On the 28th January 2017 two oil cargo ships collided off the Ennore Coast near Chennai, India and poured tonnes of oil into the ocean. The waves and the southern current carried it 34 kms up to Vettuvankeni in the South. What was great, was that a large number of students and volunteers joined the official …
The south Indian town of Tirupur is probably one of the richest towns in the world, producing tee shirts and other garments. The dyestuff from manufacturing soaked into the earth, so that all the water turned to the colour of dyes. Few of us are aware of how waste affects our precious, finite water resources. …
Water is the giver and taker of life, as we in Chennai know, as the monsoon approaches. Over 2500 years ago Mohenjo-Daro was built in the middle of the Indus valley civilization. Engineers brought water to streets through covered drains and enormous pipelines. Water has many uses: water for transport, for electricity and energy, for …
A cucumber a day keeps the doctor away!’ believed the Roman Emperor Tiberius. The Roman gardener produced a cucumber a day, right through the year, using an early version of a greenhouse. Cucumbers were planted in wheeled carts, which were wheeled out into the sunlight daily. They were taken inside to keep them warm at …
We can do anything with water except live without it. Imagine, the cities of the UAE, meet all their drinking water needs from desalinated water! Waste water is treated and reused for greenery. There are several sea water desalination plants in the UAE. In the model green city, Masdar, four smaller pilot desalination plants will …
This year is proving to be the hottest summer on earth so far. In India, 2500 people died because of heat waves and dehydration. Of course all of us know that this is the effect of global warming. Global climate change threatens the quantity and quality of water. Water is essential for health, agriculture, energy …
In my lamp lit village in Bajaal, on the banks of the River Netravathi, we worship the Goddess of rain and clouds, Dhoomavathi. There is a 3 day festival in April to celebrate her in the New Year. Rain is Nature’s way of recycling and purifying water“A drop of water may spend 2 to 3 …
Over 97% of Earth’s water is in the ocean. Reptiles, amphibians, shellfish, dolphins, whales, sharks, turtles and the millions of plants and animals and other forms of life make the ocean a living, breathing entity. Oceans hold most of the life on earth. They form a living symbiotic web which keeps the oceans delicately balanced …
Thousands of fish lay belly up dead in Ulsoor Lake in India’s garden city, Bangalore. There was a bund separating sewage from fresh water. With the degradation of that bund, the oxygen levels fell and the fish died. Environmental degradation is destroying water bodies. There were 1000 lakes in Bangalore in the 80’s. Now there …
They are a curious mixture of love and cruelty. Living together in a matriarchal society in the ocean, the huge mammal feeds its young, sometimes for as long as 15 years! They are also called the cheetahs of the deep, as they pursue their prey several hundred meters under water and dive up to 1000 …
