Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "Containers from sunken ship likely to drift towards Alappuzha, Kollam Coasts in 48 hours: INCOIS" appearing in The Hindu dated 25.05.2025 dated 27/05/2025. The original application was registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled …
kerala government has decided to impose a ban on the use of plastic bags in the capital Thiruvananthapuram. The decision has been taken keeping in mind the non-biodegradable nature of plastic. Furthermore, says city mayor V Sivankutty, it will pose a big problem for a new garbage treatment plant being …
A thin strip of land trapped between the Arabian Sea and the Kerala backwaters. This is Challanam in Ernakulam district. Freshwater used to be very scarce. Although it rains in torrents during the monsoon, the water would flow into the sea. Groundwater was useless due to ingress of saline water. …
Leftist politicians have a reputation across the world for being immensely centralised in their thinking. So, what was different in Kerala, where the major steps in the decentralisation drive have been taken by the ldf alliance? For one, the socioeconomic conditions desperately called for a change. For another, a highly …
To understand why Kerala reports almost two out of three cases of suicide in India - and what a difference decentralisation of power can make to the situation - go to Bhranthan Moola and Thoongithara. The names of the two settlements in Mallapuram district's Ponnani block literally mean "mad people's …
Four years of decentralised planning have resulted in a functional division between state plans and local plans. Policy analysts say this would lead to subsequent material improvement in local life, for example, better management of agriculture and water resources. "An important change is the right focus of planning and, so, …
It is a labour bank called Thozhil Sena . Its capital is human labour and the clients are mostly farmers who loan labour at a rate of interest. Perhaps the first of its kind in India, the
The future of the decentralisation process is uncertain, and the real threat comes from the bureaucracy. A wide spectrum of people - from political leaders to policy planners - share such fears. "The bureaucracy is organised, and is a great problem. Earlier there was stiff resistance from the bureaucracy to …
Here is a success story. May every Keralite feel proud. Kerala is the most literate state in India, the first where population levels stabilised and now they have even successfully dealt with decentralised planning. But the god's haven't been fair to the state in the past few decades. The state …
several vital issues pertaining to the manufacture and marketing of non-timber forest products ( ntfp s) was thrown up at a national seminar on sustainable management of ntfp s organised in Thiruvananthapuram by the Kerala forests and wildlife department. Participants at the seminar discussed a paradigm shift from timber-oriented management …
for more than half a century, the National Botanical Research Institute ( nbri ) in Lucknow has been doing pioneering work in the collection, study and conservation of the vast and varied floral diversity of India. With the entry of P Pushpangadan as its director, the institute is at the …
the Kerala government has finally promulgated the Kerala Forest (Vesting and management of ecologically sensitive lands) Ordinance, 2000, which gives it the power to take ownership of all lands considered
as the largescale destruction of forests continue, there are small pockets of trees all over the country that are still holding out against the mindless deforestation. Sacred groves - small patches of forests which contain a temple and a deity. The copses formed an integral part of the traditional lifestyle …
I am truly delighted to be present here among all of you in Hamirpura for the presentation of the Down To Earth-Joseph C John Award. Very seldom is there an opportunity to address a village ceremony. I was born in a Kerala village and I spent the first 20 years …
the failure of policies initiated by the forest department has led to a flourishing business for brokers involved in the sale of medicinal plants and non-wood forest products. This has resulted in the extensive destruction of biodiversity in Kotoor town of Kerala. An hour-long bumpy drive from the state capital …
the Bharathapuzha, also known as the Nila in Kerala, is just another river that is gradually dying out. Originating in the Annamalai hills of the Western Ghats, it is the life-line for almost one-eighth of Kerala's population. However, according to a study conducted by the Zoology department of N S …
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are now used the worldover. But they still have not been able to compete with the old-faithful cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which are used to display high-quality images in television monitors. Now, scientists at Samsung, Korea, have produced a display that promises to use the quality …
The widespread attack of the mite Eriphyes guerreronis is threatening coconut plantations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. However, according to researchers, trees raised with organic manure or biopesticides have not been affected by the mites. The scientific community has propagated foliar spraying and root feeding of pesticides, but it has …
the potential to generate electricity from wind is more than twice what was previously estimated. The Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources ( mnes ) reassessed the gross potential of non-conventional energy sources and upgraded the potential of the wind power sector from 20,000 megawatt (mw) to 45,000 mw. The …
the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (tbgri), a Thiruvananthapuram-based autonomous research organisation under the department of science and technology, has exported medicinal plants to biotech firms in Singapore and Denmark without the prior consent of the Union government. This export was despite the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd) …
The Pampa river in Kerala is slowly dying due to environmental degradation. Also known as Dakshina Ganga because of its historic relationship with the Sabarimala Temple, the river originates from the Sabari hills in the Western Ghats and flows west through the districts of Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Allappuzha. It is …
