At the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Envirotech 2012 conference that was held at The Gateway Hotel at Vadodara today, I learnt:
- that the length of Gujarat's coastline is 1,600 km, the largest in India
- that industrial units along the coast don't even look at effluents before sending them off to common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) where the harmful chemicals are removed before finally discharging it into the sea
- that the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) has a very high concentration of total suspended solids (TSS). That means less sunlight reaches the phytoplankton and their productivity is low, which impacts all fishes, animals, birds that depend on such food sources
- that the phenol load in the Amlakhadi, a tributary of the River Narmada, is anywhere between 70-387 kg/litre/day
- that Vadgam (Banaskantha district) and Kantiyajal (Bharuch district) are the most polluted places around the Gulf of Khambat (Gulf of Cambay). The main reason for pollution of the gulf at Vadgam is because of the discharge from the effluent-laden River Sabarmati and at Kantiyajal, it's the discharge from River Narmada
- that the sand and silt levels in the sediments of the Gulf of Khambat (Gulf of Cambay) are high while the levels of clay is low. Therefore, planting mangroves, which need clay to cling onto, may not be a very good idea to save the gulf
- that the process of tapping into the solar energy that is absorbed by the sea is called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
- that sewage contains 40 per cent organic waste
- that the highly dynamic waters of the Gulf of Khambhat provide for good mixing and flushing conditions for industrial effluents
- that the longest marine outfall tunnel in the world is at Boston (16 km), the widest at Navia, Spain (8 km). The longest outfall tunnel in India is of the Final Effluent Treatment Plant in Ankleshwar (8 km)
- that the Coastal Regulatory Zone extends to 500 metres from High Tide Line. Mining of limestone is forbidden in this region
- that the Government of Gujarat has undertaken an Aquatic Shoreline Study which, over the next two years, will help generate maps of 1:4000 scale and help track changes that have happened over the past 50 years
- that after Corporate Social Responsibility, companies should now take Corporate Environmental Responsibility seriously
1 comment:
There is a lot of noise being made about environment these days. In my humble opinion, this is more an effort by the rich nations and the affluent within our country to deprive or at least delay, the poor becoming better off. It is more on par with CBI and other intelligence agencies to help the power&control paradigm that is in vogue if not one more source of corruption. e.g. Lavasa township is said to have harmed the environment. Did Shimla or Mussourie harm the environment ?
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