The anti-plastic campaign of the Kochi Corporation, which was shelved following the recent fire at Brahmapuram solid waste plant site, may be re-introduced shortly. Even as the civic authorities vow to curb the use of plastic carry bags in its third attempt, the corporation seemed to be ill-equipped to restrain the menace.

Originally, the corporation had planned to impose the ban on use of plastic carry bags below 40 micron from March 1. It was also planning to undertake extensive campaigns in the city against the use of plastic bags from the first week of March.

Chandy, team to put the demand before Prime Minister

Kerala, facing a searing drought, will urge the Centre to sanction it a special Rs. 4,000-crore relief package. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Cabinet colleagues will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the request during their visit to Delhi on Monday and Tuesday.

The budget proposal to aid local bodies in taking up waste-to-energy projects in public-private partnership mode is expected to improve urban waste management in Kochi and other cities.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had proposed “to support municipalities implementing waste-to-energy projects by offering viability gap funding, repayable grant and low-cost capital”.

Soaring mercury levels may trigger more incidents of human-animal conflicts, it is feared.

Forest fires and the reduced availability of fodder and drinking water may force wild animals out of their territories. They may venture into human habitations in search of water and food, according to wildlife authorities. E.A. Jayson, head of the Wildlife Division of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Thrissur, said that conflicts in each area would be influenced by a host of local factors such as availability of food and water and proximity to forest area.

Board nod must for pushing State’s case for new dam

The State Wildlife Board on Thursday will decide on a request for conducting an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the new Mullaperiyar dam in the Periyar Tiger Reserve area and the declaration of eco-sensitive zones around wildlife sanctuaries of Kerala.

The first meeting of the recently reconstituted board will take up a proposal for an increase in the water level of the Peppara dam in Thiruvananthapuram. The clearance of the board is required for pushing the State’s application for the new dam. The delay in reconstituting the board had delayed the proceedings in the case.

Failed monsoons have led to an acute scarcity of water

Drinking water rationing is being considered in Kerala, the land of 44 rivers. Acute scarcity of drinking water has gripped most of the districts in the State, and the authorities may ration the quantity of drinking water for each household. The situation may turn worse during the peak summer months when most of the drinking water sources either dry up or are reduced to a trickle, it is feared.

The increasing incidence of man-animal conflict in northern Kerala have prompted wildlife researchers to go to the root cause of the issue.

Besides the straying of tigers and leopards into human habitations in some districts, human-elephant conflicts were reported from Palakkad and Malappuram districts. The incidents were relatively new in these districts and the reasons needed to be probed thoroughly, said E.A. Jayson, Head of the Wildlife division of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi.

Surveillance cameras will soon monitor the physical changes of the waters of River Periyar.

The Kerala State Pollution Control Board is embarking on a video surveillance programme for the river system in association with Keltron for real time monitoring of the water body. Senior officials from the two agencies will inspect the river system next week to finalise locations for installing the cameras. The project is to install six cameras downstream Pathalam Bund, said K. Sajeevan, chairman of the board.

Wildlife biologists are looking into incidents of animals being run over on forest routes and its impacts on wildlife in Kerala.

The study, pioneered by P.S. Easa of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, will focus on the road between forest check-posts at Vazhachal and Malakapara and the stretch between the check-posts of Chinnar and Meladi. A good number of wild animals, including hare, amphibians, and reptiles, are killed by vehicles every year. However, these roadkill go unrecorded as focus has always been on large animals, said Mr. Easa.

A proposal to classify river courses in the State into various eco-zones for their conservation and management is getting ready.

This forms part of the guidelines prepared by the Department of Environment and Climate Change for the conservation and protection of river systems in the State. The eco-zones, it is proposed, will be demarcated based on the climatic and geomorphic features of each course, the extent of its degradation, and the scope for its restoration. Permissible activities will be notified for each zone.