Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Palitana to junk plastic..............

Palitana to junk plastic..............

Counted among the holiest shrines of Jainism in the world, Palitana's Shetrunjay Hill will soon be a plastic-free zone.

Sources in Anandji Kalyanji Trust that manages the Jain temples in Palitana said the trust functionaries have already started the process of making the religious destination free of plastic menace. The project is to be implemented in a phased manner.

Sources said over 400 volunteers came to Palitana from Mumbai last month and collected plastic from all over Shetrunjay Hill, where a large numbers of Jain temples are located. They picked up plastic pouches, water bottles, wafer packets among other plastic waste.
"We were shocked to find that the waste collected by volunteers amounted to over 900 bags each containing about 15kg of plastic. So we decided to prevent carriage of plastic material atop the hill to reduce the plastic menace," a representative of the trust said.

"We have also written to Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board of the government to issue a notification in this regard and ban plastics at this religious place," one of the trustees said. Devotees are asked to dump plastic before they start climbing the hill for prayers.

"Every Saturday and Sunday, our volunteers stay at the entrance of the hill at Samvasharan Derasar and request devotees not to carry any plastic material. Our volunteers give them jute bags free of cost to dump platics," a trustee said.

On an average over 10 lakh people visits the Jain temples every year in Palitana. Besides being a religious place, Shetrunjay Hill is close to the forest where Asiatic Lion has its abode. There are about 15 lions are in Palitana area in Bhavnagar.

15 bird species in India critically endangered: International report..............

Fifteen species of birds seen in India have been declared critically endangered by theInternational Union for Conversation of Nature(IUCN) for 2013. The endangered birds, including the Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane, White backed Vulture and Red-headed Vulture, are on the decline, said a report ofIUCN updated till December 2013. 

The major reasons for the decline in the population of these birds include loss, modification, fragmentation and degradation of habitat, environmental contaminants, poaching and land use changes, particularly conversion of large areas for crop cultivation. Also, changes in cropping pattern due to various reasons, including implementation of irrigation schemes, increased pesticide usage, livestock-grazing, high levels of disturbance and developmental activities like mining and hydel projects resulted in marginal fall in their population, said the report. 

Threats posed by infrastructure development, such as collisions with vehicles, power-lines and wind turbines pose danger to the birds. 

The other birds in the revised list are Baer's Pochard, Forest Owlet, Bengal Florican, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Sociable Lapwing, Jerdon's Courser, Whitebellied Heron, Slender-billed Vulture, Indian Vulture, Himalayan Quail and Pink-headed Duck. 

Studies by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and similar organisations on what contributes most to the decline of several bird species revealed that just like wetlands, most other habitats such as grasslands and forests also faced severe threat due to development pressures. Destruction of deciduous forests in central India has led to the decline in Forest Owlet numbers. 

Destruction of forests in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas continues to endanger many other species, an official of BNHS said. 

Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Union environment minister Veerappa Moily said India was a signatory to several major international conventions relating to conservation and management of wildlife, including endangered species of birds. "Financial and technical assistance is provided to state/Union territory governments for protection and management of protected areas as well as other forests under centrally-sponsored schemes," he said. 

by : times of india