NEW DELHI, MAY 20. The Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit today stressed the need for Residents Welfare Associations to take up Rain Water Harvesting Schemes in their respective areas as a means of overcoming water scarcity.

Speaking the inauguration of the Rain Water Harvesting Scheme at Panch Shila Cooperative House Building Society under the Bhagidari scheme at Panchshila Park, Ms Dikshit announced that the Deputy Secretary in her office would personally coordinate on the site to ensure better coordination among the various Government agencies involved in implementing rain water harvesting, solid waste disposal, composting and other activities aimed at improving the environment.

The Chief Minister said RWAs can also play an important role in helping its members increase the personal power load capacity in residential connections as there has been instances of load allocation not being in consonance with the actual requirment.

At the same time, she also appealed to members of the various RWAs to help in identifying those who were involved in illegal power and water withdrawal, while conserving water and power on their part to check the shortfall.

The gathering was informed that as part of the Rain Water Harvesting Project, about 20.19 lakhs litres would be harvested in Panchshila Club and Panchshila Park, 2.24 lakh litres in Panchshila Montessori School and 1.83 lakh litres in Panchshila Public School, at a total cost of about Rs 1.15 lakhs.

Besides, the society has also become a model in solid waste disposal project as the bio-degradable waste like kitchen garbage and horticultural waste will be be composted into manure; and recyclable waste like tins and bottles will be segregated; and non-recyclable waste would be discharged separately. Thus about 800 kg of waste would be collected every day that would not go into the landfill.

The society would also be hiring the services of Naya Savera to keep the roads and other main areas clean. The organisation would also collect kitchen, horticultural and other wastes by cycle-rickshaws on a door-to-door basis on all days except Sundays at Rs 25 per month.

Besides, it would also clean toilets of residents at Rs 25 per toilet, clean sewer lines on a case to case basis, collect malba and dispose it at a designated site at Rs 250 per cycle- rickshaw load and buy all other wastes as kabaris do at market rates, thus ensuring uniformity and professionalism in cleanliness and disposal of garbage.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 20. A proposal for deep sea sand-mining off the coast of Kerala for the construction industry has ignited a row within the scientific community and sent shockwaves among environmentalists and traditional fishermen who fear that offshore mining would affect marine biodiversity and aggravate fish stock depletion.

The proposal which emerged during a panel discussion organised by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) early this month was presented as an alternative to the extraction of river sand for the construction industry.

Studies have pointed out that sand-mining from riverbeds is responsible for disturbing the riverine equilibrium and the primary cause for floods during the monsoons.

The proposal for using deep sea sand as a substitute was backed by a scientist attached to the CESS and the proprietor of a Bahrain-based dredging company which has approached the Government with a project.

They claimed that huge sand deposits in a shelf 10 k.m. off the Kerala coast were 98 per cent pure and ideal for construction. According to them, purified deep sea sand would work out to half the cost of river sand.

But a section of scientists at the institute have come out against the proposal citing environmental concerns. They feel that the turbulence caused by mining activities in tropical seas would impact heavily on the marine environment and affect the rich biodiversity in the coastal waters.

``In terms of environmental economics, it is a flawed proposal with disastrous consequences. The damage to the marine environment is disproportionate to the advantages of using deep sea sand as a substitute for river sand," says Dr. K. Soman, Head, Resource Analysis Division, the CESS.

Traditional fishermen who were already reeling under the impact of fish stock depletion are apprehensive that deep sea mining would worsen the situation and condemn them to a bleak future. According to J.B. Rajan, convener of the Programme for Community Organisation (PCO), an NGO which works among fishermen, the proposal is fraught with catastrophic consequences in a tropical marine environment like the seas off the Kerala coast where the food chain is linked to the deep sea.

``The stretch of sea from Kollam to Kanyakumari which includes the Wedge bank and the Kollam bank constitute one of the most biodiversity-rich nurseries of marine flora and fauna. Any intervention in this region will affect the banks and leave an irreversible impact on the fragile ecology," he warned.

The CESS director, Dr. M. Baba, however, feels that deep sea sand is a viable alternative to river sand. Dr. Baba, himself a marine scientist, argues that the mining of river sand had reached a situation where it had become unsustainable.

"Extraction of beach sand which is also an exhaustible resource poses another problem because its depletion exposes coastal areas to the ravages of erosion. In this situation, deep sea sand is a viable substitute," he says.

Seeking to scotch fears about the environmental impact of deep sea mining, Dr. Baba asserts that the turbulence would be confined to a small area. "The sand is collected from a depth of 40 metres at a distance of 20 to 30 k.m. offshore," he explains.

"In any case, the Government insists on environmental impact assessment for any mining activity. Besides, there are strict provisions for compensatory measures to preserve bodiversity."

Dr. Baba admits that many of the concerns raised by environmentalists and traditional fishermen are genuine and need to be addressed.

Pointing out that sea sand was being extensively used in the U.S., the U.K., Japan and the Gulf countries, he says the mechanised operations involved in deep sea mining would make it economically feasible.

Dr. Baba asserts that the process for removal of salinity from sea sand was currently available.

Meanwhile, a section of scientists and NGOs have alleged a conspiracy to push the proposal through without a meaningful debate.

They feel that the Government should do everything possible to prevent greedy industrialists from making a killing out of deep sea resources and destroying the delicate marine environment.

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