Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Operation raincoat
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.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monsoon vigorous in west, erratic in north
ROAD OR RIVER? A street which was submerged after rains lashed Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI: Torrential rain lashed Mumbai and other parts of the western region, flooding streets and causing travel woes, even as the southwest monsoon remained feeble and erratic over north India, which received scattered showers on Wednesday.
The Army was asked to stand by in Gujarat's Junagadh district, as incessant rain battered Mangrol, snapping road links, leaving several villages cut off from the rest of the country.
More than 200 families were evacuated from marooned villages to safer places at Mangrol, which received 500 mm of rain.
Trains diverted
In Maharashtra, rain pounded Mumbai, Vidarbha and Pune, inundating low-level areas, affecting normal life and causing major rivers to rise. Several outstation trains were diverted, as rain lashed Mumbai for the third consecutive day. The city recorded 240.1 mm since Tuesday evening, the weather office said.
Hope for Pune
The rain eased the water scarcity of Pune, where the level in the dams of Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar rose substantially.
In the north, which remained rain-deficient, Rajasthan and Delhi received rain. But Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh remained dry.
Rain lashed many places in Rajasthan, with Jaipur receiving 17 mm and Sarwad 14 mm, as other parts of the State had light to moderate showers.
Though the monsoon played truant in Punjab and Haryana, the daytime temperature stayed below normal at many places. The maximum in Karnal in Haryana settled at 31.4 degree Celsius, while Hisar was slightly warmer at 36.5 degree Celsius.
Ludhiana in Punjab registered a high of 34 degree Celsius, down by two notches, while the maximum in Patiala was 33.4 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal.
In Himachal Pradesh, intermittent rain ensured that the daytime temperature stayed at comfortable levels. In Shimla, which received 8.6 mm of rain, the daytime temperature touched 22.4 degrees.
Residents of Delhi got a respite from the scorching heat, as rain lashed almost every part.
The maximum temperature fell to 33.9 degree Celsius against Tuesday's 37.5 degree Celsius. The weather office has forecast more rain for Thursday. - PTI
India Rain Deficit to Fall Below 20% by July-End
India's monsoon rain shortfall may fall below 20 percent by end of this month from as high as 45 percent in June, a weather bureau official said.
The deficit has narrowed to 29 percent as of yesterday, D. Sivananda Pai, a director at India Meteorological Department in Pune, said in a phone interview.
The June-September monsoon, the main source of irrigation for the nation's 235 million farmers, won't be impacted by El Nino weather pattern, he said
IMD fails to issue weather summary for first time in its 80-year history
An electric transformer located near the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) office at Shivajinagar burnt due to a short circuit on Wednesday, due to which it would not issue its regular weather bulletin.
The IMD sources said a transformer that supplies electricity was burnt due to a short circuit. Moreover, all the telephone lines of the five-storey building had also gone dead.
IMD director A B Mujumdar told UNI that the department was not able to receive data from other centres due to non-supply of electricity throughout the day.
The director said they would come out with the all-India weather chart only after power was restored.
The power supply was restored by 1800 hrs, but due to non-availability of the staff, the weather summary could not be made available to the media, the source added.
The Indian Meteorological Department went totally blank for the first time in its 80-year history.
Apple crop hit hard by adverse weather in Uttarakhand
Adverse weather conditions have hit hard the apple crop in Ramgarh in Uttarakhand.
The crop has been widely affected by the lack of rainfall and hailstorms during the time of flowering. Farmers believe that there is at least 75 per cent decrease in the crop.
The packing godown's that used to be bustling with energy this time of the year bear a forlorn look.
On an average 10 to 12 trucks of apples were sent from the area every day. But this year, it is only once or twice a week that a smaller vehicle ferries the packed apples.
The fall in apple production is believed to have a heavy impact on the economy of the state. Farmers are distressed as it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to survive.
Save water as monsoons giving away little
The recent downpour might have given residents a reason to cheer. However, an advisory coming from UT Meteorological Centre will cut short this rejoicing. Keeping track of climate changes taking place in northern region, weathermen, after studying the current pattern of monsoon, have advised people to 'save' water.
The precious asset, water, might soon be in short supply, if the water-laden cumulonimbus cloud continues to play hide-and-seek with the city and residents don't use it judiciously.
During the current monsoon season, till now, the city has received total rainfall of 77.6 mm whereas normal rainfall received, from June 1 to July 15 each year, is 272.1 mm. In the wake of 'volatile' monsoon, Met officials on Thursday predicted that less inflow of water in rivers would lead to shortage of power and the maximum damage of the prevailing dry spell would be borne by farmers.
"People should save water as this situation would lead to water shortage. Though rains will occur, regular heavy downpour isn't expected this time. After going through the rainfall data from various districts of the northern region, satellite images and national level forecast about monsoon pattern, we conclude that rainfall would be less than normal," said Chatar Singh, director, Meteorological centre.
He added that at present, Chandigarh has -77% deficit rainfall. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature recorded in the city was 37.2 degree C and the minimum was 27.6 degree C. The forecast issued by Meteorological centre stated that moderate to heavy rainfall is likely to occur at a few places in Himachal Pradesh, whereas light to moderate rainfall or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Haryana and isolated places in Punjab. "There are less chances of heavy downpour in Chandigarh in the next 24 hours," another Met official added.