25 ecologically sensitive areas identified

KOCHI: Twenty-five ecologically sensitive areas (ESA) have been identified in the State by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP).

The identification is based on the ecological sensitivity scores assigned to different parts of the ghats region in the State.

A meeting of the panel, to be held in Thrissur on May 3, will discuss the list.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had asked the panel to assess the status of the ecology of the ghats region and identify areas to be earmarked for notification as ecologically sensitive zones. It was also directed to recommend measures for preserving, conserving, and rejuvenating the environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant regions in the Western Ghats.

The panel will submit its report to the Ministry on June 5. According to indications, Sholayar, Athirapally, Nelliyampathy Hills, Attapadi, Vythiri, Malakkapara up to Munnar, Ranni and Konni, and some parts of Idukki district are on the Kerala list.

In Munnar, some areas close to the forest stretch will be declared sensitive and have to be left untouched. Tourism activities will be permitted in some less-sensitive areas. While formulating its proposals, the panel has taken care not to include any proposal that will affect the livelihood of common man. The meeting will discuss the scope and curbs on eco-tourism activities in the ghat regions, sources said.

Though there will be a general guideline for managing the ESAs, a location-specific action plan will be charted out with the involvement of stakeholders, including the local panchayat. The WGEEP's proposal assigning the ESA status will be forwarded to the local panchayats for clearance. The approved proposal will be forwarded to the State government, which will place it before the Western Ghats Expert Authority, to be formed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, sources said.

Senior functionaries from the Local Self-Government Department will participate in the Thrissur deliberations.

Discussions on assigning sensitivity scores to parts of the Western Ghats that come under Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu will be held. A proposal regarding the constitution, mandate, and functioning of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority will also come up at the meeting.

Wildlife sanctuary area in Kannur increases

KANNUR: The total extent of wildlife sanctuary (WLS) in the district has increased with the formation of the new Kottiyur Wildlife Sanctuary in addition to the existing Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary.

The State government notified the formation of the Kottiyur WLS having a total extent of 3,037.98 hectares. The Aralam WLS, the northernmost protected area in the State, was constituted in 1984 having an extent of 5,500 ha. The government is yet to decide whether the new WLS will be under the administrative control of the Aralam Wildlife Division or the Kannur Forest Division. Forest and Wildlife Department sources say that the new sanctuary is all likely to be under the Aralam division.

The Aralam WLS was formed by carving out areas from the Odenthodu Malavaram of the erstwhile Thalassery Forest Division and from the Kottiyur Reserve Forest (RF) of the then Waynad Forest Division. The remaining area of the Kottiyur RF that is contiguous to the Aralam WLS consists of evergreen and semi-evergreen forests and is a biodiversity-rich area. It is included in the list of Important Bird Area by the Birdlife International and the Bombay Natural History Society. It is this remaining area of the Kottiyur RF that has now been constituted as the Kottiyur WLS with the notification on March 22 last.

Along with the proposal for the Kottiyur WLS, the proposals for extending the Aralam WLS and for forming another WLS – Thirunelli WLS – were also submitted to the government and were approved by the State Wildlife Board. The proposals for expanding the Aralam sanctuary and creating the two new sanctuaries had been discussed at a meeting of people's representatives a few months ago convened by the Forest and Wildlife Department for clearing reservations about the proposals. At that meeting there was a broad consensus on the expansion of the Aralam WLS and the formation of the Kottiyur WLS, while the people's representatives from Mananthavady raised their objections to the proposal for creating the Thirunelli WLS. The proposal for the Thirunelli WLS would now be decided by the new government coming to power in the State, Forest officials here said. The expansion proposal was awaiting approval from the Central Wildlife Board.

The present Aralam WLS comprised part of the Kottiyur RF and vested forests.
According to the expansion proposal, the Chathirurmala and Neerkunnumala vested forests, which are continuous at north-western side of the Aralam WLS and form part of the Aralam landscape, harbour many rare and endangered species. Hence the proposal to include these areas in the Aralam WLS. Once the sanctuary is expanded, its total area will be 6,535.62 ha.

The proposed Thirunelli WLS includes the Thirunelli RF and the Hilldale RF in Wayanad which are contiguous to the Aralam WLS and is equally biodiversity rich.

Source:The Hindu 27-04-2011

Paddy harvest suffers in Upper Kuttanad

PATHANAMTHITTA: Paddy harvest in the Upper Kuttanad villages of Thiruvalla taluk is being hampered by summer rain and shortage of mechanised harvesters.

The district administration had directed Agriculture Department officials to procure more harvesters from Tamil Nadu two days ago. However, the officials reportedly found it difficult to hire the harvesters since most of them were already being used in the State and in Tamil Nadu.
Sam Eapen, Upper Kuttanad Nelkarshaka Samiti (UKNS) president, said three of the 13 harvesters used in the Upper Kuttanad villages of Peringara, Niranom, Kuttoor, Kadapra, and Nedumpram had been damaged.

Waterlogged fields
Also, farmers were unable to use the machines since many fields in the area were waterlogged.
Mr. Eapen added that at least 50 harvesters were needed to harvest the crop in Upper Kuttanad in a time-bound manner.
The shortage of farm workers too is posing problems. Though 9,000 farm workers are registered with the Farm Workers' Welfare Board in Thiruvalla taluk, barely 150 of them are available for harvest, according to Mr. Eapen.
“Many people registered their names with the Board just to avail of benefits sanctioned by the government to farm workers. They do not want to work in the fields. The government should see to it that those registered with the Board are available for harvest,” he said.
According to him, development at the cost of nature has begun to backfire in Kuttanad through untimely rains and waterlogged fields. “It is time to undo the wrongs done to Kuttanad in the name of development,” he added.

‘Increase relief'
Mr. Eapen added that the relief announced by the government (Rs.10,000 a hectare) for farmers who lost crops in untimely rains was grossly inadequate.

Not less than 70 per cent of the crop had been lost and farmers incurred a loss of Rs.48,000 per hectare, Mr. Eapen said.

He called upon the government to increase the relief to Rs.25,000 per hectare, besides providing seeds, fertilizers, and technical assistance to the farmers for the next season.

Source:The Hindu 27-4-2011

4.86% growth in population in last decade

Thiruvananthapuram: The State has recorded a population growth of 4.86 per cent during the decade ending March 1, 2011, according to the Census 2011 provisional figures.

In decade ending 2001, the population had grown by 9.43 per cent. At a press conference called to release the Census 2011 provisional figures here on Friday, Census Director V.M. Gopala Menon said the districts of Pathanamthitta and Idukki had already recorded negative decadal population growth this time. Population decreased by 3.12 per cent in Pathanamthitta and by 1.93 per cent in Idukki during the decade ending 2011.

The population of the State had been growing at a slower rate with each passing decade since 1971, when the growth rate was more than 25 per cent, according to a graph released by him. (The trend suggests the possibility of the State's population beginning a decreasing trend during the decade ahead).
The total population of the State as at ‘zero hours' on March 1, 2011 was 3,33,87,677. The population consisted of 1,60,21,290 males and 1,73,66,387 females. The previous Census (2001) had recorded, for the State, a total population of 3,18,41,374 that included 1,54,68,614 males and 1,63,72,760 females. The increase in total population during the past one decade came to 15,46,303.

Among the districts, Malappuram tops the population list with 41,10,956 persons, constituting 12.31 per cent of the State's total population. Wayanad with 8,16,558 persons, constituting 2.45 per cent of the State's population, is at the bottom of the list. Malappuram also recorded the highest growth in population (13.39 per cent) during the decade 2001-2011.

Sex ratio (number of females per 1,000 males) as per the provisional figures is 1,084 in the State as a whole. It is highest among the districts in Kannur (1,133) and lowest in Idukki (1,006). The sex ratio recorded in the State in 2001 was 1,058.

There are 33,22,247 children below the age of six in the State as per Census 2011 provisional figures. They constitute 9.95 per cent of the population. The sex ratio among children below the age of six is 959. Mr. Menon said the provisional figures showed a decrease of 12.41 per cent in the number of children below the age in the past decade. The sex ratio among children aged up to six years in 2001 was 960.

As much as 93.91 per cent of the population (after leaving out children below the age of six) is literate in Kerala as per the provisional figures. Literacy rate has increased by 3.05 per cent during the past one decade. Among the districts, Pathanamthitta tops in literacy (96.93 per cent), while Palakkad is at the bottom of the list (88.49 per cent).

Density of population in the State as a whole is 859 persons in a square kilometre (sq km). Among the districts, it is highest in Thiruvananthapuram (1,509 persons per square kilometre) and lowest in Idukki (254 persons per square kilometre).

Source: The Hidu, 2nd April 2011

Kerala and the Census of India 2011

The recently announced provisional results of the Census of India 2011 confirm Kerala's standing as a leader in stabilising population growth and achieving demographic transition, defined by the Government of India's National Commission on Population as “the transition from a stable population with high mortality and fertility to a stable population with low mortality and fertility.”

According to the 2011 census — the second census of the 21{+s}{+t} century and the seventh after Independence — Kerala's population as on 1st March, 2011 is 3,33,87,677, with 1,60,21,290 males and 1,73,66,387 females.

Kerala's population
Although Kerala accounts for only 1 per cent of the total area of India, it contains about 3 per cent of the country's population. The population density of the State is about 819 people per square kilometres, three times the national average of 324. Kerala is one of the densest States in the country.

The percentage decadal growth rate of Kerala's population during 2001-2011 was 4.86, compared to 17.64 for India as a whole, which has a total population of 1,21,01,93,422. For the same period, Kerala reported a literacy rate of 93.91 per cent, compared to 74.04 for India. The total number of literates during the 2011 census period was 2,82,34,227 — 1,37,55,888 males and 1,44,78,339 females. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India defines as literate any person aged seven and above who can both read and write with understanding in any language.

An illiterate is a person who can neither read nor write or can only read, but cannot write in any language. All children six years old or younger, even if they go to school and have picked up reading and writing, are treated as illiterate.
Kerala's sex ratio — the number of females per 1,000 males — also remains impressive. As of 2011, it was 1084 (with a ratio of 959 in the 0-6 years child population), compared to the all-India ratio of 940 (and 914 as the child sex ratio). On the whole, these statistics show that Kerala has consolidated its demographic transition — a stabilisation of the population level once a certain level of socioeconomic achievement has been reached, mainly because of economic incentives on families to limit the number of their children. Today, Kerala boasts population and demographic charecteristics that are close to those displayed by developed industrialised countries.

TFR
For instance, Kerala reports a total fertility rate (TFR) — a measure of the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her reperoductive lifetime — of 1.7. Demographers point out that a population that maintains a TFR of 3.8 over an extended period of time without a correspondingly high death or emigration rate would increase rapidly, whereas a population that maintained a TFR of 2.0 over a long time would decline (unless it had a large enough immigration).
The TFR for the total US population is at around the replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman. The average TFR in Europe has been estimated to be 1.5 children per woman. One study states that the lowest TFR recorded anywhere in the world in recorded history is for Xiangyang district of Jiamusi city, in Heilongjiang, China, which had a TFR of 0.41. Outside China, the lowest TFR ever recorded was 0.80 for Eastern Germany in 1994.
By going beyond the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 births per woman, Kerala is at the same level as most industrialised countries.

Before the demographic transition, societies typically experience high death rates matched by high birth rates, resulting in a relatively stable population size over time. Over time, improving living standards and public health measures bring down death rates, which is soon followed by a gradual drop in birth rates, which ultimately begin to match death rates.

By the year 2026, India is projected to have a population of 139.8 crore, while Kerala will have 3.7 crore. However, if the State can maintain its achievements, such as low infant mortality rate, high life expectancy and high female literacy, the population growth rate will remain among the lowest in the country.

Business Line, April 10th, 2011

Census 2011: population pegged at 1,210.2 million

India’s population has jumped to 1.21 billion, showing an increase by more than 181 million during the 2001-2011 decade, according to the provisional data of Census 2011 which was released on Thursday.

Though the country’s population is almost equal to the combined population of the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together [1214.3 million], the silver lining is that 2001-2011 is the first decade with the exception of 1911-1921 which has actually added lesser population compared to the previous decade.

Of the total provisional population of 1210.2 million, the number of males was pegged at 623.7 million and the population of females stood at 586.5 million. The percentage growth in 2001-2011 was 17.64 – males 17.19 and females 18.12. India’s population accounts for world’s 17.5 per cent population.

The provisional data of Census 2011 was released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India C. Chandramouli in the presence of Union Home Secretary G. K. Pillai.
``Provisional population is arrived at by adding the population as reported by each enumerator and the final population data is likely to be released next year,’’ Dr. Chandramouli told reporters here.

Uttar Pradesh most populous state
Among the States and Union Territories, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous State with 199 million people followed by Maharashtra at 112 million people and Lakshadweep is the least populated at 64,429 persons. The combined population of U.P. and Maharashtra is greater than that of the U.S.

The percentage decadal growth rates of the six most populous States have declined during 2001-2011 as compared to 1991-2001. The graph of population growth in U.P. shows a decline from 25.85 per cent to 20.09 per cent, in Maharashtra from 22.73 per cent to 15.99 per cent, Bihar from 28.62 per cent to 25.07 per cent, West Bengal from 17.77 per cent to 13.93 per cent, Andhra Pradesh from 14.59 per cent to 11.10 per cent and Madhya Pradesh from 24.26 per cent to 20.30 per cent. ``This shows that we have added population but the growth has been less,’’ Dr. Chandramouli said.

Sex-ratio at national level increases
Overall sex ratio at the national level has increased by seven points to reach 940 as provisional data for Census 2011 showed as against 933 in Census 2001. Increase in sex ratio was observed in 29 States/Union Territories.

Kerala with 1084 has the highest sex ratio followed by Puducherry with 1038. Daman and Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618. ``This is the highest sex ratio at the national level since Census 1971 and a shade lower than 1961. Three major States – Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Gujarat – have shown a decline in sex ratio as compared to Census 2001,’’ Dr. Chandramouli said. India’s skewed sex ratio due to female foeticide and the practice of selective sex determination has been a cause for concern. Sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males.

Child sex ratio a concern
However, the areas of grave concern, Dr. Chanramouli said, remains the lowest ever child sex ratio of 914. The provisional data showed that the child sex ratio [0 to 6 years] came down to 914 females per 1000 males as against 927 in the Census 2001. It showed a continuing preference for male children over females in the last decade. Increasing trend in the child sex ratio was seen in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar Island but in all the remaining 27 States / Union Territories, the child sex ratio showed decline over Census 2001. Whereas overall sex ratio has shown improvement since 1991, decline in child sex ratio has been unabated since 1961 Census. The total number of children in 0 to 6 year age group is now 158.8 million, less by five million since 2001.

Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04 per cent, showing an increase of 9.21 percentage points.

Source: The Hindu, 31st March 2011

Compromise on no go forest areas

In a compromise that effectively destroys the divide between “go” and “no go” areas with regard to coal mining in forested land, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has offered to let his Ministry consider clearance applications from both “go” and “no go” categories, and send the rejected projects to the Cabinet for a final decision.

At the meeting of the Group of Ministers which discussed the issue on Thursday, Mr. Ramesh made a presentation that offered to reduce the “no go” zone from 53 per cent to 71 per cent of the total area being considered. He also offered that all projects which had been given a Stage-I forest clearance would not be considered under the “no go” categorisation at all.

In a third compromise, Mr. Ramesh offered to let all projects be considered for a clearance by his Ministry's Forest Advisory Committee (FAC). Those in “no go” zones would be “subject to strict scrutiny, and if possible, a compromise [will be] arrived at.” The example given was the case of IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited) in Chhattisgarh, where dense forest area diversion was reduced by 61 per cent.
The original purpose of the categorisation was that coal projects in the heavily forested “no go” zones should not be considered for clearance at all.
Finally, in “no go” cases where the FAC was unable to find any possible compromise, “the Ministry of Environmental Affairs was prepared to bring them to [the consideration of] the Union Cabinet along with its recommendation for rejection.”
This would allow Mr. Ramesh and his Ministry to wash their hands off of controversial cases and leave the final decision — along with any resulting brickbats — to the Union Cabinet.

“Yes, I am making a compromise,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu. “I cannot be a fundamentalist in these issues.”

However, it was not sufficient for Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, who reportedly stuck to his stand at the meeting, insisting that the entire categorisation be scrapped. Ironically, the categorisation was the result of a joint survey of nine major coal fields carried out jointly last February by the Coal and Environment Ministries, which superimposed forest maps onto coal maps to identify “go” and “no go” zones. After the GoM meeting, Mr. Jaiswal told reporters that the government was trying to find a “middle path” so that both environment and power needs were taken care of.
On its part, the Power Ministry told the GoM that a fast-track decision on coal mining projects was important as any delay could jeopardise the commissioning of plants having a generation capacity of around 24,000 MW over the next two years. In a note, it warned that the coal shortage would become acute in 2011-12 as State-run Coal India could supply only 331 million tonnes as against a requirement of 426 MT. The immediate impact means that plants commissioned in 2009-10, generating a total of 5,593 MW would operate at just 42 per cent of their stipulated Plant Load Factor.

The Environment Minister hit back at such warnings, pointing out that Coal India already had 200,000 hectares of land in its possession. “The GoM should ask why production targets cannot be met from this area,” said Mr. Ramesh in his presentation. He listed at least five mines — Hingula II, Kulda, Garjanbahal, Bharatpur and Bhubaneshwari — which were producing coal at levels well below their permitted amounts. The Coal Ministry reportedly accepted that under-production was largely due to internal problems relating to rehabilitation and resettlement, land acquisition and equipments.

Source: The Hindu, 8th April 2011

CPCRI testing oil palms in Sullia for spear rot disease

Scientists from the Central Plantation Crops and Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, Kerala, have collected leaf samples of some oil palms from the State government's plantation in Sullia taluk to ascertain if they are susceptible to spear rot disease.

This has come at a time when farmers in the taluk, whose arecanut palms are fast withering owing to yellow leaf disease (YLD), are looking for government's support to grow oil palm.

Director of CPCRI George V. Thomas told The Hindu that the samples were collected from the plantation near Goonadkka in Sullia taluk a week ago on a request by the State Horticulture Department to analyse if they had phytoplasma that caused spear rot disease in oil palms.

An agriculture graduate and farmer K. Vasanth Rao of Todikana village, who has been pursuing the cause of farmers with the State government for the past two years, said about 1,000 palms at the government's plantation planted in 1968 appeared disease free. He said that the survival of these palms for more than 40 years showed that oil palm could be cultivated in the taluk. The palms survived without any maintenance. Nobody watered them in summer. The palms looked healthy and robust when this correspondent visited the plantation in Sullia taluk. Mr. Rao said that the Centre in its budget for 2011-12 allocated Rs. 300 crore to promote oil palm cultivation on 60,000 hectares of land in the country. It had announced plans to produce 3 lakh tonnes of palm oil annually for five years. Mr. Rao said that an information booklet on oil palm cultivation published by the office of the Additional Director of Horticulture (Oil Palm Division), Lalbagh, Bangalore, stated that oil could be tapped within three years of planting. An oil palm would give yield up to 30 years. Fruit yield was 15 to 30 tonnes per hectare per annum according to an official estimation.

Those preferring rubber as an alternative crop would have to wait for seven years to tap rubber and had to cope with acute shortage of tappers, he said.

Mr. Rao said another advantage with oil palm cultivation was that oil manufacturing companies procured harvested fruit from the plantations directly. Hence, growers need not worry about post-harvest management.

Tissue culture
Mr. Thomas said that CPCRI had planted some areca saplings raised through tissue-culture in three villages of Sullia taluk to ascertain if they could withstand the yellow leaf disease. Its results would be known only after a few years. These saplings had been raised using the inflorescence from disease-free areca palms in the yellow leaf disease endemic area of the taluk, he added.

Sixty such saplings were planted at Nadubetta, Goonadkka and Balambi villages in 2009 and 2010, according to another scientist from CPCRI.

Source: The Hindu, 7th April 2011)