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Environment Current Affairs December 2nd Week 2018
Category : Environment Current Affairs
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 1. Revised Guidelines for Ground Water Extraction Notified, to be Effective From 1st June 2019

In order to comply with various directions of the Honorable NGT and to address various shortcomings in the existing guidelines of ground water extraction, the Central Ground Water Authority, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on 12th December 2018 notified revised guidelines for ground water extraction which will be effective from 1st June 2019.
The revised guidelines aim to ensure a more robust ground water regulatory mechanism in the country.
One of the important features of the revised guidelines is the introduction of the concept of Water Conservation Fee (WCF).
The higher WCF will discourage setting up of new industries in over-exploited and critical areas as well as act as a deterrent to large scale ground water extraction by industries, especially in overexploited and critical areas
 
2. Water storage level of 91 major reservoirs of the country goes down by two percent
 
The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on  December 06, 2018 was 94.994 BCM, which is 59% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. 
This percentage was at 61% for the week ending on November 29, 2018. The level of water storage in the week ending on December 06, 2018 was 98% ofthe storage of corresponding period of last year and 94% of storage of average of last ten years.
The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. 
37 Reservoirs out of these 91 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW. 
The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. There are six reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. 
The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. There are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM.
The Western region includes States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. There are 27 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 31.26 BCM.
The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM. 
The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. 
States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. 
States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
 
3. Around 5,000 migratory birds flock in J&K`s Gharana wetland
 
Around 5,000 migratory birds have arrived at Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve along the International border in the outskirts of Jammu.
Located about 30 km from Jammu, Gharana is surrounded by wetlands of Makwal, Kukdian, Abdullian and Pargwal where more than 170 resident and migratory bird species flock during the winter, making it a treat for bird watchers. 
These bird species are bar-headed geese, gadwalls, common teals, purple swamp hens, Indian moorhens, black-winged stilts, cormorants, egrets and greenshanks.