Kochi: The workshop organised by SmartCity authorities for incorporating the views of various government departments and agencies, including Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala Water Authority (KWA), came a cropper on Wednesday as they remained clueless about the master plan.

Though the authorities of the IT project invited representatives of various departments, they were kept in the dark about SmartCity’s needs and requirements at the workshop on Thursday.

The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) has deferred its recommendation for environmental clearance to the first phase of the SmartCity Kochi project based on the inference that “the proposal submitted by the proponent had many factual errors and lacked a specific plan of environmental management”.

Stating that the SEAC had expressed its displeasure in drafting the ambitious project of the State government in such a very casual manner, sources told The Hindu that the promoter has failed to seriously consider many of the environmental factors while drafting the proposal.

Kochi: Almost half of the Kochi population is overweight, reveals a 11-city survey on obesity-related trends, putting the city on top of the list. The AC Nielsen survey conducted for a medical company found 46% of the people in the city above their ideal weight, out of which 13% were found to be obese and 7% morbidly obese.

The prevalence of obesity is equally high among men and women (20%) and it is well above the rate in the other cities where it is 8% for men and 11% for women. Morbid obesity was also found to be the highest in Kochi. Delhi, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were the other cities surveyed.

To Make Project Meet Global Standards

Kochi: The master plan of SmartCity Kochi will be altered to add more facilities to attract more international IT firms and also to suit the lifestyle of techies from developed countries. SmartCity authorities took this decision at a workshop held to finalize the master plan. The workshop concluded in Dubai on Wednesday. Experts from the UK, USA, Dubai and India recommended the changes considering the suggestions made by the SEZ board, which accorded SEZ status to the project.

Kochi: In a major drive against pollution testing centres, the motor vehicles department (MVD) has closed down around 20 such centres in the district for not having valid licences to operate. The MVD has also found that around 80% of the 200-odd centres in the district were issuing fake licences.

Due to laxity of the department in conducting regular checking, the state government had given strict instructions to take action against erring firms. The department had avoided conducting such drives citing staff shortage.

Kochi has unique problems in setting up a sewage system

A permanent solution to the problem of treating and disposing sewage eludes Kochi. The civic administration and planners are exploring various methods to set up a sewage disposal system that can address the city’s present and future needs.

State-run Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) announced it has booked 2.25 million tonne per annum (MTPA) natural gas re-gasification capacity offerd by Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) at its Dahej terminal in Gujarat.

GSPC has contracted the capacity on firm and long-term basis for 20 years. “GSPC will now be able to tie-up Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) on a long-term basis in the international markets and serve its customers with an assured supply of gas for a longer tenure,” GSPC Managing Director (MD) Tapan Ray said.

As part of its Green City mission for the year 2013, the Corporation is planning to relaunch its plan to impose a ban on plastic below 50 microns. Though the civic body had launched a similar initiative last year following the High court order, it failed to implement the plan successfully.

Learning from the past experience, the authorities are planning to organise a one-month-long campaign before bringing into effect the plastic ban from February 15.

Biometric cards to be issued to fishermen in the area

The government will not declare a ban on fishing in the area around the LNG terminal at Puthuvypeen as part of security measures, Minister for Fisheries K. Babu has said. Replying to a calling attention motion moved by S.Sharma in the Assembly on Tuesday, he said the Indian Navy had not sought a ban on fishing in the area around the terminal. “They have only asked the State government to take steps for proper surveillance,” he said.

The 879-km Phase-II pipeline to Mangalore and Bangalore in Karnataka is under implementation and “the actual physical progress of the project is 64.1 per cent”

State-owned GAIL India Ltd has completed the first phase of pipeline that will connect the upcoming LNG import facility at Kochi to consumers in Karnataka and Kerala.