Belagavi's Fort Lake to get eco-friendly makeover under Amrut 2.0 scheme
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The project goes beyond mere aesthetics, focusing on environmental conservation and biodiversity. One of the key features include the installation of a floating trash barrier to prevent waste from entering the lake, a measure expected to substantially reduce pollution and improve water quality. To bolster the lake's green cover, extensive tree planting efforts will be taken up around its perimeter.
Recreational amenities for residents and tourists are a central part of the initiative.
The project includes the beautification of existing walkways, and installation of new benches and fitness equipment. To make the area more accessible and appealing, especially after sunset, an LED system with new electrical wiring will be installed. The plan also includes information boards and a dedicated play area for children.
According to officials from the district administration, the development works will be carried out without disturbing the natural habitats of diverse bird and aquatic species. The goal is to create a safe and beautiful space for morning and evening walks, yoga, and family outings, while preserving the ecosystem.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
18-hour water supply suspension in Mulund from August 21 morning for GMLR bridge work
Water supply in the Mulund area in Mumbai's eastern suburbs will be severely affected for 18 hours between Thursday and Friday owing to the construction work of Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR), being taken up by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), officials said on Sunday. Civic officials said that before carrying out the piling work of a bridge that is set to be a premium connector of GMLR, the BMC will divert the alignment of a water supply main of 1,200 mm. This supply system would transport water to Mumbai's Mulund area from the reservoir. While the BMC has maintained that water supply will be restored after 18 hours, the authorities have also urged residents to drink boiled water for at least two days after the work is over. Meanwhile, the work on boring GMLR's twin tunnels is set to begin early next year. The parts of the tunnel-boring machine arrived at Mumbai in 54 containers last month, and the work of assembling the machinery is underway. GMLR's twin tunnels will be among the widest road tunnel projects undertaken by the BMC. The Rs 6,500-crore GMLR is an ambitious project to alleviate congestion by linking Goregaon in the western suburbs to Mulund in the eastern suburbs. A crucial part of the project is the 6.65-km-long twin tunnels, which will start from Film City in the western suburbs and open near Mulund's Amar Junction, which currently houses a huge slum pocket. The project will also include vehicular interchanges as well as arterial and cable-stayed bridges. Once operational, this corridor is set to become a game-changer by bringing down east-west travel time to less than 115 minutes from 90 minutes during peak periods.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Left in the dark: Western UP's migrant workers lose light, faith with unmaintained solar panels
In a dusty brick kiln colony on the outskirts of Aligarh , 32-year-old migrant worker Kamal Singh stands beside a lifeless solar panel mounted on his hut. "Yeh toh roshni ka sahara tha. Par ab pehle jaise nahi chalta. (This was our source of light. But now it doesn't work like before," he said. Once a symbol of self-reliance that lit up his hut and powered a fan through scorching summers, the panel is now coated in grime, barely functioning - a casualty of lack of maintenance, guidance and rising air pollution. As India expands its renewable energy footprint, stories like Kamal have revealed a troubling gap between solar adoption and solar maintenance. Many migrant workers across the dusty interiors of western Uttar Pradesh - Hathras, Bulandshahr, Aligarh - embraced solar as a lifeline to meet their energy needs but are now finding themselves disillusioned. Some even pooled money to install small solar panels on their huts using their savings from months of labour under the sun and for a while, it even worked: two bulbs lit up their rooms, a fan offered respite from the heat, and mobile phones stayed charged. But today, the lights flicker weakly and the fan barely moves. "We don't know what went wrong. When we took it to the shop, they said dust had accumulated on it. Then we cleaned it properly with a cloth, but it's still not working like before," said Kamal's wife, Rashmi. Neeraj Jain, director at Solar Square, an Indian company focused on residential solar energy solutions, pointed out that cleaning must be done gently and correctly. "Leaning or scrubbing too hard can cause micro-cracks or damage the anti-reflective coating, which significantly reduces the panel's lifespan," he cautioned. But this knowledge hasn't reached the brick kiln workers of western Uttar Pradesh, who often rely on second-hand information or trial-and-error methods. With little formal training and no local technicians to guide them, families clean panels with the same cloth and phenyl solution they use to mop floors or dust it the way they do dusting at home. Some lean directly on the glass surface while scrubbing, unaware they may be damaging the very panels they depend on for electricity. In these informal settlements, where electricity theft, outages, and diesel costs once made solar seem like a breakthrough, the lack of aftercare and support has quickly turned innovation into frustration. "I saved Rs 3,000 on electricity last year. But now, the panel stopped working properly. No one ever told us how to take care of it," said Kishore Kumar, a migrant construction worker in Nanau village. Others tell similar stories. "We bought it thinking it would help during nights as we were either dependent on oil lamps or pilfering electricity, but it became more headache than help," said Sangeeta, who migrated from Bihar's Gaya to work in a brick kiln in Nanau village of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. Experts agree that while solar systems are marketed as low-maintenance, they are not maintenance-free. "Within 90 days, performance drops by up to 35 per cent if not cleaned," said Jain. "In rural, off-grid areas, the panels often face poor air quality, dust, bird droppings, and no guidance on upkeep. After a year or two, many just abandon them," he added. Shopkeepers in surrounding areas like Pilakhana and Bijauli also report declining use. "Earlier, families came to us to buy DC fans and LED bulbs for their solar setups," said Virendra Singh , who owns a shop in Pilakhana. "Now some of them come asking for kerosene lamps again." The problem isn't the technology but the lack of education and support. Like Jain said that solar panels do not need complicated maintenance. "But users must know not to rub too hard, not to use saltwater, and to avoid leaning on them. Even small cracks or residue can ruin them," Jain said. When PTI reached out to the shops selling solar panels, the shopkeepers said that they themselves are not sure how to ensure effective maintenance and just tell the people to wipe it properly with wet and dry cloth. "Like we do dusting at home," said a shopkeeper in Bulandshahr. Air pollution is further making the situation worse. "In Delhi and surrounding regions, performance falls by at least 15' 20% during peak pollution. And this isn't just about fog'¦it's the dust, the particulates, everything in the air that blocks sunlight," said Jain. Researchers at IIT Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (2001- 2018) found that particulate pollution reduces direct sunlight radiation (called atmospheric attenuation) and causes soiling (i.e. particle deposition). As a result, solar panel efficiency in India declines by approximately 12 per cent for fixed panels and up to 41 per cent for dual-axis tracking systems. In the eastern and northern power grids, reductions in received sunlight range from 12- 16 per cent. For families relying on solar for basic needs - charging a phone, running a light or fan - such a drop makes a system nearly unusable. Indrajit Singh, Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), acknowledged the issue. "We've focused on expanding solar access, but now we are scaling up training and 30,000 Surya Mitras are being trained in UP for installation and maintenance," he said. "We've also started pilot programs with women's self-help groups in rural areas to take on local repair and upkeep," he said. So far, over 5,000 individuals have been trained and 3,000 vendors registered, according to Singh. But such programs are yet to reach the migrant belts of western UP in any meaningful way. India is home to over 450 million internal migrants, according to the 2011 Census, with current estimates by independent researchers suggesting the number could now exceed 600 million, as many move in search of work, education, or better living conditions. Among them, Uttar Pradesh is both a major sending and receiving state, with millions of migrant workers moving seasonally between states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. For these workers, access to reliable and affordable energy is not a luxury - it is essential for their empowerment, said Nirmal Gorana, convenor of the National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour, who has extensively documented labour conditions in kilns. But without basic maintenance support, even this modest progress begins to unravel. "We turned to solar with hope and invested our hard-earned savings in it. To buy this panel, we made sacrifices' whether it meant cutting back on better food, medicine, or even sending money home. So when the panel stops working, it isn't just a financial loss' it shatters our trust in the system," said Kamal.
The Print
6 hours ago
- The Print
Left in the dark: Western UP's migrant workers lose light, faith with unmaintained solar panels
Once a symbol of self-reliance that lit up his hut and powered a fan through scorching summers, the panel is now coated in grime, barely functioning — a casualty of lack of maintenance, guidance and rising air pollution. 'Yeh toh roshni ka sahara tha. Par ab pehle jaise nahi chalta. (This was our source of light. But now it doesn't work like before,' he said. Aligarh/Bulandshahr, Aug 17 (PTI) In a dusty brick kiln colony on the outskirts of Aligarh, 32-year-old migrant worker Kamal Singh stands beside a lifeless solar panel mounted on his hut. As India expands its renewable energy footprint, stories like Kamal have revealed a troubling gap between solar adoption and solar maintenance. Many migrant workers across the dusty interiors of western Uttar Pradesh — Hathras, Bulandshahr, Aligarh — embraced solar as a lifeline to meet their energy needs but are now finding themselves disillusioned. Some even pooled money to install small solar panels on their huts using their savings from months of labour under the sun and for a while, it even worked: two bulbs lit up their rooms, a fan offered respite from the heat, and mobile phones stayed charged. But today, the lights flicker weakly and the fan barely moves. 'We don't know what went wrong. When we took it to the shop, they said dust had accumulated on it. Then we cleaned it properly with a cloth, but it's still not working like before,' said Kamal's wife, Rashmi. Neeraj Jain, director at Solar Square, an Indian company focused on residential solar energy solutions, pointed out that cleaning must be done gently and correctly. 'Leaning or scrubbing too hard can cause micro-cracks or damage the anti-reflective coating, which significantly reduces the panel's lifespan,' he cautioned. But this knowledge hasn't reached the brick kiln workers of western Uttar Pradesh, who often rely on second-hand information or trial-and-error methods. With little formal training and no local technicians to guide them, families clean panels with the same cloth and phenyl solution they use to mop floors or dust it the way they do dusting at home. Some lean directly on the glass surface while scrubbing, unaware they may be damaging the very panels they depend on for electricity. In these informal settlements, where electricity theft, outages, and diesel costs once made solar seem like a breakthrough, the lack of aftercare and support has quickly turned innovation into frustration. 'I saved Rs 3,000 on electricity last year. But now, the panel stopped working properly. No one ever told us how to take care of it,' said Kishore Kumar, a migrant construction worker in Nanau village. Others tell similar stories. 'We bought it thinking it would help during nights as we were either dependent on oil lamps or pilfering electricity, but it became more headache than help,' said Sangeeta, who migrated from Bihar's Gaya to work in a brick kiln in Nanau village of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. Experts agree that while solar systems are marketed as low-maintenance, they are not maintenance-free. 'Within 90 days, performance drops by up to 35 per cent if not cleaned,' said Jain. 'In rural, off-grid areas, the panels often face poor air quality, dust, bird droppings, and no guidance on upkeep. After a year or two, many just abandon them,' he added. Shopkeepers in surrounding areas like Pilakhana and Bijauli also report declining use. 'Earlier, families came to us to buy DC fans and LED bulbs for their solar setups,' said Virendra Singh, who owns a shop in Pilakhana. 'Now some of them come asking for kerosene lamps again.' The problem isn't the technology but the lack of education and support. Like Jain said that solar panels do not need complicated maintenance. 'But users must know not to rub too hard, not to use saltwater, and to avoid leaning on them. Even small cracks or residue can ruin them,' Jain said. When PTI reached out to the shops selling solar panels, the shopkeepers said that they themselves are not sure how to ensure effective maintenance and just tell the people to wipe it properly with wet and dry cloth. 'Like we do dusting at home,' said a shopkeeper in Bulandshahr. Air pollution is further making the situation worse. 'In Delhi and surrounding regions, performance falls by at least 15'20% during peak pollution. And this isn't just about fog'¦it's the dust, the particulates, everything in the air that blocks sunlight,' said Jain. Researchers at IIT Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (2001-2018) found that particulate pollution reduces direct sunlight radiation (called atmospheric attenuation) and causes soiling (i.e. particle deposition). As a result, solar panel efficiency in India declines by approximately 12 per cent for fixed panels and up to 41 per cent for dual-axis tracking systems. In the eastern and northern power grids, reductions in received sunlight range from 12-16 per cent. For families relying on solar for basic needs — charging a phone, running a light or fan — such a drop makes a system nearly unusable. Indrajit Singh, Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), acknowledged the issue. 'We've focused on expanding solar access, but now we are scaling up training and 30,000 Surya Mitras are being trained in UP for installation and maintenance,' he said. 'We've also started pilot programs with women's self-help groups in rural areas to take on local repair and upkeep,' he said. So far, over 5,000 individuals have been trained and 3,000 vendors registered, according to Singh. But such programs are yet to reach the migrant belts of western UP in any meaningful way. India is home to over 450 million internal migrants, according to the 2011 Census, with current estimates by independent researchers suggesting the number could now exceed 600 million, as many move in search of work, education, or better living conditions. Among them, Uttar Pradesh is both a major sending and receiving state, with millions of migrant workers moving seasonally between states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. For these workers, access to reliable and affordable energy is not a luxury — it is essential for their empowerment, said Nirmal Gorana, convenor of the National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour, who has extensively documented labour conditions in kilns. But without basic maintenance support, even this modest progress begins to unravel. 'We turned to solar with hope and invested our hard-earned savings in it. To buy this panel, we made sacrifices'whether it meant cutting back on better food, medicine, or even sending money home. So when the panel stops working, it isn't just a financial loss'it shatters our trust in the system,' said Kamal. (This content was developed and produced under an arrangement with Internews' Earth Journalism Network). PTI UZM NB NB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
