The School of Management Studies, CUSAT, has submitted the interim report on parking at Metro stations to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd.

KOCHI: To prevent the illegal dumping of waste in public places, the Corporation will soon launch a special health squad. The squad will be divided into four units consisting of officials from the health department of the Corporation.

Announcing the plan to set up the units at the launch of the pre-monsoon cleaning programme ‘Mazhayethum Munpe’, Mayor Tony Chammany said that the primary objective of the health squad is to make sure that the waste treatment methods are strictly followed by the public.

Several farmers here are up in arms against the proposed Gas Authority of India Ltd project to lay a pipeline from Kochi to Bangalore via Erode district for transporting gas.

The Kerala Government and Petronet LNG will sign a contract for setting up a Rs 2,250-crore power plant as part of the LNG terminal at Puthuvype in Kochi.

Demand for liquefied natural gas likely to go up in international market

The shutting down of nuclear power plants in Japan in the wake of the disaster borne out of massive tremor and tsunami there will have an impact on the energy scenario in Kerala. Projects based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), including the project to be commissioned in Kochi later this year, will have to chalk out strategies to face the increased demand for LNG in the international market.

KOCHI: The Solar City project, intended to make Kochi the first solar city in the state, is all set to takeoff soon as the Corporation is planning to constitute a committee for its launch. The project that will be implemented with the financial aid from the Central and State Governments mainly aims at installing solar energy systems to power streetlights, garden lights, households, hotels and restaurants and major administrative offices.

“Initially a special committee will be set up comprising a Solar City cell and stakeholder committee. The proposal will be presented in the next Corporation Council meeting for its approval,” said a top official with the Corporation.

The squads will undertake surprise visits to sand ghats.

District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed has said that stringent measures have been adopted to put an end to illegal sand mining and sale in the district. Special squads comprising of representatives of revenue and police departments have been formed for the purpose. Besides, night time mining has also been banned.

The operator will be selected through a global tender.

The Suchitwa Mission of the Kerala government has initiated procedures for setting up a new solid waste treatment plant capable of processing 500 tonnes of material per day at Brahmapuram here. The mission, with the assistance of ICICI Kinfra Limited, a joint venture of the State government, will select an operator under a DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) pattern in the public-private participatory mode.

The Biodiversity Management Committees of the coastal local bodies will be actively involved in the campaign. Information on declining marine biodiversity, threats faced by the marine ecosystem, sustainable livelihood and conservation measures will be highlighted, he said.

The Kerala campaign will be led by the district coordinators of the board in association with experts in conservation, ecology and environment. The programme is funded by the National Biodiversity Authority.

KOCHI: The state government will allocate Rs 750 crore, apart from the Rs 200 crore allotted under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, to solve the water woes in the district, said Water Resources Minister P J Joseph here on Monday.

Speaking after a high-level meeting convened to sort out various key issues, the minister said that together, the projects would provide 290 MLD of water apart from the 240 MLD supplied now. “It has been learned that leaks and breakages in the pipeline are leading to widespread contamination of potable water here.