The Hindu                19.04.2013

Solar-powered juicer launched

Staff Reporter

There is a good news for disappointed cool drinks shop owners hit by frequent power cut and unable to cash in on the demand from public with the mercury shooting up everyday.

They can switch to subsidised solar-powered juicer developed by Aditya Suraksha entrepreneurs Syed Zahed and T.Veeranarayan to continue their sales unhindered and provide relief to people from sweltering heat.

Launching the eco-friendly product, Municipal Commissioner S.Ravindra Babu patted the duo and urged them to develop more such products to tap the abundant solar energy and create more self-employment opportunities to youth. ''The juicer comes with 50 watt and 100 watt capacity. When fully charged, the first one costing Rs 12,000 can be run for six hours and the second one costing Rs 20000 for 12 hours'', explained Mr Zahed. Conventional electrical back-up could also be provided to the juicer, they added.

The Hindu                         11.04.2013

Civic body to evolve a plan to green city

K.S. Sudhi

Not the wild way anymore. The city administrators hope to evolve a plan to green the city.

A pattern for planting saplings considering the specialities of the planting area and tree species available will be evolved in the city. Planting of trees without taking into account the speciality of the area would be counterproductive, said K.J. Sohan, chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.

If trees that would bulk up were planted in the walkways of narrow roads, the stakeholders of the area would destroy the saplings, he said.

Saplings should be selected after considering the speciality of the species and location and the corporation was planning to work with the Social Forestry wing of the Kerala Forest Department for the project, he said.

Three years ago, a few volunteers had counted 6,443 trees in public places of the city in a unique survey held here. The census was carried out by the Rajagiri outREACH of the Rajagiri School of Social Sciences, Kalamassery, for the Kochi Corporation.

Volunteers had listed 2,086 large trees, 1,953 medium-sized ones and 1,761 small trees in the city. They had also spotted 542 saplings in public places of Kochi.

However, Mr. Sohan felt that the census was irrelevant as the tree on the public places accounted for less than 2 per cent of the total trees in the city. Majority of the trees were located on private holdings, he said.

The civic body is also planning to promote individuals to plant suitable trees in public spots. The scheme would be implemented during the next monsoon season, he said.