I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for sending me the following link from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/drought-poverty-force-indian-farmers-sell-wives/story?id=8599840 I know that some would find this story sensationalist in a sense, but tragedy is not something new as far as India is concerned. Yes, there is a lot that is breathtakingly beautiful and adorable in the country of my birth, but despite all attempts by some of the most resourceful people in the world to try and improve their lives, environmental disasters of the kind that have struck Bundelkhand cannot be addressed by common folk by themselves. Wells are being drained at an alarming pace across the country and as concrete covers the land without any provision being made for rainwater to seep underground, the water table keeps falling year after year. Pesticides that are banned everywhere else are used both to kill insects and by severely indebted farmers to commit suicide.
I have only one question - when will the government wake up and work on a comprehensive agricultural policy to try and support the 70% of the population that is dependent upon the land for its livelihood? The more this gets delayed, the more tragedies of this kind will continue to occur.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Taking the Fight to the Global warming Hypocrites
Wherever there is a good cause, there are always some crooks out trying to profit from it. I have posted on my Renewable Energy Blog as well as clashed with some of the drum beaters for the extreme Left on the big blogs like Treehugger about the Cap and Trade fraud that is being offered by political crooks like AL Gore as a solution to combating climate change due to human activity. I have received a link courtesy Dr Sekhar Raghavan, an eminent scientist and strong activist against Greenhouse Gas emissions from India which looks at the Cap and Trade farce with a humorous eye - please check out
www.cheatneutral.com
If it is possible to reduce pollution by paying someone else to pollute less while a paying polluter continues about his / her merry way, this website suggests that the same should be possible with marital infidelity. It is funny and a good way of pointing out the fraudulent way to a grim attempt by powerful politicians out to extract as much money from a major global problem as they can.
Dr Raghavan is a former Deputy Director of the Meteorological Survey of India and when someone of his stature opposes an overwhelming fraud like Cap and Trade, it is something that we need to take most seriously. I am grateful to him for not just offering his expertise to support my non-expert suspicions, but also for the very good humored way in which he has done this. Thank you, sir!
www.cheatneutral.com
If it is possible to reduce pollution by paying someone else to pollute less while a paying polluter continues about his / her merry way, this website suggests that the same should be possible with marital infidelity. It is funny and a good way of pointing out the fraudulent way to a grim attempt by powerful politicians out to extract as much money from a major global problem as they can.
Dr Raghavan is a former Deputy Director of the Meteorological Survey of India and when someone of his stature opposes an overwhelming fraud like Cap and Trade, it is something that we need to take most seriously. I am grateful to him for not just offering his expertise to support my non-expert suspicions, but also for the very good humored way in which he has done this. Thank you, sir!
Coastal Cleanup Day - Sep 19th
I have a concept paper from Ms Kamla Ravikumar, a good friend of this blog and a dedicated activist, about the Chennai response to "Coastal Cleanup Day" which is celebrated worldwide on Sep 19th. It is always gratifying to see this kind of grassroots activity take place and while some criticize it for the fact that it takes place just once a year, I personally think that this is still immensely important as more and more people are exposed to the dirt that we sometimes unknowingly send into our beautiful seas. Celebrating one day a year to voluntarily clean up even a small portion of our coast is very positive in that it shows many of us what we could do to reduce activity that causes pollution from our side. This can have a snowballing effect and lead to greater advantages year after year as the momentum from celebrating a "clean festival" is kept up.
Please check out Kamla's paper and try and volunteer to help. I really miss my beautiful city of birth in times like this and wish I were back in Madras Nalla Madras again! Thank you very much, Kamla.
CONCEPT PAPER WORLDWIDE “COASTAL CLEANUP DAY”(CCD) ON 19TH SEP 2009 ALONG TN COAST
INTRODUCTION: The Coastal Clean up Day( CCD) is an Annual Volunteer Event Worldwide to cleanup the Coastal Areas, especially the Beaches and educate the children and the coastal population and thus Protect the Fragile Environment along the Coast and show Community Support for Shared Natural Resource of Coastal Habitat
AIM: to participate in CCD and Cleanup the stretch of coast between Ennore Port and Mahabalipuram along the Tamil Nadu Coast (a length of 64 KM ) upto the nearest coastal belt road with Diverse Environmental Issues and Coastal Activities and with a view to ensure Local Participation and educate them , under the overall aegis of the Ocean Conservancy, USA(www.oceanconservancy.org) Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) at Pune. (www.indianmaritimefoundation.com )
PLAN: The proposal is to Cleanup the above Coastal Stretch and Educate Local Population and School Children from 0630 hours to approx 1000 hrs on the World CCD on Saturday the 19th Sep 2009 in Eight Blocks as follows:
Sl Block From To KMs
(a) 1 Ennore Sattangadu 9
(b) 2 Sattangadu CPT/Cooum N 8
© 3 Cooum S Adyar R N 6
(d) 4 Adyar R S Valmiki Ngr 8
(e) 5 Valmiki Ngr Cho Art Vill 8
(f) 6 Cho Art Vill Muthukadu N 8
(g) 7 Muthukadu S Kovalam 8
(h) 8 Kovalam MB Puram 9
An estimated 1000 volunteers(apart from local public) will be mobilized by the Nodal Agencies for the CCD under the aegis of the IMF, both from within and outside their organizations.
EXECUTION: The Detailed Planning and Methodology will be given to the Nodal Agencies by the IMF atleast a week before the event , based on the Ocean Conservancy, USA Model WorldWide, so as to Collect Garbage, etc from the Sea Coast in Bags and their Proper Disposal through the Local Corporation/ Town Panchayat/ Civic Authorities. The IMF will supply the Kits for Collection as well as the Appreciation Certificates to Team Leaders and Participants, to be funded by the Sponsors, who will get due Publicity. A Pre Event Press Conference will be held at Chennai by the IMF around 12th Sep 2009 with all Concerned Nodal Agencies and Civic Authorities to Highlight the Movement’s aim of keeping our Coastal Belt Clean and Preserve our Coastal Heritage. Nodal Agencies will Disseminate the details of the achievements to the IMF by AM 19 Sep 2009 for Post Event Coverage by the Press/ Media(both Print and Electronic). The Vice President IMF will debrief and Chief Guest will present Certificates to the Team Leaders at a Function on the Evening of 19th Sep 2009. IMF/Nodal Agencies will involve the Locals as well as the School Children in their Areas for Effective CCD
SPONSORS: The IMF will invite Sponsorships with due publicity) for the CCD Movement from Renowned ‘Green’ Corporates to cover the Costs of the Event. The Estimated Cost of Conducting the CCD for the stated Coastal Stretch(64 SKM) is Rs 5,00,000.
6. CONCLUSION: The CCD will not only help to clean the coastal belt, but will create awareness and educate the public and the school children to value our coastal heritage. The event will be covered by the Media and the next issue of the IMF magazine “Seagull” will carry writeup on the subject. Depending upon the experience and success, the movement under the IMF will be enlarged to longer coastal areas in future in different parts of the coastal states.
(Prepared by Rear Admiral K.R.Srinivasan, AVSM,IN(Retd) Former Chief Hydrographer to the Govt of India and Vice President, IMF, Chennai Branch)
Please check out Kamla's paper and try and volunteer to help. I really miss my beautiful city of birth in times like this and wish I were back in Madras Nalla Madras again! Thank you very much, Kamla.
CONCEPT PAPER WORLDWIDE “COASTAL CLEANUP DAY”(CCD) ON 19TH SEP 2009 ALONG TN COAST
INTRODUCTION: The Coastal Clean up Day( CCD) is an Annual Volunteer Event Worldwide to cleanup the Coastal Areas, especially the Beaches and educate the children and the coastal population and thus Protect the Fragile Environment along the Coast and show Community Support for Shared Natural Resource of Coastal Habitat
AIM: to participate in CCD and Cleanup the stretch of coast between Ennore Port and Mahabalipuram along the Tamil Nadu Coast (a length of 64 KM ) upto the nearest coastal belt road with Diverse Environmental Issues and Coastal Activities and with a view to ensure Local Participation and educate them , under the overall aegis of the Ocean Conservancy, USA(www.oceanconservancy.org) Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) at Pune. (www.indianmaritimefoundation.com )
PLAN: The proposal is to Cleanup the above Coastal Stretch and Educate Local Population and School Children from 0630 hours to approx 1000 hrs on the World CCD on Saturday the 19th Sep 2009 in Eight Blocks as follows:
Sl Block From To KMs
(a) 1 Ennore Sattangadu 9
(b) 2 Sattangadu CPT/Cooum N 8
© 3 Cooum S Adyar R N 6
(d) 4 Adyar R S Valmiki Ngr 8
(e) 5 Valmiki Ngr Cho Art Vill 8
(f) 6 Cho Art Vill Muthukadu N 8
(g) 7 Muthukadu S Kovalam 8
(h) 8 Kovalam MB Puram 9
An estimated 1000 volunteers(apart from local public) will be mobilized by the Nodal Agencies for the CCD under the aegis of the IMF, both from within and outside their organizations.
EXECUTION: The Detailed Planning and Methodology will be given to the Nodal Agencies by the IMF atleast a week before the event , based on the Ocean Conservancy, USA Model WorldWide, so as to Collect Garbage, etc from the Sea Coast in Bags and their Proper Disposal through the Local Corporation/ Town Panchayat/ Civic Authorities. The IMF will supply the Kits for Collection as well as the Appreciation Certificates to Team Leaders and Participants, to be funded by the Sponsors, who will get due Publicity. A Pre Event Press Conference will be held at Chennai by the IMF around 12th Sep 2009 with all Concerned Nodal Agencies and Civic Authorities to Highlight the Movement’s aim of keeping our Coastal Belt Clean and Preserve our Coastal Heritage. Nodal Agencies will Disseminate the details of the achievements to the IMF by AM 19 Sep 2009 for Post Event Coverage by the Press/ Media(both Print and Electronic). The Vice President IMF will debrief and Chief Guest will present Certificates to the Team Leaders at a Function on the Evening of 19th Sep 2009. IMF/Nodal Agencies will involve the Locals as well as the School Children in their Areas for Effective CCD
SPONSORS: The IMF will invite Sponsorships with due publicity) for the CCD Movement from Renowned ‘Green’ Corporates to cover the Costs of the Event. The Estimated Cost of Conducting the CCD for the stated Coastal Stretch(64 SKM) is Rs 5,00,000.
6. CONCLUSION: The CCD will not only help to clean the coastal belt, but will create awareness and educate the public and the school children to value our coastal heritage. The event will be covered by the Media and the next issue of the IMF magazine “Seagull” will carry writeup on the subject. Depending upon the experience and success, the movement under the IMF will be enlarged to longer coastal areas in future in different parts of the coastal states.
(Prepared by Rear Admiral K.R.Srinivasan, AVSM,IN(Retd) Former Chief Hydrographer to the Govt of India and Vice President, IMF, Chennai Branch)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Drained Away - The Hopes of Ambattur residents And Their Hard-Earned Money
I have this piece from my friend Mohanakrishnan about the travails of Ambattur residents who have been waiting for drainage services that they paid for a long time ago. A lack of drains means something dirtily simple - sewage cannot be removed efficiently. And this means that the ambition articulated by this blog, "Clean India," is affected. Here is Mohan's post verbatim:
Quote [In 1999 Sathyanathan residing in Ambattur paid Rs.7500/- to the municipality for a drainage connection along with hundreds of others. He is still waiting. The Ambattur municipality laid the foundation stone for the project in March 2001 during the previous DMK regime. It is one of the longest delayed projects of the present government. The municipality collected Rs.8.14 crore from 11500 households but has not even completed 50% of the work till date.
Though resident associations staged road-rokos and filed applications under the Right to Information Act (RTI) the response has not been satisfactory. According to the municipality the contract was awarded to Nagarjuna Constructions who began work in November 2004. The contract was terminated in 2007 as they quoted 120% above the estimate for the balance work. The project was then handed over to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). They could have given it to them initially itself.
CMWSSB is citing the following reasons for delay in completing the project. 1)Monsoon (?) I heard that India is facing a severe drought. Can a few drops of water trickling down intermittently be construed as a monsoon? 2)Elections 3)Change of location in pumping and lifting stations 4)Public objection in some areas 5)Change in alignment of the Chennai by-pass.
The municipality on the other hand has taken up another drainage project at a cost of Rs.155 crore to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Let us hope that this too does not drain away.] End Quote.
I wonder whom the hapless Ambattur residents need to lobby to get what they have paid for?
Quote [In 1999 Sathyanathan residing in Ambattur paid Rs.7500/- to the municipality for a drainage connection along with hundreds of others. He is still waiting. The Ambattur municipality laid the foundation stone for the project in March 2001 during the previous DMK regime. It is one of the longest delayed projects of the present government. The municipality collected Rs.8.14 crore from 11500 households but has not even completed 50% of the work till date.
Though resident associations staged road-rokos and filed applications under the Right to Information Act (RTI) the response has not been satisfactory. According to the municipality the contract was awarded to Nagarjuna Constructions who began work in November 2004. The contract was terminated in 2007 as they quoted 120% above the estimate for the balance work. The project was then handed over to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). They could have given it to them initially itself.
CMWSSB is citing the following reasons for delay in completing the project. 1)Monsoon (?) I heard that India is facing a severe drought. Can a few drops of water trickling down intermittently be construed as a monsoon? 2)Elections 3)Change of location in pumping and lifting stations 4)Public objection in some areas 5)Change in alignment of the Chennai by-pass.
The municipality on the other hand has taken up another drainage project at a cost of Rs.155 crore to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Let us hope that this too does not drain away.] End Quote.
I wonder whom the hapless Ambattur residents need to lobby to get what they have paid for?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Please Sign This Petition Against the Elevated Expressway
I have posted about the proposed ELevated Expressway at Chennai which is certain to cause vastly more harm than solve any problems. The environmental group fighting this good fight has a petition that I would request everyone to sign at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/abandon-the-elevated-highway-and-save-chennai-beaches
Kindly pass this link on to as many people as possible as well. These people need all the help that they can get.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/abandon-the-elevated-highway-and-save-chennai-beaches
Kindly pass this link on to as many people as possible as well. These people need all the help that they can get.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Excellent Opinion Piece in "The Telegraph" on the Indian Middle Class and Emissions
Visitors to this blog are aware of the view here on what emissions mean to India. The simple fact is that if emissions are a lifestyle issue as the Government of India insists, then it must work tor educe them quantitatively, because increasing emissions means that more Indians breathe in the filth generated by their vehicles and powerplants and are forced to drink badly contaminated water as well. "The Telegraph," one of this blog's favorite newspapers, focuses on this view but in significantly more detail at: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/deannelson/100008408/indias-middle-class-must-cut-its-hot-air-emissions/
Let me reiterate what I have been saying for a long time:
- Emissions mean an unhealthy living environment, and if this is a lifestyle issue, then there is a need to reduce dirt in the water, air and soil in order to make people's lifestyles healthier
- Unhealthy living conditions mean greater expenses when people fall sick, and this means a loss overall compared to living in a clean atmosphere and without any health issues that re related to pollution of any kind
Yes, you could draw several more similar conclusions, but these are the two main ones and the article referenced here describes this extremely well. Hopefully, someone in government in India is listening.
Let me reiterate what I have been saying for a long time:
- Emissions mean an unhealthy living environment, and if this is a lifestyle issue, then there is a need to reduce dirt in the water, air and soil in order to make people's lifestyles healthier
- Unhealthy living conditions mean greater expenses when people fall sick, and this means a loss overall compared to living in a clean atmosphere and without any health issues that re related to pollution of any kind
Yes, you could draw several more similar conclusions, but these are the two main ones and the article referenced here describes this extremely well. Hopefully, someone in government in India is listening.
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