Delhi Chief Minister gives directives to tackle water crisis

September 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The rain-swollen Yamuna river crossed the danger mark Sunday, increasing the risk of floods in the low-lying areas along its banks, an official said. The water has reached 205.17 metres, which is well above the danger mark of 204.83 metres, an official of the flood control department told IANS.

September 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A flood alert was sounded in the capital after two days of continuous rainfall led to rising water levels in the Yamuna and Haryana too released over four lakh cusecs of water into the river. The Haryana government has released nearly 420,000 cusecs of water from Hathnikund barrage and it takes 36-72 hours for that water to reach the national capital.

August 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress party on Sunday termed the internal crisis in the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as "unfortunate." Expressing concern over the crisis in the BJP, senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said BJP should be stable, so as to fulfil its duties as the country's main opposition party. "I would call it (the crisis in Bharatiya Janata Party) unfortunate, that the main opposition party of the country is undergoing such a political and internal crisis.

July 24th, 2009 RAJOURI - Residents in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district are facing acute water crisis due to delay in monsoon. All major sources of water like the rivers, streams and hand pumps have dried up.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The state government is prepared to meet any flood like situation in the nation capital during the monsoon, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Friday and directed the civic agencies to take precautionary measures. Dikshit directed all construction agencies including Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Public Works Department (PWD) to remove malba (debris) at their construction sites to curb water-logging.

July 1st, 2009 PUNE - Water crisis looms large over Pune, as delayed arrival of monsoon has lead to the drying up of water in Khadakwasla dam, lone source of water to the city. According to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) authorities, only 2.23 per cent of water is now available in the dam.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - 'Na bijli, na paani, yeh kaisi rajdhani' (No power, no water - what kind of a capital is this?) asked angry residents of the national capital as protests continued Wednesday over power cuts and water shortage. Angry residents of the capital protested the erratic water supply by shouting slogans and breaking earthern pots in the middle of the road.

June 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has called a meeting of top officials to discuss ways to resolve the power crisis in the capital at the earliest. Several areas on Sunday continued to face power cuts, some lasting for 10-12 hours.

June 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The national capital, which is facing its worst power outages in recent times, with mercury breaching the 40 degrees Celsius mark everyday, was on Sunday assured of relief in a couple of days by Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit. A meeting of top officials was held by Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit on Sunday to find ways to resolve the power crisis in the city, "Firstly central government has given us 150 MW extra power from its central pool.

June 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Massive power cuts and water shortage coupled with the rising mercury continued to make life difficult for Delhiites and many residents took to the streets in protest Friday. To make matters worse, Met officials said that severe heat conditions would prevail in north India in the coming days.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Thursday warned people in the national capital of possible water and power shortages in the coming days, following delay in monsoon. "We are asking people to conserve water and power.

June 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday staged a demonstration outside the Delhi assembly to protest power and water shortage in the national capital. The legislators and other Delhi BJP members gathered outside the assembly demanding that the Delhi government take immediate measures to provide relief to people reeling under power and water shortage in various parts of the capital.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Rural Development Minister Dr. C. P. Joshi has sanctioned an amount of Rs.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The chief ministers of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir Thursday said the industry should play more 'proactive' role and join in the government's efforts to tackle the global economic slowdown, which could threaten millions of jobs in the country. Speaking at the 81st annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the industry should 'help the government's efforts to ensure that the current economic crisis did not lead to loss of employment in the country'.

January 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Friday that the army would be called if necessary to tackle the escalating crisis arising out of the strike by officers of public sector oil firms.