It's sooo hot! City may go for record


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Source: Bangalore Mirror


Meteorologist predicts that maximum temperature in Bangalore may breach 39-degree mark this year

The effects of the unrelenting attack on Bangalore’s green cover is beginning to show.

                      The temperature in the metropolis, once known as the ‘air conditioner city of India’, has been rising with every passing year, prompting meteorologists to predict that 2010 may see the mercury touch 39 degree Celsius, which would be a record in Bangalore's weather history.The drizzles that the city received earlier this year, instead of cooling it, are believed to be one of the reasons for the temperature shooting up. Meteorologists say the 39 degree mark may be breached within the next two months.

                      "Since there has been no sign of rain, even humidity in the air is lower this year. This only adds to the heat, making it dry heat,” said Puttanna, in-charge director of the local meteorological department. “As early as February, the maximum temperature was hovering around 32 to 35 degree Celsius. It is normal for the temperature to rise further at this time of the year, reaching its peak in the first week of May.”

EVEN RAIN WON'T SAVE CITY 
                       
 Bangalore's only hope is an early monsoon. Sadly, Puttanna offers no hope on this front. Officially, the monsoon begins on May 21. But, this year the city might have to put up with the heat for a bit longer. “We have not observed any low pressure systems forming in the Bay of Bengal or Indian Ocean, which in lay terms means that we cannot expect heavy rains till May-end,” he said.

Sunny days

Year  Month Highest Month Highest|
2000 March 34.1        April    36.8
2001 March 36.5        April    35.4
2002 March 35.7        April    36.5
2003 March 35.4        April    36.0
2004 March 36.2        April    37.0
2005 March 36.4        April    35.4
2006 March 34.4        April    36.3
2007 March 35.9        April    36.4
2008 March 32.6        April    36.9
2009 March 35.5        April    37.6
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Rising sea submerges contentious island in Sunderbans


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New Delhi:  The New Moore Island, once a flashpoint between India and Bangladesh in the Sunderbans is now history, as it has been consumed by the rising sea. As per a report published in the Indian Express Wednesday, citing the findings of the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, there is ‘no presence’ of the island now - also called as Purbasha in India and South Talpatti by Dhaka.

       The university has arrived at the conclusion after scrutinising recent satellite maps of the region. The island, said to be around 50 years old, was only two metres above the sea level. “There is no presence of the island now. The recent satellite images establish this. This is the first time the loss of the island is being reported,” Professor Sugata Hazra, Director of School of Oceanographic Studies, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

      The New Moore Island — 3.5 km long and 3 km wide, located 2 km from the mouth of the Hariabhanga River - was part of the border dispute between the two countries since early 1980s. Both Bangladesh and India staked claim to the island. India had even sent naval ships to the island and deployed BSF personnel who hoisted the Tricolour to assert India’s claim. 
     However, there was never any permanent settlement there, the report added. “This is an unique instance of how climate resolves a dispute though it is now subdued. It also goes to show how climate can affect all of us beyond geographical boundaries. The Indian government had once sent ships with guns to guard the island. Now one will have to think of sending submarines to mount a vigil there,” Hazra said.

    But New Moore is not the first island to be submerged in the Sunderbans. The first inhabited island to have been submerged by the rising sea level was Lohachara 1996. Another island Ghoramara is facing a similar threat - almost 48% of the island is said to have been already submerged. The submergence of islands has resulted in large-scale migration of people. They are called as “climate change refugees” by environmentalists.
Clearly, a crisis is unfolding in the Sunderbans. In the past 40 years, the total area of the delta islands has shrunk by about 210 sq km to 6359.552 sq km. As per the report, it has been also observed that there has been more accelerated erosion of land mass in the last ten years as compared to the preceding three decades.

School of Oceanographic Studies projects more inhabited and uninhabited islands in the Sunderban delta region will be lost by 2020.
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Nothing goes waste


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Gayatri Nair
Posted On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at Bangalore Mirror


        For residents of Diamond District, off HAL Airport Road, even waste is dear. Hence, they have formed a zero waste management team called ‘Project Green Diamond’, which aims at not only segregating waste but also selling it and using the money for betterment of their housekeeping staff.

        These residents, who are also Rotary Club members, realised they were sending out one truckload of garbage every day. So, together with the Century Galaxy Developers Ltd, the facility management team of India Builders which is in charge of Diamond District, decided to train the housekeeping staff. 

        Shalini Khanna Charles, an active member of the project and a resident, said, “Before embarking on the project, we conducted a lot of research. The first step included training the housekeeping staff.” 

        Minal A Patel, another resident, said, “Every day at 1.30 pm, we would have about 35 housekeeping staff from 16 blocks coming for training; they are taught the importance of segregation of garbage at source.


Members of Project Green Diamond (From left): Jacob Mendonsa, Shalini Khanna, Priyanka Gupta, Neera Madhok, Urmila Chandy, Minal Ajay Patel and Mini Sharma

The plan was to find innovative ways to get other residents don a more active role. “We made posters with messages like, ‘We are generating 2,000 kg of waste daily’, so that people will become aware of the waste accumulation,” said Urmila M Chandy, another member. Urmila is also a Block Champion, a person entrusted with the task of making sure residents in every block properly segregate waste. This team made a presentation on Nov 21, attended by 200 residents. “We told them waste is of three kinds: dry, wet and toxic. Assuming that residents would have one bin in bathroom and kitchen, we gave them a blue bin for dry waste. And we gave them three stickers - green for wet waste, blue for dry and black for toxic waste,” said Shalini. Stickers like, ‘I am green! Are you?’ were also stuck on the letter boxes of residents who were a part of this initiative.

BI-MONTHLY CHECKS
The Block Champions also hold bi-monthly surprise checks. “These ‘champions’ accompany the housekeeping staff and check if residents are segregating the waste accordingly. The garbage is collected in three bags - blue, green and black,” said Mini Sharma, another resident.

To make sure zero waste management is sustainable, the team also has periodic events that reinforces its theme. Priyanka Gupta, another member, said, “On January 26, we had a carnival, where we asked children, elders and others to make products using waste materials. For instance, using a shoe box to make something interesting. In another event, we had a team relay, in which the baton was made of recycled paper.”

YOUNG BUT SUCCESSFUL
The team also sells waste such as plastic, cardboard, bottles and earn about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month. This money is then pumped into the system. “We use this money to improve the lives of our housekeeping staff. We buy them ration and provide them with gloves and masks,” said Neera Madhok, a member.

The team, on an average, sells 15-20 kg of plastic and 30-40 kg of paper every day.

WHAT WENT OUT (SINCE DEC 2009)
3,602 kg of waste paper sent out in 234 sacks
1,770 kg of plastic sent out in 191 sacks
1,317 kg of cardboard
2,334 glass bottles
279 kg of metal
2,298 aluminium cans
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Raheja’s kids collection -- Residents of Raheja Residency in Koramangala join hands to collect clothes for poor children


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Gayatri Nair
Posted On Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at Bangalore Mirror

        The usual reaction to old clothes is either throw them away or exchange them for new utensils. But residents of Raheja Residency, in Koramangala third block, are collecting old clothes and giving them to underprivileged children.

        They call this initiative Clothe a Child Programme (CCP), where they place empty baskets in front of club houses for residents to donate old clothes.

        The brain behind CCP is Y V Pai, the  president of Raheja Residency Residents’  Welfare Association. The idea struck him during a visit to his daughter’s house. He says, “She lamented that my grandchildren had outgrown  their clothes, and though they were as good as new, they could not be worn again. I realised 
 that a number of families would be dealing with same dilemma and that’s when the idea of Clothe a Child Programme came to me.” 

VISIT CLUB, DROP CLOTHS
        Pai put his idea into action on October 7, 2008, when he put together a team and placed bags in front of the Rajeha Residency Club house so that residents could donate clothes. Soon, not only Raheja but people from surrounding apartments like Mantri Classics and St John’s Greenwood started donating clothes.

        Sadhana Karkare, who works with an IT company, joined the CCP team as it coordinator. The CCP team ensured that the programme did not become an opportunity for people to get rid of old clothes. She says, “Proper instructions were given to donors about the way clothes should be donated. They were asked to wash the clothes and press them before donating them. Moreover we made it clear that we did not want old tattered clothes but serviceable ones.

        The residents were sent fliers through emails, urging them to donate whole-heartedly. The response was so good that some of them even asked their colleagues, from offices like Synopsys India Pvt Ltd on Old Madras Road and others, to donate. Service apartments like Mercure Homestead, in Koramangala third block also donated clothes. On an average Pai’s team receives about 100 clothes every month. So far, it has collected 1,500 clothes for children.

NGOs HELPING OUT
        The distribution of clothes to the needy is done with the help of NGOs. CCP has tied up with NGOs like the Whitefield-based Anga Karunya Kendra. When Anga Karuna Kendra fixes artificial limbs it also donate clothes given to it by CCP. “Similarly, we tie up with social workers, some living in Raheja Residency, and take their help in distributing the clothes,” Sadhana says.
       
        The team first makes an announcement in the area it chooses to distribute clothes before proceeding with the distribution. Sometimes, it offers coupons to underprivileged families to help them chose whether they want boy’s or girl’s clothes.
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Techie goes on waste exercise


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Shashwathi Bhanukumar
Posted On Sunday, March 21, 2010 at Bangalore Mirror

We’ve heard of techies trying to break the monotony of work by embarking on a long holiday. Divya Bhandarkar, 31, of Infosys too badly needed a break. But instead of travelling, she decided to stay put and convince 62 families in her apartment to put in place and effective waste disposal system. 
       Her mission was to advocate the importance of segregation of waste at Brigade Gardenia in J P Nagar 7th Phase, which has some 1,024 flats. And, she has accomplished her task. Partnering Divya are children living in the complex.

Divya (left) explains importance of segregating waste to a resident of Brigade Gardenia in J P Nagar
       
       After working continuously for a decade in Infosys, she went on a three-month sabbatical to do things she could not, due to a hectic schedule. She used this time to inculcate in residents the culture of waste segregation. To begin with, she roped in 62 families.

DRAWING INSPIRATION
       It all started in November last year. “My husband’s friend told us how they were segregating waste in their apartment in Marathahalli and we thought of doing something here,” she said. Divya contacted the present and past members of her apartment’s association and told them of her plan. “I also got in touch with the Samarthanam Trust, which collects segregated waste from apartments,” she said. Getting residents to segregate waste wasn’t easy. “That is why I roped in 20 houses as a pilot project. Now, there are 62 houses which are a part of this initiative and they segregate waste every day,” she said.

HOW TO DO
       Divya has given residents a hand-out explaining how to segregate waste. They segregate dry waste and e-waste though. “Bio-waste needs to be burned first, which is not possible here. The wet waste needs to be collected every day, which is done by the housekeeping staff, she said. Residents are given three ‘marked’ bags for disposing paper, plastic and metals. While paper waste would include tickets, carton boxes and soap wrappers, plastic waste includes toys, chocolate wrappers and milk pouches. Metal items include tetra packs, aluminium foil and used batteries.
       These segregated items are emptied into separate bins kept in the basement and labelled accordingly. The waste is collected once in two weeks.

FOR A CAUSE
       “I keep the 62 families informed via SMSes and mails on what time Samarthanam Trust staff would come to collect the waste. So far, we have given 120 kg of waste to the trust. They sell it to various people and use the money collected to help the disabled children,” said Divya.
      She also visits the nearby shops to find out how many plastic bags they use every day. “I go around and request customers to bring down the use of plastic bags,” she said.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS
      Divya plans to give a presentation on March 26 to students of Brigade School. “They will do a community project ‘say no to plastic’ in their neighbourhood during their summer vacation. They will talk to residents and create awareness on taking their own bags for shopping, enrol grocery and vegetable shops in the neighbourhood to display on boards statistics on plastic bags used per day/per month/per year and request customers to bring their own bags,” she added.
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