Water hyacinth mess

One of the most invasive weeds and a Park Manager’s nightmare is the ever present water hyacinth. Introduced in India as an ornamental plant by one of the memsahibs because of its bright purple/violet flowers about a century ago, the plant has spread its tentacles to all parts of India and indeed to all parts of the globe. Even though it plays a role in absorbing heavy metals and also help in aerating the water, its unbelievable rate of multiplication has led to the plant being a weed, an unwanted entity, difficulty to deal with and slowly but steadily choking and wiping out other species…

One of the best ways of dealing with the menace is to involve the local people in creating commercially viable products from the plant.

Here are some of the products prepared from water hyacinth:

Nano and climate change

Last year at the Auto Expo, the Tata Nano was revealed and it was such a huge hit. Now, the bookings have started and deliveries would start within a few months. While it is great news for the middle class who own two wheelers and have aspirations of owning a car, it also raises the point of what impact it would have in the already overburdened environment.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change has listed some uncomfortable statistics with

Innovative urban Gardens

In today’s increasingly urbanized world with ever increasing growth of populations, the luxury of  having a garden where one can have some beautiful flowers or seasonal vegetables has become a distant dream.

With the very limited space at one’s disposal one has to come up with innovative ways of  growing things at home. If you have the luxury of a terrace, which we normally use for drying clothes on ugly clotheslines, or use them as secondary dumping grounds for useless things, but things hard to get rid of because of emotional attachments..well, its time to get rid of them and set up a terrace garden. The concept of

Harike 2008

This migratory season seems slightly delayed, perhaps corresponding to the delayed onset of winter chill. However, by the middle of December, most of the winged visitors have arrived.

This time around, the Ibises, both black and white are quite common.

Carbon footprint

Most of us are by now aware of climate change and it’s possible impact. One of the most important contributor to climate change is the emission of carbon. Many of our daily activities, things which we normally do not associate with climate change, – are in fact causing a significant impact. Personally I believe that these are more dangerous because they act silently, without many people realising it – as against well known and obvious dangers like vehicular emissions etc.

Some of these normal activities and how we can make a difference:

1. Stand-by mode : TV, Computers, DVD Players etc even on standby mode consumes electricity. TURN THEM OFF WHEN NOT IN USE

2. Charging : unplug your laptop, mobile, ipod etc once the charging is full

3. Defrost fridge/freezer regularly

4. While making tea/coffee, fill the kettle with as

History of Scientific Management of the Forests of Manipur

Manipur has a rich history of written chronicles which record in detail the different aspects of life prevailing during the time of different kings that ruled the state. Such detailed royal chronicles or “puyas” date back to the time of King Pakhangba who ruled during 33 AD. Forest and Wildlife have always been recognized as an important resource however, there is no mention of any form of management of forests in any of the puyas. The only form of conservation of forest in prehistoric and early part of recorded history was the practice of worshipping local deities known as “Umang lais” which formed important aspect of the religious customary practice. Since the Ukmang lais, as the name itself suggest, reside in a forest it was sacrosanct to protect the forest which stand in the name of the god residing therein. Similar practices are also seen in other parts of India and such forests are known as

Earth Hour

With growing awareness about climate change, the impact it has on us and the role each one of us can play to make a difference, there has been a lot of activities around the world, focussing on these issues. Earth Hour is once such beautiful thought which owe its origin to the Australian city of Sydney where the first Earth Hour was held in between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm on 31 March 2007. The 2007 Earth Hour is estimated to have cut Sydney’s mains electricity consumption by between 2.1% and 10.2% for that hour, with as many as 2.2 million people taking part. Earth Hour 2008 marks the first anniversary of the event with many partner cities and individuals around the world participating.

Within one year, the occasion has become an international event that asks households and businesses to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one hour on the evening of 29 March at 8 pm local time until 9 pm to promote electricity conservation and thus lower carbon emissions.

“We’ve turned the lights out. Now it’s your turn – Earth Hour.”

That is the endorsement of the occasion by internet giant Google, who turned their homepage black from 12:00 AM on March 29, 2008 until the end of that day.

Ironically in Chandigarh, one of the most literate cities in India, the event almost went unnoticed but by sheer stroke of luck the lights went for some 15 minutes plunging most parts into darkness. Earth Hour indeed !!!

Dolphins in Punjab

On the afternoon of 14th December, 2007, I was on a routine tour of Harike Sanctuary. The sanctuary has again come under my jurisdiction as an additional charge from the last about two months besides my regular charge at Ferozepur. Due to the extremely tight schedule and difficult situation at Ferozepur, I have not been able to visit Harike as frequently as I wanted, however due to the onset of winter and the migratory season and the arrival of long distance migratory birds, I thought I may as well have a round of the area. After reaching the area at around 3pm, I immediately went to the jetty to have a boat ride and go round the wetland to have a look at the arrival of the birds. While I was nearing the confluence of the Beas and the Sutlez river, Malkit singh, the driver/boatman and one of the Guards remarked that they have been seeing a rather big fish in the area for the last few days. A few days ago a came across an article which said that the Mahseer fish, more well known at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts, Karnataka, are also reported from the upstreams of the Beas and Sutlej. In fact when I last visited the pong dam, I saw that mahseer was seen in the area. Because of this background and having seen and “caught” the mahseer at JLR, I thought the big fish that the guys were talking about might be the mahseer.

As luck would have it, just at the confluence, there was some disturbance in the water behind us and the Wild life Guard shouted excitedly, “saab, its the big fish!!” I stopped the motorboat and kept watching at the general area indicated by the WL Guard. And lo, in front of my eyes there was a quick flip. On first sight it was distinctly clear that it was not a fish at all as there were no scales on the body. As I kept watching there were more flips and turns. At first I thought it might be the otters, as dolphins were the last thing on my mind. However, as the “fish’ kept on appearing at regular intervals I noticed the unmistakable “hump” on the dorsal side which is a tell-tale sign of the dolphins. I wish I could have seen the snout but the flips and turns were so fast and not so above the water level that it was not possible to see the snout. I rushed to the island nearby, which also has a watch tower, took out my nikon d80 camera and kept shooting. I must have shot some 200 pics but I managed to get only 3 clear pics. I got my confirmation from these pics that the big fish was indeed dolphins and since the area is part of the larger Indus tributary system, the dolphin could only be the Indus dolphins which anyway are found in Pakistan.

Dolphins belong to the Order Cetacea of the Mammals, which evolved around 60 million years ago when the dinosaurs had just died out. They were considered to be fish by biologist till the 18^th century when it was discovered that they were actually mammals as they were warm blooded, gave birth to live young, and breathed through lungs and not gills.

In India, most of the Cetacean species are marine, some live in estuaries and tidal creeks. The freshwater species is represented by the Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Indus dolphin (Platanista minor). While the gangetic dolphin, which inhabits the river ganges and its tributaries, including the Brahmaputra, is relatively more prevalent and more frequently reported, the Indus dolphin, which inhabit the river Indus and its tributaries is considered rarer and more difficult to sight. The Indus dolphin appears identical to the ganges dolphin, however, genetic studies show that they are different species, although belonging to the same genus.

It is for the first time ever that the Indus dolphin has been reported from the Harike Wetland area and even in the Indus river system, its sighting and reports have been very few and far between. Cetaceans, more so the freshwater dolphins are almost impossible to see or photograph above water. It is uncommon for a freshwater dolphin to jump clear out of water and for people to see it is even rarer. It is only when they come up for air, sometimes their hump may be seen. This is precisely the reason why most books and literature on dolphins use illustrations rather than photographs.

Harike sanctuary is situated at the confluence of the river Beas and the Sutlej near a small town, Harike and is bordering the districts of Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Kapurthala. Even though the reservoir came into being after the construction of the barrage in 1953, the area was first declared as a Wild life Sanctuary in 1979 and the final notification under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, in 1999. The sanctuary has also been recognized as a wetland of international importance by the Wetlands International by giving it the status of “Ramsar Site” in 1990. The sanctuary is better known for the large number of migratory birds it attracts every year during the winter season.

US, the Lone Ranger?

The first thing that Mr. Rudd, the new Australian Prime Minister did after assuming office was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. This leaves the US, ironically the biggest emitter, as the only nation in the world who has not ratified the treaty

Feeling the Heat

It has been unusually hot for this time of the year. Chandigarh, with all the greenery has been relatively spared of climatic aberrations, but somehow there seems to be no exceptions this time around. Already, places like Amritsar, Ambala, Delhi have recorded higher temperature than usual.

Till last month, my wife and I were having discussions on whether to drywash the blankets and store them away or wait for ” a few day”, as the weather was very pleasant and the evenings and early mornings were infact cold. At least my sons are in the habit of wrapping around the soft, cozy blankets before they toss and turn to find sleep. Well, the last few days, you feel like throwing the blankets out. Even though powercuts are unheard of in Chandigarh, the sudden splurge in power load has led to many breakdowns and you can then feel the heat when the powers are shut for maintenance.

This also means you have to open the dusty and stained covers off the ACs, call in for the repair/servicing walas (who indeed are having a field day and charging the sky – heard of a creature called vultures?…) so that you can at least have a good nights sleep. More in the line are the pesticide walas and the fumigants to keep the mosquitos and rodents out.

And yes the “rehris/thela walas” who have been carrying out their recce survey ( of how many vulnereable children a family has) dutifully has put them to good use and you can hear them barking in that typical nasal tone which can put Himesh Reshammiya to shame, ” IceeeeCreamaaaaa…” specifiacally at your door. The IIMs should learn their marketing strategy from them.