PCB sitting on schemes to check dumping of waste into river

The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been sitting on two key projects meant to check dumping of industrial and other effluents into the Periyar river, pointing to negligence on the part of the agency on a matter of utmost importance.Frequent fish kills and discolouration of the river has already earned several brickbats for the monitoring agency.

Kochi will particularly feel the vibrations of massive earthquakes like the one that shook Indonesia on Wednesday as the city is largely landfill area, said Kusala Rajendran, well-known seismologist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Dr. Rajendran, who is Associate Professor at the Centre for Earth Sciences in IIS told The Hindu over telephone that the vibrations from an earthquake increase in areas of landfill.

Two major Information Technology (IT) buildings in the State, work on which had been taken up without obtaining the mandatory environment clearance, are among the six ventures that have sought approval from the newly constituted State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC).

The first meeting of SEAC, to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, will consider the applications of Leela Lace Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (Leela Soft Pvt. Ltd.) at Infopark Special Economic Zone, Kakkanad; Infopark's project at Cherthala; Cyberpark - IT building project at Kozhikod

Eighteen ‘sarpakavus' spread over nearly 35 acres will be covered under the Kerala Forest Department's scheme to protect and conserve the sacred groves in Ernakulam district this year.

The government move to protect the natural resource comes in the wake of rampant urbanisation threatening the ecology of the sacred groves across the State. Considered as miniature forests and having attributes of large forests, sacred groves are traditionally protected by the local communities as ‘kavus or sarpakavus'.

5.5 km road runs through an environmentally fragile area

The Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) has recommended that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) provide clearance for the Goshree Island Development Authority's (GIDA) Rs. 97-crore Moolamppilly-Pizhala, Valiya Kadamakkudi-Chathanad Road.

Encouraged by the growing people's movements against the dumping of solid waste in public places, the Vadavucode-Puthencruz and Kunnathunadu panchayats here have decided not to provide licence to the proposed solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram capable of processing about 500 tonnes of waste daily.

The move comes in the wake of renewed efforts by the Department of Local Self Government to establish a modern plant at the Kochi Corporation's Brahmapuram site, which falls within the limits of Kunnathunadu and Vadavucode-Puthencruz panchayats.

The Suchitwa Mission has recommended setting up at Brahmapuram a mega plant capable of processing about 500 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated daily in Kochi corporation areas and nearby municipalities.

Experts associated with the mission told The Hindu on Monday that the plant will work on a German technology known as ‘ecocycling'.

Total coliform count exceeds permissible limits: PCB

Investigations by the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) have revealed heavy pollution of wells at select locations in Ernakulam district.
The monitoring agency found that the total coliform (bacteria) count exceeded the permissible limits at various sites. The wells identified for the water quality monitoring programme were located at Vyttila, Edayar, Brahmapuram, Eloor and Kalamassery.

Agency to seek detailed project report on proposed plant

The Kerala State Pollution Control Board is likely to recommend that the Kochi Corporation need not set up a mega compost production plant at Brahmapuram. This is following an inference that the total volume of biodegradable waste generated in the city would not exceed 150 tonnes a day.