Aimed at making Kannur water-rich district in four years

The Kannur Water Conservation Society (KWCS) will launch long-term groundwater recharge activities in view of the depletion in groundwater level and contamination of water resources in the district that raise concerns about a severe drought situation. The society, which was established in 1995 and is now chaired by District Collector Rathan Kelkar, has chalked out a comprehensive water conservation scheme to be implemented in the district to make Kannur a water resources-rich district over the next four years.

A high-level Environment Ministry panel has recommended granting green clearance to the proposed international airport at north Kerala’s Kannur district.

Pattuvam drinking water project inaugurated

Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph has said construction of reservoirs to harvest rainwater will be popularised, and all drinking water project works taken up by the government will be completed in a time-bound manner to address the drinking water scarcity in the State. Inaugurating the Pattuvam drinking water project of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) funded by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) at Pattuvam here on Thursday, the Minister said the project, executed at an estimated cost of Rs.392 crore, would be an answer to problems of drinking water scarcity in 15 panchayats.

Kudumbasree plans extensive campaign across the State

In a move to spread the message of energy conservation among the people, the Kudumbasree Mission has planned an extensive publicity campaign across the State. In the district, the programme will be undertaken by selected Kudumbasree workers through community development societies (CDS). As part of this, a ‘Kalajaatha’ and a play will be held in the six municipalities and 81 panchayats of the district for a one-month period, along with awareness campaigns by experts from the Kerala State Electricity Board between March 2 and March 31.

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has decided not to grant environmental clearance to any proposals coming under the Ecologically Sensitive Zone-1 of the Western Ghats.

The decision comes in the wake of a direction issued by the National Green Tribunal that the recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report should be considered while granting environmental clearance to projects in the ESZ-1 in the Western Ghats. ESZ-I areas are those which fall outside the boundaries of wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests but have been given the status of a protected area in the WGEEP report.

Thrissur: A panel constituted to work on demarcating ecologically-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state on Monday visited the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad and held deliberations with the public.

The panel members, comprising MLAs T N Prathapan, N Shamsudeen and state wildlife board officials, decided to recommend to the Union ministry of environment and forests to declare the entire 148-sq km buffer zone around the park as an ecologically-sensitive zone.

Bank’s pre-appraisal mission says worrying increases in cost estimates need serious review

The World Bank has expressed reservation on the ‘slow progress’ in completing acquisition of the remaining land needed for the second phase of the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) that aims at world-class development of 367 km of State highways. The pre-appraisal mission led by World Bank senior transport economist Simon D. Ellis, who was in the State recently to review the project, said the “progress on land acquisition which has not progressed since the last mission and the worrying increases in cost estimates need serious review.”

The commissioning of the natural gas pipeline of Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) will be subject to the approval of the Oil Industries Safety Directorate (OISD), according to officials of GAIL.

Speaking at a meeting convened by District Collector Rathan Kelkar here on Wednesday on the laying of natural gas pipeline, passing through different parts of the district, the GAIL officials said that there was no need for any safety concern as the pipeline would be commissioned only after getting the approval of the OISD. The meeting was held to discuss the progress of the pipe-laying work and steps to pay compensation and ensure safety.

The police here have beefed up measures to check unauthorised mining of sand in different parts of the district.

The police action followed reports of large-scale unauthorised mining of sand from rivers to defeat regulation of sand-mining activities under the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001. The police here said that they had already intensified steps to nab those who violated the provisions in the Act.

In a bid to arrest the rapid depletion of mangroves, the state forest department has mooted a proposal to acquire mangroves in private land along the Kerala coast, perhaps for the first time in the