Thursday, January 26, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Braving the chill, for a cause pedalling to save lifeline (Times of India 23 January 2012)
Dot at 7am on a chilly Sunday, St Stephen's College was abuzz with activity. However, most of the over 600 people who had gathered there with their bicycles were not students. Several foreign nationals, members of Delhi's cycling clubs, nature enthusiasts, schoolchildren, foodies and teachers had gathered for a 22-km cyclothon that had been organized to raise awareness about the River Yamuna.
A large part of the cycle rally route ran along the river and many participants had their first encounter with the river at Wazirabad, a point when it is still not completely sullied by the city's filth.
"The Yamuna is a dead river, its waters immensely polluted. The Yamuna Cyclothon is an attempt to highlight the changes it undergoes through its journey across the capital. It is important for Delhiites to take responsibility for the state the Yamuna is in right now," said Vimlendu Jha, co-founder of Swechha, We for Yamuna which organized the cycle rally to track the river's conversion from a relatively clean flow of water to a narrow stream of sewage.
Cause-worthy
People turned up to do their bit for the river cycle marathon, probably the largest seen in Delhi in the recent past, wound its way across heavy traffic through Civil Lines and the Wazirabad Road before hitting the old Railway bridge.
Cyclists took a U-turn from there and cycled back through the Ridge. "The cyclothon serves two purposes. First of all it is our endeavour to take people to the river and have them connect to this natural heritage. A substantial part of our 22km cycling stretch will be along the river, starting from Wazirabad to the Loha Pul. The second purpose of this project of course is to promote cycling among people, especially in a city like Delhi," added Jha.
However, those who turned up definitely did not need any further motivation to cycle. Girish Gandhi, a businessman turned up with his son from Ashok Nagar because he "loves cycling " and wanted to do his bit for the Yamuna. "The government has done a lot for the river but unfortunately there are no results to prove that. If cycling draws attention to the plight of the river, I am more than happy cycling for it," he said.
Arnav Agarwal, a 10-year-old who turned up accompanied by his equally enthusiastic father, said he loved cycling and was glad to be able to raise awareness about the river. "I love cycling and am hoping this morning will be a lot of fun," he beamed.
Swechha reported that 350 people had officially registered for the rally but 100 volunteers, including foreign nationals who are working with the NGO and about 150 cycling club members joined in the cyclothon. Of the registered participants, 150 rode on bikes especially organized by Hero Cycles, co-organisers of the event.
A large part of the cycle rally route ran along the river and many participants had their first encounter with the river at Wazirabad, a point when it is still not completely sullied by the city's filth.
"The Yamuna is a dead river, its waters immensely polluted. The Yamuna Cyclothon is an attempt to highlight the changes it undergoes through its journey across the capital. It is important for Delhiites to take responsibility for the state the Yamuna is in right now," said Vimlendu Jha, co-founder of Swechha, We for Yamuna which organized the cycle rally to track the river's conversion from a relatively clean flow of water to a narrow stream of sewage.
Cause-worthy
People turned up to do their bit for the river cycle marathon, probably the largest seen in Delhi in the recent past, wound its way across heavy traffic through Civil Lines and the Wazirabad Road before hitting the old Railway bridge.
Cyclists took a U-turn from there and cycled back through the Ridge. "The cyclothon serves two purposes. First of all it is our endeavour to take people to the river and have them connect to this natural heritage. A substantial part of our 22km cycling stretch will be along the river, starting from Wazirabad to the Loha Pul. The second purpose of this project of course is to promote cycling among people, especially in a city like Delhi," added Jha.
However, those who turned up definitely did not need any further motivation to cycle. Girish Gandhi, a businessman turned up with his son from Ashok Nagar because he "loves cycling " and wanted to do his bit for the Yamuna. "The government has done a lot for the river but unfortunately there are no results to prove that. If cycling draws attention to the plight of the river, I am more than happy cycling for it," he said.
Arnav Agarwal, a 10-year-old who turned up accompanied by his equally enthusiastic father, said he loved cycling and was glad to be able to raise awareness about the river. "I love cycling and am hoping this morning will be a lot of fun," he beamed.
Swechha reported that 350 people had officially registered for the rally but 100 volunteers, including foreign nationals who are working with the NGO and about 150 cycling club members joined in the cyclothon. Of the registered participants, 150 rode on bikes especially organized by Hero Cycles, co-organisers of the event.
Jayanthi hauls up Maya for ignoring pollution of rivers (Times of India 23 January 2012)
New Delhi: The UPA government launched another salvo at BSP supremo Mayawati with the Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan writing to the Uttar Pradesh CM pointing out that industries were polluting select rivers in the state leading to contamination of groundwater in some regions.
The minister also criticized the state government for not utilizing Central funds properly to abate pollution in the water bodies. “In last two years, the environment ministry has sanctioned several projects for conservation of river Ganga and lakes like Ramgarh Tal at Gorakhpur. Hundreds of crores have been released to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of these projects. I hear that the state government has not used the money properly,” she said.
“Our efforts, to clean river Ganga that flows to important parts of UP have not been able to succeed because of the ndifference shown by the state government with regard to pollution,” she added.
Natarajan has asked the state government to direct her state pollution control board to curb pollution, specifically in Aami River in Gorakhpur.
She noted that effluent from industries in Gorakhpur industrial area and untreated municipal solid waste was making its way unchecked into the river and polluting the groundwater of villages in the vicinity. The central pollution control board, which works under the environment ministry, had found that the effluent treatment plants of the area were not working and the waste of Gorakhpur too was being dumped in Rapti river despite directions from the Centre against it.
In the last two years the environment ministry has sanctioned seven projects at a total cost of Rs 1341.60 crore for conservation of Ganga in Allahabad, Varanasi, Garhmukteshwar, Moradabad and Kannauj.
Of the sanctioned amount, Rs 204.20 crore has been released to the state so far. Another Rs. 217.14 crore has been transferred to UP in the last three years for implementation of ongoing sanctioned schemes under the Gomti Action Plan and the Ganga Action Plan Phase-II.
The minister also criticized the state government for not utilizing Central funds properly to abate pollution in the water bodies. “In last two years, the environment ministry has sanctioned several projects for conservation of river Ganga and lakes like Ramgarh Tal at Gorakhpur. Hundreds of crores have been released to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of these projects. I hear that the state government has not used the money properly,” she said.
“Our efforts, to clean river Ganga that flows to important parts of UP have not been able to succeed because of the ndifference shown by the state government with regard to pollution,” she added.
Natarajan has asked the state government to direct her state pollution control board to curb pollution, specifically in Aami River in Gorakhpur.
She noted that effluent from industries in Gorakhpur industrial area and untreated municipal solid waste was making its way unchecked into the river and polluting the groundwater of villages in the vicinity. The central pollution control board, which works under the environment ministry, had found that the effluent treatment plants of the area were not working and the waste of Gorakhpur too was being dumped in Rapti river despite directions from the Centre against it.
In the last two years the environment ministry has sanctioned seven projects at a total cost of Rs 1341.60 crore for conservation of Ganga in Allahabad, Varanasi, Garhmukteshwar, Moradabad and Kannauj.
Of the sanctioned amount, Rs 204.20 crore has been released to the state so far. Another Rs. 217.14 crore has been transferred to UP in the last three years for implementation of ongoing sanctioned schemes under the Gomti Action Plan and the Ganga Action Plan Phase-II.
Yamuna clean-up: Interceptor project launched (Times of India 23 January 2012)
New Delhi: The ambitious interceptor sewage project that is being pitched as the ultimate solution to the Yamuna’s filth was finally inaugurated on Thursday. Work is expected to begin on Friday but the system, that entails construction of parallel channels along the three main drains in the city – Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary, will finish only around the middle of 2014.
The interceptors, which will eventually function as independent trunk sewers, will trap sewage that flows into the three main drains and carry it to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP). The treated sewage will then be permitted to drain directly into the Yamuna. Officials say that the biological oxygen demand of the river, that is an extremely unhealthy 41 mg per litre, will reduce to 12 mg/litre.
The project management consultant is Engineers India Limited and the work has been awarded to three difference agencies. “The length of the interceptor system is 59 km and the depth is 20-60 feet. The diametre will vary from 600mm to 2,400mm. The cost of the project is Rs 1,978 crores.
“Sewage from 1,600 unauthorised colonies and other unsewered areas including rural villages and JJ clusters will be trapped by the interceptors. An additional 70 million gallons per day of sewage treatment capacity will be built for the project but our aim is to utilize the existing treatment capacity,” said a DJB official.
The project had earlier met with deep skepticism from several agencies. The allegations against it were that it was nother money guzzling project from DJB that would neither be of a required capacity nor would it be able to treat water to bathing quality as mandated by the court. The project is also massively delayed. At the last deadline, officials had claimed that two thirds of the project would be completed before the Commonwealth Games. However, a year later work is just about starting.
Other work that will be carried out simultaneously to clean the river includes augmentation of the existing capacity of Dr Sen Nursing Home and Delhi Gate STP drains from 2.2 MGD to 15 MGD. About 13 drains emptying into the Bela Road and Ring Road trunk sewers will also be intercepted. “We are expecting the river and the major drains to be pollution free in another three years. The effluent generated will be treated to a level where it can be utilized for non-potable purposes in industry and horticulture,” said an official.
The interceptors, which will eventually function as independent trunk sewers, will trap sewage that flows into the three main drains and carry it to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP). The treated sewage will then be permitted to drain directly into the Yamuna. Officials say that the biological oxygen demand of the river, that is an extremely unhealthy 41 mg per litre, will reduce to 12 mg/litre.
The project management consultant is Engineers India Limited and the work has been awarded to three difference agencies. “The length of the interceptor system is 59 km and the depth is 20-60 feet. The diametre will vary from 600mm to 2,400mm. The cost of the project is Rs 1,978 crores.
“Sewage from 1,600 unauthorised colonies and other unsewered areas including rural villages and JJ clusters will be trapped by the interceptors. An additional 70 million gallons per day of sewage treatment capacity will be built for the project but our aim is to utilize the existing treatment capacity,” said a DJB official.
The project had earlier met with deep skepticism from several agencies. The allegations against it were that it was nother money guzzling project from DJB that would neither be of a required capacity nor would it be able to treat water to bathing quality as mandated by the court. The project is also massively delayed. At the last deadline, officials had claimed that two thirds of the project would be completed before the Commonwealth Games. However, a year later work is just about starting.
Other work that will be carried out simultaneously to clean the river includes augmentation of the existing capacity of Dr Sen Nursing Home and Delhi Gate STP drains from 2.2 MGD to 15 MGD. About 13 drains emptying into the Bela Road and Ring Road trunk sewers will also be intercepted. “We are expecting the river and the major drains to be pollution free in another three years. The effluent generated will be treated to a level where it can be utilized for non-potable purposes in industry and horticulture,” said an official.
(New Channel IBM-7 23 January 2012)
New Delhi: Today the Yamuna Biodiversity Park in Delhi with wetland is home to nearly 200 different species of birds and over 900 species of plants, but it has become synonymous to a filthy dead drain.
However, a team of scientists is trying to restore the river's original ecosystem. This green wonder has been created by field biologist Faiyaz Khudsar and his team of scientists who have painstakingly restored the lost wilderness of the dead river.
"It was a barren area full of salt. We didn't use any chemical to reduce the salt level but we used plant material that too belonging to Yamuna basin. We used lots of legumes and grass to handle the situation. So the forest you see now in eight years old. Its very different and amazing," Faiyaz said.
The 450 acre wilderness park has been grown from a scratch. Today it has 100 species of aquatic plants and 20 fish species that had once vanished from the Yamuna. And the result - thousands of birds now breed and feed here.
"This is the only place in the entire Delhi NCR region where the Red-crested Pochard comes and stay. Therefore it suggests that this wetland is functioning well," Fiayaz said.
Lilies once used to thrive all along the Yamuna in Delhi but vanished due to heavy pollution. And with the restoration of the ecosystem, creatures like wild pigs and civets can be seen in Yamuna at night, all in the heart of our bustling city.
"This area became a kind of open air laboratory for students. Students who study in book life cycle of butterfly, they come here and see here life. They try to understand how one bird is feeding on fruit and the other bird is feeding on insect and one bird is killing another live bird," Fiayaz said.
Once the entire river Yamuna was teeming with biodiversity and this has been made possible to due the work of Faiyaz and his team of scientists who have shown how a little of science and a lot of handwork can solve our most difficult environment problems.
However, a team of scientists is trying to restore the river's original ecosystem. This green wonder has been created by field biologist Faiyaz Khudsar and his team of scientists who have painstakingly restored the lost wilderness of the dead river.
"It was a barren area full of salt. We didn't use any chemical to reduce the salt level but we used plant material that too belonging to Yamuna basin. We used lots of legumes and grass to handle the situation. So the forest you see now in eight years old. Its very different and amazing," Faiyaz said.
The 450 acre wilderness park has been grown from a scratch. Today it has 100 species of aquatic plants and 20 fish species that had once vanished from the Yamuna. And the result - thousands of birds now breed and feed here.
"This is the only place in the entire Delhi NCR region where the Red-crested Pochard comes and stay. Therefore it suggests that this wetland is functioning well," Fiayaz said.
Lilies once used to thrive all along the Yamuna in Delhi but vanished due to heavy pollution. And with the restoration of the ecosystem, creatures like wild pigs and civets can be seen in Yamuna at night, all in the heart of our bustling city.
"This area became a kind of open air laboratory for students. Students who study in book life cycle of butterfly, they come here and see here life. They try to understand how one bird is feeding on fruit and the other bird is feeding on insect and one bird is killing another live bird," Fiayaz said.
Once the entire river Yamuna was teeming with biodiversity and this has been made possible to due the work of Faiyaz and his team of scientists who have shown how a little of science and a lot of handwork can solve our most difficult environment problems.
Debris & nurseries eat into Yamuna (Times of India 13 January 2012)
Green Campaigners Informed L-G’s Officer in November, No Action Takem
The author has posted comments on this article Neha Lalchandani,
NEW DELHI: The government might have moved slums from the Yamuna riverbed but it has not been able to stop encroachments or large-scale dumping of construction material, rather demolition material, along the Yamuna Pushta in east Delhi. A small water body has almost completely disappeared under mounds of waste and debris and stray dogs roam the area foraging for food.
Farmers living there say hundreds of trucks carrying debris (malba) having been arriving there at night and dumping tonnes of waste along the road. Plant nursery-owners, too, have staked claim to the land. A stretch of about 80-100m from the Pushta road has been filled in and raised by a good 6-10 feet.
Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (YJA) has been raising the matter with the lieutenant-governor's office since November 2011 but no action has yet been taken against the offenders. TOI was unable to reach the LG for a comment.
Alisha, whose parents farm a small patch in the river bed, says trucks have been coming regularly at night.
"We have no idea who these people are but they come regularly. I have never seen them during the day," she says.
The area which now houses a couple of nurseries was till a year back being used to grow rice. "During the annual flooding, the entire area would be under water. It used to be occupied by huts that were removed some years back. Then onwards, we were growing rice there. Since last year, the nursery-owners came down and started filling in the land. Now the area they occupy is a good 10 feet higher than our farms. They have also been slowly inching inwards and we had to fight them off from taking over our land, too," said Radhu, a farmer.
Manoj Mishra, convener of YJA, wrote to the LG saying that the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the public works department be asked to get this "illegality stopped and get this site cleared of the dumped solid waste and restore the natural lake and the river bed" and report whether similar dumping was also taking place at other sites in the riverbed.
"Dumping at this site has been taking place for several months. We happened to chance upon it towards the end of last year. None of the government agencies are bothered. If this continues, we will lose precious land to encroachment. The government has clea rly failed to protect the riverbed though it is a notified area and the LG has issued a moratorium on it," said Mishra.
The author has posted comments on this article Neha Lalchandani,
NEW DELHI: The government might have moved slums from the Yamuna riverbed but it has not been able to stop encroachments or large-scale dumping of construction material, rather demolition material, along the Yamuna Pushta in east Delhi. A small water body has almost completely disappeared under mounds of waste and debris and stray dogs roam the area foraging for food.
Farmers living there say hundreds of trucks carrying debris (malba) having been arriving there at night and dumping tonnes of waste along the road. Plant nursery-owners, too, have staked claim to the land. A stretch of about 80-100m from the Pushta road has been filled in and raised by a good 6-10 feet.
Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (YJA) has been raising the matter with the lieutenant-governor's office since November 2011 but no action has yet been taken against the offenders. TOI was unable to reach the LG for a comment.
Alisha, whose parents farm a small patch in the river bed, says trucks have been coming regularly at night.
"We have no idea who these people are but they come regularly. I have never seen them during the day," she says.
The area which now houses a couple of nurseries was till a year back being used to grow rice. "During the annual flooding, the entire area would be under water. It used to be occupied by huts that were removed some years back. Then onwards, we were growing rice there. Since last year, the nursery-owners came down and started filling in the land. Now the area they occupy is a good 10 feet higher than our farms. They have also been slowly inching inwards and we had to fight them off from taking over our land, too," said Radhu, a farmer.
Manoj Mishra, convener of YJA, wrote to the LG saying that the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the public works department be asked to get this "illegality stopped and get this site cleared of the dumped solid waste and restore the natural lake and the river bed" and report whether similar dumping was also taking place at other sites in the riverbed.
"Dumping at this site has been taking place for several months. We happened to chance upon it towards the end of last year. None of the government agencies are bothered. If this continues, we will lose precious land to encroachment. The government has clea rly failed to protect the riverbed though it is a notified area and the LG has issued a moratorium on it," said Mishra.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Cold makes Delhi a hot spot for migratory birds (The Hindu 09 January 2012)
The recent rains and cold spell appear to have augured well for the arrival of migratory birds at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary as also along the upper stretch of the Yamuna and their numbers have picked up significantly in the past few days.
As per T.K. Roy, conservationist and AWC Delhi State Coordinator for Wetlands International – South Asia, which conducts an annual survey on the migratory birds in Delhi, the cold weather has brought with it a number of bird species which were hitherto either giving Delhi a go-by or were coming in only in trickles.
“Climate plays a very important role in migration of birds. In turn, birds are a good indicator of climate,” said Mr. Roy, adding that while Okhla Bird Sanctuary had witnessed a decent arrival of migratory birds till late December, they had not been spotted along the upper stretches of the Yamuna.
“But for the moving flocks of black-headed gulls and brown-headed gulls in the upper stretch of Yamuna, who go there in search of food and return to the sanctuary in the evening,” there has been very little movement of birds in the area.
“Unfortunately, the most attractive greater flamingos have not been seen since last year – despite their earlier number being as high as 500. But with the recent showers, the number of birds in the sanctuary has gone up and most of the flocks are now sheltered in the middle part of the sanctuary,” he said.
So far, the prominent species that have arrived in Delhi include the northern shoveller, northern pintail, crested pochard, common pochard, ferruginous pochard, Eurasian wigeon, gadwal, common teal, common coot, graylag geese, bar-headed geese, Eurasian spoonbill, black-tailed godwits, black-headed gull and brown-headed gull.
Even the number of spotbill duck has been higher than the average of the past years.
But some other migratory species like mallard, garganey, cotton teal, comb duck, pallas gull, bar-tailed godwit and local migrants like black-necked stork and Asian openbill stork have not arrived till date.
Among other common waders, certain species such as common sandpiper, green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, marsh sandpiper, common redshank, greenshank, little stint, northern lapwing, river lapwing, white-tailed lapwing and four species of wagtails, pied avocet, painted stork, white ibis and glossy ibis have only come in very small numbers on the middle islands and western bank of the Yamuna on the Delhi side.
Mr. Roy said while the season had begun on a note of desperation since the dried up river bed in October 2011 had led to a sharp fall in the arrival of the migratory birds, later their numbers had swelled with the filling up of water in the portion of the river passing through Delhi.
“After the revival of the water body, the prominent species like cormorants, darter, black-crowned night heron, egrets, herons, little grebe, pheasant-tailed jacana, bronze-winged jacana, purple moorhen, white-breasted waterhen, common moorhen and brahmini ducks returned to the Okhla sanctuary in large numbers,” he said.
The actual bird count or census would begin in the second week of January, Mr. Roy said.
As per T.K. Roy, conservationist and AWC Delhi State Coordinator for Wetlands International – South Asia, which conducts an annual survey on the migratory birds in Delhi, the cold weather has brought with it a number of bird species which were hitherto either giving Delhi a go-by or were coming in only in trickles.
“Climate plays a very important role in migration of birds. In turn, birds are a good indicator of climate,” said Mr. Roy, adding that while Okhla Bird Sanctuary had witnessed a decent arrival of migratory birds till late December, they had not been spotted along the upper stretches of the Yamuna.
“But for the moving flocks of black-headed gulls and brown-headed gulls in the upper stretch of Yamuna, who go there in search of food and return to the sanctuary in the evening,” there has been very little movement of birds in the area.
“Unfortunately, the most attractive greater flamingos have not been seen since last year – despite their earlier number being as high as 500. But with the recent showers, the number of birds in the sanctuary has gone up and most of the flocks are now sheltered in the middle part of the sanctuary,” he said.
So far, the prominent species that have arrived in Delhi include the northern shoveller, northern pintail, crested pochard, common pochard, ferruginous pochard, Eurasian wigeon, gadwal, common teal, common coot, graylag geese, bar-headed geese, Eurasian spoonbill, black-tailed godwits, black-headed gull and brown-headed gull.
Even the number of spotbill duck has been higher than the average of the past years.
But some other migratory species like mallard, garganey, cotton teal, comb duck, pallas gull, bar-tailed godwit and local migrants like black-necked stork and Asian openbill stork have not arrived till date.
Among other common waders, certain species such as common sandpiper, green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, marsh sandpiper, common redshank, greenshank, little stint, northern lapwing, river lapwing, white-tailed lapwing and four species of wagtails, pied avocet, painted stork, white ibis and glossy ibis have only come in very small numbers on the middle islands and western bank of the Yamuna on the Delhi side.
Mr. Roy said while the season had begun on a note of desperation since the dried up river bed in October 2011 had led to a sharp fall in the arrival of the migratory birds, later their numbers had swelled with the filling up of water in the portion of the river passing through Delhi.
“After the revival of the water body, the prominent species like cormorants, darter, black-crowned night heron, egrets, herons, little grebe, pheasant-tailed jacana, bronze-winged jacana, purple moorhen, white-breasted waterhen, common moorhen and brahmini ducks returned to the Okhla sanctuary in large numbers,” he said.
The actual bird count or census would begin in the second week of January, Mr. Roy said.
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