Awareness of need for growing mangrove plants increased in Kanyakumari district

Taken from http://myviews4life.wordpress.com/
NGOs have raised saplings on the banks of Rajakkamangalam estuary

Nagercoil: Awareness among the fishermen community of the need for growing mangrove plants has gained momentum in the coastal areas of the district after tsunami devastated the entire coastal environment in Kanyakumari district.

Indeed it has come as boon to them, as its root held the boulders intact, wherever the Government has constructed anti-sea erosion walls or groins to prevent the sea erosion.

A cross section of the tsunami-affected people in the coastal villages of the district said that that the district administration in co-operation with various non-governmental organisations came forward to raise mangrove plants in estuaries in the coastal areas of the district after tsunami, because in few places where there were mangroves, the damage caused by the tsunami was very low throughout the State when compared to other coastal areas.

Besides raising 50,000 mangrove plants to the length of 8 to 10 km in Manakudi estuary, non-governmental organisations in consultation with various environmentalists have raised saplings (mangroves) on the banks of Rajakkamangalam estuary to the length of 2 km and around the ponds within the premises of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University’s Marine Centre for Biotechnology in Rajakkamangalam.

Mangroves in Kanyakumari district, especially in Manakudy and Rajakkamangalam estuaries acted as a strong barrier to the pillaging effects of the giant waves. Mangrove plantation, wherever it was possible in the coastal areas of the district, was one of the programmes after tsunami hit the entire coast among several other programmes were developed for preventing and managing nature’s fury.

Mangroves protected the seacoasts, estuaries from heavy wind and storms and their roots withheld the silt and the clayey soil (Manavalakurichy) thus preventing soil erosion.

The mangrove forests also helped in the maintenance of bio-diversity. Migratory birds like pelicans, painted storks, cormorants, darters, cranes and indigenous storks visited the estuaries and roosted in the mangroves. Bird droppings enriched the water body and it could be seen in the catch of fish, prawns and more than 5,000 kg of white prawns were harvested by the fishermen in and around Manakudi in a year.

The district administration in co-operation with various agencies had been decided to raise mangrove forests in Eraiyammanthurai estuary and on the banks of Anantha Victoria Marthanda Varma channel near Manavalakurich, where one could see lot of sand dunes.

Remedy for "treated effluent"

Posted by Mr.Anonymous...

Tiruppur is said to be Indian Manchester for garments. Dying units there are ancillary units to knitting and garments manufacturing. Effluent treatment requires huge investment [in the light of present day technology]and additional man power. Moreover the treated effluent leaves permanent scar on land and water. But there is one remedy for that.
[1] Puthiyamputhur is a small town in Ottapidaram Taluk, Thoothukudi district. This Puthiyamputhar has the distinction of having more skilled labours in garments and knitting work,including villages Kulathur,Surangudi,Maniyatchi, Pasuvanthannai etc. [Even now most of the skilled labours from this area are working in Tiruppur]
[2] Puthiyamputhur is 23 Km away from Thoothukudi.
[3] 24 hours uninterrupted power supply is available. To some extend assured water is available from the big ponds [Pachari Kulam, Malar Kulam etc]
[4] The nearest coast is 20-25 km east of this town and treated water can be let into sea. Sea will not be so polluted compared to river.
[5]Best education institutions including professional colleges are available in and around the town.
(Palayamkottai via Sivalaperi is only 48 km]
[6] Best hospitals are available in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
[7] Thoothukudi-Madurai is a National Highway and Puthamputhur is roughly 10km South of NH from Kurukkusalai.
[8]Thoothukudi is well connected by rail, road , air and sea.
[9] In deed the sea port is very close to this town and it is a boom for industrialist venturing in this land.
[10] The barren land scape between Maniyatchi and Ottapidaram will be ideal for establishing effluent treatment plant and with out any pollution effect the effluent can be let into sea. This may require lesser investment. (Even the heavy water plant at Thoothukudi after effluent treatment is letting water into sea)
I request entrepreneurs and knitting factory owners to try venturing at Puthiyamputhur. This is another alternate option for them to get rid on the worries of effluent treatment etc. Further their business will flourish like any thing and their foreign trade will be becoming more easier and more cost effective.

Diwali and Asthma

Four-year-old John Mathan is excited over the crackers piling up at home, but his mother Geetha Mathan has shopped wisely. Knowing that he
is asthmatic, she has avoided buying crackers which emit thick smoke.

Diwali, the festival of lights and sweets, is also the time when asthma patients suffer from exposure to smoke. "I see 15 to 20 patients with spasms of asthma on Diwali day, as against four or five on other days," says Dr M Manimaran, pulmonologist and allergist. According to him, the trigger for the attack is heavy smoke from crackers like chakras, sparklers and snake tablets. "Children between the ages of six and 12 are particularly susceptible to the attack during Diwali," he added.

According to environment scientists, many of the crackers preferred by children are prepared with aluminum powder, sulphur and barium nitrate which give the rainbow coloured effect to sparklers. The smoke from bursting such items hangs in the atmosphere for long, and unless there are strong winds, the exposure to pollution is more.

Due precaution can mitigate the effects on people suffering from asthma, says Manimaran. "As a precaution, children should be put on a maintenance dose (medicine already prescribed for a patient's condition) a few days before the festival, and continue the same after Diwali for two days," he adds.

"Two puffs of the inhaler in the morning, and two more at night can soothe the airways." Mathan says the advice has worked for her in the past. In severe cases of asthma attack, children should be taken to a polyclinic and put on nebuliser for 10 to 15 minutes.

Dr Ashok Mahasur, chest physician at Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital, says the Indian weather in October allows pollutants to stay in the atmosphere for long. "Due to the weather change, pollution levels rise from October. And smoke from crackers means patients with respiratory disorders getting aggravated symptoms and sometimes acute attacks. We see a 30% rise in respiratory morbidity post-Diwali.''

The biggest culprits in terms of emission are chakras, colour sparklers, fire pencils, snake tablets and hydrogen bombs. Firecrackers should be burst on the terrace or open spaces, where there is adequate ventilation. But it is preferable if asthma patients stay away from crackers completely, said Pramod Niphadkar, a chest physician at St George Hospital, Mumbai. While avoiding the smoke completely may be impossible, those who have problems during Diwali often find it difficult to get doctors, as many of them would be on holiday. So patients are advised to be well-prepared with medicines and inhalers.

Human-generated aerosols from northern hemisphere may affect rainfall patterns in Australia

Australian scientists, using a climate model, have suggested that human-generated aerosols from the northern hemisphere may have contributed to increased rainfall in north-western and central Australia, and decreased rainfall in parts of southern Australia.

According to lead researcher, Dr Leon Rotstayn, Principal Research Scientist at the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, a partnership between CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, "Perhaps surprisingly, inclusion of northern hemisphere aerosols may be important for accurate modelling of Australian climate change."Aerosols come from many different sources.

Sulphur is released when we burn coal and oil. More dust, also an aerosol, circulates in the atmosphere when land is cleared, burned or overgrazed.

Some aerosols occur naturally like sea spray and volcanic emissions, but NASA estimates ten percent of the total aerosols in the atmosphere are caused by people.

Most of this ten percent is in the northern hemisphere.
European researchers, attending the international 'Water in a changing climate' science conference in Melbourne from August 24-28, will discuss a new forecasting service that will identify in unprecedented detail where these aerosols are coming from and where they are going.

The new service, part of Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative, will give global information on how pollutants move around the world across oceans and continents, and will refine estimates of their sources and sinks.

According to Dr Adrian Simmons from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which is coordinating the multi-institution initiative, "The service will give much more detailed forecast information on air quality over Europe and provide the basis for better health advice across Europe and beyond".

The service has clear implications for environmental policy and legislation.

Operation raincoat

A group of youngsters from an NGO are renting out raincoats to tourists and devotees trekking up to Yamunotri in the Himalayas in an effort to stop pollution from plastics at the source of the Yamuna river.
Every year between the months of April and September, lakhs of devotees and tourists trek up to Yamunotri, which falls in Uttarakhand and is considered sacred by Hindus. But the huge quantity of cheap plastic raincoats that get dumped in the river by them is a huge source of environmental pollution.
Sunny Verma of Swecha, a Delhi-based environmental NGO, said: During this period, the area between Jankichatti and Yamunotri receives rainfall almost everyday. Because of this, people visiting the place buy cheap quality raincoats that are easily available in shops.”
The raincoats may be cheap, worth Rs.20-25, but of such bad quality that they don’t even last a second wash! Therefore, after the trip, people simply dump the raincoats, polluting the river, Verma told IANS.
In an effort to bring this to a halt, we have set up counters near the bus stop where the pilgrims and others get off and start their trek and distribute better quality, rubber raincoats on a rental basis. Since we are doing this with the help of local people, it’s a venture that is earning them profit too, he added.
According to Swecha, at the moment 500-700 pilgrims and tourists are trekking to Yamunotri everyday. But this could go up to 1,000-1,500 per day by the month end.
We have enough supplies and since we rent out these raincoats at just Rs.10, the venture has kicked off well. To make this a long term venture, we approached the district magistrate who wrote to police officials as well as the zila panchayat to help us implement the same, Verma said.
Realising that local involvement is most crucial for the venture to work, the volunteers have trained boys from nearby villages in carrying on the work even after the NGO leaves.
It’s sad that despite a ban on plastics in Uttarakhand, it is not well implemented. Ultimately we would want to replace the plastic raincoats with eco-friendly material. We have written to the environment ministry as well as the state government regarding this matter, he added.

China Bans Free Plastic Bags

Declaring war on the "white pollution" choking its cities, farms, and waterways, China is banning free plastic shopping bags and calling for a return to the cloth bags of old—steps largely welcomed by merchants and shoppers on Wednesday.

The measure eliminates the flimsiest bags and forces stores to charge for others, making China the latest nation to target plastic bags in a bid to cut waste and conserve resources.

The ban takes effect June 1, barely two months before Beijing hosts the Summer Olympic Games, ahead of which it has been demolishing run-down neighborhoods and working to clear smog.

The games have added impetus to a number of policies and projects, likely boosting odds for the bag ban's implementation.

Under the new rules, businesses will be prohibited from manufacturing, selling, or using bags less than 0.025 millimeters (0.00098 inches) thick, according to the order issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

The council's orders constitute the highest level of administrative regulation and follow-through is carefully monitored.

More durable plastic bags still will be permitted for sale by markets and shops.

The regulation, dated December 31 and posted on a government Web site Tuesday, called for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets to reduce the use of plastic bags."

It also urged waste collectors to step up recycling efforts to reduce the amount of bags burned or buried. Finance authorities were told to consider tax measures to discourage plastic bag production and sale.