but authorities switched the pumps back on when they found most of the tiny, silver-colored delta smelt had swum into the San Francisco Bay. In the last week, however, the Department of Water Resources found that state pumps killed more than 380 smelt, a three-inch long fish considered a bellwether for the delta’s health, a vast ecosystem that also provides drinking water to 25 million Californians. Yesterday, 30 fish were ground up in the pumps, according to the department. “There isn’t anybody in the courtroom who wouldn’t agree that the species is in a critical stage,” said U. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger.