After its disastrous management of the city’s flooding spots last year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to increase the number of de-watering pumps to be installed in various areas to prevent inundation during the monsoon season.   Among the 244 de-watering pumps to be placed across Mumbai, 24 pumps will be stationed at each of the city’s ward offices as a stand-by. “Last year, we got complaints from many areas that the number of…

A phone call from a local scrapyard owner directed Grahamstown farmer, Peter Wylie, to an irrigation pump stolen from his farm on Tuesday 8 April. Wylie collected the pump from the police station yesterday after a tip-off from scrap dealer Leonard Bodill. The police had retrieved it from another scrapyard, Wylie said. Bodill, who owns Metal Masters, described how he had realised the pump was probably stolen, and managed to identify the owner. That Tuesday, Bodill…

Displaying government’s resolve to mitigate the challenge of acid mine drainage (AMD) in Gauteng’s Witwatersrand, South Africa’s Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa in March attended the lowering of AMD pumps at the Witwatersrand Central basin, which is said to be one of the highest AMD-affected areas in the province. Located below the greater part of the City of Johannesburg, the Central basin has been the subject of debate regarding the impact of AMD on…