Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

Mango farmers high on hopes

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Srinivasa Rao, a farmer, showing the flowering on a mango tree at Nekkalam Gollagudem in Krishna district. /  Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu

Flowering is extensive and the crop is healthy, say farmers

Think of mangoes, and your are sure to conjure up images of the sweet, juicy, pulpy fruit that lures one and all during summer. And if one considers the varieties, the Nuzvid ‘rasalu’ certainly tops the list. This year, the farmers are hopeful of reaping a rich harvest of the famous ‘chinna rasalu’, ‘banginapalli’, and other varieties, as flowering is good and the crop in the region is not afflicted by an disease. If the weather cooperates, there will be good produce by March end, they opine.

“Krishna district, particularly Nuzvid, is known for ‘chinna rasalu’. Every year, we export some thousands of tonnes of the fruit to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and other places,” say the farmers. Flowering is robust and extensive in the orchards at Nuzvid, Agiripally, Nunna, Thotlavallur, and other areas in the district.

In some areas, the fruit is in a tender stage and the crop will be ready in the next 20 days.

“Compared with last year, flowering is good and we are expecting a good yield this season. The investment is also less this year, as the crop is healthy,” a mango farmer V. Srinivasa Rao of Nekkalam Gollagudem village told The Hindu.

“I raised chinna rasalu, pedda rasalu, and banginapalli varieties in five acres. We have already picked the fruit twice, as there was flowering in the months of November and December. We are happy as the position is good so far,” said another farmer S. Venkata Ratnam of Adavi Nekkalam village.

“Eighty per cent of trees are in flowering stage. The recent rain did not cause much damage to the crop. This year the produce may be double than last year,” said S. Veeranjaneyulu, who has orchards in the Nuzvid area.

“Most of the produce will be used for consumption in Vijayawada, Khammam, Guntur, East and West Godavari, and neighbouring districts. Fine quality of ‘banginapalli’ fruit will be exported to other States and countries,” said Mr. Venkata Ratnam.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Rajulapudi Srinivas /Nuzvid (Krishna Distr.) – February 09th, 2013

Salar Jung goes solar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

The SJM has decided to install a solar power plant to reduce the burden on conventional grid and to minimise its power charges

The rising power bill has forced the Salar Jung Museum (SJM) management to consider tapping solar energy to meet its captive needs. The SJM has decided to install a solar power plant to reduce the burden on conventional grid and to minimise its power charges.

The museum executive committee has already given the go-ahead, and the matter will be placed before the Board for its formal approval shortly. The SJM has already indicated Rs. 4 crore for the solar power plant in the budget projections for 2013-14.

Interestingly, SJM will be the first museum in the country to go for non-conventional energy. It plans to install 500 KW solar power plant on its roof top at a cost of Rs. 5.5 crore. The Ministry of Non Renewable Energy will provide a subsidy of 30 per cent.

However, the museum is looking for big companies, preferably those dealing in solar power, to sponsor the project as part of corporate social responsibility. In return, they can freely advertise their product in the museum, which has a visitor turnout of 12 lakh a month. A win-win situation for both.

“If none comes forward, we are prepared to go for the solar plant on our own,” says A. Nagender Reddy, Director, SJM. The New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of A P (NREDCAP) carried out a detailed survey of the museum premises recently and found ample space on the roof top of three buildings to install 500 KWp solar power plant to generate about 2500 KWh units of power a day. In a month the plant will generate nearly 75,000 KWh meeting 50 per cent of museum power requirement. The SJM power consumption is 4,851 units on an average a day. The average monthly consumption comes to 14,5,529 units. Annually the museum shells out a whopping Rs. 1.50 crore towards power charges.

Recently the SJM installed a 500 lpd capacity solar water heating plant at a cost of Rs. 64,000 to meet the needs of families of CISF personnel.

By going for solar power the museum hopes to save Rs. 7 to 8 lakh a month and recover the investment in about four years.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by J.S. Ifthekhar / February 01st, 2013

3 lakh hectares of land in East Godavari to be irrigated:Reddy

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Three lakh hectares of land in East Godavari district will be irrigated by March, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy announced today.

“Water will be provided to three lakh acres by March this year in East Godavari district,” Reddy said after inaugurating the Indira Jala Prabha scheme at Vajrakutam village under Gollaprolu mandal of the district.

1,231 acres of land has been brought under cultivation in the district and 69 bore-wells dug up under the Rs 1,800 crore ‘Indira Jala Prabha’ scheme.

The chief minister was accompanied by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, state Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy and others.

source:  http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> General News /by Press Trust of India / Rajahmundry (AP) / January 06th, 2013

A paradise for peace-lovers

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment

A view of a park in the Seethammadhara North extension in Visakhapatnam. /  Photo: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu

Right place to spend retired life, say former PSU employees

Amidst the pristine charm of the hills surrounded all over, chirping birds, beautiful parks, temples and a lot of serenity Seethammadhara North Extension is an ideal place for those who wish to lead a quiet life.

With nearly 100 apartments and 500 independent houses spread across the locale, the residents here are health conscious.

They prefer walking or playing tennis or shuttle on a regular basis. Women catch up with their friends visiting parks – Rocket Park and Hill View Park – in the evenings. Multi-purpose parks are catering to the needs of all age-groups. Youngsters prefer playing tennis or shuttle, women spread mats and perform yogasanas while children have gala time getting on amusement rides like slide and see-saw and the elderly groups pass their time sharing views on politics, sports and current affairs.

Apart from doctors and businessmen, former employees of several PSUs such as BHPV, Coromandel Fertilisers, Visakhapatnam Port, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd and Andhra University have settled in the colony for the past 20-30 years. They feel that the place is the right choice to spend their retired life.

North Extension is laced with educational institutions and playschools apart from hospitals like Queen’s NRI Hospital and Lion’s Cancer Hospital which continue to be main landmarks. Many independent houses were earlier allotted lower income, middle income and higher income groups.

For the religious people, shrines like Shirdi Sai Baba, Krishna Mandir and Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy happen to be the most sought-after venues. Residents are quite happy with the locale and the serenity it offers except for a few nagging issues. Transportation appears to be a continuous problem, said A. Vanaja, a 20-year old resident of the colony.

“One should have their own conveyance otherwise it is difficult to commute through ups and downs and access an auto. Another glitch is the apartment culture being on the rise. Now, we hardly get a glimpse of Kailasagiri or the beach,” she said.

Seethammadhara North Extension Layout Association Community Hall is being headed by corporator and colony secretary A.S.N. Raju. Though the colony appears to be posh and charms one during the first visit itself, certain issues like lack of streetlights, chain snatching, and poor maintenance of the roads, disorganised waste management and vehicle parking, among many seek attention.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Rani Devalla / January 03rd, 2013

Alien tree species pose a threat to Eastern Ghats

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Visakhapatnam :

Forest biodiversity in the Eastern Ghats  is undergoing a tremendouschange. Experts at the department of environmental sciences, Andhra University, believe that the hilly slopes in the district are changing for the worse.

The department of environmental sciences estimates that over 80,000 acres of forest land has been permanently destroyed in the last 32 years alone (from 1980-2012). In addition to this, biodiversity in the deciduous forests on the hilly slopes of the Eastern Ghats in the district has virtually gone for a toss.

Pointing out that diversity in flora has a new meaning today,  Professor  A Solomon Raju  said, “Intrusive non-native species are taking over the forest cover and artificial block plantations in many pockets of our reserve are threatening the existence of seasonal native plants in many ‘forested’ areas.”

Over a period of time, many block plantations of tree species like Eucalyptus and timber trees such as Cashew rina have been introduced in the reserve area, resulting in erosion of endemic species peculiar to the Eastern Ghats like Native Basil, Fida, Justicia, Borreria and Merremia that help in soil conservation, increase moisture level and produce organic matter which helps trap carbon.

Agreeing to this, N Govinda Rao, a biotechnologist from  Andhra University  said that the introduction of foreign species in a specific and sensitive ecosystem must be done carefully and care must be taken to ensure that they are friendly towards the ecosystem and not intrusive.

According to experts, the forests in Eastern Ghats are unique, in the sense that they are the most ancient forest cover in the subcontinent. More importantly, thanks to the solid bedrock, they house a vast number of tree species.

The three-tier structure of the forest is predominantly tree based and supported by shrub and herbaceous cover which is conducive to supporting life forms of great variance. The undulating and gentle sloping nature of the Ghats makes it ideal to support a three-tier forest, said sources at the environmental sciences department.

Elaborating on this, professor Solomon Raju said, “The very sloping nature of the Ghats makes a three-tier forest absolutely necessary. The seasonal herbaceous species such as Hyptis and Ocymm are extremely eco-friendly, in the sense that they not only help bind the soil and absorb rain water but also act as generators of organic matter that help the forest sustain.”

Moreover, the sub-tropical nature of the climate ensures that species found in different climatic zones can make a home in the Eastern Ghats. However, experts fear that the very existence of forests in the Eastern Ghats is being threatened due to various reasons today.

The introduction of non-friendly species such as Eucalyptus and Cashew rina is spelling doom for the ethnic nature of the forest, even as illegal mining, excessive urbanisation and shifting cultivation in addition to illegal logging could actually wipe out the forest cover for good, experts pointed out.

“Almost three species of butterflies have been wiped out and honey bees too are a threatened lot. If we do not act today and protect our forest cover, the implications would be serious as pollination itself could be affected. This means that food production would be drastically affected in the long run,” warned Dr Govind Rao .

However, forest department officials defended the decision to opt for quick growing plantations of Acacia, Cashew rina, Eucalyptus, Prosopis (Thumma) and Coffee because the focus was on regenerating tree and land cover in completely denuded areas. “We also need to take into consideration the fact that these trees have a commercial value. After all we cannot have the locals in conflict with the ecosystem. In the process, we try to find a balance. Environmentalists might say that we are compromising, but at least we are doing our bit to regenerate forest cover. At the end of the day, the block plantations can be slowly replaced by a natural forest cover.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com  / Home> Environment / TNN / December 11th, 2012

Ball set rolling for making Vijayawada a ‘solar city’

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Project aims at minimum 10 p.c. reduction in projected demand of conventional energy

Krishna district Collector Budha Prakash M. Jyothi has set the ball rolling for transformation of Vijayawada into a solar city by approving the proposals submitted by the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP).

In the wake of a rapid rise in demand for electricity, development of solar cities is seen as the most viable proposition. It is designed to encourage local governing bodies to prepare a road map to guide their cities in becoming ‘renewable energy cities’ or ‘solar cities’.

Vijayawada is the only city in Andhra Pradesh that figures out in the list of ‘solar cities’.To ensure optimum utilisation of solar energy to meet the objective of a solar city status, the local authorities plan to entrust the task of motivating individuals and various sectors to a group of departments.

“A group of sectors have been attached to different government wings that will take shoulder the responsibility of bringing these segments into the fold of solar energy users,” said NREDCAP Executive Engineer K. Srinivasa Rao.

As per the master plan, Municipal Health Officers, Regional Inspection Officers of the Board of Intermediate, RDO, Vijayawada and Town Planning Officers will coordinate to educate and motivate persons concerned with the city hotels and hostels.

Municipal Health Officers and District Coordinator, Arogyasri, Vijayawada, will coordinate with hospitals, Deputy Commissioners in the Departments of Labour and Commercial Taxes and town planning officers will wield their influence on local traders, shop-keepers and other commercial establishments.

Similarly, the Additional Joint Collector, Krishna district will encourage government officers while the District Education Officer, the Deputy District Education Officer in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and the Chief City Planner will shoulder the responsibility of schools and colleges, including private institutions.

The solar city project aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the city and energy efficiency measures. With the duty margins chalked out for each category, it is now time for constitution of a Solar City Cell and a Solar City Stake Holders’ Committee.

“The Municipal Commissioner will organise a meeting of all the stake-holders to involve them actively in meeting the objective of a solar city,” said Mr. Rao.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Sujatha Varma / December 06th, 2012

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Receives Carbon Accreditation

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad, has received Airport Carbon Accreditation at Level 2 –‘Reduction’ for its efforts in managing and reducing carbon emissions.

The Airport Carbon Accreditation certification was presented to RGIA on 8 November during the 8th ACI Asia-Pacific Small Airports Seminar organized by ACI Asia-Pacific and hosted by GMR Hyderabad International Airports Ltd (GHIAL).

Mr. Vikram Jaisinghani, CEO of GHIAL, operator of RGIA, said, “This accreditation is a significant milestone in the advancement of airport’s overall sustainability strategy as it involved calculating the carbon footprint of RGIA, using internationally recognised methodology and independent verification. RGIA has compiled an independently verified carbon footprint and succeeded in reducing their overall emissions and carbon footprint over the past number of years.”

On the same occasion, Mr. P.S. Nair, CEO-Corporate, Airport Sector of GMR Airports Limited was also presented with the Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate for Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, another GMR-led airport in India, which was accredited at Level 2 – ‘Reduction’ in July this year.

Regional Director of ACI Asia-Pacific, Mrs. Patti Chau said, “It was this month last year that Airport Carbon Accreditation was introduced in Asia Pacific and I am indeed very pleased to see that 6 airports in the region have been accredited and 3 are even accredited at Level 2 – ‘Reduction’, including RGIA.”

Airport Carbon Accreditation is the institutionally endorsed program that independently assesses and recognises airports’ efforts to manage and reduce their CO2 emissions.

Participating airports can be certified at 4 progressive levels of accreditation as follows: ‘Mapping’, ‘Reduction’, ‘Optimisation’, and ‘Neutrality’.

First launched by ACI Europe in 2009, the programme received support from ICAO and was extended to the Asia Pacific region in November 2011.

Airport Carbon Accreditation is administered by WSP Environment & Energy, an international consultancy appointed to enforce the accreditation criteria for airports. The administration of the programme is overseen by an independent Advisory Board.

Airports must have carbon footprints independently verified in accordance with ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting). Evidence of this must be provided to the administrator together with all claims regarding carbon management processes which must also be independently verified.

source: http://www.asiatraveltips.com / Home / Monday, November 12th, 2012

Hyderabad Sikhs committed for greening Gurdwaras and Nagar Kirtans

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment

Hyderabad, India (October 16, 2012):

According to a press statement dated: October 15, 2012 released by the EcoSikh, an NGO, the Sikh Educational Society and Sikhs in Hyderabad gave a warm welcome to EcoSikh, to receive EcoSikh’s environmental vision. Executive members from over 18 Gurdwaras and Social Sikh organizations joined this meeting at Hotel Katriya, Hyderabad today.

EcoSikh India Manager, Ravneet Pal Singh gave a presentation on the concept of Greening of Sikh Gurdwaras and Sikh traditions, which was very well received and appreciated by the passionate Sikh leaders of the city. He said that “Gurdwaras are our house of learning and sharing values, our Gurus have blessed us with the most valued lessons of protecting our nature. All what we preach and practice at our Gurdwaras becomes mandatory for us to follow at our homes and life. Let’s us practice Gurbani for welfare of the living planet, earth.”

It was a remarkable effort by the city Sikhs who took this great opportunity to assemble when Sikh delegation from EcoSikh, Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded, SGPC, and WWF Punjab were there to attend to the XI CBD by UNO.

DP Singh Chawla, from Takhat Sri Hazur Sahib motivated the South Indian Sikh Community to commit to EcoSikh cause, he promised them all for full support. He added that, “We should all commit for planned Sikh Environment Day celebrations on March 14 every year and prepare our kids to come up for the planet’s well being.”

The Deputy Director of Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), UK was also present in the congregation. She shared how the world is looking forward to every faith to come forward and to lead in their way of religious beliefs to counter the global warming, and making their religious ceremonies and traditions more environmentally friendly. “We know the Sikh communities’ utmost dedication from the history of Sikhs who fought for UK during the II world war, and now the world has high hopes from Sikhs to contribute for wellbeing of earth and its environment.”

S. Roop Singh from SGPC inspired the Sikhs with sharing their environment initiatives and the best practices by the committee in Amritsar, he also said,”A Sikh is duty bound to protect environment and making his religious and social practices in harmony with nature.”

During the commitments and pledge session the Sikhs from Hyderabad announced that they will take ample steps to share the EcoSikh vision by showing EcoSikh Video with the sangat in all the Gurdwaras for awareness, making their nagar kirtans Green and celebrating Sikh Environment Day every March 14. They also shown curiosity in the immense use of ‘Environment Notice Board’ in raising funds for their major environment projects in their Gurdwara buildings in the coming times.

This short notice congregation was well coordinated by EcoSikh Hyderabad Coordinator, Swaran Singh who is a software engineer and prominent sewadar in the community and has a wonderful passion for Gurbani and environment.

source: http://www.sikhsiyasat.net / Home> General News / by Jaspal Singh / October 16th, 2012

A sweet tale of how neem trees yield money

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

The agreed procurement price of neem leaves is Rs.100 per kg for the top quality leaf. / Photo: K.V.Srinivasan / The Hindu

Implementation of National Biodiversity Act enables people in two villages in Andhra to earn additional revenue

Some hundred neem trees have changed the lives of people in two villages, Amarchintha in Mahabubnagar district and Revalli in Nalgonda, both in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

They have helped them earn additional revenue of few thousand rupees, thanks to the implementation of access and benefit sharing (ABS) mandated under the National Biodiversity Act 2002.

SUCCESS STORY

Sharing this success story with The Hindu, Sriram Gangadhar of Bio-India Biological Corporation (BIB), Hyderabad, said that a couple of years ago, a Japanese company approached him for developing a food ingredient from neem to be mixed with water.

Generally, Japanese do not drink plain water. Instead, they prefer green tea water, energy water or medicated water. It is because of this habit that he received a proposal from the Japanese firm for developing neem-based water, which can be easily soluble and which gives a typical taste with its medicinal benefits.

Based on the Japanese inputs, BIB decided to work with local communities for collecting the neem leaves without involving any middle men, brokers or traders and under the National Biodiversity Act principles.

The company has identified two Neem rich villages and entered into an agreement with local communities, providing them five per cent on procurement price of leaves.

It is the Biodiversity Monitoring Committee in the Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board that takes care of processes including signing pacts with local communities and collecting leaves.

Mr. Gangadhar says the agreed procurement price is Rs. 100 per kg for the top quality leaf. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), which has concluded an agreement with the BIB, gets a royalty of five per cent on the sale of the leaves.

About 2,100 kg of leaf was, so far, exported to Japan. The Indian company is keen on working with many communities on sustainable harvesting methods to meet bulk needs of Japanese firms which are for increasing the quantity of production and expanding the project to a bigger scale with a lot of investment and research.

Similarly, the Neem water has proved to be good for overall health and it is a hit. “This is one of the successful case studies on ABS,” Mr. Gangadhar says, adding that the proceeds of revenue, meant for the villagers, are immediately passed on to them.

DIFFERENT FORMS

Balakrishna Pisupati, NBA Chairman, said that in order to implement the ABS system, there are four different types of forms: Form I — application for access to biological resources and/or Associated Traditional Knowledge; Form II — transferring the results of research to foreign nationals, companies, Non-resident Indian for commercial purposes or otherwise; Form III — intellectual property rights and Form IV — third party transfer of the accessed biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.

The NBA, which till now received over 600 applications, has cleared around 100 applications, Dr. Pisupati said, adding the maximum number of applications, coming under Form III, relate to prior approval for patents.

In respect of the third party transfer of biological resources accessed and associated knowledge, the Authority has signed agreements with 17 applicants.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by P. Oppili / Chennai, October 08th, 2012

Livelihoods Camp to begin today

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Uncategorized
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh greeting a tribal farmer at Konthili village in Visakhapatnam district on Sunday after planting the 2 millionth fruit tree. State Minister P. Balaraju and CEO, Naandi Foundation, Manoj Kumar, are seen.  / Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

Indigenous practitioners from across the world to take part

The Naandi Foundation and Global Livelihoods Network is organising a three-day Livelihoods Camp at Araku Valley from Monday.

The camp is being organised to bring together indigenous practitioners of sustainable livelihood from across the world to learn from the experience of the tribal farmers of the Paderu Agency area. The tribal farmers here have taken up an afforestation programme in 6,000 ha in the region under which 60 lakh saplings belonging to 14 fruit and timber species will be planted under the guidance of the Naandi Foundation and Global Livelihoods Network and Mahindra & Mahindra, explains CEO, Kallam Anji Reddy Chair of Naandi Foundation, Manoj Kumar. Earlier, the network had helped the tribal farmers take up cultivation of coffee in seven mandals.

Noting that this was a monoculture, the network took up the challenge thrown by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to encourage biodiversity and launched the Hariyali — 60 lakh fruit tree plantation programme — in the area three years ago.

Last year, the farmers planted 10 lakh trees. This year, the number has gone up to 20 lakh saplings. In the next two years, the network is confident of achieving the target of planting 60 lakh fruit and timber saplings.

The three-day camp would enable the livelihood practitioners to participate in discussions on livelihoods themes such as carbon rhythms, agricultural sustainability, ensuring fair price for the produce, and evolving sustainable community well-being and nutritional security, president of Global Livelihood Bernard Giraud said while addressing a meeting organised to mark the plantation of the 2 millionth fruit tree as part of the Hariyali programme at Konthili village in Hukumpeta mandal of the district on Sunday.

Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Tribal Welfare Minister P. Balaraju, Paderu ITDA Project Officer Srikant Prabhakar, members of the network, and tribal farmers from the region were present.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam (Paderu), Visakhapatnam District / by Special Corrrespondent / October 08th, 2012