Prevention better than cure: WHO
The plight of the Gangotri glacier
davidhopkins@indiatimes.com
Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan
Former director, Geological Surve.
Tea cultivation: bane for environs?
The analysis 'Clipped' (Down To Earth, Vol 12, No 10, October 15, 2003) is interesting. First planted on an experimental basis in 1835 in the Ketti valley of Ootacamund, Nilgiris tea now accounts for approximately 120 million kilogrammes (kgs) of the total tea produced in the country per annum. The Nilgiris district boasts of good quality soil and an evenly distributed rainfall pattern, both of which are conducive to the growth of the cash crop. The number of small tea gardeners in the region has increased dramatically; as per current estimates there are 30,000 smallholders (owning up to 10 hectares of land). The reason for the expansion of a formerly ailing sector is a rapid increase in tea prices, which has made growing tea more profitable than cultivation of other crops. Slopes and gradients less than 32 degrees have also been used for tea plantation. As a result of such practices (resulting in monoculture plantations across the district), the environmental balance has been disturbed.
In the World Trade Organization regime, there is very little hope that the situation will improve. Some of the tea planters should cultivate other crops. I also do not agree with the views of M Madhu, a senior scientist of the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Ootacamund. He opines that tea estates have saved the soil of the Nilgiris from being destroyed by the Bhavanisagar dam. The reality is quite different -- it is only after tea cultivation started in the Nilgiris that the area has suffered due to numerous landslides and soil erosion. If allowed to fully grow, the tea tree can become a good soil binder; but as a bush (as is often the case in tea gardens) it is unable to bind soil. Fertilisers used in the tea gardens make the soil even more porous, thus increasing the risk of landslides and more loss of topsoil. Tea cultivators have also trespassed on most of the grasslands in the Nilgiris. These grasslands are the only source of water in south India. The farmers should protect the remaining grasslands at any cost.
ULLAASH KUMAR
ullaashkumar@yahoo.co.uk...
Unlimited dangers of pesticides
Apropos 'Feeling pestered...' (Down To Earth, Vol 12, No 10, October 15, 2003), one fact has been completely ignored -- aluminium phosphide is a forensically proven cause for hundreds of people dying each year. The number of its victims is much more than the body count of the Bhopal disaster. Twenty per cent of the victims are children less than 10 years old. If the Delhi-based executive director of the Pesticide Association of India wants to personally verify these facts, he should contact doctors in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Escorts hospital; they alone will be able to provide him with one dead body per week!
The manufacturers are given licenses on the condition that the chemical will be supplied only to storage agencies such as the Food and Ware House Corporation. It must not be made available as a fumigant pesticide. The manufacturers are liable to face charges if the poison is found in the markets. The deaths are an apt indicator of the fact that the law is being violated, that too quite openly. Will the Pesticide Association of India take up some responsibility and prevent this "excellent" chemical from functioning as the biggest pesticide-killer?
S G KABRA
Jaipur, Rajasthan...
Other side of the fence
The interlinking of Indian rivers is a mammoth project. The task includes diverting 'surplus' waters of the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra to central and peninsular India. Our country is continuously ignoring objections raised by Bangladesh (as a lower riparian state) against the project.
China has conducted feasibility studies regarding damming the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet to generate hydropower, and also to divert water towards its mainland. In this case, India is the lower riparian state. Is our government aware about the development? Why did it not figure in the prime minister's visit to China? India's silence on the issue might be mistaken for "no objection". What if China treats India like the way we deal with Bangladesh?
S G VOMBATKERE
sgvombatkere@hotmail.com...
Sourcing is important!
Many articles in Down To Earth are written with the help of information in scientific journals. Therefore, the source of the information should be given for every relevant item. In some meetings or seminars, a few speakers, particularly those having vested interests, present the situation in such a manner as if Down To Earth is the culprit for reporting all odd things. If the source is mentioned, it will not only enhance the image of the magazine, but will also help readers to get additional information.
O P RUPELA
Senior scientist (microbiology)
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Andhra Pradesh...
Help!
The article 'The Garden of Malabar' (Down To Earth, Vol 12, No 9, September 30, 2003) is impressive. I request the author to provide details of the records/research papers on which the article is based so that I can further enrich my knowledge about the interesting subject.
L THANKAMMA
Thiruvananathapuram, Kerala
DOWN TO EARTH REPLIES: The article is based on Kerala University's translation of the Latin version of the Hortus Malabaricus. The translation itself will give you a lot of information on the making of the text. In addition, J Heniger in his biography of governor Van Rheed (Hendrik Adrien Van Rheede tot Derakenstein and Hortus Malabricus: A Contribution to Dutch Colonial Botany, Kruger Press, 1986) describes the influential role of the Dutch renaissance in the making of the Hortus.
Unfortunately most of Itti Achuden's papers are lost, but there is a very informative article on his role in the making of the Hortus. The article -- Indigenous Knowledge and the Significance of South-West India for Portuguese and Dutch Constructions of Tropical Nature -- has been written by Richard Grove and published as a part of the book Nature and the Orient (Oxford University Press, 1998). It is hoped that the information proves useful....
Is vermicomposting feasible?
Apropos the letter 'Vermitoilet is the best' (Down To Earth, Vol 12, No 7, August 31, 2003), I fail to understand some facts. Generally vermicomposting is done in aerobic conditions. In the latrine system, usually anaerobic conditions prevail -- with the help of anaerobic bacteria, human excreta is decomposed and methane gas is released. But the anaerobic conditions are not favourable for the growth of earthworms. Then how is it feasible to vermicompost human excreta in a latrine system, as has been suggested in the letter? Is there any facility to provide aerobic oxygen artificially? Is a specific model adapted?
In Kolkata, within the Golf Green urban complex, vermicomposting is being done. Three kinds of earthworms are used -- Perionyx excavatus, Eudrilus euginae and Eisenia foetida. Waste from the garden, kitchen, temple side and some from the market is decomposed in particular, and the vermicompost is used as a fertiliser.
KAUSTUV BASU
Kolkata, West Bengal...
