Kerala

This thesis by Christina Tang for the Center of Environmental Studies, Brown University deals with a study of water quality and attempts to ascertain the net benefits or costs from rainwater harvesting under a variety of scenarios for households in various water supply conditions.

Eighty percent of the 7,00,000 citizens of Kuttanad, a region in the coastal State of Kerala have no access to clean water. In Kuttanad, intensive untreated human sewage and agricultural activities have caused severe surface water contaminations. At the same time, other sources of freshwater are unreliable for drinking: groundwater is acidic due to the soil conditions and iron leaching; freshwater from public tap is infrequent; and water supply from private vendors is extremely expensive.

Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Cochin  under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India has been organizing, co-ordinating and promoting ocean development activities in the country which inter-alia include mapping of the living resources, preparing inventory of commercially exploitable living marine resources, their optimum utilization through ecosystem management and R&D in basic sciences on Marine Living Resources and Ecology.

Although Idukki is generally perceived as a ‘spices district’ and a ‘plantation crop district’, about 95 per cent of the farmers here are small with tribal farmers constituting a substantial component. Public investment in agriculture in this district is very poor and this hampers agricultural progress and rural livelihoods in many ways.

As a result of high cost of production of major crops and its volatile prices, small farmers who constitute the majority of the farming population have accumulated debt burden exceeding 700 crores. More than eighty per cent of this debt is due to crop loans to small and marginal farmers.

The recommendations in this report are made after giving due consideration to ongoing programmes and resources being made available thereof. These are mainly focused on the small, marginal and tribal farmers and other economically disadvantaged sections. The stress is on sustainability of agricultural production systems and strengthening the regional ecology.

Guest post by Priya Desai

Background

This was organised by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). Held on May 26th 2011, we were joined by around 150 to 200 student volunteers from various higher educational institutions in Kerala, such as the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, St. Albert's College in Ernakulam, School of Applied Life Sciences in Chuttippara and the School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University.

Organizers:

• Centre of Gandhian Studies, University of Kerala
• Kerala Biodiversity Board

Venue: University Senate Chamber, Thiruvanthapuram

Organizer: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) - Community Environmental Resource Centre (CERC)

Venue: St.George Parish Hall, Muhamma, Kerala

Warm Greetings from Eram Scientific Solutions!!!

, is the part of USD $1 Billion, Eram Group. Eram Scientific is based out of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and working for addressing the pressing needs of the society through the effective use of Technology. We are giving much emphasis to R&D and now developing solutions to prevent Food Adulteration, Ensuring Women Safety, and Using Non Conventional Energy. 

 Delight is the blend of Information Communication and Engineering Technologies.

This policy document by the Department of Environment, Government of Kerala highlights the need for conservation of natural resources in the state of Kerala, in the context of increasing exploitation of resources and deterioration of the environment in the state.

The policy aims at mainstreaming environmental concerns in all the developmental activities and  argues that the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on resources obtain better livelihoods from conservation, rather than degradation of resources.

Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) organised a panel discussion at Sasthra Bhavan on Saturday, 19th March 2011, in connection with the celebration of World Water Day which falls on March 22.

 'The Bill proposes to get compensation from the company and to form a tribunal to provide time-bound compensation. The tribunal is to have a chairman, a technical member and an administrative member'.