Category Archives: Nature

Woman aims for life with zero waste

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Alipore resident feels no-plastic is matter of practice

Alipore resident Rakhi Chakraborty suggests the use of (in picture below) cloth bags, metal water bottles, straws and spoons instead of plastic goods and steel tiffin carriers instead of plastic containers

Calcutta:

She is a zero waster – she doesn’t generate any garbage.

In her blog, zerowasteindian.com, she introduces herself as “a zero waster in progress” who “forayed into sustainable living” in 2017 and today pretty much generates zero to little waste.

Rakhi Chakraborty, an online journalist, is on a journey to a zero-waste life and is trying to spread awareness about the environment.

Rakhi was as alarmed as any other millennial about rising temperatures, plastic preponderance and all that’s associated with global warming.

She found in a recent study that humans have generated 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic since the 1950s. And a majority of that is dumped in landfills and oceans, contaminating water sources.

So, she decided to do her bit to undo the damage, one step at a time, believing in “the cumulative power of small positive change”.

In late 2016 she came across Lauren Singer’s blog, trashisfortossers.com, and found it “extremely empowering”. “Generally, as a citizen public policy is out of your control. Singer’s blog taught me to tackle my environment anxiety,” Rakhi, an Alipore Road resident, said.

She follows Bea Johnson and her prescription to lead a garbage-free life.

Apart from Singer’s blog, what spurred her towards a zero-garbage life was her polycystic ovary syndrome and an alarming bisphenol A (BPA) level.

Bisphenol A is an industrial chemical found in common plastic household items.

“It was then that the idea of zero waste made a personal connection with me because it would not only benefit the planet but also me,” she said.

An urban middle-class Indian generates 400-800g of trash every day on average.

“Plastic use has increased drastically over the past two decades. But it is entirely possible to live a life without plastic,” she said.

A zero waste guru, Bea Johnson has inspired thousands of people, including Lauren Singer, author of the zero waste blog Trash is for Tossers, to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle. The New York Times has hailed her as “the priestess of waste-free living”

“I started slowly… I banned plastic bags, water bottles… replaced them with cloth bags and glass bottles.”

Rakhi used to order takeaways that came in plastic boxes, along with plastic cutlery. “I started ordering food a lot less and even if I did I used my own container.”

But the more pervasive toxins came from detergents, dishwashers, beauty products, and even toothpastes.

Harmful toxins pass through clothes and directly into the body as well because of the presence of chemicals like parabens, sodium lauryl sulphate and triclosan in these products.

So, Rakhi has started using reetha (soapnuts), an all-purpose cleaner. “You can use reetha to wash your clothes, clean your utensils… to shampoo your hair. I use organic soap and tooth powder.”

One day she googled the composition of her toothpaste and it “blew” her mind, she said. It is not possible to find substitutes for all industrial product in India, but she follows the thumb rule in Ayurveda – if you can’t eat it, you can’t put it on your body, she said.

The journey to zero plastic hasn’t been easy but it is “pretty doable”, Rakhi, who writes it all in her blog, said. “It’s just a matter of practice and habit. Of course, there is a learning curve to everything.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Anasuya Basu / July 03rd, 2018

Former ZSI director passes away at 81

Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders, Nature, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Former director of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) Asish Kumar Ghosh passed away on Monday morning at the age of 81. He was battling throat cancer.

The first Environment Monitoring Wing in ZSI (Kolkata and Chennai) was started under his leadership in the early 1980s. Ghosh was also the founder-director of Centre for Environment & Development in Kolkata, which conducted several seminal studies on the city’s environment.

A Fulbright scholar and Rockefeller Foundation grantee, Ghosh studied in University of Calcutta and University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. He had written extensively on biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, and on environment and development. Between 1992 and 1996, Ghosh led the Indian delegation to Ramsar Convention on international wetlands in Japan, besides representing the country in several other international meets.

Ghosh also served as guest faculty in many reputed institutes. He had mentored many environment scientists and environmentalists.

Environmental activist Bonani Kakkar said, “Ghosh had the courage to submit an affidavit supporting the public in the wetlands case while still in office. His death is a terrible loss to those who care for our environment and the city.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kolkata News / TNN / April 03rd, 2018

‘Extinct’ in India, plants exist in UK

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Hundreds of species of plants that used to exist in India 200 years ago and are now believed extinct are not only alive, but well preserved in the UK. A team of senior botanists from Kolkata, which returned last Friday after a four-month tour to the UK, has found that these plants, samples of which had been carefully collected by the British and kept at the Royal Botanic Garden and the Natural History Museum, UK, are well preserved to this day.

The team has also made a startling find related to climate change: a large number of plants in the two herbaria used to naturally grow at lower altitudes 200 years ago, when they had been collected. Plants that used to grow in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar have now gone up the slopes to Darjeeling and Sikkim, which the scientists ascribe to global warming.

The astonishing discovery to retrace the journey of these plants was undertaken by the botanists from the Indian Botanic Garden, Shibpur. The scientists were allowed access to all 8,00,000 specimens of Indian plants that had been transported out of the country from the time of William Roxburgh, the first superintendent of the Shibpur garden (1794-1812). His successor, Nathiel Wallich, continued the practice and the lion’s share of the specimens was sent out till 1899.

Roxburgh had tried to set up a herbarium inside the garden in Shibpur, but the plants suffered fungus attacks and couldn’t be preserved. So, he started sending them to the Kew Garden (the Royal Botanic Garden) and British Museum (out of which the Natural History Museum was born in 1881). Roxburgh and his successors, however, got artists to draw the likenesses of each species before sending them out, and these have been preserved as reference points at the Shibpur garden to this day.

“While we blame the British for taking away our treasure trove, the Kohinoor being a case in point, we were both emotional and ecstatic when we saw hundreds of these Indian specimens preserved in the Natural History Museum. But for these, there is no other way of physically knowing these plants,” said Basant Singh, one of the senior botanists in the team. He was accompanied by Gopal Krishna and Dilip Roy. The study happened under the guidance of Sandra Knapp, who heads the life sciences department at the museum and its curator, Rani Prakash.

“This is a ground-breaking project and we are grateful to the department of business, energy and industrial strategy of the UK government for facilitating this. For years, we have just spoken about these endangered plants and this time we got a chance to physically examine them,” said P Singh, director of the Botanical Survey of India.

The research team has also digitised the details of 25,000 specimens and brought those back with them, because rules say that no specimen can be taken out of its country of residence. So, despite the fact that these are specimens of native Indian plants, they cannot physically travel back to India. Some examples can be the Panax pseudoginseng, Picror kurroa or Podophyllum hexandrum of the Eastern and Western Himalayas, which have lost a large number of plants forever. The other two zones are the North-East and the Western Ghats.

“That is not all. We have found that over these 200-odd years, several changes have come about in the sizes of the plants, the shapes of their leaves, their flowering and fruiting patterns, the look and colour of the flowers and fruits,” Singh explained. The mammoth data that the team has collected will now be worked on for specific details of extinction and plant behaviour, he added.

The team has also found out that two of the country’s most unwanted weeds — Lantana and Parthenium, which are exotic in nature — got introduced by British botanists by accident. Lantana got introduced as an ornamental plant, whereas Parthenium was mistakenly introduced along with wheat.

On Tuesday, the additional secretary of the ministry of environment and forests, A K Jain, visited the Shibpur garden and took stock of the initial findings of the team, asking members to draw up a detailed report from the wealth of data that they have collected.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey / TNN / March 22nd, 2018

Bird fest takes wing

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel
Ravikant Sinha inaugurates the bird festival by lighting a lamp on Saturday. (Anirban Choudhury)

Alipurduar:

The second edition of the annual bird festival was inaugurated at the Buxa Tiger Reserve on Saturday.

The state forest department and Siliguri-based Himalayan Nature & Adventure Foundation (HNAF) are jointly organising the event.

Forty bird lovers and experts from different parts of Bengal and even from Delhi are participating at the four-day fest.

The Buxa Tiger Reserve is rich in avifauna and the fest is unique as it aims to bring together eminent ornithologists, researchers and bird enthusiasts from the region. “It (the fest) offers an opportunity to explore nature’s avifauna in this region alongside the rich biodiversity and wilderness of BTR,” Ravikant Sinha, the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) of the state, said after inaugurating the fest.

The fest will also help foresters to make a checklist of the birds available in the reserve, generate awareness among people about conservation of birds and study their habitat, said foresters.

Last year, 127 species of birds were sighted during the fest. They included rare birds like the mountain imperial pigeon, Rufous-bellied hawk eagle, Silver-eared mesia, Jerdon’s baza, Sultan tit, Brown dipper and wreathed hornbill.

“We want to highlight the avian population in Buxa, which is no less attractive (than the animals) . We have plans to make it a state-level festival in the coming years. The Buxa Hills are comparatively undisturbed and we hope more species will be sighted this year,” said Sinha.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> West Bengal / by Anirban Choudhury / January 07th, 2018

Fish & veg farm success

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
The plants grown using aquaponics

Jalpaiguri:

Two youths in Jalpaiguri have achieved success in combined fish and vegetable farming through an old technology and earned accolades from officials of the district administration who are now planning to showcase their success as an example before farmers.

Arkaprabha Das and Subhadip Mitra have introduced aquaponics, a technology where water is used both for fish and vegetable farming, on a one-bigha plot near Canal More under Kharia panchayat of Jalpaiguri Sadar block, 8km from the town.

With assistance provided by the Fish Farmers’ Development Agency and the district administration, they have come up with the project.

They have dug four ponds, measuring around 30ft by 15ft with a depth of 5-6ft, where they are farming different species of hatchlings like pabda (Indian catfish), punti (swamp barb), telapia (Indian tilapia), shingi (stinging catfish), magur (walking catfish) and chitol (clown knifefish).

“In these ponds, the growth of fishes would be high as compared to other ponds measuring around four-five bighas of land. In those ponds, it takes around six to seven months for fishes to grow but here, the fishes would be of similar sizes within 75 days,” said Das.

Unlike other ponds where the water is stagnant, the water here, which is mixed with the waste released by fishes, is channelized through pipes, which have holes above. On these pipes, the duo have planted marigold shrubs and flowers are also growing on those pipes.

“Due to presence of nutrients in the water, the flowers are also growing steadily. We are then diverting the water to bed (a flat structure) where the water is flown through pebbles. The water here is getting purified while we have planted vegetables on the bed, which are getting the nutrients,” he said.

From this bed, the water is being shifted another bed, known as flowing bed. There, though the water has been kept covered, flowers, strawberry and chillies have been planted above the cover.

In course of the process, ammonia from water is being removed and nitrogen compounds present in it help in growth of plants. Also, the water, while being diverted back to the ponds carries fresh oxygen, which helps in growth of fishes.

“It is old technology but is hardly used by cultivators,” said an official of the district fisheries department.

“We feel aquaponics should be largely used in our state. It can expedite production of fishes, vegetables and flowers. In total, around Rs 5 lakhs or so has been spent for the project. We will keep on helping them in the initiative,” Somnath Chakraborty, the chief executive officer of Fish Farmers’ Development Agency, said.

Rachna Bhagat, DM, Jalpaiguri, said they will showcase the success story among cultivators of the district.

“It is a unique project. We will apprise other cultivators and those who are into fish farming, about the technology,” she said.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> West Bengal / by The Telegraph Correspondent / January 06th, 2018

Indigo researcher digs out nuggets from past

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion
Jenny Balfour-Paul at The Bengal Club. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha

• A famous tea company in Calcutta traded in indigo in British India. That’s how its office on RN Mukherjee Road, Nilhat House, got its name.

•Opium and indigo growers were locked in constant rivalry before 1859

• Evidence of indigo dye has been even found in the remains of the Indus Valley civilisation

Calcutta:

Such nuggets from history made up writer Jenny Balfour-Paul’s hour-long Bengal Club Library Talk, organised in association with The Telegraph, on November 8.

Balfour-Paul, who has researched indigo for decades, traced its history right from the early evidence to the exploitation faced by farmers in pre-Independence Bengal.

The session was peppered with anecdotes, humour and photographs of travel that she undertook since 2000 to bring together the indigo story.

The highlight of the evening was shots of a handwritten journal by 19th century British explorer Thomas Machell, who got the author inspired in the first place.

Machell had lived in Calcutta and worked in several indigo plantations in the 19th century. His journal traced his experience and the culture of the time, in the form of correspondence to his father in England.

Balfour-Paul shared with the audience how she found Machell’s journals by accident. “I was in the British Library surfing through old books and records when I found this valuable piece of history. It was the word indigo that made me reach out for it,” she said.

One line in the handwritten diary had particularly caught her eye. “I wonder if anybody will find these journals in the 20th century in a dirty library…” Machell had written. “I thought I was meant to find it,” added Balfour-Paul.

The author decided to travel to all those places where Machell had visited more than 100 years ago. She juxtaposed snaps taken during her visits to Calcutta, Bangladesh and also the Marquesas Island in French Polynesia with the British explorer’s illustrations.

Visits to Calcutta brought out some lesser-known facts. “Tea company J Thomas & Co would auction indigo. No wonder their office was called Nilhat House,” Balfour Paul said.

Another story was about her hunt for Machell’s grave. “Two of his journals are missing and I am still putting together the last six years of his life. I was not sure where he had spent his final years,” Balfour-Paul added.

India made Machell ill. He had left its shores for his native Yorkshire only to come back again. “My daughter and I went places in search of his grave, till we realised he had died near Jabalpur. One rainy day in Jabalpur we almost got ourselves arrested as we went grave hunting,” laughed the author.

She has documented many of her tales in her book, Deeper than Indigo: Tracing Thomas Machell, Forgotten Explorer.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / A Staff Reporter / Saturday – November 11th, 2017

A north Bengal forest ranger people love to call ‘Singham’

Amazing Feats, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

In 2016, Sanjay Dutta and his team seized 14 leopard skins, 500 pieces of leopard and tiger bones, two rhino horns, live geckos, seven skins of clouded leopard and 11 jars of snake venom.

Ranger Sanjay Dutta (in black T-shirt) holding a baby crocodile seized from wildlife smugglers. (HT Photo)

In the forests of North Bengal, timber smugglers and poachers are in trouble. A 39-year-old forest ranger has come to be known as the ‘Forest Singham’ (lion of the forest) after having arrested hundreds of wildlife and timber smugglers.

As a ranger, Sanjay Dutta is in charge of 3,304 hectares of forest in the Belacoba range of Jalpaiguri district. The Chicken Neck area, a narrow strip of land lying adjacent to the international borders with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan is especially known as a haven for poachers and smugglers. But with 15-20 seizures and 70-80 arrests a year, this has also become a happy hunting ground for the law enforcers.

In 2016, Dutta and his team seized 14 leopard skins, 500 pieces of leopard and tiger bones, two rhino horns, live geckos, seven skins of clouded leopard, 11 jars of snake venom and a cache of arms and ammunition.

In April this year, Dutta was made the head of a special task force set up to check wildlife smuggling in the forests of all the eight districts of north Bengal.

“Dutta has made numerous seizures and nabbed many offenders. He must have set a record by now. He is hardworking and brave and he has developed a network. Also, he maintains a very cordial relation with local people,” said M R Baloach, additional principal chief conservator of forest, West Bengal.

Sanjay Dutta receiving an award from chief minister Mamata Banerjee. (HT Photo)

A resident of Jalpaiguri, Dutta had to abandon his dream of becoming a police officer when his father, also a forest ranger, died at the age of 48. Dutta joined the department when he was only 18.

Ten years ago he was shot by timber smugglers while he was chasing a gang along the Teesta canal. One of the guards accompanying him was killed.

In 2016 Dutta became the only Indian recipient of the Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award given by Animal Welfare Institute of Johannesburg. But Dutta missed the ceremony because he could not afford the trip to South Africa.

In view of the threat to his life, Dutta, a father of two, is provided with security personnel but that has not deterred him from staying in touch with people. He has set up a primary school in the Lodhabari forest area. He partly funded it with the Rs 25,000 cash award he got from the state government. Dutta arranged for another Rs 1.2 lakh from the joint forest management committee and started the school.

Over the years, Dutta, has helped many poor people, cancer patients and school children. Local people try to return the favour and love. Jyotshna Roy, head of a self-help group for women in Lodhabari said, “We have never seen a forest officer like him. He does not mind taking loan to help people in need. On Bhaiduj he was given ‘bhaiphota’ by 50 women.”

“With Dutta around, we know the forests are safe,” said Tula Mohammed, president of Hiramari Joint Forest Management Committee.

Visitors to the forest are frisked by state armed police (SAP) personnel. Fifteen of them work with Dutta. Shiv Sambu Som, an assistant sub inspector of SAP, said, “Working with Dutta is a new experience. He takes care of the staff and other employees. We don’t mind putting in extra hours to assist Dutta in nabbing offenders.”

“Dutta always leads an operation from the front,” added Lalit Tiwari, a forest department beat officer.

The Forest Singham however remains grounded. “I am no hero or celebrity. I love to work for the people and that’s what I do,” he told HT.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Kolkata / by Pramod Giri, Hindustan Times / November 07th, 2017

Sculpture garden inaugurated in Kolkata on Wednesday

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Travel

Kolkata :

A sculpture garden on the history of Bengal will be inaugurated by minister Firhad Hakim at New Town’s Eco Park on Wednesday.

The garden will have 12 murals that will focus on important individuals and their contributions to the country and society, as well as on different phases of the history like Shri Chaitanya, Battle of Plassey, Raja Ramohan Roy, renaissance in Bengal, Bankimchandra, the awakening of Bengal in India, Swami Vivekananada and his activities, Santhal rebellion, Indigo Movement, Subhash Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauz, Shri Arobindo, Lalan Fakir, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rabindranath Tagore and the Visva Bharati movement, Satyajit Ray and his world of films

The garden will also have 52 portraits, including Shri Chaitanya Mahapravu and Begum Rokeya and will have a light and sound show explaining the story in each of the relief panels.

The show will keep the audience moving from one panel to another in groups. There will also be benches for the elderly and children.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News / by Suman Chakraborti / TNN / September 21st, 2017

Henry’s Island: A quaint getaway in West Bengal Spending a laid-back weekend close to Kolkata

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Travel
Long, white beaches and a clear blue skyline is Henry’s Island’s distinct feature

Among the numerous beach destinations close to the eastern Indian metropolis, Kolkata, Henry’s Island is an offbeat choice for those looking for tranquillity.

In a lazy, white sand beach, where red crabs crawl, one could expect to find solitude and solace. Located at a distance of around 130 km from the bustling city of Kolkata, Henry’s Island is home to one such place. An area where government fisheries can be found, this tranquil destination is located close to another popular beach spot, Bakkhali.

Henry’s Island is still undisturbed and unspoilt by the markers of human civilisation – plastic packets, blaring sound systems or abandoned bottles. Pristine white sands are often hued by shifting tinges of red, owing to the crawling crabs, with the occasional fisherman walking by – this is the image that Henry’s Island leaves behind. The entrance to the beach involves a walk through a swamp of sorts, with a line of trees that hides the beach from the rest of the world.

For the traveller, who is looking for an experience that doesn’t involve heavy activity, Henry’s Island plays a welcome host. A watch tower, above one of the two guest houses on the location, is what visitors to nearby destinations frequent most. Views on a clear sky showcase the Sunderbans mangrove, which are located very close to the beach destination. One could also opt to walk around the beach and villages nearby.

Henry’s Island is also a great place to sample some seafood, which is locally grown and acquired. Locals are used to guests coming in to try the food at the Sundari Canteen, which offers the fresh catches. The Fisheries Department of the Government of West Bengal uses area for pisciculture and also takes care of forest conservation.

Getting there

Located some 130 km away from Kolkata, one would expect to reach the place in a matter of a short time. However, the journey by road takes much longer, owing to a change through a ferry which crosses the Hatania-Doania creek, which involves a long wait. There are also direct buses available, but since these buses ply once a day from Kolkata’s Esplanade bus depot, it is better to enquire a day in advance for seats and timing. To save some time, a local train can be taken from the Sealdah station in Kolkata, with a stop at Namkhana station. After this, a boat ferry, which costs a mere rupee or two per person can be taken, and on the other side, buses are available to drop at a location close to Henry’s Island, or one can opt for vans.

Getting to Henry’s Island is a slow journey, yet it provides the perfect window of transition from the busy city into the tranquil paradise. As a spot to unwind, relax, catch up on some reading or simply a chance to spend some time by yourself, Henry’s Island is a weekend getaway from Kolkata that reinvigorates the senses.

source: http://www.mediaindia.euc/ Media India Group / Home> News-India & You> Tourism / by Mehk Chakraborty / May 08th, 2017

Software for tiger watch in Buxa

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Alipurduar :

The Union ministry of environment and forests has launched a software to ensure better monitoring of tigers that will be introduced in the Buxa Tiger Reserve by April.

The software has been made in collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for all tiger reserves in the country.

“MSTrIPES”, a hi-tech monitoring system, would be introduced in Buxa Tiger Reserve by April and each beat officer will get an Android phone with the software inbuilt that will help to monitor tigers in the habitat, Ujjal Ghosh, the field director of the BTR, said.

There are 42 beat offices in Buxa with one officer each.

MSTrIPES is a GPS-based software that will provide patrolling protocols and record wildlife crimes.

The software will also handle ecological monitoring and store data related to tiger monitoring.

Ghosh said: “The forest guards will have to fill in information about the area they patrolled and number of tigers spotted daily in the Android phones. This information will be passed by the beat officer to the forest range officer who will forward the same to the division officer, followed by the state government. The state will then pass on the information to the Tiger Control Cell of WII in Dehradun. Through this system, there will be a statistical analysis of data regarding protection and monitoring of the tigers.”

According to a forest officer, the BTR is important to the NTCA because ‘Tiger Augmentation Programme’ would be held here this year.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> North Bengal> Story / by Our Correspondent / Thursday – February 23rd, 2017