Category: Environment

Joshimath: Sinking??

Joshimath is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located in the Chamoli district and serves as the headquarters of the Garhwal division of the state. It is an important religious and educational center, and is home to several ashrams and temples, including the Sri Badrinath Temple. It is also a popular base for trekking and mountaineering in the surrounding Himalayan mountain ranges.

Town

Many houses have developed cracks in the walls, floor and some are tilted. This is due to sinking which is taking place. ISRO NRSC report said that subsidence was slow between April and November 2022, during which Joshimath had sunk by 8.9 cm. But between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023, the intensity of land subsidence increased and the town sank by 5.4 cm in these 12 days. The report has been withdrawn from the public domain.

Although report is of interest to those with scientific knowledge , Uttrakhand government must have done it to avoid panic among the residents. But ISRO NRSC is not the only agency studying this phenomenon there are other agencies like NASA who are studying it through satellite.As we know that Himalayas are young mountains geologically and lots of seismic activity goes on. Is the subsidence the result of natural phenomena or man made disaster?

Mostly it seems to be the result of setting up a electricity plant, rapid uninhibited proliferation of houses, and hotels to cater to the tourists.

Whatever the reasons, the excessive interference in the designs of Nature is bound to be harmful to the humans. Subsidence refers to the sinking or settling of the ground surface. In Joshimath, subsidence can occur due to a variety of natural and human-induced factors. One possible cause is the withdrawal of groundwater, which can lead to compaction and settling of the soil.

Another potential cause is tectonic activity, such as the movement of faults or the uplift or erosion of adjacent land. Additionally, the construction of buildings and infrastructure on unstable or saturated soils can also lead to subsidence. Subsidence can cause damage to buildings and infrastructure, and can also increase the risk of landslides and flooding. It is important to identify the cause of subsidence in order to develop appropriate management strategies.

Another reason which is cited by the local residents is that some radioactive material had been buried in the area by Americans in 1960 for snooping on the Chinese military activities on the other side of the Himalayas.

Top 10 World Leaders 2021 according to Fortune Mag

According to Fortune Magazine. Many of these are the personalities belonging to different fields which rendered unique contribution in fight against Covid-19.

1. Jacinda Ardern:

Prime Minister of Newzealand. She tops the list for the role she played to tackle COVID-19 from spreading in New Zealand. In a nation of 5 million only 2700 cases and 26 deaths. For 6 months she and her cabinet took 20% pay cut.

Jacinda Ardern

2. mRNA Pioneers:

COVID-19 vaccines which are largely administered today rely on mRNA. Although mRNA was discovered in 1960, it was in mid 2000 that researchers figured out how to modify the building blocks of those molecules for therapeutic purposes so that mRNA strands could safely interact with the body. Moderna and BioNTech, collaborated with the mRNA Pioneers made it to the list.

mRNA pioneers

3. Daniel H Schulman:

He is an American business executive and president and CEO of PayPal. He was named the third Greatest Leader on the list. He saw to it that his employees get at least 20% more than their earnings after paying all the taxes. Only few employers think so much about their employees.

Daniel H. Schulman

4.Dr John Nkengasong:

He currently serves as the first Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is a leading virologist with nearly 30 years of work experience in public health. Fortune praised him for his role in his fight against spread of COVID-19 in African countries.

John Nkengasong, Africa’s Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

5. NBA Rescuers:

Adam Silver NBA commissioner; Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA); and Chris Paul, a longtime star point guard and the president of the NBPA, were the key players who saved the NBA. They created a bubble plan to successfully conduct 172 games without a single player contracting the disease.

6. Jessica Tan:

She is the co-CEO of the Chinese finance insurance giant. During COVID-19, among the Chinese private sector it was the technology companies that were able to cushion the blow faced by China and none was better positioned to help than Ping An Group, an insurance giant whose “technology plus finance” strategy reflects the vision of co-CEO Jessica Tan. Ping An Good Doctor company’s telehealth app which received 1.11 billion visits at the peak of the pandemic, serving as a vital first line of defense.

Jessica Tan

7. Justin Welby:

Since 2013, he is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and the most senior bishop in the Church of England. He is quite outspoken and supports causes that are critical to society. He is an former oil executive. He has encouraged Church’s investment arm to push major emitters on their emission policies.

Justin Welby

8. Stacey Abrams:

She is an American politician, lawyer, and voting rights activist. A member of the Democratic Party, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organisation to address voter suppression in 2018.

9. Reshorna Fitzpatrick:

She is the founder and Pastor of Proceeding Word Church in Chicago, Illinois. She had been feeding the hunger in her Chicago neighborhood for years. Three years ago, she helped start a community garden in a vacant lot near the North Lawndale church on the city’s West Side. During pandemic, when many people lost their livelihoods, she along with her community would prepare hot meals every Monday for anyone who stopped by.

10. Adar Poonawalla:

He is recognised for taking the task of bringing an end to the global pandemic by supplying COVID-19 vaccines. Poonawalla heads the Serum Institute of India (SII) which is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. Poonawalla’s company has been providing global vaccine equity, providing low-cost vaccines to fight diseases like influenza, measles, and tetanus. Now, the SII has pledged to deliver up to 2 billion vaccine doses in the coming years to COVAX, a global initiative to provide vaccines to lower- and middle-income countries.

Adaar Poonawala

Versoli Beach

The coastline of India on the West side seems like the pages of book which have been chewed randomly by the termite. The water wedges deep inside the land in the form of creeks at so many places across the coast. Alongside the road to Alibaug from Panvel, one treads parallel to seacoast. There are small hillocks and the vista is full of features. The road is simply zigzag at many place. There are dense patches of vegetation on both sides of the road. Many small rivers which drain into the sea come across and there are bridges to cross them.

Monkeys can be seen right on the roadside near Karnala where a bird sanctuary exists. It is almost in the neglected state of maintenance. Only the woods are beautiful and have survived the human encroachment. Versoli beach is two three kilometers before reaching the Ali Baug town. You have to take a detour towards right hand to reach the village jutting the beach. There is a person standing at a crossing of the village charging money for entry into the town. On reaching the beach, another party of money collectors is standing. They explained that this money goes into the upkeep of the beach.

All the beaches seem alike to me except the difference in the cleanliness. People in India has typical attitude towards the enjoyment. It can be stated as “enjoy today and enjoy for yourself only”. Whosoever goes there thinks it as their right to litter the beach with polythene bags and water bottles. The aborigines are better than most city dwellers because they are not curious about the nature and think it as a part of their lives. They are not excited like the city people who start jumping and kicking and littering the place thinking that it is the authorities or other people whose duty it is to clean the house.

Anyway, we reached the beach. We took our lunch which we had packed from our home with us. We were particular about collecting the refuse into a bag and bring it back to properly dispose it. There are trees with coniferous leaves on the shore. These also are found on every beach near Mumbai. There was almost no clean place to sit. There are no benches erected on the shores to sit on and enjoy the spectacle of the sea.

It was a low tide and water has receded deep into the sea. The area exposed was almost blackish sand with clay. It is a beach formed by low energy tides. So you will see less sand more clay. The waves which were breaking at that time we went inside the sea were of very low height. They broke without causing any hissing sound. There were clumps of stones and pebbles hidden underneath the water. They are so sharp that they will cut your feet like knives. There are no warning signs. In fact, no attempts have been made to make the visit of tourist a pleasant experience.

Within half an hour, you will feel like going back. Many people because of lack any novelties resort to playing the cricket on the beach to while away the time. In my opinion, if you have visited one beach you need not to visit another one. All are same. Yes there are some interesting places like a Fort on the island near Murud Janjira beach. You have to take a boat to reach it.

Ice hides memories of past climate!!!!

Almost all the elements in the universe are composed of atom siblings though are chemically equivalent but have slightly different weight.

Every Atom is composed of equal number of electrons and protons to make it electrically neutral and stable. There are also neutrons which are electrically neutral but have weight almost equal to the proton.

Protons and neutrons reside in the centre of atom and called jointly nucleus. This is due to the different numbers of neutrons in these atoms. More the neutrons more shall be the weight of the isotope.

Oxygen has two prominent isotopes. The lighter one contains 8 neutrons and the heavier one contains 10 neutrons this is exactly 2 neutron heavier. The ratio of the heavier atoms to the lighter ones is 1:500 or 0.2%.

The number and ratio of the oxygen isotopes is constant if water was present at one place only. But the distribution changes due to physical and biological processes. These two phenomena fractionated the distribution. The oxygen atoms are labeled 18O and 16O.

Since heavier oxygen has lower tendency to evaporate than the lighter and higher tendency to precipitate, the distribution changes continuously with the movement and phase changes of the water.

Originally in the sea water there was a given ratio. Now suppose sun heats the sea and evaporation takes place initiating the water cycle. But notice, the ratio of heavier atoms to lighter atoms will change both is the sea water left behind as well as the vapours.

Sea water will become richer in heavier isotope and vapours poorer. Now these vapours rise and starts migrating towards the poles. Temperature gradually begins to fall triggering the precipitation but again further fractionation will take place.

In the beginning, some of the heavier atoms will precipitate thus further depleting the pole ward moving water vapours in heavier atoms. So when the snow will start falling, it will be containing the least numbers of heavier atoms.

The snow will settle down. Future years will bring more snow, thus snowflakes shall begin to compact at the lower layers. Snowflakes contain roughly 80% air. After compaction, the air will be expelled and finally will form having only about 20% air. Ultimately lowest layers shall become ice containing only 2% air or less. Layer upon layer will build.

The snow precipitated in the relatively warmer climates shall have more heavier oxygen than the snow precipitated in cooler climates.

This phenomena is used to measure the temperature at which a particular layer was deposited. This provides a tool for temperature records in the history of the earth.

For this purpose, scientists take out the continuous cylindrical cores of the ice and measure the abundance of heavier oxygen atoms relative to the lighter ones using ratio recording mass spectrometer and plot this against depth.

From the calibration curves with temperature, scientists are able to measure the temperature records.

Knowing the past climatic history of the earth can help in understanding the ice ages epochs, chemical and biological reactions and thus the abundance or otherwise of minerals like petroleum.

Thus the ice deposited over millions of years preserves the memories of the climate in the past. They have been able to recreate the 4 million years record of temperatures.

Recycling for a Living

Dharavi is the largest slum in Asia. It is situated near Bandra in Mumbai, the economic capital of India. Mumbai was once upon a group of disjointed islands and one had to take the boat to reach an island from another.

British got the island in dowry from Portuguese and saw its strategic importance chose to develop the place because it has the finest natural harbor in the world. 

They encouraged the Parsees to come and open industries and develop the city. Soon the city began to expand and people flocked to it in search of better future.

The islands were abridged by reclaiming the land from the sea and continuity was achieved. The city as such has no chance of expanding in all directions like Delhi because of its shape and detached location from the rest of India.

It soon became over crowded. Those who work for creation of wealth for this city, found it difficult to find a place to live in. The slums sprouted everywhere which have very cramped places to live in. Hygiene is virtually non existent. But even then millions live here.

One such area is Dharavi. It has been depicted in many movies like Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair and Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle. The area consists of labyrinth of very narrow lanes. I think one can get lost and never come out. Economically, the people work here to collect the waste materials and recycle them.

Dharavi
Dharavi

One such material is recycling of Aluminum which is found in the form of cans of beverages. Unknowingly these people are shielding the city from the pollution that this metal can do.

Aluminum is very difficult to obtain from its ore because of the lengthy processes like dissolving it in alkali solution, then precipitating it in the form of Alumina and then carrying out electricity consuming process of electrolysis to obtain the pure metal.

The process here is to dip the cans in mild acid to remove the coverings and then after washing and drying melt the individual mass of cans into one solid ingot in a hearth which is a hole in the earth where coals are burnt with the help of  air conveyed through a pipe.

The cans are put on a silicon carbide crucible. This way the metal is melted and is ready to use in making utensils and other articles. These people work for hours to earn a living.

What is Happening?

When someone asked the humorist writer Mark Twain which investment shall bring in the maximum profit, he had said “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore”. As always how true he was. The demand for land is rising and rising relentlessly. Our health quotient is improved day by day resulting in increased life expectancy. More people, more wealth they generate and with more wealth, everybody wants to live a life of comfort. Three basic needs: house, food and clothing are putting extreme pressure on our planet. Even though Sun is helping us in the synthesis of food, the area under agriculture is diminishing. As the demand is ever increasing, technologies are being developed to increase the yield of the crops. This invariably introduces bactericides and fertilizers which go towards harming our health in the long run. But modern humans have means to get treated, thus lending a big hand in the proliferation of medicines. Thus vicious cycles are being created every moment.

Where is the rural land going? The need to get the house to live in is the answer. We are so short of the land that we have begun to expand our living space vertically. We are thus loosing our touch with the soil from which we are constituted. We try to create replica of the gardens in our homes in the form of potted plants. The urban monster is like an octopus which is spreading its tentacles and grabbing the rural land ruthlessly. It is swelling day by day. The farmers are forced to sell their lands to make way for housing societies. The idioms like “How green was my valley” are getting redefined.

The prices of the land are increasing in an unthinkable manner and still there are buyers. There are financial institutions to make it possible and lure the people. In these circumstances, whole life of person goes into paying debts which are multiplied through installments and interest many times over.

In the featureless plains of Punjab, the land was as flat as drawing board. Not an inch of land is left which is not under the plough. The pressure on the land has been so heavy that its natural fertility has been reduced to almost nil. Now it has become simply a container in which unless you do not add fertilizers, water and other nutrients, you will not get anything. The water level beneath has gone down drastically. Whereas previously it was about 25-40 meters, now it has touched 100 meters. The agriculture has thus become an costly venture.

In the older times, in Punjab the girls when married generally never claimed their share in the parental land and it will go to the brothers after the father is gone. These are things of past now. With the land fetching exorbitant prices, there have been cases of husband sending the woman to go to her parents and ask  for her share. Even if she does not want, she is forced to. Some of the son-in-laws are threatening the parents of girls to keep the girls back or give her her share. There have been violent scenes at many houses. I know a family in which the woman had done the work in her in-laws place like an bullock. From morning till night, it has been all work , work and work. In addition, she had reared 5 children. The man had been many extra marital affairs which everyone knows. Despite all this, she had been happy and content. And now when her brothers sold their land, her husband sent her to get her share or otherwise don’t come back to his house. Such stories abound now.

How clean was water of Sukhna Choe once upon a time 

“Choe” in local language in Punjab means a stream or a rivulet. Sukhna choe is the name of stream after which the lake in Chandigarh is named.

The choe passes through areas of union territory Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab before merging into Ghaggar river.

Many unauthorized settlements have mushroomed along it particularly in Union territory of Chandigarh. Some industries have also come up near it.

There was a time about 50 years ago when the clean water flowed from the dam but these days if you pass by the gates of Lake hardly any water flows there.

At that time I was about 10 years old. Our elder sister was married in a village called Gajipur which falls in Punjab and this choe passes near this village. We used to visit our sister many a times and water in this stream was so clean that we used to swim and bath in it.

Then after doing my M.Sc., I got the job and left this place. After 35 years, I have returned. I went to see the choe and was aghast to see its plight. A workable bridge with big pipes have been constructed over the narrowed span over it. Building activity has reached all around.

In the older times, there was no pass over this choe. Hardly anyone came here with vehicles. Farmers who have their land on the other side of stream used to cross it with bullock carts or on foot.

The black frothy water flows under the bridge through pipes. It is giving nauseating smell. Industries and effluent from households is discharged into it. Although union territory administration has installed effluent treatment plant to treat the effluent generated in the area of there jurisdiction, it is said that Haryana is discharging the untreated effluent directly into it. There seems to be no coordination between the three agencies and also it seems corrupt people in the environment supervision agencies have turned the blind eye towards its plight.

Still, I found a big flock of one bird species in the stream. This bird is called Black Winged Stilt. I think they don’t have anywhere else to go or have adapted themselves to the changed circumstances. But they seem to avoiding the frothy area down the bridge. They were largely seen in the area near a place where another stream of relatively cleaner water was confluencing with this stream.

These birds have very long legs and 60% of their body weight is in the legs. The longer legs have advantage in that they can catch their food in deeper waters. They usually live in the groups and catch the insects and other aquatic animals.

Bishnois: The First Environmentalists of India

Bishnois are a community living in Rajasthan of India. They live in complete harmony with nature. In the old times, the womenfolk sacrificed their lives protecting the hacking of trees.

Bishnoi means twenty nine: Bees meaning twenty and nao meaning nine. They live their lives according to the 29 principles. All these principles are to live in perfect harmony with nature. They protect plants, trees and animals. They get everything for sustenance from mother nature taking only that much what is required. 

Bishnois consider it their ‘Dharma’ to save lives of animals and trees. Many animals like peacocks and antlers roam freely in their courtyard. They see to it that the newborn babies of the bucks get the necessary nourishment till the time they grew independent enough to into the woods. In the recent past, the community had launched strong protests against the killing of black bucks allegedly by Bollywood actor Salman Khan and ex-skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

Feeding tthe black bucks

Nobody teaches them this philosophy of love for nature in a school. Rather, society needs to learn from them. All that is required is sincerity and keeping our greed and aristocratic habits under control. Killing these innocent animals was the pastime of aristocratic society of India and Britishers.

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