Recent decision of Mr Sitaram Jindal to do something for the society to spend more than 4.5 crores rupees every year to encourage people or institutions working for the welfare of the society at different levels is a welcome sign in the field of CSR.
Mr Jindal also suggested companies to earmark at least 25 % of their profit for CSR activities. It is to be seen as how many follow the steps and advice of Mr. Jindal in real CSR works. CSR practices have become more of a cosmetic and publicity stunt for majority of the companies with few exceptions. Even there are people like Mr. Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar who advocates de-linking of CSR with philanthropy.
It is quite surprising to observe that real initiatives in the field of CSR or Charity in simple term by businessmen are decreasing over a period while the number of Billionaires and Millionaires is increasing at a remarkable rate. The facts and figures say that at present there are 1.26 Lakhs people in India having more than Rs. 4.5 Crores as net worth while the number of Richest or Billionaires ( Equal or more than Rs. 4500 Crores ) is 69.If at least a quarter of above numbers follow the advice and action of Mr. Jindal ,lot of improvement at various fields requiring attention and action can be witnessed.
Its quite long time I could not even write a single post in my Blog. Almost one year…
Having joined new organization Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPPCB) I thought to start posting my views on issues related to Environment.
Environment! Is really this an important subject for us ? The main reason for this (i)relevant question is that every one of us ( including me ) love to talk on this hot topic, wish to list thousand suggestions for its improvement , put series of action plans but very less or almost no action at his own level. I don’t know when Charity will really begins to start from home……
Take a simple example of Air Pollution and issues related to this problem. Statistics show that we in Hyderabad are having around 27 lakhs vehicles (against 11 lakhs in 2001). Every year additional 20000 vehicles are being added. ( App 550 to 600 vehicles per day). The vehicular pollution is responsible for causing 50 % contribution to Respirable Suspended particulate Matter (RSPM ) or PM 10. The ill effects of air pollution do not need any introduction.
So being the state of affairs of our city what as a responsible citizen we can do at individual level. Not much…isn’t it? People having money continue to purchase new vehicles mainly for their need which includes luxury. Vendors keep on adulterating fuel which further aggravates the pollution. Roads get widen if possible otherwise we need to add series of flyovers and flyovers.( Hope the construction works continue without any scams if possible ).
I think all these need based actions will certainly be followed by reactions in the form of pollutions of varied quality and quantity. Howsoever considerable reduction in the pollution can be achieved through following few practical and workable tips if taken with little seriousness and concern for the society.
1.Prudent use of vehicle even if is provided by the company/Govt.
2.Car pooling wherever possible including children for the school.
3.Using Public transport wherever possible.
4.Tuning of engine regularly.
5.Think using cycles or walking for smaller distance.
The City of Hyderabad also have at least half a dozen locations where magnificent Baobab trees stand witnessing the glory of past and also the interest of Arabian traders who introduced these tress in the then Hyderabad State which was also having part of Maharashtra under it. The scientific name of this tree is Adansonia digitata,Linn and it is also known as Monkey- Bread Tree. A few locations where we can see these trees are near Golconda fort, Vansthalipuram, Attapur ,Near Chappel Road, and Uppal in Chengicherla Reserve Forests.
Baobab Tree near Golconda Fort
There are 6 trees existing in Chengicherla Reserve Forest of Hyderabad Forest division, which provide a magnificent view of the site. One of the trees is having largest girth of 12.80 Meters ( 42 feet). There is a reference of this tree in M.S. Khan’s FOREST FLORA OF HYDERABAD STATE (1951) which says “that the largest tree in Aurangabad near the Badkal Darwaza approaches very nearly to the 40 feet girth size .”
Is this only way to express our feelings?
The Baobab tree located in the premises of Golconda Fort is having girth is 27.40 metres (89 feet). There are various stories centered around this Baobab tree of Golconda Fort and one of the famous stories is related to its cave which helped some 40 notorious thieves to hide themselves some 400 years ago. In fact while visiting this tree I found few local youth sitting on the branches and one of them even entered inside the cave formed in between the branches .
Quite impressive tree
However African Baobab tree in Limpopo Province, South Africa, has a circumference of 47 metres (150 ft) and considered the largest living example.
Trenches being dug in SaloniTanda Village (Mehboobnagar Division)
The forest departmentin our country has been entrusted with the task of raising plantations of various species suiting to local environment. Of late uncertaintyover quantumand time of rainfall has affected the establishment of plantations to great extentin spite of adequate inputs to make these plantations successful. The situation is more severe in the parts of the Country which are having low rainfallless than 1000 mm. Moreover it is the pattern of rainfall (erratic or continuous ) which is responsible for making or mar the success of any plantations. The quantity and durationof rainfallare most critical factors for survival of plantations. In the recent past the changes inthe pattern of rainfall mostly due to climatic changes has become one of the main challenging factors for plantations which are rain dependent unlike intensive plantations of horticulture and other species being raised with assured source of irrigation. This is not possible in the Forest areas mainly because of large extent of targeted area and some time due tolack of irrigation sources .
All these conditions have necessitated the need of exploringvarious alternatives of traditional planting methods.
The traditional method involves digging of pits usually of 30cm3 or 45 cum3just before monsoon or after first shower followed by planting which has been the most common method in the department.
There has been attempts for exploring various non conventional methods of planting to tide over above uncertainties ofrainfall andits affect on survival of plantations.. One of the main methods of such non conventional method of planting is trench- cum- pit method adopted by the department. This method involves digging of a trench preferably of 1met length, 50 cm width and 30 cm depth . The dug out soil is heaped towards lowerside of the slope so to minimize the scope of it againfilling the same trench . This is followed by digging the pit of conventional size (30cm3 or 45 cum3) in the center of this trench. The trench dug under this methodfacilitates the storage of water and thereby retaining moisture for a longer period which is helpful for a seedling to get established quickly. Basically this methods allows retention of rainfall (albeit meager and erratic )for longer duration to plants whichis very critical in the drought prone districts of the State like Mehboobnagar, Nalgonda, Ananthpur etc. which are receivingerratic andmeager rainfall and in such cases the retention of maximum rainfall is possible in this method.
In another modifications of this method trench of 1meter length, 1 meter width and 30 cm depth is dug and a pit of 30cm3 or 45 cum3 is again dug for planting seedlings. This methods of planting is started this year in some of the Forest Protection Committee ( locally called Vana Samrakshana Samithies ) in Hyderabad division under FDA (Forest Development Agency ) financially assisted by Government of India. The initial results of this intervention are encouraging and helped in retention of considerable moisture and also quick establishment of plantations.
Mehboobnagar District of the Andhra Pradesh is known for its recurring drought followed by mass migration of villagers. However recently this phenomenonhas been reduced to a great extent due to National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme , a flagship programme of UPA Government.
TheDistrict is also famous for its undulating terrain fullof hillocks having rocks and boulderssupporting dry deciduous vegetation whereverthey find a little soil.
Many of the hillocks in Mehboobnagarare known for having temples of various deities. Though whole of the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh is known for having many such famous temples likeKeesara Gutta, Yadagiri Gutta, Narswamy Temple etc,. One of the suchfamous temples issituatedis in Sirusangandlavillage ofVangoorMandal.
Deities inside the Temple Known as Sri SitaRamachandra swamy Devasthanamu , this temple is also called as Second Bhadradri temple , the first being the famous Bhadrachalam Rama temple . Located at an elevation of 780 meters above sea level this temple is said to be established app 650 years ago. The priest of the temple told me that while the idols for Great Bhadradri temples were being made near Paloncha, a few idols of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita & Lord Laxman were kept there and one of the priests of this village got a dream about these idols and then he brought and established the temple here at this hillock. The man temple has these three idols . One of the specialties noticed in these idols is that Lord Rama & Lord Laxman are shown to wearing moustaches a feature which is not commonly seen in idols of Lord Rama. The temple complex is on the top of big rocks and the surrounding foot hill contain sparse vegetation, dominant being Cassia fistula ( Rela in telugu & Amaltas in Hindi) and Wrightia tinctoria (Pala kodisa in telugu) . The temple is one of the famous temples of the District and witnnesses huge crowd specially during Ramanavami festival.
Celebrations of World environment Day (5th June 2009)are over . Lets not forget that actions related to environmental conservation and development are not one day affair. For those who really wish to contribute and do some thing very concrete in this direction this platform is always open and inviting all of us .
As monsoon is going to be active in the City shortly and if predictions of Good monsoon can really be relied upon, Tree Planting Activity is one of the activities that provide best solution to carbon trapping and environmental amelioration.
If you are also one of those who have planned to take up planting activity this time let me remind you to take adequate advance steps for your noble cause so that your efforts culminate into success.
Few of those tips are listed here: 1. Location of Plantation (school, your office premise, barren land, govt. institutions etc ) should be inspected thoroughly .
2. Decide the number of plants to be planted. If it is a barren land or field then you have to give proper marking on the ground for digging pits based on your spacing (generally it should be 5 X 5 meters or 4 X 4 meters ).
3. Size of pit generally should be 45 cm Cube( 45 cm deep, 45 cm wide and 45 cm length). In case you have big tall plant seedling more than 2 meter height with big earth ball then the size can go even up to 60 cm cube.
4. Check the availability of Seedlings of proper height. Ensure that you should take seedling of at least 1 meter height .
5. If you are planning for planting only a few numbers of trees and there is provision of watering then now you can take up planting any time . So start doing digging of pits.
6. However in case you have planned for a big chunk of land of any institutions involving more than 500 plants then you should wait for one good shower so that soil gets soften and digging of pit is easy.
7. It is always better to get the seedlings transported at least two days before from the source/ nursery if it is very far away from the site of planting. This will help the seedlings to recover from the shock, which they receive due to transportation.
8. The best time of planting is early morning (forenoon).
9. The seedling should be watered profusely one day before planting so that the ball of earth around the root part is moist and hold soil effectively which will be useful while planting .
10. While planting care should be taken to remove the plastic cover around the root part completely and the ball of earth which is moist and intact should be placed carefully inside pit.
11. While placing the tree in the pit, make sure that the soil is at the same level on the tree as when the tree grew in the garden center.
12. Now fill the area around root ball with soil and pack the soil with your hands and feet to make sure that there are no air pockets and the plant is placed firmly .
13. Make a little dam around the base of the tree as wide as the hole with left over soil or grass clumps to hold in the water. We should take care to water daily at least for 7 days and on alternate days for two weeks. This should be followed by once in a 5-6 days for at least one year.
14. In order to get good growth, retention of moisture and provision of humus material Mulching can be provided to the plants. This can be done by putting a layer of rotten leaves, wood chips, shredded bark/papers that will insulate the ground , decrease the amount of weeds that will grow around your tree, keeps moisture around the roots and provides food for your tree.
15. So what more are you looking for ? Lets Start planting now otherwise it will be too late this year .
HAPPY TREE PLANTING.
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