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.

The environment organisations have come out strongly against the new move of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to revive the Pathrakadavu hydroelectric project.

The project was proposed as an alternative to the Silent Valley project, being taken up now at the Silent Valley buffer zone in Mannarkkad taluk of the District. They said since the area was declared as the ‘buffer zone’ of the unique Silent Valley National Park it would be extremely difficult for the State government to recommend the project to the Centre, as they had to go through a plethora of statutory provisions and formalities.

Failed monsoons have led to an acute scarcity of water

Drinking water rationing is being considered in Kerala, the land of 44 rivers. Acute scarcity of drinking water has gripped most of the districts in the State, and the authorities may ration the quantity of drinking water for each household. The situation may turn worse during the peak summer months when most of the drinking water sources either dry up or are reduced to a trickle, it is feared.

The increasing incidence of man-animal conflict in northern Kerala have prompted wildlife researchers to go to the root cause of the issue.

Besides the straying of tigers and leopards into human habitations in some districts, human-elephant conflicts were reported from Palakkad and Malappuram districts. The incidents were relatively new in these districts and the reasons needed to be probed thoroughly, said E.A. Jayson, Head of the Wildlife division of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi.

Opposition members stage a walk out in the Assembly

The Kerala Cabinet will discuss on Wednesday how the State should respond to Tamil Nadu’s unresponsiveness to its demand for releasing water under the Parambikulam-Aliyar pact. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday told the Assembly that the Minister for Water Resources had repeatedly brought to the notice of his counterpart in Tamil Nadu the need to expeditiously release the water. “But Tamil Nadu has not responded positively. In this context, the Cabinet will on Wednesday decide what measures, including legal, the State should take,” Mr. Chandy said.

The Malampuzha Dam Protection Council has called upon the government to close down a hospital waste management plant run by Indian Medical Association Goes Eco-Friendly (IMAGE), an initiative of th

The State government is planning to declare the 148 sq. km. buffer zone of Silent Valley National Park as the new Bhavani-Kadalundi Wildlife Sanctuary “for ensuring long-term protection of the entire bio-diversity of the area” that include the unique rain forests of Silent Valley.

The draft notification on constituting a new wildlife sanctuary in the State sent by the Forest Department underlined the ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphologic, natural and zoological significance of the area.

Lays emphasis on long-term monitoring

Groundwater resources in Kerala have come under increasing stress from rising levels of exploitation and pollution, the first aquifer atlas of Kerala has revealed. The atlas, compiled by the Central Ground Water Board, estimates the net annual groundwater availability in the State at 6.01 billion cubic metres as on March 2011. The stage of “groundwater development” for the State as a whole has been computed at 47 per cent. The utilisation pattern is, however, uneven across the State, with groundwater-stressed conditions in some parts and sub-optimal groundwater development in some others.

Indian Medical Association has joined hands with Credai Clean City Movement to tackle the increasing threat of biomedical waste in the city.

The Deputy Director of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve K. Vijayanandan in a statement here on Friday has said that a joint perambulation of officials of Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu and Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala was held on Thursday to discuss various inter state protection issues.

During the joint border patrolling, the Field Director and Staffs of Anamalai Tiger Reserve and the Deputy Director and staffs of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve inspected the border areas sharing of Anamalai – Parambikulam Tiger Reserve like Keerappady, Koochumudi, Bagapallam and Veetiyar.