Involve local people in development projects, says Madhav Gadgil

COIMBATORE,   The Hindu, June 30, 2014 Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil has called upon the Government to involve local people in the development projects undertaken in their community. Addressing a seminar organised here on Sunday by the Western Ghats Protection Movement, he said that he was encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra...

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Parambikulam road plan shelved

K. A. Shaji Palakkad,   The Hindu, June 24, 2014  The United Democratic Front, it seems, has shelved its plan to lay a 40-km road through forests to reach the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve without entering Tamil Nadu. Forest officials said the proposal made by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy three years ago was shelved following...

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Do ground-truthing on Ghats reports, Javadekar tells States

KOCHI, The Hindu,  June 21, 2014 The Western Ghats States have been asked to do the ground-truthing regarding the findings of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel and High Level Working Group as these reports were prepared using satellite imageries, Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment and Forest, has said. Addressing...

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Pilgrim crush endangers Periyar reserve

Malini Nair,Times if India | Jun 21, 2014 CHENNAI: From a distance, it is hard to figure out what the mess piled up on the banks of river Pamba is. The photograph is actually a surreal view of a sea of sodden dhotis abandoned by pilgrims as they end the hard trek to the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala. This pile will soon...

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Wildlife board objects to raising of dam level

KOCHI,   The Hindu, June 19, 2014 The Supreme Court’s decision to allow Tamil Nadu to raise the water level of Mullaperiyar dam has failed to take note of the statutory provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, observed the Kerala State Wildlife Advisory Board. A meeting of the board held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday said Section 29 of the Wildlife Act 1972 prescribed that the permission of the Chief Wildlife...

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New flowering plant species discovered

K R Rajeev,Times of India,  | Jun 18, 2014KOZHIKODE: The biodiversity-rich Western Ghats have sprung yet another botanical surprise. A two-member team of researchers from the Calicut University has discovered a rare flowering plant species belonging to the Araceae family from the Western Ghats. Researchers, K M Manudev, a PhD student of the botany department and his guide Santhosh Nampy, came upon the plant...

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Eco group opposes move to interlink rivers

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, June 11, 2014  Various environmental groups and experts have strongly opposed the reported move to implement the controversial river-linking scheme, Pampa-Achencovil-Vaipar Link Project (PAVLP), by the Union government and the Tamil Nadu government. During her recent...

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River under threat as filth flows in

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, June 9, 2014  With the onset of the monsoon, a pollution bomb has started ticking away in Mallappally town. An incinerator installed by the grama panchayat 11 years ago on the banks of the Manimala river, in the heart of the town, had been posing a threat to the river system. The machine had been sitting more or less idle due to technical problems for the past...

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Bio-fence to breathe life into Sasthamcotta Lake

T. Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram, The Hindu, June 9, 2014  The Sasthamcotta lake in Kollam district, the largest freshwater lake in the State, will soon have a green ring along its periphery as part of conservation measures for the Ramsar wetland. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has taken up a project to create ...

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For those with strong stomach, the bird survey

KOCHI, The Hindu, June 9, 2014 Pelagic bird surveys are for those who are raring to go. Many bird enthusiasts may not be able to stand up to the challenges posed by the sea bird survey, which is held in the outer sea in small fishing vessels. One need not expect a smooth voyage in sea as the vessel would often be tossed...

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Heritage tourism to be developed in Western ghats

K. S. Sudhi KOCHI,   The Hindu, June 9, 2014  A world natural heritage site tourism circuit connecting the 39 serial sites of Western Ghats, the World Heritage Sites (WHS), is in the offing. The World Heritage Committee of Unesco had inscribed these sites, which are spread across Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra,...

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MoEF team to visit villages in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, June 7, 2014 A two-member team of officials from the regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in Bangalore will carry out a field visit in Kerala as part of the physical verification of the ESA (Ecologically Sensitive Area) maps submitted by the State. The team comprising Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Amarnath Shetty and Director of MoEF...

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Uncertainty shrouds 2011 CRZ notification

Ignatius Pereira KOLLAM,   The Hindu, June 6, 2014  Even as another World Environment Day was observed on Thursday, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2011, announced with the aim of protecting the coastal ecology of the country, is yet to come into force in the State. As a result, there is confusion within...

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14 ഇനം തുമ്പികളെ കണ്ടെത്തി

 Mangalam, June 5 ,2014  കല്പറ്റ: വനം-വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്‌ കോഴിക്കോട്‌ ആസ്‌ഥാനമായ മലബാര്‍ നാച്യുറല്‍ ഹിസ്‌റ്ററി സൊസൈറ്റിയുടെ സഹകരണത്തോടെ വയനാട്‌ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതത്തില്‍ നടത്തിയ തുമ്പി സര്‍വേയില്‍ കണ്ടെത്തിയതില്‍ 14 ഇനങ്ങള്‍ പശ്‌ചിമഘട്ടത്തില്‍ മാത്രമുള്ളത്‌. വംശനാശ ഭീഷണി നേരിടുന്നവയാണ്‌ 14 ഇനം തുമ്പികളും. വയനാടന്‍ മുളവാലന്‍,...

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Kerala rivers polluted by faecal contamination

K. S. Sudhi KOCHI, June 5, 2014   The Hindu, June 5, 2014 Coliform count in most of the Kerala rivers and ground water is far above the permissible limits whereas air in most cities was thick with Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), warned the Kerala State Pollution Control Board. The findings are part...

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Gadgil report pro-people: expert

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,   The Hindu, June 2, 2014 V.S. Vijayan, Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) member, said here on Sunday that it was the failure on the part of the government to clear the misconceptions among the people about the Madhav Gadgil Committee report that had resulted in hostility towards its recommendations. Speaking...

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Survey shines light on the weeny wildlife

E. M. Manoj KALPETTA,   The Hindu, June 2, 2014 A three-day odonate (order of insects comprising dragonflies and damselflies) survey at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) has revealed that the area populates a large number of micro fauna too. The three-day survey, organised jointly by the Malabar Natural History Society...

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