Centre issues guidelines on floodplain zones, bans high-risk constructions
The Central Water Commission has created the first technical framework titled 'Technical Guidelines on Floodplain Zoning 2025', categorising floodplains into protected, regulatory, and warning zones.
Protected zones (both rural and urban areas) experience floods at least once in five years. Regulatory zones experience floods once in five years and once in 25 years. Finally, the Warning zone (only in urban areas) gets flooded once in 25 years and once in 100 years.
In the Protected zone, any permanent structural activities are not advised, except for public purposes such as civil and rail infrastructure.
Construction disturbing the natural course of the river channel, except for essential services and infrastructure (ESI), is prohibited. Sustainable activities are encouraged, but not dumping any solid waste or creating landfills, storing highly volatile, inflammable materials, or establishing large-scale facilities.
In the regulatory zone, the framework prohibits any residential settlement, critical defence installations, and the construction of basements. However, it allows public institutions, government offices, universities, and educational Institutions without residential facilities, public libraries, sewage treatment plants, and community halls.
In the warning zone, the guidelines prohibit hazardous waste-producing chemical industries and nuclear plants, but allow public utilities.
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Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
TN's Keeladi dig shows us the perils of politicising the past
Archaeology, a science that requires slow, contemplative work to understand the human past through material remains, often makes headlines prematurely in today's India. Digging up the past takes time, and findings are revealed to the public only after thorough scrutiny by the archaeological community. In recent years, however, the rules of engagement have changed. Artefacts go straight from soil to social media, get discussed on popular podcasts, and are speedily co-opted by political narratives. The clues of the ancient past trapped inside a tiny potsherd or bead are overlooked in exchange for instant political gratification. Material evidence is retrofitted to modern concepts of nation-states to help validate ancient literary and religious texts. The Keeladi archaeological excavations sit squarely within this context. Discovered in Tamil Nadu in 2014 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), roughly 12 km from the ancient city of Madurai, Keeladi offered clues of an urban settlement with insights into brick structures, water management, early writing systems, trade, and commerce. The brick structures were a 'rare phenomenon' in the Early Historic phase of Tamil Nadu, dated 300 BCE to 300 CE, making the excavations highly significant. Besides providing insights into the second urbanisation phase in India, the finds allowed for a deeper scrutiny into whether South India urbanised at the same time as the Gangetic plains. Keeladi has captured the public's imagination in Tamil Nadu at scale. The rest of India is only noticing it now, owing to a spat between the archaeologist who discovered the site, K Amarnath Ramakrishna, and his employer, the ASI. Ramakrishna dated the site to the 8th century BCE and the ASI asked for 'concrete justification' for the dating. Ramakrishna, trained by the same agency that was now challenging his findings, refused to change his report. In an interview with this paper, he termed any changes 'criminal'. Keeladi was mired in controversy even in its early days, with Ramakrishna hastily transferred to Assam after two seasons of excavations. The move was seen as a brazen attempt by the Centre to sideline an archaeologist who was in the process of unearthing a unique Tamil civilisation linked to Sangam texts, a rich collection of indigenous literature roughly dated to between 300 BCE and 300 CE. The Keeladi finds were viewed as evidence of these texts. Keeladi also showed that the South was not a passive inheritor of technological advancements from the North in ancient times. It spurred other digs in Tamil Nadu, leading to the revelation that iron may have been smelted in a place called Sivagalai in southern Tamil Nadu as early as 3345 BCE (5,300 years ago) — potentially earlier than anywhere else in the world. But neither Keeladi nor the 'oldest Iron Age site' in Sivagalai has got its share of national spotlight. Contrast this with the Sinauli excavations — discovered roughly around the same time as Keeladi — where the ASI found the remains of a 4,000-year-old horse-drawn carriage and linked it to the Vedic period. Sinauli found a mention in Prime Minister Modi's speech at the World Heritage Committee meeting last year. The chariots now have pride of place in the National Museum and were earlier showcased for visiting G20 dignitaries. The Discovery Channel even commissioned a web series on it, calling it the discovery of the century. Claims of bias in how South Indian excavations are treated and funded are not entirely without basis. In the last five years, the ASI has allocated nearly 25% of its total excavation expenditure to Gujarat, with 94% of that sum allocated to Vadnagar, Modi's hometown, according to parliamentary data analysed by The Print. However, it's worth noting that the ASI has never refused a license to the TN govt, which took over the excavations, to dig at Keeladi or elsewhere. The Keeladi excavations, in its eleventh phase this year, continues to offer an understanding of the unique dialogues that went on in ancient Tamil Nadu. It would be worthwhile for the state, which relies heavily on scientific dating of finds, to release a comprehensive report on it. Not just Keeladi, every excavation in India enriches our understanding of our past. It allows us a peek into a time when the entire subcontinent was culturally integrated beyond the modern states that define our identities today. That glimpse of an interconnected past is perhaps what politicians don't want us to see. So, the real question is: are we investigating the past because of a genuine curiosity about how our ancestors lived and what we can learn from them? Or is it a way to ratchet up tales of glory to distract from today's issues? It might be time to pay attention to what the past is really telling us and let go of convenient conjectures. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Nuh hazard: Burning chemical waste pumps toxins into NCR airshed
Night after night, thousands of tonnes of chemical waste are set afire in kilns fashioned within the folds of Aravali terrain on the Rajasthan-Haryana border in Nuh, sending a stream of toxins into the same Delhi-NCR airshed that four state govts, the Centre, Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal have been trying to clean up through a series of extensive and expensive measures that have yielded limited results. While GRAP (graded response action plan) and the NGT-imposed age cap for diesel and petrol vehicles both have costs for people, that collective effort is being undermined by large-scale burning of industrial waste. The waste comes in at night primarily from Rajasthan through transporters, a nexus that thrives because factory owners want to avoid the cost of legal disposal (Rs 10–20 per kg) and go to middlemen instead. Most of the kilns that burn this industrial waste – comprising chemically treated industrial scrap, plastic and rubber – are in the villages of Khori Kalan and Khori Kurd in Nuh. At the kilns, and in open pits, chemical waste is mixed with wood and set alight. At a spot in Khori Kalan, around 2,000 square metres of Aravali land has been singed by night burning of waste. There's no fire to be seen in the morning, but it registers its invisible presence in the air, through a pungent cocktail that irritates the respiratory tract as one approaches. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Could This NEW Collagen Blend Finally Reduce Your Cellulite? Vitauthority Learn More Undo You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon | Gold Rates Today in Gurgaon | Silver Rates Today in Gurgaon "This is an environmental emergency. We have been suffering for the last 15 years. Recently, the burning activity has increased," said Ahmed, a resident of Khori Kalan. In a way, the industrial refuse in these parts is a byproduct of pollution policies adopted over the decades. As 'red' category heavily polluting industries were moved out of NCR cities, they shifted base to places like Bhiwadi, creating a new hotspot of severe industrial pollution. "There are influential people who are in this business. Every night, small fires across the villages are seen, which is deteriorating living conditions for us," said Ushmeed, another resident. Transporters and kiln owners, sources said, earn Rs 2–5 per kg for handling hazardous waste, accumulating into a sizable black-market economy. "Factories need us because what we charge is much cheaper for them. Even if it's Rs 5 per kilo, it adds up by the end of the month. By the end of the night, it adds up. Everyone knows it's illegal, but the money keeps the cycle going," said a local transporter involved in the trade. "On an average night, there are 10 to 15 trucks or tractor-trolleys coming into these villages. These are small trucks carrying around 10 tonnes each. They bring the waste in drums. We unload fast and dump it in pits. By morning, most of it gets burnt," said another transporter at Khori Kalan. In both villages, evidence of this hazardous burning is plentiful. On the foothills of the Aravali hills, industrial plastic and other waste lies strewn over several spots, waiting to be incinerated. At a place in Khori Kurd, drums are neatly stacked in rows, ready for disposal. Akanksha Tanwar, HSPCB's regional officer (Nuh), said all the waste comes from Rajasthan. "Waste is transported from industrial hubs in Rajasthan's Bhiwadi, Khush Khera, and Dharuhera. We have already written to the Rajasthan pollution board to take up the matter," said Tanwar. The forest department, meanwhile, filed three complaints on June 27 with Tauru Sadar police station against Om Cargo Logistics, PG Technoplast Pvt Ltd, and Gracure Pharmaceuticals Ltd for illegal dumping. Sources said there is some industrial waste that also comes in from industries in and around Manesar. "We have also filed two FIRs, issued a damage report and written to the district administration about the issue. The waste needs to be cleaned by the municipal corporation, panchayats, and the district administration. We carried out an evaluation of the damage from waste burning and dumping in Aravalis as well," said a forest official. Nuh resident Usman Khan filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Punjab and Haryana high court last year, alleging local disposal units were receiving plastic and metal drums filled with chemical waste, scrap and rubber, which were then manually segregated and burned, generating a charred residue called 'gulla' that is sold as fuel. The petition is pending. Gulla is used as a low grade substitute for coal by roadside eateries and to operate small furnaces. Vishram Meena, deputy commissioner of Nuh, said a probe is under way and all relevant departments have been alerted to the issue. "A five-member fact-finding committee was formed, including officials from the SDM's office, forest department, police and pollution control board. Investigations revealed that five companies from Bhiwadi were involved in dumping hazardous waste in Khori Kalan and nearby areas. During the investigation, the trolleys contained evidence, including discarded packaging and chemical drums, that helped trace the waste back to industrial units in Bhiwadi. We have been taking action to restore the area and curb illegal practices." Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- New Indian Express
Centre issues guidelines on floodplain zones, bans high-risk constructions
NEW DELHI: With flash floods causing destruction, the Centre has issued guidelines on floodplain zoning to encourage the states to adopt non-structural measures and reduce the impact of flood-related disasters. The Central Water Commission has created the first technical framework titled 'Technical Guidelines on Floodplain Zoning 2025', categorising floodplains into protected, regulatory, and warning zones. Protected zones (both rural and urban areas) experience floods at least once in five years. Regulatory zones experience floods once in five years and once in 25 years. Finally, the Warning zone (only in urban areas) gets flooded once in 25 years and once in 100 years. In the Protected zone, any permanent structural activities are not advised, except for public purposes such as civil and rail infrastructure. Construction disturbing the natural course of the river channel, except for essential services and infrastructure (ESI), is prohibited. Sustainable activities are encouraged, but not dumping any solid waste or creating landfills, storing highly volatile, inflammable materials, or establishing large-scale facilities. In the regulatory zone, the framework prohibits any residential settlement, critical defence installations, and the construction of basements. However, it allows public institutions, government offices, universities, and educational Institutions without residential facilities, public libraries, sewage treatment plants, and community halls. In the warning zone, the guidelines prohibit hazardous waste-producing chemical industries and nuclear plants, but allow public utilities.
