In an earlier post I had said about eco Vs ECO (eco represented environment and ECO represented ECONOMICS) and always the later won. Also was hoping that one day that tables would turn. I did not think it would turn that way this soon.
Earlier Post on 07/2010
Now it ECO vs eco - here ECO is environment and eco - is economic. This time Environment is saved:
Environment authorities of India rejected proposals to mine the mountain (Billions of $s), which would have affected the tribes.
The government has also stopped a $12-billion steel plant proposed by South Korea's POSCO in Orissa.
Earlier Post on 08/2008
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : DRI seizes 127 tonnes of imported e-waste
The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : DRI seizes 127 tonnes of imported e-waste
Good these eWastes are sent back.
My earlier eWaste Postings:
India Dumping Ground for eWastes
One more Dumping site
Watch out for eWastes - they are hazardous.
Good these eWastes are sent back.
My earlier eWaste Postings:
India Dumping Ground for eWastes
One more Dumping site
Watch out for eWastes - they are hazardous.
Friday, July 23, 2010
eco vs ECO
Sustainable Land Development Project:
eco vs ECO - Title implies that lower case eco is for environmental and
UPPER CASE ECO for ECONOMICS. May be one day we can change that.
As our aim is to use natural resources, we tried to bring in the solar and wind power to EA Farms. However initial queries for these ended up with huge cost estimates.
We contacted a company that produces water from wind.
Their technology is good, but the quote for the system was above our limits.
Then we contacted another company for solar and wind energy Combo unit. This cost was also high.
Our power requirement will be minimum and hence we are planning to go
with regular power resources (which we have several issues also :-)) rather than SOLAR & WIND Energy for time being.
As always Economics take over precendence over Environment.
But we will not give up. EA Farms will conform with minimal usage of power and try use renewable resource as we move forward.
eco vs ECO - Title implies that lower case eco is for environmental and
UPPER CASE ECO for ECONOMICS. May be one day we can change that.
As our aim is to use natural resources, we tried to bring in the solar and wind power to EA Farms. However initial queries for these ended up with huge cost estimates.
We contacted a company that produces water from wind.
Their technology is good, but the quote for the system was above our limits.
Then we contacted another company for solar and wind energy Combo unit. This cost was also high.
Our power requirement will be minimum and hence we are planning to go
with regular power resources (which we have several issues also :-)) rather than SOLAR & WIND Energy for time being.
As always Economics take over precendence over Environment.
But we will not give up. EA Farms will conform with minimal usage of power and try use renewable resource as we move forward.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
WATER FOR EA FARMS
Water for the farm.
As water is one of the key elements of farming, and our land has no water resource we were all praying for the help and guidance from heaven. The prayers were always there in the back of my mind even though I was involved in other activities.
14-06-2010
Finding water points at the land.
I spoke to Ravi aka captain on finding the water points at the land. This is an amazing exercise. Few humans are blessed with this power of locating the water points. Their body reacts to the ground water. Different people have different techniques, some use wooden sticks, some use metal rods, while some use water in a plastic pot. The water pot jumps around when they carry it around at the location where there is water beneath. Though Ravi himself has this capability he did not want to try for a huge land, as he has done only for building plots, which is much smaller in size. But he recommended one Mr. Ramasamy, an aged man; I guess he should be in his late 50s or early 60s who was experienced in finding for farms as well.
So, Mahesh, our driver, drove us (Ravi, Ramasamy and me) to the land after lunch.
Ramasamy started immediately as soon as we reached the land. He strode the land with his equipment, an iron rod stitched in a cloth at one end. The cloth is really long which he held on both hands and let the end with the iron piece to hang by almost a foot or slightly more, so it can swing freely. With the apparatus in his hand swinging he walked across the land moving perpendicularly in slow steps. Within 10 minutes he asked us to mark a location on the land, where he said we will get good water. Kathir and Ram, the existing farmhands started to mark the location with a stone, but Ramasamy asked them not to use stone, instead he asked them to mark with a wooden stick and cover it with coconut husks, which they did. I requested Ramasamy to locate few more water points on the land. Ramsamy performed the same act a few more times and pointed three more locations. Of which he said good water should be gotten from the spots he pointed first and third, though he said the other two also has water. Once this was done, we dropped him back at his home and paid him his fees, 1000 rupees only.
I asked him like if he would be able to advise me on the depth at which we will see water and he told me I should get it between 500 – 550 feet.
To be honest, as a man living in this technological world, I found it very hard to convince myself that a man swinging a piece of orange cloth walking around and suddenly pointing a spot and telling me, there is water source beneath the solid earth at around 500 - 550 feet below. But surprisingly I believed and my prayers grew stronger.
19-06-2010
Now, that the points were ready, the next step was to arrange for digging bore well. I went to find an auspicious time to dig the bore from our family astrologer, Mr. Dhandapani. After checking our horoscopes told me to dig the well on Monday morning before the sunrise. Hindu Almanac contains days that are good for activities like digging well according to celestial stars for each day. Now the date and time, 21-06-2010 before sunrise and latest by 7AM was fixed.
Ravi spoke to the local Agent for the bore well diggers. Later I met him and arranged for the diggers to be ready at 4.30 am on 21-06-2010. He said they will be ready even the night before. But since nobody will be at the farm, it was decided that they will wait at Vadakipalayam pirivu, on the way to the land and I will meet them at 4.00 am and we will proceed to the farm. But while they were waiting, a gas carrier overturned on the road at Vadakipalayam pirivu and the roads were blocked and all the vehicles were evacuated from the surrounding places by Police in fear of the truck catching fire. Luckily nothing of that sort happened. So, the bore well trucks moved some more interior and waited at Vadakipalayam. So, I asked Mahesh to be ready at 4.00 am on 21-06-2010. I also asked Mahesh to buy the pooja items required to offer prayers before starting to dig.
21-06-2010
I woke up at 3.30 am and got ready. Then we left home at 4.00 am. We were stopped by police at Vadakipalayam pirivu as they haven't yet cleared the gas truck. So we had to detour back to Pollachi and took another route via Vadugapalyam, Ponnavaram to reach Vadakipalayam. Then we woke the diggers and they trailed our car. Once they reached they (there were some 15 workers in the team) sprung to action immediately. I showed the point (the one Mr. Ramasamy spotted first). They positioned the truck carrying the driller such a way that the spot was in the exact center of the drilling bit. After they setup, I prayed sincerely to all Gods and ancestors requesting for water. The drilling started around 6 am.
The team of diggers was working so efficiently. I felt sorry for them as they did not have protective gear to protect them from dust that was being sucked out of the earth through the drilled hole. They also had a cook travelling with them, who setup makeshift kitchen and prepared some tea and breakfast for them. They also took bath using water from the next farm. Mahesh gathered from them that they only bathed once in a month.
I was so exited with the whole process I didn't feel hungry. Then I realized suddenly the time was 9.00 am and so I asked Mahesh to go back to Pollachi to have his breakfast and buy something for me to eat as well. I also asked the person who currently takes care of the land to eat with me. We decided to have him continue his work at the farm. Talking to him I realized that he has a passion for the farm activities and we need people with such passion and commitment.
At this time, the bore was like 190 feet deep. We were seeing different colors of fine powdery earth being sucked out. It must be that as the bore goes deeper it should be going through a different type of rocks beneath the earth. By around 11.30 there was some thick water mixed with the powdered earth came out. But the driller continued to drill. According to them, it was already 480 feet deep. The Manager asked me if we can continue to drill until 800 feet. I was wondering how will I decide, because nobody can predict the depth were we can get water. Later I found that even those water points identified using the satellite imaging techniques have failed. So now I was left with no other options except seek the guidance of the Almighty and the ancestors. I told him that the diviner has told that we would get water around 500 - 550 feet. so I told him to continue digging and we will decide when we cross the 550 feet mark. I was contemplating 700 feet in my mind. The manager left as he received another call from the agent that there was another bore to be dug the same day later.
So at around noon suddenly there was water spurting out when the drill rod was pushed down by the compressor.
I knew the prayers have been answered (Video above). What a feeling, cannot be explained but only experienced. I thanked all Gods.
So we requested the driller to continue to dig as far as possible. But once the water pressure was high, the drill bit moved very slowly and it was finding very difficult to continue to penetrate the rocks below. So he said that it will be the last rod that he can dig. We agreed and totally the bore well had consumed 30 drill rods, which was 560 feet deep. Also on top they inserted a 47 feet PVC pipe so that there will not be any slippage of loose soil on top. The diggers said our water outcome was very good and said it was like 3-4 inches of water. All those gathered were very happy. Now we will be able to save the rare coconut trees (nattu maram) that are currently present and needs water as quickly as possible. Also we used the first water (Kudam) to do the abhisekam to the Amman in the temple near the farm.
Now that the key element, Water, is ready I foresee a lot of activities lined up for the next few weeks, which I feel I will be able to achieve with the guidance from Above.
KC
As water is one of the key elements of farming, and our land has no water resource we were all praying for the help and guidance from heaven. The prayers were always there in the back of my mind even though I was involved in other activities.
14-06-2010
Finding water points at the land.
I spoke to Ravi aka captain on finding the water points at the land. This is an amazing exercise. Few humans are blessed with this power of locating the water points. Their body reacts to the ground water. Different people have different techniques, some use wooden sticks, some use metal rods, while some use water in a plastic pot. The water pot jumps around when they carry it around at the location where there is water beneath. Though Ravi himself has this capability he did not want to try for a huge land, as he has done only for building plots, which is much smaller in size. But he recommended one Mr. Ramasamy, an aged man; I guess he should be in his late 50s or early 60s who was experienced in finding for farms as well.
So, Mahesh, our driver, drove us (Ravi, Ramasamy and me) to the land after lunch.
Ramasamy started immediately as soon as we reached the land. He strode the land with his equipment, an iron rod stitched in a cloth at one end. The cloth is really long which he held on both hands and let the end with the iron piece to hang by almost a foot or slightly more, so it can swing freely. With the apparatus in his hand swinging he walked across the land moving perpendicularly in slow steps. Within 10 minutes he asked us to mark a location on the land, where he said we will get good water. Kathir and Ram, the existing farmhands started to mark the location with a stone, but Ramasamy asked them not to use stone, instead he asked them to mark with a wooden stick and cover it with coconut husks, which they did. I requested Ramasamy to locate few more water points on the land. Ramsamy performed the same act a few more times and pointed three more locations. Of which he said good water should be gotten from the spots he pointed first and third, though he said the other two also has water. Once this was done, we dropped him back at his home and paid him his fees, 1000 rupees only.
I asked him like if he would be able to advise me on the depth at which we will see water and he told me I should get it between 500 – 550 feet.
To be honest, as a man living in this technological world, I found it very hard to convince myself that a man swinging a piece of orange cloth walking around and suddenly pointing a spot and telling me, there is water source beneath the solid earth at around 500 - 550 feet below. But surprisingly I believed and my prayers grew stronger.
19-06-2010
Now, that the points were ready, the next step was to arrange for digging bore well. I went to find an auspicious time to dig the bore from our family astrologer, Mr. Dhandapani. After checking our horoscopes told me to dig the well on Monday morning before the sunrise. Hindu Almanac contains days that are good for activities like digging well according to celestial stars for each day. Now the date and time, 21-06-2010 before sunrise and latest by 7AM was fixed.
Ravi spoke to the local Agent for the bore well diggers. Later I met him and arranged for the diggers to be ready at 4.30 am on 21-06-2010. He said they will be ready even the night before. But since nobody will be at the farm, it was decided that they will wait at Vadakipalayam pirivu, on the way to the land and I will meet them at 4.00 am and we will proceed to the farm. But while they were waiting, a gas carrier overturned on the road at Vadakipalayam pirivu and the roads were blocked and all the vehicles were evacuated from the surrounding places by Police in fear of the truck catching fire. Luckily nothing of that sort happened. So, the bore well trucks moved some more interior and waited at Vadakipalayam. So, I asked Mahesh to be ready at 4.00 am on 21-06-2010. I also asked Mahesh to buy the pooja items required to offer prayers before starting to dig.
21-06-2010
I woke up at 3.30 am and got ready. Then we left home at 4.00 am. We were stopped by police at Vadakipalayam pirivu as they haven't yet cleared the gas truck. So we had to detour back to Pollachi and took another route via Vadugapalyam, Ponnavaram to reach Vadakipalayam. Then we woke the diggers and they trailed our car. Once they reached they (there were some 15 workers in the team) sprung to action immediately. I showed the point (the one Mr. Ramasamy spotted first). They positioned the truck carrying the driller such a way that the spot was in the exact center of the drilling bit. After they setup, I prayed sincerely to all Gods and ancestors requesting for water. The drilling started around 6 am.
The team of diggers was working so efficiently. I felt sorry for them as they did not have protective gear to protect them from dust that was being sucked out of the earth through the drilled hole. They also had a cook travelling with them, who setup makeshift kitchen and prepared some tea and breakfast for them. They also took bath using water from the next farm. Mahesh gathered from them that they only bathed once in a month.
I was so exited with the whole process I didn't feel hungry. Then I realized suddenly the time was 9.00 am and so I asked Mahesh to go back to Pollachi to have his breakfast and buy something for me to eat as well. I also asked the person who currently takes care of the land to eat with me. We decided to have him continue his work at the farm. Talking to him I realized that he has a passion for the farm activities and we need people with such passion and commitment.
At this time, the bore was like 190 feet deep. We were seeing different colors of fine powdery earth being sucked out. It must be that as the bore goes deeper it should be going through a different type of rocks beneath the earth. By around 11.30 there was some thick water mixed with the powdered earth came out. But the driller continued to drill. According to them, it was already 480 feet deep. The Manager asked me if we can continue to drill until 800 feet. I was wondering how will I decide, because nobody can predict the depth were we can get water. Later I found that even those water points identified using the satellite imaging techniques have failed. So now I was left with no other options except seek the guidance of the Almighty and the ancestors. I told him that the diviner has told that we would get water around 500 - 550 feet. so I told him to continue digging and we will decide when we cross the 550 feet mark. I was contemplating 700 feet in my mind. The manager left as he received another call from the agent that there was another bore to be dug the same day later.
So at around noon suddenly there was water spurting out when the drill rod was pushed down by the compressor.
So we requested the driller to continue to dig as far as possible. But once the water pressure was high, the drill bit moved very slowly and it was finding very difficult to continue to penetrate the rocks below. So he said that it will be the last rod that he can dig. We agreed and totally the bore well had consumed 30 drill rods, which was 560 feet deep. Also on top they inserted a 47 feet PVC pipe so that there will not be any slippage of loose soil on top. The diggers said our water outcome was very good and said it was like 3-4 inches of water. All those gathered were very happy. Now we will be able to save the rare coconut trees (nattu maram) that are currently present and needs water as quickly as possible. Also we used the first water (Kudam) to do the abhisekam to the Amman in the temple near the farm.
Now that the key element, Water, is ready I foresee a lot of activities lined up for the next few weeks, which I feel I will be able to achieve with the guidance from Above.
KC
Monday, June 14, 2010
India Visit
I recently visited India.
Positives I noted:
Highways between cities - were good. Road travel is getting better (
Still improvements are needed such as
Direction Boards, Solar lights, more trees on the side of the roads etc. More work needs to be done inside the cities regarding traffic and roads.
It is ultimate chaos inside the cities).
Businesses are blooming. Business buildings are excellent with International standards.
Negatives:
Unfortunately, I had to attend a funeral. The burial ground was horrible.
It was not at all walk able. Cleanliness was never there.
The last ritual should be done in a clean place.
Here it was opposite.
There are so many rich educated people living in each and every town (especially this town), I am not sure why they left the burial grounds like this.
Also, I saw so many young people standing in long lines in liquor shop.
I was so much worried how many resources are going waste.
Already so many people's health are deteriorating because of environmental pollution,
Chemically grown food etc.
Liquor and cigarette smoking will kill people at young age.
We still have only 10 years to bring Dr. Kalam's dream to true.
Wake up people and do whatever you can, even if it is small thing.
Our team is moving forward with our projects that will contribute towards the 2020 vision of Dr. Kalam.
Positives I noted:
Highways between cities - were good. Road travel is getting better (
Still improvements are needed such as
Direction Boards, Solar lights, more trees on the side of the roads etc. More work needs to be done inside the cities regarding traffic and roads.
It is ultimate chaos inside the cities).
Businesses are blooming. Business buildings are excellent with International standards.
Negatives:
Unfortunately, I had to attend a funeral. The burial ground was horrible.
It was not at all walk able. Cleanliness was never there.
The last ritual should be done in a clean place.
Here it was opposite.
There are so many rich educated people living in each and every town (especially this town), I am not sure why they left the burial grounds like this.
Also, I saw so many young people standing in long lines in liquor shop.
I was so much worried how many resources are going waste.
Already so many people's health are deteriorating because of environmental pollution,
Chemically grown food etc.
Liquor and cigarette smoking will kill people at young age.
We still have only 10 years to bring Dr. Kalam's dream to true.
Wake up people and do whatever you can, even if it is small thing.
Our team is moving forward with our projects that will contribute towards the 2020 vision of Dr. Kalam.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
EA Project - Moving Forward - Hats off to Brother
Next step in EA Project.
We have the main person in the project area now.
He sacrificed the following things for EA Project:
PR from a foreign country.
Senior level job at a bank IT department.
Comfortable life -
to look after
EA Projects,
Farming activities and
To development an environmental research area which is even without power as of now.
Hats off to my brother Karuppiah Chandrasekar (KC).
We have the main person in the project area now.
He sacrificed the following things for EA Project:
PR from a foreign country.
Senior level job at a bank IT department.
Comfortable life -
EA Projects,
Farming activities and
To development an environmental research area which is even without power as of now.
Hats off to my brother Karuppiah Chandrasekar (KC).
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