I believe it is a good idea to do benchmarking; after all, life is all about change for the better. In the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue XI (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-xi), I had done a comparison between wildlife sanctuaries in India and Africa focusing on the size. Continuing with the efforts in analyzing best practices from Africa, in this edition we focus on eco-tourism.

Ecotourism:
Ecotourism is a much reviled concept in India. Most often the word is used liberally and twisted to suit the needs of different groups like forest department, NGOs, settlers in a wilderness area etc.

IUCN has defined ecotourism, as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features – both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations”.

Ecotourism has got different degrees of success around the world. Like any other tool, it has its own limitations and is definitely not the panacea of all ills afflicting our wilderness areas. Let us look at ecotourism as it is practiced or preached in India.

Do we have an ecotourism strategy? What do we expect from ecotourism? Have we done any objective setting for ecotourism in India?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The sporadic efforts of some genuinely interested individuals and groups may have resulted in a few so called “successful” ecotourism operations. However, as a country we are groping in the dark.

In sharp contrast Botswana, one of the poorest countries in Africa (as far as measurement of economy in the traditional method is concerned) has defined its ecotourism strategy and objectives. It would be pertinent to mention that Botswana has got 37% (thirty seven percent) of its landmass in National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas. Ecotourism objectives of Botswana:

• Minimizing negative social, cultural and environmental impacts.
• Maximizing the involvement in, and the equitable distribution of economic benefits to, host communities.
• Maximizing revenues for re-investment in conservation.
• Educating both visitors and local people as to the importance of conserving natural and cultural resources
• Delivering a quality experience for tourists

Where do we stand if we analyse ourselves with a similar set of objectives?

How environment friendly is our ecotourism?
There are too many groups to talk about social and cultural impact. I would limit my observations to the environmental impact.

• Do we use energy and water conservation technologies to save our precious resources?
• Do we use local design and construction methods?
• Do we practice responsible waste management measures?
• How do we eliminate hazardous materials, pesticides, phosphate based cleaners, solvents, Volatile organic compounds etc?
• Do we assess life-cycle environmental impacts of all building materials and purchases associated with ongoing operations and maintenance
• Fresh food purchased locally?

The answer is obviously in the negative for the above points except for a few resorts purchasing some of their vegetables locally. The reasons are many and some of those are structural issues.

Priority areas:
In Okavango for example, they have an Okavango Core Tourism Development Area where low volume, low intensity and high value tourism is planned. In the areas bordering the Core Tourism Development Area, the volume and intensity of tourism allowed is higher. So their ecologically fragile areas don’t have to bear the vagaries of mass tourism. Unfortunately, in our case, there is very little differentiation of our areas with respect to tourism. The core areas are virtually inviolate to tourists, except for people who surreptitiously sneak in with the help of forest department officials. So everybody strives to flock to the Tala zone in Bandhavgarh and not to the other areas. Earlier it was free for all, but now the number of vehicles allowed into the 100 sq. kilometers of Tala zone is capped at 50 ie. about one vehicle every 2 square kilometers. So a naturalist or serious wildlife photographer has to literally jostle for space with an individual – liberally doused with perfume – who cannot distinguish between a gaur and a rhino.

They are conscious about the impact of tourism support infrastructure that comes up in an area. Unfortunately, we are not. So a Tala village in Bandhavgarh National Park, from 6 families has now grown into a small township. Same is the case with Ramanagar near Corbett National Park to name a few examples. A number of such examples abound.

In Botswana, the ecotourism operator needs to be registered and follow all the laws of the land. Same is the case in Malaysia where a tour guide has a license and an identity card. That helps in ensuring quality of service. In India, anyone can proclaim himself to be an expert and offer his services. For example, a tour operator who ran over a tiger cub, was running a hotel without naming it so.

In Botswana, the eco tourism operator must demonstrate that responsible professionals have performed the EIA (Environment Impact analysis). In India, EIA for projects involving industries, dams, canals, roads etc is a joke. So I am not sure how seriously EIA can be done for ecotourism. The Uttarakhand Government has now announced that new hotels will only be allowed to be set up near Corbett after due diligence. We must understand that once a resort, hotel etc comes up in an ecologically fragile place, the loss would be irreversible. Rare species of plants, animals, and insects can be locally exterminated, and landscape altered forever.

Community Participation:

One of the theoretical benefits of ecotourism, is to maximize the involvement of communities in ecotourism and the equitable distribution of economic benefits. Unfortunately, apart from menial jobs, the local communities have very less role to play in the ecotourism as it is practiced today in India.

It is obvious that the traditional communities won’t be always in sync with the expectations of the tourists and the best practices worldwide. Cooperatives should be formed by traditional communities and Tour operators with experience can get into management contracts with them. The traditional communities, knowledgeable in jungle craft can put their knowledge to good use. The others – not versed in the jungle craft -can get gainful employment in the ecotourism sector with some training. This would help in the traditional communities living in the periphery of the wilderness areas (after resettlement from the core areas) to value the wilderness areas better.

The tourism enterprise should purchase groceries, fruits, vegetables etc if locally available. However, this should not induce local communities to clear up forest areas for cultivation. That is the tourism should not lead to mushrooming of tourism support infrastructure and increase in environmental footprint. One third of India’s forest areas have been encroached in the last two decades. For further details you need to check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3539

It is imperative that the Government comes up with an adequate legislation and detailed guidelines to regulate tourism to not only protect our wilderness places from devastation, but also ensure equitable distribution of the gains. The following needs to be ensured:

Ecotourism Operators: Everybody wants to jump into ecotourism. Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas. The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc. It is difficult for these individuals or groups to learn and adopt the best practices from worldwide. So the Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.
Where: our tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas. It is perhaps human nature that people will only pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi. New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner.

How:

• EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
• Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
• A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
• The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/ naturalist as part of the team.
• Traditional crafts and culture should be promoted.
• In case the land is already degraded, the resort should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
• The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area.
• Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
• Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
• Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
• It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
• All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
• All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Conservation:
Oil spill threatens Olive Ridley Turtles Orissa
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3653
This is the second oil spill in Orissa coast in the last few months. First it was from the Mongolian ship in Paradip Port and now from the Essar Oil ship in Gopalpur port. It doesn’t require crystal gazing to know that oil spill can happen from the proposed port at Dhamra in the coast of Orissa and wipe out olive ridley turtles in Gahirmatha beach.

93% of Wild medicinal plants in endangered list
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3589

Wilderness Updates:
Forest guard dies in hunter’s attack in Thamarassery:
Please spare a thought to the challenges faced by our forest guards, frontline warriors protecting our wilderness areas.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3570

Free flow for Bhagirathi as Government shelves two dams:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3520

Wildlife Photography
Some of the fine natural history moments recorded by our members:
Pair by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3417
Tigress Yawning by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3504
Happy Family by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3416
Orange Headed Thrush by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3578
A wall of water by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3450
Is it effect of global warming by Mahesh Trivedi
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3463
Ghost of the Darkness by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3461

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds

Greetings!
It is my pleasure to bring you the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue XII, an issue that marks the Completion of our First year. In this anniversary issue we bring you the round up of the previous year and on popular demand, a piece to demystify the complex subject of climate change.

The Year Gone By:

Simplistic dream. Enormous goal:
IndiaWilds was conceived when I felt that the present model of conservation is not succeeding as Conservationists are branded as elitists without their feet on the ground. The need of the hour is to take conservation to the masses.

On the other hand the boom in wildlife tourism is resulting in more people invading our wilderness areas. Advent of digital cameras and lowering of duty structures have led to easier availability of cameras compared to a decade back. Increase in disposable incomes has also helped in more and more people being able to afford digital SLRs.

I wanted to merge these two and create a Conservation and Wildlife Photography Forum so that conservation can be taken to the masses and at the same time induce wildlife photographers and tourists to get involved in conservation, thereby further strengthening the cause of conservation.
Let’s look at what we have achieved during the last one year.

2400 unique threads, 11500 posts and more than 670 members.

Is this enough? Some say it is great. However, the challenges faced by our wilderness and wildlife are enormous. I think it’s a start in the right direction and there are miles to go….

The tangible benefits from this initiative have been the increase in members writing protest letters and emails to the ministry on various issues. We need more such members, as in a democracy like ours, lot of people raising their voice in the appropriate places does make a difference. In the past we have undertaken campaigns on different issues, to save a landscape from “development”, against practices detrimental to a protected area or wildlife etc with various degrees of success. However, we should remember that for every place saved, may be a hundred others are dying unnoticed. I am scared to talk about success, as there is a truth in the saying:

All our victories are temporary; only the defeats are permanent.

The critiquing of wildlife photographs has also helped our members noticeably improve their skills. The Natural History section is demystifying rare behavior and increasing the knowledge about wildlife among layman, wildlife photographers as well as experts.
So where do we go from here?
It is said that change is the only constant. We want to continue changing for the better. We want to continue to evolve and help in saving the last tract of wilderness and wildlife left in this country. So what should be our goals?

A few audacious goals to set the ball rolling:
” There are about 6 lakh villages in India. We ought to have warriors in each of these villages to champion the cause and lead the fight towards saving our wilderness areas, wetlands, flora and fauna.
” The single biggest cause of virtual extermination of some of our species is due to wanton destruction of our habitat. I hope we can not only protect our remaining 4% wilderness areas, but also nurse them back to pink of health, and create suitable corridors to maintain contiguity.

I would love to hear from you as to what ought to be our vision, which can serve as a guiding beacon for IndiaWilds in the days and years to come. Also, I would like to hear how in your opinion, we can strengthen the existing offering in the IndiaWilds forums.
Members are requested to provide feedback on this questionnaire:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGdpQjczSHFNWW90X05hUnMyRGlWbHc6MA

Members can share their views in this thread:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2572

Some of the highlights of the Past year:
Notable Images of the Year:
Mammals:
Friends by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2377

Leopard by AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=926

The Sambhar and the Tamarind by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=576

Birds:
Brahminy Kite by AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1059

Thirsty Stork by Praveen P Mohandas:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2358

Crimson Sunbird Split the Prey by Kiran Ghadge
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1386

Landscapes:
Late in the evening by Dr. Jitendra Katre
http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2453

Floor of Jog Vertical by Dr. Hari Venkatesh K R

http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2117

Ettinabhuja revisited by Subramanya Shankar
http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2423

Others:

Rat Snakes by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1238

Lantern Fly by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1341

Hairy Caterpillar Portrait by Sagar Patil
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1675

Most Popular discussions of the Year:

Conservation:

African Cheetah introduction in India:
African Cheetah was never part of this landscape, and it should not be introduced in India. For further details, please look at the following link http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1888

Rhino Reintroduction:
Rhinos reintroduced about 27 years back in Dudhwa but still behind bars. It is a case of shifting them from wild to a cramped enclosure. Is this what reintroduction is meant to be? Further details can be found here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939

Harmful effects of plastics:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108
Renaming National Parks as National Wildlife Preserves:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1536
Abolish Zoos:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109

Save Telineelapuram:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249

Wild animal treatment and role of Research and Vets in India:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23

What ails Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve: -http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=697
Thoughts of an Ex- Poacher: -
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=574

Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1182

We have a long way to go. We will consider ourselves successful if we can protect our fast vanishing wilderness and our wildlife. May God give us the strength and the ideas to succeed.

CLIMATE CHANGE:

What is it?

Everything on earth is in a state of flux. Everything changes. So why this talk of climate change? Well, my friend was right. Earth’s climate has kept on changing. However, at the moment the human induced change since the industrial revolution has taken a toll on mother earth. The emission of carbon dioxide and methane leads to heat being trapped in our atmosphere. This automatic heating up, referred as climate change or global warming is resulting in natural disasters and a myriad other effects – some subtle and others not so subtle – that threatens to pull down the existence of life on this planet.

How much have we changed since Industrial Revolution?

It is estimated that the level of Carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere before Industrial Revolution was to the tune of 280 ppm (parts per million) and it has now increased to 386 ppm. To make it worse, it is increasing by 2-3 ppm per year. When we include other gasses like methane that are responsible for this global warming, the total carbon dioxide equivalent works out to about 440ppm.

Impact: Flora and Fauna

Our flora, fauna and various micro organisms are tuned to adapt and survive changes in climatic conditions. Some will be able to adapt, or move to other places to survive. Others will move in to fill up their place. However, the pace of change is too rapid for lot of them to evolve and they are likely to perish. The impact of climate change of flora and fauna observed by the common man as well as scientists in the India can be found here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2514

Impact: Glaciers and Rivers

A warmer climate will result in more of glacial melt. It is estimated that the Himalayan glaciers are receding faster than glaciers in other places around the world. The Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. In places like Ladakh, agriculture would be badly affected. Our mighty and revered rivers like Ganga are likely to shrink…
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11525#post11525

Impact: Food Security

It is expected that warmer climate will lead to increased desiccation, severe droughts, irregular and limited rainfalls, lower water availability, storms etc. It will have a catastrophic affect on the agriculture and the food security of our country.

Impact: Submerging of coastal cities
The rising sea levels will submerge many islands and coastal areas. Millions of people would become climate change “refugees” – an assault on the very fabric of human dignity. I hope we can avert it.

Impact: Child Mortality:

It is predicted that natural calamities like floods, cyclones, droughts etc will exacerbate the impact of malnutrition and diseases. In India, where every year about two million children die before their fifth birth days due to diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia, the impact of climate change will be severely felt. Further details can be found here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2278

The issue of Climate Change is complex and there are many sub-issues that are aggravating it. Unfortunately, with multiple stakeholders pulling in different directions, the issues appear more complex than ever and the solutions impractical.

Tackling Climate Change: Cost of Technology & Cheaper solutions

The Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) has stated that the technologies required to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses are already available and countries need not cough up huge money in terms of royalties to a few companies – as is predicted – in implementing these technologies. For example, in India the transmission and distribution losses are to the tune of 30% (yes thirty percent).

Considering that India currently has about 1.8 lakh Megawatts of power generation capacity. The transmission loss of 30% amounts to 60,000 mega watts of power. This is 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, some of those being wetlands or forest lands.

Rather than creating huge dams on rivers and drowning massive forest lands or setting up highly polluting thermal power plants, it is better to increase the efficiency of our existing plants, plug leakages and seriously consider renewable energy solutions.

Copenhagen Talks:

The Kyoto Protocol – the only existing treaty to limit emissions- expires in 2012. It has very limited success due to countries like China, US abstaining. In a day or two, we would know whether the Copenhagen talks are going to succeed. This is perhaps the most serious problem facing mankind. I hope, politicians become more of Statesman in the approach in dealing this issue and come out with a solution soon.

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. Other interesting articles and photographs can be accessed at: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds
(Circulated in December 2009)

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. 

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.  

• You can send this link to people to educate them about the huge impact of polythene. Ask people to use biodegradable material and adopt safe disposal practices for their trash.
• You can stop using polythene. When you go to the grocery shop, carry your own bags with you. Ask the grocery store not to give you polythene bags.
• You can ask the authorities to set up waste bins and ensure trash regular collection. 
• At the moment few hillstations like Nainital have banned polythene bags. We can campaign to make more and more cities, especially places around our forests, rivers, lakes no polythene zones. 

Spreading this message will help in stopping the ever increasing usage of non biodegradable materials like polythene. Let us all work towards a better tomorrow. I look forward to your comments and actions. Let me know when you take any action. I will highlight it here so that others can get inspired.

• We can urge our local Puja committees or organizers to use biodegradable material and organic colours for the idols.
• We can consider immersing the idols in specially created temporary water tanks, so that toxic sludge can then be disposed safely.
• Spread the awareness among people so that the burden can be reduced.