Documentation of Birds: The Hindu, 16th February
A group of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) scientists are involved in a project to document all birds seen in and around Greater Chennai for the benefit of the bird lovers. “ZSI has documented 124 varieties of birds in Chennai of which 54 are waterfowls. These include both imigratory birds and native ones”. Using a high-resolution digital camera, the team has meticulously photographed about 70 birds in their natural habitat.

Captive Breeding of LTM: The New Indian Express, 17th April
The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, has embarked on an ambitious programme for the captive breeding of the endangered Lion Tailed Macaque. The aim of the project is to study the conservation biology of the primates and at a later stage release them into the wild, in an effort to stop the alarming decline in numbers of the primates in the wilderness.

Toxics Link shatters some myths on plastics: The New Indian Express, 23rd April
Toxics Link, the City-based NGO has brought out a primer "Breaking the plastic Mould" on the occasion of Earth Day. The 20-page booklet highlights the toxicity of plastics, its environmental problems and the scope for alternatives. The booklet also contains information about some of the recent attempts at legislating the use of plastics.

TREE Initiative to Safeguard Olive Ridley: The Hindu, 16th May
TREE (Trust for Environment Education) initiated its sea turtle conservation program on the Chennai coast. Its mission is to foster sym-biotic and harmonious existence between nature and man with the target being the fishing communities along the east coast of the Bay of Bengal to Marakanam in the Chengalpet district of Tamil Nadu, covering about 30 villages.

Alarming fall in quantity of Groundwater: The Hindu, 21st, May
Dr. Nandhitha Krishna, Director of C.P.R Environmental Education Centre said that there is a alarming decline in groundwater quality in Chennai. The TDS level in Mandavelipakkam has increased from 1,788 to 3,277 ppm. In north Chennai, the TDS has increased from 2,015 to 3,217ppm and in south Chennai, the TDS has recorded a maximum of 2,037 ppm. Other areas shown steep increases in the TDS include Thiruvanmiyur, Raja Annamalaipuram and Royapuram.

Tamil Nadu tops wind generation: The New Indian Express, 21st, May
Tamil Nadu has again topped this year in wind power generation, the state has achieved an additional installed capacity of 231.80 MW for 2002 and 2003. The cumulative wind power capacity of the country this year is 1,800 MW while Tamil Nadu stands at 990 MW.

Vision statement of Environmental Health: The Hindu, 12th June
The MoEF has come out with a comprehensive 'Vision. Statement' on Environmental health which takes into account the adverse effects of growing hazardous and bio-medical wastes, radiation and climate change on human health. The purpose of this vision statement is to evolve a strategy for health risks reduction. It also offers a comprehensive approach to the environmental health management plans.

Pulicut Lake Gasping for Breath: The New Indian Express, 15th June
The Pulicat lake, which spreads over 600 sq. km in Andhra Pradesh and 50 sq. km in Tamil Nadu, faces two major problems; while the sea water is keeping off, the rivers and streams dump mounts of silt into the lake bed. The choking of the mouth of the Pulicat at the sea point has resulted in drying the lakebed.


Ecological Authority studying Damage to Ecology: The Hindu, 26th July
Mr. Justice Bhaskaran, Chairman, Loss of Ecology Authority (LOEA), MoEF, said LOEA is studying the damage caused by dyeing and bleaching industrial units in Tirupur and Karur. He also said that the authority has assessed the compensation for affected farmers in Vellore as Rs. 29 crores and Rs.3.9 crores for Dindigul.

CMDA Lines up Eco- Friendly projects : The New Indian Express, 8th August
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) Vice-Chairperson Smt. Jayanthi, I.A.S., said that the Chennai infrastructure investment plan for the year 2003- 2004 would give a major boost to environmentally-effective urban management. She said CMDA has proposed a Rs 5 crore-biomethanation project at Koyambedu market and it will re-cycle 30 tonnes of vegetable waste daily apart from producing 17.5 lakh units of power annually.

Fishing to be regulated in Gulf of Mannar : The Hindu, 21st Auguest
The Trust Director and Conservator of Forest Mr. A. Ramkumar, told that the centre and the state is making efforts to enforce the wildlife protection Act, 1972 in Gulf of Mannar by regulating the fishing activities in Rameswaram and Tuticorin Coastline. Owing to excessive exploitation of marine wealth by local fisherman and pollution caused by the industries over the years which resulted in immense damage to the ecosystem.

Oil-yielding plant for costal belts: The Hindu, 5th September
SALICORNIA, is a succulent, bushy plant found in the salty-terrains near the coast and holds a lot of promise as an ideal edible-oil yielding crop, which can be raised using seawater. An improved variety of Salicornia is being grown extensively in several parts of the world, including India . The variety, SOS-10, grows well in desert sands irrigated with seawater and it can be grown along the sea shore as well, "explains Felix Ryan, the Chennai based advisor for Development and refugee rehabilitation of the United Nations, and chief monitor, Survival by seawater Global movement. Salicornia has vast potential as forage, vegetable, oilseeds and raw material for a host of rural energy development, and employment generation.

Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems: The Hindu, 9th September
Loyola College , Chennai and Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy (LIFE) conducted a National Conference on Coastal Ecosystems with the help of "Biotechnological tools" from 8th to 10th September 2003 . Speakers at the conference called for comprehensive research on preservation of marine diversity and eco friendly development in coastal areas. Dr. S. Balaji, I.F.S, Director, DoE inaugurated the conference and released the first copy of the Abstracts of the conference. He emphasised that the economic development should not be at the cost of ecological sustenance and detailed coastal environmental issues in Tamil Nadu such as land erosion, setting up of ports, pollution due to industrial activities, sea water intrusion due to over exploitation of ground water and the letting out of untreated sewage into the sea. He also highlighted the potential eco tourism destinations in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.

99 Percent Coverage Achieved in RWH: The Hindu, 29th September
Government officials stated that RWH structures have been installed in 99% of the estimated one crore buildings in the state. The state Government has issued an ordinance, making it mandatory for all buildings to have rainwater harvesting structures by August 31st, well before the onset of the northeast monsoon.

Economics to Green Agenda: The New Indian Express, 1st October
The Madras School of Economics(MSE) has presented to the union MoEF an interim proposal for 'Double dividend Environmental reforms'. As per the proposal, the liability for environmental pollution will shift to the polluters and the penalty for non-compliance will be hiked on par with the extent of pollution. The task force headed by Dr. Raja Chellaiah, Chairman suggested an increase in incentives for industries going in for lesser polluting options.

Strategies for Efficient Water Demand Management: The Hindu, 7th October
Dr. S. Balaji, I.F.S., Director, DoE participated in the discussion on Strategies for Efficient Water Demand Management organised on the occasion of the World Habitat Day celebration at MSSRF on October 5th 2003. He stated that the department of environment has commissioned a study on lakes and ponds in urban parts of Tamil Nadu and the data on their ecological condition will be collected to enable policy decision on strategies for efficient water demand management. He also said cleaning of Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal lakes have been taken up under NLCP by adopting bioremediation technique to tackle organic pollution.

Bio-technology for Tannery pollution: The New Indian Express. 23rd September
Professor Kunthala Jayaraman, Department of Bio-Technology at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) said that VIT is offering cost effective and an indigenous solution using tiny microbes to tackle the chemical wastes and to reduce the tannins in the production chain of leather. She also said VIT is tapping the genome database of several hundred microbes for potential gene-match through data mining. Using the polymerised chain reaction based panning technology those active microbes could be identified that has specific genes to address the different problems such as cloning and over express these gene products for field applications. The biological reactions of these genes did not resemble their chemical counterparts but are eco-friendly and knowledge based.

Expert visit to Pallikaranai Swamp : The Hindu, 22nd October
A Four member expert team from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests visited the Pallikaranai marsh and inspected the damage to the wetland Ecosystem. The team included, Director MoEF, S.Kaul, the additional Directors, U. Sridharan and K.B.Tandon and representatives from various state government departments.

EIA must for Major construction Projects: The Hindu. 29th October
The Union Environment Ministry has notified that any new major construction will have to under go Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Supreme Court has asked the ministry to "amend the rules under the Environmental (Protection) Act for purpose of town planning acts."

Supreme Court ruling on Dumping of Hazardous Waste: The Hindu. 29th October
The Supreme Court has ruled that ship-breaking operations could not be permitted to be continued without strictly adhering to all precautionary principles and taking requisite safeguards the aspects of the working condition of the workers. The court has called for the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee that should include representatives from environmental and labour organisations. The court ruling has clearly pointed out that disposal of waste material must be made utilising technologies that meet the criteria of an effective destruction efficiency of 99.9%. The work atmosphere and measures for protection of workers from environmental hazards must be drastically improved and recomment that environmental organisations and trade unions must be made part of the proceedings

FAO to Save Marine Ecology: The New Indian Express, 30th October.
To check the rapid degradation of marine and coastal ecology of Bay of Bengal(BOB), the United Nation's Food and Agricultural organization has set a strategic Action Plan (SAP) for sustainable management of marine ecosystem, in partnership with eight countries surrounding the Bay. The objective of the programme is to enhance national and regional efforts to protect the health of the ecosystem and to manage the living resources along the Bay of Bengal in a sustainable manner and to improve the food and livelihood security of the Coastal population in this region.

Good Bird Season at Vedanthangal: The New Indian Express, 1st November
The 74 acre expanse of the Sanctuary the oldest in the state plays host to migratory birds between October and March. Mr. K. Sridhar, Forester told that this season 50 species of birds like White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Little Cormorant, Darter, Spoon Bill, Grey Pelican, Painted stork, little Egret, Cattle Egret, Open Billed Stork and Night Heron have started arriving from Pakistan, China, Japan, Mianmar, Europe and the USA. Around 40,000 birds are expected till the end of the season.

Tamil Nadu on Jatropha bandwagon: 7th November, The New Indian Express
The State Government aggressively pursuing its wasteland reclamation project, one hardy, drought resistant shrub Jatropha Curcas known as kattu aamanakku is all set to revolutionise the future of the fuel industry by offering an eco-friendly, cost effective and proven substitute to highly polluting fossil fuels. The fact that it is highly suited to wasteland cultivation and need very little investment make it an irresistible proposition. It is also an employment generator and yields valuable by products like glycerol and biomanure. It is cultivable on drylands and drier climates have been found to increase oil yield.

Waste Water Back for Reuse: 7th November, Indian Express
A City based senior Citizen has developed a device to collect wastewater from bathroom, kitchens and hotels for reuse. The device called Viswam Water Recharge can channelise grey water from homes and hotels to a separate chamber. The mechanical equipment is fixed to the floor watertrap outlet and has channels separating water going to the drain and the recycling chamber. A handle is to be turned manually or a switch to be put on by the user. After treatment by simple filtration, the grey water can be reused for the toilet flushing, landscape development washing cars and payments and gardening.

CD on Endangered Species of Tamil Nadu: 9th November, The Hindu
A former IFS officer S. Subbarayalu brought out 2 CD's recently on Endangered species of Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiris tops the list in diversity of species with 84 and Tirunelveli district is second with 78 species. In the first CD all species are described, while the second has information on what species are found in each district in an alphabetical order. Information on the habitat in which the species is found, and its location, along with the map, has been included.

Tamil Nadu bags 7 Awards for E-Governance: 14th November, The Hindu
Tamil Nadu got seven of the 40 Awards announced at the seventh national E-governance conference. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh shared the first place. Maharashtra won the award for "Public private participation". An experience in e-registration while Andhra pradesh's E-production won it the first place. For Tamil Nadu ELCOT's initiative, Administration the key for E-governance initiatives for creating paperless office and E- governance in Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation and Medical Services Corporation won the merit citations.

Allah Fish Found in Tamil Nadu: 16th November, The Hindu
A marine phenomenon "Allah Fish" has occurred in the coastal waters of Parangipettai near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district. As the fish made an appearance during the holy month of Ramadan, it evoked interest among the residents of Parangipettai and surrounding areas. Dr. T. Balasubramanian, Director, CAS in Marine Biology of the Annamalai University told that the bright brown fish about 30 c.m in length and 10 c.m in width carried patterns resembling Arabic characters on one side of the body reading "laillah Illalah"(There is no god but Allah) and on the other "Sahni Allah"(warning from God). Its other popular names are Koran fish and Koran Angel. The fish was found in Parangipettai that followers of Prophet Mohammed including grandson Syed Sahib attaines martyrdom. The scientific name of this allah fish was pomacanthus semicirculatus and it belongs to the family pomacanthidae.

Coral reef heritage of India : 18th November, The Hindu
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) revealed that the Indian Coral reefs are world famous but least explored and they are indiscriminately damaged by human exploitation mainly for the cement industry, road and building materials in certain areas like the Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch. The other two regions, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep are comparatively less affected. The CMFRI documented the coral species occuring in the seas around India with relevant taxonomic descriptions and reporting of a number of new species. These vast collections were deposited in the museum of the Institute at Mandapam Camp.

Master Plan can Help in easing load on Dump Yards: December 8, 2003, The Hindu
Municipal local bodies should develop master plans for managing solid waste disposal in their areas to minimise load on dump yards while evaluating options of moving towards sanitary landfills from the existing open dumping system. At the three - day workshop onn sustainable landfill management organised here last week by the Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University and the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. Dr.S. Balaji,I.F.S., Director, State Environment department, mooted the concept of "decentralised Composting " with small compost yards at transfer stations to minimise the waste that reaches the dumpsite. Suggestion ranging from feeding organic waste to pigs and cattle to minimising garbage load on household and community composting were made.

Chennai's Cleanliness must match its culture: December 12, The Hindu
The industrial sector must ensure minimal waste generation for environmental conservation, the Governor P.S. Ramamohan Roa said today at the launch of Exnora international's news paper 'Environment Ambassador.Minimal waste ensures minimal pollution. " The approach of industries in disposal of effluents must undergo change.Justice of Madras High Court, B.Subashan Reddy, who said the supreme court listed the right to healthy environment as one of the fundamental rights.

Any failure in performing one's fundamental duty was violation of the other's right to pollution free environment, he said. Dr. Reddy said that the "right to clean environment as a fundamental right would be enforced in full measure".

New Ornamental fish: December 19, The Hindu
The Fisheries College and Research Institute has recorded a new marine ornamental fish species in the Indian seas. The institute is carrying out research on "Ornamental Reef Fisheries of the Gulf of Mannar". During the scuba operation on the Keswari Islands a new species anemone fish of clown fish, Amphiprion polymnus was found.