www.periyarriverkeeper.org,

July 27, 2008
periyarriverkeeper.org Launched
www.periyarriverkeeper.org, the website of the organisation Periyar Riverkeeper led by VJ Jose, Greenpeace-appointed Riverkeeper was inaugurated by Vijay Crishna and Smita Godrej Crishna on July 27, 2008. The site designed and maintained by Design & People and hosted by Ibiblio was inaugurated by the Crishnas at Periyar River inside a boat while taking a ride to the polluted areas of Eloor in Kerala.

People from all walks of life attended the programme organised inside a boat which started its journey from Fort Kochi to the pollution-affected ares of Eloor, Kerala's industrial belt.
0 comments.

ship breaking

Starting the ship-breaking after 14 years in calicut

After a gap of 14 years, activities at a ship-breaking unit of a public sector company (SILK) started to dismantle work of their 22^nd ship, at Beypore CALICUT.

'M T Sahmay,' built in 1971(poland)and now owned by Master Shipyard (MS) in Kochi. The company planned to bring back its employees, who were transferred to other units of SILK for want of work after dismantling a ship 14 years ago,. The firm is also expecting dismantling work of two more ships in a couple of days. And also provide indirect employment to many in the surrounding locality of Beypore where the unit is located.

This ship-breaking yard is very close to the fishing area. As the breaking business grows it will displace the fishing industry from that area. Moreover, since hazardous wastes will be thrown into the beaches and the local area, it is going to be an environment disaster considering the high population density in the area
The situation at the SILK yard is going to be as dangerous as the yards in Alang in Gujarat.

Riverkeeper

PIL ON HOSPITAL WASTE IN HIGH COURT

PIL ON HOSPITAL WASTE IN HIGH COURT

The Kerala High Court on Thursday ordered notice on a public interest writ petition

praying to direct the State Government and State Pollution Control Board to give directions to all the officials concerned and all the local self-government institutions to make solid waste disposal systems namely ,bio-chemical incinerators ,bio-gas plant etc., mandatory for new apartments and hospitals. A declaration is also sought by the petitioner, M.K.Haridas that all hospitals should be equipped with bio chemical incinerators as per the bio- medical waste[management and handling]Rules,1998.

The petitioner has invited the attention of the court to the grave failure on the part of the government and Pollution Control Board to control the pollution caused by apartments and hospitals. Huge amount of waste is thrown out to the streets by the inhabitants of the apartments. It is also pointed out that the occupier of any institution generating biomedical waste, which includes hospitals and nursing homes is duty bound to take all steps to ensure that such waste is handled without any adverse effect on human health in compliance with the standards prescribed by the rules.

The petitioner had preferred a letter to the Environmental Engineer of the Pollution Board under the Right to Information act .In response to the same, he received a reply in which it is stated that he buildings which are three storied and more should have approval of the PCB. But till date they have given approval only for 55 buildings in Kochi .So it is admitted that the rest of the High court buildings in Kochi are not properly approved by the board. The board also informed him that none of the hospitals in Kochi city is having incinerators as prescribed under the rules.

Express news service April 13^th 07

CHICKEN WASTE

CHICKEN WASTE :DESPITE RULES,NO ACTION TAKEN

When the people of the state are tired of the menace of waste from chicken and eat shops, It is not the absence of stringent that stops the authorities from acting .Even though the Kerala panchayat Raj [slaughter houses and meat stalls]Rules have sufficient provisions to deal with the issue, the implementation seems to be weak.

Disposing of a Public Interest Litigation filed by the proper channel, the high court 2005 issued directive to the local self government to consider the inclusion of chicken stall in the purview of the rules. Subsequently, the Panchayat Deputy director issued an order to the local bodies to cancel the license of chicken and meat stalls which do not have proper waste treatment facility and submit an action taken report.

‘It is calculated that the around 8 lakh kilograms of chicken are transported into the state from TamilNadu every day. Every kilogram of chicken when dressed produces about 350 grams of waste”said M k Haridas,the president of the proper channel.” It is evident that hardly any meat stall in the state has waste treatment facility. In spite of the stringent rules, local bodies are occasionally slapping a fine on defaulters who dump waste in public places” he said.