Thursday, October 18, 2001
Payyanur: The organising committee for this year's Aradhana Festival of Payyanur Sri Subrahmanya Swami Temple has been formed. Office bearers of the committee are KP Raveendran (president), N.Bhaskaran (vice president), P.Purushothaman (gen secretary). PU Rameshan, A. Vijayan, KU Vinod (secretaries) and A.Mohanan Master (treasurer).
Payyanur: A warm reception was given to the newly appointed academy members from Payyanur area. Dr.MV Vishnu Namboothiri, Prof.Muhammad Ahmed, SureshBabu Elayavoor and TP Bhaskara Poduval were felcitated at a function organised by the Samskara Sahiti, Payyanur. VN Eripuram, V.Chandrasekharan Vaidyar, P.Balan Master, M.Narayanan Kutty, Karyail Sukumaran, Payyanur Kunhiraman and P.Sukumaran addressed the function.
Payyanur: A group of criminals attacked police officials on duty at Paruthikkad near Kunnaru in the Ramanthali Panchayath. A police-picket was established here following the untoward incidents of last month. The policemen while returning to the police-picket after having their dinner at a nearby shop. Two KAP constables, Vijayakumar and Eliyas have been admitted in the Govt Hospital .Police suspects the illicit-luquor lobby behind the incident.
Payyanur: Sri. PP Lakshmanan inaugurated the sale of the tickets for the Federation Cup Volleyball tournament, which will be held at Payyanur from 3rd February, 2002. Sri VMKK Poduval received the first ticket.
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
Payyanur: Navarathri celebrations starts from today, the17th November. There are a lot of functions arranged at various temples and other cultural organizations in and around Payyanur.
A lot of cultural events like vocal concerts, classical dances, kathakali, saxophone and flute, thayambaka will be conducted Pothamkandam Anandabhavanam . Prominent artistes like Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, P. Leela, P.Jayachandran will be performing here during the festival.
Sri. G.Karthikeyan, the minister for cultural affairs will inaugurate celebrations organized by Gramam Prathibha, Payyanur. Artistes like K.N.Ranganatha Sarma, K.Mahendran, KV Jagadeesan, Kadri Gopalnath will be performing here.
Special poojas and Vidyarambham will be held at Jyothisadanam, Payyanur. Various programs will be conducted at Nambiatrakovval Temple, Annur Mahavishnu Temple, Tuluvannur Mahavishnu temple and Madathumpadi temple
Monday, October 15, 2001
Payyanur: A new co-operative bank is going to start its operation from Payyanur . The Payyanur Urban Co-operative Bank will start functioning from next month onwards. Sri. P.Balan Master (former President, Kannur Dist. Co-op Bank) is the chief promoter of the bank . Sri. TV.Gopalan, Adv.C.Narayanan Nair, Adv. DK Gopinath, Sri. AP Alikunji, Sri. AK Rajeevan, Sadanam Narayanan, Smt. Pushpalatha Damodaran and Sri V.Mohanan are the other promoters of the bank. The head office of the bank is on the Government Hospital Road, opposite to Payyanur Police Station.
Sunday, October 14, 2001
Payyanur. Ezhimala, the site of the prestigious Naval Acadamy being developed over a 1,000 hectare area, enjoys more rainfall than the State average, but 30 per cent of open wells in the highland and 20 per cent in the midland areas usually dry up during the summer season. Experts take it as an indication of poor recharging of aquifers of the area and also find that the water holding capacity of the soil in the highland and midland areas has reduced considerably over the decades.
The Environment Management Plan (EMP) for the Naval Academy conceived by the Navy with the assistance of Governmental and non-governmental agencies is borne out of the sense of urgency for launching a proper watershed management planning for the area. The EMP, which has a water conservation part and a social forestry part, is expected to benefit not only the Academy which will start enrolling cadets, as per the present plans, in 2004 but the people inhabiting adjoining areas of the Ramanthali panchayat as well.
`The entire Academy land used to be individual holding areas before its takeover for the project and now our plan is to restore the forestry in the area,'' says the Naval Academy project officer, Commander Anoop Kumar. The Navy has realised the potential water scarcity in the area recently, he says. ``Once the Academy project is completed, our water requirement is 8 million litres a day (mld) and it is the State Government's commitment to supply the required water,'' he says adding that works for laying the 40 km pipeline for bringing water from the Kakkadavu reservoir at Cheemeni are already under way. Studies conducted by the Hydrology Department has revealed that the groundwater level in the area is receding and the EMP has been prepared on the basis of this finding, he pointed out.
The social forestry part of the EMP is funded by the Union Ministry for Forests and Environment. The afforestation work will be completed over a period of three years. As per the plan, over eight lakh saplings of various species will be planted over the period. Of the total Rs. 2 crores estimated for the social forestry works, the Academy has already been sanctioned Rs. 80 lakhs. Afforestation activities will be mainly carried out in the highlands of the site.
No less important is the water conservation measures that have already been launched in the Academy project area by the Navy in association with the Kannur Water Conservation Society (KWCS). Of the entire Academy area which comprises 450 ha identified for infrastructure development and 170 ha of coastal area that includes sand beaches, backwaters and paddy fields, 380 ha area has been identified for watershed management. Out of the 380 ha area, water conservation measures have already been in place in an extent of 130 ha land. The water conservation works being outlined as part of the EMP include, among other things, rain water harvest, terracing, construction of check dams and digging of pits.
"We are planning to involve in the water conservation works volunteers from nearby areas who are ultimately going to be its major beneficiaries,'' says Mr. D. Krishnanatha Pai, secretary of the KWCS which has launched water conservation programmes at the Defence Security Corps Centre here, the Kunnothuparamba panchayat and the Central Jail. The water conservation measures will accelerate recharge of ground water and the water level in the area will go up by next year, he says adding that agricultural crop production in the area will also be increased.
Facilities including ferro-cement tanks for treating and conserving roof water harvesting and recharge pits have been almost completed. The second stage works include construction of contour bunds, trenches, check dams and terracing. "Once the buildings come up, we will take up the roof-water harvesting on a massive scale,'' says Commander Anoop Kumar. The mangrove-rich areas along the Kavvayi backwaters in the project site will also be preserved as part of the EMP, he adds.
The estimated cost of the water conservation works is Rs. 1.02 crore. The Central Ground Water Board has already allotted Rs. 10.2 lakhs for launching the first phase of the works.
Thiruvananthapuram: Many Payyannorians have been nominated as members in various Academies by the Government of Kerala. The following are them.
Folklore Academy: Dr. M.V. Vishnu Namboothiri (chairman), Prof. B.Muhammad Ahmed (vice chairman)
Chalachitra Academy :SatheeshBabu Payyanur (member)
Kerala KalaMandalam: Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri (member)
Sahitya Academy : Prof: M.R.Chandrasekharan (former HOD of Malayalam Dept, Payyanur College) (member)
Sangeetha Nataka Acaemy: T.P.Bhaskara Poduval (member)
