75,000 residents in the eastern part of Chittur been demanding water from the Parambikulam Aliyar Project.

On the premises of a few polling stations in the district, booths supporting an unusual ‘candidate’ sprouted on Thursday. They were rooting for NOTA (none of the above).

New finds rekindle interest in melanism in the wild in Palakkad

Some of the wild animals in the forests of Silent Valley, Parambikulam, Nelliampathy and Attappady in the district are, it seems, not showing their true colours.

Investigation report on death of tribal infants at Attappady

A UNICEF investigation report on the recent infant deaths at Attappady says that “anaemia in pregnant mothers and inadequate nutrition” are the main causes for the tragedy.

Draft identifies it as a major health problem in State

The draft nutrition policy being finalised by the State government identifies anaemia as a major health problem in the State, especially among women and children. More women and children have anaemia in 2005-06 than in 1999-99, the draft compares figures from the National Family Health Surveys held those years.

Restoration of lost land to tribes remains a mirage, says NGO study

Despite epochal laws and Supreme Court orders, restoration of tribal land remains a mirage, a study has said.
In Attappady alone, over 10,796.19 acres had been alienated from tribespeople between 1960 and 80, reportedly the highest in the State, a study on the topic by L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer International Centre for Anthropological Studies (AICAS), a non-governmental organisation, published recently, said.

CAG sees weak political will, highlights failure of scheme

A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has charged the State with a lack of political will in providing land to landless tribal people in the State.
The Audit Report (General and Social Sector) of the CAG for the financial year 2011-12 accuses the government of tardy implementation of a Rs. 175-crore scheme for the resettlement of landless tribal people launched in 2001.

13 tribal children have died in Attappady of Palakkad district this year

Kerala’s claims to world fame for its high human development indices appear to be tottering with children in the tribal heartland of Attappady in Palakkad district dying of malnutrition. In the last 15 months, as many as 29 children died of malnutrition, 13 of them this year. Two more deaths were reported from the area over the past two days. The number might be higher, for not all deaths from the Kurumba tribal hamlets in the remote forest areas of Anavai, Edavani, etc., are getting reported.

Two babies die on Tuesday; number of deaths touches 27
Three more tribal children died from malnutrition in the Attappady hills, taking the number of such deaths to 27 in the past 15 months.

The baby of Meenakshi and Nagan of Edavani, a Kurumba tribal hamlet in the Pudur grama panchayat limits, died soon after birth in the Tribal Specialty Hospital at Kottathara on Tuesday evening. It was a premature birth at seven months of pregnancy. The child was underweight and malnourished, doctors in the hospital said.

Severe drought conditions have led to drying up of the river

The Bharathapuzha is a trickle. Severe drought conditions and drying up of the river have virtually brought it under the control of the sand-mining lobby. Hundreds of truckloads of sand are collected from the river bed in blatant violation of rules. The authorities have so far failed to initiate any action to stop the indiscriminate mining of sand. A few officials who had sought to take action against the ‘sand mafia’ had been physically attacked. The government took no action to provide protection to them.

Forest officials warn State of an environmental catastrophe in Nelliampathy

The Forest Department has warned the State government of an environmental catastrophe in Nelliampathy, leading to disasters such as landslips, from destruction of forests by people and ecological factors. Giving the warning, a report, titled “Environmental catastrophes await Nelliampathy,” sent to the State government by the Additional Chief Conservator of Forest, Kozhikode, on June 25, 2011, said: “Last year, the Nelliampathy Hills suffered more than 10 landslips over a stretch of 1,000 metres. During 2007, there were more than three landslips over a stretch of 500 metres,