Sholakili birds, at risk due to mercury poisioning in Kodaikanals by H.Unilever: T.N.
Palani Hills, one of the important ‘sky islands’ found in the Western Ghats on the Tamil Nadu side, and a hotspot for birds, is home to a bird named white-bellied Sholakili. Endemic to this region, this bird species is largely sighted in Kodaikanal, but is unfortunately under threat due to alleged mercury poisoning of the soil in the area.
Besides being a popular tourist spot, Kodaikanal has been in the news for the past two decades since 2001, because of large-scale mercury pollution. Largely because of the erstwhile Hindustan Unilever’s mercury thermometer factory, which was functioning in the area.
In January 2020, it is alleged that the company, which adjoins the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary, clear-felled 425 trees from four acres of its mercury contaminated site. Environmental groups are now up in arms at what they consider a reckless and dangerous move since the toxic soil at the plant site is now exposed to erosion by rainwater and wind.
When it comes to soil runoff, before felling of trees it was 177 tonnes per year and after the felling, it is 2,721 tonnes per year. Similarly, the mercury run-off rate was 5.25 kg per year and after the trees were cut down, it is 66 kg per year,” said Krishnaswamy who advised Chennai Solidarity Group to do a rapid assessment on the impact of clear-felling.
Sikkim has decided to ban packaged mineral water starting January 1, 2022
The state of Sikkim has decided to ban packaged mineral water from January 1, 2022. Travellers must take note, and not enter the state with any packaged mineral water bottles. The Sikkim government has been working towards helping the environment heal, and save its natural resources.
The Chief Minister said that the state of Sikkim will replace packaged drinking water bottles with natural resources after the ban. This will be a healthier alternative. Chief Minister Tamang made this statement at a cleanliness drive on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
According to Chief Minister Tamang, the state has natural water resources, and its requirements can be met from within the state. So, environmental-friendly initiatives must be taken.
It is also important to note here that Sikkim is a 100% organic state, hence, all of its farmlands are certified organic. This amazing development happened since the state stopped the use of chemical fertilizers, and banned the sale and use of chemical pesticides.
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Carcass of fourth dead whale shark in 11 months found on Odisha beach
The carcass of a 20-feet-long whale shark washed ashore October 4, 2021, on Ramatara beach under the Kujang forest range near Bhitarkanika forest division in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district. This was the fourth whale shark found dead along Odisha’s coast in 11 months.
The carcass of a 12-feet-long whale shark had washed ashore December 31, 2020, near the mouth of the Baradia river, three kilometres off the coast of Balasore district. Fishermen found the carcass of a whale shark March 5, 2021, at Chandipur beach in Balasore district. A 15-feet-long whale shark died after getting trapped in a fishing net in the waters off Paradip August 12, 2021.
These sharks often get entangled in fishing nets due to their feeding habits. It is to be noted that whale sharks had no commercial importance. However, fishers illegally extracted their fins and livers.
👉DTE
Haryana Overstepped its Mandate in Giving Green Clearance to Housing Projects in Shivaliks
The Haryana government commit oversight in granting green clearance to a residential real estate project despite its location in close proximity to two wildlife sanctuaries. The state government is yet to take any action on the alleged blunder despite three notices by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The housing project – Amarnath Enclave – is located at a distance of 3.9 km from the Bir Shikargarh Wildlife Sanctuary and 1.6 km from the Khol-Hi-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary, which are protected areas under India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, in the Shivaliks in Panchkula district. It has been alleged that the developer of the housing project deliberately concealed this information while seeking Environmental Clearance.
“By concealing this information, the developer managed to get its green clearance from the Haryana government instead of the central government. Furthermore, the developer continued construction activities in the project even after its Environmental Clearance had expired. When we challenged this in a court of law, the developer got the Environmental Clearance extended, again from the Haryana state government,” said Panchkula-based environmental lawyer Ramesh Malik.
The website of the developer mentions the project as a mix of high-rise apartments and independent plotted areas. Environmental Clearance for the project was accorded in March 2010 by the then Bhupinder Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana. The developer though had been apprised, through a letter from the local Divisional Forest Office in November 2009, that the project would require approval of the central government because it was located within a 10-km radius of two wildlife sanctuaries.
The NBWL, which was restructured in an allegedly compromised manner by the Modi government a few months after it assumed power at the centre, examined the project in a meeting held in April 2015. But surprisingly, NBWL approved the project.
An IRS officer has set up India’s first tree hospital in Amritsar
Rohit Mehra knows all about revenue and taxation. He can find income-tax evaders and flaws in tax returns. While wearing the mantle of Additional Commissioner Income Tax (Amritsar), Mehra is preoccupied with files and forms, but when he returns to his other love, he is busy setting up vertical gardens, micro-forests and spreading the word about his latest initiative – a free hospital for trees, the world’s first tree and plant clinic and hospital with an ambulance.
Set up in Amritsar, the Smt Pushpa Tree & Plant Hospital & Dispensary works along with botanists, tree-lovers, scientists, ayurvedacharyas, forest experts, and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers to address queries on plant diseases and treat them.
The hospital is named after his late mother-in-law, and is totally free of cost. It provide about 33 kinds of services like removing nails on trees, tree guards, additional growth, transplantation service, etc. In first three days of the hospital’s launch, they got more than 325 calls asking us to help them to maintain their plants and trees. A rickshaw has also been converted into a hospital that stocks all necessary plant medication.
According to the Center for Global Development, the world is set to lose more than a million square miles to deforestation by 2050 if we keep walking on the same environmental path. Worldwide, between 2015 and 2020, 10 million hectares of forests were destroyed annually. In India, tree felling doubled between 2016 and 2019, according to Ministry of Environment.
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