The Madurai Corporation is planning a complete ban on plastic cups and carry bags in the city. This issue is likely to be taken up for discussion at the Council meeting to be held on Friday.

Based on a report prepared by an expert team, the Corporation is mulling the ban, and a final decision will be taken based on the response from the Councillors.

Officials step up checking to identify illegal connections and to seize motor pumps

A survey conducted by the municipal corporation has revealed that 21 wards are facing drinking water scarcity. Of the 100 wards of the civic body, 79 wards do not experience water crisis while the rest need immediate attention from the authorities. Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa had a meeting on Friday with councillors and Assistant Engineers to discuss the water availability and supply scenario.

Madurai Kamaraj University here is ready with a concrete proposal to set up a 100 KV solar energy system on its campus.

Tenders were called and a company was chosen. Kalyani Mathivanan, Vice-Chancellor, MKU, is now canvassing funds from the State Government and University Grants Commission for the project which is part of its Green Campus initiative. In the first phase, the university is looking for funding of Rs.1 crore to install 100 solar street lights on the campus.

In the backdrop of power shortage, which makes charging inverters a difficult task, the Solar Energy Exhibition being held at Thiagarajar College of Engineering sought to convey the purpose of innovative solar chargers and various means of solar power generation and utilisation.

As many as 14 leading solar energy product manufacturers and suppliers from all over India showcased their products in the exhibition. Solar powered toys, lighting products and domestic solar power supplying appliances were exhibited.

With climate change becoming a reality for our world to contend with, a highly detailed assessment of the likely impacts of this phenomenon in Kochi will be undertaken soon by the project partners

The second phase of the project to assess the impact of climate changes in target cities in India, including Kochi will be launched soon.

A stakeholder meeting will be convened in Kochi on Tuesday to discuss the timelines, status and next steps for the project. The major objectives of the meeting also include detailed discussions on the climate projections for Kochi and the impact of changing climate on the urban systems here. The project ‘Asian Cities Adapt: Impacts of Climate Change in Target Cities in India and the Philippines and Local Adaptation Strategies,’ is implemented jointly by International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) European Secretariat, CLEI South Asia and ICLEI South East Asia.

One more civic issue comes to the fore within a month as Ellis Nagar residents complain of uninhabitable conditions

A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here on the basis of a news report that appeared in The Hindu on March 12 under the title ‘Life is hellish at Ellis Nagar’ highlighting the predicament of people living amid stagnant sewage, heaps of garbage, swarms of mosquitoes, unbearable stench and constant threat of infectious diseases.

MADURAI: A week-long inspection by the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department at the hostel inside the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) revealed that unhygienic living conditions, poor main

Chennai to get 250, including 100 mini-buses, says Transport Minister

Three thousand new buses will be introduced this year at a cost of Rs.548 crore for the State, and the city will get 250 buses, including 100 mini-buses, Transport Minister V. Senthil Balaji informed the Assembly on Tuesday The mini-buses will act as a transit transport facility between the residential locality of the commuter and bus stops/train stations.

The Advisor to Ministry of Environment and Forests, G. V. Subrahmanyam, has said that people's participation in environment protection alone can bring the desired results more than any number of legislations brought by the Government.

“Protecting the environment is for our own future and not for anybody else. You can have any number of legislations…but the implementation is done by local people. Any campaign on climate change or environmental issues can be successful only when all of us come together,” he said, while speaking at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) here on Friday.