2002 riot victims at rehab colony in Nandasan, Mehsana The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), Gujarat, has demanded that the Government of India should urgently formulate a comprehensive policy for rehabilitation of the victims of communal violence, pointing out that the 2002 Gujarat riots are a major example of persecution on the basis of religion in India.

  The Government of India (GoI) may have allocated Rs 235 crore since 2016-17 for cleaning up three of Gujarat’s major rivers, Sabarmati, which flows through Ahmedabad, and Mindola and Tapi, both South Gujarat rivers. However, Mahesh Pandya, director, Paryavaran Mitra, has alleged that despite the allocation, things have failed to improve, with Sabarmati, especially in the downstream, remaining as polluted as before.

The Farmers Action Group (FAG), a Gujarat-based network, in a representation to the chairman, Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), taking strong exception to GPCB letters dated July 15 and 27 to the farmers of seven villages of Vadodara district seeking to seal their borewells, has wondered why is the top state government agency refusing to take a similar step against polluting industrial units in the region.