Mangoves- കണ്ടല്‍ കൊണ്ടുണ്ടായ ഇണ്ടല്‍

കണ്ടല്‍ കൊണ്ടുണ്ടായ ഇണ്ടല്‍

Monday, August 30, 2010

ബാലകൃഷ്ണന്‍

വളപട്ടണം കണ്ടല്‍ പാര്‍ക്ക് വീണ്ടും തുറന്നു. കണ്ടല്‍ കണ്ടുപഠിക്കാന്‍, പരിപാലിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു കേന്ദ്രം എന്നു പ്രഖ്യാപനം. ഭരണം കൈയിലുണ്ടായിട്ടും കണ്ടല്‍ പാര്‍ക്ക് സംരക്ഷിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയാതെ പോയവരുടെ കണ്ടല്‍ സംരക്ഷണ താത്പര്യത്തിനു കോടതിയുടെ താത്കാലിക സംരക്ഷണം.
മാന്‍ഗ്രോവ് തീം പാര്‍ക്ക് എന്നു പേരിട്ട് സിപിഎം ആരംഭിച്ച വ്യാപാര സംരംഭം അവരുടെ കണ്ണൂരിലെ ബദ്ധശത്രു കെ. സുധാകരന്‍ എംപി ഡല്‍ഹിയില്‍ സ്വാധീനിച്ചാണു പൂട്ടിച്ചത്. വേട്ടക്കാരനായ വെട്ടുകത്തിക്ക് കണ്ടല്‍ എന്ന ഇരയുടെ മുന്നില്‍ വായ്ത്തല പോയെന്നു കണ്ണൂര്‍ രാഷ്ട്രീയത്തിന്‍റെ കാതലറിയുന്നവര്‍ രസംകൊള്ളും.
കോടതി നിബന്ധന സിപിഎമ്മിന്‍റെ വ്യാപാര താത്പര്യം കെടുത്തി. ടിക്കറ്റുവച്ച് ആളെക്കയറ്റി കണ്ടല്‍ കാണിക്കാന്‍ പറ്റില്ല. വിറകായോ പഴമായോ ഒന്നും വരുമാനം തരാത്ത കണ്ടലിനെ പാര്‍ട്ടിക്കാര്‍ക്കു സന്തോഷപൂര്‍വം വളര്‍ത്താനാണു കോടതി അനുമതി. ചെലവിനുള്ള പണം പിരിവെടുത്തു കണ്ടെത്തേണ്ടിവരും. വിനാശകാലേ വിപരീതബുദ്ധി അഥവാ സ്വയംകൃതാനര്‍ഥം എന്നൊരു കുശുകുശുപ്പ് കേട്ടുവോ?
പാര്‍ക്ക് പൂട്ടിക്കാന്‍ നടന്ന സമരങ്ങള്‍ക്കിടയില്‍ കേട്ട ഒരു പ്രസംഗശകലം ഇങ്ങനെ. "" കണ്ടല്‍ കൊണ്ടുള്ള ഗുണങ്ങള്‍ ഇവര്‍ക്കറിയുമോ? ആഗോള താപനത്തെ ചെറുക്കാന്‍ ഇതില്‍പ്പരം മികച്ച ഉപാധി വേറെന്തുണ്ട്?''. ഉപാധിയേതുമില്ലാതെ പറയട്ടെ, പത്താംക്ലാസ് വിദ്യാഭ്യാസമെങ്കിലുമുള്ളവരെ വേണം ഏതു രാഷ്ട്രീയപ്പാര്‍ട്ടിയും പ്രസംഗവേദികളില്‍ പ്രവേശിപ്പിക്കാന്‍. അല്ലെന്നാകില്‍ അതിലും കുറഞ്ഞ വിദ്യാഭ്യാസമുള്ളവരും നിരക്ഷരരുമൊക്കെ വല്ലാതെ തെറ്റിദ്ധാരണകളില്‍പ്പെട്ടുപോകും. ആഗോള താപനം എന്ത്, എങ്ങനെ തുടങ്ങിയ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ജനസാമാന്യത്തിനു മനസിലാകാന്‍ ഒരു കൈപ്പുസ്തകം ശാസ്ത്രസാഹിത്യ പരിഷത്ത് പുറത്തിറക്കണം. അതില്‍ കണ്ടലിന്‍റെ പ്രസക്തി പ്രത്യേകം പരാമര്‍ശിക്കുകയും വേണം.
എന്തിലും ഏതിലും സാമ്രാജ്യത്വ അജന്‍ഡ ആരോപിച്ച് ഇടതുപക്ഷം ജനങ്ങളെ വിസ്മയിപ്പിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ വലതുപക്ഷത്തിനു വീണുകിട്ടിയ ബദല്‍ മുദ്രാവാക്യമാണ് ആഗോള താപനം. മേല്‍പ്പറഞ്ഞ പ്രസംഗകന്‍റെ കണ്ടുപിടുത്തത്തിനു സാധൂകരണം. പഞ്ചായത്ത് തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് അടുത്തവേളയില്‍ ആഗോളീകരണ വിരോധം പോലെ ആഗോള താപന വ്യസനത്തിനും തരംഗബലമുണ്ട്.
കണ്ടല്‍ പാര്‍ക്ക് രക്ഷപെട്ടുവെന്ന് അന്തിമമായി പറയാറായിട്ടില്ല. കേന്ദ്രമന്ത്രി ജയറാം രമേശ് സുപ്രീംകോടതിയെ സമീപിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. കണ്ടല്‍ പാര്‍ക്കിനെ കൊണ്ടേപോകൂ എന്നാണ് അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍റെ നിശ്ചയം. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍റെ മന്ത്രാലയം അഭിമാനപ്രശ്നമായി എടുത്തുകഴിഞ്ഞ വിഷയത്തില്‍, വളപട്ടണം പോയിട്ടു കേരളം എവിടെ എന്നുപോലും പിടിപാടില്ലാത്ത സെക്രട്ടറിമാര്‍ സുപ്രീംകോടതിയിലേക്കു ഹര്‍ജിയെഴുതാന്‍ പാടുപെട്ടിരിക്കണം.
തികച്ചും രാഷ്ട്രീയപ്രേരിതം എന്നു കണ്ണൂരില്‍നിന്ന് ഒരു സഖാവ്. അതെ, സഖാവേ രാഷ്ട്രീയക്കളി പഠിച്ചവര്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ മാത്രമല്ല. സുധാകരനും അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍റെ ബോസ് ജയറാം രമേശിനുമൊക്കെ കളിക്കേണ്ടിടവും തരവും നന്നായി അറിയാം. അതുകൊണ്ടാണല്ലോ കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ് ഭരിക്കുന്ന സംസ്ഥാനത്ത് ആയിരക്കണക്കിനേക്കര്‍ കണ്ടല്‍വനം സ്വകാര്യ കമ്പനി കൈക്കലാക്കിയതു കാണാതെ നിങ്ങളുടെ പന്ത്രണ്ടേക്കറില്‍ അവര്‍ കൊടികുത്താന്‍ നോക്കുന്നത്.
മുംബൈ വിക്രോളിയിലെ ഗോദ്റെജ് കമ്പനിയുടെ സ്വന്തം കണ്ടല്‍വനം ഒരു വിശാല സുന്ദര പഞ്ചനക്ഷത്ര കണ്ടല്‍ പാര്‍ക്കായി രൂപപ്പെട്ടു വരുകയാണ്. മഹരാഷ്ട്ര ഭരിക്കുന്നത് കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ്. മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി അശോക് ചവാന്‍. അവിടെ ഒരു കണ്ടല്‍ സംരക്ഷണ ദൗത്യവും തീരദേശ നിയന്ത്രണ നിയമം നിഷ്കര്‍ഷിക്കലും നടത്തിയാല്‍ അപ്പോഴറിയാം, ചവാനാണോ ജയരാമനാണോ ഉശിരുള്ള കോണ്‍ഗ്രസുകാരനും യഥാര്‍ഥ കണ്ടല്‍പ്രേമിയുമെന്ന്.
ജയറാം രമേശില്‍നിന്ന് ആവേശമുള്‍ക്കൊണ്ട് നമ്മുടെ ബഹുമാനപ്പെട്ട മന്ത്രി ബിനോയ് വിശ്വം, നമുക്കിനി കണ്ടലല്ലാതെ വേറൊരു വനമേ വേണ്ട എന്നു ഭാവനചെയ്യുന്നുണ്ട്. ആഗോള താപനത്തെ കണ്ടല്‍ തടയുമെങ്കില്‍ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍റെ മന്ത്രിസ്ഥാനം സാര്‍ഥകമായി. ഇപ്പറഞ്ഞ താപനം കുറയ്ക്കാന്‍ കമ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് പച്ച ചെയ്യുന്ന സഹായം തന്നെയാണ് കണ്ടലിന്‍റെ ഇലകളും ചെയ്യുന്നത് എന്നു മനസിലാക്കാന്‍ മന്ത്രിക്ക് എട്ടംക്ലാസിലെ ജീവശാസ്ത്ര പുസ്തകം ആരെങ്കിലും എത്തിച്ചുകൊടുക്കണം.
കണ്ടല്‍ നട്ടുവളര്‍ത്തുന്നവര്‍ക്കു പാരിതോഷികവും പ്രോത്സാഹനവും നല്‍കുമെന്ന പ്രഖ്യാപനത്തോടെ അദ്ദേഹം ഒരു നയം ഈയിടെ പ്രഖ്യപിച്ചു. വീട്ടുവളപ്പിലാണു കണ്ടല്‍ വളര്‍ത്തുന്നതെങ്കില്‍ ഗ്രാന്‍റ് ഉയരും. മികച്ച കണ്ടല്‍ കര്‍ഷകനു സര്‍ക്കാരിന്‍റെ കണ്ടല്‍ശ്രീ അവര്‍ഡും ഭാവിയില്‍ തരപ്പെടുത്തിത്തരാം. പ്രഖ്യാപനം കേട്ട് എത്ര ശുദ്ധാത്മാക്കള്‍ തെങ്ങ് വെട്ടിമാറ്റി കണ്ടല്‍ കൃഷിയിലേക്കു തിരിഞ്ഞു എന്നതിന്‍റെ കണക്കു പുറത്തുവന്നിട്ടില്ല.
അപ്പഴേ മന്ത്രീ, ഒരു ഇടത്തരം ജലസസ്യമായ കണ്ടല്‍ വീട്ടുവളപ്പില്‍ ഇടതൂര്‍ന്നു വളര്‍ന്നാല്‍ അതിനുവേണ്ട വെള്ളം എവിടെനിന്നു വലിച്ചെടുക്കും. വീട്ടുകിണറുകള്‍ വറ്റി ശുദ്ധാത്മാക്കളുടെ കുടിവെള്ളം മുട്ടാനുള്ള ഉപദേശമാണോ അങ്ങ് നല്‍കുന്നത്? ഇപ്പോള്‍ കണ്ടല്‍ നടാന്‍ കൊടുക്കുന്ന ഗ്രാന്‍റ് ഒടുവില്‍ കുടിവെള്ളം മുട്ടി കണ്ടല്‍ വെട്ടേണ്ടിവരുമ്പോഴും കൊടുക്കുമോ?
അതിനും വകുപ്പുണ്ട്. കൊക്കോ കൃഷി ചെയ്യാനും അതു വെട്ടി കുഴിച്ചുമൂടാനും സബ്സിഡിയും ഗ്രാന്‍റും കൊടുത്ത നാടാണു നമ്മുടേത്. തെരുവുപട്ടികളെ കൊല്ലാനും സംരക്ഷിക്കാനും നമുക്ക് വെവ്വേറെ ഗ്രാന്‍റ് ഏര്‍പ്പാടുകളുണ്ട്. അതുകൊണ്ട് മന്ത്രി മാറിയാലും കമ്യൂണിസം തന്നെ കാലഹരണപ്പെട്ടാലും പരിസ്ഥിതി വാദികള്‍ മുഴുവന്‍ ഈ നാടിനെ ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചുപോയാലും കണ്ടല്‍ക്കര്‍ഷകര്‍ പെരുവഴിയിലാകില്ലെന്നു പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കാം.
പണ്ട് ടി.എച്ച്. മുസ്തഫ ഭക്ഷ്യമന്ത്രിയായിരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ കൊതിക്കെറുവുള്ള ചില മാധ്യമപ്രവര്‍ത്തകര്‍ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന് ഒരു വിളിപ്പേരിട്ടിരുന്നു. മുസ്തഫ നേരയലത്തുള്ളതിനാല്‍ അതിവിടെ കുറിക്കുന്നില്ല. അതുപോലൊന്ന് ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ മന്ത്രിമാര്‍ക്കും ചേരും. ജയറാം രമേശിനെ പ്രതിബന്ധ മന്ത്രി എന്നു വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ ബിനോയ് വിശ്വവും ഉചിതമായ ഒരു വിശേഷണം സ്വന്തമാക്കട്ടെ. അതു കണ്ടല്‍ മന്ത്രിയെന്നോ കണ്ടാല്‍ മന്ത്രിയെന്നോ മുസ്തഫയ്ക്കു കിട്ടിയതു തന്നെയോ ആകാം

Biju, The frog hunter !

The frog hunters - Economy and Politics - livemint.com (from MINT/www.livemint.com 24th August 2010)

The frog hunters

Since its start, the lab has discovered 60 new species, making it one of the best amphibian research labs in Asia

Akshai Jain

New Delhi: Frogs jump out at you from every corner of Sathyabhama Das Biju’s small laboratory in Delhi university. They nestle in delicate pencil sketches on the wall, peer out of voluminous taxonomic tomes on the large wooden bookshelf, float in bottles of alcohol concealed behind a light black curtain, and squirm and burrow in layers of mud in large plastic boxes stacked on top of each other.

A large number of these specimens are new to science, waiting to be studied and named by researchers at the Systematics Lab. In the five and a half years since it started, the lab has become a veritable frog factory, revealing new species with a regularity that has startled scientists around the world.

In the competitive world of species discovery, where even a single species is a life-time achievement, it has notched up an impressive tally of 60 new species, making it one of the best amphibian research labs in Asia. If Biju is to be believed, this is only the start. In the next few months, he says, he will announce the discovery of a new family (of caecilians, a kind of legless amphibian), and 25 new species. “This,” he says with certitude and tone of a man not prone to modesty, “is my year.” “In the next two years, I’ll hit my century,” continues the tall, frizzy haired professor, who has discovered 48 of the 60 species (the others have been discovered by his students). The cricketing reference sounds unlikely coming from a scientist, but it conveys an enthusiasm, that at times borders on mania.

Biju started his career as a botanist, but his fascination with frogs prevailed, and he switched over to zoology, getting a second PhD from the Amphibian Evolution Lab in Brussels.

“They always fascinated me, technically speaking,” he smiles. “How, I wondered, did these creatures evolve 40 different modes of external reproduction? How did they use their croaks to communicate?”

Over the years, as the lab has accumulated data and found answers to some of these questions, more have cropped up, with the result that it now works on everything from the genetic make up of frogs to their migration patterns. The monsoons are a busy time at the lab. Frogs of all shapes and sizes emerge en masse from the lairs in which they’ve waited out the scorching summer, to breed in ponds, rivers and stagnant pools of water. For the scientists, it’s a short four-month research window, during which they head out into the field.

Their entry is determined by the distribution of India’s amphibian population, which is divided broadly into two groups (that spill over the international border).

The best hunting grounds are the Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka, which are to frogs what Africa is to human evolution. This is where, according to Biju, the greatest diversity and the most ancient lineages are to be found. The other area, which starts from north-east India, stretching in an arc across Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, has a distinct population and is home to India’s seven species of caecilians.

Of the six students who’re pursing master’s degrees and PhDs at the lab, most are away, having fanned out from Laos in Southeast Asia to Maharashtra and the Western Ghats in Kerala.

Biju, too, is raring to head out, packing in marathon classes and winding up some remaining bits of research.

The fieldwork is gruelling, he says, holding up a finger that remains partially paralyzed by a viper bite in the forests of Munnar where he was studying tree frogs. “If there are 10 frogs talking in the forest, you can be sure that there’ll be five snakes nearby.”

The rigours start with days of trekking through dense, rain-drenched forests that are crawling with leeches. The researchers work on two hours of sleep a day and live on the most basic food. Fungal infections are common. The most frustrating part, however, is the days or weeks spent waiting for their quarry.

But when it does hop slowly into view, it often justifies the wait. The most exciting moment of Biju’s career has been the discovery of *Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis*, the coelacanth of frogs, a purple, pug nosed creature that resembles a glob of jelly. Using molecular technologies, which Biju complains have been resisted by conventional taxonomists and zoologists in India, it was identified as “relic lineage” that dated back 130 million years.

In his paper on the discovery, published in the prestigious international journal *Nature *in 2003, he identified a frog that is now found only in Seychelles as *Nasikabatrachus*’s closest living relative. It was the first concrete proof, he claims, that Madagascar, Seychelles and India were part of a single landmass that separated much after the break-up of Gondwanaland had started.

The discovery made Biju famous. “*Nasikabatrachus* made me,” he says candidly.

There’s been no looking back since. Biju and his researchers discovered India’s smallest frog, *Nyctibatrachus minimus*, which, at 10mm in length, can sit on a Rs5 coin with room to spare; the only (Indian) frog that lives in tree canopies at a height of more than 20m; and a curious set of species that makes nests in which they lay their eggs.

The study of these species has upturned some established beliefs about the migration of frogs from the Western Ghats to parts of Africa, and the reasons for the genetic differences in frog populations of southwest and eastern India.

While the science produced by the lab has been excellent, a clever prioritizing of research areas has also been responsible for bringing the lab the Rs3.8 crore that it has today in funding from universities and research bodies around the world. Biju has made sure that his students work in emerging areas that “will become big in the next five years”. Species discovery was the flyover in the amphibian world over the last decade, but the focus is shifting. The lab has started working on neuro-communication, the neural basis of communication in frogs, and the possible medical benefits of peptides and pheromones found in different species.

They’re also working on a DNA bar-coding project funded by the department of biotechnology, as part of which they’ve already analysed 1,200 samples from around the country.

“In India, we’ve traditionally followed the West, which means that we’re always five years behind,” Biju says, “it’s time that changed.” Conservation of the new species, most of which are endangered, has also become a concern. According to Biju, habitat destruction is the biggest reason for the alarming decline in India’s amphibian populations. “There are so many species out there that are disappearing without even being identified,” says Biju passionately. “Can you imagine your own brother dying without being given a name?”

How difficult was setting up the lab? “When I started working on frogs, my friends said I was crazy.”

Money for fieldwork was a problem. At one point, Biju even threatened to sell the name of the next species he discovered to the highest bidder to fund it. The notice is still on his website, but luckily it never came to that.

Getting good students at the Delhi university wasn’t easy either, but Biju seems happy with the team he’s managed to bring together. Chun Kamei, a quiet, serious researcher has been at the lab since it started. She’s been working on the caecilians of the North-East, having discovered three new species; and is at the centre of the new discoveries the lab will announce shortly.

She washes hands carefully and then digs around in the mud of one of the boxes stacked in the room. “Here it is,” she says gingerly picking out what could pass for a large fat worm, except that it’s got a snout. It’s probably a new species of caecilians, but Biju seems reluctant to talk about it.

Neither will he talk about the bulk of the 600 different specimens, nearly twice the number of amphibian species documented by the Zoological Survey of India, that float in bottles on his shelves.

Those are his new species, news-making revelations, and the secrets to his (and the labs) future successes.

“I’m no Linnaeus, Hooker or Darwin,” he says leaning back in his chair, “but it does feel great when people line up after conferences to shake my hand.”

*akshai.j@livemint.com*

Geothermal Energy- Lessons from California

It will be great if we too can do something in this front. There are abundant scope for geothermal generation especially along along Konkan region.

Arun

====================================

http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/10/08/geothermals-milestone

Geothermal's Milestone | RenewablesBiz

Just about 50 years ago construction began on the Geysers, the nation's first commercial geothermal site north of San Francisco. From its humble beginnings as a steam field and as an 11-megawatt power plant, the industry has grown up.

Now, it's a reliable renewable resource in many parts of the country, but often overlooked in the discussions that tend to be dominated by wind and solar power.

"We're renewable too, and base load to boot" - at least that seems to be the message geothermal energy tries to convey in the crowded renewable energy marketplace, with varying degrees of success.

Since the Geysers began operation, the United States has become the world leader in geothermal energy production and geothermal energy is the largest renewable source of energy in the state of California, providing 5 percent of the state's electric power.

And with the aggressive renewable goals in California, the resource is ready to fill some of that void. "When you tell people there are 2,000 megawatts that are under development, they act surprised," Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) Executive Director Karl Gawell told me this week.

One problem is the sheer size of California. "It's hard to penetrate the media market in California, with one-tenth of the country's population there," he added.

Besides marking this milestone, the GEA is also going to Sacramento, Calif., for its 2010 Geothermal Energy Expo, the geothermal energy industry's largest annual event.

But in the other Western states with significant resources, -- Nevada, Utah and Oregon - the recognition of geothermal energy's role has been easier to obtain.

According to the GEA, approximately 3,086 megawatts of installed capacity is produced by 77 plants in nine states. Just last year, seven new plants were brought online. Currently 188 projects in 15 different states are in consideration or under in development. Those developing projects could triple geothermal capacity over the next decade.

And that's a long way from 11 megawatts in California decades ago.

The editorial staff at RenewablesBiz.com is passionate about exchanging ideas and dedicated to promoting ongoing conversation about renewables and sustainable energy issues. We invite you to join and contribute to our online community. If you have an idea for an article or editorial contribution, please contact me via email,bopalka@energycentral.com, or phone, 860.633.0090.

The devastating flood from cloudburst in Leh, Ladakh a chinese experiment of weather bomb or an effect of the undergroud UFO bases in the Himalayas?

???? :)

IndiaDaily - The devastating flood from cloudburst in Leh, Ladakh a chinese experiment of weather bomb or an effect of the undergroud UFO bases in the Himalayas?

The devastating flood from cloudburst in Leh, Ladakh a chinese experiment of weather bomb or an effect of the undergroud UFO bases in the Himalayas?
India Daily Technology Team
Aug. 7, 2010

Leh, Ladakh is an unusual place for a cloudburst because it is a cold desert region where average rain fall is low.

The source of this cloudburst was an intense convective cloud cluster that developed over east of Leh by about 9.30pm on Thursday. Scientists say it began disgorging its moisture between 1.30am and 2am but no one knows how much rain it delivered.

This does not happen Himalayan desert altitudes. What causes this? The maximum ever recorded rainfall in Leh was 96.2 mm in a 24 hour period measured in 1933. This cloudburst yielded 250mm rainfall within an hour.

An air force observatory near Leh, some distance away from the cloudburst zone, only recorded 12.8 mm which, scientists point out, is not cloudburst-level rainfall. That is very interesting. That says it was an artificial cloudburst.

What caused it?

One obvious theory is that it was caused by Chinese weather bombs. Chinese have been developing artificial weather, storm and cloudburst experiments over the enemy targets.

The more probable reason is extraterrestrial UFO effects. There are reports for the last five years that the area and Aksai Chin is the home of underground UFO bases. UFOs with electromagnetic flux overdrive can cause unintended artificial cloud bursts over a short region with very high intensity.

Panel indicts Vedanta, supports tribals- bauxite mining in Niyamgiri

Panel indicts Vedanta, supports tribals
India Blooms News Service

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IBNS) In a massive indictment of British mining giant Vedanta Resources PLC, a four-member panel by India's environment and tribal affairs ministries said on Monday in a report that allowing the firm to mine bauxite in Niyamgiri Hills would be betraying the tribal faith.
The report by the committee headed by National Advisory Council member NC Saxena also slammed the company for violating laws and destroying the ecology.
"… this Committee is of the firm view that allowing mining in the proposed mining lease area by depriving two Primitive Tribal Groups of their rights over the proposed mining site in order to benefit a private company would shake the faith of tribal people in the laws of the land," the panel said.
"Since the company in question has repeatedly violated the law, allowing it further access to the proposed mining lease area at the cost of the rights of the Kutia and Dongaria Kondh [tribal groups], will have serious consequences for the security and well being of the entire country," the report said.
The panel said 20 percent of 8,000 Dongria Kondh tribal people live in the project area and the very survival of the community would be at stake.
In a reaction to Wall Street Journal, Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer of Vedanta's Lanjigarh refinery, said: "We haven't yet studied the report. Once we read it and discuss it with the state government, we will decide on the future course of action." The mountains they wanted to dig has 72 million tonnes of bauxite ores, according to reports.
The Rs 4000 crore Vedanta alumina refinery project was awaiting the clearance of the environment ministry for 20 months amid protests by the tribal groups and civil society activist.
The panel said Vedanta violated Forest Conservation Act and is in illegal occupation of 26.123 ha of village forest lands enclosed within the factory premises. "The claim by the company that they have only followed the state government orders and enclosed the forest lands within their factory premises to protect these lands and that they provide access to the tribal and other villagers to their village forest lands is completely false," it said.
"This is an act of total contempt for the law on the part of the company and an appalling degree of collusion on the part of the concerned officials," it said. The panel said the company also violated the Environment Protection Act (EPA) .
"The company M/s Vedanta Alumina Limited has already proceeded with construction activity for its enormous expansion project that would increase its capacity six fold from 1 Mtpa to 6 Mtpa without obtaining environmental clearance as per provisions of EIA Notification, 2006 under the EPA.
"This amounts to a serious violation of the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act. This expansion, its extensive scale and advanced nature, is in complete violation of the EPA and is an expression of the contempt with which this company treats the laws of the land," it said.
The panel said Vedanta also violated conditions of Clearance under EPA granted to Refinery "The refinery was accorded clearance under the EPA on the condition that no forest land would be used for the establishment of the refinery. But now it is clearly established that the company has occupied 26.123 ha of village forest lands within the refinery boundary with the active collusion of concerned officials. Hence, the environmental clearance given to the company for setting up the refinery is legally invalid and has to be set aside," the 119-page report said.
(From:-
http://www.indiablooms.com/EnvironmentDetailsPage/environmentDetails160810a.php)

Minister for non clearances: Rediff.com Business

Interesting news. It implies that before him they were all Ministers for clearances !!

Arun

Meet India's minister for non clearances: Rediff.com Business

Meet India's minister for non clearances

August 17, 2010 03:09 IST

Minister for non clearances -- a section of industry has given him that sobriquet, but Jairam Ramesh [Images ] has ensured no one ignores the environment ministry.

He has been locked in a verbal duel with at least three chief ministers and four of his Cabinet colleagues: Praful Patel [ Images ], Sharad Pawar [Images ], Kamal Nath and P Chidambaram [ Images].

And, contrary to their public protestations, several industrialists are also upset about what they call Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's activist-like positions. "He is taking positions, which are normally associated with unreasonable activists and their organisations," says one leading industrialist whose project is stuck. It's not surprising, therefore, that in some circles, he has earned the sobriquet of 'minister for non-clearances'.

In the last 10 days, at least two high-profile companies joined the long list of those whose mega projects have come under the ministry's scanner. Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha earlier this month that his ministry was probing alleged violation of forest laws by Posco and Vedanta in Orissa. A four-member expert group will give its report in the first week of December.

Data from the ministry's website show that of the 58 projects that have come up for Coastal Regulation Zone clearance since April 2009, it gave only half a dozen of them the green signal. Over 1,800 projects are awaiting clearances as of the first week of this month.

The Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, prescribes a 105-day time limit for appraisal of projects and communicating a decision after receipt of complete information. But in the case of many projects, the delays have run several months over the stipulated time.

Though the usually articulate and responsive minister did not reply to Business Standard's queries as Parliament was in session, the environment ministry says the increased number of projects in certain sectors like power and infrastructure and submission of incomplete information by project proponents mainly caused the delay.

Experts also cite several issues that go far beyond bureaucratic delays on the part of the environment ministry. For example, there are 38 tiger reserves in India [ Images ] covering 40,969 sq km of forest land. There are 88 identified elephant corridors -- fragile narrow strips of land that allow pachyderms to move from one habitat patch to another. India has about 100 notified national parks, 355 wildlife sanctuaries, 15-plus biosphere reserves, four coral reef areas and 34 locations identified for mangrove protection. More are in the pipeline.

India has 21 per cent of its geographical area under forest cover. According to the State Forest Report, 2009, in the last 10 years, forest cover in the country has increased by 3.31 million hectares, showing an average 0.46 per cent rise every year. More environment preservation projects like the one for the Western Ghats are shaping up.

So, the environment ministry has no option but to say no if projects are planned within or near (around 10 km) these protected regions. Environmental activism of non-governmental organisations, local people resisting the loss of land owned for many generations, involvement of vested interests and political interference are also major issues for project developers.

Then there is the Maoist/Naxalite opposition to many projects in several states. "There are people who consciously instigate and organise people in coastal Andhra against projects coming up in the region," says a spokesperson of a power company, which is promoting a project in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

"Land availability is a big issue in India. Developers can approach the ministry only after either acquiring the land or have assurances to get the land, to request for the terms of reference to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment study. By that stage, a lot of investment and time may have gone into execution of the projects, and still you are not sure of getting the clearance," says Sanjay Sethi, executive director (infrastructure) at Kotak Investment Banking.

"It is necessary to have more transparent and clear guidelines and checklists for land available for various commercial and industrial uses, with clear maps of sensitive zones, which should be easily available to project developers," he adds.

To be fair to the environment ministry, there are issues like misrepresentation of facts by project developers and the state, or conflicting reports on issues by expert panels. In a recent development, the environmental clearances for at least four projects in an around Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh were suspended by the ministry.

On July 15, the ministry cancelled the clearance given to Nagarjuna [ Images ] Construction Company's 2,640 megawatt (Mw) coal-based super critical thermal power plant at Gollagandi and Baruva villages in Srikakulam. An expert panel said most of the project land allocated by the state government might be regarded as wetland, contrary to an earlier panel report that the 750 acres of grasslands were barren and not fit for agriculture.

The same expert panel, which visited East Coast Energy's 2,640 Mw thermal project near Kakarapalli village in Srikakulam during the same time, found the state government had ignored reports on the ecological value of low lying areas of the well recognised Naupada swamps wetland and migratory bird breeding in nearby Telineelapuram of Srikakulam. "This amounts to suppression/distortion of facts," the panel said.

A nearby project -- that of JSW's 1.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) alumina refinery and a co-generation plant -- is also being reviewed by the ministry. A panel has recommended the ministry to consider issues like depletion of water in present perennial streams feeding a reservoir in the vicinity and pollution of water sources before giving the forest clearance for bauxite mining.

On June 28, the ministry directed the formation of a supervisory committee to monitor the influence of toxic effluents from JSW Energy's 1,200 Mw thermal power plant at Jaigad in Maharashtra [ Images ], following apprehensions that effluents could affect the quality of Alphonso mangoes and cashew orchards in the region. JSW Energy will have to spend ' 527 crore to set up an effluent system and if the toxins are still beyond the permissible levels, it will have to either close the plants or change the fuel.

Ten days before that, Jindal Power Limited drew the wrath of the ministry for commencing construction of a 2,400 Mw power project at Tamnar in Chhattisgarh, without obtaining prior environment clearance. The ministry has directed the state government to stop work and initiate action against the Naveen Jindal-promoted company.

SWORD OF DAMOCLES: Projects put on hold
DATE	COMPANY	PROJECT	STATE
June 28	JPL power	Tamnar	Chhattisgarh
July 15	NCC	Power project	Sreekakulam, Andhra
July 15	Eastcoast Energy	2,640 Mw power project	Sreekakulam, Andhra
July 15	JSW	Alumina refinery	Sreekakulam, Andhra
July 17	Rusoabagar-Khasiyabara	Hydro	Uttarakhand [ Images ]
August 7	Posco	Steel mill	Orissa

Some of the other high-profile projects that have been halted include the Maheshwar Hydroelectric project on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh [ Images ] on grounds that the conditions of the statutory environmental clearance were not complied with and the resettlement and rehabilitation of the project-affected families was less than satisfactory -- charges denied by the state chief minister and the company.

However, it has certainly not been roses all the way for Ramesh. The government has given a go-ahead for partial work to resume on the Maheshwar dam, despite the ministry's recommendations.

Also, many say the minister has involved himself in much-publicised wars of words with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel over the environment ministry's reluctance to clear the Navi Mumbai [ Images ] international airport, citing destruction of mangroves, razing of a hill and diversion of two rivers; with Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath, who openly accused him of blocking projects; with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar over Bt brinjal; and, of course,with Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was upset with his comments on how the home ministry had taken an alarmist view on China, something for which Ramesh had to apologise.

But, even his sharpest critics agree on one thing: Ramesh has made sure that no one can treat the environment ministry lightly any longer. Magsaysay Award winning social activist Sandeep Pandey says earlier projects used to go on without environmental clearances or conditional clearances that were never honoured. "This is probably the first time that an environmentalist has become a minister. He is almost single-handedly bringing about a paradigm shift within the government about how to view progress and development," says Pandey.

Image: Jairam Ramesh

P B Jayakumar in Mumbai

DNA: Mumbai - Navi Mumbai airport will cause environmental damage: Jairam Ramesh

DNA: Mumbai - Navi Mumbai airport will cause environmental damage: Jairam Ramesh

Navi Mumbai airport will cause environmental damage: Jairam Ramesh

PTI / Saturday, August 14, 2010 20:41 IST

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh today disfavoured the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport saying it would have serious environmental implications and suggested an alternative site for the second airport in Mumbai.

He said that the proposed airport construction in Navi Mumbai will have serious environmental implications and the flooding of Panvel could be one among them.

"Mumbai needs a second airport. But where that airport should be located is a matter that has to be decided coolly, dispassionately, taking into account all environmental matters," Ramesh told reporters in Mumbai while explaining the steps taken by the ministry on the environmental damages caused by the oil spill off the Mumbai coast.

Strongly refuting the charge that he was stalling the development of the city, the minister said environmental approval is not a mere formality.

"I have no problem with Navi Mumbai. I am not to stall any development. But we cannot ignore environmental issues. Environmental clearance is not a formality. It has to be gone through (sic)," Ramesh said.

Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 1991 did not allow the building of an airport in Navi Mumbai. Though it was amended in 2009, it was not to build an airport in Navi Mumbai, he said.

"Please note that CRZ '91 was amended to make constructing an airport in Navi Mumbai a permissible activity subject to neutralisation measures being undertaken," Ramesh said.

Ramesh said that three MPs from Thane district had met him on August 13 with an application to move the new airport to Kalyan.

"The MPs told me that 1,800 acres of land, available near Kalyan which is now in the possession of the defence establishment, can be used for the second airport instead of Navi Mumbai. I have passed all those papers to the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for Infrastructure," he said.

The minister said there are three major environmental issues regarding the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport site, with diversion of two rivers being the most serious issue.

"Diversion of the rivers is the most serious issue. We all know what happened to Mithi. In case of a flooding or monsoon, what will happen to Panvel town..?" he said. The loss of 400 acres of mangroves and the blasting of a hill 80metre above sea level are the two other serious issues, Ramesh said.

Recently, IIT-Mumbai had done a study on the environmental implications of the construction of the new airport and submitted their findings to EAC. On the basis of that study, EAC sought clarifications from CIDCO, the developing agency.

"CIDO representatives are asked to clarify the issues raised by EAC on August 18 meeting. If these issues can be resolved, then I will examine the recommendations of EAC," Ramesh said.

To a query, Ramesh said the Expert Committee of Airport Authority of India (AAI) had found Rewas-Mandwa as the best site for a second airport in 1996. But later in 2000, following a recommendation from Maharashtra government, AAI selected Navi Mumbai for the second airport.

"I have no problem with that. But I cannot give environmental clearance with good conscience until and unless all the major concerns are resolved. I conveyed these factors to the civil aviation minister (Praful Patel) and the chief minister. They are also concerned," Ramesh said.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_navi-mumbai-airport-will-cause-environmental-damage-jairam-ramesh_1423459-all

Train kills wild Elephant at Walayar- Manorama Online Malayalam News

Manorama Online Malayalam News

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Bacteria Power Harnessing Photosynthesis | RenewablesBiz

Bacteria Power Harnessing Photosynthesis | RenewablesBiz: "Bacteria Power Harnessing Photosynthesis"

Bacteria Power Harnessing Photosynthesis

Neil Johnson | Aug 13, 2010

Next time you’re admiring the colors of the marine life by a pond or the sea, just remind yourself that you’re staring at the raw materials of a potential multi-billion-dollar global industry for harvesting sunlight. In particular, what scientists are now learning about the bacteria and plant organisms that give rise to these pretty colors has the potential for revolutionizing the entire energy industry.

Think photosynthesis, and you probably remem¬ber that day in kindergarten when life’s most basic process was first explained to you. The sun’s energy allows plants to grow, and these plants then underpin the entire food chain. Easy, right? Wrong.

It turns out that the details of photosynthe¬sis — and hence how to efficiently harness it for next-generation energy conversion devices — are only just revealing themselves through imaging technology such as the atomic force microscope. In particular, recent work by our collaborator James Sturgis at l’Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France, showed that photosynthetic organisms such as purple bacteria contain highly adaptive machinery that can respond to major changes in the amount of sunlight.

Moreover, although such bacteria were among the first organisms on Earth more than 3 billion years ago, even preceding plants, the complexity of their nanoscale light-harvesting machinery puts even the most sophisticated photovoltaic designers to shame. And did I mention that they cost nothing to build?

A growing number of scientists believe that photosynthetic systems such as purple bacteria provide the magic bullet for unlocking cheap, dependable solar power generation. I say “systems” because any resulting commercial machinery need be neither completely natural nor man-made. Instead, it can potentially combine the best of both worlds simply by allowing purple bacteria to grow on conventional circuitry — thereby combining the robustness of 3 billion years of evolution with the common setting of everyday materials such as plastics, metals or semiconductors. Such systems would be cheap, robust and, most importantly, adaptable because any damage to the bacterial surface coating could self-repair through natural colony growth. Powering everything from mobile phones to entire buildings may be as simple as letting them get “dirty” via the buildup of a bacterial layer.

Among the wealth of naturally occurring photosynthetic organisms, purple bacteria are arguably the most amazing in terms of their internal light-harvesting machinery. Resembling a bowl of Cheerios cereal in milk, the ring-like nanoscale structures lie in a loose membrane arrangement ready to capture and pass on packets of energy from the sun. Their 3-billion-year experience of having to grow in extreme, harsh conditions, and having to adapt to unexpected changes in climate on both the daily and decadal scale, has left them with a detailed architecture that can change according to the amount of sunlight that they receive as they grow.

Our recent work shows that purple bacteria optimize this internal machinery in a very special way, according to the amount of incident sunlight.

This ability to thrive in multiple environments, such as intense or sparse sunlight, is far beyond the capabilities of any existing technology — in particular, the much-touted organic photovoltaics, which instead tend to disintegrate.

Most importantly, it looks as though it should be relatively easy to insert such photosynthetic organisms into conventional technology such as semiconductors, judging by recent experimental work by researchers in Israel. In technical jargon, the researchers successfully employed time-resolved photoluminescence to measure an extremely fast electron transfer. But hasn’t somebody thought of all this before? Yes and no.

Yes, the idea of harnessing photosynthesis is as old as the hills — possibly even older if we allow for the fact that plants learned to harness sunlight well before dinosaurs roamed the planet. But what is new, and what makes this particular discovery so promising in terms of commercialization, is the fact that this is the first time that we have truly understood the internal workings of these organisms.

And the possibilities are simply breathtaking. For example, allowing purple bacteria to colonize a given device circuit could create a system that can absorb sunlight across a wide range of frequencies, re-adjust itself by adaptation should the level of sunlight change and repair itself if damaged or scratched. Such self-repairing systems would be ideal for placement in hard-to-reach areas of buildings. Whatever happens in terms of external conditions, the bacterial growth will adapt.

Going beyond everyday applications, these hybrid devices could also provide a revolution in the booming high-tech nanotechnology arena. In addition to harvesting sunlight, the ability of these bacterial membranes to process electrical signals has hardly been explored.

Yet there are no laws of physics that prevent us from creating hybrid light-harvesting devices that are self-powered, adaptive, and can repair themselves or grow at will. After all, purple bacteria have been doing this quite happily by themselves for more than 3 billion years. All it would take is some light exposure and investment.

Neil Johnson is a physicist at the University of Miami.

Amphibians wiped out before they are discovered : Nature News

Amphibians wiped out before they are discovered : Nature News

Fungal disease drives the loss of 30 species in Panama.

Janet Fang

The Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki) is one of many species being decimated by chytridiomycosis.Alberto Aparicio/XinHua/Xinhua Press/Corbis

A Panamanian park has lost around 40% of its amphibian species in the past decade, with some dying out before biologists had even learned of their existence, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science USA¹. Combining genetics with nearly ten years of field surveys, biologists discovered 11 new species, only to find that five of them are already extinct in the area.

"We're losing things before we find them," says Andrew Crawford, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and lead author of the study.

The disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the chytrid fungal pathogenBatrachochytrium dendrobatidis, threatens more than 2,800 amphibian species worldwide. Amphibians infected by the disease have skin several times thicker than normal, which affects their ability to breathe and the transfer of electrolytes.

Anticipating the arrival of B. dendrobatidis in El Copé, Panama, as a wave of infection advanced from the northwest of the country, co-author Karen Lips, a biologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, began leading field surveys in the 4-kilometre² area in 1998. Her team set up transects, walking along 100-metre lines, marking down the species observed and collecting samples. The epidemic hit in 2004, enabling researchers to conduct a before-and-after comparison.

After sequencing toe clippings or liver samples from 297 specimens collected before the decline, the researchers found that the area was home to 63 known species. By using DNA barcoding — which involves sequencing standardized DNA marker fragments to match specimens with known species — Crawford and his co-workers identified a further 11 species that were previously unrecognized.

Thirty of these species are now extinct in the area, including "five that were wiped out before we even knew they were there", says Crawford. This brings the total loss of amphibian lineages to 41%. Naming a species that is already extinct was "pretty sobering", says Crawford.

Branching out

The researchers also looked at amphibian evolutionary history, which considers all the frogs, salamanders and caecilians that have existed over millions of years.

Conservationists use species as a category to describe what needs protecting. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, based in Gland in Switzerland, for example, has an authoritative list of threatened species. But, according to Crawford, it is not always the best measure of diversity, especially when the relationship between species is not very clear. "There are so many debates on whether something is one species or two," he says. "And rather than fight about it, we made an evolutionary tree and looked at what percentage of branches was lost."

The disease has caused the extinction of many amphibian species, including at El Copé national park, which has lost over 30 species to the disease.Vance Vredenburg

Crawford and his team mapped out the history and relationships — such as their common ancestors and when they split from other species — of all the species they found in the area. They found that 33% of all the branches in this evolutionary tree are gone — El Copé has lost 33% of the total history of all its amphibians.

"Up until now, we've only had a very crude estimate of what is lost. It has just been, 'We've lost a lot of species,'" says Vance Vredenburg, a biologist from San Francisco State University in California, who recently published on the dynamics of the disease². Species could have separated from each other in the past 20 years or in the past 20 million years, he says.

"What they did was quantify it," adds Vredenburg. "They took what we knew and added significance."

Crawford and his colleagues also looked at where extirpations occurred in the amphibian tree. Previous studies found patterns suggesting that some lineages and groups are hit harder than others, but in El Copé, the disease hit across the entire range of evolutionary history, wiping out some lineages and not others in a random way.

What now?

"The fungus is moving fast," says Crawford, who is conducting rapid surveys in the easternmost province of Panama before the fungus hits the area.

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Animals can be cured with anti-fungal solutions, but the problem is how to introduce healthy populations into the wild without causing reinfections. "There's a lot of hope, hypotheses and preliminary data, but no solution," says Crawford. In the meantime, herpetologists are attempting to preserve animals by removing them from their natural habitat.

Another conservation method being explored is the use of probiotics³. Frogs and salamanders have symbiotic bacteria growing on their skin, defending them against the fungus. Vredenburg and his team are taking bacteria from healthy populations in the wild and culturing them in the lab — hoping to inoculate populations with heavy doses of their own beneficial bacteria, "to give them a big immune boost so that they have a fighting chance".

Amphibians are the oldest class of existing four-legged vertebrates, having been around for 300 million years. "Part of what's so alarming is that these long-term survivors are dropping off the face of the Earth right now," says Vredenburg.

• References

  1. Crawford, A. J., Lips, K. R. & Bermingham, E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.advance online publication doi/10.1073/pnas.0914115107(2010).
  2. Vredenburg, V. T., Knapp, R. A., Tunstall, T. S. & Briggs, C. J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 107, 9689-9694 (2010). | Article
  3. Harris, R. N. et al. ISME J. 3, 818-824 (2009). | Article | ChemPort |

BNHS to study impact of oil spill on mangroves

Ministry to study impact of oil spill on mangroves

HindustanTimes-Print

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has asked the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to study the impact of the oil spill on mangroves in Navi Mumbai and Raigad.

The move to conduct the study can delay the decision on environment clearance for the proposed airport in Navi Mumbai by another three months.

The shipping ministry on Wednesday had said that Elephanta and Navi Mumbai are the two sites where the mangroves appear to be affected.

The study will help understand the sustainability of mangroves in Navi Mumbai, where over 10,000 mangroves have to be cleared for the airport.

“The BNHS will study how the oil slick has impacted mangroves in the region,” Jairam
Ramesh, environment and forest minister, said. “We have asked the committee to submit the report within three months.”

The ministry has denied reports that Prime Minister Mamohan Singh has given the airport project the go-ahead, saying that it has not received any such “verbal or written communication” from the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We will follow the process for giving environment clearance as detailed in the Environment Impact Assessment guidelines of 2006,” a senior ministry official said.

The airport proposal has been listed for discussion at the Expert Appraisal Committee on August 18.

The ministry’s environment impact study will be done in addition to similar studies being conducted by the National Environment Engineering Research Institute and the National Institute of Oceanography.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/585998.aspx

© Copyright 2009 Hindustan Times

UnoUniverse: Water: Indias Largest Desalination Plant Opens in Chennai

UnoUniverse: Water: Indias Largest Desalination Plant Opens in Chennai:

"India's Leap Forward
Country's Largest Desalination Plant Opens in Chennai"

India's largest desalination plan twas inaugurated in Chennai on Saturday the 31^st July. The facility will draw water from the Bay of Bengal, process it using the reverse osmosis technology and supply purified water to the city. The joint venture between IVRCL Infrastructures and Project Ltd and Befessa of Spain, spread across 60 acres, has been built at a cost of Rs 600-crore at Minjur. It can desalinate 100 million litres of water per day, sufficient for around 2 million people. Thus it would cater to half of Chennai’s population of about 4.5 million. What is most interesting is the fact that the plant will supply water to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board at a cost of just about 5 paise per litre for the first 25 years. The competitive pricing is because the facility adopts an energy-conserving desalination process, According to CMWSSB officials yet another desalination plant with similar capacity is expected to come up in Tamilnadu by 2012.

Earlier, in January this year, Saudi Arabia’s national science agency announced a new initiative to build solar-powered desalination plants to reduce water and energy costs by 40 percent. For Saudi Arabia there had been no breakthrough in the cost of desalination. The gradual reduction in cost due to improvement in technology had been mostly offset by increased material and labor cost. The initiative will be carried out in several stages, and the first plant will be a small, 30,000 cubic meter per day facility in Al-Khafji. In comparison, the Shoaiba 3 project on Saudi Arabia’s west coast is the world’s largest plant, producing 880,000 m³/d .During the initiative’s second phase, a 100,000 m³/d plant will be built. Eventually a network of plants across the country.

Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary (http://www.malabarsanctuary.org/)

മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതം ഇന്നു നാടിനു സമര്‍പ്പിക്കും

കോഴിക്കോട്
പശ്ചിമഘട്ട മലനിരകളുടെ മടിത്തട്ടില്‍ കോഴിക്കോട് ജില്ലയിലെ പെരുവണ്ണാമൂഴി ആസ്ഥാനമായി വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതം യാഥാര്‍ഥ്യമാകുന്നു. സംസ്ഥാനത്തെ 16പതിനാറാമത്തെ വന്യജീവിസങ്കേതം മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതത്തിന് ഇന്നു ഉദ്ഘാടനം. രാവിലെ 11നു ചക്കിട്ടപ്പാറ പഞ്ചായത്ത് കമ്യൂണിറ്റി ഹാളില്‍ നടക്കുന്ന ചടങ്ങില്‍ സംസ്ഥാന വനം മന്ത്രി ബിനോയ്വിശ്വം വന്യജീവിസങ്കേതം നാടിനു സമര്‍പ്പിക്കുമെന്ന് അഡീഷണല്‍ പ്രിന്‍സിപ്പല്‍ ചീഫ് കണ്‍സര്‍വേറ്റര്‍ സി.പി. സിങ് വാര്‍ത്താസമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ അറിയിച്ചു.
കെ. കുഞ്ഞമ്മദ്കുട്ടി മാസ്റ്റര്‍ ചടങ്ങില്‍ അധ്യക്ഷത വഹിക്കും. മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതത്തിന്‍റെ വെബ്സൈറ്റ് ഡബ്ള്യുഡബ്ള്യുഡബ്ള്യു മലബാര്‍ സാന്‍ച്വറി ഡോട്ട് ഒആര്‍ജിയുടെ പ്രകാശനം സംസ്ഥാന വ്യവസായ മന്ത്രി എളമരം കരീം നിര്‍വഹിക്കും. മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതത്തിലെ ജൈവ വൈവിധ്യം എന്ന പുസ്തകത്തിന്‍റെ പ്രകാശനം എ.കെ. ശശീന്ദ്രന്‍ എംഎല്‍എയും വിദ്യാഭ്യാസ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങള്‍ക്കുള്ള പുസ്തകവിതരണം ജില്ലാ പഞ്ചായത്ത് പ്രസിഡന്‍റ് കെ.പി. കുഞ്ഞമ്മദ്കുട്ടിയും നിര്‍വഹിക്കും. കൊയിലാണ്ടി താലൂക്കിലെ ചക്കിട്ടപ്പാറ, കൂരാച്ചുണ്ട്, ചെമ്പനോട വില്ലെജുകളില്‍പ്പെട്ട 74.215 ചതുരശ്ര കിലോമീറ്റര്‍ പ്രദേശത്തായാണു മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതം വ്യാപിച്ചുകിടക്കുന്നത്. അതീവ പാരിസ്ഥിതിക പ്രാധാന്യമുള്ള ഈ പ്രദേശം സംരക്ഷിത മേഖലയാകുന്നതിലൂടെ സംസ്ഥാനത്തെ സുരക്ഷിത മേഖലയുടെ വിസ്തൃതി അഖിലേന്ത്യ ശരാശരിയിലെത്തും. കേരളത്തിലെ 21-മത്തെ സംരക്ഷിത മേഖലയാണിത്. ലോകത്തിലെ അപൂര്‍വ സസ്യജന്തുജാലങ്ങളുടെ സങ്കേതം കൂടിയാണിത്. ലോകത്തില്‍ ആദ്യമായി ഈറ്റ തവളയെ കണ്ടെത്തിയതും ഇവിടെ. അന്യംനിന്നുപോയ കാട്ടുകാപ്പി ചെടി, ചെറിയ കല്‍കായമരം, നീലഗിരി ചിലുചിലപ്പന്‍ പക്ഷി തുടങ്ങിയവയെ ഇവിടെ കണ്ടെത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. കുടിവെള്ളത്തിനും കൃഷിക്കും ആവശ്യമായ വെള്ളം ഈ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതത്തില്‍നിന്നും ഉത്ഭവിച്ചു നദിയില്‍ അണ കെട്ടി നിര്‍ത്തിയാണ് ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത്. ബാണാസുരമല , വെള്ളരിമല, കുറിച്ച്യാര്‍ മല, കാക്കാന്‍ മല, വണ്ണാത്തി മല തുടങ്ങിയവയാല്‍ ചുറ്റപ്പെട്ടാണു മലബാര്‍ വന്യജീവി സങ്കേതം. ഫോറസ്റ്റ് ചീഫ് കണ്‍സര്‍വേറ്റര്‍ സി. ബാലചന്ദ്രന്‍ നായര്‍, കണ്‍സര്‍വേറ്റര്‍ കെ.വി. സുബ്രഹ്മണ്യം, കോഴിക്കോട് ഡിഎഫ്ഒ ജോസഫ് തോമസ്, അസിസ്റ്റന്‍റ് ഫോറസ്റ്റ് കണ്‍സര്‍വേറ്റര്‍ വി. സജികുമാര്‍ എന്നിവരും വാര്‍ത്താസമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ പങ്കെടുത്തു.

രയരോം പുഴ ശുദ്ധീകരിച്ചു; ഇനി കുടിക്കാം; കുളിക്കാം

രയരോം പുഴ ശുദ്ധീകരിച്ചു; ഇനി കുടിക്കാം; കുളിക്കാം

(from:  http://mangalam.com/index.php?page=detail&nid=329859&lang=malayalam)
കണ്ണൂര്‍: ആലക്കോട്‌ രയരോം പുഴയില്‍ കീടനാശിനിയും രാസവസ്‌തുക്കളും ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച സംഭവത്തില്‍ സംയുക്‌തസേനയുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തില്‍ നടത്തിയ നടപടികള്‍ പൂര്‍ത്തിയായി. ഇന്നലെ പുഴയില്‍ അവസാനഘട്ട തെരച്ചില്‍ നടത്തി. കണ്ടെടുത്ത കീടനാശിനികള്‍ നിര്‍വീര്യമാക്കുന്ന നടപടികളും ഇന്നലെയോടെ പൂര്‍ത്തീകരിച്ചു. പുഴയിലെ വെള്ളം കുടിക്കാനും കുളിക്കാനും ഉപയോഗിക്കാമെന്ന്‌ പരിശോധനകള്‍ക്കു ശേഷം ശാസ്‌ത്രജ്‌ഞര്‍ അറിയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌.

ആറു വീപ്പയോളം കീടനാശിനികളാണു പുഴയില്‍ നിന്നു കണ്ടെടുത്തത്‌. പതിനഞ്ച്‌ കിലോമീറ്ററോളം ദൂരത്തിലാണു പരിശോധന നടത്തിയത്‌. രയരോം പുഴയിലെ വിവിധ സ്‌ഥലങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നെടുത്ത ജലസാമ്പിളുകള്‍ പരിശോധിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ വെള്ളത്തില്‍ യാതൊരു തരത്തിലുള്ള വിഷാംശവും ശേഷിക്കുന്നില്ലെന്നു പ്രതിരോധമന്ത്രാലയത്തിലെ ശാസ്‌ത്രജ്‌ഞര്‍ അറിയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്ന്‌ ജില്ലാകലക്‌ടര്‍ വി.കെ. ബാലകൃഷ്‌ണന്‍ കണ്ണൂരില്‍ പത്രസമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ അറിയിച്ചു. പുഴയിലെ വെള്ളം കുടിക്കാന്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കാമെന്നു ശാസ്‌ത്രജ്‌ഞര്‍ അറിയിച്ചതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്ന്‌ നിര്‍ത്തിവച്ച പമ്പിംഗ്‌ ഉടന്‍ ആരംഭിക്കാന്‍ നിര്‍ദേശം നല്‍കുമെന്നു കലക്‌ടര്‍ അറിയിച്ചു.

നിര്‍വീര്യമാക്കിയ കീടനാശിനികള്‍ എറണാകുളത്തെ എച്ച്‌.ഐ.എല്ലിന്റെ ഇന്‍സിനറേറ്ററില്‍ കത്തിച്ചു കളയും. ഇതിനുള്ള നടപടിക്രമം പൂര്‍ത്തിയായിവരികയാണ്‌. ആദ്യദിവസം കീടനാശിനി കണ്ടെത്താന്‍ പുഴയില്‍ ഇറങ്ങിയ എട്ടുപേര്‍ക്കു സാമ്പത്തികസഹായം നല്‍കാന്‍ സര്‍ക്കാരിനു റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട്‌ നല്‍കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. കീടനാശിനി പുഴയില്‍ തള്ളിയ സംഭവമറിഞ്ഞ ഉടന്‍ തന്നെ ജില്ലാഭരണകൂടം വിവിധ വകുപ്പുകളെ ക്രോഡീകരിച്ച്‌ ഇടപെട്ടതായി കലക്‌ടര്‍ ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി. രാഷ്ര്‌ടീയപ്രതിനിധികളുടെ യോഗവും ജനപ്രതിനിധിയോഗവും ഇക്കാര്യത്തില്‍ ജില്ലാഭരണകൂടത്തെ അഭിനന്ദിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. ജില്ലാദുരന്ത നിവാരണസമിതി, ഫയര്‍ഫോഴ്‌സ്, പോലീസ്‌, നാട്ടുകാര്‍, പഞ്ചായത്ത്‌ ഭരണസമിതിയംഗങ്ങള്‍ തുടങ്ങിയവരുടെ കൂട്ടായ പരിശ്രമമാണു പ്രശ്‌നപരിഹാരത്തിനു വേഗം കൂട്ടിയതെന്നു കലക്‌ടര്‍ പറഞ്ഞു. ജലാശയങ്ങള്‍ മാലിന്യമുക്‌തമാക്കണമെന്ന ആശയം ജനങ്ങളില്‍ ഉണ്ടാക്കിയെടുക്കാന്‍ മാധ്യമ വാര്‍ത്തകളും സഹായകരമായി.

പുഴ മലിനമാക്കിയവര്‍ക്കെതിരേ ശക്‌തമായ നടപടി സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നതു വഴി ഇത്തരം പ്രവര്‍ത്തികളില്‍ ഏര്‍പ്പെടുന്നവര്‍ക്ക്‌ താക്കീതാകുമെന്ന്‌ കലക്‌ടര്‍ ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി. കാലാവധി കഴിഞ്ഞ കീടനാശിനികളും രാസവസ്‌തുക്കളും വില്‍പന നടത്തുന്നതിനും സൂക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിനുമെതിരേ ശക്‌തമായ നടപടി സ്വീകരിക്കുമെന്നു കലക്‌ടര്‍ അറിയിച്ചു. ഇതിനായി പരിശോധന നടത്താന്‍ പ്രിന്‍സിപ്പല്‍ അഗ്രികള്‍ച്ചറല്‍ ഓഫീസര്‍ക്കു നിര്‍ദേശം നല്‍കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്‌.

കീടനാശിനി തള്ളിയത്‌ പുഴയില്‍ ഒരു പ്രതിഫലനവും ഉണ്ടാക്കിയിട്ടില്ല. മത്സ്യം ചത്തുപൊങ്ങിയെന്ന വാര്‍ത്ത അടിസ്‌ഥാനരഹിതമായിരുന്നു. പുഴകള്‍ മലിനമാക്കരുതെന്നാവശ്യപ്പെട്ട്‌ പഞ്ചായത്തുകളുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തില്‍ ബോധവത്‌കരണം സംഘടിപ്പിക്കും. ആലക്കോട്‌ പഞ്ചായത്തില്‍ വിവിധ പരിപാടികള്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. മറ്റു പഞ്ചായത്തുകളിലും ജലസ്രോതസ്‌ സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിനു ജനങ്ങളില്‍ ബോധവത്‌കരണം നടത്തുമെന്നും കലക്‌ടര്‍ അറിയിച്ചു. എ.ഡി.എം: പി.കെ. സുധീര്‍ബാബുവും പത്രസമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ പങ്കെടുത്തു

The Hindu : Kerala News : NDRF team arrives to help clean up river

The Hindu : Kerala News : NDRF team arrives to help clean up river

Special Correspondent, The Hindu

Date:08/08/2010 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/08/08/stories/2010080854700500.htm

Work to begin after studying pesticide level

KANNUR: A 28-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team reached Alakkode here on Saturday to help remove pesticides illegally dumped in the Rayarom river. The team has arrived in response to interventions by the authorities to recover the huge quantities of pesticides dumped on August 1. The personnel, accompanied by revenue officials, visited Rayarom and Neduvode.

They will start work only after experts from the Gwalior-based nuclear, biological and chemical emergency wing of the Defence Ministry, expected here on Sunday, examine the pollution level.

However, the team, assisted by the police, Fire and Rescue Service personnel and selected local people, would form four groups to search for pesticide bottles and packets along the river bank from Rayarom to Chapparappadavu from Sunday. If required, NDRF divers would scour the riverbed.

The pesticides dumped are from an old pesticide shop which a person took on rent recently. Six people have been arrested in this connection. Eight persons who volunteered to remove the pesticides and entered the waters took ill, causing a scare. A meeting of K.C. Joseph, M. Prakashan and A.P. Abdullakutty, MLAs, convened by District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan on Friday decided to sue for damages against the shop licensee and other accused. The meeting took a decision to recommend to the State government financial assistance to those who took ill. The local people, who formed an action committee to pressure the authorities to take steps to remove the pesticides, will hold a mass convention at Rayarom on Sunday to mobilise public opinion against such incidents.

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