CM's second reply!

e-waste is flood the world

CFL glossing mercury concern

As waste spills over

450 more trees to be cut in Delhi

This tree is one of many hundred that are planned for felling. A distraught graphic designer Pooja, took picture of this one...it is painful to see the lush green tree that housed birds and squirrels...provided shade to pedestrians...struck down from the middle...

Death of reason defines decision of keeping trees out of Delhi's transport planning

By: Parvinder Singh, Source: Toxics Link, Date: May 08, 2007

The campaign to bring city trees back into the discourse of transport and urban planning has grown stronger in the past two months. Citizens and civil society organisations of Delhi have joined forces on the specific issue of felling of hundreds of neighbourhood trees to make way for the High Capacity Bus Corridor (HCBS). The fact that the trees that people have lived around for decades and depended on them for protection in this semi-arid area has outraged them.

The fact that close to 30,000 trees have been axed in the past few years for moderninsing and decongesting transport in the National Capital Region seems too much to be swallowed without any reasoning. The question that has been haunting people, who are faced with these broad daylight murders and mutilations in their neighbourhood, is whether any thought was given to the trees while planning these projects.

Or how difficult is the decision to chop a tree? Is anyone negotiating this life and death situation? Should these plans be treated as the final word and a case of the death of imagination of experts in finding innovative solutions?

Questions like these has got people together, not against any particular project or mega plans, but against the death of reason. The commonsense of the argument and support of promiment citizens moved something, somewhere in the Government. Trees for Delhi, a platform of individuals and organisations, got invited to the Chief Minister's Office following a candle-light vigil on a busy roadside and media uproar.

But in the backdrop of a growing support for the trees, a parallel and much practiced discourse of development versus trees was being whipped-up. Letters were sent out to prominent citizens by the Chief Minister's Office, stating that the trees are being cut by a Government that have green credentials and the damage to the green cover will be compensated by planting sapling in city's outskirts.

But these messages did not even make even a single mention of the neighbourhood trees, which is the core issue. There wasn't even a pretence of addressing issues highlighted through a signed by academics, experts, students and housewives.

On 10th of April 2007, the forum made a joint presentation with a plea to Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit to protect the neighbourhood trees by facilitating a mandatory and dedicate tree lane on the roadside. They also presented a primary tree audit of the first stretch of the HCBS project that showed that the ground situation was a free play against trees. The trees on the ground were fewer than listed in the official count. The ones that were to be saved had been cut. Branches from the old trees were planted in the name of re-plantation and those that were still standing were tarred and chocked.

The Chief Minister gave a patient hearing, but had come prepared to stick to the line of steering clear of the main demand. She said a dedicated tree line will not be granted. The issue of so-called compensatory forestry was the peg. No matter what, the official position was to equate these old native trees with sapling that would some day see the light of the day.

A release was faxed by her media managers, even as the meeting was being wrapped up, stating mostly the same things that she had in response to the petition said. She directed a symbolic body of NGOs and implementing agencies, named as the Tree Monitoring Authority. The members returned to the project site barely 48-hours later and this time had some officials to give then company under the summer sun to assess the status of trees. The findings and the engagement once again convinced them about the apathy towards trees. Follow-up meetings that were promised by the Chief Minister have not happened till date, while the defensive interpretation of Delhi's green cover are being churned out in the media.

Incidentally, despite all the coverage and discussion, the issue of neighbourhood city trees is yet to be engaged with by those implementing the project.

Questions have been raised on the lack of transparency that marks the environmental aspect of the project. There is no Environmental Impact Assessment available on the HCBS project. But when you consider the fact that the agencies and experts involved do not even know the role that neighbourhood trees play in an urban setting like Delhi, it becomes easy to understand why they are talking about saplings as forest and aggregate numbers as opposed to specific micro-environments.

A clichéd response that government resorts to is that the trees that are being felled are absolutely necessary. This is not convincing to those who have been following media reports from the gorenment's side. Let's just take the example of the project at hand, the first phase of the five phased 100-km dedicated bus corridor.

When the issue started gaining support and public interest, an official statement was issued saying that of about 3,000 trees that were to felled in the first stretch only 1,800 will now be axed. This was taken with a pinch of salt, considering that even a botanical paradise that houses this city's tree history, the Sundar Nursery, is being eyed for making a tunnel that will de-congest traffic.

However, this statement, and many such that are being made in recent weeks, is a confession that uncovers the stark apathy towards trees and thus the need to re-look at the whole issue. The planners, in a single stroke of pen, can bring down the number of trees to be cut by almost 50 per cent! This means trees could have been saved in the very first place had they been part of the planning.

The issue of compensatory afforestation has little relevance in the context of neighbourhood trees. By virtue of being in the urban setting, these trees play a more immediate role, like shade, blocking of dust, providing habitat to birds and small animals, keeping water table stable and aesthetic relief. In other words, they allow people who are not in air-conditioned vehicle to walk, cycle and wait for buses. A large number of vendors depend on these for operation. Besides in an era of global warming a large tree is sacred. How do you even compare a promised sapling plantation with diverse native urban trees. Should we then expect all the birds and small animals to wait or keep their lives on hold till plantations can support them.

It is easy to draw from all this that the city trees need an epistemic break so far as our transport plans are concerned. A tree is a negotiable element and will continue to be so till trees are integrated into plans and projects through a legislation. Campaigners have been talking about a 2.5 meters of non-negotiable treeline. Make as many roads and expansions as the agencies feel the city requires, but have a treeline alongside.

At the meeting with the Chief Minister, the representatives made some significant recommendations for addressing the issue of destruction of the neighbourhood trees. The key among these is that of a dedicated corridor for trees. The recommendation reads: "A dedicated row/lane or green belt of 3 metres width should be included in planning and implementation. There should be rows of existing and planted native trees, on both sides of the road. This tree row/lane must be protected and inviolate to all inimical uses, like the dedicated lanes being proposed for cyclists, buses, cars etc. This tree row/lane also ideally serve the needs of all road users (especially pedestrians and cyclists) for shade and climate moderation. Planning the cycle row behind the tree row will additionally provide a natural protection between cyclists/pedestrians and motorized vehicles in the other lanes. This row/lane/belt would also provide a critical buffer between busy traffic and the adjoining homes areas, minimizing pollutants and noise. Hence it will harmonize various critical considerations."

The image of a neighbourhood without trees has spurred reactions in far greater forms and depth than our urban planners would have expected. Two of India top academic institutions, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University, have witnessed sign-on campaigns by faculty members requesting their Vice Chancellors to address the issue of cutting of trees and loss of green cover. Resident Welfare Associations are thinking of ways to join forces and get their opinions across.

Don’t axe the tree, integrate it with transport

By: Ravi Agarwal, Source: Toxics Link, Date: May 08, 2007

Roadside and neighborhood trees in cities like Delhi have been part of the contemporary urban landscape for over a century. They have more than an aesthetic value. On any summer’s day, the red light or the bus stop automatically ‘shifts’ below the nearest tree for scooterists or for pedestrians. Waiting below them is an obvious choice as temperatures can be several degrees lower here. Besides, on pavements, hawkers and water sellers cluster below their shade for some relief from the scorching heat. Semul, dhak, jasmine or jacaurnada bloom at different times (along with bird nesting), jamuns or imli for fruit, or neem etc. for leafy shelter. Several species of birds - sparrows, pigeons, kites, sunbirds, barbets, even hornbills - all nest in them, and form micro ecologies. All provide a welcome barrier between people’s homes and the road. Yet today they are dispensable in the eyes of the transport planner.

Over the past few years, from available figures, over 50,000 trees have already been axed in Delhi, some over 50 to 100 years old, and probably an additional similar number will go before the Commonwealth Games. The pride of Delhi, the Metro, the upcoming mass transport – High Capacity Bus Service (HCBS – 6 stretches totaling over 100 km) with dedicated corridors, new flyovers, road widening, new roads, none consider trees to be important. The transport planner considers the width between two rows of houses as ‘right of way’ and anything in-between is fair game. Hence for the purposes of ‘transport’ trees are obstructions. It is not realized that trees are an essential part of people’s neighborhoods.

It goes without saying, that transport is important, but it too needs to be sanely planned. The approach must be for integrating concerns, and not to force ‘corridors’ the city, where trees are the first casualties. The proposed road tunnel through the Sunder Nursery is a case in point. Delhi is adding over 900 cars every day to its existing over 30 million on its roads. Each car takes the space of two trees.

On the other hand less than 7,000 buses play in lieu of the needed 9,000. Obviously mass transport need to be increased and cars limited. However road plans are not accounting for this. For example after10 pm any evening, there is comparatively no traffic on Delhi’s roads, and one can drive at over 60 km per hour on many stretches. Yet transport corridors seem to be carved out for a few hours of car traffic intensity. As an engineer will confirm, ‘channel’ capacity must not be optimized for peak loads, and that any city in the world will have traffic slow downs in peak hours.

Projects like the HCBS based on dedicated corridors, need to be fully supported for their ability to transport over 10,000 office goers per hour in buses, both for their transport efficiency as well as carbon saving, but they also need to limit road space for cars, not merely expand the corridor. Roadside trees are equally important to pedestrians and cyclists since no one will use a concrete walkway in the mid-summer heat if it has no shade. Yet transport planners do not currently consider the idea of a dedicated tree line, even if it may seem logical.

These projects will take out many existing trees, and not leave or make space for new plantations. Without any un-tarred land being allotted on the ground, trees cannot be planted. In reality the city is facing simultaneous road widening, new flyovers, new metros, new bus lanes all in one go for the Commonwealth Games. There is a dire need for planning to account for existing topographies rather then impose a new barrenness onto it and integration is the answer.

Any city needs traffic management, as London has shown by taxing car entry, and cannot be open-ended. While mass transport must be brought in, simultaneously car traffic needs to be discouraged. Agencies like the ECPA (Bhure Lal Committee) have been arguing for this, but it seems the ‘car’ lobby is much stronger.

The Delhi Tree Preservation Act mandates, among other things, that for each tree cut compensatory afforestation in a ratio of 1:10 must be carried out. This though does not compensate for the ‘neighborhood tree. Even otherwise, often land is not available for it, or provided at a great distance, wrong species are planted, or survival rates are less than 50%. Inspections carried out by citizen’s groups show crowded plantation which will have to be drastically thinned once the trees become a little mature, defeating the purpose of even the 1:10 ratio. In any case, a new sapling cannot compensate for a 50-year-old tree, or for a neighborhood tree.

Each year the Government works with citizens to plant new trees. In Delhi a Greening Action Plan is prepared annually with targets and goals. Saplings are provided free from nurseries, and students partake in tree planting drives along with NGOs. However when these trees are suddenly and silently axed, they become ‘government property!’ While neighborhoods are transformed, no one is asked, told or consulted even though such transport could take years to plan. A consultative process can in fact reap good results. In cities like Pune, for example, monthly public consultations have managed to save many trees from the unnecessarily axe.

In the larger scheme of things those with powers to protect the trees such as the statutory ‘Tree Officer,’ need more teeth and budgets. In Delhi the Planning Commission has sanctioned over 9000 crores for the Commonwealth Games, half of which is for transport but it is unlikely there any money in it for ‘trees’ As a crisis response, Trees for Delhi, a new coalition of well known NGOs and citizens, says that trees are ‘not dispensable’ in their signature campaign supported by well know people.

Trees must be made a mandatory part of the roadside. Anyone who has watered or seen a tree grow will know that it takes years of sun, water, and caring for it to become what it can be. On the other hand, it takes less than minute to run a power saw through it for it to be felled. Many things can be done to improve the situation. For example old and heritage trees can be protected at the planning stage itself, and trees protected or a place made to plant them again on the edge of the road. New trees can be locally planted alongside new roads, new flyovers, or when new road widening is carried out with a dedicated tree line. Resident Welfare Associations can educate local councilors about the need to protect trees and ensure that they take this up with the Transport and Environment Departments.

In case trees have to be cut, all information of ‘which,’ ‘when’ and ‘where’ should be shared with the residents of locality and put in the public domain. Importantly, laws to restrict the number of cars on the roads, or at least stagger their use of road space is critical. Above all, tree lanes are as important as pedestrian, cycle, car and bus lanes. These need to be made integral to transport planning.

Trees under axe

Dare you fell trees: government told

In feedback HT

The plan to fell 1,000 trees in the campus of Delhi University to make way for a Rugby stadium has enraged many surfers. We've received angry letters condemning the move. Here are a few samples.

15-year-old Saurabh Agrawal thought it was wiser to transplant the trees rather than cutting them if at all we had to build one such stadium.

"After reading the news of felling down of trees in DU campus, I can imagine what will happen to Delhi. In an attempt to improve the city's condition to host the Commonwealth Games, we are actually destroying it. Of course, it is needed to remove trees from there to build a sports complex but it is not necessary to cut the trees. They can be transplanted just like DMRC has done for its project. We have huge areas in the capital where these trees can be transplanted."

Sunil Kumar, President, Debating Society, Hans Raj College wrote in to say that they were doing their bit to ensure that the trees stay.

"I saw your article regarding felling of trees in the DU campus. But I would like to inform you that we the students of Hans Raj College have taken a very tough attitude towards it, and we will not allow even a single tree to be felled."

"The debating society of our college is talking to various college officials and nature lovers, and are confident to hold this step back by either legal action or student protest movement. This act of Delhi government cannot be justified on any ground as it is a risk for environment."

Menta Mary Joseph, who is attached to an organisation called Lead Generation Program, had this to say.

"This is a ridiculous effort. One should work towards arranging another suitable stadium or ground, but cutting down 1,000 tress does not make sense and will have terrible effect on our environment."

"In case the authorities do plan to cut down trees, there seems to be no tangible efforts to plant at least twice the number of tress they plan to chop down. Which is even more depressing!"

"I strongly feel that India does not need such development at the cost of environment. Please, there is enough land available to build sports complexes."

K Rajagopalan from Gurgaon too was very upset.

"It is atrocious that a 1,000 trees have to be felled for a Rugby stadium, a sport not even popular in India, as part of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games!"

"First the government should stop all such activity. The Games have to be organised without affecting ecology. Further, instead of spending and indeed hosting Commonwealth Games, let us improve the standard of our popular games like football, hockey, volleyball, tennis, and badminton where once we dominated at least in the Asian level."

Point taken!

Strongly condemning the move, Vineet Singh also lauded HT for showing the way by publishing such stories.

"This is absolutely preposterous! The government's decision to cut 1,000 trees for the Commonwealth Games, just about displays the incompetence and the lack of ideas that it suffers from. And since nature can't speak for itself, nor hold strikes, in most cases it bears the brunt of these inane decisions. Well, not anymore. I appreciate what HT is doing to ameliorate the conditions of the city, be it roads, flyovers or environment and wish it keeps up the good work going."

V Chakravarty from Faridabad too was very disturbed with the report.

"Reference your front page article dated Wednesday (April 25, 2007) 'For a rugby field 1,000 Delhi University trees face the axe'. This is an absolutely ridiculous act, which should be strongly condemned. It raises many concerns as to how callous and insensible the authorities can get in the name of development. With such activities days are not far off when our ecology will go all wrong threatening human existence. I urge all responsible citizens and especially the student community of Delhi University to raise their voices against this planned activity and stop it."

Dr Gurinder Harnam Singh, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi had this to say.

"Imagine... if one thousand speechless human beings were made to stand together and massacred... such is going to be the plight of these trees. This should not be allowed to happen at any cost. The site for Commonwealth Games should be selected where no harm is done to trees and the environment is not compromised upon. This clearly shows the double standards of the authorities. I, as a responsible citizen, am totally against this. Some very concrete steps have to be taken before it is too late."

Dr Shifalika Goenka too was very angry with the authorities.

"Cut the trees and record the number of sick people before and after the cutting of trees after a gap of 7-9 years. There will be more diseases, more episodes of respiratory problems in children and adults, more cancers and more chronic diseases, and more infectious diseases in the summer; the communities around will be less healthy. So, will it be these sick people playing in the rugby field? We take for granted these silent safeguards and take the protective shield that these trees offer."

Disclaimer
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfers and do not necessarily represent those of HindustanTimes.com.

The two shall never meet?

Brutality born from ignorance!

1,000 trees for rugby!

A diversionary note by Chief Minister

Toxic Fallout: Jadugoda's Nuclear Nightmare Jadugoda

The folks who are cheering over the Indo-U.S. accord on civil nuclear cooperation live a world away from Jadugoda, the Jharkhand village where India’s uranium mine is situated. It is these hapless villagers who continue paying a terrible price in terms of toxic health hazards after being made the sacrificial lambs of a government policy where jingoistic hubris trumps compassion or accountability, writes Sunita Dubey.

Ironically, the name Jadugoda literally means “magic land.” Located in the Potka and Mosabani block of east Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, Jadugoda is 25 km from Jamshedpur. Home to the Santhali and Hotribes of Jharkhand, it also has a uranium mining facility that has had a catastrophic effect on the health of its residents.
(Below, left): A child’s face says tells the horrific story of Jadugoda better than any bitter protest. Children have paid a heavy price for the toxic hazards posed by the callous and sloppy practices of a government-owned uranium mine.

“Whatever befalls the earth befalls the child of the earth. People did not weave the web of life; they are merely strands in it. Whatever they do to the web, they do to themselves”.
— A native American on uranium mining

The Indo-U.S. nuclear deal may be considered groundbreaking and historic by many in India and the United States, but this euphoria must not shroud the misery of thousands of people suffering the effects of uranium mining in India due to poor technical and management practices in existing mines.

While major newspapers and television stations in India celebrated a major political victory by India as it covered the announcement of the Indo-U.S. deal, contrast this with an incident which happened Dec. 24.

Thousands of liters of radioactive waste spilled in a creek because of a pipe burst at a Uranium Corporation of India Limited facility at Jadugoda, India. It neither made newspaper headlines nor did UCIL come to know of the disastrous leak till alerted by the local villagers. Such are the realities of nuclear facilities in India.

Callousness of UCIL. The Dec. 24 accident is the latest example of UCIL’s callousness, which occurred in a small village inhabited largely by displaced families whose lands were acquired to construct two of the three storage dams, also known as tailings ponds. Based on the experience of similar accidents in other countries, the negative effects on human and environmental health will impact not just Jadugoda, but several communities living downstream, perhaps even hundreds of kilometers away.

UCIL had no alarm mechanism to alert the company in cases of such a disaster. Instead, the villagers who had arrived at the scene of the accident soon after the pipe burst informed the company of the toxic spill.

The toxic sludge spewed into a creek for nine hours before the flow of the radioactive waste was shut off. Consequently, a thick layer of toxic sludge on the surface of the creek killed scores of fish, frogs, and other riparian life. The waste from the leak also reached a creek that feeds into the Subarnarekha river, seriously contaminating the water resources of the communities living hundreds of kilometers along the way. This is not the first such accident. In 1986, a tailing dam had burst open and radioactive water flowed directly into the villages.

A similar disaster in 1979 in the United States at Church Rock, N.M., had also left many people and their environment scarred for years altogether. More than eighteen months after the accident, there were strong indications that the radiation and other pollutants had penetrated 30 feet into the earth. A report by a Cincinnati-based firm brought in as a consultant by the EPA warned that at least two nearby aquifers had been put “at risk. “

According to Don Hancock of the Southwest Research and Information Center in New Mexico, though remediation/ clean-up in Jadugoda will depend upon local conditions, it is essential to monitor the situation very carefully. Some of the immediate steps which need to be taken include immediate sludge removal from the river bed, as river beds are usually very permeable. The communities downstream should also be warned to not use the water till it has been established to be safe. It can take several months for the water to become safe again.

India’s Navajo Nation. Since 1967, when UCIL first started uranium mining in Jadugoda, the lives of people have been inflicted with unknown diseases, deaths and poisoned environment. The foundation of these mines has been laid on lies and misinformation by UCIL about the impact of uranium mining, radiation and toxicity in Jadugoda. Till the ’90s the tailing ponds (where uranium mine liquid waste is stored to evaporate) was in close vicinity of areas in the villages used as children’s playground, open grazing area and other public use. The radiation levels and related sickness were never revealed by UCIL, even though for years the local population has suffered from the extensive environmental degradation caused by the mining operations which are also responsible for the high frequency of radiation-related sicknesses and developmental disorders found in the area. Even though India’s Atomic Energy Act states that there should be no habitation within five kilometers of a waste site or uranium-tailing pond and even though Jadugoda has been in operation for more than 30 years, seven villages stand within one and a half kilometers of the danger zone. One of them, Dungardihi, begins just 40 meters away.

Questioning Legitimacy. It was only in 1996 when a group of people working in the mines and living in close vicinity started questioning the legitimacy UCIL’s free rein to pollute the environment and lives of indigenous people. This led to the formation of a local anti-uranium mining group called Jharkhandis Organization Against Radiation whose mission is to resist further nuclear development, and to educate the local Adivasis about the dangers of radioactivity. JOAR is also a winner of the 2004 Nuclear-Free Future Resistance Award. Even after the documentation of severe damage caused by uranium mining in Jadugoda in a documentary titled “Buddha Weeps In Jadugoda” by Shri Prakash, UCIL still admits to no wrongdoing, claiming that none of the prevalent congenital diseases in the area are due to the radiation from their uranium mines and milling operations.


India’s Nuclear History. Until World War II, uranium was regarded as little more than a substance used to color ceramics and glass, a byproduct of radium production. However, since the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938, the international nuclear industry has produced more than 1.7 million metric tons of uranium in about 30 countries. The IAEA estimates that about 360,000 metric tons of natural uranium or about 20 percent of the world’s production has been used for military purposes.

India was the first Asian country to develop a nuclear program and the Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948, just one year after independence, followed by the Department of Atomic Energy in August 1954. The Indian nuclear program got a boost with U.S. and Canadian support in 1969, which was for research purposes, but with the same technology, India exploded its first plutonium bomb in 1974. This shows that even though the façade behind the nuclear program might be for power generation or research, at any given time the program can be turned into nuclear weapons.


India’s Nuclear Ambitions. India plans to put up a total installed nuclear power capacity of 20,000 MWe by the year 2020. India has 14 reactors in operation and has an installed nuclear capacity of 2720 MWe. At present eight reactors are under construction and, when completed, will add 3960 MWe to the nuclear installed capacity. With such ambitious plans and thrust on nuclear power as a future source of sustainable “green” energy and fresh impetus from the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, many more uranium mines and nuclear plants are on the horizon. UCIL is engaged in mining and milling of uranium ore at Jadugoda, Bhatin and Narwapahar at Singhbhum district of Jharkand. Techno-commercially viable deposits are reported to have been found at Turamdih, Bagjata and Banduhuran in Jharkhand, Lambapur and Peddagattu in Andhra Pradesh and Domiasiat in Meghalaya.

Struggle Continues. Though some clean-up effort has been taken up by UCIL, the there are no alternatives for villagers to escape this radioactive fallout. Most of these poor villagers are already displaced from their lands more than once. They do not have any access to safe drinking water, and the creek, which got poisoned after the spill, was their only source of water. Even in these circumstances, not much is expected from UCIL to help this poor community. The perseverance and struggle of the Jadugoda community has led to international recognition of their problems. They have connected with other indigenous communities from all over the world, suffering the similar fallout of uranium mining. In December 2006 indigenous peoples from around the world who are victims of uranium mining, nuclear testing, and nuclear dumping came together at the Navajo Nation for the Indigenous World Uranium Summit, which called for a global ban on uranium mining on native lands. Representatives from Jadugoda gave testimony about the alarming number of babies who are stillborn or are born with serious birth defects, and of the high rates of cancer that are claiming the lives of many who live near the uranium mines.

The people of Jadugoda are not alone in this fight, even though the Indian government or UCIL may choose to ignore their plight. The recent spill and its mishandling by UCIL has drawn flak from the global community, and 400 individuals have signed petitions circulated by two U.S.-based groups, the Association for India’s Development and FOSA.

More information on Jadugoda is available at www.jadugoda.net

Courtesy: Siliconeer Magazine.
PHOTOS: P. MADHAVAN

Waste-to-energy is no quick fix for Municipal Solid Waste Management

Dear Readers,

To burn or not to burn seems to be the most important issue at the moment for all those concerned with Municipal Solid Waste in India. The management of urban waste is increasingly becoming a nightmare for the municipal bodies. In this issue of the Toxics Alert e-newsletter we have attempted to capture this debate both in theory, through a feature and an interview, and in practice, through news on a gathering momentum towards re-establishing the concept of waste-to-energy by municipal authorities in India's most important urban centres.

Editor, Toxics Alert


Toxics Alert, an environment news bulletin from toxics link
Issue 4: March 12, 2007

FEATURE

Waste-to-energy is no quick fix for Municipal Solid Waste Management

The mismanagement of solid waste in urban areas poses a grave threat to public health and the quality of life of people living in those areas. Up to now there has been no comprehensive policy in India that deals with the whole cycle of waste management from production at household level to collection and disposal, writes Prashant Pastore, Senior Programme Coordinator, Toxics Link.

Read on

INTERVIEW

Solution is urgently needed for rapid reduction in municipal waste: Urvashi Dhamija

Despite the failure of incineration-based projects in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Delhi, it seems to me that a proposal to set up such a project in Delhi should not be dismissed imperatively. With waste stacking up at the existing sites at levels higher than high rise buildings in the vicinity a solution is urgently needed for rapid waste reduction. However, reasons for the failure need to be identified and suitable steps taken to prevent their re-occurrence, says Prof. Urvashi Dhamija in conversation with Parvinder Singh.

Read on


NEWS

Delhi worst in managing its trash; MCD says not enough dumping space

A recent survey by an industry grouping has claimed that though the National Capital has the largest number of people engaged in the recycling of urban or municipal waste compared to all other metros, yet it is the worst in managing its trash and figures below Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Read on


Mumbai going waste to energy way: BMC

In a bid to counter the growing problem of municipal waste management in Mumbai and its inability to address this, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will float a tender seeking expression of interest by private firms for generating energy from waste.

Read on


Kolkata's second landfill being planned on Ramsar Site

The city of joy, Kolkata, is peaking a productivity figure that it isn't quite ready to handle. The city is generating 3,000 metric tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste and its only landfill, Dhapa, is overflowing.This has forced Kolkata Municipal Corporation\u2019s (KMC) to look for a second site and if one goes by local news reports, the planned new site would encroach on a wetland listed under Ramsar Convention.

Read on


Mumbai generating 19,000 tonnes of e-waste annually: Study

In a grim reminder of the increasing environmental and health hazards in India's urban centres, a new study has revealed that Mumbai is not just the leading generator of electronic waste in the country, but also that the rate at which the commercial capital is throwing away electronic goods is far higher than believed so far.

Read on


Half of world's wetlands lost already: Experts

A half-day workshop was organised in the National Capital's National Science Centre to observe the World Wetland Day on 2 February by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and The Energy Research Institute for highlighting their ecological importance, the threat they face today and ways to protect them.

Read on


POLICY

Climate change expert committee to be formed: Finance Minister

India will set up an expert committee to study the impact of climate change on the country, even though it does not significantly contribute to green house gas (GHG) emissions, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in his budget speech in parliament, according to an official release.

Read on


UPDATES

Two-day workshop on medical, municipal waste held in Ranchi

In continuation with its efforts to generate awareness and share knowledge on the issue of medical and municipal waste management, Toxics Link, in association with Rachi-based Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (NBJK), recently organised a two-day regional workshop in the Jharkhand capital.

Read on


PARTNERS

NGO recommendations on planned DMRC-link through Delhi Ridge

Delhi-based Environmentalists spurred into action last month following reports of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) planning a segment of Mehrauli to Gurgaon line that would cut-through the Delhi-ridge forest area, believed to be one of the oldest geographical entities in the world.

Read on

Sign on to save the trees of Delhi

Save Delhi’s Trees, Do Not Sacrifice this heritage for transport

The rise of technology addiction

Source: BBC

The Blackberry mobile device allows users to send e-mails

The seemingly exponential growth of portable technology has sparked fears that people are becoming addicted or swamped by gadgets and their uses.

One major consequence of this phenomenon is that the line between work and private life is much more blurred, now that e-mail and phones provide a 24-hour link between employers and staff.

Experts believe that even the decision-making process of the average person can be adversely affected.

However, others think that the bombardment of various communications can enhance the brain's ability to process information.

Addiction symptoms

Nada Kakabadse, a Professor at the Northampton Business School, said: "Your judgement is impaired. Equally your decision making processes are impaired.

"It's like losing your spatial judgement, so instead of walking through the door you walk into it. You're more prone to have a car accident if you drive."

Prof Kakabadse added: "It's addiction to portable technology, which you take with you practically to bed, the cinema, to the theatre, to a dinner party. The symptoms are, like with any other addiction, that people spend more time using their technology than spending it in socialising or in family time."

The growing importance of the issue was highlighted at a gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, for the LIFT 07 technology conference.

One of the conclusions reached by experts was that "tech overload" is the price people have to pay for always-on communication, where the line between work and play has become blurred.

I really think it is the responsibility of the individual to prioritise Professor Nada Kakabadse, Northampton Business School

In fact, there is even some evidence that being bombarded with information from all directions is actually beneficial.

Professor Fred Mast, of the University of Lausanne, said: "I think that we can become overloaded. It depends on the situation, but I think we are underestimating the brain's capacity to adapt to new challenges.

"Studies have been done showing that people can actually enhance their cognitive abilities, which helps them to process more information at the same time. And their performance even transfers to other tasks."

Experts have also noted how different types of technology have developed their own etiquette.

E-mail tends to be a more formal type of communication

For instance, an e-mail can wait two days to be answered but a text message demands an almost immediate reply.

Stefana Broadbent from Swisscom said: "E-mail is considered the most formal. At the other end of the spectrum SMS is the most personal of all.

"That's where we find all those little exchanges, little endearments, what we call grooming, which is sending: 'I think about you. How did it go? How did you sleep?'

He added: "That is actually given by the number of characters. With such few characters, you have to have a lot of mutual understanding and mutual knowledge."

Prof Kakabadse added that prioritising was a vital way to prevent communication overload.

She said: "I really think it is the responsibility of the individual to prioritise. Even if an employee pushes the boundaries, do discuss with the employee in a constructive way how we can do things better without being overloaded."

India was among the countries more vulnerable to climate change: Finance Minister

Climate change figured prominently in the Budget speech of finance minister P. Chidambaram, who admitted that India was among the countries more vulnerable to climate change.

His "green intentions" were also highlighted when he proposed subsidy for farmers to encourage them to set up “dug wells” to trap rain water and recharge fast-depleting groundwater in several parts of the country, besides tax benefits for eco-friendly industry like coir.

The minister informed the House that the government proposed to appoint an expert committee on climate change in the country in order to study the impact of climate change and identify measures to tackle it.

“India is not a significant contributor to emissions, nor will it be so in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, India has taken steps to mitigate the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change impact,” he told the House, however, also adding that India was among the countries more vulnerable to climate change.

Chidambaram said that India strongly promoted the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto protocol and had the world’s largest number of CDM projects.

Since plywood helps to save wood, the minister announced a reduction in excise duty on plywood from 16 per cent to eight per cent and exempted biodiesal completely from excise duty, as they “greatly reduce dependence on fossil fuels”.

Considering that depletion of groundwater has assumed grave proportions in several parts of the country, he also proposed to provide 100 per cent subsidy to small and marginal farmers and 50 per cent to other farmers to encourage them to construct “dug wells” to recharge groundwater.

The Central Ground Water Board has identified 1065 assessment blocks in the country as “over-exploited” or “critical” and over over 80 per cent of these blocks are in 100 districts in seven states.

“ The strategy for groundwater recharge is to divert rain water into “dug wells”. Each structure will cost about Rs 4,000. The requirement is seven million structures, including about two million on land belonging to small and marginal farmers,” he said, voicing his concern.

While the scheme is being finalised, the government intends to transfer Rs 1,800 crore to NABARD, which will be held in escrow and disbursed through lead bank of the district concerned to beneficiaries.

Besides this, the minister also allocated Rs 100 crore for new Rainfed Area Development Programme and urged states to come up with propopsals to repair, renovate and restore water bodies in their areas

A scheme for modernisation and technology upgradation of the coir industry with special emphasis to major coir producing states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, was also announced by the minister, who said that since coir was an eco-friendly fibre and provided employment as well as earns valuable foreign exchange, a provision of Rs 22.50 crore had been made for the industry.

Source: Tribune

Gore says Oscar bid helps shift public opinion on climate crisis

"An Inconvenient Truth," former U.S. vice president Al Gore's dire warning about the threat of climate change, won the Oscar for best documentary Sunday.

Making use of a vast body of scientific data, the film represents a stinging rebuttal to the dwindling and increasingly discredited band of skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the extent of climate change, AFP reported.

Though the film is directed by David Guggenheim, Gore is the undisputed star, interspersing persuasive presentations about the environment with personal recollections from his life.

The central thrust of Gore's claims is that global warming is a genuine threat and largely man-made, an assertion that is backed by recent research.

The Kyoto Protocol assigning mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been ratified by 169 countries. However, the United States has failed to ratify the protocol.

But what Gore did as number 2 man in the White House for global warming during his time was very different from his documentary.

Online newsletter Green Left writes "The Clinton-Gore years were anything but environment-friendly. Under Clinton-Gore, more old growth forests were cut down than under any other recent U.S. administration.

'Wise Use' committees, set up by the timber industry, were permitted to clear-cut whole mountain ranges, while Clinton-Gore helped to 'green-wash' their activities for public consumption.

Former Vice President Al Gore said the Oscar nomination for his global warming documentary is shifting public opinion, but he's not happy about being right.

"An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary about Gore's crusade against global warming, is the odds-on favorite to win an Oscar tonight.Gore said he hopes to pull the global warming argument out of a partisan context and frame it as a moral and spiritual issue that involves responsibility to future generations.Skeptical at first at the idea of turning his slideshow into a movie, Gore said now he's grateful for all the people the movie has reached.Once criticized for his stiffness, Gore now mingles among celebrities with rock star fame, but he said his wife, Tipper, keeps his feet on the ground.

India's booming economy brings toxic hi-tech waste

By Nita Bhalla, Source: Reuters

India's booming economy is producing mountains of toxic electronic waste like discarded computers and televisions, but there are no laws to regulate its disposal, a local environment group said on Friday.

Toxics Link said while the Asian giant's economy has been growing at eight percent annually over the last three years, it has also resulted in the generation of 150,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year.

An eight-month study by the group found that India's bustling financial hub of Mumbai was the biggest source of electronic or e-waste, generating 19,000 tonnes every year.

"Being the hub of India's commercial activities, the banks and financial institutions in Mumbai generate huge amounts of e-waste," Ravi Agarwal, director of Toxics Link, told a news conference.

"But like the rest of India, there are no laws for its safe handling and this will lead to serious health and environmental impacts."

Agarwal said the government had to regulate the management of e-waste by setting up a central authority to collect all discarded electronic goods and put in place laws to deal with disposal and recycling.

India's economic liberalisation that began in the early 1990s has seen hundreds of banks, financial institutions, electronics industries, information technology firms and call centres setting up operations across the country.

The booming economy has also led to a growing middle class -- estimated around 300 million -- which has more disposable income and an insatiable appetite for electronic products.

"When electronics like televisions, PCs and refrigerators are discarded, it is the informal sector made up of tens of thousands of people who collect it and then break it down and recycle parts of it which can be sold," said Agarwal.

"They extract toxic-heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium which are sold for other uses."

These metals harm the development of the brain, kidneys and some are carcinogens which enter the food chain through the air, water and soil.