Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Villagers demand permanent closure of GEPIL

SURAT: Villagers of around 32 coastal villages surrounding the city took out a massive rally on Monday demanding permanent closure of Gujarat Enviro Protection and Infrastructure Private Ltd (GEPIL), which has been blamed for discharging highly toxic hazardous water in Unn Khadi.
Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in December 2011 had found two illegal connections directly discharging this hazardous waste in Unn Khadi.
The rally, organised by the Parivartan Trust involving the leaders of the affected villages around Sachin, was spearheaded by BJP rebel Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria and former state finance minister Sanat Mehta.
Tens of hundreds of villagers participated in the rally, which started from Khajod village and culminated at the district collector's office at Bahumali building at Nanpura, where the leaders of the Parivartan Trust submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding permanent closure of GEPIL within a month's time.
The villagers, carrying placard against GEPIL and its owner Girish Luthra, shouted slogans demanding immediate closure of the company responsible for threatening the ecology and atmosphere in the coastal villages.
In December-2011, the GPCB had exposed two illegal pipelines from an Integrated Common Hazardous Waste Management Facility (ICHWMF) operated by GEPIL to dump untreated industrial waste into Unn rivulet. Following the expose, the GPCB had issued an immediate closure notice to GEPIL.
"GEPIL's illegal activities have been exposed in the GPCB findings and now we won't allow this company to operate further. The company is threat to ecology and atmosphere in the surrounding villages and it will be our sole goal to see that the company is closed permanently," said Prakash Contractor, secretary, Parivartan Trust.
Contractor added, "Today's rally was a show of strength to the state government, GIDC and other concerned departments who are still not acting tough against GEPIL. We have given a month's ultimatimum to the district administration to permanent close down the company or else we will intensify the agitation"
Before the massive rally, Parivartan Trust organised a mammoth public meeting at Khajod village, which was addressed by Dr Kalsaria and Sanat Mehta.
Kalsaria said, "I have been told that the hazardous discharge of toxic waste material by GEPIL has led to the death of more than 200 buffaloes. It is obvious that many villagers and general people surrounding the villages may have consumed the milk of these buffaloes and thus they are also suffering from one or the other health-related problem."
Mehta said, "There are many such companies in Gujarat and across the country. Being an alert citizen, it is our responsibility to expose the corrupt officers in the government agencies who are helping such companies prosper."

By : Times of India

360 delegates to attend second bird watchers conference

  The second bird watchers conference, scheduled to begin from January 19, will be attended by 360 delegates, students and researchers. 95 delegates will be from 38 different countries.

Tourism minister Jaynarayan Vyas said, "Gujarat is fast emerging as an eco-tourism destination; boasting of a wide range of pristine and even hitherto unexplored destinations for avid nature lovers. The state hosts over 520 species of birds, and has been attracting these wonderful creatures for decades."
Gujarat Tourism in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FIis organizing the Second Global Bird Watchers' Conference 2012, from January 19 in Gandhinagar.

Vyas said that encouraged by the success of the first Global Bird Watchers' Conference in November 2010 held in Khijadiya, near Jamnagar, Gujarat, it has been decided to organize the second conference at Gandhinagar.

The conference is being held at a time when large numbers of migratory birds shall visit Gujarat. Vyas said the objective is to promote Gujarat as a special bird watching destination. The USP of the conference would be the exclusive focus on capitalizing on the location and natural advantage of Gujarat. He said the delegates will be sent in groups. The first group will head to Nalsarovar, Little Rann of Kutch and Thol, while another group would go to Bhavnagar Coastal Wetlands and Velavadar - Ahmedabad and the third for Tarapur Wetlands and Khambhat.

However, Vyas admitted that the state still lagged behind when it comes to getting recognition for the water bodies. "We have just woken up and things will be sorted soon," Vyas said.

By:the times of india

CEPT to develop guidelines for Indian cities to adapt to climate change

  Imagine sudden floods at Sabarmati River arising out of climate change and a loss of Rs1,200 crore for Gujarat's Sabarmati Riverfront project!

A prior understanding of the effects of climate change and including features to adapt to these effects of climate change in the project could avoid such loses.

As experts are forecasting drastic changes in the climatic patterns - like temperatures, rainfall and so on in the next few decades because of global warming, which is a threat to both population and infrastructures in various cities. Urban planners in the country, however, could look forward to Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University for a set of ideas and advices on how to adapt features that will help avoid such losses.

The Ministry of Earth Science (MOES) has appointed Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University to develop a set of recommendations for urban planning to avoid social and economical losses arising out of climate change. Faculties of CEPT University will be conducting 2-year-long studies in three thematic areas - which include impact of climate change on communities, rainfall and flooding patterns in Ahmedabad and Surat and impact of climate change on coastal areas, before they come up with the recommendations.
Talking about the importance of such a set of recommendations, faculty at CEPT Saswat Badopadhyay said, "Infrastructures like drainage systems, roads and transportations, buildings and so on which we are developing now will last several decades. If they do not incorporate features to adapt to climate change there are going to be huge losses."
The studies will result into a set of recommendations that will be called 'sustainable habitat guideline'. "The guidelines will be handed over to Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) and MOES. These guidelines will be developed in such a way that it can become a basic reference for various cities across the country for adapting to climate change," said Saswat Badopadhyay, faculty at CEPT.

By: the times of india