Toxicity down under

environmentalists are targeting duck shooters and anglers in New Zealand. They say that heavy loads of lead are contaminating some New Zealand lake beds and wetlands. The Forest and Bird Protection Society has launched a campaign to end the use of lead in shotgun ammunition. The society has written to the minister of conservation and minister for the environment asking for action on the issue. To avoid further problems, environmentalists have suggested substitution of steel shot or shot made from bismuth, for the lead.

The unpleasant green

water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) have never had it so good, and Lake Victoria in Africa has seldom had it so bad. The lake has been infested by the weed that has caused numerous problems to fisherfolk, tangling the fishing nets, clogging up the motors of the boats and destroying the fish breeding grounds.

Restoring lakes

the Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal lakes in Tamil Nadu have been chosen for eco-restoration as part of the National Lake Conservation Programme ( nlcp ). An outlay of Rs 40 crores has been approved by the Centre and of this, nearly Rs 25 crores will be earmarked for the Udhagamandalam lake. The programme, to be implemented as a Centrally-sponsored scheme during the Ninth Plan, covers 10 lakes in the country including the Dal Lake in Jammu and Kashmir and the Hussainsagar Lake in Andhra Pradesh, officials say.

Cleaning Dal Lake

austrian scientists might help clean the Dal Lake in Srinagar. The Austrian Deputy Chief of Mission in Delhi, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal has said that a scientist from the Austrian ministry of agriculture has conducted a study on the Lake to determine whether Austrian technology could be used in the cleaning up of the Lake. He said that the proposed project would also explore the possibility of providing drinking water.

The malady of the lakes

colour is all when it comes to mating. The cichlid species of fish depend on the ability to distinguish colours for mate selection. But eutrophication of the Great Lakes in Africa -- their habitat -- has limited their breeding, affecting their evolution, according to studies by researchers at the Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, University of Leiden, The Netherlands ( Science , Vol 277, No 5333).

Endangered lake

environmentalists have warned that Nepal's Phewa lake could disappear within 20 years time if mindless pollution of its waters and unplanned tilling of the land around it continue. The lake, which attracts 40 per cent of Nepal's tourists, is situated some 200 km west of Kathmandu in the Pokhara valley. Environmentalist engineer Drona Ghimire says that more than 2,000 tonne of soil is being emptied into the lake every year. This is mostly due to the non-scientific farming around it and unmanaged physical development activities, says Ghimire.

East Africa

One of the case studies of this year's Stockholm Water Symposium is Lake Victoria, an important natural resource in east Africa, which is under stress. The rapidly growing populations in the three riparian states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania creates a heavy pressure on natural resources and environment conditions.

Homicide by nuclides

MAYAK, a nuclear energy facility in the former Soviet Union that remained shrouded in secrecy for over 40 years now, has been identified as perhaps the most disastrous, according to a recent research report. Though not as well- known as the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, the Mayak complex is responsible for a comparable environ- mental legacy: more than twice the amount of radioactive material released in the accident at Chernobyl has been

Polluted legacy

the Silver Lake on the outskirts of Bitterfeld, a major industrial town in Saxony-Anhalt, gives proof of the extent of damage caused by polluting industries in the former eastern Germany. The water in the lake is shallow and filthy with no green vegetation growing near it. The ground around the lake is stained with dark patches. The lake has been receiving the waste from Bitterfeld's two chemical plants and the local mines as far back as the 19th century.

The muck stops here

UDAIPURDefiled Udaipur's five lakes depict the saga of degradation and the apathy of the state government and citizens P L AGARWAL