2nd, May, 2022

 

 

Topic: Survey of Leopard and Black Bear in Himachal

 

Importance: Himachal HPAS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• Survey of Leopard and Black Bear: After 20 years in Himachal, the Geological team will come and work for a year.
• The Forest Department has written a letter to the Geological Survey of India urging them to conduct a survey of Leopard and Black Bear. GIZ has accepted this proposal of the department.
• Now the team will soon come to Himachal and count the leopard and black bear. For this work, the department has prepared a project of 65 lakhs. In this one year long project, the GIZ team will work to find the population of leopard and bear.
• Will track with camera, will also take DNA samples.
• The help of camera tracking system will be taken to count the leopard and bear. Apart from this, the population will also be detected by DNA sampling. The department will also find out the nature of these two animals among the people in forests and urban areas. Further strategy will be prepared on that basis.

(Source: Dainik Bhaskar)

 

 

Topic: Drinking Water Projects

 

Importance: Himachal HPAS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• Rs 353 Crore plan to boost drinking water projects in Himachal.
• The state government has prepared a special plan to build storage buffers to strengthen drinking water networks.

 

Where is it going to be rolled out in the first place?

• As a pilot project, the project would initially be carried out in the Mandi and Kullu districts and then replicated in other districts.

 

Why important?

• Under the scheme, drinking water by gravity would accumulate for approximately three months and be used when required. Electricity would not be utilized in this process.

 

How should it be implemented?

• To implement this project at ground level, State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) has sanctioned Rs 353.57 crore. Under the pilot project buffer storage would be constructed for strengthening 147 schemes in nine blocks of Mandi district and 110 schemes in five blocks of Kullu district, a spokesperson of the state government said here today.
• The Central government has provided a total of Rs 2,990.10 crore till March 2022 under Jal Jeevan Mission and 8.42 Lakhs houses have been provided with tapped water whereas since 72 years of independence only about 7.63 lakhs houses have been provided with taps.
• To ensure quality drinking water, Jal Shakti Department has established 60 laboratories in the state and 14 laboratories have been set up at district level and 36 at sub division level have been recognized by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). About 83 per cent laboratories of the state have been recognized by the NABL, which is the highest at national level.
• As many as five women from each village are being identified and provided with training to test drinking water with field test kit. Till date, training has been provided to 40,090 women and in last two years, water quality testing training has been provided to 61901 persons in the state. In the present financial year, a target to test 3,00,606 water samples through laboratories and 1,42,734 water samples through field test kits have been set.

(Source: The Tribune)

 

 

Topic: Smart City

 

Importance: Himachal HPAS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• Shimla Smart City website launched: Features like maps, water bill and property tax payment will be available on one platform.
• In order to provide better services to the people of Shimla, the official website of Shimla Smart City https://shimlasmartcity.com/ has started on Saturday.

 

Who launched the website?

• The website was launched by Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj.

 

What will be included in the website?

Website includes water bill calculator, building mapping work, water bill, garbage bill payment, lease rent payment, property tax payment, application for no objection certificate for electricity, application for water and sewerage connection and canopy a variety of facilities will be available.

 

The Urban Development Minister said that:

• Information about the projects being implemented under various components under Shimla Smart City would also be available through the website.
• Appreciating the efforts of Shimla Smart City Limited, he directed for speedy completion of various works and integration of services.

(Source: Dainik Bhaskar)