IIT-Kanpur has started technical survey in five villages close to the river.
Kanpur:
As part of its endeavour to achieve ‘aviral aur nirmal’ (continuous and clean) flow of Ganga under the Namami Gange project, IIT-Kanpur has started technical survey in five villages close to the river.
The team is working on three aspects during the survey – do villagers use toilets, where is the solid waste discharged and what is the arrangement for sanitation and water supply.
The team also found out the number of domestic animals and the arrangement for their drinking water.
Prof Vinod Tare of IIT-K, who is closely associated with the Namami Gange project, said 13 prominent educational institutions have adopted 65 villages situated on the banks of Ganga. These institutions include NIT Uttarakhand, IIT-Roorkee, Aligarh Muslim University, NIT Allahabad, IIT-BHU, ISM-Dhanbad and IIT-Kharagpur.
“These 65 villages are situated on the river bank between Alaknanda to Gangasagar. Ganga travels through seven states and covers a distance of 2,500 kms before flowing into Bay of Bengal,” said Prof Tare who has been working on Ganga for the past two decades.
Abhishek Gaur, senior project associate at IIT-K and part of the team, said the survey is almost complete in Ramel Nagar, Khayora Katri, Pratappur Hari, Hindupur and Ludhawakhera villages situated close to Ganga.
Tare said preparations are on to construct a new ghat at the barrage. He said soon the work of renovation of the city ghats will begin.
In Bithoor, beautification of the ghats would be done by Kanpur Development Authority (KDA).
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / July 08th, 2016
The ancient Parijat tree in Barabanki district is now free of ailments. The treatment administered by the CSIR lab, National Botanical Research Institute, has made the tree healthy again.
On Wednesday, D K Upreti, officiating director, NBRI, handed over the report containing recommendations on how to preseve the generations-old entity to the forest department. Though NBRI had administered chemical treatment to the tree initially, it has now recommended a microbial biopesticide (Bacillus based inoculants) to be applied on the trunk and leaves of the tree thrice in a year to keep it clean of infections. NBRI also gave Bacillus packets to forest department.
“When we visited the site and studied the samples of the tree and soil we found a huge number of bacterial and fungal infections but now it has been treated and cured completely,” said NBRI’s senior principal scientist S K Tiwari.
NBRI, a CSIR laboratory, was brought on board by the forest department to study the condition of the tree after TOI highlighted how it is wilting and is in dire need of conservation. Scientists had collected samples of the tree’s healthy tissue, wood from the affected portion and soil to find the cause. The sample analysis showed the tree was infested with multiple bacteria and fungi.
The tree was put under treatment in February and administered chemical therapy twice. The tree has a small temple at its base and devotees, for years, have been offering water and sweets as prasad there. Right at the spot it had developed a large opening in its trunk.
Though the tree is being looked after by the forest department as less than an acre land on which the tree exists in forest area, the treatment by the department along with regular spraying of disinfectants proved inefficient and insufficient to preserve the tree.
Parijat (Adansonia digitata) is an exotic tree, an African specie with peculiar features. It bears only flowers and no fruits, the reason it is difficult to grow anywhere. Its white flowers turn golden after a certain period. Barabanki’s Parijat is mythically believed to have come out of the ‘samudra manthan’ (churning of ocean) and brought to earth by Arjun from the garden of Indra for his mother Kunti to offer to Lord Shiva and seek victory of Pandavas over Kauravas. A few years ago, the Centre had released two postal stamps on this tree. “Parijat is said to be ‘kalpvrikhsh’ or the wish-fulfilling tree,” said a priest at the site of the tree.
Experts from Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad too studied the cause of the tree’s decay after Barabanki district administration sought help in 2012.
The age of the tree is anybody’s guess. According to forest officers, it’s only when one cuts the trunk of the tree and counts its rings that it can be known how old it is.
Parijat is ‘top-drying’, meaning its branches dry from the top. It sheds leaves in winters and during May-June new leaves sprout, so for six months it is green and rest of the year barren.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / Neha Shukla, TNN / June 02nd, 2016
In the absence of documented values (such as platelets count, haemoglobin) of the blood of Indian leopards, the diagnosis of diseases in these big cats used to remain a tough task for the veterinarians. But the Kanpur zoo vets have found out the haematological values of blood of the leopard by conducting two tests.
These two tests were performed in October last year and in April this year. The findings might help in the diagnosis of diseases among leopards which are Schedule I animals and highly endangered species. RK Singh, UC Srivastava and Mohammad Nasir and pharmacist Akshay Bajaj of Kanpur zoo have worked to bring out the results of the study.
Senior veterinarian RK Singh said that the study has helped in knowing biological value interval of different haematological parameters. He said that now these values will work as a standard reference. “This study has been done on captive animals but it can work as a standard for the wild. However, a number of leopards should be screened to further establish these parameters,” he added.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / June 01st, 2016
For more than 32 years now, a group of good samaritans religiously sit every summer at busiest crossings across the city and offer cool water to commuters sweating buckets under the searing weather.
Seventy seven-year-old Bankey Lal Maheshwari, chief of Sri Nath ji Nishulk Jal Sewa, who has been spearheading the initiative, said, “The service was first started in early 1980s, but was expanded in 1987 after a tragic train accident drove city residents to help the injured and offer them water at Raja ki Mandi railway station.”
At present, there are more than 42 such kiosks around the city, which are run by volunteers. Interestingly, Jal Sewa is not a registered body and primarily depends on people’s contribution. Besides water kiosks, Mahehwari has also installed 101 ice boxes in front of many business establishments.
“Many business houses and residents come to me and promise to provide daily requirement of water. We open kiosks at such places. Generally, it is the older people who volunteer for work. The elderly brave the heat but sit at kiosks all day to offer water to people,” Maheshwari added.
A little amount of Kewra (pandanus flower) water is mixed to give it a distinct, pleasant smell.
However, the work of providing water to people is not as straight forward as it seems. Maheshwari has to keep a tab on the inventory. “Every year, we lose around 55 drums each costing Rs 400 and 1,200 mugs priced at Rs 10 each. There is no help from the administration, but we continue to provide our services,” he added.
However, Maheshwari and his team’s effort does not go in vain – what they get in return for their endeavor is public appreciation. “What Jal Sewa is doing is great. The Jal Sewa maintains a high standard of hygiene at every kiosk,” said Sandeep Sharma, who works at Sanjay Place.
Surendra Sharma, 70, said, “Agra faces problem of water scarcity. So there could not be a better way to serve the society. Every day hundreds of people benefit from this service.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Agra / by Aditya Dev / TNN / May 03rd, 2016
A farmer stands in his field in the village of Bangaye on the outskirts of Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh (AFP Photo)
Banda :
In Uttar Pradesh’s parched Bundelkhand region, one farmer is scripting a success story, and has set an example in a region ravaged by farmers’ suicide and drought. Locals and activists are now approaching Prem Singh to find out how his practices have transformed his farm into a lush area.
Bundelkhand, according to the estimates of NGO Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan, has seen 113 farmers’ suicides since January 2016. In the past 10 years, the region has seen drought for four times, and 70% farmers suffer from the ravages of crop failure.
Singh, 53, is among the very few farmers in a land with plummeting water tables to have an orchard, processing units and flourishing livestock across his 32-acre farm. What Singh has been practicing since 1989 was recommended by National Institute of Disaster Management in 2014, “Emphasis should be on diversification – minor crops and animal husbandry.”
Bundelkhand, which comprises 13 districts — seven in Uttar Pradesh (Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakut) and six in Madhya Pradesh (Datia, Tikamgarh, Chattarpur, Damoh, Sagar and Panna) — suffers from meteorological (rainfall much below average), hydrological (below average water availability) and agricultural drought.
In this scenario, Banda activist Sanjay Singh said Prem Singh’s model of diversification can be replicated by small farmers in times of drought. “He has come across as a model farmer in the current agricultural and rural scenario, and now he should make it extensive,” said Sanjay, talking to TOI.
Prem Singh has processing units and has diversified into organic farming, orchards and animal husbandry in order to sustain his farm. Today 22% of the people in his village have an orchard on their farms. “Their earnings have increased and so has their yield,” he said.
On his farm one can see full water bodies, fruit-laden trees — which have improved the risk-taking capacity of the farmer — and healthy cattle, which in turn provide manure for organic farming. The quality of the soil continues to be good as he has access to natural fertiliser.
Prem works on the land with three of his brothers, and the distinctive features of his model are crop rotation, animal husbandry, organic farming and food processing. “I have units so that dal can be used for daliya, mustard seeds for oil, fruits can be processed into pickle and murabba and milk can be processed into ghee,” said the farmer, who also authored a book on his system, titled ‘Avaratansheel kheti’.
It has been an eventful journey for him, involving learning from his mistakes. “I maintained a notebook on farming, and realized that 70% of my money was going into paying interests, chemical fertilisers, electricity bill and diesel. Then I thought of doing something that would bring me out of this vicious cycle and of the risk of crop failure.”
Right now, Prem is busy with German activist Ulrike Reinhard, who works in Panna on ways to solve the water scarcity problem of that MP region. Prem said, “This May I will be visiting Panna to meet the villagers and guide them on revitalization of natural springs.”
Reinhard said, “For villagers it is easy to take notes from one among them. He will be talking in their language.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Eram Agha / TNN / May 01st, 2016
Acute drinking water crisis adversely affecting common life across the country has prompted scientists to formulate principles on surface water management and activists to push ‘save water’ campaigns. Historians in UP, on the other hand, offer lessons on water conservation from parched Bundelkhand.
“Bundelkhand has had a strong tradition of water conservation. Water bodies in Mahoba are a classic example,” said Navratna Kumar Pathak, chief of Archaeological Survey of India’s Lucknow circle.”Based on the principle of rainwater harvesting, these water bodies were built by the Chandela kings about 800 years ago in public interest,” Pathak added.
“The success of the simple effort can be guaged from the fact that one of the five main ponds, the Madan Sagar, supplies drinking water to entire population of Mahoba even today,” Pathak said. Some of these bodies are spread across several kilometres and have a huge catchment area to trap every drop of water in its range. Pathak said that to spread awareness on rainwater harvesting, ASI held several events along a pond named Kirat Sagar on the occasion of World Heritage Day on April 18.
Chief patron, Indian Journal of Archaeology, Vijay Kumar said, “Water Sructures in Ajaigarh, Kalinjar Fort, Jhansi” were a perennial source of inspiration for water conservation. Prof Vinod Kumar Singh, archaeologist at Centre for Advance Studies, department of history, Aligarh Muslim University, who has brought out more than 50 publications on water conservation in Bundelkhand, said the ponds amaze researchers in hydrology and history.
“Locals find the ponds miraculous but there is simple science behind the secret. The biggest reason for their perennial character are the extensive topographical studies done before selection of spot for the pond,” he said.
Citing an example, he said, “The natural flow of water is driven towards a depression from where it is stored.”
He added that the Chandela kings promoted conservation and harvesting by associating it with religion. “Temples were constructed to prevent people from misusing the place,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / Shailvee Sharda / TNN / April 19th, 2016
Scientists of Allahabad University led by Geeta Watal have found that the seeds of bael have qualities to fight diabetes.
Those suffering from diabetes often refrain from having drinks made from the pulp of ‘bael’ (aegle marme-los), oblivious of the fact that the seeds of this fruit are beneficial in controlling diabetes and also bring down cholesterol level.
In their research paper published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, the scientists have reported that the extract from bael seeds bring down the level of blood glucose up to 60.84% and that too just after a fortnight of consumption of the extract.
The extract was derived after drying the seeds and making its powder.
The powdered extract was boiled in water and administered to rats. When a chronic diabetic rat was administered the dose of 250 mg for 14 days, its FBG level came down by 64.84% and the urine sugar came down by 75% as compared to the pre-treatment level.
The seeds of bael have also shown promising results in terms of benefiting the patients suffering from high blood pressure as the extract of this seed reduces the level of cholesterol.
“Our results show that the total cholesterol (TC) came down to 25.49% and the high density lipoprotein (HDL) increased by 33.43% and low density lipoprotein (LDL) decreased by 45.77%.
It means that patients suffering from high blood pressure are likely to get benefited by consuming the extract,” Watal said.
With mercury soaring high, sale of drinks like ‘panna’ and ‘bael sharbat’ is on the rise.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Allahabad / April 17th, 2016
A 10 kg wood apple, popularly known as bel, remained the centre of attraction on the second day of AgriHorti Tech international fair in Saifai, Etawah.
The wood apple has been displayed at the stall of Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture university of Kanpur.
The farmers visiting the fair also showed interest in ‘Rabi’ crop seeds, saplings, farming literature, agriculture equipment and new technologies, at various other stalls.
“During ‘Rabi’ season, the farmers should go for maize instead of sowing wheat crop as it’s yield is quite high as compared to latter,” said Dr Athar Husain Warsi, a scientist, Agriculrure department, Etawah.
Chief development officer Anil Kumar Singh said visitors are showing interest in farm machinery developed by various institutes and ‘chukandar’ and wood apple plantation, stalls of which have been put up by the CSA University of Kanpur authorities.
Scientists from the university said the seeds of the 10 kg wood apple are available at the university. Farmers are being trained on cultivating onion and garlic.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / March 29th, 2016
Abhishek Kumar Sharma has submitted his findings with the Centre (TOI Photo)
Aligarh :
The year will end on a “clean” note for 28-year-old Abhishek Kumar Sharma, a research student of environment at Kanpur University, who began a journey on bicycle in November 2014 to endorse Prime Minister Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Sharma completed the trip on December 22 and has staggering numbers and remarkable insights to talk about.
Sharma covered 20,000 km across 25 states, met chief ministers of 18 (Kerala was the best experience as CM Chandy was readily available), interacted with 402 district magistrates and addressed lakhs of students in over 200 lectures on environment and cleanliness.
Sharma submitted his findings with the Union urban development ministry on ‘How to Make Waste our Wealth’. The first seven days were tough: starting from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, he battled cold in December, January and faced extreme heat in May-June in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
In Sharma’s opinion, with sensible solid waste management one can make wealth out of waste. “Mysore is the cleanest city. They have a self-sustainable model of waste management wherein they segregate waste as organic, inorganic, and recyclable. Kachra or junk goes to kabadiwallahs, organic waste is used for bio-fertilizers. I think South India is cleaner than North India,” he said.
Also, on his journey around India he found villages cleaner than cities. “This means educated people litter their surroundings expecting someone to pick it up,” he said. A village in Punjab, which has the same sarpanch for the past 15 years, is mentioned by him because the sarpanch invented interesting ways to keep his surroundings clean and healthy. “He made a biogas plant for all to use free of cost,” Sharma said.
The Smart Cities plan can only be successful if surroundings are clean and waste is managed effectively. “Municipal corporations should go beyond dumping waste – from one site to another, honestly that is all they do. To be able to make wealth out of waste they should segregate waste as organic, inorganic, recyclable and so on and put them to use accordingly.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Agra / by Eram Agha, TNN / December 28th, 2015
For the first time a bird watching festival was organised by Kanpur zoo on Friday wherein the birders, nature lovers and the visitors were given a unqiue experience of witnessing the zoo lake and its catchment area. The idea behind the festival was to enable the people to see a number of migratory birds nesting on the trees in the lake area. The unique festival had been organised by Kanpur zoo under the aegis of Social Forestry department on the instructions of the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The visitors to the zoo were an amazed lot to see colonies of a number of birds on the tree tops. A total of 741 birds were spotted in the lake area which belonged to 44 different species. The different bird kind included Pied Kingfisher, orange headed thrush, painted storks, little egret, great cormorant, open bill stork, black headed ibis, waterhen, whistling teal, grey hornbill to name a few.
Chief Conservator of Forest, Kanpur division, KR Yadav on the occasion said that Kanpur zoo is a natural place with a distinguished lake which attracts a number of migratory birds each year. He said that the way pollution is rising in the city there is no place left for these birds here except the lush green and natural look alike jungle area in Kanpur zoo which attract birds towards it every year.
Kanpur zoo director, Deepak Kumar said that a total of 741 birds were spotted belonging to 44 different species which in itself is a record. He said that not only the number of the birds spotted was huge but also their varieties were witnessed in a big number.
On this occasion, a number of school children participated and they saw the birds chirping and making sound. The children were guided to the lake area and shown the entire lake. The two watching towers on this purpose were used to witnessing and capturing birds. The bird lovers made use of their high-tech cameras to capture the birds and each of their little activities. The children also had the best of their time as they picnicked in the woods and close to the lake in the presence of their teachers and the forest officers.
District Forest Officer Ram Kumar on the occasion said that the children had been given the access in the Safari area which has lake to make them aware about the birds and their species.
Zoo vets Dr RK Singh, Dr UC Srivastava, Dr Mohd Nasir were present who guided the students and explained them about the birds.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / by Abhinav Malhotra, TNN / December 04th, 2015
