Fluoride mess grips new terrain

Growing fluoride levels in groundwater are setting alarms off in Tamil Nadu where potable water is scarce. A study says flouride contamination is spreading to new areas, 16 districts in all.
Studies have shown that the level of fluoride contamination in districts like Erode, Karur and Virudhunagar has been rising. Till a decade ago these districts were considered safe from flouride hazard.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has set 1.0 milligram/litre (mg/l) as the permissible limit for flouride in drinking water. In the absence of alternative source, it can go up to 1.5 mg/L, says WHO. “In Erode and Karur, where the Cauvery and its tributaries crisscross, the increase in fluoride levels could be due to industrial pollution,” says an engineer of the Water Resource Organisation, a wing of the PWD.
Available data with the State Ground and Surface Water Resources Centre reveals that the fluoride levels in open dug wells in Dharapuram taluk of Erode district and Sattur taluk in Virudhunagar district have gone beyond 2.0 mg/l. In many peizometres (borewells dug up to measure fluoride levels) in Karur, Tiruchy and Vellore, the fluoride levels were above 1.5 mg/l. Borewells in Sathyamangalam taluk in Erode district showed 2.0 mg/l.
Across the country, contaminants, including salinity, iron, fluoride and arsenic, have affected groundwater in over 200 districts spread across 19 states. In a survey by the Water Resources Ministry in 2008, results for which were released recently,
Tamil Nadu is ranked sixth among states. Here, the distribution of fluoride in groundwater has been found to be above permissible limit in as many as 16 districts. Rajasthan tops the list with 30 districts followed by Karnataka with 20, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with 19 and Gujarat with 18 districts where fluoride distribution in groundwater is above permissible limit.
Children in the age group of 0 to 12 years are most prone to fluorosis as their body tissues are in a formative stage, say health experts. Statistics of public health department reveal that 31% of school children in Dindigul and Cuddalore suffer from dental fluorosis. “Mottling and colour change in teeth occurs due to fluorosis,” says Dr S Elango, director of public health. Long term exposure to fluoride has a crippling effect on bones and joints, he adds, emphasising that providing safe drinking water to the fluoride-hit habitations is the best solution.
“In about nine districts we have a few habitations with minor fluoride levels. Combined water system schemes have been implemented in districts like Salem, Namakkal and Erode to address the issue. It is a major issue in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts and we have a major plan to tackle it,’’ says Swaran Singh, CMD, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board.
Another big worry for the state is the fast-depleting ground water. The Tamil Nadu water supply and drainage (TWAD) board has put 10 districts in the ‘black zone’ category, meaning that in these districts the rate of groundwater extraction had exceeded the replenishment rate.

Eco-activists accuse govt of giving into realty lobby

‘Disastrous’ is the word activists invoke. Environmental activists are unable to digest the fact that Kottivakkam, Palavakkam and Neelangarai areas have been reclassified under CRZ II. “The last bits of protection are gone. The state has capitulated to the real estate lobby again,” said Nithyanand Jayaram, a noted ecoactivist in the city.
“Now, it will be a free-for-all. The livelihood of fisherfolk is at stake and the habitat of the Olive Ridley turtle is in danger,” he said. He was unable to understand, he said, why the government which wanted fishermen to move to Chemmancheri inland, was to open up the coast for “elite development”. The fishermen were either pushed away from the sea or pushed closer to the sea, he said.
“The government has legalised most of the illegal constructions in the three villages, originally comprising sand dunes and fishing hamlets,” says Sudarshan Rodriquez, founder-trustee, Dakshin Foundation, which specialises in coastal resource management.
According to the 1991 CRZ notification, there should not be any construction until 200 metres from the high tide line (HTL) and only the dwelling units of fisherfolk are permitted between 200 and 500 metres from the HTL. But constructions have come up all over. Activists say a map of the city’s coastal areas from 1991 will extent the level of illegal construction.
“By reclassifying the stretch to CRZ II, the government has given in to an influential lobby. It will be interesting to know what justification the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) gave to the Government of India for getting the reclassification,” Rodriquez said.
“It is going to be disastrous,” said Akila, co-ordinator, Students Sea Turtle Network (SSTN). Already, the lights from houses close to the coast, garbage, and sewage have led to deterioration of the beaches where the turtles nest. The network is already fighting against the proposed elevated highway which could be destructive to their habitat. “The reclassification is the last straw on the camel’s back,” Akila said.

TN taps revenue land to improve forest cover

The state forest department has intensified the drive to identify patches of forest presently under the revenue department and reclassify them as reserve forests to improve the forest cover.
According to statistics, the state has 22,877 sqkm of forests, 17.59% of the state’s geographical area. The forest and tree cover together account for 22.04% of the total area as against 33.33% envisaged by the National Forest Policy, 1988.
“Wherever there are forest patches or green patches, the district forest officers (DFOs) send proposals to the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) to be settled as forests once and for all,” environment and forests secretary Debendranath Sarangi said on Friday.
Under Sections (4) and (16) of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882, the identified forest areas would be reclassified as revenue land and ultimately as reserved forests to prevent further encroachments, grazing and agriculture, he said. The task, he admitted, would be herculean as the forest and tree cover had to be increased by as much as 11%.
Towards this end, government poromboke land and revenue land were being reclassified and declared as reserved forests in Dharmapuri, Erode, Villupuram, Salem, Dindigul, Coimbatore and Theni districts. “Proposals are received from almost all the districts. Working in coordination with the revenue department, the forests tracts are being reclassified,” said Sarangi.
Citing the example of Kalrayan Hills in Villupuram district where the dense green cover was actually not forest land, he said the department had begun declaring it as reserve forest in stages. According to forest officials, thousands of hectares of land in the districts adjoining the western and eastern ghats were being reclassified to help protect drinking water sources for millions.
Although a policy decision has been taken to restore the character of the land which is forest, the field officers have a difficulty. “The government has set targets for revenue officials under the free two-acre land scheme for landless farmers and the revenue officials are hell bent on achieving the targets. As a result the process of restoring forests their natural character is delayed,” said a district
forest officer.

Eco authority survives on extensions

Any farmer with a complaint that his land has been rendered ineffective due to effluent discharge from an industry anywhere in Tamil Nadu can petition the Loss of Ecology Authority, specifically set up to investigate and award compensation to farmers affected by industrial pollution. However, the authority itself has a major
grievance and does not know where to file its own petition.
Set up by the Union environment and forests ministry, the Loss of Ecology (Prevention & Payment of Compensation) Authority, an institution unique to Tamil Nadu and one that charges no fee on petitioners, has been surviving on a yearly basis without getting permanent status.
“While the world is celebrating New Year’s eve, the authority staff will be waiting every year until midnight for a fax from the Union environment ministry to know if the body will continue to exist for one more year,’’ says a senior officer.
“The fax comes late in the night. Once, we had packed our files and vacated the rented space and were waiting outside when the fax came,’’ recalls the officer. That explains the reason the authority had shifted its office half-a-dozen times in a decade. Usually, the extensions are for a year. Twice, the extensions have come for six months, and once it got a threemonth breather. With a retired high court judge as chairman and five members and a few key officers, mostly on deputation from other government departments, the authority, engaging staff on a contract basis, has no permanency to it.
The Vellore Citizens Forum has even filed a writ petition to make the Loss of Ecology Authority a permanent body for Tamil Nadu by appointing a managing committee, chairperson and members. “It is the farmers who have received compensation who are giving life to the authority by petitioning the green bench of the Madras High Court for extensions,’’ says an official.
From November 2009, the Loss of Ecology Authority will have to begin field inspections to investigate and award compensation for crop damage in Vellore district due to effluent discharge from tanneries for the decade 1999 to 2008 but the term of the authority comes to a close on December 31, 2009.
“Again, we will have an anxious wait for the fax,” says a staff member. The authority’s job is to compute the compensation under two heads, for reversing the ecology damage and for payment to individuals. It has covered pollution in three river basins of Palar, Noyyal and Amaravathy and till now has awarded a compensation of Rs 65.4 crore to farmers who own 75,000 hectares of land. Official sources expect that the authority could be made part of the proposed green tribunal by the Union environment ministry.

Caught in a row, Jairam stays away from TN

With the ruling DMK, a key constituent of the UPA government, upping the ante on the Mullaperiyar dam issue, Union forests and environment minister Jairam Ramesh has decided to cancel his trip to the cool, scenic Singara hills in Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu,to inspect a possible site for the Indiabased Neutrino Observatory (INO).
Under pressure from the country’s top scientists, Ramesh had initially planned to visit Singara, in the periphery of Mudumalai tiger reserve in the first half of October, to personally survey the area and check if the setting up of the Rs 917 crore advanced underground laboratory for particle physicists would damage environment and wildlife.
The minister’s decision to cancel his Tamil Nadu visit could have much to do with his political discomfort caused by the controversy over the Mullaperiyar dam issue. A few weeks back, the standing committee of national board for wildlife, presided over by Jairam Ramesh gave the nod for the Kerala government to conduct a survey in Periyar tiger reserve where the Mullaperiyar dam is located.
Despite the Tamil Nadu government’s protests, Ramesh stood his ground claiming that the “narrow, technical approval” granted under the Forest Conservation Act would in no way come in the way of the legal dispute over the issue. Sensing that the TN sentiments were not in his favour, the Union environment minister has now decided to cancel his Singara visit. Jairam told TOI that he would be sending Rajesh Gopal,member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority, instead to discuss the issue with state officials.
On Thursday, MDMK general secretary Vaiko flayed Ramesh for interfering with the state’s rights particularly when the government here had not yet given permission for the location.

Pitchavaram farmers keen to conserve mangrove

A unique model weaving in bio-shields and ensuring livelihood security of the locals has been fashioned in the backwaters of the picturesque Pitchavaram. The village is famous for its mangroves, which are said to have acted as an effective shield against the Dec 2004 tsunami.
For the past decade and half, the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) had been trying hard to rope in the Pitchavaram locals in raising mangrove plantations, but without much success. Seeing no livelihood prospects, the villagers were not exactly thrilled with the project.
But after the giant tsunami waves failed to find chinks through the mangroves thus sparing the village from its onslaught, the scientific community noticed a palpable change in the attitude of the local community.
Fishing communities, usually reluctant to participate in mangrove plantation, have now begun to show interest in restoring and conserving mangrove and non-mangrove bioshields. “We have also devised a brackish water farming system to integrate mangroves plantation and culture of fish and crabs. The latter would provide them with a livelihood as well,’’ said Dr V Selvam, director, MSSRF. In the new model, a series of bunds are formed along a stretch of plantation with brackish water in between. At the edge of the bunds, mangrove plantation was taken up and in between, halophytes were grown as cash crops (used by fisher folk for seasoning their fish curries), he said.
At present, MSSRF has tied up with a private farm that has earned a sizable profit of Rs 30,000 in four months by farming fish and crabs in a 0.7-acre farm. “Fisheries department can make use of the system through self-help groups in its unused farms as the state has about 30,000 ha of saline affected land in the coastal districts,’’ Dr
Selvam noted.
The farms need no artificial seeds, no chemicals and no energy as required in prawn farms. A tidal outlet ensures there is at least 3 feet of standing water in the farm. Various species could be used for mangrove and halophytes.

Project to fight brown cloud phenomenon

For long, pollution from rural households due to burning of firewood, coal and dung was considered chronically harmful to people, affecting their lungs. Few realised that all the biofuel cooking and biomass burning would contribute to atmospheric brown clouds (ABC), India’s latest environment concern.
Climate, energy and health scientists from around the world will be joining hands on Monday, December 1, to launch Project Surya which hopes to reduce air pollution caused by soot due to cooking with renewable sources that adds to the brown cloud phenomenon.
ABCs are plumes of air pollution that consist of copious amounts of tiny particles of soot, sulphates, nitrates, fly ash and many other pollutants. ABC-induced atmospheric solar heating and surface dimming are large over Asia in general and over India and China, in particular, according to studies conducted by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) last month.
Scientists of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sri Ramachandra University (SRMC), California Institute for Telecommunications and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) will be working on a group of villages spread over about 100 km in Uttar Pradesh in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, one of the ABC regional hotspots in the world, and some hamlets in Tamil Nadu, with lower levels of emissions.
“Surya is Sun or Solar in Sanskrit. So we have named the project Surya,” said Prof Kalpana Balakrishnan, HoD, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, SRMC. While she and her colleagues will be documenting the health impact on women and children due to cooking with renewable sources, energy scientists will be finding ways to improve the efficiency of renewable sources. Satellites will be tracking elemental carbon in the soot within the radius.

Tanneries to pay up for ruining crops

The Loss of Ecology Authority for Tamil Nadu has asked 547 tanneries in Vellore district to pay Rs 2.91 crore as compensation to 1,180 farmers for damaging their crops between 1991and 1998 by polluting the river Palar. The authority on Monday issued individual notices to these tanneries to pay up.
Polluters of Palar may have continue paying such compensation to farmers, as the authority has the mandate to investigate and award compensation to Vellore district farmers for the subsequent 10-year period from 1999 as well.
The Loss of Ecology (Prevention & Payments of Compensation) Authority was set up in 1996 by the Central government based on a Supreme Court directive, while hearing a petition from the Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum against the rampant pollution caused by untreated effluents from tanneries.
In notices sent to the tanners, the authority’s member-secretary K Venkataraman asked them to pay the compensation amount to the Vellore district collector under the head Environment Protection Fund’ within 30 days of receiving the notice.
According to authority officials, effluents discharged by the 547 tanneries in seven taluks had damaged 1,150 hectares of land owned by 1,180 farmers. These farmers had been left out when three earlier instalments of compensation were awarded. In the first phase, the body had ordered compensation of Rs 26 crore to 29,193 farmers in 188 villages in which farming was affected in about 15,164 hectares. The compensation was for the loss of revenue through agriculture in 1991-98.
As thousands of farmers continued to petition the authority, the body awarded two more instalments of compensation amounting to Rs 1.88 crore and Rs 61.76 lakh to 1281 and 448 farmers respectively, officials said. From November 2009, the authority will begin inspection of the affected farmlands for awarding compensation for the next 10-year period, they added.
Asked about the farmers’ grievance that the compensation was less than the value of the actual damage, sources in the authority said there were four classes under which the compensation was awarded, depending on the TDS (totally dissolved solid) level. There is no compensation if the TDS level in the farm wells is below 1000 ppm (particles per million). For TDS ranging from 1000 to 2100, the farmers get a compensation of Rs 7,400 per ha.
The compensation is Rs 14,800 per ha for wells with TDS range between 2,100 and 3,500 ppm and Rs 48,100 per ha for those with TDS between 3,500 and 4,900 ppm. If the TDS level is above 4,900 ppm in a well, the farmer gets a compensation of Rs 1.03 lakh per hectare.
Despite the order by the Supreme Court to collect the compensation within a specified time frame, Vellore district officials admit that it takes time to get it from the polluters for distributing to farmers. “At present, 75% of compensation has been disbursed to the farmers,’’ said a district official.

TN gets one more sanctuary in Sathyamangalam

Finally, the state government is all set to declare an ecologically ‘complete’ and sensitive wild habitat in Sathyamangalam forest division as a sanctuary. Once a refuge for Veerappan, the forest range will now be a sanctuary for wildlife.
State forest minister N Selvaraj signed the file this week paving the way for the forest department to notify about 500 sq.km of open jungle with the Moyar river acting as the bridge between the western and eastern ghats. It will be named as Sujal Kuttai blackbuck sanctuary. In the last wildlife census, it was found that there were
about 2,000 blackbuck.
“The sanctuary is the key to genetic flow between the western and eastern ghats,’’ says a forest officer. The open jungle and the riverine ecosystem facilitates the movement of large mammals like elephants from Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary and Nilgiris North Division to the Eastern Ghats along the Moyar river.
Recent studies have revealed that there are about 10 tigers in Sathyamangalam forest division covering 1450 sq.km, including the new sanctuary. “The sanctuary will be a great boon to conservation as it will be contiguous with Mudumalai, Wayanad, Bandipur and Nagarhole sanctuaries and national parks, making it one of the largest wildlife habitats in the country,’’ says K Kalidasan, a Coimbatore-based environmentalist.
The Sujal Kuttai sanctuary, including the scenic Thengumarahada, has been found to be the only home for vultures in the state. In a census, about 150 vultures were found in the habitat. The latest to be sighted were long-billed and whitebacked vultures, said a forester in the new sanctuary, defining it as a complete ecosystem with the prey, predators and scavengers (hyenas) co-existing.

Algae bloom in Gulf Of Mannar, Oxygen level rises

Marine organisms in the fragile Gulf of Mannar ecosystem can now breathe easy. Scientists say the algal bloom that caused a ‘major mortality’ of coral fish and other organisms in the calm waters of the bio-reserve has subsided.
However, more issues are waiting to be resolved, if the native eco-system in the 21 islands that form the biosphere are to be saved. Marine experts are surveying the entire biosphere to look for lurking dangers, after the unusual bloom of Noctiluca scintillans, the algal species, had a killer effect a few days ago.
Over 5,000 coral fish died on the seaward side of Vaalai Island, one of the 21 islands constituting the Gulf of Mannar Marine Bio-reserve (GoMBR), and both ‘minor’ and ‘medium’ mortality was noticed towards the coast. Major mortality means the death of over 1,000 fish in a one-kilometre radius. Organisms that died included eels, sea bass, hardy head, grouper, squirrel fish, silver bellies, parrot fish, rabbit fish and gobids, all slowmoving coral fish species. The crabs captured by the bottom set gill net were found moulted and some were dead. Scheduled species like sea turtles, sea cucumbers and a sea cow also died.
Analysis of the dead fish indicated a slight choking of their gills. A low level of oxygen and high level of ammonia could have triggered their death, according to the fisheries department’s report. Studies have revealed that the oxygen levels at the sea bottom was only 0.7 mg per litre compared to the required oxygen levels of 4.5 to
6 mg per litre in the gulf, basically because of the proliferation of the alga by nearly 50 times in every litre of water. One reason for the algal bloom could be the nutrient-rich waters of the gulf, but corals mainly survive in low-nutrient waters. The enriched nutrients are either the result of upward current or due to the mix of sewage let into the gulf by 20-odd town panchayats dotting the coast and the industrial pollution from the Thoothukudi town in the southern end of the biosphere, say scientists.
A study by the Fisheries College in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) has revealed that the coastal population near the Gulf of Mannar has shot up by 35% between 1990 and 2008. Unlike in the Andamans, where the presence of the coral reefs is far away from the shore, the distance between in the Gulf of Mannar is a mere eight km. Better sewage management in town panchayats and stricter pollution control measures in Thoothukudi have to be taken up immediately, say scientists.

Megamalai forest now a sanctuary, to be expanded

Declaring 140 sq km of reserve forest in Megamalai in Theni district as a wildlife sanctuary, the government is in the final stages of reclassifying nearly 300 sq km of reserve land under forest department as reserve forests to be part of the newly created sanctuary.
According to forest officials, the reserve forest stretch from Erasanayakkanur on the side of Suruli falls to and Mel Gudalur on the Kumuli hills has been declared as Megamalai wildlife sanctuary, which would be contiguous with Periyar Tiger Reserve across the border in Kerala.
Megamalai is home to a rich diversity of flora and fauna — resident and migratory elephants are a common sight; direct sighting of tigers was reported in the Vellimalai forests in the census this year; it’s home to panthers, leopards, sloth bears, slender loris, Lion-tailed macaque (LTM) and the Nilgiri Tahr, the state animal, in the upper reaches of the ranges, say foresters.
While wildlife activists are thrilled to have a new sanctuary, they also want over 300 sq km of reserve land in Megamalai and Highways divisions in the Theni district forests to be declared part of the sanctuary. “Conservation will get a real boost only when the reserve lands are classified as reserve forests and made part of the
sanctuary,” says T S Subramaniaraja of Wildlife Association of Rajapalayam.
“After the reclassification and notification, Megamalai sanctuary would link the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Sanctuary and Periyar Tiger Reserve enabling easy movement of wildlife in an expanded and protected landscape of about 1750 sq km of contiguous forests which could later become a biosphere ecosystem,” Subramaniaraja says. The state’s forests are already part of the Nilgiris biosphere and Agasthiyarmalai biosphere. “The Megamalai and Highways divisions, comprising reserve land, are the core habitat for wildlife. A recent study revealed the presence of at least 264 LTMs. Nilgiri Tahr was sighted in large groups in at least four peaks,” says Dr C P Rajkumar, managing trustee, Vanam, an eco-NGO based in Theni town. The deer population is also abundant. Sambar, mouse deer, barking deer and spotted deer are found in the region. “This is a critical habitat for lesser fauna. There is no point in leaving out these two divisions as there would always be a disconnect between Periyar and Srivilliputhur sanctuaries,” Rajkumar notes.
Ironically, the government has been sitting on the file to convert the reserve land in the two divisions into reserved forests (so that it could be declared as a sanctuary) for over eight years. “The government does not have the will power to remove a few villages that have encroached into the land due to vote bank politics,” says a senior forest official. Forest officials said the presence of humans in the forest land has led to stray incidents of poaching.
When contacted, senior forest officials said the government was in the final stages reclassifying reserve land in Megamalai as reserve forests to make it part of the newly created sanctuary.

Industrial effluents threaten drinking water sources in Cauvery, Palar

Industrial effluents from tanneries and dyeing units discharged into the Palar and Cauvery river basins do not just affect the farming community, but pose a grave threat to drinking water sources in the state’s western and northern districts.
According to a classified document of the municipal administration and water supply department, the industrial and municipal sewage directly discharged into the river systems is polluting the drinking water headworks located in the riverbeds, especially in Palar and Cauvery. The document, which also suggested that a high level panel be formed to look into the issue, was prepared a year ago by a department under deputy chief minister MK Stalin, but no action has been taken on it since, sources say.
River Palar provides water to most of the towns in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Kancheepuram districts. It is from Palar that 300 million litres per day is pumped out for the 203 combined water supply schemes. According to the document, the effluents, discharged directly into the Palar from places like Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Ranipet and Vellore (the state’s leather belt), travel a long distance along the riverbed and pollute the drinking water headworks en route.
According to sources, the TWAD has about 40 drinking water headworks to serve the population of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts. Almost all of them are at risk of being polluted by effluent discharges, particularly from the tannery clusters upstream. “The pollution affects water headworks in a 100-km stretch along the river
bed,” admitted a senior official seeking anonymity. “We have been taking samples for effective monitoring. It is really getting dangerous, particularly due to totally dissolved solids (TDS).
Occasionally, we shift to alternative sites for pumping out drinking water,” said an engineer. According to WHO standards, the TDS levels have to be below 500 parts per million (ppm). The Tamil Nadu government has already “diluted” the standard to below 2,000 ppm, as the level fit for drinking. According to sources, the levels of TDS polluting the headworks range from 5,000 ppm to 20,000 ppm.
The TWAD Board has a lab in Vellore to test the quality of water, and therefore has an opportunity to seek alternative sources of water when a particular headwork gets polluted. But there are many town panchayats and panchayats which have their own drinking water schemes and which could be drawing the polluted water directly from the borewells and supplying it without realising the presence of hazardous chemicals, TWAD sources say.
The board submitted a report to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) four months ago, urging it to act fast. It is the same in the case of the 31 combined water supply schemes in the Cauvery and Bhavani river basins, which are polluted mainly by over a thousand dyeing units and a thousand bleaching units discharging effluents with a high concentration of TDS directly into the river systems.
The headworks for these 31 schemes supply 168 million litres of water per day, benefiting a population of 13.75 lakh in the districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Karur and Tiruchi.

Invasive species, a big threat to biodiversity

After habitat destruction, ‘invasive alien’ species is proving to be the biggest threat to biodiversity in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. But state authorities are yet to realise the fact.
In a recent investigation, Prof VS Ramachandran of Bharathiar University found that 223 species of angiosperms (flowering plants) belonging to 56 families have naturalised in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve alone.
Invasive alien species are plants that are not endemic to a place. For instance, a croton variety found in Kalakkadu Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli district in 1991 was found to have come from Vavuniya along with the Tamil militants who used the forests for training, says a forest officer.
With the increase in number of alien plant species and their density in the bio-reserve, research and knowledge on alien species are required to assist in the development of effective control strategies, says V S Ramachandran, a professor of botany.
From previous studies, Ramachandran found that an orchid and two types of grass species show different types of growth under the native habitat (shola forests and open grasslands) and a habitat dominated by an invasive species (eucalyptus and wattle). While the growth was 40–45 cm in the former, it was 15 cm in the eucalyptus forest.
New roads are the most common reason for introduction of alien species resulting in loss of species and sometimes even extinction of a few plants. In Mudumalai forests, lantana camara, an obnoxious weed, spread like wild fire, obstructing the growth of other plants. Such invasive weeds also curb the movement of animals, says S Jeyachandran, secretary, Tamil Nadu Green Movement.
The eco-activist, based in Udhagamandalam, charges that the forest department has had no lantana eradication programme in its working plans over the years. Only now, the field director of Project Tiger has taken up the task of clearing the exotic plant that has invaded into the core zone of the tiger reserve.
According to scientists and activists, forest managers in Rajasthan have used a spray to stop the spread of lantana. In Himachal Pradesh, furniture is being made from twigs of lantana. “The invasiveness of lantana is a national issue. The Tamil Nadu government must first realise the destruction of forest habitat due to invasive plants. Only then, there can be an eradication programme,’’ says K Kalidas, president, OSAI, an NGO.

Turtle conservation gets a boost

Not too long ago, eggs of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, were toys in the hands of children. Now, school children are among the key advocates in coastal community groups trying to save hatchlings of the sea turtles, whose numbers had been dwindling fast.
For the change of community’s attitude, Dr Supraja Dharini, founder of Tree Foundation, has received an associate award of the Whitley Award (Green Oscar) that carries 10,000 pounds for conservation of Olive Ridleys and dolphins along the Kancheepuram coast.
Dharini might have been the last to get into the conservation of the turtles, often referred to as ambassadors of the ocean. It was the renowned herpetologist Romulus Whitaker who initiated the nation’s first sea turtle conservation in the city’s coast way back in 1970s.
Dharini set up the Trust for Environment Education (TREE) foundation in 2002 to spread awareness and importance of sea turtles among school children, youth, SHGs and trawler owners. A volunteer group of young fishermen has been formed to protect, relocate eggs and release hatchlings into the sea as turtles are most vulnerable when
they first hatch, says S Vimal Raj, a trustee of the Foundation.
The number of nests has risen from 27 to 90 in the last six years with the number of hatchlings going up to 8,821 from 2,222. Boys who used turtle eggs as their play things are now carefully relocating them to enclosures, protecting them until they hatch and carefully delivering each one of the babies to safety at the ocean’s edge,
giving the turtles a chance for survival.
“The Olive Ridley turtle population is going down. A ban on trawlers and lights on beaches during the next mating season (Jan-April) could help turtle conservation,” says Vimal.

Inside the concrete jungle, a forest where deer frolic

Do you feel you are in the lap of nature every time you are on the IITMadras campus? You actually are. The IIT campus was carved out of a forest that formed part of the Guindy National Park and the surprise is that the southern thorn forests — a forest type in the sub-continent — has been preserved here to a great extent for the past
fifty years.
Not many students are fortunate to have blackbuck and spotted deer walking with them or listen to the music of beetles all day and night. Since most of the students could well be spending their time with books and in laboratories, they might not even be aware that their campus is truly the home for Chennai’s bio-diversity.
There are a few miniecosystems like open grasslands, wetlands, patches of thick forests and scrub jungle, co-existing in harmony and with humans in the campus. There are blackbuck, spotted deer (chital), jackals, mongoose, monkeys, squirrels, wild cats, various types of reptiles, a plethora of insects, about 50 kinds of butterflies and nearly 100 species of birds. A rapid assessment of the bio-diversity on the campus by a team of wildlife biologists for 12 days and 12 nights two years ago has revealed that the campus continues to support a rich diversity of plants and animals.
As many as 423 species of plants and animals were identified, says R J Ranjith Daniels of Care Earth, who led the team. Besides, 298 species of non-cultivated plants were identified on the campus. If you add the garden plants, the number could well climb to 400 species.
There are quite a few endangered species as well — at least three species of plants including sandalwood, three species of butterflies, monitor lizard, flapshell turtle and the blackbuck. The study also identified critical habitats and their means of survival. For instance, the grassland was critical for the survival of the blackbuck on the campus. Based on the recommendations of the report, the IIT administration has been cleaning up invasive plants that threatened to overrun the grassland habitat of the blackbuck.
Apart from the management, the student community also takes its own measures to protect the environment. When dogs bit a blackbuck a few years ago, a team of students patrolled the campus at nights to protect the endangered antelope, says Susy Varughese, an associate professor who was part of Prakriti, the wildlife club.
Students also call up the rescue centre when an animal is in danger. Dozens of animals have been rescued and treated by the veterinarian of the forest department.

Sathyamangalam may become tiger reserve

As the magnificent big striped cats are being repeatedly spotted in the Sathyamangalam sanctuary, the state government will soon take efforts to turn it into a tiger reserve. Last week, there were as many as five direct sightings during an official survey.

In the six-day carnivore sign survey taken up by the state forest department, five tigers were directly sighted by foresters and volunteers involved in the census in Hasanur and Bhavanisagar ranges of Sathyamangalam forest division, adjoining the Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves. The survey team has also found evidence that there could be four more tigers roaming these forests. When state forest minister N Selvaraj visited Sathyamangalam, the division’s forest officials briefed him on the need to make it a tiger reserve as there was solid and clinching evidence that the tigers have made the scrub jungles their home over the past few years. “Yes, I was told about the importance of Sathyamangalam forests and the need to make it a tiger reserve. We will certainly consider it,” Selvaraj told TOI.

Sathyamangalam forests link the Eastern and Western Ghats allowing gene flow between diverse populations of the two habitats. Incidentally, the Karnataka forest department has sent a proposal to make Biligiri Rangaswamy (BR) Wildlife Sanctuary, contiguous to Sathyamangalam, as a tiger reserve, officials note.

Tamil Nadu already has three tiger reserves in Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Mudumalai and Anamalai. Sathyamangalam which has been in the spotlight for the past five years for sighting of tigers could be the fourth.

Interestingly, tigers were sighted in Kodaikanal forests after a long time during the sixday survey that concluded on Thursday. A tigress and her cub were spotted playing in the wild. The forest officials are sifting through columns of data scouring for clear evidence to work out an estimate of the tiger numbers based on indirect evidence like pug marks, scats and scratches.

Tigers burning bright in western ghats

It is not official yet, but the news that there has been direct sighting of 30 tigers over six days along the Western Ghats in the state during the latest carnivore sign survey is quite encouraging. At the end of the six-day survey which concluded on February 25, forest officials, wildlife enthusiasts and volunteers who ventured out into the forests for the survey are quite thrilled by its outcome.

Rajiv K Srivastava, field director Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, said, “The feedback and the inputs from the volunteers give a very good indication of a healthy tiger population in the reserve. It is encouraging. The number of tigers is growing.’’ In 2006, there were an estimated 38 tigers in Mudumalai but this time the forest officials expect more.

The six-day census was conducted by the forest department in coordination with the Nilgiris Wildlife and Environment Association (NWEA). “We are participating in a wildlife census for the first time. We saw bears, leopards, sambars, gaur, bison and elephants. The sight of the tiger thrilled us,’’ said S Jayabharathi, a student of wildlife biology from the Govt Arts College, Ooty.

Forest officials of the Kalakad-Mundanthurai and Anamalais are not talking in terms of tiger numbers. “The core habitat is well protected and the tigers are safe,’’ said a forest officer in Anamalais. The 2008 Wildlife Institute of India (WII) estimates said there were six to eight tigers in each of these reserves adjoining Kerala. The number of tigers in TN was then estimated at 76. Says K Kalidasan of OSAI, a Coimbatore-based NGO, which coordinated the survey in the Anamalais tiger reserve, “Long-term conservation is not possible if the prey base is not increased.’’

Indirect evidence suggests movement of tigers in all the ranges of Coimbatore, say forest officers attached to the division. Tigers could have moved in from the adjoining Nilgiris biosphere, Silent Valley National Park and the upper reaches of Kerala forests abutting the division, the forest officers said.

why do we need to plant native trees?

It came as a shock to a group of conservationists working in the Western Ghats when they visited the sprawling premises of an IT major in Chennai's suburbs. The manicured lawns looked green, dotted with shrubs and trees. But there was not even a single butterfly fluttering around.

A bird’s eye view of the city gives it a verdant appearance, with coconut palms and green oases like the Raj Bhavan and IIT campus. A beautiful greenblue bay adds to the panorama. But a closer look reveals that most of these green areas are actually little more than manicured lawns dotted with shrubs and trees which are exotic, says Arun Shankar of Palni Hills Conservation Council.

Barring their aesthetic appeal, these plants seldom contribute to encouraging biodiversity, he says. The reason cited is that these exotic plants and trees are not part of the same ecosystem which native species of birds, insects and mammals are dependent on. Environmentalists hope such loss of biodiversity due to the spread of exotic flora may emerge as a rallying point in 2010 —the year of biodiversity, as declared by UNESCO and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

“It is true that landscaping is done mostly through introduced species. The landscape in multinationals and corporates look attractive but it is of no use from a biodiversity point of view,” says Prof D Narasimhan, reader at the Centre for Floristic Research at Madras Christian College.

“We need to use native trees, shrub nurseries and fill the existing landscape nurseries with indigenous species like Kadambas, Red and Yellow Silk Cottons, Satin wood, Buteas, Amaltas, Bishopwood, Rosewood, Redwoods, Coral Tree, Kino tree, Neem, Terminalia and Ironwood. Native palms, bamboos and wild banana also can be used,” says R Kannan, president of Palni Hills Conservation Council.

The figs, starting from the known varieties — Banyan, Peepal and Glomerata — to lesser known cousins like Icchii; Itthi and Piraya maram are wellsuited for urban gardens. Similarly, there are flowering shrubs like Kattu Karuveppillais and creepers which would serve aesthetics as well as meet the need for household remedies.

Growing biodiverse native species should be mandatory for sprawling academic and industrial complexes and commercial multiplexes, Kannan says emphasizing that growing native species could also make avian fauna and small mammals reappear in the urban environment.

Exotic plants and trees like copper pods and mahogany have aesthetic appeal, but they seldom contribute to encouraging biodiversity in the area. Instead, indigenous species like Kadambas, Red and Yellow Silk Cottons, Satin wood, Buteas, Amaltas, Bishopwood, Rosewood, Redwoods, Coral Tree can be used. Growing native species could bring avian fauna and small mammals dependent on them back into the urban environment. Native flowering shrubs like Kattu Karuveppillais and creepers would have aesthetic appeal and can be used for household remedies.

Pulicat bird sanctuary to shrink. Will it cost conservation?

The saint-like stillness of tall flamingos standing in the shallow waters and schoolchildren clambering on to bullock carts that wade across the lake to reach the mainland — these are the two common sights at the Pulicat lake bird sanctuary.

For long, the fisherfolk living in islets within the sanctuary have held that efforts to protect the pristine environs for the exotic birds have denied them the fruits of development. Now, some relief is on the way. The state forest department has proposed to exclude 13 villages from the limits of the 153-sqkm sanctuary to allow development works there.

A bridge is being built after the state government obtained special permission from the Union environment ministry; it will be inaugurated next month. “When the sanctuary was set up in the lake lying along the TN-Andhra Pradesh coast, the villages were also included within its limits. The department has decided to exclude 13 villages from the sanctuary’s limits after realizing that it would not be affected,” said a senior forest officer.

Villagers, forest dept were at loggerheads

Providing some relief to fisherfolk living in the area, the state forest department has proposed to exclude 13 villages from the limits of the 153-sqkm Pulicat lake bird sanctuary to allow development works there. The villages have a population of around 20,000. For years, the villagers have been using ferry services or bullock carts to travel among the islands within the sanctuary and reach the mainland.

“The proposal is to exclude 10 villages in Ponneri taluk and three in Gummidipoondi taluk from the sanctuary limits,” said a field officer involved in the survey of the villages. “The villagers have fought with the forest department staff on many occasions as they felt it was stalling developmental activities,” said an employee of the sanctuary.

As the forest department has to clear any proposal for development works within the sanctuary — be it for tourism, public works, rural development or highways — under the Wildlife Act, 1972, it has always faced opposition from the villagers.

Chennai's winged wonders

Arun Shankar and his friends landed in Pulicat at 2 am on Sunday. A member of the Palni Hills Conservation Council and an avid birder, Arun came to the city
to participate in the 3rd HSBC Chennai BirdRace. Alarmingly, his team did not spot even a flamingo in its own habitat, the shallow waters of Pulicat. “There was an oil slick. Make sure the paradise is protected,’’ says Arun.

In the third edition of the BirdRace, experienced and budding birdwatchers raced against the clock to spot, identify, and record as many species of birds as possible in and around the city.

At the end of the day after racing around the city from 6 am to 6 pm, Radha Napolean, a first-timer, was feeling sad despite spotting 69 species of birds. “Pallikaranai is marsh land. Unfortunately it is now prime real estate as well as a dumping ground, which endangers the birds,’’ she said.


The younger generation though was happy. Anita Gandhi, an economics student, was happy to have seen spoon bills, ibis, pelicans. “I saw a kingfisher for the first time. Its different colours were so alluring and attractive,’’ she said remembering the bird’s image. Keertana, at age 8, the youngest captain of 41 teams, said she saw a whole lot of birds in Kovalam and Mudaliarkuppam on Sunday but the golden oriole she saw at her cousin’s house is still vivid in her memory.

Neena Simon was part of the team that won the last year’s race by spotting over 160 birds. This year, she was one of the “green team’’ that travelled by public transport. Their count this year was 111 species. “We saw grey breasted prinia, black napped oriole and grey bellied cuckoo. Sadly, shrikes, very small birds of prey, were missing this year,’’ says Hopeland, the team leader.

The image of the day for Dattari Jr was a flock of 250 open billed storks flying above IIT-M. A jackal, two mongooses and a garden lizard laying eggs rounded off an amazing day. Gayathri has never really noticed birds except for a pigeon or a house crow. Travelling along OMR and ECR, Gayathri, who forced her parents to participate, had a feast to her eyes. “I don’t know the names. It’s good. Yeah.’’

Kailash, an avid birder, was delighted to have spotted the red munia near Vedanthangal. “The scrub jungle there has a lot of woodland birds,’’ he says. A team from Andhra Pradesh reached Pulicat by 5 am. “It was a cloudy day. It was the perfect weather. The diversity was less but the bird count was big,’’ said Durga.

“This is where conservation begins. It begins as fun, then passion takes over,’’ said Preston Ahimaz, a veteran birder. ``Children carry the images all their life. The passion for birding will make them crusaders of conservation in future,'' says V Santharam, director, Institute of Bird Studies, Rishi Valley.

Ioras and Robins

Until two decades ago, species of birds such as Magpie Robins and Common Ioras played in the backyard gardens of spacious homes dotting city localities like Santhome. Now, one can find these birds only in forests, says experts. Similar is the case of the Brahmini Kite. This bird, which was once a common sight in the city, is rarely found due to the high pollution.

In order to create awareness among people about the dwindling bird population and the reasons behind the decline such as pollution and erosion of habitat, the Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS) is encouraging participation in the forthcoming HSBC Chennai BirdRace.

V Shantharam, director, Institute of Bird Studies, Rishi Valley, who studied woodpeckers for his doctorate in ecology, will be the chief judge at this year’s event, which will be held in the city and its suburbs. It is hoped that conservation efforts will be fostered through the event.

In the 20 years that he lived in the city till 1997, Shantharam had recorded 300 species of birds, mostly on water bodies and scrub forests. Since then, rapid urbanisation has reduced the numbers. Hectic construction activity, pollution and water bodies turning into dumping sites have contributed to the decline.



This will be the third edition of Chennai BirdRace organised by MNS, a 30-year old nature conservation group. Last year, over 40 teams of four persons each participated in the race that begins at dawn and ends at dusk. “The response was amazing. There were eight-year olds and 80-year-olds taking part in the event. Bankers, directors of companies, doctors, managers, academicians and students from corporation schools found time to spot birds and record their presence,’’ says K V Sudhakar, honorary secretary, MNS.

Come January 10, experienced and budding birdwatchers will race against the clock to spot, identify, and record as many species of birds as possible in and around their city. At the end of the day, the participants gather for an interactive session.

“Positioned as a fun event, the bird race is aimed at generating awareness about bird life in their surroundings as well as to garner support for the conservation of nature and environment. Over time, birding gives us a good idea of the city’s bird life and threat to different species,” Sudhakar said.

Can TN show the model for the country in conservation?

The state government will publish and notify the first official map defining the elephant corridors in Nilgiris in the first week of January as directed by the Madras high court, thus setting in motion the restoration of the traditional pathways of elephants. If Tamil Nadu can thus restore and preserve the centuries-old corridors for pachyderms, it will emerge as a role model for conservation in the country grappling with several instances of man-animal conflict.

The forest department has already submitted to the high court a map of demarcated boundaries of the corridor prepared by an expert committee led by chief wildlife warden after field trips, case studies and a thorough interaction with the tribals and NGOs working in Nilgiris biosphere. The map has defined the elephant corridors linking the forests of Bandipur, Mudumalai, Wayanad and Sathyamangalam, rich in bio-diversity and abundant wildlife.
Superimposing the corridor map over the revenue map of TN areas, the government will publish in the local media the survey numbers of lands falling within the corridor to identify and thereafter remove the ‘blocks’. The HC had fixed January 6 as the deadline. The government will publish the maps and notify it, highly placed sources in the government said.

Individuals would be given an opportunity to represent their cases in public hearings for a month once the survey numbers overlapping the elephant corridor are published, forest officials said insisting that the government would have to demolish illegal structures and take over patta lands by providing compensation.
Concerned by the obstructions caused to wild animals in the elephant corridors in the Sigur plateau of the Nilgiris biosphere, the Madras high court had issued orders that all the illegal buildings and unauthorised electric connections and solar fencings in the identified elephant corridors should be removed scrupulously without disturbing the tribals and traditional dwellers.

“The HC judgment should be implemented in its true spirit and should not be diluted for any other reason,” says Ajay Desai, a specialist on elephants. Terming the judgment path breaking, he said proper implementation of the order would have positive impact nationally.

Acting on the HC order, Nilgiris collector would issue orders directing Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to disconnect power supply to all the illegal and unauthorised commercial buildings having three-phase connections in the first week of January, said sources. In the meantime, the forest department has directed Nilgiris (North) district forest officer to clear solar fencing in the plateau disturbing the movement of elephants.

According to activists over 50 illegal holiday resorts are located close to reserve forests that serve as elephant habitats in the Nilgiris. N Mohanraj, coordinator, WWF, said: “This is only the beginning. The yardstick should be used elsewhere too.’’ He also pointed out that this would open up opportunities for the locals to generate revenue by ecotourism followed by ample possibilities for employment. Dharmalingam Venugopal, director, Nilgiris Documentation Centre, said: “The court order should be implemented ruthlessly. Actions should be taken legally against the violators. It is ‘now or never’ for Nilgiris.’’

emerald tahr

Blogging for conservation? Reporting on environment and wildlife, I was thinking of publishing my stories appearing in paper in a blog. Living in Tamil country, the title is natural. Emerald dove is the state bird. A closer look at the picture reveals the colours of the world in a single bird. The shades of blue for the sky and seas, the green for the forests, black for the universe and a purple grey for the rains, and the sparkling red for the fire beneath the earth's soils. Aptly, it should be titled emerald dove. But I wanted the nilgiri tahr, the state animal to be part of the title. The tahrs roam in the upper reaches of the western ghats close to my home town on the leeward side of the majestic ranges. The colour of the tahr represents everything about earth. Like the earth, the tahrs can't live without the greens. A walk with the tahrs in the wilderness of the grass hills can be heavenly. A flight with the emerald dove through the shola rainforests is equally heavenly.

Therefore, I am.