Sunday, November 30, 2014

Desilting

I was looking up desilting as Mr. Keishav mentioned it and was wondering if it was a viable option.
I found a pretty concise presentation to explain it.
You need only read the first 8 slides.

http://www.gwsp.org/fileadmin/GCI_conference/Products/Pos_pres_-_Paimpillil_-_Reservoir_de-siltation.pdf

I still don't know if its an environmentally friendly option.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Talk with Anitha Aunty

Talk with Anitha Aunty:

  • Riots in 92 - Tamilian child burnt to death. People were afraid to leave their houses. City wide shut down(police shooting?). Teenage boys throwing large rocks.
  • Borewells
These are extremely expensive to dig and maintain She herself has one that is within her property that was dug out long before you needed special permission to do so.
Water from bore wells require testing to see if they are safe for use. A lot of the times they are unsafe if they are dug near an industrial area.
The underground water level is also decreasing as more bore wells are dug out.
She said that a large number of villagers are coming to the city and abandoning their land because there is no water near the surface and the well have to be dug over 300ft into the ground and that becomes too expensive.
And so there needs to be a larger supply of Kaveri water in the city itself as it keeps expanding.
  • Yelahanka(SFS?) started out as a government housing colony that has proper drainage and Kaveri water supply.
She had Kaveri water supply for her house earlier before she broke it down to make a building and then dug the bore well and so never bothered to get the connection back.
  • She has two basins in her kitchen, one solely for washing fruits and vegetables. The water from this is collected in a bucket which she then uses to water her plants.
  • There are specific plants that have oil producing seeds (some are Vengi and Punna). People collect these seeds to use as fuel. One man in a village near her farm has managed to use only these seeds to help pump water from his well.
  • People believe the Kaveri water is purer because it is ever flowing and not stagnant.
  • Kaveri water only comes 2-3 times a week so the water is stored in a sump which is a sealed cemented tank.
  • She feels like it should be made compulsory for every house (or at least buildings and large houses) to have solar panels, water harvesting systems, proper waste management, water and waste recycling, etc.
  • The large amount of chemicals used in cleaning fluids kills microorganisms and makes waste and water non-recyclable.
  • TN has a lot of power with the central government because of Jaylalitha.
TN asked Kerela to raise the walls of an age old unstable dam on the Periyar river called Mullaperiyar just to store water for their use.
Kerela gets enough rainfall to supply everyone but they don’t harvest enough of it.



Coca Cola in Karnataka


"After the recent visit of The Coca Cola Company's Executive Vice President Irial Finan to Andhra Pradesh and Telanganafor a possible investment, the Karnataka government has suddenly woken up and making a fresh attempt to retain the company"s project in the state.

The state government, which has been sitting for the last four years over the company"s request for allotment of 250 acres land at Yadgir in north Karnataka to set up a greenfield bottling plant, has all of a sudden started the process of acquiring land for the company"


Aug 7, 2013: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/coca-cola-s-bottling-plant-meets-roadblock-113080600371_1.html

Aug 20, 2014: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/karnataka-renews-bid-to-retain-coca-cola-in-state-114082000907_1.html