Minister for Panchayat and Social Welfare M. K. Muneer said in the Assembly on Thursday that the government proposed to continue the EMS Housing Scheme started by the previous government.

Processing at source may be made mandatory
Kerala may be in for stringent legislation on waste management as waste remains a major environmental and health hazard in the State.

The Legislature Committee on Environment recommended in its report submitted early this year that law should be brought to make waste processing mandatory at the source itself. Housing colonies, hotels and restaurants, resorts, hospitals, hostels, slaughterhouses, and markets should not be allowed to function if they failed to treat their waste.

Anti-nuclear activists under the aegis of Solidarity Council supporting Kudankulam anti-nuclear movements began a vehicle march to Kudankulam from here on Sunday morning.

Kerala has reasons for being concerned about the Bill because of its implications for the Mullaperiyar dam that it considers unsafe. Moreover, three other dams operated by Tamil Nadu — Parambikulam, Thunakadavu, and Peruvaripallam — are within the State. Tamil Nadu is opposing jurisdiction of Kerala's dam safety set-up over dams owned and operated by it. (The Bill proposes a State-level committee for overseeing safety at the local level.)

Kerala banned the use of 15 pesticides in May this year. However, about a dozen pesticides which were either banned or severely restricted in other countries continue to be used in Kerala, C. Jayakumar of Thanal (an advocacy organisation campaigning against pesticides) told The Hindu. Moreover, several of the banned pesticides are still in use and some of the alternatives suggested officially are pesticides banned in other countries.

Health Minister Adoor Prakash said here on Friday that the Government would be taking a strong stand in favour of ban on endosulfan. However, he parried questions whether the State government would implead as a party in case seeking ban before the Supreme Court.

Canada is stalling the listing of chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) at the Conference of Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, meeting in Geneva.

Agreement may be worked out before closure of conference India maintained silence on listing of endosufan under the Rotterdam Convention at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which opened in Geneva on Monday.