Citizen group opposes separate Pharma City for Hyderabad
Citizens Against Pollution, a Hyderabad based rights group, has opposed the Telangana Government’s move to establish a separate Hyderabad Pharma City. The group has claimed that the existing pharma city — Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City at Parwada near Vizag — is already responsible for causing severe pollution, negative impact on the local economy and destroying livelihoods.
The organization, comprised of scientists, policy experts and activists, has claimed that the pharmaceutical city is responsible for polluting the water bodies. Thus having another pharma city along the same lines will be dangerous for the city of Hyderabad.
Source: The Indian Express
BMC prepares for heavy rains in Mumbai
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an advisory for heavy rains in Mumbai and neighbouring suburbs for the next 48 hours, as a result, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has drafted a road map for the city. In 24 wards of Mumbai (low lying areas), the corporation is making temporary arrangements to transfer residents to schools for safety reasons.
Coordination between Fire, Police, BMC and health officials is also being worked out. Residents living on the banks of the Mithi River shall be temporarily evacuated if the need arises.
IMD has issued a warning for 15 districts of the state including Pune, Raigad, Solapur, Parbhani and others.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
No flights from six cities to Kolkata till July 19th
As a measure to contain the outbreak, the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal wrote to the Civil Aviation Ministry for suspending all flights from Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad from July 6th to 19th. The Ministry has accepted the request of the state government.
The letter cited an increasing number of cases in the state due to people coming from outside, especially from highly infected cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune etc.
According to available data from the Union Health Ministry, West Bengal has recorded 20,488 coronavirus cases, with 717 deaths so far. Kolkata and the adjoining districts of Howrah and North 24 Parganas are reportedly the worst affected.
Source: NDTV
Delhi NCR registers ‘moderate’ air quality
Several areas in Delhi witnessed ‘moderate’ level of air quality, recording an AQI of 152. In some parts of the city, like RK Puram and Mandir Marg, CPCB found the air quality to be in ‘good’ category.
As per SAFAR, the air quality in Delhi is expected to remain in the moderate category till the end of this week. Gurugram and Noida also experienced moderate AQI of 113 and 135 respectively.
As per CPCB guidelines, AQI between the range of 51 and 100 is considered as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘very good’, 101-200 is ‘moderate’, 201-300 falls under the category of ‘poor’. While 300-400 is considered as ‘very poor’, levels between 401-500 fall under the ‘hazardous’ category.
Source: Times Now
57 suicides in 34 days in Bhopal during Unlock 1
The capital city of Bhopal has witnessed a steep increase in suicide cases. The authorities have highlighted that suicidal tendencies have been most pronounced in the 20-40 years age group. Pressure of unemployment, financial insecurity remain some of the major reasons.
As per data released by Bhopal Police, the city has witnessed 57 cases of suicide in the last 34 days. While 58 people died by suicide during the 71 days of lockdown.
Domestic dispute and sudden aggression are also being claimed as major reasons by the police authorities. Highest suicides were reported for the age group between 20-30 years followed by 30-40 years. Media reports have highlighted incidence in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
Source: News Click
Compiled by Rishabh Shrivastava