Cement, Energy and Environment

fluoride. In the case of Rajasthan, groundwater in 27 districts was found to be too saline, 30 districts had higher levels of fluoride and 28 suffered from iron contamination. The national capital does not fare any better, with five of its nine districts showing fluoride contamination and two showing salinity. Pockets of all the nine districts had high iron content. While urban centres in the country deploy water treatment systems before supplying water to homes, the costs of cleaning up as well as chances of contamination remain. Removal of heavy metals like arsenic, though, remains a problem the government is unable to tackle where the source of water is only from the ground aquifers. Experts have warned that lopsided water management has led to depletion of ground water aquifers and this, in many cases, has caused increasing contamination as people dig deeper into the ground to extract water. Cases of habitations that were provided drinking water sources based on groundwater slipping back have also been highlighted recently. Courtesy: The Times of India, March 12, 2010, P13. 'HAZARD LINE' TO TRACE INDIA'S FRAGILE COAST New Delhi, 25 March The government is planning an extensive exercise to map a "hazard line" along the country's 7,500 km coastline, from Gujarat to West Bengal. This marks the first time environmentally sensitive coastal areas will be clearly demarcated. The Rs.1, 156-crore project, known as the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project, was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 24.3.2010. The World Bank will provide Rs. 897 crore as part of a soft loan for the project, which is to be implemented over the next five years. The Survey of India will map the line through aerial photography. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the project was important in view of rising sea levels as a result of global warming. Environment activities also pointed out that it would help check the flouting of coastal zoning laws. For most projects, the implementation of the Coastal Regulation Zone Act is administered by state governments that tend to relax the rules. The tourism industry may be the first to face the impact since the hazard line may make it more difficult for promoters to build sea front hotels with extended golf cou rses, environmentalists said. There have been several moves of late to strengthen coastal zone regulations . A few months ago, the environment ministry imposed a moratorium on all new ports in the country awaiting the report of an environment impact assessment of existing ports. The Coastal Regulation Zone Act of 1991 is also being changed. An amended Act looks at protecting traditional rights of fishermen. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the project was important in view of rising sea levels from global warming The first phase of the hazard line project will begin in Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal. Ramesh said the states had been chosen on the basis of their vulnerability and ongoing development work on coasts. "A lot of development activity is taking place along the coast in Gujarat," he said. Sunderbans in West Bengal was a highly ecologically sensitive area and likely to be affected immensely by climate change, he said . The project will cover the Gulf of Kutch and Jamnagar district of Gujarat at an investment of Rs. 298 crore. In Orissa, the coast along Gopalpur-Chilika and Paradip– Dhamra will be covered with an investment of Rs 201 crore and in West Bengal, the project will The project will also help set up institutions to effectively implement the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 1991 invest Rs. 300 crore to cover the Sunderban, Haldia and Digha– Shankarpur regions. The project would also help develop the capacity and set up institutions to effectively implement the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 1991 , to control pollution of coastal waters and expand livelihood options for coastal communities. Ramesh said the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management will be set up at Anna University, Chennai. The hazard line mapping will also help indicate if there are communities living inside it and efforts would be made to relocate them, though not, he clarified, forcibly. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, March 26, 2010, P1, & P14. 61