Existing habitats will be gone unless the Yamuna basin is protected, says Asian Water Bird Census-2010
Paradise lost?: Okhla Bird Sanctuary is the only major habitat that still attracts a large number of migratory water birds though their number has gone down this year.
NEW DELHI: With the Asian Water Bird Census-2010 in Delhi revealing a marked fall in the arrival of migratory birds, the report of the State Coordinator Delhi for Wetlands International South Asia has cautioned that until the general public becomes aware about conservation and the Government takes immediate steps for protection of the Yamuna river basin, the existing habitats of water birds in Delhi will become completely degraded and get converted into dry lands in the near future.
The bird census was conducted at four sites across Delhi during the scheduled period between January 9 and January 24 by AWC Delhi State Coordinator with the help of a volunteer team.
State coordinator T.K. Roy said this year a number of factors affected the arrival of birds. “The winter was late and the arrival of migratory water birds was less both in number and species. Even otherwise the migration rate of water birds has been gradually declining in Delhi region during the last few years.''
Mr. Roy said while overall effects of global warming, climatic changes and degradation of habitats were the major reason behind declining rate of migration of water birds all over the world as per reports of the scientific organisations, in Delhi a number of local factors have also contributed to this worrying trend.
He said among the four Asian Water Bird Census sites in Delhi, the four square km area of Okhla Bird Sanctuary is the only major habitat in the heart of polluted Delhi that still attracts a large number of migratory water birds from diversified species during winter. However, he said, the census found an alarming drop in their numbers this year. Only 112 bar-headed geese came this year compared with 212 in 2009. Similarly the number of gadwal was down to 72 from 302; northern shoveler to 484 from 854; northern pintail 172 instead of 272; only 231 common coot were spotted in place of 355 in 2009; the mixed flock of brown-headed and black-headed gull dropped to 345 from 877 while the Eurasian widgeon came down to 15 from 18.
While the number of grey-leg geese remains almost the same at 411 instead of 416 in 2009, the number of Eurasian spoonbills increased to 16 from six. The only species which showed a marked increase in arrivals was the common teal which increased to 184 from 78 in 2009.
However, the number of common pochard fell drastically to 28 from 320 in 2009; while the tufted pochard also dropped to just four from 236 in 2009. The local resident species of greater flamingos this time suddenly disappeared during January and 20 were later tracked. The other species that gave Delhi a miss this time included avocet, bar-headed and black-tailed godwits, comb duck and garganey among others.
As for the local conditions which adversely impacted the arrival of these birds, Mr. Roy said the water level of the sanctuary was higher during winter and the smaller islands and marshlands remained almost submerged. Due to this most of the common wader species did not camp in Delhi this winter as they could not find suitable habitat to walk on water and feed.
Still some of the waders like wood sandpiper, green shank, spotted green shank, common Redshank, little stint and temminck's stint did arrive in small numbers to areas downstream of the Okhla Barrage.
On the western bank of the Yamuna, Mr. Roy said, while the sanctuary provides a much better habitat to the waders, as it has marshlands, the disturbance caused by the frequent movement of people and cattle kept them away.
“Almost the entire habitat for water birds along the stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi region is badly degrading (except upstream of Wazirabad and Okhla barrage) due to winter cultivation on the river bed and islands and extreme water pollution due to direct flow of industrial and domestic sewage, through canals and drains, into the river. Dumping of non-biodegradable waste into the river and rapid development works pertaining to construction of roads and bridges for the upcoming Commonwealth Games are all affecting the arrival of birds,'' he said.
Though following the census, many of migratory species like northern shoveler, northern pintail, common coot, common teal, gadwal, brown-headed and black-headed gulls and Eurasian spoonbill came to the sanctuary, he said, this was primarily de-migration as the temperatures went up sharply in the early part of February.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
‘First phase of Hindon cleaning a success’ (Indian Express - Monday, 15 March 2010)
Pragya Kaushika
Ghaziabad : After exactly a year and over Rs 1 crore, the Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad (MCG) claims to have brought down the pollution levels of the Hindon river.
With the completion of first phase of the Hindon-cleaning project, the statistics with the MCG shows the level of Biological Oxygen Demand (measure of pollutant organic material in water), which was 45 milligram/litre (mg/l) earlier, has come down to 9.6 mg/l in January according to the records available with the pollution control board.
The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in Hindon was 180 mg/l earlier, and came down to 36 mg/l in January.
“According to pollution control standards, COD should be below 120 mg/l,” a senior MCG official said.
The budget for the first phase of cleaning the Hindon was Rs 1.23 crores.
Officials say the process of cleaning two kms as part of the first phase, out of a total of eight kms that falls within the jurisdiction of the civic agency, took a year. This year, the agency plans to clean up the remaining six kms.
Apart from cleaning up the river, which originates in the Shivalik valleys and covers a distance of 260 kms before merging with the Yamuna in Gautam Budh Nagar, the areas surrounding the river in Ghaziabad have also been cleaned and developed as ghats.
“The biggest challenge in the ‘Cleaning Hindon’ project was preventing people from disposing of religious items in the river. The next step was preventing washermen from using the Hindon ghats. We also had to stop people from defecating along the river banks,” City Commissioner Ajay Shanker Pandey said.
As part of the project, the commissioner directed that religious material was to be disposed in the Hawan Kund near Hindon. The civic agency put up 400 disposal units at various temples in the city. The city was divided into five zones and one vehicle was deployed to visit temples in each zone and collect material from the disposal units.
“The collected material was then dumped in Hawan Kund. This way, we have managed to prevent the dumping of 12 tonnes of religious material in the river. We have also developed pukka ghats and put up nets in the river to catch any immersed waste,” Pandey said.
The commissioner approved the building of separate washing ghats to stop people from washing clothes in the river. Toilets were also constructed in the area.
“Two task forces were formed to clean the water of plastic material and other wastes every day,” Pandey said. The second phase of cleaning has begun, he added.
For A clean hindon
Rs 1.23 cr
Budget of first phase
2 km
River length cleaned
Ghaziabad : After exactly a year and over Rs 1 crore, the Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad (MCG) claims to have brought down the pollution levels of the Hindon river.
With the completion of first phase of the Hindon-cleaning project, the statistics with the MCG shows the level of Biological Oxygen Demand (measure of pollutant organic material in water), which was 45 milligram/litre (mg/l) earlier, has come down to 9.6 mg/l in January according to the records available with the pollution control board.
The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in Hindon was 180 mg/l earlier, and came down to 36 mg/l in January.
“According to pollution control standards, COD should be below 120 mg/l,” a senior MCG official said.
The budget for the first phase of cleaning the Hindon was Rs 1.23 crores.
Officials say the process of cleaning two kms as part of the first phase, out of a total of eight kms that falls within the jurisdiction of the civic agency, took a year. This year, the agency plans to clean up the remaining six kms.
Apart from cleaning up the river, which originates in the Shivalik valleys and covers a distance of 260 kms before merging with the Yamuna in Gautam Budh Nagar, the areas surrounding the river in Ghaziabad have also been cleaned and developed as ghats.
“The biggest challenge in the ‘Cleaning Hindon’ project was preventing people from disposing of religious items in the river. The next step was preventing washermen from using the Hindon ghats. We also had to stop people from defecating along the river banks,” City Commissioner Ajay Shanker Pandey said.
As part of the project, the commissioner directed that religious material was to be disposed in the Hawan Kund near Hindon. The civic agency put up 400 disposal units at various temples in the city. The city was divided into five zones and one vehicle was deployed to visit temples in each zone and collect material from the disposal units.
“The collected material was then dumped in Hawan Kund. This way, we have managed to prevent the dumping of 12 tonnes of religious material in the river. We have also developed pukka ghats and put up nets in the river to catch any immersed waste,” Pandey said.
The commissioner approved the building of separate washing ghats to stop people from washing clothes in the river. Toilets were also constructed in the area.
“Two task forces were formed to clean the water of plastic material and other wastes every day,” Pandey said. The second phase of cleaning has begun, he added.
For A clean hindon
Rs 1.23 cr
Budget of first phase
2 km
River length cleaned
Friday, March 12, 2010
Water pollution in Punjab; Baba Seechewal offers a solution (The Tribune- 13 Mar. 2010)
by Bikram Singh Virk
THE untreated sewerage water of the cities is a big problem in Punjab with its stink making life a hell for the urbanites. With no treatment facilities at most of the places, water flows through open nullahs and pollute the water bodies, including rivulets, water streams and even the rivers.
The Sutlej is totally black and stinking beyond Ludhiana, as the city’s effluents along with the untreated sewerage water fall into it through Buddhah Nullah.
The Malwa belt, where people use this water for drinking purposes, today is marred by cancer. None of the statutes or government dictates has cured this malaise.
A solution to this multi-faceted problem is a unique sewerage treatment plant, which the noted environmentalist and the man behind the cleansing of Kali Bein, Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, has indigenously designed and built on about six acres of land near Dasuya town in Hoshiarpur district at a measly cost of about Rs 18 lakh.
The plant, built in one month’s time only, has in the first leg three 11 ft-deep wells with a diametre of 30 ft, 20 ft and 15 ft respectively and six adjoining ponds of 170ft x 100 ft in the second leg, all built at the height of about 12 ft from the ground level.
Thick sewerage water from the open nullah is thrown through two pump sets in the first well from a height by scattering it on a platform for aeration. It then swivels in the well and enters into the second and then into the third one.
Sewerage water loses its thick slurry in the bottoms of these V-Shaped wells from where it is separated with the help of a pre-laid underground pipe and taken aside in the open beds. After drying, this slurry becomes very fertile soil capable of growing vegetable and flowers in flower pots and kitchen gardens.
The water from the wells then moves to the adjoining larger ponds of 170ft x 100ft, three of which are built in a row and gets purified automatically as it moves from one pond to another, losing its stink after the second pond.
After passing through the first three, water enters into the set of other three ponds parallel to the first ones. In the fifth and sixth ponds, the water is crystal clear and fit for irrigation purposes with all the healthy nutrients in it.
From here it is channelled to a 3 km underground pipeline taking it to the adjoining fields for irrigation. The tilt of wells and ponds is so designed that the water moves automatically with the gravitational force.
Daily around 10 to 12 lakh litres of sewerage water of Dasuya, having a population of around 20,000, falls into this sewer and irrigates around 300 acres of crop of wheat post-treatment.
Farmers who use this water are a happy lot as they have stopped using ground water for irrigation and their yield has shot up by 30 to 40 per cent due to this nutrient rich water.
Roughly, it increased the output of wheat by around 180 tonnes and that of paddy by 240 tonnes last year from these 300 acres, which means an additional income of Rs 40 lakh to the farmers.
Their fertiliser consumption has also fallen to around one-third of what they used earlier and approximately 60 tonnes of urea and 30 tonnes of DAP was saved in a year, which means a net saving of about Rs 6 lakh on account of fertilisers.
Since the farmers have stopped using underground water, the water table has also gone up fairly in the area. Kali Bein, which was polluted with its dirty water, has been spared of this curse.
In nutshell, this plant can be seen a model for solving the sewer woes of all the towns in Punjab and that too with huge economic and environmental advantages coming in as a bonus.
Punjab today has 134 municipalities and three corporations with a population base of about 85 lakh. Taking Dasuya town’s population as the base for all calculations, all the cities of Punjab put together have a capacity to irrigate 1,25,000 acres of land, thereby increasing the output of wheat and paddy by 37,500 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes respectively, which means an additional income of about Rs 80 crore to the state farmers.
They will also save around 25,000 tonnes of urea and 12,500 tonnes of DAP resulting in a net saving of Rs 24 crore. It will further stop polluting the water bodies and ground water and the people will be spared of diseases caused by impurities in water. All the rivers and rivulets of Punjab will again become clean with a single stroke.
Apart from land, with a cost of around Rs 75 crore, this model can be easily replicated in small and medium towns of Punjab. The only thing which needs to be ensured is that the implementation work should not be entrusted to any government agency, which may take years to commission the plants and at many times of what Baba Seechewal has spent.
It will be in the fitness of things if the required land and funds are handed over to Sant Seechewal’s NGO, which can build such treatment plants in Punjab in a single year! There is no better solution to the problem of water pollution in Punjab than these low-cost treatment plants.
THE untreated sewerage water of the cities is a big problem in Punjab with its stink making life a hell for the urbanites. With no treatment facilities at most of the places, water flows through open nullahs and pollute the water bodies, including rivulets, water streams and even the rivers.
The Sutlej is totally black and stinking beyond Ludhiana, as the city’s effluents along with the untreated sewerage water fall into it through Buddhah Nullah.
The Malwa belt, where people use this water for drinking purposes, today is marred by cancer. None of the statutes or government dictates has cured this malaise.
A solution to this multi-faceted problem is a unique sewerage treatment plant, which the noted environmentalist and the man behind the cleansing of Kali Bein, Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, has indigenously designed and built on about six acres of land near Dasuya town in Hoshiarpur district at a measly cost of about Rs 18 lakh.
The plant, built in one month’s time only, has in the first leg three 11 ft-deep wells with a diametre of 30 ft, 20 ft and 15 ft respectively and six adjoining ponds of 170ft x 100 ft in the second leg, all built at the height of about 12 ft from the ground level.
Thick sewerage water from the open nullah is thrown through two pump sets in the first well from a height by scattering it on a platform for aeration. It then swivels in the well and enters into the second and then into the third one.
Sewerage water loses its thick slurry in the bottoms of these V-Shaped wells from where it is separated with the help of a pre-laid underground pipe and taken aside in the open beds. After drying, this slurry becomes very fertile soil capable of growing vegetable and flowers in flower pots and kitchen gardens.
The water from the wells then moves to the adjoining larger ponds of 170ft x 100ft, three of which are built in a row and gets purified automatically as it moves from one pond to another, losing its stink after the second pond.
After passing through the first three, water enters into the set of other three ponds parallel to the first ones. In the fifth and sixth ponds, the water is crystal clear and fit for irrigation purposes with all the healthy nutrients in it.
From here it is channelled to a 3 km underground pipeline taking it to the adjoining fields for irrigation. The tilt of wells and ponds is so designed that the water moves automatically with the gravitational force.
Daily around 10 to 12 lakh litres of sewerage water of Dasuya, having a population of around 20,000, falls into this sewer and irrigates around 300 acres of crop of wheat post-treatment.
Farmers who use this water are a happy lot as they have stopped using ground water for irrigation and their yield has shot up by 30 to 40 per cent due to this nutrient rich water.
Roughly, it increased the output of wheat by around 180 tonnes and that of paddy by 240 tonnes last year from these 300 acres, which means an additional income of Rs 40 lakh to the farmers.
Their fertiliser consumption has also fallen to around one-third of what they used earlier and approximately 60 tonnes of urea and 30 tonnes of DAP was saved in a year, which means a net saving of about Rs 6 lakh on account of fertilisers.
Since the farmers have stopped using underground water, the water table has also gone up fairly in the area. Kali Bein, which was polluted with its dirty water, has been spared of this curse.
In nutshell, this plant can be seen a model for solving the sewer woes of all the towns in Punjab and that too with huge economic and environmental advantages coming in as a bonus.
Punjab today has 134 municipalities and three corporations with a population base of about 85 lakh. Taking Dasuya town’s population as the base for all calculations, all the cities of Punjab put together have a capacity to irrigate 1,25,000 acres of land, thereby increasing the output of wheat and paddy by 37,500 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes respectively, which means an additional income of about Rs 80 crore to the state farmers.
They will also save around 25,000 tonnes of urea and 12,500 tonnes of DAP resulting in a net saving of Rs 24 crore. It will further stop polluting the water bodies and ground water and the people will be spared of diseases caused by impurities in water. All the rivers and rivulets of Punjab will again become clean with a single stroke.
Apart from land, with a cost of around Rs 75 crore, this model can be easily replicated in small and medium towns of Punjab. The only thing which needs to be ensured is that the implementation work should not be entrusted to any government agency, which may take years to commission the plants and at many times of what Baba Seechewal has spent.
It will be in the fitness of things if the required land and funds are handed over to Sant Seechewal’s NGO, which can build such treatment plants in Punjab in a single year! There is no better solution to the problem of water pollution in Punjab than these low-cost treatment plants.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Letter to Sri Jairam Ramesh regarding mechanised sand mining (Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan- 04 March 2010)
To,
Sri Jairam Ramesh,
Hon’ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Lodi Road
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan
Sir, Hamirpur in UP is a relatively obscure district headquarter town nestled between river Yamuna and river Betwa. It lies 65 Km south of Kanpur city on NH 86. It is also one of the 14 sites at which we are engaged in setting up ‘Nadi Mitra Mandali’ (Friends of the River) consisting of local people, interested in safeguarding their life line river/s.
A recent visit to the project villages has revealed not just over whelming support for the two rivers amongst the local people but also an ugly picture of the ongoing river bed devastation of river Betwa in form of mechanised sand mining that reportedly results in removal of truck loads of river sand in excess of 1000 trucks per day. One can well imagine the fate of the river in the face of such mindless mining and transportation activity. And not just the river bed, it is also the hapless villagers who are faced with a constant barrage of empty and loaded trucks plying day in day out on their dusty village roads. To top it, imagine as a result, the state of the so called National Highway, on which it took us three and a half hours to cover the 65 km to Kanpur.
It is a little appreciated tragedy that despite critical ecological role of sand in a river system (kindly peruse the enclosed summary of an article), river sand has been included amongst minor metals whose mining (courtesy the Mining Department) is seen as of little consequence for the river and used only as a revenue earner for the state’s exchequer.
While admittedly sand removal (if carried out manually and in a controlled manner) from river beds and flood plains could be seen to be a sustainable economic activity for local people post every monsoon, its devastating effects when indulged in an unbridled manner (as highlighted in the enclosed pictorial report) requires urgent attention and regulation.
Accordingly we suggest, if we may, that please consider inclusion of mechanised sand mining from river beds as one of the activity requiring prior environmental clearance from the MOEF under the EIA Notification, 2006.
We hope that our suggestion would merit requisite attention at your end.
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convener
Sri Jairam Ramesh,
Hon’ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Lodi Road
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan
Sir, Hamirpur in UP is a relatively obscure district headquarter town nestled between river Yamuna and river Betwa. It lies 65 Km south of Kanpur city on NH 86. It is also one of the 14 sites at which we are engaged in setting up ‘Nadi Mitra Mandali’ (Friends of the River) consisting of local people, interested in safeguarding their life line river/s.
A recent visit to the project villages has revealed not just over whelming support for the two rivers amongst the local people but also an ugly picture of the ongoing river bed devastation of river Betwa in form of mechanised sand mining that reportedly results in removal of truck loads of river sand in excess of 1000 trucks per day. One can well imagine the fate of the river in the face of such mindless mining and transportation activity. And not just the river bed, it is also the hapless villagers who are faced with a constant barrage of empty and loaded trucks plying day in day out on their dusty village roads. To top it, imagine as a result, the state of the so called National Highway, on which it took us three and a half hours to cover the 65 km to Kanpur.
It is a little appreciated tragedy that despite critical ecological role of sand in a river system (kindly peruse the enclosed summary of an article), river sand has been included amongst minor metals whose mining (courtesy the Mining Department) is seen as of little consequence for the river and used only as a revenue earner for the state’s exchequer.
While admittedly sand removal (if carried out manually and in a controlled manner) from river beds and flood plains could be seen to be a sustainable economic activity for local people post every monsoon, its devastating effects when indulged in an unbridled manner (as highlighted in the enclosed pictorial report) requires urgent attention and regulation.
Accordingly we suggest, if we may, that please consider inclusion of mechanised sand mining from river beds as one of the activity requiring prior environmental clearance from the MOEF under the EIA Notification, 2006.
We hope that our suggestion would merit requisite attention at your end.
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convener
Letter to PM (Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan- 06 March 2010)
To,
Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.
Sir, when we fail to learn from our past mistakes or make timely amends, we are doomed to revisit our history. And the history of the mismanagement of our rivers indicate that our preoccupation with technological solutions to what essentially is an ecological tragedy will yet again not take us far except leaving us with dysfunctional and at many places non essential infrastructure for some future Prime Minister at a future date to lament the shortsightedness of present day administrators and planners.
Thus this is to express our utter disappointment on the 'old wine in old bottle' approach (as reported in the media) being pursued with respect to tackling the river issue with respect to river Ganga under the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) dispensation which when first came into being under you Chairmanship raised lots of hopes that now at least the river question would be addressed in a holistic manner. But alas !
Sir, we wonder as to when would our planners come to understand that the river 'problem' in our country is primarily not about its cleaning. And as long as we remain obsessed with cleaning of our rivers, more and more funds would be lost to implementing (or at least trying to) ineffectual prescriptions.
Sir, when we say basin level approach and treatment for our rivers, then we have an opportunity to think, plan and implement actions which are 'out of the box'.
These 'out of the box' questions include
a) What has happened to the 'flow' (the very basis of any river) in our rivers?
b) Can we take hard administrative (and not just judicial suggestions which have made little difference on the ground) decisions to ensure a minimum lean season environmental flows in all our rivers through a legislative action?
c) Why should waste water including sewage (originating from our towns and cities) even be permitted to drain into our rivers? The fact is that the first charge on waste water (except toxic industrial effluent) after treatment is to irrigate the farm lands and cool industrial processes and not to drain into water bodies and rivers. (Kindly recall that this was the only prescription which proved effective when Baba Balbir Singh and his followers went about successfully reviving the holy river Kali Bein in Punjab)
d) Why should our cities and industries not invest primarily and heavily in water 'recycling' (of whatever is available) and rain water harvest to meet their needs, rather look towards rivers near or even far away as their current or future source of water and draining away of their respective wastes?
e) Why is fresh water flowing in our rivers, although essential and life sustaining, being seen as an irrigation and industrial 'luxury' and its 'rationed' use by all the concerned not being promoted as a national goal?
f) Why is the ground water recharge role of our river systems not being appreciated enough?
g) Why our rivers as 'once upon a time' mode of cheap and easy transportation not being explored and promoted again?
h) Why is a river (including its flood plains) system not being seen as a unique ecosystem requiring urgent protection by law?
With the above as few of the critical questions we should then be investing primarily on
a) Catchment treatment / enrichment of our river basins to retain more and more of rain water that falls on them
b) Taking a policy decision to promote unfettered flow of rivers, by deciding that structures (dams, barrages, bridges, embankments etc) on the rivers shall be an exception and not a matter of rule. As a beginning let us at least agree on treating some of our rivers like river Chambal (and river Ganga and Yamuna tributaries in Uttarakhand and Himachal) as natural and protected against any additional harness
b) Creation of waste water diversion (away from rivers and natural water bodies), cleaning and supply infrastructure to meet primarily irrigation and industrial needs
c) Ensuring by law a minimum environmental flow round the year in all our rivers beginning river Ganga and all its tributaries (including Yamuna)
d) Ensuring by law the protection to the flood plains and all its flora and fauna of the river systems in the land
e) Making it obligatory on the part of city planners and industries to meet their water needs through recycling and rain water harvests.
f) Promotion of rivers as mode of in land transportation
Sir, we hope that our submissions made as above would be given due attention and found useful for ensuring the nation's long term environmental and water security. At the very least, please do not let the nation repeat the follies of Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans!
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convener
Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.
Sir, when we fail to learn from our past mistakes or make timely amends, we are doomed to revisit our history. And the history of the mismanagement of our rivers indicate that our preoccupation with technological solutions to what essentially is an ecological tragedy will yet again not take us far except leaving us with dysfunctional and at many places non essential infrastructure for some future Prime Minister at a future date to lament the shortsightedness of present day administrators and planners.
Thus this is to express our utter disappointment on the 'old wine in old bottle' approach (as reported in the media) being pursued with respect to tackling the river issue with respect to river Ganga under the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) dispensation which when first came into being under you Chairmanship raised lots of hopes that now at least the river question would be addressed in a holistic manner. But alas !
Sir, we wonder as to when would our planners come to understand that the river 'problem' in our country is primarily not about its cleaning. And as long as we remain obsessed with cleaning of our rivers, more and more funds would be lost to implementing (or at least trying to) ineffectual prescriptions.
Sir, when we say basin level approach and treatment for our rivers, then we have an opportunity to think, plan and implement actions which are 'out of the box'.
These 'out of the box' questions include
a) What has happened to the 'flow' (the very basis of any river) in our rivers?
b) Can we take hard administrative (and not just judicial suggestions which have made little difference on the ground) decisions to ensure a minimum lean season environmental flows in all our rivers through a legislative action?
c) Why should waste water including sewage (originating from our towns and cities) even be permitted to drain into our rivers? The fact is that the first charge on waste water (except toxic industrial effluent) after treatment is to irrigate the farm lands and cool industrial processes and not to drain into water bodies and rivers. (Kindly recall that this was the only prescription which proved effective when Baba Balbir Singh and his followers went about successfully reviving the holy river Kali Bein in Punjab)
d) Why should our cities and industries not invest primarily and heavily in water 'recycling' (of whatever is available) and rain water harvest to meet their needs, rather look towards rivers near or even far away as their current or future source of water and draining away of their respective wastes?
e) Why is fresh water flowing in our rivers, although essential and life sustaining, being seen as an irrigation and industrial 'luxury' and its 'rationed' use by all the concerned not being promoted as a national goal?
f) Why is the ground water recharge role of our river systems not being appreciated enough?
g) Why our rivers as 'once upon a time' mode of cheap and easy transportation not being explored and promoted again?
h) Why is a river (including its flood plains) system not being seen as a unique ecosystem requiring urgent protection by law?
With the above as few of the critical questions we should then be investing primarily on
a) Catchment treatment / enrichment of our river basins to retain more and more of rain water that falls on them
b) Taking a policy decision to promote unfettered flow of rivers, by deciding that structures (dams, barrages, bridges, embankments etc) on the rivers shall be an exception and not a matter of rule. As a beginning let us at least agree on treating some of our rivers like river Chambal (and river Ganga and Yamuna tributaries in Uttarakhand and Himachal) as natural and protected against any additional harness
b) Creation of waste water diversion (away from rivers and natural water bodies), cleaning and supply infrastructure to meet primarily irrigation and industrial needs
c) Ensuring by law a minimum environmental flow round the year in all our rivers beginning river Ganga and all its tributaries (including Yamuna)
d) Ensuring by law the protection to the flood plains and all its flora and fauna of the river systems in the land
e) Making it obligatory on the part of city planners and industries to meet their water needs through recycling and rain water harvests.
f) Promotion of rivers as mode of in land transportation
Sir, we hope that our submissions made as above would be given due attention and found useful for ensuring the nation's long term environmental and water security. At the very least, please do not let the nation repeat the follies of Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans!
Warm regards,
Manoj Misra
Convener
Ganga clean-up gets Rs 1,394cr boost(Times of India- 06 March 2010)
TNN
NEW DELHI: In a boost to the Ganga cleaning programme, the government has cleared projects worth Rs 1,394.11 crore for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
While the Union government had allocated Rs 500 crore for the 2010-11 fiscal, the empowered steering committee committee of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as part of the first phase of the project has provided Rs 800 crore to Uttar Pradesh, Rs 440 crore to Bihar, Rs 105 crore to West Bengal and Rs 45 crore to Uttarakhand.
The money will be spent by the states on projects that include development of sewer networks, sewage treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, electric crematoria, community toilets, development of river-fronts, resuscitation of canals, and public campaigns.
Union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh said, "In addition to these measures, we are negotiating a major loan of about US $1 billion with the World Bank for Ganga cleaning, which is progressing on track."
The first meeting of NGRBA was held on October 5, last year, with Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh as chair at which it was decided that no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents would be allowed to flow into the Ganga by the year 2020.
In December 2009, the authority created the empowered steering committee with the environment and forests secretary as chair to sanction projects. The committee includes members representing other Union ministries, Central Pollution Control Board, Central Water Commission and the states concerned.
Ramesh said, "These measures signify the importance and urgency that we are placing on the river Ganga, which has such an important place in our culture, and which is so central to the livelihoods of millions of our people."
NEW DELHI: In a boost to the Ganga cleaning programme, the government has cleared projects worth Rs 1,394.11 crore for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
While the Union government had allocated Rs 500 crore for the 2010-11 fiscal, the empowered steering committee committee of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as part of the first phase of the project has provided Rs 800 crore to Uttar Pradesh, Rs 440 crore to Bihar, Rs 105 crore to West Bengal and Rs 45 crore to Uttarakhand.
The money will be spent by the states on projects that include development of sewer networks, sewage treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, electric crematoria, community toilets, development of river-fronts, resuscitation of canals, and public campaigns.
Union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh said, "In addition to these measures, we are negotiating a major loan of about US $1 billion with the World Bank for Ganga cleaning, which is progressing on track."
The first meeting of NGRBA was held on October 5, last year, with Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh as chair at which it was decided that no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents would be allowed to flow into the Ganga by the year 2020.
In December 2009, the authority created the empowered steering committee with the environment and forests secretary as chair to sanction projects. The committee includes members representing other Union ministries, Central Pollution Control Board, Central Water Commission and the states concerned.
Ramesh said, "These measures signify the importance and urgency that we are placing on the river Ganga, which has such an important place in our culture, and which is so central to the livelihoods of millions of our people."
Friday, March 5, 2010
Govt seeks Rs 833 cr more to clean Yamuna (Indian Express- 05 March 2010)
GEETA GUPTA
NEW DELHI :ACTION PLAN-III Talks on with Japanese agency for loan, say officials; Jal Board seeks more time to finish work on earlier plan
AFTER working towards cleaning e Yamuna since 1993 in two ases of the Yamuna Action Plan, a e government is now proposing i amuna Action Plan-III (YAPI), seeking a loan of Rs 833 crore t om the Japan International Co- k eration Agency (JICA).
Meanwhile, Delhi Jal Board JB) -- the implementing agency c r YAP in the river's 22-km stretch Delhi -- has received an exten on YAP-II. The earlier deadline for completion of YAP-II was ex- tended from November 2009 to March 2010.
Senior DJB officials said talks are already on with JICA, propos- ing another loan of Rs 833 crore for YAP-III, which officials said would take at least another two years to kick off.
DJB Additional CEO Santosh Vaidya told Newsline: “While some cities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana also fall under YAP-II, major implementation works were to be done by Delhi. The Ministry
f Environment and Forests and 20 apan International Cooperation agency have now agreed to extend the term of YAP-II till March Under YAP-II, the DJB had ken up projects under three vive the ‘dead’ river. The projects included rehabilitation of trunk sewers — Ring Road sewer, Bela Road sewer and Wazirabad Road sewer tap- ping the 13 major drains of Delhi — as well as rehabilita- tion and augmentation of the treatment capacity of the two sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Keshopur and Okhla.
Vaidya said: “As the Okhla STP takes the sewage load of entire South Delhi, we have also increased its treatment capacity from 140
GD to 170 MGD. The 72-MGD R eshopur STP has been completely pr efurbished to take the entire m ewage load of North and North- ta est Delhi. We are now comfort- te ble with the extended deadline to tr nish all works under YAP-II." o While initial estimates pegged is he cost of projects in Delhi at Rs ca 87.17 crore, delays in various pro- ic cts have increased it to Rs 450 te rore. "The increased cost is being u orne by DJB," Vaidya said. "We ave only got an extension of N enure for completing the works." fr Ramesh Negi said YAP-III would propose to build new sewage treat- ment plants in the city and rehabili- tate the existing ones with better technology. “After rehabilitation of trunk sewers is done under YAP-II, our future proposal under YAP-III is to increase our sewage treatment capacity that would take the biolog- ical oxygen demand (BOD) in wa- ter from the present 20 units to 5 units in future,” Negi said.
With the present BOD levels, Negi said, the water discharged from STPs into the river can only be used for irrigation. “With the
NEW DELHI :ACTION PLAN-III Talks on with Japanese agency for loan, say officials; Jal Board seeks more time to finish work on earlier plan
AFTER working towards cleaning e Yamuna since 1993 in two ases of the Yamuna Action Plan, a e government is now proposing i amuna Action Plan-III (YAPI), seeking a loan of Rs 833 crore t om the Japan International Co- k eration Agency (JICA).
Meanwhile, Delhi Jal Board JB) -- the implementing agency c r YAP in the river's 22-km stretch Delhi -- has received an exten on YAP-II. The earlier deadline for completion of YAP-II was ex- tended from November 2009 to March 2010.
Senior DJB officials said talks are already on with JICA, propos- ing another loan of Rs 833 crore for YAP-III, which officials said would take at least another two years to kick off.
DJB Additional CEO Santosh Vaidya told Newsline: “While some cities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana also fall under YAP-II, major implementation works were to be done by Delhi. The Ministry
f Environment and Forests and 20 apan International Cooperation agency have now agreed to extend the term of YAP-II till March Under YAP-II, the DJB had ken up projects under three vive the ‘dead’ river. The projects included rehabilitation of trunk sewers — Ring Road sewer, Bela Road sewer and Wazirabad Road sewer tap- ping the 13 major drains of Delhi — as well as rehabilita- tion and augmentation of the treatment capacity of the two sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Keshopur and Okhla.
Vaidya said: “As the Okhla STP takes the sewage load of entire South Delhi, we have also increased its treatment capacity from 140
GD to 170 MGD. The 72-MGD R eshopur STP has been completely pr efurbished to take the entire m ewage load of North and North- ta est Delhi. We are now comfort- te ble with the extended deadline to tr nish all works under YAP-II." o While initial estimates pegged is he cost of projects in Delhi at Rs ca 87.17 crore, delays in various pro- ic cts have increased it to Rs 450 te rore. "The increased cost is being u orne by DJB," Vaidya said. "We ave only got an extension of N enure for completing the works." fr Ramesh Negi said YAP-III would propose to build new sewage treat- ment plants in the city and rehabili- tate the existing ones with better technology. “After rehabilitation of trunk sewers is done under YAP-II, our future proposal under YAP-III is to increase our sewage treatment capacity that would take the biolog- ical oxygen demand (BOD) in wa- ter from the present 20 units to 5 units in future,” Negi said.
With the present BOD levels, Negi said, the water discharged from STPs into the river can only be used for irrigation. “With the
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