I came across a news item from Bangladesh and immediately sat up and took notice.

Bangladesh which had promulgated its wildlife laws in 1974 is revamping it. Under the present laws, the maximum penalty for a wildlife poacher or smuggler is 2000 taka which is equivalent to Rs1316/- and a two year prison sentence. Under the soon to be enacted new laws, the sentence has been enhanced to life imprisonment and 3,00,000 taka (equivalent to Rs. 1,97,529/-).

Now lets see what is happening in a biodiversity rich country like Malaysia, which is close to us.

Malaysia is scheduled to implement its new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 by the end of this year. In this new law, killing of an endangered species like the tiger (Malay), Rhino (Sumatran) etc will invite a maximum punishment of RM 100,000 (Equivalent to Rs. 14,04,000/-) and five years in jail or both if the animal is young or is a female. The maximum fine for killing an endangered male species of rhino, tiger etc is RM 50,000 (equivalent to Rs. 702,000/-). Also, important is the fact that for the first time crime of setting up snares, hunting, or keeping certain species captive-such as rhinos and tigers- there is a mandatory jail sentence.

Now it is in sharp contrast to laws in India. According to the current laws the maximum punishment for murdering an endangered species like a tiger is three to seven years in jail and a fine of ten thousand rupees for first offence and twenty five thousand for second offence. And offences related to trade and commerce in animal trophies, articles derived from certain animals will result in a maximum punishment of three year imprisonment and fine upto Rs. 25000/- I am sure, you will agree that this is not a deterrent enough and the wildlife crime syndicates are able to easily get people to work in their channels.
It is said that the Government is interested in amending the laws to increase the punishment. The proposed punishments for killing a tiger is five to seven years for a first time offender and seven to ten years for a repeat offender. Needless to say that the present as well as the proposed quantum of punishment is not big enough to act as a deterrent.

Faulty Prosecution process:

We all agree that the prosecution process is faulty and drags on for a long time. The rich and mighty often get away with these crimes. For example, Hindi film stars like Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, and Cricketers like Nawab of Pataudi etc are yet to be punished for killing blackbucks. And this is despite the strong and vociferous protest by the Vishnoi community.

Wildlife crimes are heard in a magisterial court rather than a Sessions court. The evidence is often dismissed because the evidence is not able to be presented properly. Since, very rarely a wildlife crime is committed in front of other people it becomes essential to create evidences and link it to the criminals. So expertise in forensics, ballistics, biology, chemistry, apart from plain old logic is required to deconstruct the crime scene and prove it in front of the court.

Argument against stringent Wildlife Laws:

A number of conservationists believe that it is more important to reform the prosecution process rather than enhancing the quantum of punishment. They cite the slow and tardy nature of the prosecution process. It is often difficult to prove the guilt. So the rate of conviction is poor.

Unfortunately, the conservationists are basing their arguments on their perception and are unable to see the big picture. It is a kind of juvenile attitude, where each kid thinks his candy is better. The solution to the issue of preventing wildlife crimes is not just by improving the prosecution process, but by strengthening the wildlife laws as well.

Shabbir Husain Qureshi, the man who was arrested with one of the biggest catch of wildlife parts in Indian history – 4 tiger skins, 70 leopard skins and 18,000 leopard claws – was released after quickly finishing his sentence. Obviously, he went back to committing wildlife crimes again.

Why punishments should be exemplary?

I would disagree with people who feel the present level of punishment stipulated in the laws is sufficient or who feel that we need not focus our energy in enhancing it.

Take the example of Indians who travel abroad. The so called elites, or the middle classes as well as the working class people like plumber etc are all very careful in obeying the rules in a foreign country like Singapore. The supposedly simple acts of indiscretion like spitting or defecating in public, which people here are so used to, is not at all practiced by our people in a country like Singapore. The level of punishments in the small country like Singapore acts as a big deterrent. If we are able to slap exemplary punishment for killing a tiger, then definitely the people on the ground who actually kill the tiger or act as conduits will refrain from doing so. We will then have a small amount of crime to contend with.

Recognition for wildlife crimes as equally important:

Today, Wildlife crimes are given less importance as perhaps there is a feeling that wildlife is an expendable commodity. Murder of a schedule I species like tiger is not treated as equivalent to the murder of a human being. And this is despite the tiger being the vahana (vehicle) of goddesses Durga. And ofcouse, we use the term poaching for killing of wildlife, where as murder is the term used for killing a human being.
If we look at some of the gruesome murders committed in India, like killing a person and skinning him or killing a person and burning her body in a tandoor (clay oven), the crime was adjudged to be the rarest of the rare and the persons given death penalty.

Now let’s look at the modus operandi of a poacher engaged by a crime syndicate. The poachers lay snares to trap a tiger; the tiger is caught and tries vehemently to free itself. With every effort, the snare tightens more and more and the tiger keeps on bleeding due to the snare cutting deeper into the flesh. The tiger is then discovered a day or two later, sometimes ever later, and then the poacher places the gun virtually on the tigers head and shoots it point blank. The tiger is then skinned. The flesh and bones are dried and sent to be consumed in a country abroad. Is it not gruesome enough?

Do you think we should condone such cruelty? Is this not a rarest of the rare case and fit for capital punishment?

It is time, we toss away our rule books and rewrite those to keep in sync with the times. Also, apart from wildlife related laws, the laws related to falsification/fabrication of evidence etc should be made stringent, so that people don’t readily agree to testify to cover up a crime.

Apart from strengthening all our laws, we should not overlook the importance of educating the communities that get involved in wildlife crimes. At times, the accomplices of poachers are poor individuals from the local community, who succumb to enticements and agree as they are often told that the crime will not come to light and if at all it is known, then the tardy process of law enforcement will result in them coming out in bail. The forest department with the help of NGOs and local media should undertake sustained campaigns to increase the awareness about wildlife crimes. That will go a long way in saving our wildlife till the law ministry is able to strengthen the laws.

A word for conservationists:

I think it would be pertinent to recall the story of the blind men and elephant that we had read during our school days. A few blind men came across an elephant and each one touched a particular part of the elephant. One of them felt that the elephant is like a snake, the other thought it to be a rope. The third one felt the elephant to be like a wall. And there were answers like pillar etc. One can know that each one is right in his or her own way, but still collectively they were farther from the truth.

I won’t be surprised if someone feels that our conservationists are acting like the blind men and the elephant. I hope our conservationists share their perceptions with each other and arrive at the overall picture. That will go a long way in saving our last tracts of wilderness left in this country.

Anyone who is born is destined to die. However, one feels sad when a young soul passes away. You feel annoyed when you realise that the premature death is due to rash driving. And I am sure, you would be devastated when you realise that this rash driving has orphaned three small kids who can’t fend for themselves.

Precisely that has happened in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

The Jhurjhura tigress who had three small cubs have been felled by an errant jeep. The cubs hardly five months old, are too young to fend for themselves. And no other tigress can play the role of a surrogate mother and teach them hunting skills.

And now look at the tragedy of the absurd being played out in Bandhavgarh.

Initially, the forest department denied that the jhurjhura tigress was killed. The Field director was quoted as saying that a male tiger has been killed. Then he said that the death is due to fighting with another tiger.

It was an egregious blunder from the Field Director, as fighting with another tiger would have left behind deep wounds, unlike the present case where external wounds were not found on the body of the tigress. Then it was said that the tigress died due to possible drowning or poisoning. Then they said that the tigress is not the jhurjhura tigress but its daughter from its previous litter aged 30 months.

In the meanwhile, the Forest department had identified 11 vehicles that had gone in those routes and brought the guides and drivers of those vehicles for questioning. It should be noted, that in each vehicle one guide is mandatorily given by the forest department. It was said that the forest department would seize the vehicles.

The markings in the face and the body clearly established that the tigress is indeed the Jhurjhura tigress. I have been photographing her for many years and have seen her raise successive litters to adulthood. I can easily recognize her image from front as well as sides. I used to joke that I have an annual date with her in the waters of Bandhavgarh. I can remember her careful foot steps during stalking when the hind leg exactly falls on the place vacated by the fore leg. I have been privy to watch her shower motherly love on her cubs. She is ready to admonish her cubs when required. She often used to show annoyance whenever tourists intrude into her privacy. My life has been filled with some pleasant memories of her.

Today, I feel a sense of tremendous loss. I feel a sense of shame, shame of having been born in the same race as the insensitive criminals who hit the tigress and the criminals who are helping cover up the crime.

I feel disturbed, when I see that a majority of wildlife photographers and tour agents, who routinely enjoy clicking the images of this beautiful tigress and sharing the images in photo sharing sites, are today silent. Perhaps, they have moved on in life? Ready to enjoy the moment till it lasts? Is this the trait of the human species?

Or is it because the culprits are supposed to be powerful individuals that people have chickened out? Are we so fearful of the powerful and the influential?

I feel annoyed watching this theater of the absurd. And I feel disturbed watching the studied silence of the papparazi – the wildlife photographers – who were hounding her and her cubs when she was alive.

Remembering the moments of bliss that I had experienced with her, I am sharing a few images here.

May God Bless Her!

Sabyasachi

Laxminarayanan and his brother Hari had wanted to go to Bandipur, and were urging me to plan a trip. Mr. TNA Perumal, the doyen of wildlife photography of the yesteryears, agreed to join and soon four of us were on our way to Bandipur.

We started early in the morning from Bangalore and reached Bandipur Forest Rest House by around 12 noon. After unpacking, we were ready to have our lunch. The macaques were trying to sneak inside the room and had to be careful with our food and photographic equipment.

In the afternoon, we entered into the forest and soon sighted an elephant and calf on the road. The light was a bit harsh and the elephants were close.

I was driving with my EOS 1D Mark II and Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS lens on my lap. The elephants were too close for my 400mm. There was an armada speeding towards us in the road, and the elephants immediately got into the bush. We turned left and after sometime came across three Sambars (Cervus unicolor). The Sambar had a pronounced sore patch. The sambar was on the left side and I had to handheld my 400mm f2.8 IS and photograph through the left window.

George B. Schaller in his much acclaimed book – The Deer and the Tiger had this to say about the Sore patch :

“One of the manifestations of the early part of the rut is the “sore neck: (J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1921; Morris, 1988) or “sore spot.” On the ventral surface of the neck is a line of hair, somewhat darker and less sleek than the surrounding pelage, which runs down the mid-line from the throat to the lower part of the neck. At the begining of the rut, the hair falls out at the terminus of this line, and the skin seems to slough off, forming a circular area about one to two inches in diameter which is bloody in appearance and exudes a seous fluid, “a kind of whittish looking oily or watery substance” (Thom, 1937). The area around the sore spot is sometimes swollen, and Kemp (1914 [quoted in J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1921]) observed that hair is occasionally rubbed off over an area as large as eight inches long and six inches wide. I noted the first sore spot on November 15 and the last one on December 15. Many sore spots began to heal during the first half of December, and by January the only evidence of them was an area of pinkish skin lightly overgrown with hair. Sore spots were not seen at other times of the year at Kanha, but in Kaziranga Sanctuary two stags and a hind all had them on May 3…….”

It should be noted that we saw the sore patch on August. The flies were swarming around the sore patch. After watching the Sambar for a few minutes, we drove ahead.

Soon we came across a lizard near the water. It kept on moving towards us and soon was close enough for me to just get its head filling the entire frame. After a few minutes, I found one Ford Endeavour moving towards us and I discovered Dr. Ajit Huilgol in that vehicle. And a couple of minutes later, the traffic jam was complete with a forest department canter reaching the place. The monitor lizard had moved away and was appearing as a small object. We then moved ahead.

Towards evening the lights started going down and we came across a herd of elephants. And I discovered that there were a few tourist vehicles about 30 yards behind the elephants. A few elephants from the herd were yet to cross over to the left side and were hidden in the dense lantana bushes. The elephants at the left started mud bathing. The matriarch gave the signal for the elephants to move. An approximately 3 year old juvenile elephant came close to my SUV and felt a bit intimidated. The matriarch moved ahead to calm it and they entered into the dense lantana bushes on our left. The sighting was not conducive for great photography. However, I was happy at observing the elephants and listening to their rumbling sounds.
We then moved ahead and arrived at a T junction.

When I turned to the left, we could find a few langurs on the ground eating lantana leaves. Lantana, being an exotic first imported by the British as flowering plants have gone wild and invaded our forests. The leaves have toxic impact on the herbivores. However, it seems that langurs have got accustomed to eating its flowers, buds and leaves. I am not sure whether anyone has done any study on the impact of lantana on the langur. Normally, I don’t stop for shooting langurs. However, the lighting was good. And Mr TNA Perumal, the pictorialist that he is, never missed an opportunity to photograph any subject in good lighting. I accordingly stopped the Safari and photographed the langurs with my 400mm. I opened the door and placed the lens in the wedge between the vehicle and the door and got enough stability to get sharp images.

The sun was setting and light had gone down low enough to prompt us to return to the Forest Rest House. We soon started chatting over a cup of tea. The images were downloaded, and after an early dinner we were about to retire for the night when we heard alarm calls.

Any visitors to Bandipur would be surprised at the congregation of spotted deers (Axis axis) near the forest rest house in the evenings. In the night, you can see the deers resting on the ground in the forest rest house compound. This is an attempt to avoid predators. However, leopards come nearby to hunt. We moved out but couldn’t see the leopard. Later around midnight again we heard alarm calls. However, it seems the leopard was not successful. I was hopeful that we might sight a carnivore the next day and didn’t realise when I fell asleep.

I was woken up by Laxminarayanan at around 4 am. We got ready and then met Mr. Jayakumar and group there and proceeded ahead. We were about to turn left when they moved ahead to turn left. So we drove ahead and took a right turn. Alas, who knew that we are going to miss the tiger?
In the early morning dew, we photographed a jungle fowl and a mongoose. At a distance we could find a few tourist vehicles. I drove ahead and found an elephant digging a salt lick. The sound of digging was audible. Since the elephant was on my right, I waited for Mr. TNA Perumal to click a few shots before I created some images. At f3.2 aperture, I could get the entire body covered by depth of field and was happy with the images.

We then turned back and came to the main road. I decided to enter into an unused road. Mr. Perumal said that chances of sighting in such dense vegetation is remote. However, I decided to move ahead. We then reached an antipoaching camp and turned left and climbed a hill again. Suddenly a Changeable Hawk Eagle flew and sat on a branch on our left. The background was not cluttered as there were branches criss crossing behind its head. It sat patiently for about half an hour. So I could change converters and create various compositions. It was about 9 am and there were no more sightings on the way.

After a quick breakfast, we decided to go to Gopalswamy Betta. Though I was not keen on taking my heavy 400mm f2.8 IS lens, Mr. Perumal said that there are chances of sighting elephants on the slopes and asked me to carry the lens. It was however, packed in my bag.

We were about to reach the Bandipur forest gate and saw a spotted deer (Axis axis) near the road side chewing on a kurkure packet. Herbivores, due to the salt content, like to lick and chew the empty wafers packets dropped by visitors. In the process, the stand on or near the road side and get hit by speeding vehicles. At times, they swallow these packets and die as well. On one earlier occasion, I had seen an elephant dung containing a polythene laced with blood. When I was struggling to remove my camera and lens from the bag kept in the backseat, the deer moved into the lantana vegetation. Several cars came speeding and narrowly missed hitting us. Fortunately, I could document the deer chewing the plastic wafer packet using 800mm focal length.

We then proceeded towards Gopalswamy Betta. Somehow, we missed the entry road and took a detour on a broken road. It was certainly not an issue as I had 4WD in my vehicle. On reaching the entry gate to Gopalswamy Betta, I was pleasantly surprised when the guard checked for plastics and took away polythene bags from the tourist vehicles. I wish this practice can be adopted in other places, including Bandipur.

On reaching the summit of the hill, we got down to macro shooting. I hadn’t brought a macro lens, but Mr. Perumal started shooting. I discovered that it is a good place for macro work. After a quick trip to the temple, we proceeded back to Bandipur. We sighted and counted a herd of seven elephants at a distance feeding on the leaves and branches on the hill slope. After observing them for about fifteen minutes, we moved ahead as the afternoon safari time was fast approaching.

On reaching the forest rest house, I found a big wild boar close by. On a whim, I took out my new Nokia N97 phone and tip toed towards it to create a full frame image. Well, the phones have a long way to go before serious photographers like me can use it.

We reached a waterhole where the previous day a tigress was sighted. Unfortunately, we only found a gaur. I tried a few shots handholding my Canon 1D Mark II and Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM lens plus 2xII Tc combination. The weight is killing, but I got a few sharp images.

Later in the evening, we found a kid langur playing and then found gaurs in low light. An adult male gaur was getting ready to mount on a receptive female. It needed some more time, and we didn’t have much time in our hands as the forest gates closing time was fast approaching. We had to call it a day.

Next day early in the morning apart from cheetals we didn’t have much sightings. We then waited at a place as Hari and Mr Perumal wanted to photograph the deers and langurs. I was watching a langur at a distance debarking a tree. After some time it moved ahead and started mating with a female langur. Fortunately, I was ready and despite handholding my heavy lens, the images were sharp. Soon it was time for us to move ahead and bid adieu to Bandipur.

(Originally written on August 2009)

Leaders are visionaries. They show us their vision and lead us towards the Promised Land. Or atleast, they used to lead us till leadership became the domain of dynasties. In India, the former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpaee was initially ridiculed when he unveiled his Golden Quadrilateral and East-West, North-South corridor dreams. With the success of the Golden Quadrilateral, every political party in India has understood the power of those grand dreams. Unfortunately, those grand dreams are limited to infrastructure projects and today the motto is “the bigger, the better”.

It is now an established fact that Energy is a great enabler in reducing poverty, and enhancing equity among the masses. It is also a prerequisite for India’s emergence as an Industrialised Nation. At a time when India is inviting foreign investment with open arms, the deficit of electricity has become more pertinent and is threatening to become the spoilsport. The response to this deficit is to think of mega power projects, which is in line with the current accepted wisdom: of big being better. However, the question is whether big is always better?

India currently has about 1.8 lakh Megawatts of power generation capacity. The transmission losses are about 30%. This amounts to 60,000 mega watts of power ie. Equivalent to 15 Ultra mega power projects of 4000 MW size each. If we consider that each MW of capacity creation costs about 4 crores of rupees, the total amount saved can run upto 240,000 crores. A leaking ship requires the hole to be plugged rather than thinking of building another ship. Unfortunately, the proponent of this simple truth is likely to be branded as anti-development and thus anti-people and the opinion would be trashed with impunity.

These mega power projects leave a huge environmental foot print. Each power plant requires several thousand acres of land. Since Relocation and Rehabilitiation is an issue, the proponents of these power projects mostly try to acquire wetlands that are breeding grounds of hundreds of bird species, flora and fauna. Typically these places are termed as wastelands and commandeered for setting up these mega projects. This means the mega power plants are situated at a great distance from the consuming centres. So the vicious cycle of power generation, transmission losses during wheeling over long distances, distribution losses starts yet again.

History is replete with instances of civilisations perishing due to the fury of Nature. From the earliest days of mankind, we have understood the powers of Nature and have revered it. We have worshipped the wind, the fire, the water, the sun, earth etc from time immemorial. Unfortunately, today we are at a cross purpose with nature. The powers to be of India’s belated march towards industrialisation have closed their eyes towards the impact on nature. It is time that we wake up to such realisms, and think of securing our future generations by planning for a greener outlook.

The use of non-conventional energy sources like solar, wind, biomass etc. can decrease the dependence on present and future demand of electricity from mega power projects. Furthermore, these non-conventional energy sources can be tapped to light up homes of various rural communities that either are off the grid supply now or have irregular power supply. Supplying power to these far-flung communities also increases the losses. When one considers that India has about 6lakh villages, establishing a grid network to connect all the farflung villages is a gigantic task & costly task. It is better to design a system where some of the remote villages are off the grid but have tap renewable energy sources for their energy needs.

India is blessed with abundant supply of sunshine as opposed to countries in Europe. Therefore, it is vital that we tap solar energy to fulfil our energy needs. Far-flung rural communities can be provided with a combination of solar energy generating systems and households connected to a mini grids; thus enabling their de-hyphenation from major power grid. The energy thus generated can be used by the community while the excess energy generated can recharge the batteries.

At the moment, solar energy appears to be costlier than the thermal or hydel power and critics are ready to dismiss usage of solar power as an elitist dream. Is that so?

In India the production capacity for Photo Voltaic Cells is about 200 MW. However, the domestic demand is hardly 10 MW. So about 180 MW is being exported. Considering that most of these are used in Europe where the average sunlight is less than that in India, we need to think why we don’t find any cost advantage in Solar energy. The answer is the hidden subsidies and the flawed way of calculations. The unit cost of power for a consumer is same whether the consumer is near the generating station or whether he is in a remote location. The cost of providing power to farflung communities are hidden in this pricing mechanism. When one considers the transmission losses incurred to connect far flung houses, the solar appears to be cheaper.

Increased or mandatory usage in certain designated areas is likely to lead to greater economies of scale. The Government of India can make an amendement to the Electricity policy to mandate the distribution utilities to purchase a specific portion of their energy needs from renewable energy sources. This would give a boost to the generation and consumption of renewable energy sources in India. Furthermore, allowing renewable power plants to sell part of their capacities as per rates applicable to Unscheduled Interchange will make the cost of solar energy look attractive in India. It would also help if the Government channelises its efforts in ensuring more R&D in this area keeping the longterm in mind.

The Government of India needs to increase the efficiency of the existing power transmission and fully harness the potential of alternate energy resources rather than waste lakhs of crores of rupees in creating new conventional power generating souces. It is not only a colossal waste of scare resourses, but also creates a huge environmental footprint burdening future generations.

To make the matters worse, I was thinking that the ticket wont get confirmed, so hadn’t packed. Naturally, something or the other would be missed. However, I had never imagined that I will miss my tripod. I had packed the tripod in its cloth bag, but while rushing from the room, I forgot to pick it up. What a costly mistake. 

On 1st of November 2008, I got down at Naupara junction. It is a small junction with hardly any construction. I got into an auto rickshaw. And what a drive it turned out to be! 

I don’t know whether the driver would have ever seen F1 in TV. Being in a remote corner of India, this seems to be impossible. However, the way the auto driver started driving his auto at breckneck speed, dodging the pot holes, he would have put aspiring formula one drivers to shame. 

I had a tough time understanding the language as I don’t follow Telugu. I reached the forest guest house. I could see pelicans and painted storks flying by. I could see a watch tower constructed within the premises. Without waiting for the watchman to open the door of the Forest Rest House, I climbed up the tower and could see a small colony of pelicans nesting in a nearby tree. The sun was setting and I took some record shots of pelicans. Normally, I am not so keen in photographing Pelicans and Painted storks nesting. The background comes out pretty clumsy. I tried photographing them against the setting sun to make it slightly different than the run of the mill pelican shots. 

I came back to the room and unpacked. I had a chat about Mr. Mrutyunjaya Rao – a man whom I had come to support in the fight to save the Telineelapuram wetlands – to understand the area. I asked the watchman to get some food from a nearby hotel. In the meanwhile, a few local guys arrived and striked a conversation. Initially I was polite with them till the time one of them offered to arrange someone to remove my loneliness. I had to show them the door and then retired for the night. 

Lets see what is in store tomorrow. 

It was tough sleeping in the forest rest house. The building is hardly maintained as this is not a regular tourist spot. There is a watchman who hasn’t got his salary for a long long time. Naturally, he felt very good when I tipped him yesterday. It was a difficult night and I woke up feeling uneasy. 

I finished my morning chores and then slept for half an hour. I was woken up by a local guy whom I had met earlier. He was from Orissa and had settled in the village. I went out to photograph the pelicans and painted storks. I was urged by the locals to shoot the painted stork and I realized that they feel painted stork is better. On questioning, I was told that every year they wait for the arrival of painted storks and consider the day of their arrival as an auspicious day. 

The forest watchman brought tea and breakfast for me. After having breakfast, I took an autorickshaw. There were confusions galore, as I could not understand their language. The auto rickshaw driver and the forest rest house watchman took me to the sea thinking that I am a normal tourist. I could not even convey it to them that the extremely bumpy ride was a waste of time. I had lunch in a small thatched roof restaurant. In such kinds of places, there is no point in asking for the menu. You eat whatever is given. Surprisingly, the hotel owner knew a smattering of hindi and provided me with some piping hot vegeteraian meals. 

A Pelican builds its nest in Telineelapuram

A pelican flys by with Painted Storks in the background

I then went to another place and could find lots of Open billed storks in the fields. I could find a pair of pied kingfishers perched on an electric pole. Black wing stilts, cattle egrets, median egrets, Indian roller, common rail, water hen, coots, shoveller, kite, harrier…. 

It was tough trying to photograph using only my 300mm lens as it was difficult to handhold my 400mm lens that weighs 5.3 kgs. All the time I was cusing myself for forgetting my tripod without which the 400mm lens was difficult to use. 

Will this be the sunset for the beautiful wetlands

We kept on moving on the auto rickshaw and stopping whenever I saw a bird. This went on till the auto rickshaw reached a checkgate. I got down and started shooting some shovellers and immediately a guard came running towards me. He told me that I am not allowed to photograph there. On asking he told me that a Thermal Power Plant was being set up by East Coast Energy Ltd. I had an argument, as I was not encroaching upon their territory and was photographing in the area opposite to their area on the other side of the road. The supervisor of that place who appeared more like a goon, threatned me and told me that they will file a police complaint against me. See the temerity of these people. This is a company that had applied for environmental clearance and it was pending. They guys are constructing without the environmental clearance and threatening me of dire consequences. 

These guys were filling mud in the place to change the very nature of that place. I saw lot of dumpers dumping mud and construction being done at a very fast pace. I was amazed, as I had been told that some activity is going on, but hadn’t expected work to be going on at such furious pace. Clearly, they wanted to change the nature of that place and then prove that a wetland never existed. Unfortunately, in India our wetlands are not documented. This makes it easy for people to “reclaim” that land by terming it as wastelands. 

A PIL was already filed by Mr. Mrutunjaya Rao. I was happy to send my images to strengthen the fight against such blatant violation of environmental norms. We should be happy that there are still some good people around to take up the cause of conservation. Dr. J S Sarma, who was the Ex- Forest secy of Andhra Pradesh had also lend his voice in support of the movement against the Thermal Power Plant in telineelapuram. Fortunately, the committee decided that the Power Plant needs to be shifted to another location. 

The following is the text of the meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee on Environmental Impact Assessment of the Thermal Power Project. I have reproduced the minutes of both the meetings. 

This meeting was held on June 11, 2008.  The minutes of the meeting is as follows: 

Ministry of Environment & Forests 

(IA Division) 

*** 

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 24^th MEETING OF RECONSTITUTED EXPERT APPRAISAL COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THERMAL POWER AND COAL MINE PROJECTS 

          The 24^th meeting of the reconstituted Expert Appraisal Committee for Environmental Impact Assessment of Thermal Power and Coal Mine Projects was held on June 11-12, 2008 in the SCOPE Complex, New Delhi.   

2640 MW Bhavanapadu Thermal Power Project near Kakrapalli Village, Sri Kakulam District, Andhra Pradesh by M/s East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd. 

The proposal was considered by the Committee and the proponent made a presentation on the proposal.  The proposal is for grant of environmental clearance for setting up of a 2640 MW (4×660 MW) thermal power project at Kakarpalli village, Sri Kakulam District,Andhra Pradesh.  The TORs for the project were prescribed on 6^th August, 2007.  The public consultation was held on 23.4.2008. Super Critical Technology will be adopted. Project will be implemented in two phases. The land requirement for the project is 2450 acres. The water requirement is 155.12 cusec. Seawater will be used. There would be no fresh water requirement. CoolingTowers will be installed. COC of 2 will be adopted.  Imported coal requirement for both the phases is 8.98 MTPA, which has been tied up with Global Fuels Pte Ltd., Singapore.   However, indigenous coal for phase-II is also proposed, for which coal linkage is being sought from the Ministry of Coal. Imported coal will be transported by sea to the dedicated Jetty at Meghavaram village. Project area is reported to be out side the CRZ area.  Railway line is at less than 500m distance. It is proposed to shift the project colony from the present location. Impervious lining in the ash pond will be done.  

The Committee observed that the project proponent has submitted both the fuel options i.e. imported   and indigenous coal for the project and also prepared EIA report having both the option. The imported coal has been tied up with the supplier where as indigenous coal is not yet confirmed. In view of this, the Committee decided to consider the project with imported coal to be used in this project.  

          Based on the presentation made and discussions held, the Committee desired information on the following:- 

(i)                EIA report should be modified with imported coal as fuel. 

(ii)              Revise the land and water requirement accordingly. 

(iii)            Distance from railway line should be kept > 500 m as per siting guidelines of the ministry for the thermal power plant. 

(iv)            Land use of the project land as well as study area of the project. 

(v)              Location of intake and outfall points should be given. These locations should be selected based on physical modelling. Details of modelling and the results obtained there from should be furnished. It may be kept in view that the intake and outfall points are away from the mangroves. 

(vi)            Impact of the project on marine environment should also be covered. 

(vii)          Details of desalination plant and disposal of sludge. 

(viii)        Topography of the area should be given clearly indicating whether the site requires any filling. If so, details of filling, quantity of fill material required, its source, transportation etc. should be given. 

(ix)            Impact on drainage of the area and the surroundings. 

(x)              Information regarding surface hydrology and water regime. 

(xi)            Facilities like jetty are to be created specifically for coal transportation; details of the same along with their impact should be provided. Details of other associated activities like dredging, if any should also be furnished. 

(xii)           Revise Marine study taking discharge temperature < 3⁰ c instead of 7⁰ C and also do mathematical modeling. 

(xiii)        Coastal fumigation study for air quality data. 

(xiv)        Location of any National Park, Sanctuary, Elephant / Tiger Reserve (existing as well as proposed), migratory routes, if any, within 10 km of the project site shall be specified and marked on the map and got authenticated by the State Chief Wildlife Warden. 

(xv)          Ash dyke area should be shifted to the down wind direction i.e. north of the project site. 

(xvi)        Detailed plan of ash utilization / management with imported as fuel. 

(xvii)      Details of evacuation of ash. 

(xviii)    Measures of socio economic influence to the local community proposed to be provided by project proponent. As far as possible, quantitative dimension to be given. CSR initiatives should also be specified with proper funding details. 

(xix)        Particulate emission should not exceed 50 mg/Nm3. 

(xx)          Area under greenbelt should be increased making 1/3 of total area and details of local species to be planted.  

(xxi)        Phyto barriers should be put up in between CHP and the plant. 

(xxii)      Details of the auxillary fuel to be used, if any, in the project (type of fuel, quantity to be used and maximum inventory to be stored at site).  

(xxiii)    Risk analysis taking into account the worst-case scenario including cascading effect based on the maximum inventory of storage.  The risk contours should be plotted on the location map.  It may clearly be shown whether the risk will be contained within the plant premises.  

(xxiv)    Time bound action plan to address the issues raised during public hearing along with financial allocation. 

           The presentation made by the project proponents show that the project site is a low lying area which collects the drainage from the surrounding areas and the overflow from there   reaches the sea through a connecting creek. Some of the members have opined that this could be a marshy land and prone to submergence even facing tidal impacts. The concerns in regard to general drainage of the surrounding area were also expressed during the public hearing conducted for the project. In view of these aspects, the committee felt the need for inspection of the site   by a sub group comprising Shri T.K.Dhar and Dr. Asha Rajavanshi with a representative of the Ministry.  As Prof. R V Rama Rao is located at Visakhapatnam and he is fully conversant with the area, he has been requested to offer his specialist services in respect of hydrology and coastal dynamics as a special invitee to the committee. 

          It was decided that the proposal may be brought back before the Committee for its further consideration after the requisite information as mentioned above and the reply to the observations of the sub group has been received from the project proponent. 

It was our first trip to Sariska. I was getting impatient. The speedometer indicated it would not be safe to drive faster, given the numerous villages and the speedbrakers on the road. We started late in the morning due to heavy fog. And now I was getting worried because I thought I will miss the evening light.

I was taking my friend to give a feel of the jungle, so that the regular city folk can slowly imbibe the pleasures associated with the jungle. We quickly drove into the jungle directly without checking into the Tiger Den resort run by RTDC. That would have meant lunch and effectively blocking our entry into the Sariska National Park.

It was a Saturday, and we learnt that on Saturday’s and Tuesday’s the entry to the park is free as people visit the temple inside the park. We drove straight into the jungle, slowly watching both the sides for any visible sign of animals. I had told my friends from my past experience in other jungles, that he should not expect to see the tiger in Sariska, because the topography of the place makes it quite impossible to know even if the apex predator is close by. However, we never came across a single pugmark or did we hear an alarm call. Later the priest at pandupole put paid to all our hopes when he said “edhar koi share bare nahin hai”. So much for tiger conservation and to the figures provided thrown up in the census by the Park authorities.

An interesting feature of this place is the speed breakers in the road inside the National Park. We came to know that this is to deter the tourists from driving fast and crashing into animals when they were crossing the road. From a distance you can see a pile of white coloured stones on the sides of road, indicating the presence of speed breakers. They can effectively help you in sighting a speedbreaker and slowing down. I could see lot of tourist driving fast because people are not interested in watching a deer or sambar. All of us are guilty of persuing a tiger. If we can educate the tourists about interpreting animal behaviour, only then they would stop to watch even the herbivores. Other wise it is back at counting the number of species then saw in their trip.

This fanatic following for the tiger has led to people being very impatient and wanting to drive through the jungle all day as if they are on a hunting trip. Our Gypsy driver also tried to cash into this craze by claiming to site a tiger atop a cliff. A close focussed shot through my digital camera and blowing it into a bigger size finally revealed that there was no tiger. Obviously our driver was not amused at the prospect of losing a good tip.

The animals near the tarmac are slightly accustomed to the vehicles as opposed to the chital and sambar near the kaccha roads. We could guess that the number of gypsies and jeeps plying in the katcha road is far less than the vehicles moving in the tarmac connecting pandupole.

Probably I could instill some amount of discipline and understanding in my friends when I pointed towards a group of sambar deer with their fawn and asked my friends to watch out for a show of affection by the sambar towards its offspring. Soon it happened and my friend was very happy when he could capture it in his handycam. I now strongly believe that if all the lovers of wildlife start taking their friends to the jungle at least once or twice a year then it would be easier to spread the message of conservation.

(12^th December 2004)

It would be pertinent to mention here that I was not staying in a Jungle. I had gone home in the winter vacation. Our house in Bhubaneswar has a swampy land bordering it. This wetland is caused primarily due to the sewerage flowing into a patch of land that has now shrunk to approximately 3 to 4 acres due to constant land reclamation and housing colonys coming up.

Several species of birds can be found here, namely, golden oriole, bronze winged jacana, purple moore hen, pond heron, egret, black winged stilts, rufous tree pie, cuckoo, bee eaters, bablers, black drongo, parakeets, blue jay, Myna, Coucal, bablers etc etc. Last year I had sighted a pair of whistling teals here. There are also several trees nearby. Among the raptors, common is the pariah kite and there have been occasional sightings of Sikra also. One can regularly see the common whitebreasted kingfisher on guard either from a nearby tree, or the electric wires or in the rope used by my mom to dry her clothes. Pied kingfishers were regular here till a year back, but tree felling for construction work have forced them to abandon this place.

The thought of losing sight of these birds in a year or two, when this unique wetland will vanish due to urbanisation and land reclamation makes me sad. In our childhood days, we used to see many colourful birds in our backyard. That sense of enjoyment will vanish forever.

Happy with the photographic opportunities present in my backyard, I decided to explore the outskirts of Bhubaneswar for any sign of birds. This led me to a village called Sisolo, about 17 kilometers from my house. There is a large pond about 100 meters by 150 meters. In winter this pond is frequented by whistling teals. You will find lot of lotus flowers blooming in this pond. Unfortunately when we visited this place, we could only find about 40 to 50 whistling teals in this pond. The pond is bordered on two sides by the road and by farmlands on the other two sides. When I parked my car nearby, there were may curious onlookers. The whistling teals appeared to be very wary of human presence. I thought probably because of the lot of traffic on the road, the birds are nervous. But villagers told me that three years back some body had shot a few birds. Since then, these birds had skipped this place for three years and for the first time in December 2004 made their reappearance.

Villagers told me that a major part of the marriage season is in winter and this coincides with the migratory birds routine. Since marriages are normally marked by bursting of firecrackers, it distracts the birds. Now the villagers are taking care of not bursting firecrackers near the pond. A couple of villagers and the tea vendor informed me that earlier a sizeable number of tourists visited the place to watch the birds. However, these days there are hardly any tourists due to drastic reduction in the number of migratory birds. This easy to understand impact of conservation on our bread and butter, if carried to other parts of our country might help in strengthening the conservation movement.

 Sabyasachi Patra

(Originally written in 2004)

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Wildlife tourism is viewed as a mode of protecting our wildplaces. The monetary benefits accruing out of wildlife tourism is used to justify spending on creation and maintenance of wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks by the Government in various developing countries. The argument is that wildlife tourism is a non-consumptive activity i.e. the tourists can’t remove any thing from the area and it doesn’t have any long term impact. It is said that Wildlife Tourism doesn’t consume our scarce resources and it will bring the much needed funds for sustaining our wild places and providing livelihoods for the communities around our National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Protected Areas. If this were true, then it would have been an easy solution. The tourism sector propagates such myths and the unsuspecting public are more than happy to adopt such an easy route. However, Wildlife Tourism is not the panacea of all ills. Recent research on various species around the world suggests that the harmful effects of tourism are much more significant than earlier estimations.

Let us first try to examine the validity of the basic premises of Wildlife Tourism:

a) non-consumptive and its longterm impact as negligible

b) providing livelihoods for the local communities

Let us look at our wild areas in India. Typically, there were small hamlets or villages around our wildlife places. Once a place is “discovered” by people, someone starts a hotel and few people visit that place. These tourists come back with nice experiences and then hordes of tourist descend on that place. When the tourist traffic increases, entrepreneurs move in to encash on the popularity of that place. And the so called development of that place starts. Unfortunately.

When a wildlife sanctuary or a protected area is opened up for tourism, lot of infrastructure is created in that place. The Hotel owners come from the other areas to set up hotels. The local people don’t have the capability to invest in infrastructure. The local people don’t even qualify to become chefs or cooks in the hotel, as the right kind of culinary skills for serving the well heeled tourists is to be sourced from outside the locality. People from outside the locality again come and invest in vehicles for transporting tourists and in four wheeled vehicles for Safari inside the jungle. Similarly, telephone booths, cyber cafes, massage centres, grocery stores etc come up. The locals are only employed as gardener to maintain the lawns of the hotels or for cleaning utensils or for other menial jobs.

In the initial wave of development, the locals sell off their land. However, in a couple of year’s time, the price of land multiplies and naturally the locals who had bailed out by selling their lands in the initial phase don’t get the fruits of the actual economic boom. A lot of economic activity happens, but the local communities don’t benefit from it.

This proves that local communities don’t benefit from the wildlife tourism.

Impact:

Does any one think whether a place, once a pristine wilderness area, has the capacity to cater to the huge tourist traffic?

The tourists come in hordes and place huge demands on the environment. To cater to the tourists, hotels are setup with Air Conditioners guzzling lot of energy. Swimming pools are setup and it places a huge demand on the fresh water. Exotic fruits and food supplies need to be transported for the tourists. Migration of people from other areas start. Someone needs to grow vegetables, cereals etc so lot of forest areas give way to cultivation. Similarly the goats for the meat requirements and cattle for the milk or cultivation requirements now fight with the wildlife for grazing space and freshwater needs. And with the livestock comes the attendant problems of the wild animals contracting diseases like foot and mouth, or carnivores killing livestock and then inturn being killed by the people. In a few years time, a hamlet grows into a town. A live example is Bandhavgarh National Park. The Tala village used to be a hamlet with about 8 huts. Now it is growing into a town. People have come to get jobs as guides, drivers, cooks, and have set up restaurants, hotels, grocery shops, wine shops, massage centres etc etc…the list is endless. Similarly, Masinagudi or the Segur Ghats area used to be a pristine wild habitat, till the influx of construction workers for the Moyar and Singara irrigation projects started changing the scenario. With the increase in wildlife tourism, the Masinagudi hamlet is converting into a town. The tribals – the original inhabitants of that area – now number about 600 as opposed to the total population of 15000.

With the increase in tourist traffic, comes the sad spectre of wild animals hit by speeding vehicles. In case of Bandhavgarh National Park, the forest department has now fenced the areas bordering the road and villages. There are cases of poaching by villagers. A tiger was also reported to be electrocuted. The numbers of village dogs has increased, and cases of deer being killed by the village dogs are often reported.

Impact on Wildlife:

The transformation of a sleepy hamlet into a bustling town, has tremendous impact on wildife. Our wildlife don’t have inviolate spaces to roam freely. Most of the times a highway or a train line cuts across the forest and the animals are killed by speeding trains or vehicles. Or people encroach on pristine wildlife habitats, reducing the areas available to the wildlife. The migratory path of the elephants are cut off by high speed canals, or highways. Poachers arrive with their sophisticated weapons, spot lights, jeeps etc and the wildlife simply stands no chance.

In Tala village near Bandhavgarh National Park, a tigress was hit by a speeding vehicle and its jaw was broken. Recently, near Corbett National Park, a tiger was mowed down by a tourist bus. Elephants are regularly mowed down by trains. The animals have become cautious in crossing the road. I saw a tusker look at left and then the right side and crossed the hurriedly cross the road in Nagarhole National Park. I have seen deers, gaurs and other animals running across the road to avoid being hit. But that is not enough. The top speeds of our vehicles make it impossible for the wildlife to dodge the traffic.

Elsewhere, there have been reports of corals getting bleached due to the sunscreen lotion used by divers. No studies have been commissioned to examine the impact of tourism on our marine ecosystem. In the absence of data, everything is expected to be ok.

We don’t realise that when we enter into the forest, whether on vehicles or on foot, we come in contact with animals. With each contact, we leave a lasting impression on the animals.

So the basic premise of Wildlife tourism as non-consumptive and without any longterm impact is a huge lie.

In India, in any forest or National Park, you can find a dilapidated temple. With wildlife tourism, people start visiting these temples or “sacred trees” etc. Soon people start flocking such places expecting miracle cures. That puts a lot of stress on the wild areas. In most of the cases, it is the tour operates who schedule such temple visits to widen their appeal to tourists. In Sariska, it is estimated that about one lakh pilgrims visited the temple in Pandupole on one day. In Bandhavgarh National Park, the park authorities created concrete structures around Sheshsaiya – a 32 feet sculpture of Lord Vishnu – to attract religious tourists.

Can our wildplaces survive such an onslaught?

A study conducted by University of California along with San-Franscisco based Wilderness Society reports significant drop in numbers of carnivores like Bobcats and Coyotes due to tourism.

Too often I have found that it is the tourism sector which propagates such myths of Tourism bringing much needed revenue to the villagers etc etc.

I am a big fan of Formula 1. Every day, I search all the websites reporting Formula 1 info. The disappearance of Narain Karthikeyan from the starting grid in 2006, made me sad, but didn’t diminish my enthusiasm for Formula 1. It never will, as Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sports. 

These days, the rules of Formula 1 are changing, supposed to be for the better. I am not sure. It is said that Formula 1 is aiming to reduce its environmental footprint. It is said, that Formula 1 is moving towards a cleaner and greener future. The KERS system (an energy recovery system) is going to be incorporated in the cars from next year and is projected as an effort to move towards a greener future. The rule mandating the driver to use the same engine in two consecutive races is more to limit the cost rather than to reduce the environmental impact. Honda, has painted their Cars in their so called “Earth Livery”. Is this enough? Is Formula 1 serious about environment?

Let us examine a recent move to introduce a night race. Formula 1 races are held at 2 pm in the afternoon on race days. However, that is going to change, when for the first time, a race is going to be held in the night at Singapore. The night race was conceived to beam the race to European viewers at a time convenient to them. It is also aimed to bring in excitement, which is lacking in most of the races due to the lack of overtaking. With increase in street races, the overtaking opportunities are minimal. So the night race is supposed to inject a dose of excitement into Formula 1. It is being hailed as an historic event. However, lets us examine the impact of the Night race on the environment.

The race track in Singapore is 5.067 kilometers long. To light this 5.067 kilometer cirucuit, 108,423 metres of power cables, 240 steel pylons and around 1,600 light projectors are used. Each bulb is of 2000 watts. The total power requirement to light the circuit is supposed to be 3,180,000 watts. The lighting level with around 3000 lux, is supposed to be four times brighter than the lighting in sports stadiums. Considering that there would be practice in Friday, qualifying in Saturday and race is Sunday; the race track will be lighted for atleast three days. So the total power requirement would be 3*31800000 watts i.e. 3*3.18 Megawatts ie. 9.54 Mega watts. Apart from this there would be additional lights brought by the teams to light up their pit areas. I am not sure how many hours the lighting would have been tested to satisfy the officials.

 It is estimated that 1 Megawatt will light up 800 homes in USA for a year as the average household consumption of energy in USA is 11,000 Kilowatt-hours. So the 10 Mega watts of extra energy that would be used in a night race would light up about 8000 homes in USA. The average household in a country like India consumes about 3880 Kilowatt hours in a year. This implies that 10 mega watts of power would be able to light up about twenty two thousand and six hundred (22600) homes in India for a year. Is it not phenomenal?

Do we need such a lavish spectacle? Consdering that there can also be other ways to increase the appeal of Formula 1 like increasing overtaking possiblities, conducting a night race in my opinion is not an environment friendly option.  

Right of Way

Roads have been the bane of most of our wild areas. Some of the pristine wildlife habitats have been dissected by roads. In the early part of the 21st Century, the motorable roads were much less. The dirt roads were not much of a menace, as less population and a low frequency of vehicles on these roads didn’t create much of adverse impact on the wildlife.

Today, the quality of roads has improved a lot. The dirt roads have given way to metalled four lane or at least two lane roads. Increase in vehicles and increase in disposable incomes have led to a boom in tourism. The improvement in quality of roads has led to more and more people driving to destinations, instead of taking public transport.

And along with that comes accidents, throwing of garbage, teasing animals, zooming past animals at high speeds to terrorise them etc. At times, you would be amazed at the level of immaturity and recklessness shown by the people.

This shot shows a huge adult Gaur (Bos gaurus) crossing the road. Often mistakenly called as Bison, these can weigh upto 2 tonnes and when violent can topple vehicles. This shot was taken in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The road from Bandipur to Ooty passes through the Mudumalai Tiger reserve. The shorter road passes through Segur and is known as the Segur road. It is steep and several years back diesel vehicles could not negotiate the steep inclination of this ghat road. Hence most of the traffic used to pass through the other road which is about 30 kilometers longer than the Segur road.

I was coming back from an afternoon Safari in Bandipur National Park in July 2008. Dusk was fast approaching and the showers few minutes back had decresed the light. I was driving slowly when a vehicle from the opposite direction slowed down near me and the occupants excitedly told me that there is a herd of elephants ahead. After moving ahead in the winding road, about hundred meters or so, I came across a herd of elephants. The elephants numbering about forty were feeding near the road. I brought my Safari (an SUV) to the left and parked. Soon other vehicles overtook me and stopped about 15 feet away from the elephants. The elephant herd had three small calves, about a few months old, who appeared to be still in awe of their trunks.

A lady from one of the vehicles, got down and was trying to move closer to the elephant. People don’t realise the difference between pet animals and the wild ones. Soon a herd of four Gaurs appeared and tried to cross from the left to the right. One of the adolescent elephants, with the impetuousness of youth, started chasing the gaur. In the meanwhile, vehicles from both the sides had created a traffic zam. People had got down from their vehicles and were watching the drama, oblivious of the danger of being too close to these wild animals.

The Gaur was crossing about a few feet from the cars. The cars appear to be dwarfed in front of the Gaur. An annoyed Gaur, can cause significant damage to a vehicle like Maruti in the picture. Apart from the danger to the people, due to their irresponsible acts of getting two close to these animals; it also causes stress to the animals as they are not used to such close proximity with humans.

Most of the people are ignorant. A quick briefing of people entering the sanctuary should help. The briefing can be just two or three lines while opening the forest entry gates, like “Please don’t Honk”, “Please don’t litter” and “please maintain 30kmph speed limit”.

People also violate rules as they don’t feel that there is any patrolling by the forest officials. Forest department is in perennial shortage of staff. Most of them are old and on the verge of retirement. Meager salary also doesn’t help in motivating them.

Most of the vehicles given for patrolling are used by the officials. So the forest department should provide battery operated vehicles that you mostly find in Golf courses. These vehicles, apart from stopping pollution, also won’t be misused. As officials won’t be seen taking these vehicles for any other purpose.

What you can do:

You can spread the message and educate people.

You can write a letter to the forest department and the ministry highlighting the issues and ask them to sanction more posts for the forest department and urge them to fill the existing vacancies.

I look forward to your comments and your ideas on this topic. Let us know when you take any action, so that I can mention it here. It will serve as motivation for others.