Crow Clips

Bird-watching (the feathered variety) is an absorbing, relaxing and educational hobby for many. There are a number of bird trails and bird lakes in and around Mumbai, and I am sure, in the vicinity of other cities as well.  For example, the bird trails within and in the neighbourhood of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali the Tulsi and Vihar bird lakes; the Basein fort environs, the Mahim mangroves, the Manori-Gorai creek stretch, the Mulund – Airoli locale bordering the backwaters and mangroves, the trails at Belapur, Kharga and Nerul, the Koperkhairane and   Gadeshwar dams at Panvel, and further out, the Karnala Bird Sanctuary and the Uran area. 

However, as I’ve discovered, you don’t really need to venture afar to experience the enjoyment of  bird-watching.  There’s a lot you can observe about the avian world from the comfort of your own home….

Yes, I would never have thought I’d feel such benevolent goodwill towards the Indian house crow. Admittedly, not for the whole racous, aggressive, inquisitive, cunning, cheeky, beady eyed lot - just the few who have become, so to speak, feathered friends.

There’s the pair of bedraggled, fledgling crows who came “a-begging”, at the kitchen window one monsoon morning.  Having nothing more convenient at hand, they got a handful of namkeen kurmura (puffed rice) – which to the hungry pair must have been like manna from heaven;    they threw themselves on it, and got hooked onto that particular morning meal ever since (I buy a pack of kurmura regularly – not the plain kind, mind you - they prefer namkeen!  For a species that feeds on all things rotten by the roadside, these are remarkably pernickety about their dished out diet).  From then on, breakfast time finds them waiting on the window sill, patiently – but should the just-about-to-boil milk distract attention from them, acrobatics on the window screen punctuated with “don’t forget-about us” cawing ensures prompt service. 

I still don’t trust them not to peck at my fingers when I’m dishing out their meal, though, to their credit,  they’ve never yet   attempted  to snatch  at the plastic spoonful of “cereal” (remember, when you dine with the devil, use a long spoon) but always wait quietly for the hand out and then savour each mouthful -  quite like gentry.  The occasional intruder who dares to swoop in to gatecrash on the meal is however quickly put to flight with a sudden burst of characteristic aggression,that asserts territorial rights over the window sill and everything on it. 

The two are grownup now and have gone their separate ways, but tastes acquired in youth die hard so they still appear every morning, though at different times, for their daily pick-me-up kurmura dose.   Sometimes one will bring along a fledgling, and shove a beakful of masticated kurmura down its throat - have always wondered, when watching crows feed their young, how those sharp beaks don’t  puncture the young ones’ tender throats.

Then there’s the cheeky one who indulges in a wilful game of catch-me-if-you-can.  Perched  on the door, it will  keep up  a deafening cacophony of  strident, incessant cawing  until you get up, and threaten to  whack it with whatever is at hand -  but it will  wait until you are almost there, and  then, and only then,  fly from door to  window for a repeat performance.   Making a veritable game of it, never tiring - until you put on a show of complete disinterest (your -noise-doesn’t-bother-me-at all-I couldn’t-care-less-if-you-bring-the-house-down-with-it).

Another thing that never ceases to amaze is the haphazard way in which crows

literally throw together a nest   - of twigs, string, bits of cloth and random items, that stay attached to each other  and the branch, on the wings of a prayer! Nesting is usually during the monsoons, and it’s no wonder then that the crow is such a resilient  bird – the young ones have to survive in their  perilously placed flimsy  nests, buffeted by gusty winds and soaked by heavy downpours  

And how can I forget the sentry, who at the fall of dusk, patrols the terrace parapet, head tilted, peering every few seconds into  the street below – very much on  self- appointed duty.  And the ”cable guy”  who daily alights  onto   the corner of the terrace, caws a couple of times into the terrace drain and gazes intently and expectantly into  it –if there’s anybody down there, answer if you please!

Crows are remarkably intelligent and practical.  I catch sight of them ingenuously dipping pieces of bone-dry food in the water collected in plant containers, to soften and make them easy to eat.  While on the terrace, should we even glance in the direction of the nest on the overhanging tree, the roosting crows will quickly hop away from it to farthest branch - an attempt to distract prying eyes away from their nest. And, sometimes,  at Mahalaxmi station junction, you can  spot  a crowd of them  descend on the rooftops of  the buses that halt at the signal, to  hitch a free ride for a couple of minutes down  the road, saving  on wing power. 

These are just some of the many amusing, annoying, quick-witted and quirky traits displayed by the Indian house crow, as watched from a window.

Our “backyard birds” face the increasing challenge of finding sufficient food and nesting sites because their habitat is shrinking day-by-day due to human deforestation.  For example, the once common house sparrow has today become a rarity because it no longer can make its nest under the traditional cottage eaves. You can do your bit to make the life of the avian species a little easier by putting out water for them in the summer and of course, food –bits of chappati, water melon rinds, papaya skin, chikoo peel, over ripe banana, apple cores… these can be used to lend a helping hand in the daily struggle for survival instead of being consigned to the garbage can.

- Charmaine Sequeira

Water Alert

With 4 per cent of the world’s water resources and 18 percent of its population, predictions are that India will be severely water stressed and could far outstrip its supplies by 2020. Given the abundant rain and snow that we receive, our country’s  water related problems arise principally from unplanned use and misuse of this  natural resource, coupled with its  gross neglect and pollution.

Running Dry

Three quarters of our watershed forests have been denuded in the last 50 years and tree/vegetative cover reduced to less than 10 per cent. The result is fast run-off of rain-water, rampant erosion of precious topsoil and increasing severity of floods. Along with this there has been the abandonment of traditional rain water storage systems that existed in villages and served the needs people for more than 2000 years.

The consequent reduction of seepage and storage has greatly diminished the supplies to aquifers. The proliferation of energised wells has depleted ground water much faster than its replenishment and its ground water levels are dropping rapidly by 1 to 3 metres a year. Ground water is now the source of four-fifths of the domestic water supply in rural areas, and around half that in urban and industrial areas. Steep cutbacks in irrigation water supplies could reduce harvests by 25 per cent in two decades.

Annual per capita water availability which was 3450 cu. in 1951 and currently around 1800 cu.m, is expected to fall to 1600 cu.m by 2017 and plunge drastically to 1200 – 1500 cu.m by 2025. The total estimated demand for water in 2050 is over 1,000 billion cubic metres (BCM), up from 500 BCM in 1997.   Providing this would require investments of Rs. 5,000 billion during the next 25 years. India will need to double water supply by the year 2025 to ensure food, livelihood, health and ecological security for her growing population.

Tainted Streams

The quality of available water is also fast deteriorating. In 1982 it was reported that 70 per cent of all available water in India was polluted. The situation is much worse today. Both ground and surface water are  facing a  serious threat from contamination from industrial effluent and faecal matter, as well as chemical pesticides and fertilisers from farm run-offs, and toxic substances through wastes that are spilled or stored on land surfaces. 

Waste water generation has increased by 25 per cent in the last three years itself, to 33,000 MLD while treatment capacity remains the same at 7000 MLD with a huge gap of 80 per cent.

Over-extraction of ground water has also  led to salt water intrusion into coastal aquifers. It has also resulted in problems of excessive fluoride, iron, arsenic and salinity in water affecting about 44 million people in India.

The impending water crisis will affect the entire environment and every section of society.  It will severely impact food production, sanitation, hygiene and health. The water crisis also holds the potential for widespread unrest and instability.  

Unless priority is given quickly to creating an infrastructure to assure availability of water, there may be no water to meet the agricultural, domestic and industrial needs of a population that has tripled in 50 years, to more than a billion.

Where Does God Dwell?

The virtues of reverence and respect have always been fundamental to Indian culture. Irrespective of religion, caste, class, status or location every Indian accords great honour and veneration to divinity. We go to great lengths to ensure that nothing defiles the sanctity of a holy place. With actions like removing our shoes or covering our heads before we enter a place of worship we show respect to our deity.

And yet in a nation so full of love for God, we seem to detach the Creator from creation, giving reverence to the former and completely neglecting the latter.  Scriptures of various religions around the world stress the fact that the earth is God’s abode and the Creator is manifest in all of creation. If we really believe this, then every time we harm the environment we harm God’s creation and dwelling place. Shouldn’t we extend the same honour and respect that we give to a place of worship, to the earth and our environment?

Why do we fail to comprehend the connection between the Creator that we worship and his creation, our earth? How has a nation with such a tradition of appreciation of beauty, art and architecture failed to see how it has disregarded, neglected and even abused the environment? Are we so selfish as to believe that preserving and protecting the environment is someone else’s responsibility, not our own?

The earth has provided for us from the beginning of time; let’s pledge to protect the Creator’s creation! We are God’s instruments upon this earth and we have the responsibility and the ability to make the right choices. Let’s create a clean, beautiful and environmentally responsible nation. If we love our country and take pride in our heritage each one of us must strive to make India’s tomorrow better than today.

My country’s pride in my hands resides,
the home of God, the land on which I thrive,

I’ll bless her with my zeal

and work to make her glorious still.

And in her streets will dance trees and wind

and sing the sun in perfect sync

No not today! No not today!

No sewage dumps, no heap of waste

Nor stink of awful negligence

His home and house on this planet placed

Nature here will sway and twirl

and extend to kiss the brow of men;

Who for love of God served and toiled

and brought to blossom sun-scorched lands

-  Carissa Paul

Sustainable Water Security

Good water management is crucial to overcome the water crisis that threatens our country, expected to be severely water stressed by 2025.   The water treatment industry must necessarily go much beyond water treatment, to ensuring availability of water.  It  will, in fact, serve its own interests best by working to meet the basic need of people for water and protecting the environment on which life, and its business, depend.  The industry  must focus on  development  and promotion of  water efficient and water saving techniques that also reduce use of resources and thus the load on the environment;   it will need  to   promote watershed development and rain water harvesting which must receive top priority for  increasing seepage and storage, countrywide.  

We at Ion Exchange, with a mission of total water and environment management,are proud to be in a business which is of such beneficial service to society and the environment.


Water Conservation through Recycle
 
Water recycle is an effective and economical way of solving water scarcity.  Recycle of industrial effluent and domestic sewage, conserves vast volumes of water while saving on the cost of fresh water and protecting the environment by reducing pollution. As environmental concerns gain ground, more companies  are  seeking  solutions that incorporate water conservation, pollution control, energy saving and reduced chemical consumption.  They realise too that enhanced environmental performance also yields significant competitive advantage. 

 
10 milllion litres per day textile effluent recycle plant at a common effluent treatment plant

800   m ³/day sewage recycle (membrane bio-reactor) at a hotel

200 m ³/day sewage recycle plant( fluidised media reactor) at a hotel

World Ozone Day - September 16

Once upon a layer ….

The ozone layer is a layer of ozone gas which surrounds the earth.  Starting around 15 kms above the earth and extending to about 35 kms, its thickness varies seasonally and geographically. However, if the total ozone in the ozone layer were to be put under ground level pressure, though, it would occupy a layer only 3 mm thick!

Ozone (O₃) splits into a molecule of oxygen (O₂) and a single oxygen atom (O) when it reacts with UV rays and then combines again to form ozone. Thus, the total amount of ozone is maintained.  

Its depletion occurs due to increase of hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide radicals, atomic chlorine & bromine and predominantly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that combine with the single oxygen atom, hence preventing the reformation of ozone.  

The ozone layer acts like a natural filter because it prevents most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays from reaching the earth. For every 1% depletion of the ozone in this layer there is an increase of 2% in the harmful UV rays that are able to reach the surface of our planet. This is dangerous because UV rays harm living beings, and can cause cataracts and skin cancer.   

Recycle Your Way Into The Future

“Wow, this house is so beautiful, just the way we want it to be" said my parents when we moved into our new home. We carried the memories of our old home to the new one, and you know how? My parents decided we should try to recycle and reuse most of the many things that graced our previous home.

Beginning with the major ones, instead of scrapping the old furniture and wood we recycled them into the new tables, chairs, closet doors, TV stands, beds etc. The curtains that blew in the breeze reaching out to us to let us know that life is beautiful - they are now turned into pillow covers, reminding us how much more beautiful life can be when we wake up every morning. The old jeans that my brother and I no longer wear but won't throw away, have been transformed into patchwork grocery bags - very trendy and very strong. What about the shower curtains? They are now spiceproof/waterproof aprons in the kitchen.

As for things like toys, lamps, clothes, carpets and blankets accumulated over the years? These were donated to Ashadaan (a home for the orphans, aged, ailing, handicaps, addicts, homeless)

When our electronic units - the TV, microwave, audio/video decks, washing machine and other gadgets give trouble, we first try to fix them; if that doesn't help, we either exchange them for new ones or sell them at selected scrap vendors (bhangaarwala). By the way, they also accept the bottles, jars and cans.

Our greeting cards are constantly recycled and reused as decorations during Christmas, as "strings" of wishes. Even the newspapers, magazines and thick unwanted papers are sold off to the local bread supplier, who reuses the same to pack bread. Even when packing our boxes before shifting, we were very careful to use packing tape and stickers sparingly as they cannot be recycled.

And yes, our old memories that were saved on VHS tapes have been transferred to DVDs and we have exchanged the tapes and other plastic items with the garlic vendor (lasoonwala) for garlic in return.

My folks have taught me a lot of lessons in making the best of the least that we have - a value that will pass on in family tradition.

Getting the most from our resources through reuse and recycle paves the way to an eco-friendly future - a road we all can travel.

- Nicolette Richard LeVillard

Indian Idols - Naturally!

Celebrations of Indian festivals, like most of our customs, result in a lot of social interaction. Ganesh Chaturthi stems from a point in time, post Independence, when reformers were trying to bring about a dynamic change in societal practices. Lokmanya Tilak gathered together locals to celebrate the ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ festival as an occasion that would foster unity and community interaction.  Though this tradition of community celebrations is prevalent across India even today, it has ignored a very crucial aspect - the environment; in fact, many of our celebrations, now more commercial than social in nature, result in air, noise and water pollution.  

Take our celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi. Plaster of Paris used to create the Ganpati idols does not dissolve easily in water and hence they remain undissolved long after their immersion. The toxic paints used pollute water bodies, harm marine life and eventually enter the food chain. 

It is heartening though that in the past few years, increased environmental awareness particularly among the younger generation is leading to a welcome change. Hopefully, this year the idols will make their eco-friendly presence felt in a  big way. A Sindhudurg based sculptor, Pramod Palav got few of the basic raw materials in place – a mix of clay, fig tree juice, paper and glue – to create idols that will dissolve in water in less than 15 minutes. These eco-friendly idols are certified by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

According to the guidelines by the Central Pollution Control Board, idols should be made from materials like traditional clay instead of plaster of Paris or baked clay. You can also use natural colours like turmeric, geru and multani mitti. Once the idol is immersed in a bucket at home, you can use the water for your plants. The numerous flowers used for pooja can be replaced with plants, which could then be planted in your neighbourhood. The ‘nirmalya’ or offerings can be segregated so the bio-degradable component can be composted.

‘What's in our heart is what matters’, says Jeevanlal, who has switched to eco-friendly Ganesh festivities.

Perhaps this time the festival is set to bring about another social change, for the environment, for our sustainable existence.

For more details on eco-friendly idols you can look up for ‘Green Ganesha’ Times of India initiative at www.timesgreenganesha.com

“God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature” – Anne Frank