Eco-friendly fabric from waste banana stems!

Ahmedabad: Growing demand for eco-friendly clothing, especially in overseas markets, has led researchers in Gujarat to manufacture fabric from the banana plant’s stem. Surat-based Manmade Textile Research Association (MANTRA), Navsari Agricultural University (NAV) and Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (ICAR), Mumbai have initiated a project to produce commercially-viable textile from the banana plant.

Scientists working on the World Bank-funded project have already got partial success in manufacturing thick fabric suited for cold weather. They are also working on commercial viability of technical textile applications such as artificial leather, acrylic fabric for vertical blind and other types of curtains, bedsheets and tapestry. “Scientists have developed a modified spinning and weaving unit from traditional ones used for cotton value chain. Initial success has inspired them to work harder to produce lean fabric suitable for tropical weather,” said Arun Jariwala, president of MANTRA.

M G Parikh, a scientist at MANTRA said the project envisages to utilize waste banana pseudostems, which pose the problem of disposal and are available almost free in central and south Gujarat. The project includes creating facility for banana fibre extraction from the stem of the banana plant, cleaning, grading and converting it into a finished product, he said.

“Banana plant fibre is more eco-friendly than other natural and man-made fibres. We are working on blending it with cotton as well as synthetic fibres. These fibres can also be used for packing cloth for agriculture produce, ships towing ropes, wet drilling cables,” said R G Patil, NAU scientist.

According to experts, the real cost in producing fibres from the banana plant will be incurred while collecting waste stems and fibre extraction, which is negligible in comparison to the other natural fibres like cotton, jute and hemp. This cost competitiveness will fuel growth of this product. Gujarat ranks sixth in the area cultivation of banana in the country with more than 60,000 hectares. The state’s banana yield per hectare adds up to nearly 55 tonne while stem waste totals to nearly 80 tonne.

Wildlife board members question nod to Girnar ropeway project

New Delhi: Environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s decision to give a go-ahead for the ropeway project in Girnar wildlife sanctuary has been questioned by some members in the standing committee meeting of National Board of Wildlife (NBWL), who claim the project would lead to local extinction of long-billed vultures.

The ropeway will pass through a known breeding site of the long billed vulture — Gyps indicus — and if constructed, it would lead to its local extinction, NBWL standing committee member Prerna Bindra said in a recent meeting chaired by Ramesh, which gave a final nod to the project. Along with Bindra, another member Divyabhanusinh Chavda also expressed concern regarding the possible impacts would cause to the resident vulture population, according to a ministry document.

Bindra, who insisted that her note of dissent on the minister’s decision should be officially recorded, said, “The critically endangered long billed vulture has seen a collapse of nearly 99 per cent of its population, and is categorised as critically endangered”.

“Ironically, the vulture is part of MoEF’s species recovery programme,” she said. Citing a ministry report, Bindra said if the ropeway is constructed, it would lead to the local extinction of the long-billed vulture in north Gujarat. The ropeway over Girnar wildlife sanctuary will connect Bhavnath Taleti and Ambaji temples in Junagadh district. Ramesh, while granting the final goahead to the Girnar ropeway, had said height of the towers has to be increased to avoid disturbance to nesting sites of vultures. While granting conditional clearance to the project in February, Ramesh had asked the Gujarat government to submit a report within two months about its study to consider alternate alignment of the ropeway project to ensure that it does not cut across the prime vulture habitat.

But Gujarat rejected the minister’s suggestion saying an alternate route was not feasible in the instant case, and requested the standing committee of NBWL to consider their proposal “in its original form without change in the alignment proposed”.

By : Times of india

"Nirama Cement factory site a wetland’

Cement factory site a wetland’




 The Gujarat government, even before the expert appraisal committee (EAC), had vehemently stuck to its stand that the status of the land allotted to Nirma cement plant ‘was and is wasteland’. The committee report stated that the government neglected the ground reality and stood by the revenue records which were the basis for the allocation of the land.

In its 88-page report, the panel has noted that the Gujarat officials maintained that the area cannot be classified as a wetland or a water body just because a dyke had been constructed 10 years ago to keep out salinity. The officer argued that the government was taking several measures to resolve salinity-related issues and improve ecology. A copy of the report is with TOI.

The committee headed by Professor CR Babu has as its members, Dr Asad R Rahamani, director, Bombay Natural History Society; Dr Parikshit Gautam, director, freshwater and wetlands, WWF-India; Dr Ligia Noronha director resources, regulations and global securities, TERI; Brij Gopal, coordinator, Centre for Inland Water in South Asia; Dr E J James, director, water institute, Karunya University in Coimbatore and Dr P B Rastogi, director, environment ministery.

The panel noted that it is of the view that the site is and ought to have been appropriately re-classified as wetland or water body at least after the construction of the dyke. The report also noted that site in question supports aquatic flora and fauna and species that thrive in fresh water tracts. The report observed that it was a wetland and a water body. The approval accorded may be revoked, the committee said.
 
Questions apex court wanted panel to answer


The Expert Appraisal Committee which was formed under the direction of the Supreme Court was asked to address five questions.

Whether the land in question was wetland or water body?

EAC states that the land in question is a wetland. The plant lies within the wetland/water body created in 2000, by the constriction of Samadhiala Bandhara as a salinity ingress control structure. The report stated that the salinity control department of Gujarat constructed a 200 meter-long concrete structure across the Motapak creek.

The freshwater runoff from the river Shen Shuri locally known as Han Hori and its catchment area created a freshwater reservoir of 62.3 million cubic feet and total water spread area of 244 hectares.

The dyke was foreseen by the state water resources department to benefit the farmers by lift irrigation of 300 hectares of cultivable land in villages Samadhiala, Patwa and Doliya.

The EAC said they walked the 2.5 km stretch and found various wetland plants apart from couple of thousand birds of about 25 species. The report noted that the government had plans to link the Malan, Samadhiala, Nikol and Kalsar dykes.

Whether the project could come up on such wetland/water bodies if so, what would be its impact on environment? Would it lead to environmental degradation?

The EAC report said that no such project whether industrial or otherwise, should be allowed within a wetland/water body. The National Water Policy 2002 gives priority to drinking and irrigation. The EAC said that this wetland supports fairly rich and important biodiversity and livelihood of the local communities.

“Therefore it is not desirable to have a cement plant in this wetland and as well as immediate vicinity,” said the report. The report stated that the impact of the project and the environment degradation caused by it will extend to the agricultural productivity in different ways. Mahuva is known for taking two crops a year. The EAC stated that there are no plans for the disposal and treatment of sewerage.

If at all project could come up, what steps the user agency should take in the interest of “environment protection”? The EAC did not answer this question as it was of the opinion that the plant cannot be permitted to operate from the present site and noted “the project cannot and should not come up in the present area”.
The precise current status of the project may also be indicated by the expert body.

EAC stated that the project cost of the project was estimated to be around Rs 995 crore and of these Rs 493 crore has already been committed on the plant. The EAC noted, “It can be seen that work has proceeded on the cement plant. The report stated that the unused material supplied at site and the equipment delivered there can be shifted and can be used.

The EAC stated “it will be very detailed exercise to assess the loss to the company, but as a rough guess, we consider that such amount may not excess Rs 100 crore,” said the report

LIONS KEEPING NIRMA PLANT AWAY

Panel Cites Presence Of Lions In The Area As One Of The Reasons For Suggesting Plant Relocation

 The roar of Asiatic lions in Samadhiala Bandhara in Mahuva may have influenced ministry of environment and forest’s recommendation to the Supreme Court for relocation of the Nirma cement plant.

The expert appraisal committee, headed by former provice-chancellor of Delhi University C R Babu, has observed that apart from other eco-sensitive hazards, the presence of lions in the area was also one of the reasons for the relocation of the plant.

The MoEF in an affidavit filed on Tuesday told the SC that Nirma’s Bhavnagar cement plant has to relocate since it is in eco-sensitive wetland. The expert panel was formed following directives from the SC to study whether the plant was in a wetland

The 88-page report of the committee states: “It may also be noted that Mahuva taluka also harbours Asiatic lions and four of them are spotted in and around the Bandhara water body which is the site of the Nirma plant.” The April 2010 census has shown presence of 33 lions in Mahuva and nearby areas.

The report noted that in 10 km radius of the plant there is a reserved forest, which is home to critically endangered vulture species. It states that the plant will affect onion production because of pollution by the unit.

By :Times of india