The Hindu : Kerala News : Experts should pitch in for Kerala's welfare: ISRO chief

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 27, 2007
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Kerala

Experts should pitch in for Kerala's welfare: ISRO chief

Special Correspondent

Says Kerala has the most conducive environment for development now

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation G. Madhavan Nair has called upon engineers and scientists to pitch in their expertise to help the Kerala Government evolve a comprehensive plan to address the development needs of the State.

Inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee of the State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) here on Thursday, Dr. Madhavan Nair said Kerala indeed had a most conducive environment for development at the moment. A recent survey by a reputed national magazine had placed Kerala among the top States in the country in the matter of development prospects, he said.

Identifying some key areas the State should give priority to, he said a super highway connecting one end of the State to the other was, according to him, a primary necessity for the State at this juncture of its development history. The State's waterways, which had fallen into disuse, should also be developed to make them the arteries for goods transport.

He said the management of the State's water resources was another key area in need of immediate attention. Remote sensing technology now afforded the opportunity for engineers and scientists to draw up a comprehensive plan for rejuvenating the rivers, water bodies and the depleted watersheds in the State.

Kerala's electronic communication network was one of the best in the country, but remote areas still needed to be networked. Tele-education and telemedicine would take the services of expert teachers and doctors to remote corners of the State.

He said agriculture should be an area of serious concern to the State. Over the years, the farm sector had virtually collapsed in the State and what was urgently required was locally specific technological solutions to rejuvenate the sector. Mechanisation in the fields had to be backed by better storage and processing facilities to make agriculture vibrant. He predicted that the electricity needs of the State would go up several fold in the coming years and suggested that the State should urgently look for new hydroelectric sources, besides exploiting the potential for harnessing wind and solar energy.

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