Kalamassery municipality asked to ensure scientific treatment of refuse The State Level Monitoring Committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal has said that the Kalamassery municipality can
Collector can order closure of buildings not conforming with safety parameters The district administration is gearing up to crack down on high rise buildings in the city functioning with scant regard for fire safety measures. District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed told The Hindu that suo motu inspections will be carried out randomly in high rise buildings to verify whether they conformed to the mandatory fire safety parameters. The District Collector can order the closure of buildings not confirming with safety parameters invoking his authority as Executive Magistrate.
Environmental organisations have come out against the reported move to revive a proposal to set up a mineral water-bottling plant in the buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park. When the proposal was made two years ago, the State government and the district administration had objected to it, with the District Collector submitting a report that the plant, planned on the banks of the Karuvarathode, a tributary of the Bhavani, near Mukkali, would affect the water table and cause serious ecological imbalance.
Laying out a road map for a comprehensive and sustained relief and rehabilitation package, the two-day national workshop on endosulfan ended here on Sunday pledging to ensure individual, social, and economic uplift of hundreds of affected victims and their families and to rejuvenate the environmental and ecological aspects, degraded by over exposure to the “killer” pesticide. The workshop, — CONCORD-12 (Consultative Workshop on Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Endosulfan Victims and Rejuvenation of Ecosystem in Kasaragod district) underscored the urgent need to speed up the ongoing relief and rehabilitation initiatives to mitigate the complex issues faced by the victims.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) has decided to send out a call to the faithful to take responsibility for addressing the issue of waste disposal and appealed to the government to dump its ad hocism in addressing the problem. A circular had been issued to parishes across Kerala’s Catholic community last week. Parish priests had been asked to either read out the circular during the course of the Mass on August 26 or to explain the contents of the circular to the people.
The State government will address all issues raised by endosulfan victims, Minister for Social Welfare M.K. Muneer has said. He was speaking to the media on Sunday after visiting women, all mothers of endosulfan victims, on the 94th day of their indefinite strike seeking speedy implementation of the assured relief and rehabilitation package. Interacting with the agitators, Dr. Muneer said the government was open to addressing their demands. He said the government had been lenient and empathetic to them.
Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association threatens indefinite strike Stepping up vigil against the rampant sale of stale food across the State, Food Safety Commissioner for Kerala Biju Prabhakar has said that the intensified drive will continue till the hotels and restaurants comply with the 30-point guidelines issued to ensure the quality of food items sold by them. “We have formed ten squads and at least eight of them will be on the field at any given time after adjusting leaves and holidays of squad members. They will conduct raids everyday in eight towns across the State simultaneously.
Private agencies to be roped in The Vadakara Municipality is planning to team up with various private agencies in the region to take up a comprehensive source-level waste treatment scheme with the support of residents and industrial units. A special fund will be earmarked to support the scheme, which will strive to promote the decentralised waste treatment initiatives.
Former Collector entrusted with the task Acquiring land for the Kochi metro-rail project is all set to get an impetus, with former District Collector A. P. M. Mohammed Hanish being appointed as the Special Officer for land acquisition. He will continue to be the MD of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala. The State government has entrusted Mr. Hanish with the task of hastening the pace of land acquisition.
After battling for life in abject deplorable condition, a five-year old victim of the “killer” endosulfan pesticide spraying in the district, passed away at his residence in Karadukka panchayat in the district, sources here said. Mithun, son of Mohana-Pushpa couple, residing at Berla, had been afflicted with the physical retardation and under-growth and bed-ridden right from birth causing great deal of anguish and sorrow on those who chanced to see the plight of the boy.
Equating the serious health hazards wrecked in the district due to the indiscriminate exposure of endosulfan pesticide for over two decades with that of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, acclaimed environmental activist Sunita Narain has said that the major task before the administration was to bring hopes and cheers back to the life of the hapless victims of the “killer” pesticide spraying. “Assuaging the hurt feelings of the hundreds of victims of aerial spraying of the endosulfan pesticide in the state owned cashew estates in the district is the most important task before the administration and the State government and the local Member of Parliament had played critical role in partially assuaging the hurt feeling of the ill-fated victims and their families”, the Padmashree award winning environmentalist said.
