Students produce paper bags !!

Students of St. Joseph’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School on Tiruchi Road have added a new dimension to the war on non-biodegradable plastic bags.In this month alone, they have made 3,687 paper bags, accommodating a significant social commitment in their tight schedule for academics.Under a project initiated by the alumni association of St.Joseph’s school, the students of Classes VI to XII will make a minimum of 2,500 paper bags and provide these to shops and eateries.

The PULSE (People United to Love and Save the Earth) Project will work to replace the plastic carry bags with those made of paper across the city.Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra launched the distribution of the bags at the school on Wednesday by handing over the first set of paper bags to Managing Director of Nilgiris M. Chellaiyan.Treasurer of Residents Awareness Association (RAAC) of Coimbatore R.R. Balasundaram was among those present.

Secretary of the alumni association Jane Melanie said another set of bags was handed over the Managing Director of Thulasi Pharmacy Ramakrishnan.Some more paper bags were given to the bakery located opposite the school and also to the canteen inside the institution that was run by a women self-help group.“Sometimes the children buy lunch from the canteen and the food is packed in a plastic carry bag. We have provided the paper bags in order to eliminate the use of the plastic bags,” she said.Appreciating the project, the Corporation Commissioner said: “Apart from projecting the paper bags as a viable alternative, the awareness creation will be very important.

“We are not yet in a situation where plastic bags can be replaced totally.“But, there are alternatives such as paper bags and jute bags and this awareness is being created through such projects.Private establishments could promote paper bags by buying these from such students’ groups or self-help groups.“We want to try out a similar initiative in the Corporation schools and the alumni association of St. Joseph’s school has offered to train the teachers and students,” he said.A batch of teachers was trained by a resource person to make paper bags. In turn, the teachers trained the students.

Representatives of RAAC had also offered to train the students further.Melanie, the Librarian at the school for girls, said the entire paper bag programme was being pursued with a sense of social commitment and also a spirit of competition within the campus.“We have four houses and the one that makes the maximum number of bags gets a rolling shield. As for individual award, the student who makes the highest number is crowned Miss Gaia.“The title is named after the Greek Goddess who protects the environment,” Ms. Melanie said. “The competition was intense and Loyalty House got the shield. D.M. Venkatalakshmi, a Class IX student, made 1,461 bags (out of the 3,687) and won the Miss Gaia title,” she said.

Mr. Balasundaram said the project at the school was a very good initiative, especially because it involves students.Now, the message would reach their parents and this way the campaign against plastic bags would expand.The Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore offered to extend to the school the Wealth out of Waste programme it was carrying out in association with ITC.Under this programme, ITC paid residents, institutions and commercial establishments for the plastic bags or paper waste they handed over to it.

Common Coot Rescued

A common coot (Fulica atra) that was rescued in the city. A fresh water wet land bird, common coot (Fulica atra), was rescued by the Eco Club volunteers of the PSG College of Arts and Science and was handed over to the Coimbatore Corporation Zoo at VOC Park. C.R. Jayaprakash, Staff Co-ordinator of the Eco Club, said that the bird was found near Vidya Nagar in the college area on Monday.

M. Arumugam, Director of Master of International Business of PSG CAS, found the bird struggling to fly. He rescued it and safely kept it in his house. On information, the Eco Club volunteers took possession of the bird. With the support of OSAI, a non-governmental organisation, the bird was identified as common coot.

It is classified under the least concern category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The coot should have come from the nearest wet land Singanallur. It might have got attracted by the sound of domestic ducks, which were reared in a house nearby, pointed out M. Mohan Kumar, Ornithologist from OSAI. With the help of E.K. Binoj, a volunteer, the bird was handed over to the Corporation Zoo on Tuesday after informing the Coimbatore Forest Range Officer A. Soundarrajan.

Biking Marathon From Coimbatore To New Delhi

K.B.S. Vignesh, a third-year mechanical engineering student of Kumaraguru College of Technology, will attempt a national record through a biking marathon from Coimbatore to New Delhi. A release said he is doing so to create awareness on world peace and global warming. The marathon will begin at the college on August 12 and will conclude in Delhi on August 15. Mr. Vignesh will cover 2,400 km, traversing nine States. College Correspondent M. Balasubramaniam will flag off the event.

RAAC Will Promote Zero Waste Management

The Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) will promote the concept of zero waste management to step up its present clean environs programme, Alagana Kovai. RAAC is already spreading awareness on the importance of segregation of waste at source, when the Coimbatore Corporation insists that people should store biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste in separate bins.

Zero Waste Management (ZWM) deals with biodegradable waste at a more micro-level. It has individual disposal method for each type of biodegradable waste. For instance, egg shells are not mixed with the rest of the biodegradable waste. These are powdered and put through a process of making manure, which is different from the vermin-composting procedure, according to honorary secretary of RAAC R.R. Balasundaram.

ZWM lists 12 different types of biodegradable waste and 22 types of non-biodegradable ones. Agriculture waste is disposed of through another method. How each waste has a different use was explained by Exnora’s ZWM expert C. Srinivasan at a meeting organised recently by RAAC in the city. RAAC will support organisations where waste generation is high because of large public turnout. Banana leaves, paper waste and discarded plastic bottles in marriage halls can be put through different types of disposal or recycling methods. Hotels and small eateries too generate such waste. The other establishments in this list are hospitals, colleges and hostels. Waste generation is high in these places not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of variety, Mr. Balasundaram points out.

The organisation is also promoting the concept of roof garden to encourage people to raise kitchen garden on the terrace. The bio-degradable waste generated at home can be converted into manure and used for the roof garden. “It is not about only lawns. People can cultivate plants that can provide their daily quota of vegetables. They can save on the excess amount they normally pay for vegetables at shops,” he says. “Enough safeguards will be provided to prevent seepage through the roof.”

Royal Classic Group launches ‘Club Earth’

The Royal Classic Group launched ‘Club Earth,’ a green initiative, on Friday.Customers who buy Classic Polo products at its stores in Tirupur and Coimbatore can pick a packet of seeds or saplings before walking out of the store.

Soon, Classic Polo outlets in the State will have sachets of flowering plants, fruits or vegetable seeds that are easy to grow and maintain.The initiative also encourages every customer of Classic Polo to try out the kitchen garden concept.According to a release from the company, the initiative is supported by the Forest Department, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Salim Ali Centre for Orinithology and Natural History.

Conservation

Further, Rs. 2 from the sale of every garment will go towards environment protection, conservation of water bodies and village development activities, the release adds.In phase one, seeds of Cluster Beans, Beetroot, Raddish , Bhendi, Neem, Dolichos Bean, Papaya and Pungam will be distributed.

A programme will be held in Forest College today in this connection.

Summer camp by Siruthuli

Siruthuli, a people’s initiative here to conserve water resources, is conducting a free summer camp for school students in the city from April 20 to 25. The camp, with the theme “Teach them young”, is to educate the students on environmental issues.

A press release from the organisation said that over 150 children from 18 schools would be participating in the camp. They would assemble at the V.O.C. Park at 8 a.m. every day and would be briefed on the day’s assignment. The students would be taken to a location where they get to see both the problems and solutions relating to environmental issues.

Activities

On the first day, they would visit Siruthuli’s tree park. They would participate in several activities such as mixing of soil, seed segregations, mother bed preparation, transplanting of saplings and learn about the benefits of native tree species.

On April 21, they would visit the Gass Forest Museum to know of the history of trees. The students would interact with the Conservator of Forests, learn about seed collection and the role of trees in maintaining ecological balance.

Compost yard

The release said “Wealth from Waste” was the theme of the assignment on April 22. The students would visit the compost yard at Vellalore.They would get a first-hand knowledge of the waste generated across the city, ways to reduce waste generation and how wealth could be generated out of garbage.The importance of segregation of waste at source would also be taught to them.

On April 23, the students would hand over paper bags in a door-to-door exercise along with Resident Awareness Association of Coimbatore.

Noyyal

Collecting water samples from River Noyyal to assess contamination levels and a visit to the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History to know of natural habitats of birds and importance of forests were the assignments slated for the next two days.

38th National Safety Day Celebrations

The Factories Department of Government of Tamil Nadu as part of the 38th National Safety Day celebrations conducted a mock fire drill at the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) LPG Bottling Plant of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) Peelamedu on March 11. The mock drill was conducted under instructions from S. Ragunathan, Chief Inspector of Factories, K. Kaliannan, Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories in the presence of K. Manoharan, Inspector of Factories. The drill was coordinated on the BPCL side by S. Thangavel, Territory Manager of LPG and T.P. Premnath, Territory Coordinator of the plant.

The objective of the mock drill was to keep the major hazardous industries in preparedness condition to meet any emergencies arising out of any eventualities such as LPG leak, fire etc besides periodic mock drills are conducted in major hazardous industries. An imaginary scenario of a gas leak was created and employees of the BPCL activated their emergency response system to arrest the gas leak. The mock drill was also assisted by the personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services Station of Ganapathy, KMCH and PSG Hospitals besides police co-ordinating the traffic for vehicular movement.

Chris Longrigg, Son of Southern Forest Rangers College, Former Principal J.H. Longrigg Visits Tomorrow

It is 70 years now that Chris Longrigg had left the sylvan surroundings of the campus of the Southern Forest Rangers’ College (now Tamil Nadu Forest Academy). According to the Director of the Academy, A.S. Jafry, this campus in RS Puram, Coimbatore, is an important landmark.

Started as the Madras Forest College in the old municipal hospital building in 1912 at the initiative of F.A. Lodge, the then Conservator of Forests of the Western Circle, Coimbatore, this moved to the present building inside the Forest Campus in 1915.

The Cowley Brown Road on which the college is located was named after the first principal of the institution who nurtured and set it on a firm footing.

During 1912 to 1939 the college trained Rangers from various provinces and States of India and also Ceylon. Due to worldwide economic depression and World War II, it remained closed between 1939 and 1945.It reopened on September 1, 1945.

Between 1912 and 1945, the college was administered by eminent British officers like Cowley Brown, C.E.C. Fischer, CC. Wilson and P.W. Davis, who were its principals .

J.H. Longrigg, who was its eighth principal , was also the last British officer who held the post of the principal of the institution. And he headed it from 1937 to 1939.

He was succeeded by C.R. Ranganathan, the first Indian principal.

Chris Longrigg, son of J.H. Longrigg, who visited the campus with his sister and daughter on Tuesday, fondly remembered his childhood and the wonderful time he spent in the idyllic setting of the campus when his father was the head of the institution.

An engineer, who lives in England, he was on a visit to India and took time to visit not only the campus of the Tamil Nadu Forest Academy but also the residence of the principal (currently occupied by the Director the Academy) where his early life commenced.

Wild Fire At Mudumalai

Fire engulfed a part of the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, home to tigers and rare animal species in the Western Ghats, and ravaged nearly 25 acres of the dry forest tracts on Tuesday morning. However, no wild animals were injured in the blaze which was put out after a fourhour operation. Spread over a 321 sq km of dry deciduous and scrub forests, Mudumalai wildlife s a n c t u a r y, which was recently declared a tiger reserve, has at least 39 tigers in its terrain besides sloth bear, elephants, leopards and hyenas.

A few metres from the forest reception centre at Theppakadu, on the national highway, a fire broke out on a dry patch of scrub land on Tuesday morning. As at least 300 vehicles pass through the national highway cutting through the sanctuary daily, forest officials suspect that passers-by may have dropped a burning cigarette butt triggering the fire. “We suspect it to be a man-made accident,” said the field director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Rajiv K Srivatsava.

Immediately, the Forest Disaster Management Centre, set up recently after two incidents of forest fires last month, sent about 25 fire fighters and local tribals to combat the blaze. In case of a minor fire, the forest personnel normally beat it down with dry brooms or douse it with water. However, as the fire raged on and threatened to s p re a d across the sanctuary area, they used the counterfire technique: Fighting fire with fire. In the opposite direction of the blaze and wind flow, a patch of vegetation was cleared and a rubbish heap was set on fire. “The two fires came into contact and extinguished themselves,” explained the field director. Finally, the fire was brought under control by afternoon.

Eco-friendly HP Printing Machine Installed

Print Home has installed an eco-friendly UV technology HP printing machine that can print on any media. Managing Partner of Print Home S. Sudarshan said the machine would be able to print on any medium such as wood, glass, canvas, rexin, tiles and Alco panel. Corporates and builders would be able to use this machine.

Located in R.S. Puram in the city, the company would offer its services on all days of the week.
It planned to start a campaign on eco-friendly atmosphere as part of its corporate-social responsibility. HP had over 10 such eco-friendly machines installed in different parts of the country. The printing and materials used were environment-friendly, he said.

International Congress On Global Warming

The Department of Zoology of the School of Life Sciences of Bharathiar University will organise an International Congress of Global Warming on “Bio-diversity of Insects: Management and Conservation” from February 9 to 12. According to a release, the conference will discuss global warming in relation to insect bio-diversity and control the disease causing insects to conserve insect pollinators.

Some of the themes that will be discusses will be impact of global warming on conservation / management of animals, on insect migration and behaviour, on conservation and management of forestry and veterinary insects, Global Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) on insects, etc. Oral and paper presentations are invited on the above themes. For details, contact K. Murugan, Organising Secretary, on 0422-2422222 (492), or 98948-32849, or e-mail to kmvvk@yahoo.com.

Siruthuli Asked TNEB Not To Cut The Trees

Siruthuli has asked the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) not to cut down trees but prune them. In a memorandum to the TNEB, Siruthuli said that while efforts were being made to enhance the green cover across the country through afforestation drives, it was very unfortunate that field level officials of a Government agency were resorting to indiscriminate cutting of trees.

Trees in front of CIS Church on Race Course were felled mercilessly. Similarly, during checks done to prevent line disruptions, TNEB staff had even pruned branches of trees that were not growing towards power lines. Such a trend was alarming. Siruthuli, along with Race Course and Neighbourhood Association (RANA) and OSAI presented a memorandum with photographs to TNEB authorities.

The TNEB officials who expressed concern at such indiscriminate tree cutting practices, has immediately instructed its staff that only pruning should be done hereafter. The board said inspection of trees and pruning would be publicised so that members of voluntary organisations and general public could accompany the TNEB staff. Those who were entrusted with the work would be given identity cards, it added.

Pachauri Addressed Students On Climate Change

Rajendra K. Pachauri, Honorary Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, addressing students on climate change via video-conferencing at PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore on Thursday. The worst affected victims of climate change are developing countries, though those who are responsible for high levels of green house gas emissions are the developed ones. The United States is the largest consumer of energy, Rajendra K. Pachauri, Honorary Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said here on Thursday.

Speaking on climate change at The Young Leaders Global Conclave with the theme “Be the Change” at PSG College of Technology, Mr. Pachauri said the developed countries were not suffering from the impact of climate change because they had taken protective measures. “We, as a developing country, have to ensure that we withstand the problem by using energy much more efficiently. We are putting a great deal of pressure on our eco-system. We have to change our value system to revive the natural resources that are depleting,” he said.

Mr. Pachauri appealed to the students to bring about a shift in lifestyle to protect the Earth. “Be the change and start the change from within the college campus. Launch a project to measure carbon dioxide emissions in the campus and then work towards substantial reduction of the same,” he said. Listing the ill-effects of climate change, he said it was heartening to note that a large number of world leaders were convinced that something should be done about climate change.

He cautioned on one of the worst effects of climate change – water availability. Taking the instance of Africa, Mr. Pachauri said that by 2020 there would be a 50 per cent decline in agricultural yield because of scarcity of water there. Touching upon the threat of rising sea level, he said nearly 500 million people in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal and 250 million people in China would be affected by this phenomenon. He exhorted the students to use water efficiently. “Availability of water in the future is going to be a serious problem. The manner in which we use water has to change drastically,” he asserted.

Theft Of Sandalwood Tree

The stump of a sandalwood tree that was cut at the Race Course in Coimbatore on Sunday. An attempt to fell a sandalwood tree and smuggle it was made in the early hours of Sunday at Race Course in the city. The tree was located near the bungalow of the District Revenue Officer. It was said that an electric saw was used to cut the tree in an area where the residence-cum-camp offices of senior police officials were located. The sound of the tree falling on the ground alerted the people around and the culprits escaped. They did not have the time to put the tree on to a waiting vehicle. Race Course police registered a case and a vigil was mounted in areas with sandalwood trees. The felled tree was handed over to the Department of Forests.

Frequent Elephant Raids Upset Farmers

"The elephant is government property, so confine it to the forests and keep it out of my home," says 69-year-old Ramaswamy, a farmer from Varapalayam. The farmers with him from Varapalayam, Ramnathapuram and adjoining areas in the Periyanaickenpalayam range nod in agreement. Angered by frequent crop raids, farmers in Coimbatore Forest Division (CFD) are not just demanding better compensation; they are questioning the protection the Asian elephant receives under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.

If an elephant kills a man, you get one lakh, but if a man kills an elephant after it damages his crops, he spends years in jail, and it is a non-bailable offence," says Ramaswamy. Animals listed in Schedule I are the most endangered and get absolute protection, and the highest penalties are awarded for offences. In the last couple of years, about 60 villages in CFD have been experiencing a high level of human-elephant conflict as they are located on the traditional migratory path used by elephants.

"Elephants migrate along the foothills or plains, that is, the fringe areas," says wildlife biologist Senthil Murugan, who works with Coimbatore Forest Department. Cropping patterns have also changed over the last 20 years, says K Kalidas, president, OSAI, an environmental organisation. "Earlier, people grew crops like chilli that don't attract elephants," he says. With labour becoming scarce, farmers have switched to less-labour intensive crops like banana, sugarcane and maize. "I have suffered a loss of Rs 60,000 this year," says Maragatham Rajagopal, who has a 10-acre banana and coconut farm in Thaliyoor, Periyathadagam.

Elephants have entered her farm more than 20 times in the last two years. Farmers use crackers and high-powered lights to frighten elephants away, but these don't always deter the animals. Though the forest department has put up solar fences, they are of no use. "The elephants use their tusks or feet, which are non-conducting, to push down the fences," says Marudappan, a farmer. The farmers are also unhappy with the compensation mechanism. "We contact the village administrative office and block development officer.

They estimate the crop loss, but it takes months before we get money. And we get only Rs 15,000 no matter how much our losses are," says Vazhukuparai Balu, district president of the Tamizhaga Vyavasayi Sangham, Coimbatore. Government officials maintain that they are trying to address the issues. "In the last two years, the state government has sanctioned Rs 50 lakh per year for compensation and the state government Rs 36 lakh under Project Elephant," says I Anwardeen, district forest officer. Efforts are being taken to enhance the compensation packages, says district collector V Palanikumar.

"About four months ago, the district administration sent a proposal to the state government to incur the expenditure of actual crop loss, provided it is certified by the agriculture department. It is under consideration," he says. Experts are worried that the rising anti-elephant sentiment will impact conservation adversely. CFD plays a vital role in ensuring a healthy elephant population as it connects the Eastern and Western Ghats. "It is essential to make farmers understand that the forests have been home to the elephant for hundreds of years and we are the ones disturbing their habitat," says Kalidas.

"Since the mindset of the people of each settlement is different, we need to work with each one." Conservationists are also worried about the impact habitual crop raiding can have on the elephants, as it exposes them to high levels of pesticide and insecticide. "Agronomists and agricultural economists need to work with conservationists to see how to transform cultivation in these areas," says Dr Raman Sukumar, one of the world's leading authorities on Asian elephants. It's not just elephants that are the bane of farmers. Wild boars and peacocks have also been raiding fields, causing widespread damage.

"The birds come in the morning and the animals at night," says Marudappan. In this case, the farmers are not just pressing removal of legal protection. "We want permission to kill them," says Balu. "We are trying to encourage farmers to revert to traditional agricultural practices, like planting sormul, a thorny plant, on field boundaries," says district collector Palanikumar. "We can post more personnel in conflict-prone areas but we cannot allow people to take the law into their own hands."

Solid Waste Management

With lands getting scarce, town panchayats in the periphery may look to joining the Coimbatore Corporation in using the Vellalore compost yard for disposal of waste. Solid waste management is progressing in all the 52 town panchayats in the district, even though at least half of them are struggling to find land to create landfills for the disposal of non-biodegradable waste. But, almost all of them have managed to find ways to make manure out of biodegradable waste.

Many town panchayats are an extension of the city by virtue of being located along the Corporation’s border, while the others are about 20 km away, such as Periyanaickenpalayam, which is one of the three town panchayats to receive awards for waste management. Collector V. Palanikumar gave away the awards on Wednesday to Gudalur and Vettaikaranpudur also for establishing composting facilities to make manure out of waste. The awards are being given to local bodies to encourage them to make their areas litter-free.

“At least 50 per cent of the total number of town panchayats have their own lands for composting facilities,” says Assistant Director of Town Panchayats G. Jayaraman. But, the re-cyclables (such as some types of plastics) and other non-biodegradable waste are being handed over to those who bought these for re-cycling. Many local bodies do not have enough space to carry out full-fledged disposal – both composting and landfill. But, concerted efforts are being made to sustain door-to-door collection of waste. Town Panchayats in the suburbs such as Vadavalli, Veerakeralam, Kalapatti and Irugur are collecting waste from houses.

While some do it every day, garbage is collected on alternate days in places such as Irugur. Besides, there is no segregation of waste in most of the local bodies, though a press release from the district administration says that segregation is being done as per the guidelines issued by the Directorate of Town Panchayats. Both biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste are handed over in a single bin or sometimes even in plastic carry bags. The un-segregated waste ends up accumulating on lands of local bodies that do not have the resources for even composting. Local bodies facing shortage of conservancy workers engage members of self-help groups to collect waste from houses.

Mostly, the SHGs are part of clusters of groups that are under the control of non-Governmental organi- sations. But, low wages and poor condition of push carts hamper efforts to motivate door-to-door collection. The town panchayats, and also municipalities in the city’s borders, namely Kurichi, Kuniamuthur and Kavundampalayam, say they are looking to joining the Corporation in its solid waste management programme so that a common site can be used for disposal. Mr. Jayaraman says that this is the solution that town panchayats look for in terms of getting the entire waste off their territory.

If they are able to send both the bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste to the Corporation’s compost yard in Vellalore, the town panchayats will be spared of the ordeal of looking for a disposal site. Finding a site is becoming increasingly difficult because of residents opposing a land near the colony being used for waste disposal. This NIMY (not in my backyard) syndrome is coming in the way of de-centralised composting or landfill.

Salim Ali Centre Director Dead

Ravi Shankaran, Director of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History at Anaikatti here, passed away early on Saturday. He was 44. An authority at the centre said he died of a heart attack. Mr. Shankaran took over as the Director of the centre only six months ago. By then, he had put in 15 years of service in it. Prior to that, he had been with the Bombay Natural History Society. Mr. Shankaran is survived by his wife and a four-year-old daughter.

Bharathiar School Of Management Draws Out Environment Declaration

The Bharathiar School of Management & Entrepreneur Development in association with SICCI (Southern India Chamber of Commerce & Industry) organized its Annual Conference AXIS'08 on the theme "Sustainable Development- Ecology, Occupational Health & Safety". On the occasion, an Environmental declaration was brought out in the form of a Pledge signed by many business leaders of South India.

Mr. Jawahar Vadivelu, Chairman, Cameo Corporate Services inaugurated the conference. The objective of this conference was to integrate students & corporates and discuss issues, which influence businesses globally, says the institute. An Environmental declaration was brought out in the form of a Pledge signed by many business leaders of South India. The declaration was released by Mr.A.Vellayan, Vice Chairman, Murugappa Group and was received by Dr.R.Annamalai, I.F.S. The original signed copy of the pledge will be sent to Honorable President of India, Smt. Prathiba Devisingh Patil on January 9, 2009 at the Bharathiar University Campus at Coimbatore. The pledge will commit support and action of these business leaders to go green in all their activities, enhance quality of work life, shift to renewable energy and ensure ecological balance and sustainable development.

Corporate Honchos from Murugappa Group, TCS, Infosys, TVS, Axis Bank, ICICI, Airtel, Ford, Exxon, TTK Services, L&T, CitiBank, Voltas, Apollo, Vodafone, ABN Amro, HDFC, Ramco, Reliance, and the like signed this pledge. Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development (BSMED) was established in 1984. BSMED is located in the industrial city of Coimbatore, within the confines of Bharathiar University.

Dangerous Level Of Contamination Of Groundwater

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has conducted a study to assess the ground water quality in 35 metro cities during 2002-2007. The study says that the concentration of lead in ground water exceeding the BIS standard (50 parts per billion) is reported in certain parts of Faridabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Nasik, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam, Patna, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Asansol, Amritsar, Agra, Madurai, Coimbatore, Chennai, Vijayawada and Mumbai.

The actions taken to free the ground water from lead and other types of pollution include: Exploration of ground water sources free from contaminants; Providing technical guidance to States in tackling problems of ground water quality; Provisioning of safe drinking water to rural population under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) and organisation of mass awareness programmes in ground water affected areas; and Directions issued by CPCB to limit the discharge of effluents within the stipulated standards and setting up of network of water quality monitoring stations and common effluent treatment plants. This information was given by the Minister of State for Water Resources, Shri Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav in response to a question by Smt. Mohsina Kidwai in the Rajya Sabha today.

"Jalam" Rainwater Harvesting Seminar By Siruthuli

Managing Trustee of Siruthuli Vanitha Mohan (second right) inagurating "Jalam", a rainwater harvesting seminar organised by the Rotary Coimbatore Spectrum in the city on Sunday. Measures such as rainwater harvesting should be adopted more to augment water resources, according to Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli.

Inaugurating a seminar, “Jalam”, on rainwater harvesting organised by Rotary Coimbatore Spectrum here on Sunday, she said that water was precious as it was the lifeline of mankind. Without it life was impossible. Life evolved from water and was kept vibrantly alive by water. In business, the normal practice was to match demand with supply. But water, as a commodity, had increasing demand and supply was diminishing. “Nothing is being done to augment the water resources,” she said.

For 100 mm annual rainfall on a hectare, one million litre of water could be harvested. In Coimbatore, the annual rainfall was 600 mm. And, nearly 80 per cent was not being harvested. In the Western Ghats, the annual rainfall was 2,000 mm, she said. As population increased, it was essential to augment water resources. It was also important to adopt water conserving farming practices and treating sewage water. Siruthuli had constructed about 150 rain water harvesting structures here. These had helped improve the ground water level in those areas, Ms. Mohan said.

District Governor of Rotary District 3201 Baby Joseph said there were 24 Rotary Clubs in Coimbatore. If each could take up projects such as adopting an overhead tank it would help in doing something effective. There was a need for safe drinking water here, especially for the needy.

Following a presentation on the importance of water conservation chairman of the seminar Mervyn Jussy said the presentation gave an idea of what would happen to human life without water. There was still time to do something to harvest water. The clubs planned to take up water-related projects, he said.