Rajasthan wildlife sanctuaries in troubled waters

Jaipur: Soaring temperatures have made water so hard to come by in Rajasthan's sanctuaries that wild animals are straying into nearby villages in search of it and migratory birds are giving the area a miss.



India's desert state boasts of two tiger projects, one bird sanctuary and 25 wildlife sanctuaries, besides 32 closed areas for animals. These protected areas offer great eco-tourism opportunities for both domestic and foreign tourists.

Animal rights activists are not fully convinced with the forest department's plan for proper water supply through tankers and tubewells.

"Some of the wildlife reserves and parks are facing an acute water shortage this summer," Babulal Jaju, the state incharge of People for Animals (PFA), told IANS.



He said measures adopted by the state government were few.

Due to the heat wave, several small water reservoirs have become parched while others are on the brink of drying up.

"Can tankers ease the crisis? The animals need water not only for drinking but also for playing and bathing. The state government should have tried to make better arrangements earlier so that the animals don't suffer," Jaju said.



The anicut and small ponds in the Dara wildlife sanctuary near Kota in Rajasthan have dried up, forcing animals to search for water in villages.

"We are always in danger as wild animals, including panthers, have started coming to our villages in search of water," said Nanuram, a resident of Laximipura village close to the sanctuary area.

There is a rise in the number of panthers straying into villages, he said. Recently, a panther was beaten to death in Bhojipura village near the sanctuary.



The Dara sanctuary is spread over an area of 265 sq km between two parallel mountains -- Mukundara and Gagrola. The fauna of the region primarily comprises panthers, hyenas, langurs, cheetals, sambhars and bears.

The Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary, as the Bharatpur sanctuary is now called, is also facing a similar water crisis.



The alarming water shortage in the sanctuary, not far from Agra, has taken its toll on the turnout of the winged migratory visitors. The sanctuary was a favourite destination for a variety of rare birds from India and abroad.

Bird watchers from around the world visit the sanctuary to watch the spectacular jamboree of rare birds such as Siberian cranes and ducks, pelicans, geese, shanks, wagtails, larks and pipits from October to February.



But due to water scarcity, the bird sanctuary that used to attract over 300 species of birds earlier wore a deserted look this time.

A large part of the water bodies in the sanctuary have turned into dry land. The entire area had been receiving scanty rainfall for the last couple of years but things turned miserable last year.

The state government has decided to lay a 16-km pipeline from the Govardhan drain to supply 350 million cubic feet of floodwaters to Keoladeo Ghana.

Source: IANS

15 km of Goa beaches threatened by erosion

Panaji: About 15 kilometres of Goa's famous beaches have been affected by massive sea erosion that is plaguing the state's entire coastline, according to a survey by the Goa government.



The economic survey, a document compiled by the government on the state of the economy ahead of the budget, has also said that the coastline in seaward regions like Pernem, Bardez, Canacona and Salcete were in danger of being eroded quickly.

"It has been observed that about 15 km of the coastline is severely affected by sea erosion," states the survey, which was tabled during the budget session of the Goa legislative assembly.

"Though temporary measures such as stepped sea walls, earthern embankements, concrete blocks, rubble walls protected by geo-grid nets, have been implemented to tackle erosion, more concrete steps need to be taken," the survey says.

It also states that the world famous Candolim beach, which is home to two five star resorts, has already lost about 1.5 km of the beach stretch already, thanks to a grounded ship in the sea.

"Anti erosion works are being implemented at the Candolim beach for a stretch of 1,500 meters where a considerable portion of the beach has been eroded due to the grounded ship River Princess," the survey states, adding that the sand bar which had been created near the ship, needed to be removed.

The survey further states that on the recommendation of the coastal planning development advisory committee (CPDAC), several anti sea erosion measures had also been formulated and executed at a cost of Rs.11 crore.

Source: IANS

Climate change nibbling away at Britain's coastline

London: The increase in the severity and frequency of flooding in Britain has lent fresh urgency to a reappraisal of the government's strategy to combat flooding and coastal erosion.



"The flooding and intense storms are a sign of change and a reminder of the impact of climate change," Alison Baptiste, the deputy head of flood strategy at Britain's Environment Agency (EA) told DPA.

Baptiste believes that government investment in flood defences and the prevention of coastal erosion has been "as good as it can be". But the threat is now so severe that there was a need to "prioritise investment in areas most at risk".

According to estimates by the Bristol-based agency, up to 250 properties in Britain are likely to "fall into the sea" over the next 20 years, with a further 2,000 at risk from coastal erosion.

About 28 percent of the coast of England and Wales is subject to erosion of more than 10 centimetres per year, a rate that could reach an average of 1.8 metres per year, said Baptiste.

"In reality, coastal erosion is not always gradual, it can occur through events such as landslips, where many metres of land may be lost once every five or 10 years," she explained, adding that the combination of factors involved made accurate predictions difficult.

The government environment think tank Foresight predicts that, under current climatic conditions, the coast of England and Wales could experience an average of up to 67 metres of land lost to erosion over the next 100 years.



However, it was possible that erosion could increase to 175 metres by 2100, due to the impact of the world's changing climate.

The most affected areas in England and Wales are the "soft cliffs" on the North Sea coast of eastern England and the south-west coast of southern Britain.

The coastline of Holderness, in East Yorkshire in the north-east of England, is known to be among the most vulnerable in the world as the soft boulder clay cliffs, left after the retreat of the Devensian ice sheets some 12,000 years ago, are rapidly eaten away by the sea.

Another notorious spot is the "crumbling cliffs of Happisburgh" in north-east Norfolk, where inhabitants of clifftop homes could face the fate of becoming Britain's first "climate change refugees", according to expert predictions.

Insurers, meanwhile, have warned that the cost of a major coastal flood in Britain could soar by 400 percent if improvements to existing flood defences were not made soon.

The Association of British Insurers anticipates that a rise of 40 centimetres in sea levels could occur as early as 2040, putting an extra 130,000 properties at risk of flooding.

The government has committed itself to increasing public spending on flood risk and coastal erosion. It will spend more than 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) over the next three years.



It has conceded, however, that "short-term measures affordable to government "were in themselves not enough and that government at every level, as well as businesses, individuals and communities needed to "pool resources to tackle the risk we face".

"Under every scenario, our analysis suggests that if current flood management policies remain unchanged, the risk of flooding and coastal erosion will increase greatly over the next 30 to 100 years," said Foresight in a study.

The Environment Agency, calling for a doubling of investment by 2035, said if investment remained at the current level, a further 350,000 properties would be at risk from flooding by the mid-2030s.

Foresight predicted that if spending on coastal erosion stayed the same, the annual average damage was set to increase by three to nine times by 2080.

"Present levels of expenditure on coastal defence will not keep pace with coastal erosion in the coming decades and approximately one third of existing coastal defences could be destroyed," the think tank warned in a recent study.

In view of the enormity of the task, it is perhaps not surprising that Chris Smith, the head of the Environment Agency, admitted in a recent interview with the Times that Britain would struggle to defend its coastline.

"There will be parts of the coast that can't in perpetuity be defended. We can't build a concrete wall around the whole of England," said Smith.

Source: DPA
Images: Reuters

Canada's golden sands?

Oil companies are mining the sands of Alberta state in Canada for oil, with a drastic impact on the environment




Aerial view of the Suncor oil sands extraction facility on the banks of the Athabasca River and near the town ofFort McMurray in Alberta Province, Canada on October 23, 2009. (AFP Photo)

Greenpeace is calling for an end to oil sands mining in the region due to their greenhouse gas emissions and have recently staged sit-ins which briefly halted production at several mines. At an estimated 175 billion barrels, Alberta's oil sands are the second largest oil reserve in the world behind Saudi Arabia, but they were neglected for years, except by local companies, because of high extraction costs.



Aerial view of rock containing oil deposits near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta. (AFP Photo)

Since 2000, skyrocketing crude oil prices and improved extraction methods have made exploitation more economical, and have lured several multinational oil companies to mine the sands.



A scarecrow lies in a tailings pond in front of the Suncor oil sands extraction facility near the town of FortMcMurray. (AFP Photo)

In September 2009, Greenpeace activists entered a Suncor Energy Inc. oil-sands mine to disrupt production of what they called "dirty" crude at the site in northern Alberta.



The Syncrude oil sands extraction facility behind a lake reclaimed from an old mine near Fort McMurray. (AFP Photo)

Tailings ponds pollution has been a hot issue for years because of the impact on the environment, but it became more prominent in the public mind in 2008 when 1,600 ducks died in a toxic oilsands sludge at the Syncrude Canada oilsands tailings pond



Syncrude advisor Cheryl Robb shows a reclaimed wetland on the site of a former Syncrude oil sands mine. (AFP Photo)

Syncrude is the world's biggest oilsands operation and is a venture of several companies, including Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Imperial Oil Ltd. and Suncor.



Workers use heavy machinery in the tailings pond at the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility in Alberta, Canada. (AFP Photo)

Recently Suncor Energy said that it had a new technology that will turn tailing ponds near its oilsands operations in Northern Alberta into a solid landscape in a matter of weeks, thereby speeding the reclamation process significantly.

1,147 fish species threatened with extinction: IUCN

Geneva: More than 1,000 freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction, reflecting the strain on global water resources, an updated global "Red List" of endangered species showed today.



The list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the most respected inventory of biodiversity covering more than 47,000 of the world's species.

Scientists looked at 3,120 freshwater fish this year, 510 more than a year ago. They found that 1,147, or a third, are now threatened with extinction.

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected," said Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy head of species programme at the IUCN.

"This year we have again added a large number of them to the IUCN Red List and are confirming the high levels of threat to many freshwater animals and plants.

"This reflects the state of our previous water resources.

Not really born free!

here was a time when tigers and lions roamed the wild without fear. When the black rhino was the pride of Africa and the elephant was revered in Asia. But incessant poaching, destruction of their natural environment for development and climate change has made these pearls of the wild not just endangered but in many cases ‘critically’ endangered.

Here's a look at some species that may soon be Dinasaured out of the planet.



Asiatic Lion
This king of the jungle once ranged from the Mediterranean to the north-eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent, but excessive hunting, water pollution and decline in natural prey reduced their habitat. Today they are found only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India. In 2005, 359 Asiatic lions were reportedly sighted in the Gir forest.



Giant Panda


This cute and cuddly bear, that's been the inspiration not just for movies (Kung-fu Panda) but also many a stuff toys, is native to central-western and south western China. Due to farming, forest clearing, and other development, the Giant Panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. Today China has 239 Giant Pandas in captivity and another 27 living outside the country. It also estimated that around 1,590 pandas are currently living in the wild.



Asian Elephant
Hunted for it ivory tusks, the majestic Asian elephant is considered an endangered species with only about 50,000 left in the wild. Found primarily in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and parts of Nepal and Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, the animal is widely domesticated and has been used in forestry in South and Southeast Asia for centuries as well as in ceremonial purposes.



Bactrian Camel
Native to the northeastern Asia, this two-humped camel is in the critically endangered species list. Although an estimated 1.4 million Bactrian camels live in domestication, only 950 remain in the wild today and the number is decreasing.



Black Rhinoceros
About 3,600 Black Rhinos exist in the world today. Although referred to as 'black', the animal is actually grey, white or brown in appearance. The Rhino has been poached to near extinction for its horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties (and in some folklore magical properties). In 1990, the two horns from a single black rhino brought as much as $50,000.



Tiger
Tiger, tiger, burning bright, In the forests of the night.
What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Sadly, William Blake didn't know that man could not just do that but also send the tiger to the cemetery. The natural habitat of this wild cat that once ranged from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia, has been radically reduced. At the start of the 20th century, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has dwindled to about 2,000 in the wild -- a result of mindless poaching and destruction of its habitat.



Mountain Gorilla
Although not really hunted for meat, a large number of mountain gorillas get killed or maimed by traps meant for other animals. They have been killed for their heads, hands, and feet, which are sold to collectors. Infants are sold to zoos, researchers, and people who want them as pets. The abduction of infants generally involves the loss of at least one adult, as members of a group will fight to the death to protect their young. Destruction of their natural habitat and disease also threaten the gorilla.



Snow Leopard
There are less than 7,000 of these cats remaining in the wild. Native to mountain ranges of central Asia, the snow leopard has been hunted for its fur and although the animal is protected in most areas, local hunting and trapping continues. The snow leopard is still hunted for its bones, which are commonly used in many Chinese medicines and this, along with the enforced decline of many of the cats larger prey species has put it in the endangered animal list.

Source: India Syndicate
Images: Reuters

Greenland ice sheet losing mass on NW coast

A new international study has found that ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, which has been increasing during the past decade over its southern region, is now moving up its northwest coast.




Led by the Denmark Technical Institute's National Space Institute in Copenhagen and involving the University of Colorado at Boulder, the study indicated the ice-loss acceleration began moving up the northwest coast of Greenland starting in late 2005.

The team drew their conclusions by comparing data from NASA's Gravity and Recovery Climate Experiment satellite system, or GRACE, with continuous GPS measurements made from long-term sites on bedrock on the edges of the ice sheet.

The data from the GPS and GRACE provided the researchers with monthly averages of crustal uplift caused by ice-mass loss.



The team combined the uplift measured by GRACE over United Kingdom-sized chunks of Greenland while the GPS receivers monitor crustal uplift on scales of just tens of miles.

"Our results show that the ice loss, which has been well documented over southern portions of Greenland, is now spreading up along the northwest coast," said Shfaqat Abbas Khan, lead author on a research paper that will appear in Geophysical Research Letters.

The team found that uplift rates near the Thule Air Base on Greenland's northwest coast rose by roughly 1.5 inches, or about 4 centimetres, from October 2005 to August 2009.



Although the low resolution of GRACE - a swath of about 155 miles, or 250 kilometers across - is not precise enough to pinpoint the source of the ice loss, the fact that the ice sheet is losing mass nearer to the ice sheet margins suggests the flows of Greenland outlet glaciers there are increasing in velocity, said the study authors.

"When we look at the monthly values from GRACE, the ice mass loss has been very dramatic along the northwest coast of Greenland," said CU-Boulder physics Professor and study co-author John Wahr, also a fellow at CU-Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.



"This is a phenomenon that was undocumented before this study," said Wahr.

"Our speculation is that some of the big glaciers in this region are sliding downhill faster and dumping more ice in the ocean," he added.

"If this activity in northwest Greenland continues and really accelerates some of the major glaciers in the area - like the Humboldt Glacier and the Peterman Glacier - Greenland's total ice loss could easily be increased by an additional 50 to 100 cubic kilometres within a few years," said Khan.

Source: The Indian Express

Carbon dioxide emissions up by 29 percent: Report

London: Carbon dioxide emissions are up by 29 percent since 2000, far beyond the capacity of the global "sinks" to absorb such volumes, says a report.



The use of coal as a fuel has now surpassed oil and developing countries now emit more greenhouse gases than developed countries - with a quarter of their growth in emissions accounted for by increased trade with the West.

An international team of researchers under the umbrella of the Global Carbon Project reports that over the last 50 years, the average fraction of global carbon dioxide emissions that remained in the air each year was around 43 percent.

The rest was absorbed by the carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. During this time, this fraction has likely increased from 40 percent to 45 percent. The team brings evidence that the sinks are responding to climate change and variability.

Corinne Le Quere professor at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the British Antarctic Survey, who led the study said: "The only way to control climate change is through a drastic reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions."

"The earth's carbon sinks are complex and there are some gaps in our understanding, particularly in our ability to link human-induced carbon dioxide emissions to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on a year-to-year basis," Le Quere said.

"But, if we can reduce the uncertainty about the carbon sinks, our data could be used to verify the effectiveness of climate mitigation policies," he concluded.

These findings were published in Nature Geoscience.

Source: IANS

Lakes formed by glacier melt, threatening valleys

Jammu: Faster melting of Himalayan glaciers due to global warming has led to formation of numerous lakes at their snouts, as the streams cannot carry the water away fast enough. These lakes can overflow or burst their banks, endangering areas downstream, experts point out.



Himalayan glaciers form headwater of most rivers in northern and eastern India. The Himalayas have the largest concentration of glaciers outside the poles. According to data, 17 percent of the Himalayas are glaciers while 30-40 percent of the mountain range gets seasonal snow. There are an estimated 9,500 glaciers in the Indian Himalayas alone.

G.M. Bhat, professor in the geology department in Jammu University, told IANS: "New lakes have been noticed at the tails of Himalayan glaciers due to faster melting of snow caused by a rise in temperature.

"There is no reliable data to say how many lakes have been formed due to this phenomenon, but these lakes are definitely a threat when they overflow or when they breach their banks."

Plus, the water is being held back by the lakes, "which is why rivers are comparatively dry despite faster melting of glaciers," Bhat said.

But once these lakes breach their banks -- which are often formed of loose moraine -- "the floods can cause widespread devastation downstream." There have been reports of such glacial lake outburst floods in Bhutan and Nepal.

Bhat said that on a flight to Leh, "we see many new lakes at the snouts of glaciers which were not there 10 years ago".

The Himalayan glaciers feed rivers in South Asia, China and parts of Southeast and Central Asia, with about 1.3 billion people directly dependent on these rivers.

Source: IANS

Image: Reuters

Rapid environmental change threatens human health: Worldwatch

Washington: Changes to the earth's land cover, climate and ecosystems are endangering the health of hundreds of millions, possibly over a billion, of people worldwide and now represent the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century, says international green think tank Worldwatch Institute.




The scale of these global changes is rapidly undermining human life-support systems and threatening the core foundations of healthy communities around the globe.

Access to adequate food, clean air, safe drinking water, and secure homes are all affected, a Worldwatch spokesperson said here Thursday while releasing a new report, Global Environmental Change: The Threat to Human Health.

Published by Worldwatch and the United Nations Foundation, the report notes that, as a result of rapid changes to the climate and in land use, we are already seeing alterations in the distribution of malaria, schistosomiasis, and other infectious diseases in many regions.

It concludes that poor populations, mainly in developing countries, are the most vulnerable to these environmental changes, even though they are the least responsible for contributing to these.

"It is increasingly apparent that the breadth and depth of the changes we are wreaking on the environment are imperiling not only many of the other species with which we share the ecological stage, but the health and wellbeing of our own species as well," writes the report's author Samuel S. Myers of Harvard Medical School and Research Associate at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.



The report outlines a series of public health threats -- food and water inscarcity, altered distribution of infectious diseases, increased air pollution, natural disasters, and population displacement -- that collectively threaten large segments of the human population.

But most of the death and disability from these threats is fundamentally preventable, Myers writes, if the political will can be mobilised to take strong, concerted action.

The report outlines the need for national-level risk assessments to identify the greatest threats in different regions, as well as unprecedented technical and financial assistance from the international community to help developing countries adapt to the health impacts of accelerating environmental change.

Ultimately, the report argues, we will need to find new ways to generate economic growth that do not cause serious ecological deterioration, or the progress that has been made toward global health, nutrition, and poverty alleviation will be undone.

"At present, all of the major types of human caused environmental change -- climate change, changes in land use and cover, and ecosystem service degradation -- are accelerating," Myers says.

"To reduce the avoidable human suffering that will result, we must redouble our efforts to slow the pace of environmental change, reduce the rate of human population growth, and reduce the vulnerabilities of those in harm?s way."

Source: IANS

The big fight: Environment Vs Development

Hyderabad: It is the chicken and egg situation when it comes to a nation's economic development and environmental conservation effort. Can the two work hand in hand or one needs to be sacrifised for the other?



The current debate concerning development versus environment is premised on the fatal assumption that the two are in contradiction with each other. The background to the debate is the recent activism of the Union environment and forests ministry.

First it was Vedanta's bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri; then it was Sterlite's (a part of Vedanta) copper smelter at Tuticorin; now it is Posco's steel project in Orissa. All of them had got environmental clearances in the past, and all of them now face the axe.

Some of them have run the gauntlet of environmental controversy for years.



While many environmentalists hailed the government's rejection of London-listed Vedanta's bauxite mining project in Orissa's Niyamgiri hills in August this year, saying the decision was in favour of the poor tribal communities residing there; others contented that, had Vedanta succeeded in making aluminum close to a bauxite source, as it had planned in Orissa, world prices of aluminum could have fallen by half and India could have become an important aluminum producer.

The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment welcomed the environment ministry's decision, saying that it was appalled at the way that Vedanta had been violating all laws. "This is certainly a decision which goes in favour of the poor and marginalised people of Orissa -- a manifestation of 'environmentalism of the poor'," it said in a statement.

Describing the decision a "great victory for India", environmentalist Bittu Sehgal said, "This is a victory of common sense as these forests would have been badly affected by the mining, not just the people, but all the lions, elephants, everything."




In contradiction, Tavleen Singh wrote in her column in the Indian Express: "As someone who has actually been to Kalahandi, I would like to state clearly that the Adivasis live in such horrible poverty and deprivation that such exalted ideas as cultural heritage are irrelevant. If Vedanta had succeeded in bringing schools, hospitals and employment to Kalahandi, it would have transformed the bleak, hopeless lives of those who live here."

That we need economic development to meet our most pressing challenge of bringing 400-500 million citizens out of poverty and deprivation is unarguable. Take a poll anywhere in India today and if asked to choose, a vast majority of Indians would choose economic development over environmental protection.

It's not necessarily right, but it reflects the priorities as people see it. Wallets will win over the environment for a vast majority.



Even the Prime Minister gave two thumbs up to development when he categorically stated that environmental concerns must not be taken so far that they end development. Dr Singh made it clear that it was not possible to build airports without some degree of environmental damage and that it was not possible to develop India if we banned minerals from being exploited.

This statement by the PM, to many came across as a belated rap on the knuckles for India's environment mininter, Jairam Ramesh who was flying high and being called a crusading minister by many on his move to deny Vedanta's bauxite mining project.

In barely 14 months as environment minister, the suave 56-year-old technocrat-turned-politician has pitchforked a low-key ministry into front-page headlines.



Be it mega projects like Vedanta and Posco, the Navi Mumbai airport, GM foods or tortuous climate change negotiations, Ramesh has an uncanny ability to be in the limelight -- all for the green cause.

But there is however a school of thought that believes that if we are genuinely concerned about preserving the environment, we must begin by ensuring that India does not make the same mistakes that other countries did when they were developing. The main cause of environmental degradation in India is extreme poverty. It reduces people like the Dongria Kondhs of Niyamgiri to living conditions that are not much better than if they were still living in hunter-gatherer times.

In tribal areas where development has failed to reach, often the only means of survival is what they call 'slash and burn agriculture'. This method involves burning down forests for fuel and food. Only when development brings schools, hospitals, roads and public services, does this horrible practice stop.



If the adivasis who live in the Niyamgiri hills were to discover that the bauxite that lies buried under their 'sacred' mountain could help them become rich and prosperous, they might not want Vedanta to leave.

Similarly, the farmers in Uttar Pradesh who have been protesting against their land being taken away for a new highway might be more amenable if they could see real benefits. There is no question that they should be given what they consider a fair price for their land.

Tavleen Singh says that instead of banning projects essential to development, perhaps more focus should be spend on developing an environmental policy that would allow development and yet improve the environment.

If Vedanta, for instance, needs to cut down trees to mine the bauxite reserves under the Niyamgiri hills, then it must take responsibility for reforestation elsewhere.



If corporations want to acquire land to build roads and factories, then they must be made responsible for ensuring that local communities benefit from what they do.

Perhaps we need to develop an alternate sustainable development model that will empower communities to force developers to consider the potential benefits of economic development (jobs, taxes etc) versus the potential costs to environment at each stage.

So, if the tribal communities in Orissa, for instance, seek to preserve their traditional lands in the way they have tilled it for generations, they would have their way.

There will evolve different types of development zones. Some may prohibit development completely, others may encourage non-polluting and non-mining investments, a few may encourage mining subject to adequate returns to the local community etc.



Sunita Narain, director, Centre for Science and Environment says that it is evident that without environmental management and safeguards, there can be no development. We cannot foster a GDP first and environment later attitude. "But what can be negotiated is the balance that we strike in making development work," she says.

There is no doubt that industrial growth will lead to environmental damage. The question is how this damage can be averted or minimised. Indian industry must understand the challenge of balancing the demands of development and environment. The environment forms the survival base for large numbers of people in India and any destruction of the same would impinges on their lives and livelihoods.

Also, industry needs to invest in improving the regulatory systems in India, especially since industrial growth has intensified over the past few years.



As a nation, we certainly cannot follow the path that says "Its my turn to develop and i don't care how" and not can we bow down in the name of environment conservation and let the economy suffer.

Judiciousness would have to be applied to the decision-making, so as to strike a balance between the various objectives sought to be served.

The challenge of balancing development and environment imperatives requires rethinking growth and making economies work in the interests of all.

Not pitting growth against growth.

Source: The Indian Express, Business Standard, IANS, India syndicate

Sensex to hit 21k mark on Diwali: Analysts

New Delhi: The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex is likely to hit the much awaited psychological level of 21,000 in the next week, driven by the smart RIL numbers and expectations of robust listing of the Coal India IPO, say analysts.



Sensex, which saw a subdued performance last week by shedding 0.66 per cent, mainly on account of tight liquidity, may bounce back by surging over a staggering 1,000 points.

"The country's most valued firm Reliance Industries has posted better-than-expected second quarter numbers, which will boost the investor sentiment and lead the market to the 21,000-mark on Diwali," CNI Research Chairman and Managing Director Kishore P Ostwal said.

On Saturday, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries had posted a robust growth of 27.8 per cent in its net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, at Rs 4,923 crore against Rs 3,852 crore in the year-ago period.

Source: The Indian Express

ERP consulting is a rewarding career option for MBAs

Management graduates with a few years of work experience can have a very successful career in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) consulting.



With market forces working positively for almost all industries, large and midsize clients across geographies are at their peak of performance and are supporting each other in bridging demand and supply gap. The resource management and optimisation needs have fuelled appreciation of ERP at work. As per estimates, the market for ERP software will reach almost $50 billion by 2011.

An ERP system allows integrating engineering, customer services, planning, materials, manufacturing, finance and human resources across a single facility or across multiple locations. Manufacturing traditionally makes up the largest share of ERP spending but its share now stands challenged from sectors such as retail, real estate, telecom, finance and healthcare.

With most of the large enterprises across sectors being supported by global ERP applications like SAP, Oracle, People Soft, JD Edwards and others, the growing midsize sector -- already competing in the global market and being influenced by their larger partners -- is realising the RoI an enterprise solution can bring to it.

Every business decision-maker realises that his or her enterprise relies upon resources and that planning is essential to optimise how those resources are acquired, allocated and used. Over the next few years it will be difficult to operate and tap new opportunities globally if a company is not running its business enabled by an ERP solution.




With enterprise solution as a fundamental to businesses across the globe, there are multitudes of opportunities offering highly rewarding career to those aspiring career in ERP.

In the current environment there is a greater opportunity for us to choose an appropriate career path in ERP, at a very early stage of our career. For management graduates coming from finance, commerce or technical background there are a host of opportunities as ERP covers all the facets of business, whether it is finance, materials management, project management, CRM, production planning, sales or human capital management.

One can start a career as a domain specialist and progress through to service delivery and leadership role. Besides domain specialisation, the nature of one's contribution can help one understand the functioning of the entire resource planning process. A good enterprise solution can help one innovate, adapt and manage the scale and spectrum of business needs.

The typical ERP professional has the option of transitioning his/her career across the organisational functions. In addition, with inroads made by players such as SAP and Microsoft in the growing midsize businesses, ERP professionals have the flexibility to contribute to different size of businesses, either large or small, in India or abroad, as the core functionalities and the usage of a particular enterprise solution remains the same globally.



A management graduate who aspires for a career in ERP should possess strong subject knowledge of the domain he/she wants to specialise in. The keyword is enterprise -- an ERP software system should potentially address most of the critical processes and functional areas of the company.

To become a successful ERP consultant, let's say in material management, besides having theoretical knowledge, the person should have hands-on experience and should have worked for at least 2-3 years in roles offering material planning and material management. While strong fundamentals is the basic strength required to tackle unique problem situations, it is the practical experience of execution that makes one an expert at doing so.

Looking at the hiring trend of the past few years, most of the IT consulting firms, global and domestic alike, including ours, have strong demand for ERP consultants and offer attractive compensation, and a lot of exposure to Indian as well as global markets.

Source: The Financial Express

Top 20 critically polluted places in India

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in conjunction with IIT-Delhi recently surveyed 88 industrial clusters around the country, and found 43 "critically polluted" (score above 70 on a 100 point scale) while 32 were "severely polluted" (score 60-70).



We list the TOP 20 places from this infamous record.

ANKLESHWAR



Pollution score: 88.5/ 100

Ankleshwar in the Bharuch district of Gujarat takes the top spot in the 'critically polluted places' with a score of 88.5.

Ankleshwar is known for its industrial township called GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation), which is one of the biggest in Asia. Ankleshwar also has an office of the ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited). Today, Ankleshwar has over 5000 big and small chemical plants. These chemical plants produce products such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and paint.

VAPI



Pollution score: 88.09/ 100

Located in the in Valsad district of Gujarat, for Vapi, the cost of growth has been severe: levels of mercury in the city's groundwater are reportedly 96 times higher than WHO safety levels, and heavy metals are present in the air and the local produce.

The industrial township of Vapi holds its place of importance on the "industrial" map and it is the largest industrial area in Asia in terms of small-scale industries, dominated by chemical industry plants, along with their unfortunate hazards.

Vapi has also been listed in the Top 10 most polluted places in the world by the US-based Blacksmith Institute.


GHAZIABAD



Pollution score: 87.37/ 100

The industrial city of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, has industries that manufacture railway coaches, diesel engines, bicycles, tapestries, glassware, pottery, paint and varnish, heavy chains, etc. Also It has ordinance factory (Muradnagar) & Bharat electronics ltd. for manufacturing defense products.

CHANDRAPUR



Pollution score: 83.88/ 100

Chandrapur in Maharashtra is very rich in mineral wealth such as iron ore, limestone and coal and this boon has been its bane. Many cement factories are located in this region. Due to large number of coal mines present around the city, the city is also known as City of Black Gold. The mammoth coal mines in an around the city also contribute to the heavy industrialization of the city.

KORBA



Pollution score: 83/ 100

This city in Chattisgarh, is the Power Capital of Central India with the NTPC's Super Thermal Power Plant in Korba is working at 90% Plant Load Factor. There are huge coal reserves in the vicinity, offering cheap pithead power generation opportunities and there is enough water from the State's largest reservoir of Hasdeo Bango. 84% of India's coal is in Chhattisgarh and two other States. Korba is also the site of an aluminium facility operated by Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO).

BHIWADI



Pollution score: 82.91/ 100

Located in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, Bhiwadi has around 1,000 tiny, small, medium, large, industries and including MNC industrial units manufacturing various types of products. They include all types of industries like steel, furnace, electronics, engineering, textiles, pharmaceuticals, printing, cables, rolling mills, food processing, herbal care etc.

ANGUL TALCHER



Pollution score: 82.09/ 100

Angul district is located in the center of the state of Orissa. Even though Angul district is blessed with rich natural resources, it is the hottest district in India where maximum temperature goes up to 50 C during summer. Many blame the Orissa government for destroying the natural greens of the district. And yet the industrialization of the district has not stopped in spite of the public anger for destroying jungles. The state government in its way to setup more and more mines, plants in the district.

VELLORE



Pollution score: 81.79/ 100

This city in Tamil Nadu is considered to be one of the oldest surviving cities in South India. The city, along with its nearby industrial towns has witnessed a consistent industrial growth, followed by the implementation of South Asia's second railway track between Chennai, Royapuram and Walajah. The Golden Quadrilateral road; has significantly improved the region's industrial activities. This city is a hub for leather industries, chemical industries as well as automobile and mechanical industries.

SINGRAULI



Pollution score: 81.73/ 100

Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh is fast emerging as an energy hub of India, especially for electric power and coal. The total installed capacity of all power plants at Singaruli is around ten percent of total installed capacity of India (as of 10 November 2006).

LUDHIANA



Pollution score: 81.66/ 100

This city in Punjab is also known as the 'Manchester of India' because it is the industrial hub of Punjab, Ludhiana has been reputed to be the most polluted city on Punjab. It is home to 8 large integrated knitwear factories, roughly 6,000 small to medium sized knitwear factories, 10 big hosiery yarn mills and 150 small- to medium-sized worsted and woollen yarns mills, factories of bicycles like Hero Cycles, Avon Cycles, and a number of machine tools, sewing machines, generators, diesel engines, tyres & tubes factories.

Industry is the main cause of water and air pollution in the city. Now a sewage treatment plant is being set up at Ludhiana to control pollution of surface water under the Satluj Action Plan.

NAJAFGARH DRAIN BASIN



Pollution score: 79.54/ 100

Najafgarh drain basin in East Delhi (including Anand Parvat, Naraina, Okhala and Wazirpur which are industrial hubs) is in the eleventh place in the over all list. Najafgarh drain basin is also the biggest polluter to Yamuna.

NOIDA



Pollution score: 78.90/ 100

This suburb of Delhi is a major hub for automobile ancillary units, with companies like Escorts, Honda-SIEL and New Holland Tractors operating from the city's SEZ.

DHANBAD



Pollution score: 78.63/ 100

Located in Jharkhand, Dhanbad is also known as the 'Coal Capital of India' and is 79th amoung the fastest growing cities of the world. Dhanbad is famous for its coal mines and industrial establishments; it has 112 coal mines with a total produce of 27.5 million tonnes. Many sponge iron factories and ceramic factories are located in the Dhanbad district.

DOMBIVLI



ollution score: 78.41/ 100

Dombivli as the 14th most polluted city in the country and second in the state of Maharashtra. Dombivli is an industrial township in Thane district of Maharashtra. Any taxi driver can point it out to you from a distance. This small town with a big industrial estate, comprising some 50 chemicals units manufacturing dye intermediaries, is perpetually engulfed in smog. For the 100,000 residents, life is worse than hell. "The factories emit gases at night. They discharge effluents openly into the drain passing through our colony. Any complaint against them will only mean that we lose our jobs," laments Saroj Panicker, a resident of Dombivli, whose father works in a chemicals factory.

KANPUR



Pollution score: 78.09/ 100

The nineth most populous city in India, Kanpur is located on the banks of the river Ganga and is an important industrial centre. The city is famous for its leather products and cotton wears. Unfortunately, because of the heavy industrialization, Kanpur is also famous for its pollution.

Kanpur went into decline after the 1960s; many industries shut down or left the city, and those that remained -- like the tanneries -- acquired a bad reputation because they were so polluting.

CUDDALORE



Pollution score: 77.45/ 100

Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu has a large number of industries incluing one industrial pocket -SIPCOT - which has secured it a place in the dubious club of global toxic hotspots owing to the area's high levels of pollution. A report for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Board by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute found that residents of the SIPCOT area of Cuddalore were at least 2000 times more likely to contract cancer in their lifetimes due to their exposure to high levels of toxic gases from chemical industries in the region.

AURANGABAD



Pollution score: 77.44/ 100

This city in Maharashtra is surrounded with many historical monuments, including the Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Many renowned Indian and MNCs have established themselves in the Industrial Estates of Aurangabad including Videocon, Skoda Auto, Wockhardt, Siemens, Bajaj Auto, Goodyear etc. Many firms have their manufacturing bases in Aurangabad, in the sectors of automotive and auto components, pharmaceuticals and breweries, consumer durables, plastic processing, aluminium processing, agriculture and biotech.

FARIDABAD



Pollution score: 77.07/ 100

Faridabad's residential and industrial areas are in the grip of severe air pollution. The air in the Delhi suburb is full of deadly elements like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide along with dust particles.

It is a major industrial city home to many units manufacturing tractors, motorcycles, switch gears, refrigerators, shoes and tyres. Numerous brick kilns located around Faridabad have emerged as one of the greatest air pollutants and use rubber tyres and other high polluting materials to bake mud bricks.

The result of the large scale environmental pollution is that public health has taken a severe beating. In many parts of Faridabad people suffer from diseases like asthma, cancer, skin problems etc.

AGRA



Pollution score: 76.48/ 100

The city of the Taj, has expanded rapidly without much planning, leading to residential and business areas that lack civic amenities. Diesel generators, diesel vehicles and numerous tanneries add to high levels of air pollution.

As it flows into Agra, the river Yamuna is hugely contaminated -- because 80 percent of the city's sewage flows into it. Choked drains and piled up garbage are common sights.

Source: India Syndicate, IANS