Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

7 floors of organic yield

A market cum food court is being planned in New Town


Baskets of organic vegetables on NKDA’s CB Market terrace. / The Telegraph picture

The West Bengal State Agricultural Marketing Board has tied up with the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) to start an organic market between the Harley Davidson showroom and Eco Park. The name of the market will called Joibo Haat meaning organic market in Bengali.

Minister of the agricultural marketing department, Tapan Dasgupta, laid the foundation stone on January 17 in presence of ministers Sujit Bose and Purnendu Basu.

The plot, that has been leased from NKDA, measures around 14.77 cottahs, the building will be a G+6 one and the project should take two years to complete. The estimated cost is Rs 11.40 crore and funds are being raised from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

“People are falling sick these days due to chemicals in fertilisers. Going organic is a much safer option,” Dasgupta told The Telegraph Salt Lake. “Also, we wanted to give a platform to those involved in organic farming.”

According to an official of the state agricultural marketing board, they have already called for a tender to build the market. “We expect construction to start within the next few weeks,” said the official.

Organic supermarket

The market will have separate floors for a variety of organically grown fruits, vegetables, rice, pulses, flowers and even honey. The idea is to create an organic hub in New Town. According to the officer, the organic produce will not only taste better but will also be healthier.

“We want to give a super market-like experience to shoppers who come here. Everything stocked will be organically produced with zero use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides. All racks will be properly labelled,” the official said.

Organic produce growers and self help groups from all over the state will be welcome to showcase and sell their produce too.

“The farmers’ markets organised in Calcutta get good response from both buyers and sellers so we believe there is a ready market for organic products. “Organic farming is being undertaken in large scale in North and South 24-Parganas and we’ve observed that people of New Town are ready to pay higher prices for quality products. So setting shop in New Town would guarantee more buyers,” the officer said.

The ground, first and second floors will house the organic market. The third floor will house an organic food court. The fourth floor will have training centre for skill development. The fifth floor will house an advanced laboratory and office. The sixth floor will have a guesthouse.


Gourds hanging from the overhead structures. / The Telegraph picture

The laboratory will not only conduct research on organic farming but also verify whether a vegetable is organic or not.

This will be the first laboratory in the state to conduct such tests. Currently, to conduct such tests samples are sent to other states. This adds to expenses.

The laboratory will also work to develop organic fertilisers and the facility will have regular workshops to encourage farmers from the villages to shift to organic methods.

Sikkim has managed to become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices of farming on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. It had taken Sikkim around 12 years to achieve this feat and Bengal is now taking baby steps towards organic methods.

Farm on your rooftop

Debashis Sen, the chairman of NKDA, said such a market in New Town would give plenty of opportunities for residents to buy fresh produce and also motivate them to have roof-top gardens where vegetables can be grown.

“We are already in talks with agencies to develop rooftop farms on individual plots and buildings. Farming and gardening on the roof of a building will enhance the look of the terrace and provide quality food to residents. It will also keep the building cooler in summer,” said Sen.

NKDA runs a farm on the terrace of CB Market near Novotel and Sen says hydroponics and other alternative methods for container gardening are being used there extensively. This farm was started by Owl Spirit, a company formed by the NGO Uthnau, in 2017. They grew gourds, spinach, beans, cucumbers, carrots, brinjals etc in baskets up there.

At present, they are working on tower planters at Karigori Bhavan opposite Uniworld City. These are containers stacked one above the other and they are growing brinjals, chillies, gourds and spinach on trial basis there.

“We have been approached by the NKDA to help residents grow organic food in their balconies and terrace,” says director of Owl Spirit, Kunal Deb. “Chemical use in commercial crops has spread to such an extent that even if you have money today you can’t buy healthy food. It’s best if you can grow your own food then.”

Hari Mitti is another agency that has been approached. This Sector V-based company prepares crates of fruit, vegetable and herbs to sell to residents. “The nascent stages of plants are the most delicate. We shall look after the plant at this stage and hand them over when they are older and hardy. We also provide lifelong maintenance of the plants,” says Suhrid Chandra, the founder.

That there is a demand for organic farming is clear from the fact that Hari Mitti has started managing 82 rooftops over the past two years. “If a family takes in 30-35 crates, it won’t need to buy any vegetables from the market besides potatoes and onions.”

Both the agencies try to avoid using soil. Instead they use coco peat, vermin compost, hydroponics etc. “These options are lighter than soil and also, if we use soil, no matter where we source it from, it will be contaminated with chemicals,” says Chandra.

But the agencies are wary of practical problems. In 2014, Owl Spirit had started an urban farm on the terrace of Siddha Town in Rajarhat. They had to discontinue after nine months after residents refused to pay for its maintenance. “Residents can also complain about insects, those living on the top floor may complain of disturbance,” says Deb. “So we have requested minister Firhad Hakim to allow us to carry out urban farming atop government buildings.”

Residents are keen to give organic farming a shot. “I shall be retiring in six months and thereafter would love to indulge in gardening. When I moved to New Town I had about 25 pots but most of them didn’t survive. With help from these experts I would love to grow lemons, chillies and other fruits and vegetables,” says Chaita Mukherjee, a resident of Sree apartments.

Inputs from Sudeshna Banerjee

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Online edition / Home> West Bengal / by Snehal Sengupta and Brinda Sarkar in Calcutta / February 15th, 2019

A tribute to Jagadish Bose, who proved plants have life

Group of scientists recreates Bose’s experiment, which was not received well 100 years ago

Bose’s peers in the West may not have got the same results as him because of the water used /
Image: The Telegraph

More than 100 years after Jagadish Chandra Bose conducted the experiment that established plants have life, a group of scientists in Calcutta came together this year to repeat it.

Supriyo Kumar Das, an assistant professor of Geology at Presidency University, led the initiative. The others on the team were also from Presidency — Debashis Datta and Rabindranath Gayen, both assistant professors of Physics, Snigddha Pal Chowdhury, a research associate in the Geology department, Abhijit Dey, an assistant professor of Botany, and Saranya Naskar, an MSc student of Physics.

Bose, who had joined Presidency College in 1885 as a professor in the Physics department, had conducted the experiment in a laboratory on these very precincts. No matter how much he is hailed today for his scientific genius, in his time Bose’s experiment had not been received well.

It all began when Peter V. Minorsky, a botanist and professor at Mercy College in the US, got in touch with Das earlier this year. Minorsky wanted to know about the groundwater composition in the College Street area, where Presidency University stands.

Says Das, “It is from him that I heard about the prejudices against Bose. In the course of our exchanges, I got interested and emotionally involved with Bose’s work.”

He had been savagely criticised by George James Peirce, professor of Plant Physiology at Stanford University. Peirce wrote in the journal, Science, in 1927: “The trouble with Bose… is that while his curiosity is directed to biological phenomena, his mind is inadequately equipped with the information and habits necessary for accurate study, and his reflections are addressed to philosophical problems.”

In 1929, the Indian Review reported that G.A. Perrson, who was from the US, was unable to find pulse in plants. And years later, in the mid-1960s, in the Handbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie (Encyclopaedia of Plant Physiology), it was said, “Unfortunately Bose’s theoretical views and his emotional style of reporting have generated what may be an excessive skepticism concerning the validity of his observations.”

This is what Bose had observed. By devising a wire electrode — an invention three decades ahead of its time — he identified a pulsating layer of cells abutting the vascular tissue in plants. In an email to The Telegraph, Minorsky says, “In the last few years, plant biologists have come to recognise this layer is the site of propagating waves of calcium release that are involved in communicating stress from local points of occurrence to the rest of the plant. The discovery of this calcium wave is one of the more exciting discoveries of the 21st century, and Bose’s ‘plant heart’ predates this discovery by a century.”

Bose has left notes aplenty about every aspect of his historic experiment. One of the lone omissions is the kind of water used. Says Das, “Being a geochemist and scientist, I understand the composition of groundwater and the effect of chemical stress of sodium on plants. I also know that the composition of water varies from place to place.” He adds, “It occurred to us that Bose’s peers in the West might not have got the same results as him because of the water used.”

PULSE TEST: A repeat of the experiment at Presidency University that Jagadish Chandra Bose conducted in the 1900s /
Image: The Telegraph

In Bose’s time, water was supplied to the Presidency campus from Palta in the Barrackpore area. Das points to a spot occupied by an elevator on the ground floor of Baker Building that houses the Physics department and says, “This is where the old pipeline ran.” Currently, the municipality takes care of the water supply. It comes from the Tala tank in north Calcutta.

When Das and and others repeated the experiment, they decided to use water from every possible source Bose might have accessed. “He could have also used water from the Ganges or from the pond in College Square,” says Das.

Datta explains, “We wanted to check the potassium and sodium concentration. Electricity flows through water only when there are some ions present in it. Possibly, the scientists from the West had not used ionised water.”

The “repeaters” used for the experiment the plant Bose had used — the Desmodium motorium, locally known as bon charal. Minorsky explains, “The lateral leaflets of Desmodium are unique in the plant kingdom for their pronounced and unprovoked oscillatory movements. If conditions are optimal, one can watch these lateral leaflets move at a pace slightly slower than the second hand of a watch.”

According to Minorsky, Bose enjoyed certain enormous advantages over his Western peers. First, Desmodium motorium is a native of Bengal, so he had access to an ample supply of healthy, thriving specimens. In contrast, in the West its cultivation was restricted to glasshouses. Those days, glasshouses were often heated by wheelbarrows of burning coal. These released a gas called ethylene, which in turn affected many plant processes, including a decrease in overall excitability. Second, he points out Calcutta’s temperatures and how they lend themselves to plant study. “Temperatures of 30-35° Celsius, which occur commonly, are optimal for studying plant movements and excitability. The temperatures at which scientists in the West studied plants would have been much lower,” he says. Finally, there was the salty water advantage.

Dey arranged for 21 Desmodium plants. Each was kept in a beaker full of a distinct water sample. Thereafter, they were all kept in a controlled atmosphere. Says Gayen, “We placed them in glass beakers and left them in the laboratory, where all the lights would be kept on so that all of them were exposed to the same amount of light. The air conditioner would be set at a particular temperature to control the humidity. We would connect the probes to two different parts of the stem. The source meter was used to read the fluctuating signals.”

The brainstorming went on for months and the experiment lasted a fortnight. Das says, “The apprehension of failure was there. But the moment when we got the first response was exquisite. The horizontal line that appeared on the screen formed a peak and then fell only to rise again. Though our graph did not have peaks and troughs as tall as Bose’s, we definitely had got a graph that roughly replicated the ECG graph of humans.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Online edition / Home> Culture / by Moumita Chaudhuri / November 25th, 2018

An unrecognised explorer

It’s time we do justice to Radhanath Sikdar, the man who first measured Mount Everest

All of us are aware from the days of our childhood that the highest mountain peak in the world is Mount Everest and it was discovered by George Everest. It was only much later that one came to know that Sir George Everest was the Surveyor General of India and the peak was so named as he had discovered it to be the highest in the world. As the Surveyor General, he had his offices in Dehradun and used to stay in Mussoorie. He left India in 1843, almost 200 years ago, but his house in Mussoorie is still being preserved and is now a place of tourist interest.

The truth, however, is somewhat different. It is a fact that Sir George Everest was the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, but it is also a fact that during his tenure of office, Mount Everest, that we know of today, was only known as ‘Peak XV’. Everest had neither initiated the process of measuring the height of this peak, nor was he instrumental in its naming, which was done much later, long after he had proceeded to England to enjoy his retirement after 1843. Located on the border of Nepal and Tibet, this ‘Peak XV’ has been worshipped as a holy place by the Tibetans, who called it Chomolungma, the Mother Goddess of the World. In Nepal, this peak is known as Sagarmatha, meaning the peak of heavens. Even these days, this peak is addressed by its traditional names, both in Tibet and Nepal, while we have followed what was given to us by the British ie Mount Everest.

In fact, the name Everest was given by Col Sir Andrew Waugh of Bengal Engineers, who succeeded Everest as the Surveyor General of India from 1844 to 1861. Circumstances under which ‘Peak XV’ was named as Mount Everest are rather peculiar and reveal a very biased handling of the matter so that the entire credit goes to the British officers of the East India Company. Going through the historical records of the Survey of India Volume IV: 1830 to 1843, pertaining to the tenure of Sir George Everest, one can observe at a glance that he had shown no interest in ‘Peak XV’ during this period. It was his successor, Andrew Waugh, who made the official announcement of ‘Peak XV’ being the highest known peak of the world in 1856, the measurements had, of course, been initiated much earlier and finalised by our own Radha Nath Sikdar in 1849.

Recognising the work of Sikdar, the Government of India had issued a postage stamp in his honour in 2004. But his work is of such a great importance that issuing a postage stamp and then forgetting about him does not do full justice to his unique and great contribution. It was Sir George Everest who had recruited Sikdar in the great trigonometrical survey and became extremely fond of him. Volume IV of the Historical records of Survey of India, pertaining to his tenure, have the following mention about Sikdar: “Radanauth is high in favour with everybody, and universally beloved in the GT Survey. You will not know him for the same person when you see him again, for he is no longer a puny stripling, but a hardy energetic young man, ready to undergo any fatigue, and acquire a practical knowledge of all parts of his profession. …There are few of my instruments which he cannot manage; and none of my computations of which he is not thoroughly master. …Eventually he will furnish a convincing proof that the aptitude of your countrymen for the practical, as well as the theoretical, parts of mathematics is in no wise inferior to that of Europeans.”

“Of the qualifications of the young man himself I cannot speak too highly. In his mathematical attainments there are few in India, whether European or Native, who can at all compete with him, and…even in Europe those attainments would rank very high.”

Later, on account of a special technique developed by Sikdar for accurate computation of heights and distances through Spherical Trigonometry, he virtually became indispensable to the organisation and rose to become the Chief Computer in the office of SGI. In that position, he moved from Dehradun to Kolkata in 1849. As to why Andrew Waugh gave the name Everest, even though he had left the scene long ago, is an interesting piece of history.

Had SG Burrard, a later Surveyor General of India, not acknowledged the good work of Radhanath Sikdar through a research paper published in 1904 in the scientific journal Nature, these facts would not have come to light. He published in detail various steps taken for the measurement of ‘Peak XV’. This in a way also exposed the machinations of Andrew Waugh who had tried his level best to take credit away from, to where it truly belonged, that is Radhanath Sikdar.

It is human nature that in case something important is achieved, one tries to take credit or gives credit to someone, but in this case, Waugh specifically mentioned that Sikdar had nothing to do with this work, indicating his bias. Later, he could be seen placating him by asking him that he should be happy that the peak had been named after his mentor. Andrew Waugh also gave the additional charge of the Indian Metrological Department to Sikdar, raising his salary to Rs 600 per month. This was unheard for an Indian in those days. Clearly, all these efforts were to keep him happy but away from the core of the survey work.

SG Burrard’s publication in the Nature specifically mentioned that the Chief Computer (who was Radhanath Sikdar) from Calcutta had informed Andrew Waugh in 1852 that the peak designated ‘XV’ had been found to be higher than any other highest measured peak in the world at that time. Raw data from theodolites, taken from seven observation stations at Jirol, Mirzapur, Janjpati, Ladiva, Haripur, Minai and Doom Dongi was collected at the trigonometrical survey at Calcutta. This was then processed by Radhanath Sikdar and conveyed to Andrew Waugh that ‘Peak XV’ had been measured at 29,002 feet, taking the mean value of all observations. Considering that the scientific instrumentation available at that time was only of a rudimentary nature, the level of accuracy reached was almost 100 per cent, and this figure has not undergone any change, despite the current state of technological progress.

Correspondence between Waugh and Sikdar reveals that Waugh did privately acknowledge the achievement of Sikdar but did not recognise his work on record and in public. In his letter dated August 25, 1856, Waugh wrote to Sikdar that he was glad to hear that naming the peak as Everest had given the latter a lot of satisfaction. Thus, it is clear that the name Everest was given to ensure that Sikdar, who could have been the rightful claimant for credit, did not object as he was extremely fond of Everest, who had recruited him in service. The situation would have remained obscure but for the research paper of SG Burrard in 1904. Later, Professor Meghnad Saha acknowledged this feat in 1938 by giving Sikdar full credit. Earlier, Kenneth Mason in 1928, recognised his work as also John Keay in his book, The Great Arc.

In the given situation, changing the name of Mount Everest to Mount Sikdar Everest will perhaps do full justice to Radhanath Sikdar and give him worldwide recognition, which was legitimately his due, long time ago. We do not have to seek anybody’s approval for such a change as the rationale is all well-documented. Even if the world continues to call it Everest, in India, we could still call it Sikdar Everest.

On several earlier occasions, achievements of Indian scientists have not been recognised, as Sir JC Bose could have got the Nobel Prize for Physics or at least shared it with Marconi for his work on wireless and radio; SN Bose could have got the Nobel Prize way back in 1932 for his work with Einstein on Bose Einstein condensate but atleast he was recognised, though belatedly naming the God particle, Higgs-Boson after him. Naming Everest as Sikdar Everest would be a recoginition of a scientist whose work has stood the test of time. Besides it would also justifiably add to our national pride.

(The writer is a retired Delhi Police Commissioner and former Uttarakhand Governor)

source:http://www.thepioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> Columnists> Opinion / by K K Paul / November 23rd, 2018

Kolkata Gets $100 Million Asian Development Bank Loan For Drainage

The $100 million loan is the third and final tranche under the $400 million Kolkata Environmental Improvement

Investment Program and is aimed at expanding sewerage and drainage coverage and providing sewage treatment in Kolkata.

New Delhi :

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed $100 million loan agreement to strengthen capacity of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for resilient urban services, an official statement said.

The $100 million loan is the third and final tranche under the $400 million Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Program and is aimed at expanding sewerage and drainage coverage and providing sewage treatment in Kolkata.

It will target expansion of sewerage and drainage services in selected peripheral areas of KMC to at least 3,000 additional households and provide sewage treatment for at least 1,00,000 households, the Ministry of Finance said in the statement.

The agreement was signed by Ministry of Finance Additional Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare for the Indian government and ADB’s India Resident Mission Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama for the multilateral lending agency.

Mr Khare said it will supplement the efforts made in previous phases that aim to provide affordable access to water supply, sewerage and drainage services in Kolkata.

Kenichi Yokoyama said that the current financing will be used to construct 43 km of additional sewer drain pipes, four pumping stations, 13 km of pumping mains and three sewage treatment plants to improve sanitation service and climate resilience.

The overall goal of the programme, approved in 2014, is to restore water production capacity to 1,478 million liters per day and ensure leaks on 700 kilometers of water pipes are repaired by 2023, the statement said.

It aims to install 40,000 water meters in pilot areas, 170 kilometers of sewer-drain pipes and provide new sewerage connections to 27,000 homes, it said.

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV.com / Home> Sections> Kolkata / by Indo-Asian News Service / October 04th, 2018

Trees offer multiple benefits — don’t kill them, breed them

In 1979, Dr. T.M. Das of Calcutta University estimated the value of a tree to be $2,00,000 | Photo Credit: S. SIVA SARAVANAN


Hundred trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. They also catch about 1,40,000 gallons of rainwater per year.

Officials in Delhi wish to fell about 17,000 fully grown trees in some parts of the city to make space for building housing colonies. And to “pacify” people who object to this tree destruction, they say that for every tree that will be felled, they will plant 10 saplings. Interesting — the minister knows it; the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) knows it and we all known it — that this is a stupid answer. “What you lose today, I will make up” (20 years from now? and if the saplings survive?) And this is not just in Delhi. Government and city planners in several other states do the same. This attitude shows not just ignorance but arrogance, disregard for trees and their value. It is time planners wake up and understand the value — economic, ecological, health-related and sociological — that trees offer.

Value of a tree

Way back in 1979, Dr. T.M. Das of Calcutta University estimated that the monetary value of a tree, during a life span of 50 years, amounted to about $2,00,000 (at 1979 rates). This was based on the amount of oxygen it produces, the fruit or the biomass and the timber it offers when felled and so on. For every 1 gram that a tree accumulates as it grows, it generates about 2.66 grams of oxygen. Dr Nancy Beckham of Australia, in her paper, “Trees: finding their true value”, points out that “trees and plants silently carry out their daily routine years after years, stabilizing the soil, recycling nutrients, cooling the air, modifying wind turbulence, intercepting the rain, absorbing toxins, reducing fuel costs, neutralizing sewage, increasing property values, promoting tourism, encouraging recreation, reducing stress and improving personal health as well as providing food, medicine and accommodation for other living things”. (Link: ).

The Department of Environmental Conservation of New York State, USA offers numbers in this connection (see ), along with references to scientific papers which estimate these numbers. It points out that (1) healthy trees mean healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of CO2 and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year; (2) healthy trees mean healthy communities: tree-filled neighbourhoods lower the levels of domestic violence and are safer and move sociable; (3) healthy trees mean healthy environment — 100 mature trees catch about 1,40,000 gallons of rain water per year; (4) healthy trees mean home-owner savings — strategically placed trees save up to 56% of air conditioning costs; evergreens that block winter winds can save 3% on heating; (5) healthy trees means better business — in tree-lined commercial districts, shoppers report more frequent shopping and spend 12% more for goods, and (6) healthy trees means higher property values.

The minister and the NBCC officials are smart people and they surely know all these facts. Yet for them, a mature tree is “dead urban space” and clearing 17,000 trees means real estate for building houses, colonies and shopping malls in a city that is gasping for clean air. (Delhi Greens, an NGO, estimated in 2013 that a healthy tree is worth Rs. 24 lakh a year, just with respect to its oxygen producing capacity). And for them a sapling occupies (today) about a hundredth (or even less) space. But where will they plant the saplings — where the trees were? How will they survive if construction starts already? Clearly the officials’ attitude is: ‘well, we will be gone (transferred/ retired) and do not need to answer’. What Gurgaon was then, and is now, makes the point.

Admire trees, don’t axe them

In stark contrast to their cruel attitude towards trees stand the examples of Sunderlal Bahuguna’s “chipko” movement, Saalumarada Thimmakka of Karnataka who has planted 398 banyan trees — each representing her own child, and Majid Khan and the team of biologists and horticulturists who are offering “intensive care” (injecting insecticide mix in to the phloem of each branch) to a 700 years old “pillalamarri” banyan tree near Mahabubnagar, Telangana, spanning a 4–acre canopy , which is being eaten up by termites, and bringing it back to life. (See: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/a-tree-in-intensive-care/article24241462.ece). Should it have been cut and the 4 acre space used as real estate?

Obviously trees offer emotional, even spiritual solace. Indian history is replete with examples — Lord Buddha, Emperor Ashoka, and the Tamil King Pari Vallal who left his chariot near a plant to help it spread its branches.

Should not Delhi then think of building houses and colonies elsewhere in the suburbs, saving these 17,000 trees? Or if at all it has to do it in Delhi, think new thoughts, but without cutting the trees (or at best sacrificing the smallest possible number)? This impossible-sounding scheme offers challenges to architects. Indeed, high rise apartments have been built elsewhere, saving trees and even including them as part of the building. Some examples are seen in Italy, Turkey and Brazil.

India has been blessed with creative architects, both Indian and foreign, who have built houses and campuses, totally in harmony with the surroundings. The Indian Institute of Architects has about 20,000 members, we have about 80 institutions that teach architecture. Why not throw a challenge to them to come up with the best plan, offer a handsome award to the most suited and creative one, and use it to build the colony?

dbala@lvpei.org

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by D. Balasubramanian / July 07th, 2018

Woman aims for life with zero waste

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

Students unite over water of the world

Chowringhee:

A study on quality of water brought together schoolchildren from Calcutta and Kentucky.

Students of 10 schools from Calcutta, Durgapur, Kharagpur, Ranchi and Guwahati studied the quality of water from various sources and the Kentucky students assessed the impact of coal mines on water. They presented their projects at American Center on Friday.

Students of Union Chapel School at American Center on Friday. Pictures by Ankit Datta

The students of DAV Model School, Durgapur, were declared winner for their study on the water of Barakar river flowing through Jharkhand and Bengal. They shared the prize with the students of Belfry High School, Kentucky, who based their project on wells in East Kentucky.

Students of Belfry High School, Kentucky – Pictures by Ankit Datta

Ten schools from eastern India and 12 from Kentucky tested samples from 121 water bodies, including rivers, wetlands, ditches, canals, wells and ponds in their own areas. The findings were shared with the community to discourage contamination of water.

The project titled Exploring Water Quality in Eastern India and Kentucky was launched by the US consulate general in Calcutta, in collaboration with University of Kentucky and Association of Social and Environmental Development,

“We hope the participants will take the lead in championing positive social change regarding water quality and conservation,” said Jamie Dragon, director, American Center.

The students of Belfry High School investigated water in 10 wells near coal mines.

“We will present a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US because well water is not regulated,” said Haridas Chandran, physics teacher at Belfry.

The students of DAV Model School, Durgapur, checked the pH level of Barakar river water and its residual chlorine content. One of the findings was that storing the water for long is not recommended because the absence of residual chlorine can trigger a significant growth of microbes.

“We carried out some tests in the school laboratory and the rest on river banks,” said Soumit Das, Class XII.

Garden High School worked on wetlands and Sri Sri Academy on water quality of Hooghly.

Carol Hanley, who guided the students in India and Kentucky, said they had to choose a waterbody that had both cultural and scientific significance.

“We call this community- based science so that science becomes real,” said Hanley, the director, College of Architecture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by A Staff Reporter / June 23rd, 2018

Citizens take inititaive to restore heritage school

A plaque was unveiled at the school on Saturday

Kolkata :

A dilapidated portion of the Burrabazar branch of Metropolitan Institution, which was pulled down by the KMC on April 7, is getting a new lease of life with a group of residents taking the initiative to restore the heritage structure to its old glory. The initial, rudimentary repairs have been carried out with school funds and the subsequent renovation is likely to depend on government assistance as well as crowdfunding.

Members of ‘Purono Kolkatar Golpo’, a Facebook group that has taken up the project, organized a programme on the premises of the institution on Prasanna Coomar Tagore Street at Pathuriaghata on Saturday, when they unveiled a plaque, with the building’s “heritage status” written on it.

This plaque, they hope, would make Kolkatans and authorities aware of the historical significance of the school, which was founded by Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar.

The unveiling was followed by discussions and a cultural programme, which was attended by current and old students, teachers, neighbours and local councillor, Ellora Saha, who advised to form a development committee that would work towards procuring money from the government. “It is a proud moment that ordinary people have come together to conserve the historical institution. Our aim is to restore the building,” said P N Palit, secretary at Vidyasagar Institute trustee board. He added the initial repair, white-wash and clearing trees and undergrowth from the compound were carried out with school money.

Heritage enthusiast Swarnali Chattopadhyay said, “It’s high time we did something to save such structures of architectural and historical significance. For restoration, we are looking to state help and crowdfunding as and when required.”

Till 1954, the building belonged to the Tagores and was known as Rama Niketan.

Thereafter, the Burrabazar branch of Metropolitan Institution was set up on the premises, where the school ran out of rooms on the ground and first floors. Now, with only 60 students on the roll, classes are held only on the ground floor. The Pathuriaghata post office shared the same compound. “To save the building, it is important to save the school.

Different activities have to be started there as the institution and the building are interdependent. A proposal has been given that other small schools in the area may use the huge compound, and if need be, they can be merged into one institution,” said Jayanta Sen, heritage activist and another member of Purono Kolkatar Golpo.

Councillor Saha said, “The building still has Vidyasagar’s chair and it is where Madhusudan Dutta composed ‘Sharmistha’. It is my duty to help people conserve the place.”

Conservation architect Kamalika Bose hailed the initiative: “This is a great example of residents doing something at the grassroots level, without expecting the government to take the first step.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Kolkata News> Schools & Colleges / by Dipawali Mitra / TNN / June 17th, 2018

Gate-way to a new Calcutta

Kolkata Gate, a steel-and-glass structure with giant arches at the Rabindra Tirtha crossing of New Town, is almost ready. The two steel arches that criss-cross each other 55m above the ground can be spotted from several kilometres away.

A circular viewing gallery made of steel and toughened glass has been set up at 25m above the ground level. The 10ft-wide and 60m-long gallery has been constructed by interlinking four prefabricated structures that resemble aerobridges. These structures in turn are welded and attached to the steel arches at designated points. The facade is made of toughened glass with laminated silicone sheets that can withstand gale-force winds, hailstorms and extreme heat.

A bird’s-eye view of New Town clicked from a landing a few feet below the viewing gallery of the Kolkata Gate. The view from the gallery will be unhindered as nothing taller than the gate will come up in the area, New Town being a planned city and with pre-determined floor levels for every plot.

Programmable LED lights and flashers have been placed along the length of the steel arches to give it a snazzy look at night. The viewing gallery will have a snacks counter during the day and a fine-dining restaurant after 7pm. At night, only diners will be allowed inside the gallery that will offer a panoramic view of the township. The walls of the gallery have been painted with murals with an entire wall dedicated to the schemes and achievements of the state government.

“The restaurant will offer a one-of-a-kind experience. It will be unlike any other in the city and will offer cuisines from across the world,” said Debashis Sen, the chairman of Hidco. It is likely to open doors in June, officials said.

Two lifts with a glass facade made of toughened glass similar to that used in the viewing gallery will take visitors up to the gallery. The lifts are equipped with telephones at every level so that the operators can get in touch with visitors in case of an emergency. Hidco is mulling a Rs 30 fee per person for a visit to the gallery. Diners at the restaurant won’t need to pay the fee.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Snehal Sengupta / Photos by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya / April 30th, 2018

UK experts rue loss of city heritage

Calcutta:

Conservation experts from the United Kingdom are voicing concern over the loss of Calcutta’s architectural heritage.

Conservation architect Philip Davies, who campaigns for the “shared heritage of Calcutta and Britain” and James Simpson, OBE, architect and vice-president of ICOMOS, UK, a heritage and cultural organisation, have lent their support to the protest march that Calcutta Architectural Legacies (CAL) is organising on April 18, the World Conservation Day.

Simpson believes Calcutta is facing a situation that Edinburgh faced 50 years ago. when development had threatened to rob the Scottish capital of its architectural heritage.

“Calcutta is… eminently worthy of recognition by Unesco as a World Heritage City. When chief minister Mamata Banerjee came to the Scottish capital last November, she saw in Edinburgh a beautiful city, whose heritage has made it one of the best places in the world in which to live and to do business, and to whose economy tourism makes a significant contribution,” Simpson wrote in an email sent to Metro on Sunday.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation had last year downgraded the heritage status of the building that housed the old Kenilworth Hotel near the Middleton Street-Little Russel Street crossing, enabling its demolition by the present owners. Conservation activists have alleged that a builder-authorities nexus was behind the downgrading and the subsequent demolition.

The civic body had said the heritage downgrade of the building happened in accordance with law.

Amar Nath Shroff, the chairman of Alcove Realty, has said his company has not done anything outside the law. Alcove Realty is part of the consortium that owns the plot where the hotel stood and is promoting The 42, Calcutta’s tallest building.

Simpson said Calcutta’s heritage is its greatest asset, on which its future should be built. “Amit Chaudhuri and his supporters in CAL and PUBLIC are fighting for the very survival of the city. Without the architecture and the culture which makes it uniquely special, Calcutta will, in global terms, sink into mediocrity,” said Simpson.

London-based architect Philip Davies, who believes citizen’s movement is important to force governments into action, said: “Amit Chaudhuri, CAL and PUBLIC are to be applauded for taking to the streets to protest against the de-listing of buildings and the refusal of repeated administrations to designate conservation areas to protect its historic centres. Kolkata is one of the world’s great historic cities. Its remarkable heritage is enshrined in the very fabric of its buildings, neighbourhoods and public places. They desperately need strong statutory protection.”

Lamenting the loss of many such buildings, like the Strand Road warehouses, Davies said: “What is happening is a scandal. The Strand Road warehouses have stood vacant and decaying on a prime central riverside site for over 50 years losing crores and crores of potential revenue. The Botanic Gardens are of world significance and the oldest in Asia, but they are appallingly neglected with no coherent strategy for their future.”

He also lists the Silver Mint and Mint Master’s House, among the finest neoclassical buildings in India, that have been lying dilapidated for decades. The buildings that made Calcutta “a city of palaces” are threatened with development, he said.

Historic buildings and neighbourhoods are a huge economic and cultural asset, feels Davies. “A successful city can, and must, have both. Conservation is not an optional extra luxury, but crucial for sustainable urban regeneration and change. Heritage-led regeneration works,” he said.

Experience across the world – from London to Cape Town – demonstrates that waterfront cities can, and do, reinvent themselves. Calcutta can do the same and reap huge economic benefits for all, but it needs vision and leadership, felt the architects.

Grateful for the support from the UK, Chaudhuri said: “They have long been interested and invested in conservation in Calcutta.”

Talking of the UK experience in conservation, he said: “We can learn from Edinburgh, which never lost any of its architectural heritage, unlike Glasgow. We can learn from Scotland and London. But we can also learn from our own Mumbai, which has its own heritage precincts like the Churchgate and Oval Maidan, and the art deco of Marine Drive.

All these places are not museum-like but lived spaces shared by the affluent and the ordinary people. Calcutta too has the same mix of livelihoods and buildings that would form an attractive part of the city.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Anasuya Basu / April 16th, 2018