New mining rules trigger outrage
Experts, greens criticise dilution of ecological norms for quarries The revised mining rules issued by the Industries Department last week have triggered widespread concern among the public and drawn
T. Nandakumar
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River restoration project on the cards
Polluted by raw sewage and solid waste and effluents from hospitals and industries located along the banks, the Karamana river flowing through the capital city has been reduced to a carrier of filth and disease, reviled as an environmental and public health menace. In a bid to restore the ravaged river and salvage its ecology, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has given shape to an integrated river basin management project focusing on curbing pollution and cleaning up a one- km downstream stretch.
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Green energy from blue sea
Offshore wind farms to produce power for Kerala. A few years from now, wind farms located at sea could be churning out clean energy to feed the starved power grid in Kerala. The Agency for Non-conventional
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Heat, sewage pollution caused fish kill
Preliminary study by varsity department points to dip in oxygen level in the Karamana The mass mortality of fish reported from the stretch of the Karamana, near the Thiruvallam and Pallathukadavu ghats last week, could have been caused by the unusual rise in water temperature, reduction in flow and a surge in the concentration of sewage pollution. A preliminary study conducted by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, says the mass fish kill was due to an abrupt dip in the dissolved oxygen in water. Head of the Department A. Biju Kumar says the rise in temperature and reduction in water flow coincided with the summer.
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New wild banana species found
A team of researchers from the University of Calicut has reported the discovery of a new subspecies of wild banana that could be developed as an ornamental plant for tropical gardens. The plant Musa velutina subsp. markkuana was discovered from the forests of Arunachal Pradesh and is characterised by smooth skinned fruits, purple pseudostems, erect maroon-coloured inflorescence and pink fruit. It has been named after Markku Hakkinen, an international expert on wild banana, attached to the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland.
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Boats pose pollution threat to Mattupetty lake
For most tourists, a visit to the hill station at Munnar is not complete without a boat safari on the scenic Mattupetty reservoir. But very few of them are aware of the impact of boating on the environment and wildlife. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board and the Forest department have raised the alarm about the pollution caused by motorised boats plying the reservoir and the litter left behind by tourists.
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Stay-fishing boats to tap solar power
Pilot project to save fuel, reduce carbon dioxide emissions As many as 200 stay-fishing boats operating from Marthandanthurai and Neerodi in Tamil Nadu and Pozhiyoor in Thiruvananthapuram may soon use solar energy to power their onboard lights and navigation and communication equipment. The Association of Deep Sea Going Artisanal Fishermen (ADSGAF) and the Bay of Bengal Programme Intergovernmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) are gearing up for a pilot project to equip the vessels with solar panels and storage batteries. Powered by outboard engines, the stay-fishing boats with open decks have a range of 60 to 70 nautical miles and remain at sea for up to five days.
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Pesticide residue mars horticulture exports: expert
The excessive use of pesticides by farmers in India is hindering the country’s efforts to penetrate the global market for fruits and vegetables in a big way, according to Sreejith Aravindakshan from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Talking to The Hindu here on Sunday, Dr. Aravindakshan, who was here to participate in the National Biodiversity Congress, said India’s horticultural exports to northern Europe were largely constrained by the inability of the smallholder-dominated production system to meet western food safety standards marked by low tolerance for pesticide residue.
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Centre to offer climate services for better planning
Planners and officials in the agriculture, health, water resources, and power sectors may soon have access to a powerful tool that will make it easier to assess the impact of climate change and chalk out mitigation strategies. The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is developing a range of climate information services for other ministries to be used as a tool for better planning.
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Compulsory licensing of seeds on the anvil
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Authority is framing the regulations for a compulsory licensing system under which a registered plant variety could be licensed to a third party for production of seeds, based on the demand from farmers. Registrar General of the authority R.C. Agrawal said here on Tuesday that the system was designed to suit public interests. “Under the provisions of the PPVFR Act 2001, the authority can license production to a third party for a specific period of time, even if the breeder is not willing, provided there is demand from farmers and the breeder cannot produce seeds in sufficient quantity”.
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Aquifer atlas reveals groundwater stress
Lays emphasis on long-term monitoring Groundwater resources in Kerala have come under increasing stress from rising levels of exploitation and pollution, the first aquifer atlas of Kerala has revealed. The atlas, compiled by the Central Ground Water Board, estimates the net annual groundwater availability in the State at 6.01 billion cubic metres as on March 2011. The stage of “groundwater development” for the State as a whole has been computed at 47 per cent. The utilisation pattern is, however, uneven across the State, with groundwater-stressed conditions in some parts and sub-optimal groundwater development in some others.