Sri Lanka: government sponsors monthly newspaper insert on water conservation

Lake House Chairman Bandula Padmakumara presenting the Randiya tabloid to Water Supply and Drainage Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa. Editorial Director Seelaratna Senarath is also in the picture. Photo: Dinamina

The Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage has launched the Randiya tabloid paper to raise public awareness on water conservation. Randiya will be published every third Wednesday as an insert in the Dinamina newspaper published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House.

Related web site: Sri Lanka – Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage

Source: Priyanka Kurugala, Daily News, 24 Nov 2011

Thailand, Bangkok: struggling to clear garbage in flood crisis

Garbage piled up on a flooded street in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Getty Images / WSJ

Industrial parks in Bangkok are being threatened after residents in Bangkok’s northeast demolish government-built levies to release the stagnant, garbage-ridden water that was building up in their neighbourhoods, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Flooded roads are preventing garbage collectors getting to many areas—raising fears over the risk of disease and over the blockage of drains, which is impeding the flow of water into the sea. Bangkok produces about 8,700 tons of rubbish a day—roughly a quarter of Thailand’s total. Added to that figure is the additional trash flowing into the city from northern provinces.