Kochi: All companies, except Merchem Ltd, one of the companies directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to contribute to the remediation of streams that join Periyar River, on ‘polluter pays’ principle,
To Appoint An Agency To Prepare Detailed Project Report The cash-strapped Kochi corporation is planning to appoint an agency for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for executing the solar city project. With the local body paying an annual electricity bill of about Rs 9 crore to KSEB, it is keen on starting the project in the current fiscal. The DPR is expected to cost Rs 10 lakh, which will be funded by the Centre.
KOCHI: Following acute water shortage and huge expenditure incurred on water supplied by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) has decided to build a
Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has been trying hard to push the declining paddy cultivation by allocating huge funds and proposing innovative projects in the last two budgets, but these initiatives
The state government should give its viewon theuse of compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles used for public transportation in the city, including autorickshaws, the Kerala High Court directed on Thursday. A division bench, comprising chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice K Vinod Chandran, issued notice to the state government while considering a petition filedby Vytilla-based Association for Better Life and Environment.
Kerala Tourism’s responsible tourism model at Kumarakom, linking local community to the hospitality industry, has won the national award for the best rural tourism project. Kerala also bagged honours in three other categories at the National Tourism Awards for 2011-12. The best wellness centre award went to Somatheeram Ayurveda Resort at Chowara near Thiruvananthapuram, while Pioneer Personalised Holidays won in the best approved inbound tour operator and travel agent category.
About two lakh people in Palakkad’s Chittur taluk are facing acute drinking water shortage even as a high-level central team visited the drought-affected areas there on Tuesday. Officials of the Kerala Water Resources Department said the shortage would be severe if Tamil Nadu did not release water from Parambikulam. Drought has already destroyed paddy cultivation to the tune of Rs 80 crore in the district. Chittur is the worst affected.
Plantation Land Conversion Only For Improving Economic Conditions The revenue department has come up with an order plugging the loopholes in the amendment of the Kerala Land Reforms Act 1963, which allowed conversion of 5% plantation land for other purposes. In an order issued on March 7, the department has clarified that the exemption is allowed only for improving the economic conditions of plantations that cannot be changed hands.
Kochi: The 100KW pilot solar power project of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) is ready for commissioning. The project would go on stream as soon as the Kerala State Electrical Inspectorate gives its approval, Cial said in a statement. Cial has submitted the required application to the inspectorate. With the commissioning of the pilot unit, Cial would be among the first few international airports in the country to use solar energy for its power requirements, marking a big step towards “going green”, said Cial.
Scientists Work On Breeds That Can Resist Climate Change Researchers based at the Rice Research Station at Mankombu here are working on new hybrid derivatives of rice seeds, which could withstand the vagaries of climate change, salinity and waterlogging in eco-fragile regions like Kuttanad. A recent World Bank commissioned report had warned that the world was moving to a one degree celsius increase in mean temperature, and this would create extreme heatwaves and life-threatening rise in sea levels. The study also pointed out that coastal and wetland areas near the sea would be the most affected, creating havoc in the prevalent eco-system.
A large group of people living in villages deep inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary are set for an occupy stir which will see them forcefully occupy bungalows, buildings and revenue land under the forest department in the district in protest against government delay in implementing the relocation package promised to them long ago. The villagers, comprising around 2,600 tribal and nontribal families from 110 settlements situated deep within the WWS, had voluntarily expressed their willingness to move out of the forest three years back. The unique project, if implemented, could have added over 1500 acres to the sanctuary, making it one of the largest voluntary relocation programmes in the country.
