KOCHI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared the Kochi-Koottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore pipeline project. Though the MoEF has given the ‘go ahead’, the details are yet to be received, a top official with the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) said.“The implementation of the project is a joint effort involving different departments. Clearance by the MoEF is a primary step towards the realisation of the project,” Vandana Chanana, general manager, (corporate communication), GAIL, told Express.

People suffering from diseases suspected to be caused by exposure to aerial spraying of endosulfan will be provided free treatment at a medical college in Mangalore.

As per a memorandum signed by the district administration and Yenepoya Medical College in Mangalore, the hospital would provide free treatment and required medicines to the victims while the district administration would bear the cost of the medical bill.

Though all the 203 GPs of the district won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar, the development model crashed like pack of cards within in no time of winning the award.

Taking note of this, the Zilla Panchayat has taken steps to sustain the works undertaken during the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) by appointing NGOs as nodal agencies to each of the five taluks, with an aim to monitor hygiene and create awareness.

A high-level committee headed by Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath on Wednesday cleared a Rs. 2,792-crore road project under the Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project.

Addressing presspersons here, Minister for Public Works C.M. Udasi said the State highways would be developed in different parts of the State under the project and Rs. 800 crore would be spent before end of 2011-12.

The rules to regulate exploitation of ground water will come into effect by early December, P N Sreenivasachary, Secretary, Water Resource Department (Minor Irrigation) has said.

“Rules under the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011, will be approved soon and an authority to regulate exploitation of ground water will be set up. The authority, in charge of granting permission to sink borewells, will also advise farmers on the kind of crops they can grow on their land,” Sreenivasachary said here on Monday.

‘Let it be laid on coastal bed instead of cutting across fertile land’
As many as 32 families residing in Kariangala Gram Panchayat limits (in Kariangala and Ammunje Village) unanimously proclaimed non co-operation to the proposed Kochi-Kootanad-Bangalore-Mangalore Natural Gas Pipeline Project of Gas Authority of India (GAIL), which will be passing through these villages.

A high-level meeting held here on Friday has decided to consult all political parties on ways to proceed with the proposed trans-Kerala high-speed rail corridor project to link Thiruvananthapuram with Kasaragode.

The meeting was preceded by a presentation on the project before the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, based on a feasibility report on the first phase of the project, which is expected to cost of tens of thousands of crores of rupees.

Some of the valuable freshwater flowering plants, endemic to the Western Ghats, may soon wilt away if conservation measures are not introduced, say experts.

The risk faced by the freshwater plants of high biodiversity and economic value was highlighted in a recent conservation status assessment carried out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO), Coimbatore.

Pavoor villagers urged the authorities not to allow sand mining from Natarakodi to Baidarlechalu, as sand mining in the region has posed threat to the farm land and wells in and around the region.

Rehabilitation centres for Endosulfan affected victims are in need of experienced and skilled physiotherapists and aesthetic- prosthetic engineers and modern instruments. Localites should be trained as physiotherapists at least to provide minimum treatment for differently abled people, said Disability Commissioner K V Rajanna.