नई दिल्ली। हाईकोर्ट ने दिल्ली सरकार को अवमानना नोटिस जारी कर पूछा है कि यमुना की साफ-सफाई को लेकर पांच वर्ष पहले दिए गए आदेश का अभी तक क्रियान्वयन क्यों नहीं किया गया। अभी भी यमुना में शहर का कूड़ा फेंका जा रहा है। हाईकोर्ट ने सरकार से पूछा है कि आखिर इस मुद्दे पर कोर्ट की अवमानना की कार्रवाई क्यों नहीं शुरू की जाए। मामला हाईकोर्ट के न्यायमूर्ति विपिन सांघी की अदालत का है।
अदालत ने दिल्ली सरकार के पर्यावरण मंत्रालय, एमसीडी और डीडीए के खिलाफ अवमानना की याचिका पर नोटिस जारी किया है। संबंधित विभागों को सात फरवरी तक जवाब देना है। पर्यावरणविद विनोद जैन की अवमानना याचिका पर कोर्ट ने यह नोटिस जारी किया है। जैन ने अदालत का ध्यान इस संबंध में वर्ष २००६ में आकर्षित कराया था। कहा गया था कि यमुना में किसी तरह का कूड़ा या प्लास्टिक नहीं फेंका जाए। रोकथाम संशोधन कानून प्रभावी ढंग से लागू करने के निर्देश भी जारी किए गए थे। पांच वर्ष पूर्व अदालत ने सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय को कानून के प्रावधानों को लागू करने और मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए घेरा बनाने की बात की थी, लेकिन इस फैसले पर दिल्ली सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय ने ध्यान नहीं दिया। पर्यावरणविद् ने याचिका में कहा है कि २००६ में अदालत ने यमुना की सफाई को लेकर सरकार को निर्देश जारी कर कोर्ट ने कानून के तहत कचरा, पूजा सामग्री नदी के तल, नालों और पानी में बहाए जाने पर रोक लगाए और उचित कदम उठाये जाएं। याचिकाकर्ता ने कोर्ट से यह भी कहा है कि दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति ने मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए एक विशेष प्रांगण बनाए जाने का सुझाव दिया था।
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thames trust to help conserve Ganga, Yamuna (The Hindu 27 November 2011)
The initiative to be launched in New Delhi on December 15
JAIPUR: If the Ganga cannot go to Britain for its own “holy” reasons, it is the Thames now poised to join India's most revered river for the sake of conservation.
The Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), winner of the Theis International River Prize for 2010, has tied up with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Peace Institute Charitable Trust (PICT) to work for restoration of a 300-km stretch of the Ganga and the Yamuna on both sides of the banks. The United Kingdom's Environment Agency Thames Region (EA) will provide guidance in the endeavour.
Decks have been cleared for the initiative and the formal launch will take place at the WWF premises in New Delhi on December 15. Robert Oates, Director of the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), will pilot the project. Peter Spillett, President of the Institute of Fisheries Management, UK, will give the keynote presentation on ‘Restoring fish population around the world to benefit people and wildlife' on the occasion.
It all started with TRRT winning the Theiss International River Prize. The prize money, more than Rs.1-crore, was to be put to use in a developing country. India came up as the eventual decision following Mr. Oates' visit to a few river-sites up north of New Delhi. It will be a one-and-a-half-year-long work on restoring portions of the Ganges and its tributary, Yamuna.
About 100 km along the upper Ganga and about 200 km along the Yamuna, including its nearly 35 km stretch from the Chambal river confluence to Dibholi Ghat which forms the National Chambal Sanctuary, would be taken up, informs conservationist Harsh Vardhan who had invited Mr. Oates sometime back to the Mansagar Birding Fair here to speak on Thames restoration and the possibility of replication of the success story on India's polluted rivers.
“ I had met Rob several years ago at the British Bird Watching Fair. The river-twinning idea was floated when Rob led the Birding Fair in Jaipur two years ago when he was expecting the Theiss Prize from Australia,” Mr. Vardhan notes. In fact when this correspondent met Mr. Oates in Jaipur that time he was not pessimistic over state of India's rivers as he felt it was part of the industrialisation process, faced in Britain a century ago, now being faced by India.
The WWF on its part will carry forward its existing project on the Ganga conservation, through the new inputs now available, at Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh to reintroduce the endangered gharial and other wildlife. It will also help people to improve their agricultural policies, says Parikshit Gautam, Director, WWF's Freshwater Division.
The long-term plan is to ensure a viable population of gharial with favourable habitat through increased capacity support from local people. It will also benefit fish population, fresh water turtles, Ganges river dolphins and other riverine species like otters and water birds in the lower Yamuna.
‘River-twinning'
The PICT will join in for developing community river restoration techniques in association with local groups and develop sustainable livelihoods. Its activities will be carried out in different 10 grids located along the Yamuna, in regions falling in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Gautam, Director, along with Manoj Mishra, Director of PICT, will overview the novel “river-twinning” project. Both will give and take river restoration related technical expertise and experiences with TRRT in Britain.
• 100 km along the Ganga, 200 km along the Yamuna would be taken up for restoration
• Long-term benefits include a viable population of gharial, fish population, turtles
JAIPUR: If the Ganga cannot go to Britain for its own “holy” reasons, it is the Thames now poised to join India's most revered river for the sake of conservation.
The Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), winner of the Theis International River Prize for 2010, has tied up with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Peace Institute Charitable Trust (PICT) to work for restoration of a 300-km stretch of the Ganga and the Yamuna on both sides of the banks. The United Kingdom's Environment Agency Thames Region (EA) will provide guidance in the endeavour.
Decks have been cleared for the initiative and the formal launch will take place at the WWF premises in New Delhi on December 15. Robert Oates, Director of the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), will pilot the project. Peter Spillett, President of the Institute of Fisheries Management, UK, will give the keynote presentation on ‘Restoring fish population around the world to benefit people and wildlife' on the occasion.
It all started with TRRT winning the Theiss International River Prize. The prize money, more than Rs.1-crore, was to be put to use in a developing country. India came up as the eventual decision following Mr. Oates' visit to a few river-sites up north of New Delhi. It will be a one-and-a-half-year-long work on restoring portions of the Ganges and its tributary, Yamuna.
About 100 km along the upper Ganga and about 200 km along the Yamuna, including its nearly 35 km stretch from the Chambal river confluence to Dibholi Ghat which forms the National Chambal Sanctuary, would be taken up, informs conservationist Harsh Vardhan who had invited Mr. Oates sometime back to the Mansagar Birding Fair here to speak on Thames restoration and the possibility of replication of the success story on India's polluted rivers.
“ I had met Rob several years ago at the British Bird Watching Fair. The river-twinning idea was floated when Rob led the Birding Fair in Jaipur two years ago when he was expecting the Theiss Prize from Australia,” Mr. Vardhan notes. In fact when this correspondent met Mr. Oates in Jaipur that time he was not pessimistic over state of India's rivers as he felt it was part of the industrialisation process, faced in Britain a century ago, now being faced by India.
The WWF on its part will carry forward its existing project on the Ganga conservation, through the new inputs now available, at Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh to reintroduce the endangered gharial and other wildlife. It will also help people to improve their agricultural policies, says Parikshit Gautam, Director, WWF's Freshwater Division.
The long-term plan is to ensure a viable population of gharial with favourable habitat through increased capacity support from local people. It will also benefit fish population, fresh water turtles, Ganges river dolphins and other riverine species like otters and water birds in the lower Yamuna.
‘River-twinning'
The PICT will join in for developing community river restoration techniques in association with local groups and develop sustainable livelihoods. Its activities will be carried out in different 10 grids located along the Yamuna, in regions falling in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Gautam, Director, along with Manoj Mishra, Director of PICT, will overview the novel “river-twinning” project. Both will give and take river restoration related technical expertise and experiences with TRRT in Britain.
• 100 km along the Ganga, 200 km along the Yamuna would be taken up for restoration
• Long-term benefits include a viable population of gharial, fish population, turtles
Delhi pays Rs. 50 crore more, asks Haryana to complete canal (The Hindu 25 November 2011)
Delhi has sent yet another reminder to Haryana asking it to complete work on the long-pending Munak Canal. A simmering issue between the two States, the canal has been delayed for a long time for various reasons, mostly to do with money.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has shot off another letter to the Haryana Administration to resume work for completion of the canal.
“A few days ago, Delhi released Rs.50 crore for the project. Following this, the Chief Minister, who is also Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, has now pressed for the timely completion of the pending work,” said a Delhi Jal Board official.
To break the logjam over the Munak issue, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had in July arbitrated a meeting and ordered Delhi to release an additional Rs.50 crore to Haryana for the construction of the canal, which is expected to mitigate the city's water problems.
“After the GoM's intervention, Haryana agreed to complete the pending work saying it would do so in the next two months. It also agreed to supply 610 cusecs of water through the canal, as was agreed to initially,” said the official.
Delhi had baulked at Haryana's demand for an additional Rs.150 crore, citing cost overruns.
“In keeping with the orders, Delhi has released the money and said that whatever else needs to be paid for will be done as well. The GoM had suggested that Haryana's claims for an additional Rs.150 crore for meeting new expenses will be reviewed by the Central Water Commission. Delhi has assured that whatever the Commission announces in is report will be complied with and if there is an order to pay more, it will do so,” the official explained.
Haryana had also opposed the construction of two water treatment plants, one each at Okhla and Dwarka, and that issue too has been referred by the GoM to the Upper Yamuna River Board to review and report on. Haryana had to construct the 102-km canal that Delhi is paying for. About 200 to 300 metres of the total canal length remains to be completed. The canal was supposed to be ready in 2009.
While Delhi has been banking on the canal to carry water without wastage, a Central Pollution Control Board study had indicated the canal could be a solution to the high pollution levels in Delhi's raw water supply. Delhi expects to save around 80 million gallons per day once the canal becomes operational.
• Work delayed for various reasons, mostly monetary
• Canal is expected to mitigate Delhi's water problems
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has shot off another letter to the Haryana Administration to resume work for completion of the canal.
“A few days ago, Delhi released Rs.50 crore for the project. Following this, the Chief Minister, who is also Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, has now pressed for the timely completion of the pending work,” said a Delhi Jal Board official.
To break the logjam over the Munak issue, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had in July arbitrated a meeting and ordered Delhi to release an additional Rs.50 crore to Haryana for the construction of the canal, which is expected to mitigate the city's water problems.
“After the GoM's intervention, Haryana agreed to complete the pending work saying it would do so in the next two months. It also agreed to supply 610 cusecs of water through the canal, as was agreed to initially,” said the official.
Delhi had baulked at Haryana's demand for an additional Rs.150 crore, citing cost overruns.
“In keeping with the orders, Delhi has released the money and said that whatever else needs to be paid for will be done as well. The GoM had suggested that Haryana's claims for an additional Rs.150 crore for meeting new expenses will be reviewed by the Central Water Commission. Delhi has assured that whatever the Commission announces in is report will be complied with and if there is an order to pay more, it will do so,” the official explained.
Haryana had also opposed the construction of two water treatment plants, one each at Okhla and Dwarka, and that issue too has been referred by the GoM to the Upper Yamuna River Board to review and report on. Haryana had to construct the 102-km canal that Delhi is paying for. About 200 to 300 metres of the total canal length remains to be completed. The canal was supposed to be ready in 2009.
While Delhi has been banking on the canal to carry water without wastage, a Central Pollution Control Board study had indicated the canal could be a solution to the high pollution levels in Delhi's raw water supply. Delhi expects to save around 80 million gallons per day once the canal becomes operational.
• Work delayed for various reasons, mostly monetary
• Canal is expected to mitigate Delhi's water problems
Contempt of court notices over enclosures along the Yamuna (The Hindu 25 November 2011)
The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued contempt of court notices to the Delhi Government, the Delhi Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for their failure to build enclosures along the Yamuna in the Capital for immersion of idols and religious material to control pollution.
The Government had in an affidavit in 2007 informed the Court that it had chalked out a plan in association with the DDA and the civic body to build 13 enclosures along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into the river at festival times and thereafter release the water into the river after treating it and collecting un-degradable material likes clothes and plastic bags.
The Government had filed the affidavit in response to two orders passed by the Court asking it to build confined ponds or bunds along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into it to prevent pollution under the Delhi Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage Control Act, 2004.
‘Control pollution'
The Court had passed the orders on a public interest litigation by social activist Vinod Jain seeking implementation of the Act to control pollution in the river as the legislation prevents dumping of garbage in river, ponds and at public places.
In the contempt petition, Mr. Jain alleged that the Government instead of constructing the enclosures as promised to the Court had been promoting immersion of idols and religious material into the river at the festival time by providing access to vehicles carrying idols for immersion into the river by various religious organisations.
According to the plan drawn up in 2007, the DDA has to provide finances and the civic body to build the enclosures. At one time, the Government had informed the petitioner that it had launched a pilot project to test the success of the enclosure to control pollution in the river, and if successful, it would be implemented along its whole stretch in the Capital but nothing had been done so far, the contempt petition said.
Issuing the notices, Justice V.K. Shali asked the respondents to file replies by February 7 next year, the next date of hearing
The Government had in an affidavit in 2007 informed the Court that it had chalked out a plan in association with the DDA and the civic body to build 13 enclosures along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into the river at festival times and thereafter release the water into the river after treating it and collecting un-degradable material likes clothes and plastic bags.
The Government had filed the affidavit in response to two orders passed by the Court asking it to build confined ponds or bunds along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into it to prevent pollution under the Delhi Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage Control Act, 2004.
‘Control pollution'
The Court had passed the orders on a public interest litigation by social activist Vinod Jain seeking implementation of the Act to control pollution in the river as the legislation prevents dumping of garbage in river, ponds and at public places.
In the contempt petition, Mr. Jain alleged that the Government instead of constructing the enclosures as promised to the Court had been promoting immersion of idols and religious material into the river at the festival time by providing access to vehicles carrying idols for immersion into the river by various religious organisations.
According to the plan drawn up in 2007, the DDA has to provide finances and the civic body to build the enclosures. At one time, the Government had informed the petitioner that it had launched a pilot project to test the success of the enclosure to control pollution in the river, and if successful, it would be implemented along its whole stretch in the Capital but nothing had been done so far, the contempt petition said.
Issuing the notices, Justice V.K. Shali asked the respondents to file replies by February 7 next year, the next date of hearing
Court raps govt for failing to curb Yamuna pollution (Times of India 25 November 2011)
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday demanded an explanation from the state government why contempt of court proceedings shouldn’t be initiated against it for failing to construct enclosures along the Yamuna so that garbage could not be dumped into the river, especially during the festival season. HC issued the enclosure order five years ago. Justice Vipin Sanghi also issued similar showcause notices to the Delhi government’s environment department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), seeking their replies by February 7 on the contempt plea.
The plea was filed by Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, on whose PIL in 2006 the court had asked the Delhi government to create 13 enclosures along the Yamuna where idol immersions and disposal of pooja samagri could take place. The work was to have been undertaken under the Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage (Control) Act, 2000, under which MCD also had the power to fine those who threw in anything into the river directly.
The court had directed the government in September 2006 to take measures to ensure that no garbage and worship material was thrown into the river, drains and sewers. The agencies concerned were to have constructed the 13 permanent enclosures for which land had also been identified. DDA was supposed to finance the project while MCD was in charge of constructing and maintenance. “The environment department has sent several reminders to them but to no avail. Till 2010 only one enclosure had been built at Kudsiya Ghat and that too was dismantled and stolen within a year. DDA has released funds but concerned agencies do not seem to be bothered,” said Jain. Jain added that HC had in its order also directed authorities to give wide publicity to make the general public aware of this ban. Even the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had suggested making specific enclosures for immersion of idols, following which the civic agency had assured the court for the development of such enclosures within three months, the petitioner stated.
CROSSING DEADLINE: HC asked authorities to build 13 enclosures
The plea was filed by Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, on whose PIL in 2006 the court had asked the Delhi government to create 13 enclosures along the Yamuna where idol immersions and disposal of pooja samagri could take place. The work was to have been undertaken under the Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage (Control) Act, 2000, under which MCD also had the power to fine those who threw in anything into the river directly.
The court had directed the government in September 2006 to take measures to ensure that no garbage and worship material was thrown into the river, drains and sewers. The agencies concerned were to have constructed the 13 permanent enclosures for which land had also been identified. DDA was supposed to finance the project while MCD was in charge of constructing and maintenance. “The environment department has sent several reminders to them but to no avail. Till 2010 only one enclosure had been built at Kudsiya Ghat and that too was dismantled and stolen within a year. DDA has released funds but concerned agencies do not seem to be bothered,” said Jain. Jain added that HC had in its order also directed authorities to give wide publicity to make the general public aware of this ban. Even the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had suggested making specific enclosures for immersion of idols, following which the civic agency had assured the court for the development of such enclosures within three months, the petitioner stated.
CROSSING DEADLINE: HC asked authorities to build 13 enclosures
Friday, November 11, 2011
2 rivers captured in public art to prick conscience (Times of India) 10 Nov 11
NEW DELHI: People in the city are getting the whiff of two different worlds: one that lives along the Yamuna; the other, which is enlivened by the Elbe.
Visitors to 'The Yamuna-Elbe - Public.Art.Outreach Project' on Wednesday were actually offered two bowls that had water from both these rivers. They were asked to smell the water and then share their feelings with a German artist, who later put them down on the canvas.
The location of the exhibition - the Yamuna bank - has created an impact. It's happening in the area that will be developed into the Golden Jubilee Park. The entire span of the Old Yamuna Bridge is visible from the banks; the soft, uneven ground has patches of tall grass, and an attenuated form of the Yamuna (replete with filth) flows by. "This is a historic setting. The bridge was built in 1866. It's a complete span and it is still there. You should see it at night. It is itself art," says curator Ravi Aggarwal.
An initiative of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (New Delhi), the City of Hamburg and the Delhi government, the project will include an art exhibition with the two rivers as theme, and a range of activities, including walks, music shows and discussions.
Artists Sheba Chhachhi and Asim Waqif placed their works on the river itself. Chhachhi places a 'form' - "It can be anything, a seed or a human body" - made of thermocol and iron wrapped in bandages. "The idea is of a wounded organic form," says Chhachhi, "A metaphor for wounded river." In the dark, flames (created with the help of a projector on the bank), engulf it.
"Water that has a lot of toxins can catch fire," she adds. Her work is best viewed from atop a staircase put together with bags of sand with excerpts from the Yamuna Ashtakam, a 14-century hymn to the Himalayas. Waqif's work included a row of plastic bottles tied to a rope that was dragged through the river by a motor-boat.
Bottles also featured in the work of Atul Bhalla, who has also participated in the Hamburg part of the Yamuna-Elbe project. Giant bottles were embedded in the ground and had questions from the 54 questions Yaksha asked Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata. It invites viewers to contemplate their treatment of the river, the attempts to "control the river", the waste, and the "ecological catastrophe" it could all lead to. Gigi Scaria's "Fountain of Purification" - a 24-foot tower representing an apartment complex - draws water from the Yamuna, runs it through a few levels of purification, and dispenses clean water from the top.
There's also a lot for the visitors to do at the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will be asked to sniff the water of the Yamuna and the Elbe and express what they feel for "research for an Elbe-Yamuna perfume" that Berlin-based artist, Ines Lechleitner, is developing with the help of Vienna-based Indian perfumer, Yogesh Kumar. "I've brought Elbe in a bottle," says Lechleitner. She conducted the same exercise in Hamburg and recorded the reactions of those who'd tried it. "I'm working on a perfume that combines my associations with the two rivers," she says.
Lechleitner is one of the five German artists featured at the exhibition; Jochen Lempert, Michael Clegg, Martin Guttmann and Nana Petzet are the others. Petzet has created a biodiversity patch using an existing patch of grass and planting photographs of birds, insects and flowers in them. "A patch is not just a patch, it's full of life," says Aggarwal. The event in Hamburg, says curator Nina Kalenbach, was different in that it included artists from countries other than India and Germany. "There are a lot of artists in Europe, who are working on research-art," says Kalenbach.
Golden Jubilee Park was chosen by Aggarwal. Toxics Link is his day job and this is his first shot at being a curator. There are bamboo benches and light poles and an amphitheatre made of piles of gunny bags with soil from the riverbank. "This place is a cusp between Old Delhi and New Delhi. New things are coming up here. It's like the city is seeking a new proposition," he says. The exhibition will continue till November 20.
Visitors to 'The Yamuna-Elbe - Public.Art.Outreach Project' on Wednesday were actually offered two bowls that had water from both these rivers. They were asked to smell the water and then share their feelings with a German artist, who later put them down on the canvas.
The location of the exhibition - the Yamuna bank - has created an impact. It's happening in the area that will be developed into the Golden Jubilee Park. The entire span of the Old Yamuna Bridge is visible from the banks; the soft, uneven ground has patches of tall grass, and an attenuated form of the Yamuna (replete with filth) flows by. "This is a historic setting. The bridge was built in 1866. It's a complete span and it is still there. You should see it at night. It is itself art," says curator Ravi Aggarwal.
An initiative of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (New Delhi), the City of Hamburg and the Delhi government, the project will include an art exhibition with the two rivers as theme, and a range of activities, including walks, music shows and discussions.
Artists Sheba Chhachhi and Asim Waqif placed their works on the river itself. Chhachhi places a 'form' - "It can be anything, a seed or a human body" - made of thermocol and iron wrapped in bandages. "The idea is of a wounded organic form," says Chhachhi, "A metaphor for wounded river." In the dark, flames (created with the help of a projector on the bank), engulf it.
"Water that has a lot of toxins can catch fire," she adds. Her work is best viewed from atop a staircase put together with bags of sand with excerpts from the Yamuna Ashtakam, a 14-century hymn to the Himalayas. Waqif's work included a row of plastic bottles tied to a rope that was dragged through the river by a motor-boat.
Bottles also featured in the work of Atul Bhalla, who has also participated in the Hamburg part of the Yamuna-Elbe project. Giant bottles were embedded in the ground and had questions from the 54 questions Yaksha asked Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata. It invites viewers to contemplate their treatment of the river, the attempts to "control the river", the waste, and the "ecological catastrophe" it could all lead to. Gigi Scaria's "Fountain of Purification" - a 24-foot tower representing an apartment complex - draws water from the Yamuna, runs it through a few levels of purification, and dispenses clean water from the top.
There's also a lot for the visitors to do at the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will be asked to sniff the water of the Yamuna and the Elbe and express what they feel for "research for an Elbe-Yamuna perfume" that Berlin-based artist, Ines Lechleitner, is developing with the help of Vienna-based Indian perfumer, Yogesh Kumar. "I've brought Elbe in a bottle," says Lechleitner. She conducted the same exercise in Hamburg and recorded the reactions of those who'd tried it. "I'm working on a perfume that combines my associations with the two rivers," she says.
Lechleitner is one of the five German artists featured at the exhibition; Jochen Lempert, Michael Clegg, Martin Guttmann and Nana Petzet are the others. Petzet has created a biodiversity patch using an existing patch of grass and planting photographs of birds, insects and flowers in them. "A patch is not just a patch, it's full of life," says Aggarwal. The event in Hamburg, says curator Nina Kalenbach, was different in that it included artists from countries other than India and Germany. "There are a lot of artists in Europe, who are working on research-art," says Kalenbach.
Golden Jubilee Park was chosen by Aggarwal. Toxics Link is his day job and this is his first shot at being a curator. There are bamboo benches and light poles and an amphitheatre made of piles of gunny bags with soil from the riverbank. "This place is a cusp between Old Delhi and New Delhi. New things are coming up here. It's like the city is seeking a new proposition," he says. The exhibition will continue till November 20.
NGO for demolition of Games Village (The Asian Age) 5 Nov 11
As various Commonwealth Games projects are already under the scrutiny of different probe agencies, a new front was sought to be opened on Tuesday in the Supreme Court with an NGO seeking demolition of the Games Village as it is allegedly built on Yamuna bed in violation of “wetland” norms.
A public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Foundation of Indian Wetland, came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar with its counsel highlighting the “violations” of wetland norms in the construction of CWG village.
“Wetlands are nature’s bounty. They help maintain the delicate ecological balance and need to be protected for that reason. Flood plains of Yamuna are such wetlands,” the PIL said.
“Wetlands are regulators of water flow. Many a rivers remain a reliable source of water throughout the year because their flow is impeded by swamp lands so that seasonal downpours drain away slowly and water continues to flow during the dry seasons. Wetland also protect many of our sources of drinking water,” the NGO stated.
Claiming that it had opposed all types of constructions on Yamuna bed, the NGO said since the CWG complex has served its purpose, all the buildings constructed there “illegally” should be demolished to restore the flood plains to its original form.
In support of its demand, the NGO cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hinchlal Tiwari case of 2001, in which it had ordered demolition of all structures raised on a wetland in Sant Ravidas Nagar, UP.
However, during the hearing, the CJI reminded its counsel Krishnan Venugopal about another order of the apex court related to the Yamuna bed construction with regard to Akashdham Temple case.
The top court reminded that in that case, the government had placed on record the findings of experts that the construction in the area did not violate any environment norms.
In view of this, the NGO’s counsel sought two weeks’ time to study the order related to the Akshardham case and prepare his case accordingly.
A public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Foundation of Indian Wetland, came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar with its counsel highlighting the “violations” of wetland norms in the construction of CWG village.
“Wetlands are nature’s bounty. They help maintain the delicate ecological balance and need to be protected for that reason. Flood plains of Yamuna are such wetlands,” the PIL said.
“Wetlands are regulators of water flow. Many a rivers remain a reliable source of water throughout the year because their flow is impeded by swamp lands so that seasonal downpours drain away slowly and water continues to flow during the dry seasons. Wetland also protect many of our sources of drinking water,” the NGO stated.
Claiming that it had opposed all types of constructions on Yamuna bed, the NGO said since the CWG complex has served its purpose, all the buildings constructed there “illegally” should be demolished to restore the flood plains to its original form.
In support of its demand, the NGO cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hinchlal Tiwari case of 2001, in which it had ordered demolition of all structures raised on a wetland in Sant Ravidas Nagar, UP.
However, during the hearing, the CJI reminded its counsel Krishnan Venugopal about another order of the apex court related to the Yamuna bed construction with regard to Akashdham Temple case.
The top court reminded that in that case, the government had placed on record the findings of experts that the construction in the area did not violate any environment norms.
In view of this, the NGO’s counsel sought two weeks’ time to study the order related to the Akshardham case and prepare his case accordingly.
Irreversible climate change in five years, says energy agency (The Hindu) 11 Nov 11
Fiona Harvey
The world is likely to build so many new fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be “lost for ever,” according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that which produces carbon will continue to do so for decades to come, and this “lock-in” effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this infrastructure is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.
“The door is closing,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “I am very worried — if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.” Every month now counts: if the world is to stay below 2°C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80 per cent of that “carbon budget”, according to a new analysis by the IEA, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.
If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90 per cent of the available “carbon budget” will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all — the whole of the “carbon budget” will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.
Forthcoming talks in Durban
Birol's warning comes at a crucial moment in international negotiations on climate change, as governments gear up for the next fortnight of talks in Durban, South Africa, from late November. “If we do not have an international agreement, whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door to [holding temperatures to 2°C of warming] will be closed forever,” said Birol.
But governments around the world are preparing to postpone yet again a speedy conclusion to the negotiations. Originally, the aim was to agree a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the only binding international agreement on emissions, after its current provisions expire in 2012. But after years of setbacks, an increasing number of countries — including the U.K., Japan and Russia — now favour postponing the talks for several years.
Both Russia and Japan have spoken in recent weeks of aiming for an agreement in 2018 or 2020, and the U.K. has supported this move. Greg Barker, the U.K.'s Climate Change Minister, told a meeting: “We need China, the U.S. especially, the rest of the Basic countries [Brazil, South Africa, India and China] to agree. If we can get this by 2015 we could have an agreement ready to click in by 2020.”
Birol said this would clearly be too late. Nor is this a problem of the developing world, as some commentators have sought to frame it. In the U.K., Europe and the U.S., there are multiple plans for new fossil-fuelled power stations that would contribute significantly to global emissions over the coming decades.
Emissions have risen
It was revealed in May that an IEA analysis found emissions had risen by a record amount in 2010 despite the worst recession for 80 years. Last year, a record 30.6 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuel, a rise of 1.6Gt on the previous year. At the time, Birol said that constraining global warming to moderate levels would be “only a nice utopia” unless drastic action was taken.
The November 9 research adds to that finding, by showing in detail how current choices on building new energy and industrial infrastructure are likely to commit the world to much higher emissions for the next few decades, blowing apart hopes of containing the problem to manageable levels. The IEA's data is regarded as the gold standard in emissions and energy, and it is widely regarded as one of the most conservative in outlook — making today's warning all the more stark.
The central problem is that most of the industrial infrastructure already in existence around the world — the fossil-fuelled power stations, the emissions-spewing factories, the inefficient transport and buildings — are already contributing to the current high level of emissions, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, stays there and continues to have a warming effect for about a century, and industrial infrastructure is built to have a useful life of several decades at least.
Yet, despite intensifying warnings from scientists over the past two decades, the new infrastructure even now being built is constructed along the same lines as the old, which means that there is a “lock-in” effect — high-carbon infrastructure built today or in the next five years will contribute as much to the stock of emissions in the atmosphere as previous generations.
This “lock-in” effect is the single most important factor increasing the danger of runaway climate change, according to the IEA in its annual World Energy Outlook, published on Wednesday.
Fukushima effect
Climate scientists estimate that global warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels marks the limit of safety, beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible. Though such estimates are necessarily imprecise — warming of as little as 1.5°C could cause dangerous sea level rises and an increased risk of extreme weather — the limit of 2°C is now inscribed in international accords, including the partial agreement signed at Copenhagen in 2009, by which the biggest developed and developing countries for the first time agreed to curb their greenhouse gas output.
Another factor likely to increase emissions is the decision by some governments to abandon nuclear energy, following the Fukushima incident in Japan early this year. “The shift away from nuclear worsens the situation,” said Birol. If countries turn away from nuclear energy, the result could be an increase in emissions equivalent to the current emissions of Germany and France combined. Much more investment in renewable energy will be required to make up the gap, but how that would come about is unclear at present.
Birol also warned that China — the world's biggest emitter — would have to take on a much greater role in combating climate change.
In addition, by 2035 at the latest, China's cumulative emissions since 1900 are likely to exceed those of the EU, which will further weaken Beijing's argument that developed countries should take on more of the burden of emissions reduction as they carry more of the responsibility for past emissions.
In a recent interview, China's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, called on developing countries to take a greater part in the talks, while insisting that developed countries must sign up to a continuation of the Kyoto protocol — something only the European Union is willing to do. His words were greeted cautiously by other participants in the talks.
The IEA's World Energy Outlook, published annually, provides the touchstone for global energy trends. This year's outlook is unusually gloomy, following one of the deepest recessions on record for the developed world.
The IEA said: “There are few signs that the urgently needed change in direction in global energy trends is under way. Although the recovery in the world economy since 2009 has been uneven, and future economic prospects remain uncertain, global primary energy demand rebounded by a remarkable five per cent in 2010, pushing CO{-2} emissions to a new high. Subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption of fossil fuels jumped to over $400bn.” Meanwhile, an “unacceptably high” number of people — about 1.3bn — still lack access to electricity. If people are to be lifted out of poverty, this must be solved — but providing people with renewable forms of energy generation is still expensive. (Fiona Harvey is the environment correspondent.) — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011
The world is likely to build so many new fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be “lost for ever,” according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that which produces carbon will continue to do so for decades to come, and this “lock-in” effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this infrastructure is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.
“The door is closing,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “I am very worried — if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.” Every month now counts: if the world is to stay below 2°C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80 per cent of that “carbon budget”, according to a new analysis by the IEA, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.
If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90 per cent of the available “carbon budget” will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all — the whole of the “carbon budget” will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.
Forthcoming talks in Durban
Birol's warning comes at a crucial moment in international negotiations on climate change, as governments gear up for the next fortnight of talks in Durban, South Africa, from late November. “If we do not have an international agreement, whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door to [holding temperatures to 2°C of warming] will be closed forever,” said Birol.
But governments around the world are preparing to postpone yet again a speedy conclusion to the negotiations. Originally, the aim was to agree a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the only binding international agreement on emissions, after its current provisions expire in 2012. But after years of setbacks, an increasing number of countries — including the U.K., Japan and Russia — now favour postponing the talks for several years.
Both Russia and Japan have spoken in recent weeks of aiming for an agreement in 2018 or 2020, and the U.K. has supported this move. Greg Barker, the U.K.'s Climate Change Minister, told a meeting: “We need China, the U.S. especially, the rest of the Basic countries [Brazil, South Africa, India and China] to agree. If we can get this by 2015 we could have an agreement ready to click in by 2020.”
Birol said this would clearly be too late. Nor is this a problem of the developing world, as some commentators have sought to frame it. In the U.K., Europe and the U.S., there are multiple plans for new fossil-fuelled power stations that would contribute significantly to global emissions over the coming decades.
Emissions have risen
It was revealed in May that an IEA analysis found emissions had risen by a record amount in 2010 despite the worst recession for 80 years. Last year, a record 30.6 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuel, a rise of 1.6Gt on the previous year. At the time, Birol said that constraining global warming to moderate levels would be “only a nice utopia” unless drastic action was taken.
The November 9 research adds to that finding, by showing in detail how current choices on building new energy and industrial infrastructure are likely to commit the world to much higher emissions for the next few decades, blowing apart hopes of containing the problem to manageable levels. The IEA's data is regarded as the gold standard in emissions and energy, and it is widely regarded as one of the most conservative in outlook — making today's warning all the more stark.
The central problem is that most of the industrial infrastructure already in existence around the world — the fossil-fuelled power stations, the emissions-spewing factories, the inefficient transport and buildings — are already contributing to the current high level of emissions, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, stays there and continues to have a warming effect for about a century, and industrial infrastructure is built to have a useful life of several decades at least.
Yet, despite intensifying warnings from scientists over the past two decades, the new infrastructure even now being built is constructed along the same lines as the old, which means that there is a “lock-in” effect — high-carbon infrastructure built today or in the next five years will contribute as much to the stock of emissions in the atmosphere as previous generations.
This “lock-in” effect is the single most important factor increasing the danger of runaway climate change, according to the IEA in its annual World Energy Outlook, published on Wednesday.
Fukushima effect
Climate scientists estimate that global warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels marks the limit of safety, beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible. Though such estimates are necessarily imprecise — warming of as little as 1.5°C could cause dangerous sea level rises and an increased risk of extreme weather — the limit of 2°C is now inscribed in international accords, including the partial agreement signed at Copenhagen in 2009, by which the biggest developed and developing countries for the first time agreed to curb their greenhouse gas output.
Another factor likely to increase emissions is the decision by some governments to abandon nuclear energy, following the Fukushima incident in Japan early this year. “The shift away from nuclear worsens the situation,” said Birol. If countries turn away from nuclear energy, the result could be an increase in emissions equivalent to the current emissions of Germany and France combined. Much more investment in renewable energy will be required to make up the gap, but how that would come about is unclear at present.
Birol also warned that China — the world's biggest emitter — would have to take on a much greater role in combating climate change.
In addition, by 2035 at the latest, China's cumulative emissions since 1900 are likely to exceed those of the EU, which will further weaken Beijing's argument that developed countries should take on more of the burden of emissions reduction as they carry more of the responsibility for past emissions.
In a recent interview, China's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, called on developing countries to take a greater part in the talks, while insisting that developed countries must sign up to a continuation of the Kyoto protocol — something only the European Union is willing to do. His words were greeted cautiously by other participants in the talks.
The IEA's World Energy Outlook, published annually, provides the touchstone for global energy trends. This year's outlook is unusually gloomy, following one of the deepest recessions on record for the developed world.
The IEA said: “There are few signs that the urgently needed change in direction in global energy trends is under way. Although the recovery in the world economy since 2009 has been uneven, and future economic prospects remain uncertain, global primary energy demand rebounded by a remarkable five per cent in 2010, pushing CO{-2} emissions to a new high. Subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption of fossil fuels jumped to over $400bn.” Meanwhile, an “unacceptably high” number of people — about 1.3bn — still lack access to electricity. If people are to be lifted out of poverty, this must be solved — but providing people with renewable forms of energy generation is still expensive. (Fiona Harvey is the environment correspondent.) — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011
Brick by brick, the litany of a river (The Sunday Standard) 6 Nov 11)
Last Updated : 06 Nov 2011 09:13:16 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Yamuna is dying a slow death in Delhi. At least 40 per cent of the Yamuna floodplain has already been claimed by ‘development’ activity, and though the Delhi government appears to be doing its best to save the remainder, encroachment along the riverbed continues unabated.
Despite a moratorium on construction on the riverbed, imposed by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Tejendra Khanna in 2007, two controversial projects still managed to get clearance to be located on it. They are the Millennium Bus Depot (MBD) near the CWG Village, and the DMRC flats being constructed at the Yamuna Bank metro station. Neither project has, however, been cleared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC), set up by Parliament in 1973 to maintain the aesthetics of Delhi’s urban space. “No riverbed project, including the MBD, has got clearance from the DUAC since 2007,” said K T Ravindran, former Chairman of the commission.
The MBD was originally permitted on the Yamuna floodplain with the assurance that it would be a temporary structure for the duration of the 2010 CWG. Subsequently, the DTC has refused to budge from the 60 acre area. Their argument: as a heavy investment of `60 crore of public money has already been made, it ought to be used to park the thousands of buses required for the city’s public transport system. A PIL, seeking demolition of the depot has been filed, and the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court. When contacted, the LG’s office refused to comment, stating that the matter was sub-judice.
At Yamuna Bank metro station, mean-while, DMRC is building around 90 flats to house its maintenance staff. This is also on the floodplain, and has been opposed by DUAC, which earlier said it was misled by DMRC about the project. DUAC maintains that DMRC had not informed it about the staff quarters when it sought clearance from it for the project.
According to the zonal development plan for the river, the stretch of the river from Burari in the north, to Jaitpur in the south, falls in the ‘O’ Zone. No construction activity is permitted in this area, as the 22 km stretch includes the entire floodplain of the river, and is its water recharge zone. “Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s no legal protection for the river. It is being viewed as a waterbody, rather than a complete ecosystem that needs to be preserved,” said Suresh Babu, Director, Water Policy and River Basins, WWF.
Over the past 10 years, the floodplain has witnessed large scale construction, with housing colonies coming up in east Delhi. The Shastri Park metro station and the Akshardham temple were among the first structures on the riverbed. “The CWG Village, bus depot and several new roads and flyovers, like the Ring Road Bypass, are all located on the floodplain. Over the years, development along both its banks has led to gradual narrowing of the river. During the monsoons, these areas get flooded, as the additional water has no place to go,” says Manoj Mishra, convenor of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, involved in its restoration.
NEW DELHI: The Yamuna is dying a slow death in Delhi. At least 40 per cent of the Yamuna floodplain has already been claimed by ‘development’ activity, and though the Delhi government appears to be doing its best to save the remainder, encroachment along the riverbed continues unabated.
Despite a moratorium on construction on the riverbed, imposed by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Tejendra Khanna in 2007, two controversial projects still managed to get clearance to be located on it. They are the Millennium Bus Depot (MBD) near the CWG Village, and the DMRC flats being constructed at the Yamuna Bank metro station. Neither project has, however, been cleared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC), set up by Parliament in 1973 to maintain the aesthetics of Delhi’s urban space. “No riverbed project, including the MBD, has got clearance from the DUAC since 2007,” said K T Ravindran, former Chairman of the commission.
The MBD was originally permitted on the Yamuna floodplain with the assurance that it would be a temporary structure for the duration of the 2010 CWG. Subsequently, the DTC has refused to budge from the 60 acre area. Their argument: as a heavy investment of `60 crore of public money has already been made, it ought to be used to park the thousands of buses required for the city’s public transport system. A PIL, seeking demolition of the depot has been filed, and the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court. When contacted, the LG’s office refused to comment, stating that the matter was sub-judice.
At Yamuna Bank metro station, mean-while, DMRC is building around 90 flats to house its maintenance staff. This is also on the floodplain, and has been opposed by DUAC, which earlier said it was misled by DMRC about the project. DUAC maintains that DMRC had not informed it about the staff quarters when it sought clearance from it for the project.
According to the zonal development plan for the river, the stretch of the river from Burari in the north, to Jaitpur in the south, falls in the ‘O’ Zone. No construction activity is permitted in this area, as the 22 km stretch includes the entire floodplain of the river, and is its water recharge zone. “Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s no legal protection for the river. It is being viewed as a waterbody, rather than a complete ecosystem that needs to be preserved,” said Suresh Babu, Director, Water Policy and River Basins, WWF.
Over the past 10 years, the floodplain has witnessed large scale construction, with housing colonies coming up in east Delhi. The Shastri Park metro station and the Akshardham temple were among the first structures on the riverbed. “The CWG Village, bus depot and several new roads and flyovers, like the Ring Road Bypass, are all located on the floodplain. Over the years, development along both its banks has led to gradual narrowing of the river. During the monsoons, these areas get flooded, as the additional water has no place to go,” says Manoj Mishra, convenor of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, involved in its restoration.
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