More on the Ken-Betwa linking project

After resolving their differences over sharing of water from the proposed Ken-Betwa interlinking of river  project, chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on Monday signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre in virtual presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The signing of the agreement will pave the way for initiating other pending actions for implementation of the project which could not be taken up due to the states’ tussle over share of water during the non-monsoon period.

The revised agreement will allow Madhya Pradesh to get additional water from the project which will be implemented at an estimated cost of over Rs 37,600 crore. Dispute between UP and MP could be settled when the former agreed to drop its demand for a higher share.

Even MP has had to compromise. The Centre did not agree to its demand to allow it to use the entire quantum of surplus water at Daudhan dam site in the upper catchment area. The Daudhan dam is one of the key components of the Ken-Betwal ILR project. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said the agreement was important to realise former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream in the interest of millions of families of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Centre will bear 90% of its total cost. Though forest clearance of the Daudhan reservoir of the project is still awaited, the Centre will soon create a special purpose vehicle – Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority – for implementation of the project in eight years. Noting how the project would benefit the entire water starved Budelkhand region, the Prime Minister said rapid development was not possible without water security and effective water management. He added that the vision of India’s development and India’s selfreliance, is dependent on water sources and water connectivity.

Maharashtra to warm up 2.5°C by ’50, get 210mm more rain by 2100

The average annual temperature of Maharashtra is likely to rise by up to 2.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 and the average monsoon rainfall in the state is expected to increase by up to 210mm by the end of the century, according to a study by a Baramati professor published in the prestigious journal Springer Nature. The weather changes are projected to have a serious negative impact on agriculture.

The study, by Rahul Todmal, assistant professor of geography at Vidya Pratishthan's ASC College in Baramati, says that most parts of the state are very likely to experience a rise in annual average temperatures ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 degreed Celsius up to 2050, and considerably warmer conditions after 2033. Among the regions that are expected to register significant warming of over one degree Celsius are parts of the Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra.

The study indicated that over five decades, annual mean minimum temperatures are expected to rise 0.1-1.2°C across 80% of districts. It makes projections based on climatic data from the Earth System Grid Federation, Germany, and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, which reveal that the state is expected to witness an increase of 150-210mm in average monsoon rainfall till 2100, apart from the Konkan coast. Parts of the Vidarbha sub-division and Western Ghats will get 82-225 mm more. “A substantial increase in monsoon rainfall and extreme events over Maharashtra would result in flashy runoff, which can cause catastrophic floods,” observed the study.

Todmal said existing literature shows that climate change in Maharashtra are likely to have an impact on agriculture. “Agronomic studies have confirmed that warmer climatic conditions never favour agricultural productivity. The future rise in temperature is very likely to reduce the productivity of traditional rain-fed crops and irrigated cash crops as well,” he said. Previous literature cited in the study have estimated up to a 49% decline in the yield of various crops due to rising temperatures.

Some crops may be more impacted than others, feel experts, one of whom, AN Ganeshamurthy, said, “Under the circumstances presented by the study, temperature variations may marginally affect the productivity of principal crops like sugarcane, rice, sorghum and millet. However, it may have some major effect on wheat productivity.”

Bengal: BJP's sankalp patra

BJP came out with a shrewdly crafted, please-all manifesto for West Bengal polls—catering to all sections, placing special focus on women’s empowerment and giving emphasis to backward sections and ethnic groups and castes.

Called ‘Sankalp Patra’ and released by Union home minister Amit Shah, the manifesto takes identitarian politics to new lengths and reflects the party’s self-avowed confidence that a regime change in Kolkata is imminent.

The manifesto promises to regularise the citizenship of refugees after assuming office, an assertion which at once tries to convey fidelity to a poll plank which resonates with a significant section of the electorate.

“Refugees have been living here (in Bengal) since the 1970s. We will implement CAA in the first cabinet meeting and provide citizenship to them; Rs 10,000 per year will be given to families getting citizenship,” Shah said. Notable among schemes for girls is free education, termed “from KG to PG”, and 33% quota for women in state government jobs.

The manifesto earmarks a Rs 30,000 crore fund to be spent over five years to develop infra in 10 cities. Rs 22,000 crore has been earmarked for transforming Kolkata into “a city of future”.

At a rally in Bankura, PM Modi put his “head” on the line for “Didi to kick if she wants”, but vowed he would not let her “kick away Bengal’s dreams”. He said a BJP government will give “piped water to 1.5 crore people and free medical support,” adding, “BJP runs on schemes, TMC on scams”. 

The manifesto also promises to bring Mahishya, Teli and other Hindu OBCs under the ambit of OBC reservation. On the healthcare front, the party proposed three new AIIMS — in north Bengal, Jangalmahal and the Sunderbans. A Rs 10,000 crore healthcare infrastructure fund was also proposed.

The manifesto does not leave out arts and culture, something that has always resonated in the Bengali mind. It promises a Tagore Prize “on the lines of the Nobel Prize”, and a Satyajit Ray Award, “on the lines of Oscar”. If voted to office, the party also promised to keep aside Rs 500 crore for Kolkata to get Unesco Heritage City tag.

“Refugees have been living here since the 1970s, and are pained at not having citizenship. We will implement CAA in the first cabinet meeting and provide citizenship to them,” Shah said. Stressing on a “zero tolerance to infiltration” policy, he said a special fund would be created for refugees, from which each family would be provided Rs 10,000 per year after they receive citizenship. A corpus of Rs 100 crore was announced for that.

Regarding the “KG to PG” scheme, he said there will be a corpus of Rs 500 crore to provide financial aid to meritorious girls. Apart from a special Rs 50,000 bond for families with a girl child, the manifesto announced Rs 1 lakh to women from the SC, ST, OBC and economically weaker sections at their wedding.

Tigress found dead in Maharashtra

Even as the country celebrated International Day of Forests on Sunday, a tigress was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a canal near Kelzar in Hingni forest range under Wardha division, Maharashtra. The death of two tigers on consecutive days and three in eight days caused a flutter among wildlife lovers and officials. Social media was agog with sharp reactions putting a question mark over conservation.

As per the all-India Tiger Estimation 2018, there are 312 tigers in the state. Experts say the tigress is said to be 15-month-old sub-adult, one of the offspring of a resident Bor tigress Ambika aka T1. The latest death has pushed the tiger toll in Maharashtra in the last 79 days to 11. On Saturday, an eight-month-old tiger cub was found dead inside Umred-Karhandla-Paoni Wildlife Sanctuary. Foul play has been ruled out as all body parts were intact.

UP, MP to ink Ken-Betwa pact today

With Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments coming on board to resolve their long pending differences over sharing of water from the proposed Ken-Betwa interlinking of river project, chief ministers of the two states will sign a tripartite agreement with the Centre on World Water Day on Monday to finally implement this ambitious project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the signing event through video conference. He will also launch the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign. The Centre, through this over eight-month nationwide campaign (March 22-November 30), seeks to take water conservation to the grassroots through people’s participation. “It is intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures, suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater,” an official statement said. After the virtual launch event, ‘gram sabhas’ will be held in all ‘gram panchayats’ of each district (except in poll bound states) to discuss issues related to water and water conservation.

Somewhere in Bihar....

 

Mumbai: Parambir’s Sting

A letter purportedly written by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday alleged that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh asked suspended cop Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from bars, restaurants and other establishments every month. The letter also made several other allegations of misdeeds and malpractices allegedly carried out by Deshmukh. While the home minister, Deshmukh, refuted the allegations calling them false and baseless and said that he would file a defamation suit, the CMO issued a press release later in the night stating that it is yet to verify the authenticity of the unsigned letter by the name of Param Bir Singh.

“An unsigned letter with the name of Param Bir Singh was received on the CMO’s official email ID today at 4:37pm from the email ID paramirs3@gmail.com, and the email address is being verified. Similarly, an attempt is being made to contact Param Bir Singh through the home department. In fact, the personal email address given by Param Bir Singh for the list of IPS officers is parimbirs@hotmail.com, so it is necessary to check the email received today,” the released stated raising confusion over the authenticity of the letter.

Meanwhile, when contacted, ex-CP Singh, replied via a text message that he can’t talk right now.

The purported letter also says that he has been made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers, and claims that there is not even an iota of material or evidence – far from proof – found against him or even imputed against him.

The letter suggested that the call records and phone data of Waze be examined to ascertain the truth of the allegations against him and for the truth to emerge in so far as his association with political functionaries is concerned.

The letter narrates how Singh had briefed CM Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar about several “misdeed and malpractices” Deshmukh allegedly indulged into, and claimed that some of them were already aware about some aspects mentioned by him.

“At one of the briefing sessions in the wake of the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late evening at Varsha to brief you, I had pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by the Hon’ble Home Minister. I have similarly briefed the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Maharsahtra, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar and other senior Ministers also about the misdeeds and malpractices. On my briefings, I noticed that some of the Ministers were already aware about some aspects mentioned by me to them,” the letter alleges.

The letter further says that Waze who was heading Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police was called by Deshmukh to his residence, Dyaneshwar, several times in the last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist in collection of funds for him.