In tatters

statistics with the Union ministry of textiles (mot) point at a major slump in the textile industry. Textile mills have been downing their shutters at an average rate of one mill per week. The fact that the textile industry is the second largest employer in the country accentuates the severity of the crisis. As many as 248 mills of the country were closed from July 1999 to April 2004, rendering 329,402 workers jobless.

Gomti river is almost dead

recently the banks of river Gomti in Lucknow were unusually abuzz. Some people were struggling to wade through the 'sewage-enriched' river to scoop up thousands of dead fish; the bystanders looked on, probably contemplating the peril their city's lifeline was in. The river is one of the major sources of water for Lucknow.

Fancy dress?

these days bioceramic health products are the rage in Kerala. The markets are flooded with bioceramic t-shirts, vests, briefs, shoes, sandals, necklaces, bed-sheets and facial masks that are supposed to emit far infrared rays. The propagators of these products claim that they can cure all sorts of ailments -- from backaches to cancer.

Printers' devil

Toxic dyes contaminate vegetables

Sanganer -- a town 20 kilometres away from Jaipur -- is famous for its textile printing. But the industry's effluents, consisting of toxic chemical dyes, are contaminating the vegetables grown in the area. Farmers facing an acute water shortage use the wastewater for irrigation. A study conducted by the botany department of the Jaipur-based Rajasthan University has found high levels of metal content in the vegetables. However, over 20 lakh residents of Jaipur have no clue about the contamination.

Rumpelstiltskin

Transgenic silkworms that make a human protein have been developed in Japan. The genetically engineered worms spin threads that contain a form of the human protein collagen -- a substance widely used in cosmetic surgery to reconstruct damaged flesh.

Textile therapy

The German ban on the import of Indian textiles containing azo-dyes, said to leech out carcinogenic amines, sent shockwaves through the Indian handloom industry. But this proved to be instrumental in the reinvension of India's ancient knowledge of eco-friendly natural dyes. Mudapathi Balakrishnan, a textile trader in Kannur, Kerala, was not content with this wisdom of adaptation.

Industrial discharge: seaward ho!

In October 1999, the Gujarat High Court (hc) ruled against any further disposal of untreated industrial effluents into Amlakhadi river -- a highly polluted waterbody of the state. The Gujarat government then planned a 55-kilometre (km)-long pipeline to enable abutting industrial estates to discharge waste directly into the sea.

Sharp reminder

the Jammu and Kashmir High Court recently passed an order directing the state government to effectively enforce the ban on sale and manufacture of shahtoosh shawls. Though the court had prohibited trade in shahtoosh shawls in 2000, the sale and manufacture of the shawls continued clandestinely. Shahtoosh is obtained by shearing the endangered Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsoni) or chiru.

Searching for Roots

The lac dye is bright red. It is derived from insects like cochineal, kermes and lac, also called Kerria lacca. It takes about three lakh insects to yield one kilogramme of dye.