Latest news with #EAC
New Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
EAC's Banakacherla rejection just comma, not full stop: CM Revanth Reddy
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday described the Expert Appraisal Committee's (EAC) rejection of the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project proposal as a temporary setback for Andhra Pradesh, stating, 'It's a comma, not a full stop.' He said that Andhra Pradesh will resubmit the proposal with clarifications to address EAC's concerns because Prime Minister Narendra Modi's survival depends on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose own survival hinges on the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project. 'They are political linkages like rivers linkage,' he remarked. Revanth Reddy accused former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and BRS MLA T Harish Rao of betraying Telangana's interests in the allocation of Godavari and Krishna river waters. He alleged that KCR agreed to a reduced water share, effectively 'mortgaging' Telangana's rights. He claimed that Telangana, with 68% of the Krishna river's catchment area, should have received 555 tmcft of water as per international water laws, but the BRS government settled for only 299 tmcft, which the state never fully utilised, peaking at 220 tmcft due to incomplete projects. On the Godavari, the chief minister said that of the 1,486 tmcft water available, Telangana was allocated 968 tmcft and Andhra Pradesh 518 tmcft. He slammed KCR for redesigning the Congress-initiated Pranahita-Chevella project into the Kaleshwaram project, escalating costs from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with only 168 tmcft of water having been lifted so far. He also pointed out that in 2016, KCR claimed 3,000 tmcft of Godavari water was going waste, prompting Andhra Pradesh to plan the diversion of 400 tmcft to the Penna basin.
New Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
What prompted EAC to reject AP's Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project proposal?
VIJAYAWADA: The Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project (PBLP), announced by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in 2024 during his second term, has sparked intense debate. Aimed at transforming the State's water landscape, the project seeks to divert 200 TMC of Godavari floodwater from the Polavaram Dam to the Banakacherla Regulator or Srisailam Right Main Canal. However, the proposal has been returned by the Central Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), amid legal, environmental, and interstate concerns. Telangana's objections and criticism from water resource experts, who call the project 'beyond logic,' have further fuelled the controversy. The PBLP is a bold initiative to combat water scarcity in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region. Spanning 2,40,604 hectares across eight districts, including East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Rayalaseema, it involves expanding the Polavaram Right Main Canal's capacity from 17,500 to 38,000 cusecs, and the Thatipudi Lift Irrigation Scheme's canal from 1,400 to 10,000 cusecs. A new reservoir at Bollapalli in Guntur district, supported by lift stations at Harischandrapuram, Lingapuram, Vyyandana, Gangireddypalem, and Nakirekallu, will channel water to Banakacherla and Veligonda reservoirs through a 19.5-km tunnel in the Nallamala forest. The project aims to irrigate 3 lakh hectares of new ayacut, stabilise 9.14 lakh hectares of existing ayacut, provide drinking water to 80 lakh people, allocate 20 TMC for industrial use, and generate 400 MW of hydropower. Costing an estimated Rs 81,900 crore, it requires Rs 54,000 acres of land, and 4,000 MW of power, with Naidu seeking Central funding to address financial challenges. Reasons for project rejection The EAC, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, rejected the PBLP proposal due to significant legal and environmental issues. Telangana claimed the project violates the 1980 Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award, which requires consultation with co-basin States like Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The EAC has highlighted unresolved submergence concerns in Odisha and Chhattisgarh tied to the Polavaram project, which are still under judicial review. The Central Water Commission's 2018 report, stating no surplus water at Polavaram at 75% dependability, contradicted Andhra Pradesh's floodwater diversion claims. The EAC has instructed AP to resolve interstate disputes, and secure CWC clearance before resubmitting it.
Daily Record
20 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Record
Parents furious at council decision to remove school transport from vulnerable Ayrshire kids
A petition was launched by one of the parents after East Ayrshire Council removed school transport for vulnerable children with ASN. A heartbroken father has launched a petition after East Ayrshire Council removed school transport from children with additional support needs (ASN) for the rest of their school lives. The decision affects pupils attending specialist schools such as Willowbank Primary in Kilmarnock, which caters for children with complex physical and learning support needs, as well as their families. Fraser Jardine, 36, started a petition after receiving EAC's refusal letter which was sent out on Monday, June 23. The letter stated that his daughter, Gracie, would no longer receive transportation to and from school for the remainder of her school life. Nine-year-old Gracie has level five cerebral palsy due to a birth injury. She is non-verbal, unable to suck or swallow due to bulbar palsy and has epilepsy with regular seizures. Gracie is entirely dependent on tube feeding and receives 20 individual medication doses per day administered via syringe into jejunostomy. She has increased muscle tone with poor circulation and temperature control, cortical vision impairment, bowel irregularity due to her brain damage and weak lungs requiring daily attention. Gracie also recently had hip surgery in April this year to carefully manage her hip displacement, scoliosis and curvature of the spine which needs to be carefully managed and can cause her pain when exposed to the cold. Fraser, from Knockentiber, said: "In Gracie's situation, due to reports we had, her life expectancy is projected to be in her thirties, if she has the right therapies and physical, medical and environmental conditions in place. Gracie will be ten this year and to help her achieve this life expectancy and beyond she needs the best-case scenario in every situation through life giving her an optimum chance of reaching this goal which we are determined to see her get to. "Gracie is fragile and her health can go downhill very quickly. She is at the forefront of our family in everything we do and she is our motivation and driving force in getting through life and succeeding as a family." Gracie is currently getting a school bus every day with supervision. Fraser and his wife Amanda are deeply concerned and worried about the safety of getting Gracie and their other two children into school starting from August. Fraser says he now faces having to push a wheelchair and carry a suction machine while potentially exposing Gracie to harsh weather conditions every day to drop off her and her siblings. Moreover, Gracie's mum, a permanent makeup artist, will potentially have to change her available client booking for certain times which is a "roadblock for any parent". Fraser said: "Gracie already has very weak lungs and requires multiple daily chest physio, daily PEP mask administration, daily inhaler administration and this is with very little exposure to cold, harsh weather as we are selective as to when we take her out to ultimately protect her health. My main concern is risk of seizures while Gracie is unattended which could have unimaginable consequences." Fraser continued: "I think they are opening a huge can of worms here without proper thought. "It's a sickening blow to who needs help the most. I am shocked, appalled and insulted at the decision and encourage them to see the bigger picture with common sense. "In East Ayrshire Council strategic plan 2022-2027 one of the six strategic themes is to have a focus on 'improving community wellbeing and supporting children and young people' which is absolutely not the case and council have most certainly lost focus and failed miserably here." Fraser's petition to reinstate school transport for vulnerable ASN children already received over 2,000 signatures. Another Willowbank parent Sarah Fox, 34, from Lugton, joined the petition as she was "shocked" to see a refusal letter in her email inbox. Sarah's 11-year-old son Corey has 2two rare genetic conditions that affect his mobility, speech and learning. He uses a wheelchair full-time, is non-verbal and requires constant supervision. Sarah said: "It never occurred to me that the council would actually refuse children transport to school. Especially vulnerable children with additional needs. I felt a lot of things that day, sadness, anger and anxiety to name a few. "I would like to add that this refusal hasn't been applied to children in mainstream schools. Why? Are ASN children less deserving of transport to school? They are the ones that need it the most. "Just shows how much EAC thinks of the ASN community." Corey enjoys his bus journey to and from school every day and has great relationships with his bus guide and driver. When the school goes back in August, Sarah and her husband will struggle with a lack of transport. She explained: "My husband and I start work before the school day starts and finish after it ends. Both of us are unavailable to take him to school and pick him up again. "If I was able to cut my hours, and financially I'm not in a position to do so, I will need to drive 25 minutes each morning to school, since Willowbank is our closest ASN school, and then an extra 25 minutes to get to work from the school. "I would need to drive nearly 2 hours each day. With arthritis in my knee and lipedema in my legs, this is going to be physically challenging for me. Corrie-Beth Jeffrey, 29, from Crookedholm, is also concerned about her son Oliver who is only six-years-old. Corrie-Beth said: "Oliver is non-verbal autistic. Non-verbal meaning he can't speak at all apart from repeating some words back to us, he has difficulty communicating his emotions so he has meltdowns. "Our lives have to revolve around Oliver's routine, things can become very overwhelming for him so if we are out and he starts to become worked up we have to leave. Oliver also doesn't sleep at night. He has a prescription of melatonin but this only puts him to sleep at night and he will still wake up around 3/4am and be full of energy, this can also impact our day because I need to be up with him to make sure he is safe. "I also have an older son at nine-years-old so I am juggling my time between the two of them so my oldest can live as normal as possible life." Oliver had a taxi to and from school for two years now. His mum said it is a part of his routine in the morning which he loves. Corrie-Beth claims she received a letter from the council explaining that her son won't qualify for a taxi anymore as they live within a three-mile walking distance. She said: "The way they worded the refusal surprised me, they told me walking routes from our house to Oliver's school was safe for him to walk either accompanied or unaccompanied. My son can't speak, he has no understanding of road safety and lives in his own little world but can walk to school by himself apparently. They have no idea how challenging the world can be for our children. I think this is why we are all so ready for a change to happen. "I do not drive yet so I would have no other way of getting him to school apart from a bus and public transport is not something he feels safe in due to it being overcrowded."This decision will impact our lives so much. Most mornings Oliver can become very overwhelmed causing a meltdown, Oliver's meltdowns include hitting into his own head and biting into his hands, he flings himself to the ground and will uncontrollably cry. Corrie-Beth continued: "I am hoping EAC will look at our argument and see how much their decision is going to affect our children's life. The best outcome is that they work out a solution so that our children can be kept safe and protected on their journey to school. "I personally feel transport should be put back in place for the children of Willowbank School and any child living with complex needs." A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Council said: "On March 12, 2025, Cabinet agreed an Alternative School Transport policy for academic year 2025/ 26. "This decision was necessitated by the fact that as of September 30, 2024, 601 children and young people were approved for home to school journeys at a total daily cost of £22,800, which equated to a projected overspend of £2,414,133 for alternative school transport for 2024/25. "The new Alternative School Transport policy will protect the sustainability of alternative transportation where there is an essential need. "As agreed by Cabinet, a full audit has been undertaken by the Transport Review Panel and letters issued to parents and carers advising of the outcome of the audit. A second letter has since been issued to parents and carers to clarify the process. "The council asks that if parents and carers believe that there are circumstances that have not been considered and which may affect the decisions taken, they have the right to request a review. "Parents and carers should submit a written request to ASNAdmin@ within 10 days of receipt of their first letter and must include relevant additional information or evidence. "Through this review process, which will continue over the summer, the council will look to identify common issues, particularly those related to schools and centres with later start times, as there may be actions at a school level that can be taken to mitigate any potential impact on working parents and carers. "To conclude, the council can confirm that the review process has not been completed therefore no parent or carer is in receipt of a final decision. Any further family circumstances provided to the council will be fully considered." The petition started by Fraser can be found here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Roughly 30 percent of 2024 voters used mail ballot: Research
Nearly a third of the ballots cast in the presidential election last fall were submitted by mail, despite long-standing efforts from President Trump and other Republicans to discourage the controversial voting method, new research found. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released a report this week that found while mail-in ballots didn't hit the record levels seen during the height of the pandemic four years earlier (at 43 percent), the percentage of voters who cast ballots by mail last fall (30.3 percent) remained well above prepandemic levels. Most voters in the 2024 general election cast their ballots in person, with 37.4 percent on Election Day and 35.2 percent through in-person early voting opportunities, the report found. However, more than 48 million mail-in votes were cast and counted in the 2024 presidential election, in addition to ballots sent in by members of the military and other overseas voters. 'State policies on the availability of mail voting have evolved rapidly over the past few election cycles,' the EAC's analysts wrote of the findings. Eight states and Washington, D.C., have adopted 'all' or 'mostly' mail elections, where ballots are sent to registered voters and can be returned via secure drop boxes or the U.S. Postal Service, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Additional states allow mail-in elections in some jurisdictions. The growing popularity of voting by mail also comes as Trump has targeted the ballot-casting method as a potential avenue for voter fraud. The president signed an executive order in March that would require all states and territories to count mail-in ballots on or before Election Day, as part of a broader election system overhaul that Trump backed after years of making unfounded claims about widespread voter fraud. 'Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic,' Trump wrote in the order, which a federal judge blocked last month. 'The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.' Trump's executive order, rather than ending early voting, sought to rein in delays in finalizing vote tallies in some states, including California, which is the country's most populous state and has an all-mail voting system. California allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to seven days after polls close. Trump cited other countries that have more restrictions on when ballots can be counted, including those submitted by mail. 'While countries like Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and do not count late-arriving votes regardless of the date of postmark, many American elections now feature mass voting by mail, with many officials accepting ballots without postmarks or those received well after Election Day,' he wrote. The EAC findings are based on surveys of election officials in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Roughly 30 percent of 2024 voters used mail ballot: Research
Nearly a third of the ballots cast in the presidential election last fall were submitted by mail, despite long-standing efforts from President Trump and other Republicans to discourage the controversial voting method, new research found. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released a report this week that found that, while mail-in ballots didn't hit the record levels seen during the height of the pandemic four years earlier (43 percent), the percentage of voters who cast ballots by mail last fall (30.3 percent) remained well above pre-pandemic levels. Most voters in the 2024 general election cast their ballots in person, with 37.4 percent on Election Day and 35.2 percent through in-person early voting opportunities, the report found. However, more than 48 million mail-in votes were cast and counted in the 2024 presidential election, in addition to ballots sent in by members of the military and other overseas voters. 'State policies on the availability of mail voting have evolved rapidly over the past few election cycles,' the EAC's analysts wrote of the findings. Eight states and Washington, D.C., have adopted 'all' or 'mostly' mail elections, where ballots are sent to registered voters and can be returned via secure drop boxes or the U.S. Postal Service, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Additional states allow mail-in elections in some jurisdictions. The growing popularity of voting by mail also comes as Trump has targeted the ballot-casting method as a potential avenue for voter fraud. The president signed an executive order in March that would require all states and territories to count mail-in ballots on or before Election Day, as part of a broader election system overhaul that Trump backed after years of making unfounded claims about widespread voter fraud. 'Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic,' Trump wrote in the order, which a federal judge blocked last month. 'The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.' Trump's executive order, rather than ending early voting, sought to rein in delays in finalizing vote tallies in some states, including California, which is the country's most populous state and has an all-mail voting system. California allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to seven days after polls close. Trump cited other countries that have more restrictions on when ballots can be counted, including those submitted by mail. 'While countries like Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and do not count late-arriving votes regardless of the date of postmark, many American elections now feature mass voting by mail, with many officials accepting ballots without postmarks or those received well after Election Day,' he wrote. The EAC findings are based on surveys of elections officials in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
