New proposals to tackle floods
June 23, 2008
Flood defence needs to be taken and tackled more seriously, mentions the official report on flooding of last summer. Sir Michael Pitt’s independent review will contain over 70 proposals. Some of them are:
1. Local authorities should conceive a definitive map of drainage ditches, streams in their area. They should clearly spell out responsibility for maintenance.
2. A nerve centre should be formed jointly by the Environment Agency and the Met Office. The two agencies will pool data and give more precise flood warnings.
3. New building regulations for flood-prone areas need to be introduced, including recommendation of proper construction materials as well as drainage systems.
4. A greater onus should be put on utility firms for protecting key infrastructure sites.
According to Sir Michael, some had previously been very secretive about their sites. He stated most of the recommendations could easily be achieved within the existing £800m yearly flood defence budget of the government for 2010 to 2011. He added: “Implementing the recommendations will require powerful, Cabinet-level leadership. Also, we can get much better prepared. In fact, we are already better prepared now than last year.”
The City of London is craving for more ‘power’
June 11, 2008
When the UK won its bid for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, Tony Blair was understandably jubilant, but he probably little knew that he was inadvertently shackling the City of London by denying it clear access to the national grid. To put it simply, demand for the cabling to supply power to the computer centres, which the industry heavily relies upon, has outstripped supply. The City has been informed that there can be no additional computer centres until after the Olympics.
Before the games were factored in, the picture was rather bleak. One adds the sports jamboree, and a system, which was creaking, has almost come to a grinding halt. In spite of massive demand, only two data centres – an extension to Telehouse and Stockley Park – have been given the go-ahead within the past two years by EDF Energy that supplies power to the south-east of England.
The City of London has an estimated power demand of 1,000MW. The same is expected to increase by a whopping 80 per cent over the next 5-6 years.
