Undeterred by the criticism that the Athirappilly hydroelectric project may cause irrevocable environment damage, the Kerala State Electricity Board Undeterred by the criticism that the Athirappilly hydroelectric project may cause irrevocable environment damage, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) continues to bat for it.

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), appointed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), has recommended that the proposal should not be cleared citing its environmental impacts. The KSEB proposes a project with an installed capacity of 163 MW across the Chalakudy river.

A team of researchers from the University of Calicut has discovered a new species of wild ginger endemic to the Silent Valley National Park on the Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity hotspots in India.

The discovery, reported by M. Sabu, V.P. Thomas, and K.M. Prabhu Kumar of the Department of Botany, has been published in a recent issue of Phytokeys , a journal on biodiversity research. The new species, named Amomum nilgiricum , is a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) consisting of 53 genera and over 1,200 species, many of which are widely used as spices, in medical formulations, or simply for decoration.

The total area of 9,400 sq.km. of forest cover in the State needs to be expanded to at least 20,000 sq. km .

The importance of forests has to be acknowledged as these areas are the major repositories of biodiversity. The flora and fauna are valuable for carbon sequestration and oxygen replenishment. Loss of rare, endangered and threatened species is the most important issue of today.

SILCHAR: Notwithstanding the uncertainty over Barak dam, also known as Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Power Project, several NGOs and organizations have raised concern over the proposed construction of dams in Barak Valley and Mizoram. They have made reference to dams at the upstream of Barak, Rukhni, Sonai, Dhaleswari and Singla rivers which if constructed will spell doom for the people and environment.

A few recommendations by the Indian Council of Forestry and Research and Education (ICFRE) have upset the National Council for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR), which is fighting a legal battle against illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The ICFRE which carried out a macro-level Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study of Bellary district following a direction from the Supreme Court had submitted its report to the court recently.

Agartala: Northeast has recorded an increase in temperature by 0.08 degree Celsius in last decade along with static dispersion of seasonal weather phenomena in the region, Regional Director ICAR, Northeast, Dr S V Ngachan on Tuesday said.

Talking to UNI here, DR Ngachan said that Barapani in Meghalaya alone had recorded a rise in temperature by two degrees Celsius in last decade and rainfall in world famous Cherrapunji (highest rainfall area of India) has reduced substantially over the year changing the complete weather cycle of the region.