Kozhikode: The phase-I of the tiger enumeration ended in the state on Monday.

The growing need for land for industrial and residential purposes has resulted in lands under agriculture shrinking by 10 to 15 per cent per annum in Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts.

Top officials in the Agriculture Department, pointing out to the statistics discussed by the State Planning Commission at its recent meetings, say that in these districts, the total extent of land under agriculture has come down by 1.50 lakh hectares over the last three years.

PALAKKAD: Kerala is likely to press for the renewal of the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement at the next Chief Secretary-level talks with Tamil Nadu. Kerala wants the neighbouring State to ensure

PALAKKAD: The Deseeya Karshaka Samajam has urged Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to get water released by Tamil Nadu immediately from the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) for paddy cultivation in the Chitturpuzha irrigation scheme area. The request was made at a general body meeting of the organisation here on Tuesday.

PALAKKAD: The Tamil Nadu government is learnt to have considered the request by Kerala Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran to release water from the inter-State Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) at Manacadavu weir to take up the cultivation of the first crop of paddy in the Chitturpuzha ayacut area of the district.

PALAKKAD: The meeting of the Joint Water Regulation Board (JWRB) of the inter-State Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) will be held at Thiruvananthapuram on April 7. The meet will settle the water account of this water year, ending June, and will discuss water-sharing for next water year.

G. Prabhakaran

Kerala will demand more water and control over water regulating structures in its territory at the talks with Tamil Nadu on review of the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement to be held here on Friday. Chief Secretaries of the two States will lead the talks supported by seven-member teams consisting of higher officials.

Kerala is examining the possibilities of exercising its riparian rights to seek higher allocation from the Parambikulam-Aliyar rivers in view of the steep increase in utilisation of water from the river basins of the Bharathapuzha and the Chalakudi. The matter was discussed at a high-level review meeting convened by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Monday in preparation of the Chief Secretary-level conference to be held in the State capital on May 30.