| ECO NEWS | ||
| June 1999 IN CONVERSATION WITH MR. KANAMPILLY DIRECTOR: THE ORCHID Tell us a little bit about your new and ambitious project that plans to help each locality help itself. Our new project 'Advanced Locality Management' (A.L.M.) is based on the principle that self governance by the people augmented by working hand in hand with Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai (M.C.G.M.) can alone help each locality serve itself better. We feel that the problems faced by each locality and its citizens are unique. Our programme seeks to spread awareness and provide better infrastructure. Primarily, there are two aspects that are to be concentrated upon in any locality management - the issues facing the residents (including shopkeepers) and the administration. On the administrative side, what are your recommendations to M.C.G.M.? As we have stated earlier, our priority has been for A.L.M. and M.C.G.M. to work together to create better and happier living conditions in the locality. Towards this our recommendations are that a model agency should be created by the M.C.G.M. to interact with the committees of various localities. An officer should be appointed by M.C.G.M. with sufficient powers and time to work for the localities and who should visit the locality and meet the office bearers. There should be a locality register wherein complaints from and about the locality can be recorded. The progress of work embarked on should be monitored weekly. These recommendations will help A.L.M and M.C.G.M. combine forces and keep in touch with the concerns of the locality. Could you tell us about some of the issues that can be jointly tackled? Our action plan includes all the items that M.C.G.M. is concerned with. We cover all of them under the Advance Locality Management. From drainage, garbage, water requirements, hawker encroachment, pest control, road repairs, beggars/ragpickers, traffic problems to beautification and vermiculture, the committee takes active participation in tackling varied issues. The Orchid is helping to create awareness about how residents can work towards eco-consciousness. How can the locality committee and M.C.G.M. help in this? It is important for the locality to keep strict control on garbage and debris and its disposal. The locality committee can help in the beautification of their locality and by adopting vermiculture as a tool can help disposal and usage. The residents of the locality should be encouraged to segregate paper/plastic/metal and divert it to rag pickers or their building sweeper. The remaining organic waste should be collected and then be used for plants. As an alternative, if the locality has an access to an open plot of land, the organic matter should be converted into organic manure. Every house in the locality should have a big sack to collect paper/plastic/metal and other inorganic matter. The committee should work on the concept of mutuality and should collect a small sum of say Re. 1/ or 50ps. daily from residents. The funds so collected could be utilised in furthering the beautification of the locality. The M.C.G.M. can promote the making of landscapes in the locality and also give facilities like water and electricity free to the landscapes of the locality. There has been a lot of controversy about hawkers and their rights. What has been your approach towards this? We feel that the hawkers, if allowed, in the area should keep their surroundings clean and should compulsorily keep a dustbin with them. Also, they should not occupy more than five feet from the side of land/road. These hawkers should not occupy corners of the road or any place that would hamper traffic flow. Also, we have a policy that if the committee responsible for the area objects to hawkers, M.C.G.M. should help them clear the area. What have been your schemes to garner public involvement and support? Apart from plans to have an information cell in the ward and holding special training sessions, M.C.G.M. has been directed to use all the available media and inform residents of the ward of the scheme and to appeal to residents to come forward and adopt the scheme. Also voluntary organisations are to be encouraged to participate in the publicity and awareness programme. Quality Lifestyle "This we know - the Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself." -Chief Seattle Many of us fully trust that technology will save us from the environmental crisis while we sit comfortably waiting for miracles to happen. What we forget is that undirected technology can become a monster which is partly the cause of our present problems. Technology can be a useful tool in our fight for environmental quality if social and political ideologies influence technology. Our efforts to attain environmental health can succeed only if we start with ourselves. We at The Orchid have always endeavoured to create a better life style. Our need to constantly innovate, discover and to develop has brought about self-improvement and has also bought in its wake responsibility to use the available resources in the most sustainable way. We realise that each of us has a personal responsibility in bringing a balance to our world and making it a better and happier place. And we realise that existing attitudes must change. Environmental education and awareness has to reach every section of the society. And those in the business of providing quality lifestyles are in a position to revamp and transform attitudes. At The Orchid we are committed to do our best to encourage conservation within our organisation. The purpose of our newsletter is not only to share information, but also to provide a forum for discussion on how we can effectively increase environmental awareness. Affirmative Action Action means different things to different people. Part of being green is preserving things and saving them. Conservation means keeping the world in a state where it is fit for us and generations after us to live in. It is in our power to stop animals, plants and birds from becoming extinct and we can save our natural heritage. We can easily cut down on our needs by recycling and thus saving resources. Every time we save water or electricity, or reuse things we are putting conservation into practice. The starting point is personal action, which is about changing our own habits. We can make a personal choice about the food we eat, the products we buy and the magazines we read. One person might think twice about using plastic bags while shopping. To another, action might mean starting a discussion group at school or work. Another might choose a particular project like saving trees in the neighbourhood or reusing and recycling paper in the office. By being aware of what is happening in the world, we can decide for ourselves how we want to start helping the planet. Mahatma Gandhi's saying that there is "enough for man's need but not for man's greed" is now more relevant than ever. Most of us know that we live in a polluted world and that's about it. Acceptance and awareness of a problem has to be succeeded by solutions that can be implemented. In a world where the air is loaded with toxic emissions from vehicles, industries, power plants; where the water is contaminated with sewage, industrial effluents and chemicals; where the land is littered with garbage, and even the plastic toys our children play with are not free from toxic elements; we need to attempt to make our world, our homes and work place, toxic free. Many toxic chemicals have not been adequately tested for their potential to cause long term effects. Since the risks are still unknown, the best thing that one can do is to minimise the use of and exposure to chemicals, atleast in our immediate vicinity. Our dependence on chemicals in our every day lives is so strong that even the thought of switching over to an alternative seems inconvenient. But with a determined and conscious effort we can easily cut down on our consumption of harmful chemicals. A Clean Environment To begin with, be informed. Join an environmental-health organisation or even start one in your neighbourhood. Make a list of individuals in your city who are most vocal about issues concerning health and the environment and support them in their battles. Share your vehicle or use public transport. Remember that a nutritious diet helps boost your immune system. Combined with moderate exercise, this is the best defence you have against modern-day pollutants.Avoid using pesticides in your home as these may contain dangerous endocrine disrupters and will almost certainly weaken your immune system. Burning street-refuse or leaves is a serious health hazard. Contact your Municipal Ward Officer and insist that he or she prevents municipal workers from burning street-refuse or leaves in your neighbourhood. AN AGGRESSIVE HOME MAINTENANCE PLAN WILL REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CLEANING PRODUCTS NEEDED IN THE HOME Managing Household Toxics
India uses nearly 1,00,000 tonnes of pesticides annually. At least 70 per cent of these are banned in industrialised nations. Ten per cent of India's flowering plants, two per cent of its mammals and five per cent of its birds are on the verge of extinction. If you suffer from sleeplessness or loss of appetite, it could be due to the increased percentage of lead in the air. KIDS' CORNER Unique To Madagascar The lemur is a strange looking creature, an animal found nowhere else in the world except Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa. Lemurs are primates, which means that they are part of the same group to which apes, monkeys and even us humans belong. Just like your mummy looks after you, lemur mummies are very protective towards their young. For the first three months, the babies cling to their mother's breast with their legs around her waist. They remain like that no matter what acrobatic feat the mother performs! For the next four months the baby travels on the mother's back and can get around on its own only after it is seven months old. Lemurs' arms are longer than their legs and their fur is soft and woolly. Lemurs feed on fruits, leaves, bark, grass, and resin. They love to bask in the sun and will do so for hours without moving. Quiz The natural world is both fascinating and mysterious. Here are some unusual nuggets of information, which may help you test your own knowledge. After you have spent time with this quiz you may wish to test the knowledge of your friends at school. Learning about nature could turn out to be real fun!
Reducing the amount of paper we use every day is one of the first steps we can take towards the conservation of precious natural resources. Here are some simple tips that you could use at home or at school.Always use both sides of a paper before you throw it away. Re-use old envelopes. Save wrapping paper to use later. Share books and magazines. Did You Know? Animal mothers recognise their young ones by their smell. A koala is not a bear but a marsupial. The caterpillar has four times as many muscles as we do. Pandas spend 10-12 hours a day feeding and eat up to 20 kg. of bamboo daily. An animal's horns continue to grow throughout it's life Check how much you paid attention to the last issue by taking this quiz! The anwers will be in the next issue, so keep reading...
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