December 2025

Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samity had challenged the environmental clearance accorded by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to the Public Works department for the project that is expected to reduce travel time between the two districts The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samity, an NGO, that challenged the construction of a twin tube tunnel corridor for linking Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. A PIL by the samity had challenged the environmental clearance accorded by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to the Public Works department for the project that is expected to reduce travel time between the two districts. The samity further contended that the tunnel would affect the fragile ecosystem in the region.

Plant rediscovered from a forest region that lies less than 5 km from Chooralmala and Mundakkai, the sites of the deadly landslides of July 30, 2024, say researchers A parasitic plant with vibrant orange and yellow flowers that was long thought extinct in the wild has been rediscovered after around 175 years from Kerala’s Wayanad district.Researchers have identified the plant, first collected and described in 1849 from Naduvattam in Tamil Nadu by the Scottish Botanist Robert Wight, as Campbellia aurantiaca (family Orobanchaceae). The plant has now been rediscovered from a forest region that lies less than five km from Chooralmala and Mundakkai, the sites of the deadly landslides of July 30, 2024.

Rapid action team camping at the spot to coordinate operation to capture tiger. Cage traps to be set up The Kerala Forest department has initiated measures to tranquillize a tiger that was spotted about two days ago in a farmland at Pachilakkad, near Kalpetta, in Wayanad district. Cage traps would also be set up soon in selected locations as part of the attempts to capture the animal. Forest department officials said they have received official orders to use tranquillizer shots. A team of 80 officers has been deployed to coordinate the operations. They said the five-year-old tiger was found moving near a paddy field at Chekkallur, following which local residents were asked to stay alert.