Chamundeshwari temple in danger, Mysuru’s famous Chamundi Hill is crumbling
All is not well with the Chamundi Hill, a popular temple on top — at 1,060 metres — of Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of the Mysuru. There have been four major landslides since 2019 and environmentalists blame indiscriminate construction atop the hill for them.
Seasonal water at the top has been diverted for constructing large buildings. The deep excavations done to achieve this have loosened subterranean soil, creating deep chasms underground. Rainwater entered these chasms during the monsoon and percolated through the openings, resulting in landslides. The four major landslides since 2019 have mostly happened on the road leading to the Nandi statue from View Point Junction.
A successful online petition to stall the cutting of hundreds of trees at the foot of Chamundi Hill as part of Karnataka’s helicopter tourism project, with over 80,000 signatures, forced the Karnataka government to do a rethink. The petition has been put up on the website Change.org by the group ‘Mysoreans for Saving Mysore’. It has already received 67,750 signatures.
The spiritual-religious-heritage sanctity of Chamundi Hill stands threatened. We should stop all construction, start removing all illegal buildings, stop the movement of vehicles and allow only electric buses
A team from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at Bengaluru had visited the Chamundi Hill after the last landslide.The experts indicated that erosion had already set in and could be arrested only by not taking up any more construction activities as well as movement of heavy transport vehicles.
👉 DTE
Smugglers using government amnesty scheme as a new tool for exotic wildlife trade
Recent trends suggest that smugglers of exotic wildlife species might be trying to take advantage of the advisory brought out by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to regulate the growing market of exotic animals in the country.
With a complete ban on wildlife trade of Indian species, there has been a surge in demand in India, for exotic species from different parts of the world, noted the Smuggling in India Report 2019-2020, published by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Recent trends suggest that they might be trying to take advantage of the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme issued last year, by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), which aimed to regulate the growing market of exotic animals in the country.
The Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, issued in June 2020, was an amnesty scheme under which Indians could declare possession of any exotic live species. The declarer would not be required to provide any documentation pertaining to the exotic species if the same is declared within six months of the date of the issue of the advisory, a period which was later extended to March 15, 2021.
While the purpose of this amnesty was to streamline the process of import and develop an inventory of exotic species listed under Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), wildlife smugglers might have started using it to their advantage as well. Exotic animals are not listed under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which makes it difficult to convict the smugglers.
1.77 lakh acres of forest land encroached in Karnataka: Report
More than 1,77,997 acres of forest land has been encroached across Karnataka, as per a state forest department report. The report, states that there are 1,01,017 instances of forest land encroachment in the state, categorised into two; those below three acres and those above three acres.
It is leant that no action has been taken against these encroachments. Forest officials say that due to political pressure, not even an inch of land has been retrieved from the encroachers over the years.
There have been 38,012 cases of encroachment of forest land (50,579.53 acres) below three acres in the Shivamogga circle in Sagar forest division which comes under this circle has recorded 34,030.25 acres of encroachment. Over 7,928.52 acres of forest land have been encroached in the Bengaluru forest circle in cases below three acres.
In 2015, the Karnataka government ordered the forest department not to evict encroachments of less than three acres. The Supreme Court in its 1998 judgement in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India directed the Karnataka government to evict encroachment which happened after April 1978.
Water quality in lower stretches of Ganga alarming: Research Study
Amid threats of increasing floods in Ganga, scientists have found water quality in the lower stretches of the river to be alarming. The falling water quality assessed by scientists shows continuous deterioration of the river.
Led by Professor Punyasloke Bhadury from the Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group at IISER Kolkata, scientists monitored nine sites encompassing 59 stations along 50 kilometres of the lower stretches of the River Ganga over two years. They assessed the dynamics of key environmental variables including forms of dissolved nitrogen, along with biological proxies to assess the state of health of Ganga.
Scientists conclude that rapid human pressure and anthropogenic activities have resulted in the release of untreated municipal and industrial sewage along with other forms of pollutants in Ganga. The lower stretches, especially close to Kolkata, are heavily influenced by anthropogenic factors, mainly due to intense population pressure on both sides of the river banks.
Scientists have come up with the water quality index, a key metric that helps understand the health and ecological consequences for the lower stretch of river Ganga. In the study published in the journal ‘Environment Research Communications’, researchers said that the WQI values determined for the lower stretch of Ganga revealed very poor water quality in the majority of stations and monsoonal precipitation did not have any influence on the observed trends.
Scientists found the WQI values of this stretch of the river was between 1452 and was continuously deteriorating irrespective of the season of sampling. They have also identified the point source along with the type of pollutants, in particular forms of nitrogen.
Kashmiri Harud: An Invitation for Tourists and Boon for Farmers
The mesmerising Autumn of Kashmir, also known as ‘Harud’ in the local language, was yet again a major attraction for tourists. While it occurs between the end of September to mid-November every year, the season arrived a little late this year due to the delayed onset of summer.
During Harud, the weather turns delightful, with mornings being mostly misty and mercury levels hovering between 5 to 20°C. The crimson, orange and golden leaves of the Chinar tree paint the state in warm tones. Apart from tourism, the season also marks the time for harvest. From saffron picking to walnut plucking, farming during autumn goes in full swing, lifting Kashmir’s spirits and existence.
While in the North of Kashmir, yellows and reds of Chinar bring joy to tourists, farmers in the southern regions of Kashmir look forward to the large stretches of purple carpets that the Saffron blooms create.
As autumn approaches, Kashmir also invites migratory birds from Siberia, China, the Philippines, and eastern Europe, to enjoy the local water bodies. The state’s wildlife department has been actively working to prevent poaching and human interventions for the benefit of these migratory birds.
👉 TWC
Environment India 