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Contents
1 2012 7
1.1 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
World Habitat Day 2005 (2012-11-03 07:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Bhubaneswar cultural identy (2012-11-03 07:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Green Buildings (2012-11-03 08:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Green Cies (2012-11-03 08:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Forest & Environment (2012-11-03 08:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hoest Tilagarh (2012-11-03 08:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
City without Slums (2012-11-03 08:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Populaon & Environment (2012-11-03 08:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Tribal Architecture (2012-11-03 09:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Indigenous Knowledge (2012-11-03 09:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Planning & Realies (2012-11-03 09:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Quake proof Buildings (2012-11-03 09:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Save Planet (2012-11-03 09:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Spaally managed Cies (2012-11-03 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Eco-cies (2012-11-03 09:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Urban sprawl Bhubaneswar (2012-11-03 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Cyclone Management (2012-11-03 10:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Disaster Reducon (2012-11-03 10:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Cies must create jobs (2012-11-03 10:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.2 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Green Renewable Energy (2012-12-11 13:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Trac calming Measures (2012-12-11 13:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Trac Travails (2012-12-11 13:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Barrier free Environment (2012-12-11 13:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Remember Persons with Disabilies (2012-12-11 13:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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COP18 Doha : Womens Voices in Climate Change (2012-12-11 14:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Sustainable Energy for All (2012-12-11 14:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Migraon and Poverty (2012-12-18 14:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Migraon and Climate Change (2012-12-18 14:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2 2013 33
2.1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Indoor Air polluon (2013-02-08 13:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Air polluon cause of Cancer (2013-02-08 13:42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Intelligent Buildings (2013-03-11 15:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Urban Heat Island Eects (2013-03-11 15:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Safety Iniaves (2013-03-11 16:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Womans Safety (2013-03-11 16:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Polluon problems (2013-03-26 10:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Water Scarcity (2013-03-26 10:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Weather Watch (2013-03-26 10:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Ausm friendly environment (2013-04-04 20:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Creang right environment (2013-04-04 20:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Fighng High Blood Pressure (2013-04-17 15:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Health and Housing (2013-04-17 15:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Koenigsbergers Bhubaneswar Planning (2013-04-17 15:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Bhubaneswar Vision-2030 (2013-04-17 15:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
GREEN URBANISM (2013-04-24 06:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Urbanisaon adds to growing levels of greenhouse gas (2013-04-24 06:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Global acon Plan: Malaria (2013-04-25 05:09) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Environmental health risk of slum-dwellers (2013-04-25 18:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Rescue of Child Ragpickers (2013-04-28 05:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.4 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Wetland degradaon (2013-05-11 13:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Water birds in India (2013-05-11 13:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Biodiversity: Similipal (2013-05-22 00:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Biodiversity: Bhitarkanika (2013-05-22 01:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Smoking between Poverty and Mortality (2013-05-31 04:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Tobacco-free cies (2013-05-31 04:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
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2.5 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Urban Agriculture (2013-06-05 05:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Heritage Conservaon: Odisha (2013-06-05 14:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
End Child Labour (2013-06-12 07:11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Help Elders live happily (2013-06-15 03:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Age-friendly cies (2013-06-15 03:53) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Sustainable Land Management against Desercaon (2013-06-17 00:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Drug against Sustainable Livelihood (2013-06-26 06:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.6 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Sustainable Human Selement Planning (2013-07-11 22:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.7 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
TRIBALS ROLE INCONSERVINGMEDICINAL PLANTS NEEDS GREATER RECOGNITION(2013-08-10 06:18) 84
2.8 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
PROTECT OZONE LAYER (2013-09-16 20:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
INDIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR PROTECTION OF OZONE LAYER (2013-09-21 22:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
TIME FOR ECO TOURISM PLANNING,ANSUPA (2013-09-27 08:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
2.9 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
NEEDED: MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT THAN PERSONAL VEHICLES (2013-10-07 06:17) . . . . . . . . . 90
BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL DEPENDS ON WOMENS EDUCATION (2013-10-11 14:24) . . . . . . . . . . 93
RURAL-URBAN GROWTH LINKAGES IMPORTANT FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION (2013-10-17 08:34) . . 95
NEEDED:Use of Disaster risk info on Land use Planning (2013-10-29 13:47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
2.10 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
ODISHA TOWN PLANNING DAY TO REMEMBER KOENIGSBERGER (2013-11-08 07:02) . . . . . . . . . 96
Trac Demand Management Strategy (2013-11-19 10:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Urban transport governance reform in India (2013-11-21 13:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
2.11 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Barrier free Design (2013-12-03 14:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Regional Planning to reduce Rural-Urban migraon (2013-12-18 10:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Safe Public Space Design for Women (2013-12-23 10:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3 2014 105
3.1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Astronomical Architecture (2014-02-28 09:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.2 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Community safety for Women (2014-03-10 13:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
City urban forests and Climate change (2014-03-21 09:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Role of Youth to ght climate change (2014-03-23 11:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.3 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Friendly houses for Auscs (2014-04-03 12:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Vector-borne diseases in Slums (2014-04-07 10:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Bhubaneswar to become World Heritage City (2014-04-15 11:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Konark temple conservaon demands urgent aenon (2014-04-20 10:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Green Vision for City Planning (2014-04-23 09:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Odisha tops Malaria states in India (2014-04-25 09:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Bio- Medical Waste Management in Bhubaneswar (2014-04-28 10:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.4 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
ECOTOURISM IN CHILIKA (2014-05-12 09:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
LIVING INSTITUTIONS THAT BOND VISITORS WITH CULTURES (2014-05-19 09:27) . . . . . . . . . . . 130
WORLDS FINEST CULTURAL HERITAGES (2014-05-21 10:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT MEASURES IN BHUBANESWAR (2014-05-28 10:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
TOBACCO-FREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES (2014-05-31 16:12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
3.5 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
BHUBANESWAR ENVIRONMENT DEGRADED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES (2014-06-05 15:33) . . . . . . . 139
Odishas coastal ecosystems under increasing threat (2014-06-08 05:57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Poverty Elleviaon and Child Labour (2014-06-13 23:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
3.6 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Role of Family against Elder Abuse (2014-07-03 15:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Eecve Drug Rehabilitaon Centre (2014-07-03 15:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Growing Populaon and Sustainable Housing (2014-07-11 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3.7 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Vernacular Architecture and Indigenous Technology (2014-08-11 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Architectural Photography of Monuments (2014-08-19 09:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
3.8 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Urban Flooding in capital city Bhubaneswar (2014-09-06 06:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Ozone Layer Protecon (2014-09-16 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Odisha Nature Tourism (2014-09-29 16:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
3.9 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Gandhian concept of Rural-Urban Interdependence (2014-10-03 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Right of Slum Populaons in the City (2014-10-06 06:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Family Farming to prevent Hunger and Poverty (2014-10-16 06:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
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1. 2012
1.1 November
World Habitat Day 2005 (2012-11-03 07:51)
7
Bhubaneswar cultural identy (2012-11-03 07:58)
8
Green Buildings (2012-11-03 08:08)
9
Green Cies (2012-11-03 08:17)
10
Forest & Environment (2012-11-03 08:19)
Hoest Tilagarh (2012-11-03 08:35)
11
City without Slums (2012-11-03 08:48)
12
Populaon & Environment (2012-11-03 08:59)
[1]hp://dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/79583-rising-popula on-fast-degrading-environment.html
1. http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/79583-rising-population-fast-degrading-environment.html
13
Tribal Architecture (2012-11-03 09:08)
14
Indigenous Knowledge (2012-11-03 09:17)
15
Planning & Realies (2012-11-03 09:24)
16
Quake proof Buildings (2012-11-03 09:29)
17
Save Planet (2012-11-03 09:41)
18
Spaally managed Cies (2012-11-03 09:44)
19
Eco-cies (2012-11-03 09:48)
20
Urban sprawl Bhubaneswar (2012-11-03 09:55)
Cyclone Management (2012-11-03 10:05)
21
Disaster Reducon (2012-11-03 10:17)
22
Cies must create jobs (2012-11-03 10:21)
23
1.2 December
Green Renewable Energy (2012-12-11 13:19)
24
Trac calming Measures (2012-12-11 13:23)
25
Trac Travails (2012-12-11 13:27)
26
Barrier free Environment (2012-12-11 13:28)
27
Remember Persons with Disabilies (2012-12-11 13:29)
28
COP18 Doha : Womens Voices in Climate Change (2012-12-11 14:39)
29
Sustainable Energy for All (2012-12-11 14:49)
30
Migraon and Poverty (2012-12-18 14:08)
31
Migraon and Climate Change (2012-12-18 14:10)
32
2. 2013
2.1 February
Indoor Air polluon (2013-02-08 13:41)
[1] hp://www.orissapost.com/world-cancer-day-2013-indoor-air-polluon
1. http://www.orissapost.com/world-cancer-day-2013-indoor-air-pollution
33
Air polluon cause of Cancer (2013-02-08 13:42)
34
2.2 March
Intelligent Buildings (2013-03-11 15:56)
[1] hp://www.orissapost.com/naonal-science-day-intelligent-buildings
1. http://www.orissapost.com/national-science-day-intelligent-buildings
35
Urban Heat Island Eects (2013-03-11 15:58)
36
Safety Iniaves (2013-03-11 16:00)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/internaonal-womens-day-safety-iniaves
1. http://www.orissapost.com/international-womens-day-safety-initiatives
37
Womans Safety (2013-03-11 16:04)
38
Polluon problems (2013-03-26 10:16)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/world-water-da y-polluon-problems
1. http://www.orissapost.com/world-water-day-pollution-problems
39
Water Scarcity (2013-03-26 10:18)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/how-to-meet-sev ere-scarcity-of-water-in-near-
future.html
HOW TO MEET SEVERE SCARCITY OF WATER IN NEAR FUTURE
World Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing aenon on the importance of freshwater and
advocang for sustainable management of freshwater resources. An internaonal day to celebrate freshwater was
recommended at the 1992 United Naons Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The UN General
Assembly responded by designang March 22, 1993 as the rst World Water Day (WWD). Each year, WWD highlights
a specic aspect of freshwater. In 2013, in reecon of the Internaonal Year of Water Cooperaon, the WWD is
dedicated to the theme Water Cooperaon.
The major task, which the internaonal community is facing today in the eld of water resources, is the transfer of
commied obligaons into concrete acons that need to be implemented on the ground for the benet of people,
ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. Nurturing the opportunies for cooperaon in water management among
all stakeholders and improving the comprehension of the challenges and benets of water cooperaon can build
mutual respect, understanding and trust among countries and promote peace, security and sustainable economic
growth.
40
As per the UN Water for Life Report, around 700 million people in 43 countries suer from water scarcity. By 2025,
1.8 billion people would be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the world
populaon could be living under water-stressed condion. With the exisng climate change scenario, almost half the
world populaon would be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. It is clear that the world is suering fromwater
scarcity. The increasing demand for water with a rapidly growing rate of populaon, inadequate rainfall, uncontrolled
use of water and climate change are some of the reasons behind it.
About 70 per cent of the earth surface is covered with water, which amounts to 1,400 million cubic kilometers (m
km3). However, 97.5 per cent of this water being
seawater, it is salty. Freshwater availability is only 35 mkm3 and only 40 per cent of this can be used by human beings.
Out of the total fresh water, 68.7 per cent is frozen in ice caps, 30 per cent stored underground and the rest is available
on the surface of the earth. Out of the surface water, 87 per cent is stored in lakes, 11 per cent in swamp and 2 per
cent in rivers.
Long before, when the populaon was less and lifestyle was simple, water was available in plenty and was considered
as a free resource. However, with the growing demand for water and depleon of the available water, assured sup-
ply of good quality water is becoming a growing concern. Major consumpon of water is for agriculture, industrial
producon and domesc purposes, besides being used for shery, hydropower
generaon and maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance. With the urbanisaon and industrial development,
water usage is likely to increase in the coming years.
India is blessed with good rainfall well-distributed over ve to six months in a year. It receives most of its water from
south-west monsoon which is the most important feature controlling the Indian climate. The rainfall distribuon over
the country shows large variaons in the amount of rainfall received by dierent locaons, e.g., the average
rainfall is less than 13 cm over the western Rajasthan while at some parts of Meghalaya it is as much as 1141 cm. As
per the Metrological Department, Indias annual rainfall is around 1182.8 mm.
The countrys total available sweet water is 4,000 billion m3 per annum. Out of this, over 1,047 billion m3 water is
lost due to evaporaon, transpiraon. Presently, water consumed in India is 829 billion m3 which is likely to increase
to 1,093 billion m3 in 2025 and 1,047 billion m3 in 2050, as ocially esmated. The growing populaon is a serious
concern as it will create further burden on the per capita water availability in future and India is bound to face severe
scarcity of water in the near future.
In spite of adequate average rainfall in India, there is a large area under the less water condions/drought prone.
There are a lot of places where the quality of groundwater is not good. Some major reasons behind water scarcity
are populaon growth and agriculture, increasing construcon acvies, massive urbanisaon and industrializaon,
climac change, depleng of natural resources due to changing climate condions, deforestaon and lack of imple-
mentaon of eecve water management systems.
The foremost result of the increasing populaon is the growing demand for more food-grains, especially high-yielding
crop variees. Another area of concern is the water-intensive industries and thermal power plants. That is why there
is an urgent need to address the issue of water scarcity in India to make beer policy decisions which would aect its
availability in future.
There are many habitaons in Odisha that do not meet the norm of 40 liters per capita per day (lpcd). In a number of
areas, tube-wells stop yielding water during summer and somemes even before this. The problem occurs when the
water-table falls below the level to which the tube-well has been dug.
Because of populaon growth and economic development, water resources in many parts of the world are pushed
to their natural limits. In turn, the ability of cies and countries to grow, aract investment, meet the fundamental
needs of populaons and ensure environmental protecon would be increasingly threatened if water resources are
not managed.
Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet, but it is
distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.
41
Presently, despite good rainfall distribuon, the country is unable to make good use of rainwater because of lack of
awareness and poor infrastructure to construct dams, reservoirs and proper water harvesng system.
The water supply in India is going to be a serious challenge due to various reasons. Overexploitaon of groundwater
is another concern. Acvies such as percolaon tanks, water reservoirs and construcon of small and medium-size
dams and rivers can retain more surface water, while increasing the ground water recharge.
Development of watershed is an important programme to make best use of rainwater for agricultural producon while
improving soil conservaon and biodiversity. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent this crisis by making best use of
the available technologies and resources to conserve the exisng water resources and make ecient use of water for
agriculture, industrial producon and human consumpon. Imposing regulatory measures to prevent the misuse of
water would be helpful in conserving water. Finally, awareness and orientaon of all the water users to change their
lifestyles to conserve water can help de over the water crisis in the future. The challenge is manageable provided
we have favourable policies and mechanisms to persuade our people to change their lifestyles.
Water resources management issues must be addressedat the local, naonal andinternaonal levels. All stakeholders,
including those in government, internaonal organisaons, private sector and civil society, should be engaged, paying
special aenon to work towards water cooperaon.
Water is a key to sustainable development; it has value from social, economic and environmental perspecves and
needs to be managed within sound, integrated socioeconomic and environmental frameworks. It is impossible to
maintain the integrity of a balanced ecosystem without an overall strategy on water resources management. We all
have a shared responsibility for protecng the environment surrounding rivers and their associated watersheds.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/how-to-meet-severe-scarcity-of-water-in-near-futur
e.html
42
Weather Watch (2013-03-26 10:19)
43
2.3 April
Ausm friendly environment (2013-04-04 20:02)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/lets-ensure-aut ism-friendly-environment.html
LETS ENSURE AUTISM-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT
The sixth annual World Ausm Awareness Day (WAAD) is on April 2, 2013. Every year, ausm organisaons around
the world celebrate the day with awareness-raising events.
The World Ausm Day was agreed by the United Naons in 2007 to focus global aenon on ausm by encouraging
member states to take measures to raise awareness about ausm and encourage early diagnosis and early inter-
venon and the right to life and the right to health for ausc people. It further expresses deep concern over the
prevalence and high rate of ausm in children in all regions of the world and the consequent developmental chal-
lenges. Addionally, the WAAD celebrates the unique talents and skills of persons with ausm and is a day when
individuals with ausm are warmly welcomed and embraced in community events.
One in every 150 people in the world is ausc. This number is a very rough esmate as ausm is a disease with
a wide spectrum of symptoms and disorders, ranging from a fully funconal adult with slight ausc tendencies or
minor learning disorders. India is home to about 10 million people with ausm, and the disability has shown an
increase over the last few years.
44
Those with ausm can nd the world strange and confusing. Ausm is a pervasive developmental disability with a
wide range of symptoms that aect a childs language, social, cognive, and sensory development. Sll, some ausc
children are very bright. Although there is no cure for ausm, early intervenon and structured teaching enable
students to maximise their skills and learning potenal. Further, the built environment plays a signicant role in an
overall success of educaon and care for them.
The environment in which a person with ausm lives can have a major impact on their wellbeing. The sensory di-
cules faced by people with ausm mean that there are a number of modicaons that should be taken into account
to make environment and architectural design of buildings ausm-friendly. Architecture can best be described as
the art or pracce of designing buildings for human use. It takes account of form, funcon, construcon, beauty,
convenience and freedom.
Le Corbusier (1887 1965) was an architect, designer, writer known for being a pioneer in modernist architecture.
His career spanned ve decades with buildings constructed throughout the world. He prepared the Master Plan for
Chandigarh in 1950 and designed some government buildings which are unusual in India. It is an impressive legacy of
urban design, landscape and architecture that the architect has given us a unique city and remarkable architectural
heritage of humanity. Fewbooks in the tweneth century drewas much aenon as Le Corbusiers Vers une architec-
ture (1923) published in English as Towards a New Architecture (1927). Le Corbusier has wrien, You employ stone,
wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces; that is construcon. Ingenuity is at work.
But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say, this is beauful, that is architecture.
These concepts can have benecial eects for people with ausm. Architecture has been dened in many ways
throughout history, but its focus, its aim is built environment. In an architects work, there is an underlying noon,
which may be evident to a greater or lesser extent, that the built environment is a space to be lived in, inhabited,
for it to be considered architecture. Likewise, architecture has taken into account the existence of people with dif-
ferent types and degrees of disabilies, mainly visual, hearing, and the architect has designed, either in accordance
with their convicons with design guidelines. This is a maer of enabling disabled people to access buildings and
spaces. However, there are other disabilies that are not so visible, and that are obviated in making a built envi-
ronment accessible. Nonetheless, for people with certain cognive and sensory deciencies, etc., which are less
visible including people suering from ausm. Despite its overwhelming incidence, ausm is by and large ignored
by architects.
The common characteriscs in the ausc children are inability to relate to other people, at least in a normal way,
extreme ausc solitude whichapparently isolates the childfromthe outside world. Besides medicine and psychology,
pedagogy or even philosophy, it is necessary to know what peculiaries ausc people show in order to determine
what the characteriscs are that a built environment has to have to make it easier for themto grasp and achieve other
objecves that go beyond, but to a certain point depend on, the architecture itself, such as encouraging learning,
making it easier to socialise, ensuring independence or even preserving the dignity of the person with ausm.
Despite this high incidence of ausm, design guidelines are yet to be developed to cater specically to the scope of
ausc needs. The United Naons mandate on the Global Programme on Disability covers many issues, including em-
ployment, recreaon, religion, educaon and accessibility to public services, but has not specied design guidelines
for ausc people.
For people with ausm the eects of complexity are much greater; they are unable to disnguish separate noises,
shapes, etc., easily. If a building or set of buildings are planned in a simple clear manner, the user will require lile
eort to use and enjoy the building. A clear layout and organisaon of spaces can help a person use a building without
confusion as to the locaon of rooms. To provide a calm backdrop for people with ausm can assist in reducing some
elements of stress which is helpful for their wellbeing. Complexity in the detail of a building can cause visual distrac-
ons. The design of facilies for ausc people should emphasise sustainable design indoor air quality, acouscs,
soer interior design, lighng, storage space to reduce cluer and for security. A design strategy to deal with these
varying challenges may be iniated which would facilitate the generaon of broad design standards and guidelines
and policies for ausc people.
45
To have a beer understanding of this disorder, many denions and theories have been set forth in the past regard-
ing the mechanisms of ausm. Ausm-related research is going on at some instuons. ulising the knowledge of
years of experience in working with children with profound ausm, Architects have the task of incorporang specic
features within the design of the building such as specic colours, noise reducon fabrics, specic oor coverings,
specic bedroom design, circulaon space and design of courtyard.
It is proven that the exisng scienc literature regarding built environment in relaon to ausc people is scarce,
despite signicant research acvity relang to ausm in recent years. The design of built space and environment for
ausc children requires careful aenon. The architect must use a dierent palee for the aesthec design and built
environment for ausc people. There is a need to include design guidelines for ausc children and people which
would help them lead a beer life in ausm-friendly built environment in future.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/lets-ensure-autism-friendly-environment.html
46
Creang right environment (2013-04-04 20:04)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/world-ausm-a wareness-day-creang-right-environment
1. http://www.orissapost.com/world-autism-awareness-day-creating-right-environment
47
Fighng High Blood Pressure (2013-04-17 15:21)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/ghng-hbp/
1. http://www.orissapost.com/fighting-hbp/
48
Health and Housing (2013-04-17 15:26)
Koenigsbergers Bhubaneswar Planning (2013-04-17 15:34)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/koenigsbergers- guidelines-not-followed-in-todays-
planning.html
Today the State capital city of Bhubaneswar celebrates its 65th Foundaon Day.
49
It was on April 13, 1948 that rst Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundaon-stone of the city.
Bhubaneswar, as one of the rst planned cies of modern India, was designed on a linear plan by German architect
and urban planner Dr Oo H Koenigsberger. More than sixty years since its making, the city remains a celebrated
model of modern architecture and city planning.
The original plan envisaged horizontal development rather than vercal growth for a populaon of 40,000 with admin-
istraon as the primary funcon. Accordingly, six units were developed with Unit-V as locaon of the administrave
complex and the other units planned on neighbourhood principles. The town centre consisted of the market building,
weekly market, daily market and bus-staon with a central vista leading up to Raj Bhavan and a commercial zone along
Janpath and Bapuji Nagar up to the railway staon. Koenigsbergers planning zone provided the funcon of microcli-
mate control and oers salubrious climate throughout the year. This parcular area designed by Dr Koenigsberger
remains as the best green cover with open space and a well-organised transportaon system in the city.
Architect Julius Lazras Vaz played an important role in shaping the skyline of Bhubaneswar. He designed most of the
government buildings. Vaz adopted the Hindu style of architecture with some modicaons to take advantage of
modern methods of construcon and to meet new social needs of the people. However, Koenigsberger specied a
few guiding principles and climac design features essenal for the city building design. According to his guidelines,
most government buildings were designed with impressive corridors intended to protect the walls of oce rooms
from direct sunrays.
Neighbourhood units were designed with the best amenies of urban life, with units placed at short distances to give
people easy access to school, hospital and other facilies. In a neighbourhood unit, every child had to live within one-
quarter or one-third of a mile from school. Every housewife had to live within half a mile from the civic centre, where
she could do her shopping and also visit medical facilies. Home and workplace distance that could be conveniently
covered was by using a bicycle or a cycle-rickshaw.
Koenigsberger suggested seven types of roads footpaths, parkways, cycle paths, minor housing streets, major hous-
ing streets, main roads and main arteries for seven groups of users for seven dierent funcons. The overall widths
of land earmarked for roads and streets were not determined by trac alone but also by requirements for storm
water drainage services like overhead electric lines, telephone, water and the need of adequate light and air to the
adjoining houses. The overall width of land alloed for road purposes was, therefore, dependent on the height of
houses on both sides.
An important consideraon was space for avenue trees, and necessary provisions were made early in the land allot-
ment scheme and in the esmates. For requirements other than trac, the allotment of land even for the smallest
housing street had been xed at a minimumof 30 feet. Only about nine feet of these 30 was trac, the rest for storm
water drainage, avenue trees and services and to allow sucient gap between two rows of houses for a fair share of
the cooling breeze to every house.
The guidelines suggested by Koenigsberger have not been followed in the present-day planning. Today, the city faces
urbanisaon with a high populaon growth. The overall width of the road in many areas does not have any relaon
with the height of the building. Avenue trees, storm water drainage, services and footpaths have not been given
importance. Redevelopment in the parcular area has not followed the Koenigsbergers design principles. Since
the designed area is in the heart of the city and due to the increasing pressure on land, there are demands for re-
densicaon of the residenal area by increasing the oor area rao (FAR).
To meet the changing needs, the city requires more land. Konigsberger had also pointed out in his report to supple-
ment the Master Plan for the New Capital by a regional development plan. He emphasised a good master plan for a
new town must provide for unlimited expansion but at the same me organise the town in such a way that it forms
an organic and healthy structure at each stage of its development.
Bhubaneswar is currently witnessing several modern buildings and high-rise apartments to accommodate its grow-
ing populaon. Today, the citys growth is so fast that it is spreading towards Khurda and Jatani. The development
acvies in the city have led to large-scale deforestaon, an increasing volume of trac, polluon and temperature
rise. The citys expansion and lots of concrete structures are also the reason for microclimac change over the years.
50
Bhubaneswar recorded 42C temperature on April 6 this year, which is highest in the State. The same day Tilagarh
in Balangir district, the place considered the hoest in Odisha, recorded 40.7C.
To formulate a meaningful physical development plan, to regulate and guide the urban growth in Bhubaneswar by
2030 in a planned and healthy manner, a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for Bhubaneswar Development
Planned Area (BDPA) was prepared by IIT, Kharagpur in 2006. To manage and organise the planning, development
and control funcons, development strategies for both new areas and the exisng ones have been integrated. As per
the CDP, the maximum density in Bhubaneswar would be 50-60 dwelling units (DUs) per acre.
The Bhubaneswar NewTown Zone designed by Koenigsberger would have intensive development with administrave
funcon, capital funcon, instuons, commercial complex, housing of all kinds, urban parkway system, sports com-
plex, art and cultural acvies, etc. In this zone, the exisng density of 24 DU/acre is assumed to go up to 50 DU/acre.
Adequate aenon should be paid to transportaon network and parking facility while increasing the density in the
exisng developed area.
A need for high-density living in the 21st century is inevitable. However, planning guidance on the methods of calcu-
lang and assessing the sustainable density is the need of the day. In many high density urban areas, greenery such
as city parks, tradional streetscape, trees and planters have been reduced.
The urban greenery should be developed in high-density areas for cleaner air and safer environment. The problem
worsens when the populaon connues to grow and the density of the area increases but new green spaces are not
being created at an equal pace.
There should be a proper development control in all aspects of planning and design. Care needs to be taken for
physical, infrastructure, city transport planning and environmental consideraons of the whole region to prevent
haphazard growth and squaer selements. The open spaces, parks, recreaonal areas, greenbelts and plantaon
should be properly organised in the region to provide environmental funcons such as control of microclimate and
polluon and beaucaon of the region. This would help making the city a comfortable, safe and enjoyable place to
live in.
Koenigsbergers planning principles applied in Bhubaneswar have inspired many architects and planners in India and
abroad. Today, the architects and planners fromall over the world learn his design principles applied in Bhubaneswar.
The central area of Bhubaneswar designed by Koenigsberger is a special urban heritage site of the city with outstand-
ing planning features and has a public value. The buildings designed in this area by architect Vaz are the important
landmarks of the city and aract people from all corners of the city to this area. These buildings with special ar-
chitectural interest along with the site should be listed under consideraon of the planning system and protected
from alteraons by regulatory techniques. To retain its planned character, the area should be declared as urban her-
itage having groups of buildings, neighbourhoods and public spaces including landscapes and natural features which
provide character and disncve identy to a city.
The listed urban heritage should be emphasised in the CDP and, if understood and managed properly, the urban
heritage could eecvely contribute to the overall quality of urban areas and serve as a vital asset and aractor for
future urban development. This would idenfy the visual, spaal and cultural character of the city.
Besides, the citys role as an important centre of administraon, tourism, commerce and industry calls for planning
environment-friendly and sustainable development which would provide high quality of life and support health and
wellbeing of people who live and work in the city.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/koenigsbergers-guidelines-not-followed-in-todays-p
lanning.html
51
Bhubaneswar Vision-2030 (2013-04-17 15:37)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/foundaon-day-of-bhubaneswar-vision-2030/
1. http://www.orissapost.com/foundation-day-of-bhubaneswar-vision-2030/
52
GREEN URBANISM (2013-04-24 06:36)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/internaonal-mother-earth-day-green-urbanis m/
1. http://www.orissapost.com/international-mother-earth-day-green-urbanism/
53
Urbanisaon adds to growing levels of greenhouse gas (2013-04-24 06:41)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/urbanisaon-ad ds-to-growing-levels-of-greenhouse-
gas.html
URBANISATION ADDS TO GROWING LEVELS OF GREENHOUSE GAS
Earth Day is observed on April 22 to migate climate change, promote adaptaon and improve public health.
The rst Earth Day was held in 1970 with an aimto promote the thoughts of ecology, reverence for existence on earth
and highlighng growing concern over polluon of the soil, air and water. The April 22 date was also designated as
Internaonal Mother Earth Day by a resoluon adopted by the United Naons in 2009.
Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet Earth in a number of countries and regions, which reects the
interdependence among human beings and other living species and the planet. This years Earth Day theme is chosen
as The Face of Climate Change by the Earth Day Network.
With more than half the worlds populaon now living in urban areas, there are concerns that urbanisaon is a key
driver of unsustainable resource demands. Urbanisaon also appears to contribute to the ever-growing levels of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. Climate change presents unique challenges for urban areas and
their growing populaons. Where urban areas grow rapidly without regard to current and future resource demands
and climate change, large numbers of people and their assets can nd themselves vulnerable to a range of disrupve
and damaging risks.
Urbanism is a way of life and the outcome of urbanisaon. It is the characterisc way of interacon of inhabitants
of towns and cies with the built environment or, in other words, the character of urban life, organisaon, problems,
etc., as well as the study of that character or of the physical needs of urban sociees or city planning.
Urbanism is a complex system of paral public and private realms that exist between buildings. Therefore, large
cies are not the only examples of urbanism. It can exist in the smallest town too. First, it is in our homes and
neighbourhoods that we generate the demand for the worlds resources. Here, we eat most of our food, do much
of our transportaon, buy, use and dispose of most of the worlds end products. Here, we use much of the worlds
energy for heang and cooling, lighng and operang appliances. Next to our buildings, including homes, shops and
oces, we consume roughly half of the resources that contribute to climate change, in the acvies like heang and
cooling and running lights and appliances that are likely to trigger release of greenhouse gases somewhere else.
54
So, the shape of buildings, their eciency of layout, their exposure to heat, their tendency to gain heat energy and
their ability to accommodate our various habits of consumpon, all have a signicant eect on energy use and carbon
emissions. So, clearly, the built environment has a major role in generang the causes of climate change and other
unsustainable pracces. Urban form is a crical aspect of the challenge of sustainability. Sustainable development
is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generaons to meet
their own needs, dened by the Brundtland Commission (formally known as the World Commission on Environment
and Development), a panel convened by the United Naons in 1983. It contains the concept of needs, in parcular
the essenal needs of the worlds poor and the idea of limitaons imposed by the state of technology and social
organisaon on the environments ability to meet present and future needs. This means that when designing for
sustainability, we must move beyond the scale of the building and design for sustainable urbanism. This is because
urbanisaon produces a warmer city centre compared to the neighbouring surroundings. The temperature in urban
area could be 5-10oC warmer compared to rural areas. The eect is known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and is seen
almost at all the big cies.
In an urban area, tall buildings, bridges and yovers retard the free ow of air; so, suspended pollutants are not
eecvely removed. Lack of open ground leads to less inltraon of rainwater in the ground as the tar roads and
cement pavements are impervious to the percolaon of rainwater. This increased runo which leads greater risks of
oods/waterlogging. The urban development very oen takes place in a manner in which buildings and roads occupy
the ood plains of the rivers and streams. This causes high runos/stagnaon of water which cannot nd its natural
exit due to blocking.
Human acvies produce greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and they tend to trap heat in the Earths atmo-
sphere. Among the gases are carbon dioxide, methane and various other hydrocarbon compounds. However, there
are a number of important things that can be done at the building scale, parcularly when it comes to heang, cooling
and lighng, which account for a large poron of energy consumed by the built environment. Building energy systems
must be as ecient as possible while remaining reliable over me and with changing condions. The eciency of
characterisc building types is closely connected to the eciency of urban paern. Again, the size, shape and orien-
taon of an individual building are closely related to the size, shape and orientaon of the neighbourhood itself. The
characterisc buildings that are likely to be built in a neighbourhood are in turn related to the neighbourhoods con-
necvity, density, characterisc appeal and other factors. The building characteriscs include, aached types, which
tend to save heat from common walls; building orientaon to take maximum advantage of passive solar exposures;
buildings that are well-sheltered from the negave eects of sun and wind; buildings that line the street and support
an aracve streetscape, conducive to pedestrian acvity. Urban macro-eects are eects that are created by the
urban paern itself. They include Albedo eect, which is the tendency of buildings and paved surfaces to convert
solar energy to heat energy and increases the greenhouse eect. This adds to the heang of cies. Heat island eect
has the tendency of air to become trapped between buildings, especially tall ones, and heated above ambient levels.
Again, this increases the heang of cies and can exacerbate heat wave eects. There are also some negave eects
of tall buildings. These include wind eects, shadowing, and canyon eect. So, the more we live in a neighbour-
hood with opmally distributed services, the more we are likely to use a more ecient combinaon of large and small
facilies. We can live in a more ecient lifestyle, in a more ecient urban paern over many years.
Therefore, urban formis a crical aspect of the challenge of sustainability. This means that while designing for sustain-
ability, we must move beyond the scale of the building, and design for sustainable urbanism. For urban centres, this
requires that they meet their residents needs (being healthy, enjoyable, resilient places to live and work for all their
inhabitants). Communies should be designed for the pedestrian and public transport. Cies should be shaped by
physically-dened and universally-accessible public spaces and community instuons. Urban developments should
be characterised by homes with front porches, sidewalks, retail development in close proximity to residenal devel-
opment, green public spaces and green corridors. Green corridors provide a rich habitat for a diversity of ora and
fauna. A number of cies are developing this idea of green corridor as a tool both for protecon of biodiversity and
to provide a sense of connuity between town and country which can reduce climate-related risks.
Most urban buildings and infrastructure designed and built now would have to cope with climate change in future.
55
As a result, it would be much easier to make provisions now for likely future climate-related risks in infrastructure
expansion, new buildings and new urban developments than to have to retrot buildings and readjust selement
layouts in the future. Built environment professionals must have a major role in making these reforms. The designers
must take into account the factors at the scale of the building and factors at the scale of the neighbourhood and
region for sustainable urbanism which would migate the climate change risks, promote adaptaon and improve
public health in future.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/urbanisation-adds-to-growing-levels-of-greenhouse-
gas.html
Global acon Plan: Malaria (2013-04-25 05:09)
[1]hp://www.orissapost.com/world-malaria-day-global-acon-plan/
56
1. http://www.orissapost.com/world-malaria-day-global-action-plan/
Environmental health risk of slum-dwellers (2013-04-25 18:40)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/its-basically-a n-environmental-health-risk-of-
slum-dwellers.html
Various environment-related problems and diseases are associated with exposure of hazardous unsanitary condions
in the slum areas. The most prevalent disease is malaria fever, typhoid fever and diarrhea. Malaria parcularly is an
infecous disease transmied by mosquitoes that kill more than one million people each year. Globally, 3.3 billion
people in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. To control malaria, World Malaria Day is commemorated every year on
April 25 and recognises global eorts.
The World Malaria Day was instuted by the World Health Organisaon (WHO) Member States during the 2007 World
Health Assembly. It is an occasion to highlight the need for connued investment and sustained polical commitment
for malaria prevenon and control. It is also an opportunity for new donors to join the global malaria partnership,
and for research and academic instuons to showcase their scienc work. The global campaign theme for 2013 is
Invest in the future. Defeat malaria.
Many countries throughout the worldconnue toreport highprevalence of malaria infecon. Eventhoughthe disease
can be prevented or treated, it remains a major cause of mortality in many parts of the world. It is one of the major
communicable diseases aecng mankind, caused by plasmodiumparasite, transmied by the bite of infecve female
anopheles mosquito. It is most prevalent in slums and squaer selements of urban areas.
Many areas in the developing world are urbanising very fast and, along with this, the slum populaon in these coun-
tries is also steadily increasing. Slum areas have the highest concentraons of poor people with inadequate access
to safe water, inferior sanitaon and other infrastructure, poor quality of housing, overcrowding and unprotected
residenal status.
More than 1 billion people around the world live in slums. By 2030, the worlds slumpopulaon could rise to 2 billion.
For the poor, urban areas have always provided a means of improving quality of life as well as being in close proximity
57
to beer jobs and incomes. Slum creaon has been the result of a recent upsurge in rural-urban migraon, limited
supply of land, and regulatory frameworks that are not addressing the needs of the urban poor.
Inadequate quanes and quality of drinking water, lack of sanitaon facilies, and poor hygiene cause millions of the
worlds poorest people to suer from various diseases including malaria. The disease is closely associated with the
availability of water as the larval stage of mosquitoes develops in dierent kinds of stagnant water bodies. In urban
slums, water storage and poor drainage increase mosquito breeding, the main cause of malaria.
Therefore, malaria control must be based on disease epidemiology with emphasis on improvement of knowledge and
pracce of appropriate prevenve measures in slum and squaer selements. So, socioeconomic status, housing,
water storage, sanitaon, waste disposal facilies should be improved. The people should cooperate with municipal
health workers. Mosquito nets/repellents may be provided to the poor free of cost.
Providing adequate shelter in cies of developing countries has been a fundamental problem for naonal and munic-
ipal governments. World leaders, governments and internaonal agencies are trying to take direct acon to improve
the living condions of slum-dwellers and oer adequate soluons for tomorrow. Adequate housing is one of the
eecve means to alleviate poverty because shelter is usually the most expensive item for households. It is also a
prerequisite for beer health, providing a great amount of saving when one is not sick.
The urban poor should play a key role in the improvement of their living condions. Their parcipaon in all stages
of a social development agenda is a fundamental human right. Urban human selements require a more inclusive
approach to planning and land management to sustain all the people who live in them. Slums can be upgraded most
eecvely when citywide approaches are adopted. These approaches should include consultaon with a broad range
of stakeholders and use of parcipatory planning methods.
Absence of planned development of the slum selements is a major reason for absence of waste disposal facilies
(both liquid and solid waste). Malaria is a preventable and treatable mosquito-borne disease. Appropriate countries
and communies are being encouraged to reduce mosquito breeding sites by lling in and draining water bodies and
implemenng other environmental management schemes.
Malaria eliminaon is a worthwhile goal. In this context, innovave nancing would play an important role. Invest-
ments in malaria prevenon and control have been among the best investments in global health facility, resulng in a
dramac decrease in malaria deaths and illness. The strategic approaches to malaria control come within two major
domains prevenon and case management. The goals of malaria control are to protect individual people against
infecve malaria mosquito bites and to reduce the intensity of local malaria transmission at community level.
Parcipatory slum upgrading and prevenon programme strengthens capacity of local, central and regional instu-
ons and key stakeholders in selement and slum improvement through the use of good governance and manage-
ment approaches. Generally, the programme aims to respond to the dynamic development of cies and slumupgrad-
ing acvies. These require a deep understanding of the local context, interacon of urban stakeholders, instuonal
frameworks and nancial mechanisms.
The most powerful and most broadly-applied intervenons such as long-lasng inseccidal nets (LLINs) and indoor
residual spraying (IRS) can help prevent malaria in slum areas. The incidence of malaria can also be reduced when
mosquito breeding areas caused by insucient drainage are eliminated. These intervenons work by reducing the
lifespan of adult female anopheles mosquitoes so that they do not survive long enough to transmit the parasite.
Working with families and communies to improve their knowledge on prevenon, recognion and appropriate treat-
ment of malaria is the key to success of any malaria control programme. Besides, high-level polical commitment,
mobilisaon of resources is required to apply the eecve tools, medicines and control strategies already available.
The eects of subopmal service delivery are felt in low-income neighbourhoods and slums. Basic services like water
supply and sanitaon are primarily the responsibility of Urban Local Bodies. However, in many local authories in
developing countries suer from lack of nancial, technical and human resources and are therefore not capable or
willing to deliver and maintain basic urban services. Funding plays a fundamental role in implementaon of any
slum management strategy. Total clearance of the slum in an urban area may not be feasible because of the poor
58
land management and cost elements, but an urban basic service (UBS) may be introduced. This essenally includes
provision of immediate facilies in the slumso that residents could appreciate the importance of livable environment.
These measures would not only reduce the environmental risks of slum-dwellers but also give birth to a funconal
and aesthec environment for slum-dwellers.
There is a need to develop a funding scheme to improve the socioeconomic condion of slum-dwellers.
It is imperave to educate slum-dwellers about mosquito-borne diseases and their prevenve measures. Finally, the
people need proper enlightenment on the importance and benets of a healthy environment.
This would prevent many diseases in slums and squaer selements and lead to a healthy life for slum-dwellers.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/its-basically-an-environmental-health-risk-of-slum
-dwellers.html
Rescue of Child Ragpickers (2013-04-28 05:48)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/its-me-to-com e-to-rescue-of-child-ragpickers.html
ITS TIME TO COME TO RESCUE OF CHILD RAGPICKERS
Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children work as per the Internaonal Labour Organisaon (ILO).
They dont go to school and have lile or no me to play. Many do not receive proper nutrion or care. More than
half of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labour. Out of the 2.34 million occupaonal fatalies every year,
only 321,000 are due to accidents. The remaining 2.02 million deaths are caused by various types of work-related
diseases, which correspond to a daily average of over 5,500.
The World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a UN internaonal day observed on April 28. The days theme in
2013 is Prevenon of occupaonal diseases. Occupaonal diseases connue as the leading cause of work-related
deaths. They are caused by chemical, physical and biological agents to respiratory and skin diseases, musculoskeletal
disorders and occupaonal cancer. This also aects child labourers health.
Child Labour exists in both developing and developed countries. Its prevalence is more in the developing countries
because the families, to which the children belong, are in an urgent need of income of children for their subsistence.
India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers. There are 35 million Indian child labourers according
to a Unicef report.
Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes
with their ability to aend regular school and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.
59
Legislaons across the world prohibit child labour. However in developing countries, with high poverty, child labour
is sll prevalent.
As street children, between ve and 18 years of age, they earn their livelihood by polishing shoes, washing cars,
ragpicking, selling newspapers, etc. They also work as coolies and helpers in automobile repair shops, construcon
sites and hotels. A ragpicker is one who picks out recyclable elements fromdumped mixed wastes. According to the3
Unicef, ragpicking is one of the worst forms of child labour. Ragpickerss life is very hard as they search through every
dirty garbage heap. This acvity requires no skills and they get a maximum 20 to 50 rupees from scrap dealers for
their collecons. But the children face various physical hazards such as cuts on their body and are also suscepble
to infecons and diseases. They are vicms of poverty and illiteracy. Some of these children are involved in drugs,
alcohol, smoking and gambling. Somemes, they indulge in ansocial acvies.
The inadequate prevenon of occupaonal diseases has profound negave eects on the child labourers. Because
waste materials may include biological pathogens such as parasites and bacteria, this can be passed fromhands to the
mouth. Hospital waste oen constutes part of the wastes. This can be hazardous in terms of biological and chemical
contaminaon including exposure to used syringes, dressings, discarded medicines. Industrial waste may include toxic
materials such as heavy metals and their associated health eects. Sharp objects can cause cuts which, in turn, may
lead to tetanus or other infecons. Waste pickers are in direct compeon with dogs for the waste materials; this
somemes leads to dog bites and the associated threat of rabies. Carrying heavy loads of wastes over long distances
may be associated with muscular/skeletal problems.
Ragpicking is probably one of the most dangerous and dehumanising acvies in India. Children should be protected
from such work. Educaon is of primary importance for children for their present and future wellbeing.
The inadequate prevenon of occupaonal diseases has profound negave eects on child workers and their families.
It is necessary to take eecve economic and social measures to eliminate the roots of child ragpickers. There is an
urgent need to look into the lives of these children and design some iniaves so that they can live a healthy life.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/its-time-to-come-to-rescue-of-child-ragpickers.html
60
2.4 May
Wetland degradaon (2013-05-11 13:33)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/wetland-degrada on-bird-populaons-dwindle-
in-chilika.html
WETLAND DEGRADATION: BIRD POPULATIONS DWINDLE IN CHILIKA
The World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was iniated in 2006 and is an awareness-raising campaign highlighng the
need for protecon of migratory birds and their habitats. In the second weekend each May, people around the world
take acon and organise public events such as bird fesvals, educaon programmes and bird watching excursions to
celebrate the WMBD.
This year, the day will be celebrated on May 11-12 with the theme Networking for migratory birds. The WMBD
is expected to connect the world and bring together organisaons, governments and dedicated people to protect
migratory birds for future generaons. The day works as a network to increase public knowledge about migratory
birds and their importance and also connects groups of people to share, celebrate with and learn from each other.
This years theme also highlights the need to cooperate and network amongst organisaons and people to conserve
migratory birds. Since the migraon routes oen cross many naons and even enre connents and oceans, an
eecve management strategy requires joint acon in the form of internaonal cooperaon. Collecve conservaon
acons by nature conservaon organisaons, sciensts, governments and the general public are needed to ensure
survival of the migratory birds.
The survival of migratory birds depends on the availability of well-connected habitat networks along their migraon
routes. This years theme aims to emphasise both ecological networks and the networks between organisaons and
individuals and their mutual importance for long-term conservaon of migratory birds.
61
Suitable habitats are vital for migratory birds as they provide the areas necessary for feeding, resng and breeding.
These birds travel huge distances, somemes comprising thousands of kilometers. However, human acvies, directly
or indirectly, damage these sites through habitat fragmentaon and degradaon, thereby posing a threat to the bird
species. Many sites that birds depend on are under threat from human acvies, posing a grave risk to their species.
Direct humanacvies suchas landreclamaonanddeforestaonas well as indirect humaninuences suchas climate
change damage these sites through habitat fragmentaon and degradaon. Large numbers of important sites have
already been damaged, or lost enrely. Consequently, conservaon of the remaining important sites is crucial for
protecon of the migratory avian species.
In many parts of the world, wetlands are under threat of degradaon or disappearance. Vast water body and biodi-
versity is a major factor for visit of thousands of birds from dierent regions of the world. Along with this, climate
change is emerging as the greatest threat to natural communies in most parts of the worlds ecosystems in coming
decades. Bird species are great indicators of climate change. It is aecng birds behaviour, distribuon and popu-
laon dynamics and is implicated in a complete breeding failure in some populaons. The problems faced by bird
populaons worldwide, especially by migratory birds that may be travelling up to tens of thousands of miles, mean
that drasc changes in any single world region could push a wide variety of the species out of existence.
Migratory birds visit most part of India and are not conned to a few areas. With a view to escaping severe cold
in winter and also in search of food, the birds travel from the remote lands like Siberia, Mongolia, Caspian Lake,
Baikal Lake, Ladakh and the Himalayas foothills to visit the wetlands in India. In comparison to other Indian wetlands,
maximum numbers of migratory birds are seen in the Chilika lagoon in Odisha. The Chilika Lake is the largest lagoon
in Asia spread over three coastal districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam. It is connected to the Bay of Bengal. The water
spread area of the lagoon varies between 1,165 sqkm in monsoon and about 906 sqkm in the pre-monsoon period.
Ornithologists feel that early snowfall and scarce food might have led the birds to migrate to the Chilika. Experts this
me felt that the abundance of food and favourable weather aracted birds to the Chilika as the lagoons locaon on
the coast in the tropical zone spares it from extreme temperatures. The Chilika catchment enjoys a typically tropical
climate with an average annual maximumtemperature of 39.9C and a minimumtemperature of 14.0C. It is bounded
by hills and hillocks. The Chilika is recognised as one of the most important wetlands in the world because it is home
to a phenomenal variety of birds. It has always been potenally able to provide excellent hospitality to the birds with
favourable weather, food and shelter. There are many island sanctuaries in the Chilika with the island of Nalabana as
a major aracon. Nalabana is a lowlying marshy island of about 35 km2, covered with low vegetaon. Designated
as a bird sanctuary, it forms the core of all tourist aracons in the Chilka region due to the presence of variegated
ora and fauna.
The lagoon hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migraon season, the winter. The birds travel possibly up to
12,000 km to reach the lake. The lagoon is at present facing the problems of an overall loss of biodiversity.
The ecological character of the lake is inuenced by hydrological regimes and is vulnerable to changes due to anthro-
pogenic as well as natural factors. The lake has gone through tremendous ecological changes since last decade. It had
been facing problems like siltaon, shrinkage of area and choking of the inlet channel, which led to decrease in the
salinity gradient, proliferaon of freshwater weeds, followed by a decrease in sh producvity and an overall loss of
biodiversity.
The growth of chemicals-based industries in the catchment areas, agriculural intensicaon in the Chilika basin and
the spread of prawn-culture ponds have increased polluon and eutrophicaon of the lake. The presence of toxic-
heavy metals including mercury, lead, copper, chromium and nickel in the lake has been reported. In addion to
its impact on shing, the growth of weeds has contributed to drasc reducons in the bird populaons, parcularly
noted near Nalabana. Deforestaon in the Chilika basin and hunng are also contribung to this decline.
Due to the degradaon of wetland habitats, the populaons of various bird species are dwindling in the Chilika. In
2010 and 2011, the number of birds vising the lake were 9, 24,578 and 8,83,072, respecvely. In 2012, birds num-
bering 8,77,322 ocked to the lake which is less by 5,750 compared to the previous year, as per the latest bird census.
This may be due to the rise in temperature. Another reason may be that the depth of the lake has decreased. If
62
this trend connues, the numbers of birds will reduce in the coming years. This decline, in turn, has resulted in a
substanal decrease in internaonal tourists and ecotourism, which used to contribute greatly to the local economy.
In the Chilika, bird conservaon requires a connuous adaptaon based on the review of changes in various compo-
nents of ecological character of the wetland. There is a need for ecosystem conservaon and sustainable resource
development and livelihood improvement supported by instuonal development, communicaon, educaon and
public awareness. Ecosystem conservaon would comprise catchment conservaon, water management and bio-
diversity conservaon. Siltaon is the major problem of the lake. There is a need to reduce this load by suitable
plantaon and watershed development programme in the catchment areas.
The State Wildlife Organisaon in collaboraon with the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has taken several steps
for protecon and conservaon of the local and migratory birds. Besides, awareness and cooperaon of the local
people are highly essenal. Public awareness and concern are crucial components of migratory bird conservaon.
Cizens who are enthusiasc about birds, informed about threats and empowered to become involved in addressing
those threats, can make tremendous contribuons for migratory bird conservaon of the Chilika Lake.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/wetland-degradation-bird-populations-dwindle-in-ch
ilika.html
Water birds in India (2013-05-11 13:37)
63
Biodiversity: Similipal (2013-05-22 00:22)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/similipal-sees- disturbances-of-various-
magnitudes.html
The current decline in biodiversity represents a serious threat to human development. Biological resources constute
a capital asset with great potenal for yielding sustainable benets. Protected areas that are created to preserve
biodiversity are in crical condion due to excessive anthropogenic pressure.
Urgent and decisive acon is needed to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems for sustainable man-
agement and use of biological resources.
The United Naons has proclaimed May 22 as the Internaonal Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase under-
standing and awareness of biodiversity issues. Water is essenal for life. No living being on planet Earth can survive
without it.
It is a prerequisite for human health and wellbeing as well as for preservaon of the environment. Water and Bio-
diversity is the theme for Internaonal Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) in 2013. The theme has been chosen to
coincide with the United Naons designaon of 2013 as the Internaonal Year of Water Cooperaon.
Designaon of IDB 2013 on the theme of water provides pares to the Convenon on Biological Diversity (CBD) and
to raise awareness about this vital issue and to increase posive acon.
64
Biodiversity is the degree of variaon of life forms within a given species and the ecosystem. The greater the variety
of species, the healthier becomes the biosphere.
Human acvies have altered the worlds terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems throughout history. Over the
last 50 years, there has been a substanal and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth. The number of
species at risk of exncon is 16,306 species of plants and animals listed as threatened globally. This clearly reected
the loss of biodiversity.
The biodiversity of an area inuences every aspect of the lives of people who inhabit it. Their living space and their
livelihoods depend on the type of ecosystem.
The quality of water we drink and use, the air we breathe, the soil on which our food grows are all inuenced by a
wide variety of living organisms, both plants and animals, and the ecosystem of which each species is linked within
nature.
Biodiversity conservaon and management are a worldwide concern. In India, there is increasing interest and concern
for biodiversity conservaon in biosphere reserves.
These biosphere reserves have been set up by expanding and merging the isolated, preexisng naonal park and
sanctuaries under the control of Forest and Wildlife Departments to meet the objecves of biodiversity conservaon
and management.
These biosphere reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promong soluons to reconcile the con-
servaon of biodiversity with its sustainable use. The idea of Biosphere Reserves was iniated by the UNESCO in
1973-74 under its Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Biosphere reserves constute the main goal of the whole
programme.
The Indian Naonal Man and Biosphere Commiee idenes and recommends potenal sites for designaon as Bio-
sphere Reserves, following the UNESCOs guidelines and criteria. The Biosphere Reserves are dierent from wildlife
sanctuaries and Naonal Parks as the emphasis is on overall biodiversity and landscape rather than on specic species.
In a biosphere, there are three dierent zones: core area, buer zones and transion zones. The core areas are the
most heavily protected sites where the ecosystems remain relavely untouched. They are the areas designated mainly
for conservaon, and the only human role in these areas is for observaon and nondestrucve research. The buer
zones surround the core area and are open to people to visit. However, people cannot inhabit these areas.
They are mainly used for recreaon and ecotourism. Transion zones are the areas in the biosphere where towns
would be located if there were any. The people living in these towns are usually management agencies, sciensts,
cultural groups nave to the area and farms and sheries (biosphere). The people who live in the towns are usually
responsible for managing, sustaining, and developing the biosphere.
The State of Odisha is quite rich in natural resources and has several biodiversity hotspot areas. It has varied and
widespread forests harbouring dry deciduous, moist deciduous forests as well as mangroves with several unique,
endemic, rare and endangered oral and faunal species.
Odisha ranks fourth amongst State/Union Territories of the country in terms of area under forest cover. The total
forest area of the State is 58, 135 sqkm, which is 37.34 per cent of the States geographical area and about 7.66 per
cent of the countrys forests.
Similipal located in Odishas Mayurbhanj district, with its dense green forests, hilly terrain, broad open valleys,
plateaus, grasslands and rich biodiversity, has the unique disncon of being a Tiger Reserve, a Naonal Park, a
Wildlife Sanctuary, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve. Semi-evergreen to dry deciduous forest types
(1,076 species of plants including 94 variees of orchids) provide suitable home for a variety of fauna. Important and
rare wildlife include gers, elephants, leopards, Sambars, spoed deer, peacocks, pythons, cobras, lizards, etc. It is
the richest watershed in Odisha, giving rise to many perennial rivers. Gorgeous Barehipani and Joranda waterfalls
are of great aracons. The Barehipani waterfall is located at the centre of the Naonal Park. It is one of the tallest
waterfalls in the country, at a height of 399 m. The falls are the most beauful sites at the Naonal Park. The rich
65
biodiversity, the physical and topographical features of Simlipal constute a unique and delighul desnaon for
sciensts, nature-lovers and tourists.
The Biosphere Reserve is an internaonal designaon by the UNESCO for representave parts of natural and cultural
landscapes extending over large areas of terrestrial or coastal ecosystems or a combinaon thereof.
The Government of India iniated a Centrally-sponsored scheme on Biosphere Reserve in 1986. The goals for bio-
sphere reserve management are to facilitate conservaon of representave landscapes and their immense biological
diversity and cultural heritage.
These are the most appropriate means of protecng the landscape with its total biodiversity. So far, 15 Biosphere
Reserves have been established all over the country across dierent bio-geographical regions. Similipal was noed
as the eighth Biosphere Reserve in 1994.
This biosphere reserve is unique in terms of its varied topography, geologic formaon and rich biological diversity.
The forest ecosystems of the Similipal Biosphere Reserve are experiencing disturbances of various magnitudes.
People aect biodiversity in both direct and indirect ways. Agriculture and animal husbandry alter the biological
diversity by destroying or modifying the nave biota. Acvies of these people may generate threats that cause major
obstacles in biodiversity conservaon in Similipal. The specic threats are the loss of biodiversity due to collecon
of mber, rewood, re and hunng of wildlife. Special aenon should be given to dierent components of the
biosphere reserves like landscape, habitats and species.
The Similipal Biosphere Reserve is also an ideal habitat for approximately 600 plant species. The illegal and unscienc
collecon by local people has led to a drasc reducon in the number of medicinal plant species. and many species
of such plants are becoming rare and are included in the list of endangered plants.
The best way to protect Similipals biodiversity is to protect its habitats. In order to facilitate and coordinate the
research programmes and idenfy the crical gaps in research eorts on the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, the State
Government enacted the Odisha Biological Diversity Rules, 2010.
The implementaon of the rules and the biosphere programme would seek to make a sustained impact on the overall
scenario of biodiversity conservaon. The conservaon and sustainable use of biodiversity also requires full and
eecve parcipaon of local communies.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/similipal-sees-disturbances-of-various-magnitudes.
html
Biodiversity: Bhitarkanika (2013-05-22 01:08)
66
Smoking between Poverty and Mortality (2013-05-31 04:27)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/smoking-a-power ful-mediator-between-poverty-and-
mortality.html
The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 6,00,000 are non-smokers
dying from breathing second-hand smoke. Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more than eight million people every
year by 2030.
More than 80 per cent of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low- and middle-income countries,
where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is more.
Every year, on May 31, the World Health Organisaon (WHO) and partners mark the World No Tobacco Day highlight-
ing the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocang for eecve policies to reduce tobacco consumpon.
The theme for the World No Tobacco Day 2013 is Ban Tobacco adversing, promoon and sponsorship. The ulmate
goal of the day is to protect the present and future generaons not only fromthese devastang health consequences
but also against the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
Tobacco products are made enrely or partly of leaf tobacco as rawmaterial, which are intended to be smoked, sucked,
chewed or snued. All contain the highly addicve psychoacve ingredient, nicone. Despite the overwhelming
evidence of the harmful eects of smoking, tobacco use has increased in developing countries and become one of
the most profound global health challenges.
Tobacco has been used in India for centuries. The early forms of tobacco were limited to chewing tobacco leaves or
smoking tobacco. Today, several products made of, or containing tobacco, are available in the market. Nicone is a
drug found in tobacco which is highly addicve. Over me, a person becomes physically and emoonally addicted
to, or dependent on, nicone. Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including
cancer, lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Despite the known health problems associated with tobacco use,
adolescents connue to iniate and develop regular paerns of tobacco use.
67
Globally, adult tobacco consumpon is strongly associated with poverty, with those in lower socioeconomic classes
using tobacco at higher rates. Although there are many factors contribung to predicted tobacco use, socioeconomic
status is the single greatest predictor.
In India, only 20 per cent of the total tobacco consumpon is in the form of cigarees. Bidis account for the largest
proporon, at about 40 per cent of the total. Bidis contain higher concentraons of nicone than both ltered and un-
ltered cigarees and have equally deleterious eects on health. Also, due to extensive use of chewing tobacco, India
has the most cases of oral cancer in the world, with 83,000 incident cases and 46,000 deaths annually. These cancers
are steadily increasing and occurring more frequently among younger people. A recent research has demonstrated
that smoking increases the risk of death among paents with tuberculosis (TB) and causes 200,000 extra deaths due
to TB. An esmated 65 per cent of all adult Indian men and 33 per cent of adult Indian women use some form of
tobacco.
Millions of people in India use chewing tobacco. With India undergoing a tremendous economic and epidemiologic
transion, tobacco consumpon is increasing rapidly among urban youth. Nearly all tobacco use begins during youth
andyoung adulthood. These young individuals progress fromsmoking occasionally tosmoking every day. Secondhand
smoke is the smoke that lls restaurants, oces or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such
as cigarees and bidis.
The World Health Survey (WHS) conducted by the WHO has found that 46.7 per cent of poor men smoke in India as
against 21.8 per cent of rich men. In developing countries, many of the poorest smokers spend signicant amounts of
their incomes on tobacco instead of basic human needs such as food, shelter, healthcare and educaon. It is because
smoking regulates mood, manages stress and copes up with the strains of material deprivaon.
An adult tobacco survey in India done recently by the Health Ministry and the WHO found that smokers in India
spend an average of Rs 399 on cigarees and Rs 93 on bidis monthly. According to the Planning Commission of India,
as many as 354 million people or 29 per cent of the populaon currently live below the poverty line, which is dened
by a monthly income of anything below 672 rupees for rural India and 859 rupees for urban labourers.
Smoking is, therefore, a powerful mediator of the associaon between poverty and mortality. This is because the
poor and less educated are less aware of the health hazards of smoking and, thus, more likely to adopt this harmful
pracce.
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. In adults, secondhand smoke causes serious car-
diovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden
death.
Despite increased eorts in tobacco control over the last several decades, smoking connues to be the number one
cause of preventable diseases and deaths. Furthermore, tobacco is directly related to and contributes to poverty.
According to the WHO, tobacco use contributes to huge economic losses for individuals, families, communies and
enre countries.
Tobacco also creates economic costs that extend beyond the direct cost of related illnesses and producvity losses,
including healthcare expenditures from acve and passive smokers, employee absenteeism, reduced labour produc-
vity, ?re damage due to careless smokers, increased cleaning costs and widespread environmental damages.
Tobacco users have higher medical expenses due to tobacco-related illnesses and tend to die at younger ages, leaving
their families with loss of income, medical bills and other expenses related to their illnesses and deaths.
The immediate and long-term benets of smoking cessaon extend to men and women of all income and educaon
levels but are more pronounced among low socioeconomic status (SES) adults. While cessaon may seem near im-
possible for many lowSES individuals, there are several eecve tools that can control use. Tobacco control policy can
have a signicant impact on reducing smoking rates and health consequences of smoking among low SES individuals.
There is a need to connue raising awareness and remind people of the law. Ulmately, governmental leadership at
state and city levels would be crucial to the ongoing success of the smoke-free law.
68
Every person should be able to breathe smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect the health of smokers and nonsmok-
ers. Mass media campaigns can also reduce tobacco consumpon by inuencing people to protect nonsmokers and
convincing youths to stop using tobacco.
It is high me to control smoking for low-income people. Smoking is bad for physical and mental health. Many poor
people with depression smoke as they nd no alternave for relax and entertainment. When a person smokes, a dose
of nicone reaches the brain within about 10 seconds. At rst, nicone improves mood and concentraon, decreases
anger and stress, relaxes muscles and reduces appete. But this eect is short-term. Smoking puts one at even greater
risk of physical ill health. Any short-term benets that smoking seems to have are outweighed by the higher rates of
smoking-related physical health problems such as lung cancer and heart diseases. Nicone replacement therapy can
help smokers stop smoking and they should think of beer opportunity of livelihood.
A number of countries have legislaons restricng tobacco. The Government of India has launched the new Naonal
Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) to implement the an-tobacco laws and sensise all stakeholders, which would
reduce the prevalence of smoking among the lower socioeconomic groups. Besides, a comprehensive ban of all
tobacco adversing, promoon and sponsorship is required for all people to live a tobacco-free healthy life.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/smoking-a-powerful-mediator-between-poverty-and-mo
rtality.html
Tobacco-free cies (2013-05-31 04:32)
2.5 June
Urban Agriculture (2013-06-05 05:03)
69
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/needed-urban-ag riculture-for-food-security.html
The rapid urbanisaon in developing naons is accompanied by a rapid increase in urban poverty and urban food inse-
curity. This scenario is further aggravated by the fact that high food inaon, which by now is a global phenomenon,
is expected to connue in future.
The United Naons Environment Programme (UNEP) has invited people world over to celebrate the annual World
Environment Day on June 5 with the theme for this year as Think. Eat, Save.
The World Environment Day (WED) designated by the United Naons General Assembly in 1972 is a peoples event.
The rst WED was observed in 1973. This is the most widely-celebrated global day for posive environmental ac-
on. It inspires acon by governments, industries, community groups and individuals to improve the environment. It
provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness on environment and mobilise acon by all stakeholders.
The issue of food security refers to the availability of food and ones access to it. A household is considered food-
secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvaon. The World Health Organisaon (WHO) denes
three facets of food security: food availability, food access and food use.Ensuring food security ought to be an issue of
great importance for a country like India where more than one-third of the populaon is esmated to be absolutely
poor. Food security at the naonal level refers mainly to the availability in the country of sucient stocks of food to
meet domesc demand, either through domesc supply or through imports.
The worlds populaon is likely to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. The United Naons Food and Agriculture Organisaon
(FAO) esmates that by 2050, global food demand will increase by 70 per cent in order to feed the global populaon
of 9.1 billion. This is going to put a tremendous pressure on the already scarce land and water resources, thereby
implying an urgent need for an alternave way to combat food shortages.
Urban Agriculture (UA) has the potenal to provide millions with some secure access to food.UA is dened as the
producon of crop and livestock goods within cies and towns. UA can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture,
agro forestry and horculture. These also occur in periphery-urban areas as well. Urban Agriculture contributes to
food security and food safety.
India is experiencing a shi over me from a largely rural and agrarian populaon residing in villages to urban, non-
agriculture centres. Presently, India has a populaon of 1.2 billion as per the Census of India, 2011 and is the second
most populous country in the world aerChina. However, it is projected that India will be the worlds most populous
country by 2025 surpassing China. By 2050, it will have over 1.6 billion people.
Hence, with limited natural resources, water, limited land area and a vast majority of poor, uneducated and under-
ulised human resources, the cies will be unsustainable. Good pracce of UA is one of the soluons for food security
in the country.
Integraon of Urban Agriculture with urban greening programmes can provide food to urban residents, to reduce
urban polluon and temperatures as well as to oer recreaon opportunies to improve quality of life for all urban
residents. Urban Agriculture in India is just witnessing its beginning with a few iniaves in some of the cies like
Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai.
As India progresses towards a rapid phase of urbanisaon and as the concept of sustainable cies becomes increas-
ingly acceptable, there are opportunies to build environmentally and economically sound Urban Agriculture systems
involving waste and water management that can be incorporated from the beginning itself and make it an
integral part of urban planning. Urban Agriculture is probably the most ecient tool available which can help manage
a citys waste by ulising it for food culvaon and creang jobs.
It creates a diverse ecology where fruit-bearing trees,
vegetable plantaons and even shing, etc., could co-exist and build a wholly ecologically sustainable scenario.
Land policies in and around cies need to be designed in such a way that it accepts agriculture as a legimate usage
of land. Urban Agriculture has to be integrated in the agriculture policies and urban planning.
70
As more of the worlds populaon lives in cies, quesons of food security and food sovereignty increasingly take on
an urban dimension. A greater aenon is now being paid to the producon and supply of food within urban areas.
However, to maximise its contribuon and impact, Urban Agriculture must be integrated into broader food systems
and into more comprehensive programmes of city planning.
There are hundreds of cies both in rich and poor countries that have set targets to make their cies green and
sustainable with food security. The cost of greening and cleaning can be borne by urban food producon and Urban
Agriculture. Dierent countries in the world like China, Australia and many Asian as well as African countries are doing
it and constantly improving on this. In India, though the concept of Urban Agriculture is beginning to become popular,
the concept of good pracce Urban Agriculture is yet to gain momentum.
However, Good Pracce Urban Agriculture eorts have to become much more popular in India for the survival of
Indian cies and their cizens. It has the potenal for providing much higher benets in nutrion improvement,
income generaon and land as well as waste management.
China is a very good example of Good Pracce Urban Agriculture and today China is highly dependent on urban
agriculture.
Urban fringes in Indian cies are mostly used as dumping sites for city wastes. If appropriate agricultural pracces are
adopted in these sites, it would be benecial to all.
Urban Agriculture, with good pracce, introduced to the fringes has several environmental benets, namely reduced
polluon, benecial reuse of wastes, increased tree cover and beer living condions for the urban poor living in the
urban fringe areas.
Good Pracce Urban Agriculture has to be linked with food system planning and land use planning of a city and sur-
roundings. Hence, Good Pracce Urban Agriculture, food systemand land use paerns should be closely interlinked.
There is a need for idencaon of land for urban development with agriculture. Agricultural land within urban area
is to be protected under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act.
New townships should incorporate urban agriculture like city farming, horculture, etc at the very beginning in the
planning stage. This will provide food security and urbanresilience in a sustainable way.
There is a need for greater awareness about urban
agriculture. Socially-oriented enterprises can play a signicant role to spread knowledge-intensive techniques in this
area. The Government at the same me should facilitate UA through various schemes for food security in the city.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/needed-urban-agriculture-for-food-security.html
71
Heritage Conservaon: Odisha (2013-06-05 14:17)
72
End Child Labour (2013-06-12 07:11)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/raise-poor-fami lies-socio-economic-status-to-end-
child-labour.html
Child labour is an age-long and global problem. Child labour and its related socioeconomic problems are increasing
day by day. Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children work as labourers. They do not go to school
and have lile or no me to play.
Child labourers are forced to work in agriculture, mining, construcon, manufacturing, service industries, hotels, bars,
restaurants, fast food establishments and domesc service.
The Internaonal Labour Organisaon (ILO) is a United Naons agency dealing with labour issues. The eecve aboli-
on of child labour is one of the fundamental principles on which the ILO was founded in 1919. The ILO launched the
World Day against Child Labour on June 12 to focus aenon on the global extent of child labour and the acon and
eorts needed to eliminate it. On this day, the ILO invites everyone to celebrate the World Day against Child Labour.
In 2010, the internaonal community adopted a roadmap for achieving eliminaon of the worst forms of child labour
by 2016, which stressed that child labour is an impediment to childrens rights and a barrier to development of any
naon.
The theme for this years World Day against Child Labour is No to child labour in domesc work.
Large numbers of children are already involved as domesc workers before they reach the legal minimum age for
admission to employment. They are engaged in paid or unpaid domesc work in the home of a third party or em-
ployer and perform tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, minding children and gardening. These children can be
parcularly vulnerable to exploitaon and their work is oen hidden from the public eyes.
73
The ILO esmates that 15.5 million children worldwide are engaged in paid or unpaid domesc work in the home of
a third party or employer. The vast majority of all child domesc workers are girls (72 %). As many as 52 per cent of
the child domesc workers are found in hazardous domesc works, and 47 per cent of all child domesc workers are
belowthe age of 14 years, with 3.5 million aged 5 to 11 years and 3.8 million between 12 and 14 years. Some children
are working in domesc work as a result of forced labour and tracking. Although the specic number of children
in forced labour and tracking situaons in domesc work is unknown, it is esmated that 5.5 million of them are
vicms of forced labour and human tracking around the world.
Child domesc labourers are oen ignored by policymakers and excluded from the coverage of legislaon. Legisla-
ons of a number of countries exclude domesc work in private households. Because of the hidden nature of much
domesc work and because labour laws are commonly not applied in the sector, there are parcular vulnerabilies.
Their lives are controlled by their employers and they are also subjected to verbal and physical abuses. This is a socioe-
conomic problem. Parents for the reason of poverty send their children to supplement their family incomes derived
fromchild labour. There are also other reasons like illiteracy, ignorance of parents about the importance of educaon,
ignorance of impact on children of labour and lack of concern about government policy.
Even though this is a global phenomenon, it is very unfortunate that India has the largest number of child labourers.
In India, more than 12.7 million children are engaged in child labour. And 20 per cent to 40 per cent of these child
labourers are in domesc work. There are as many as 15 lakh child labourers in the 30 districts of Odisha. Children of
Odisha work in dierent occupaons such as agriculture and allied works, collecon and processing of minor forest
produces, domesc work/help, hotels/motels/road side dhabas, etc.
Although child labour in India is legally forbidden since 1986, the kids are sll involved in dierent works as child
labourers. There are a lot of provisions added in the Constuon of India for child welfare to overcome child labour
and to avoid the situaons that come as a consequence of the child labour.
The Constuon of India, through various Arcles enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and the Direcve Principles
of State Policy as: No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in
any other hazardous employment (Arcle 24); The State shall provide free and compulsory educaon to all children
of the age 6 to 14 years(Arcle 21A); The State shall direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength of
workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused and that they are not forced by economic
necessity to enter vocaons unsuited to their age and strength (Arcle 39E).
The Child Labour (Prohibion and Regulaon) Act came to force in 1986. As per the law, any person who employs any
child in contravenon of the provision of Secon 3 of the Act is liable for a jail term which shall not be less than three
months but which may extend to two years or with ne which shall not be less than 20,000 but which may extend to
50,000, or with both.
In order to stop child labour, the Government of Odisha has passed some rules. One of the important rules is the
Odisha Child Labour (Prohibion and Regulaon) Rules, 1994.
Besides, the Government of India adopted various programmes for eradicaon of child labour. The Ministry of Labour
and Employment has implemented the naonal policy through the establishment of Naonal Child Labour Projects
(NCLPs) for rehabilitaon of child workers since 1988. Inially, these projects were industry-specic and aimed at
rehabilitang children working in tradional child labour-endemic industries. A renewed commitment to full the
Constuonal mandate resulted in enlarging the ambit of the NCLPs in 1994 to rehabilitate children working in haz-
ardous occupaons.
Childrens development and an overall eradicaon of child labour problem depend on acve public-private partner-
ship, proper Government policies and programmes for eliminang poverty and unemployment and free basic facilies
and educaon to poor people in the society.
The Government of India is stepping up its ght against child labour. Under new laws, all labour involving children
under 14 years old is illegal. Children under 18 years are also protected from any type of hazardous work.
In August 2012, the Jharkhand Government has approved a State Acon Plan. This policy framework envisages a child
labour-free State by 2016 and details the vision of the State and its plan towards achieving the eliminaon of child
74
labour and ensuring the right to educaon to every child. Similar policy frameworks in other States can eradicate child
labour in our country.
Children are the biggest asset of a society. The welfare of the society is closely related to the welfare of the child.
To eliminate child labour, it is imperave to improve the socio-economic status of their families. Unless the socio-
economic status of the poor families is improved, their children will be bound to work as labourers. There is an urgent
need for studying the role and perspecve of the society towards child worker as the culture of a society plays the
vital and important role in establishing the norms and laws.
There are many soluons to the child labour problem. Income of the families should be increased and educaon for
all children irrespecve of their economic and social background should be ensured; that helps children to learn skills
and earn a livelihood.
At the internaonal level, dierent organisaons are also working to eradicate child labour, but sll there are lots of
eorts needed to create an environment free from child labour.
Let us all take some steps in this direcon so that all children get free educaon and live a healthy life with their
families. This would be benecial to the individual family as well as the whole society.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/raise-poor-families-socio-economic-status-to-end-c
hild-labour.html
Help Elders live happily (2013-06-15 03:48)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/measures-change d-mindset-needed-to-help-elders-
live-happily.html
The world is rapidly ageing. The number of people aged 60 and over as a proporon of the global populaon will
double from 11 per cent in 2006 to 22 per cent by 2050. By then, there will be more older people than children
(aged 014 years) in the populaon for the rst me in human history. People everywhere must age with dignity and
security, enjoy life through full realisaon of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is imperave because
the elderly contribute to the family by dispensing the acquired wisdom, distribung their wealth and keeping the
75
members of the family in union. Such a systemof mutual support is, however, facing hardships in a modern industrial
society.
People in old age suer fromvarious problems for a variety of reasons. Most of themsuer fromdiseases like arthris,
blood sugar, heart ailments and so on and need care from their children. They have spent all their lifes earnings in
discharging their parental dues andare totally dependent ontheir childrenfor their existence inthe oldage. However
family and community are nowrecognised as being responsible for abuse and neglect of the elder. In some cases, they
lead a hopeless and lonely life with nothing to look forward to. Their very existence is a painful and tragic extension
of their life and they surrender everything to their cruel fate.
There are so many examples of elder abuse and neglect in our country. Thalaikoothal in some parts of Tamil Nadu
is one such example where the family gets rid of the old people by killing them. This is a cruelty, where the old man
would be given an oil bath and then fed with tender coconut water twice or thrice. This would lead to high fever and
renal failure leading to death within two or three days. There are also many incidences of elder abuse in other parts of
our country. Many laws have been formulated to prevent such crueles on elder people, but, above all, there should
be a sociological change which would bring relief of such acon.
To create awareness among the younger generaon, the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched on
June 15, 2006 by the Internaonal Network for the Prevenon of Elder Abuse (INPEA) and the United Naons World
Health Organisaon. On March 9, 2012, the UN General Assembly established June 15 as a UN Internaonal Day. The
purpose of the WEAAD is to encourage communies to recognise the problem of elderly abuse, and for countries to
create policies that foster respect for elders and provide them the tools to connue to be producve cizens.
The UN agency has noted that the world needs a global response to the problem, which focuses on protecng the
rights of older persons. The WEAAD involves acvies to bring greater recognion of mistreatment of older adults
wherever they live throughout the world, and to highlight the need for appropriate acon.
The worlds older populaon, dened in the present context as those aged 60 years and above, now stands at around
760 million. Asia accounts for more than half of the total (414 million, including 166 million in China and 92 million
in India). The older populaon of India, which was 56.7 million in 1991, 72 million in 2001 and 92 million in 2011, is
expected to grow to 137 million by 2021.
In India, elder abuse and neglect has only recently been a subject of discussion. There are no reliable naonal level
data in India on the prevalence and incidence of elder abuse and neglect. In fact, to a large extent it is hidden by older
people, their families and communies as people do not want to acknowledge or talk about this sort of behaviour.
It is true that elder abuse and neglect are dicult to quanfy as these occur in the privacy of the home, instuons,
and reporng systems for elder abuse are almost absent in the country.
Evidence of growing incidence and prevalence is also being esmated by increases of old age homes and demand for
instuonal care and care providers / givers from outside the family. However, old age homes are not the soluons
to the problems faced by elders. Although their basic wants are taken care of, they miss love, aecon and emoonal
connecon with their family members.
Given this trend, the elderly face a number of problems. The problems range from absence of ensured and sucient
income to support themselves and their dependents, to ill health, absence of social security, loss of social role and
recognion, to the non-availability of opportunies for creave use of free me.
However somemes, they involve in dierent family acvies such as guiding younger generaon, taking care of
grandchildren, providing support for children when asked for, helping in household chores, developing hobbies and
interests, taking up self-employment, teaching and counselling.
Economic dependence was considered a major reason for elderly abuse. Physical weakness due to age was also
another reason why abuse existed and they could not ght it. Prevenng family violence, including the abuse and
neglect of older people, is an important community and social policy issue in many countries.
This is a problem in the whole of Ondia and needs to be solved at dierent levels. Under the eleventh Five-Year plan,
the Government of India has taken many steps. Wellbeing of older persons has been mandated in the Constuon
76
of India. Arcle 41, a Direcve Principle of State Policy, has it that the State shall, within the limits of its economic
capacity and development, make eecve provision for securing the right of public assistance in cases of old age.
There are other provisions, too, which direct the State to improve the quality of life of its cizens. Right to equality
has been guaranteed by the Constuon as a Fundamental Right. These provisions apply equally to older persons.
Social security has been made the concurrent responsibility of the Central and State Governments.
To bring out soluon to the various problems of aged people, the Indian Government declared the Naonal Policy
of Older Persons (NPOP) in January 1999, the Internaonal Year of Older Persons. The policy highlights the rising
populaonof agedpeople andthe urgent needtounderstandanddeal withmedical, psychological andsocioeconomic
problems faced by the elderly.
India passed The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Cizens Act in 2007. It legally requires children and
grandchildren (not minors) to maintain the health and wellness of an aging family member, where maintenance is
dened as the provision for food, residence and medical aendance and treatment; and senior cizen as any person
age sixty or older. This is the governments aempt to place responsibility on family members.
Many States have general statutory provisions which can be used by older persons under certain condions.
The policy would make a change in the lives of senior cizens only if it is implemented. The government and dierent
NGOs have some basic responsibilies in the maer and other instuons as well as individuals with need to consider
how they can play their respecve roles for the wellbeing of older persons. Collaborave acon would go a long way
in achieving a more humane society which gives older persons their legimate place.
The elderly in Odisha are more vulnerable, and in this context, the issue of social security assumes greater signicance.
To understand the nuances, a study of some demographic and socioeconomic indicators of older persons in terms
of their living arrangement, extent of economic independence, economic service-providers and health condion is
required. More studies are required to assess the growing insecuries being faced by the aged in Odisha.
Our elders are our asset, and they need to be supported and empowered.
On this day, we should create awareness about elders and give them dignity, security and care. Youths and elders
should live together which would strengthen the family environment and the society as a whole.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/measures-changed-mindset-needed-to-help-elders-liv
e-happily.html
Age-friendly cies (2013-06-15 03:53)
77
Sustainable Land Management against Desercaon (2013-06-17 00:10)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/sustainable-lan d-management-can-ght-
desercaon.html
SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT CAN FIGHT DESERTIFICATION
Desercaon and land degradaon are now persistent in all ecosystems resulng in water scarcity in dierent parts
of the world. Desercaon is a concept used to grasp more acute forms of the degradaon of land-based ecosystems.
This has a negave impact on the availability, quanty and quality of water resources that leads to scarcity of water.
Further, the direct physical eects of land degradaon include the drying up of freshwater resources and increase in
the frequency of drought. Desercaon is also associated with biodiversity loss and contributes to global climate
change.
The World Day to Combat Desercaon is an occasion to remind everybody that desercaon can be eecvely
tackled and soluons to it are possible. The day is being observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relang to
internaonal cooperaon to combat desercaon and the eects of drought. In 1994, the United Naons General
Assembly declared June 17 as the World Day to Combat Desercaon to promote public awareness of the issue
and the implementaon of the United Naons convenon resoluon to combat desercaon in those countries
experiencing serious drought and desercaon. Droughts have a crical impact on agricultural producon and have
added to the soaring food prices and shortages worldwide.
The theme for the 2013 World Day to Combat Desercaon is Drought and Water Scarcity. This years slogan Dont
let our future dry up calls everyone to take acon to promote preparedness for and resilience to water scarcity, deser-
caon and drought. The slogan embodies the message that we are all responsible for water and land conservaon
and their sustainable use and that there are soluons to these serious natural resource challenges. Land degradaon
does not have to threaten our future.
Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for
seven billion people, but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.
Water scarcity already aects every connent. As per the United Naons Department of Economic and Social Aairs
(UNDESA), around 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million more people are approaching this
situaon. Another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of the worlds populaon, face economic water shortage
(where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers).
78
In India, the per capita water availability is reducing drascally due to the increase in populaon. The average annual
per capita availability of water in the country, taking into consideraon the populaon of the country as per the 2001
census, was 1,816 cubic meters (cum) which got reduced to 1,545 cubic meters as per the 2011 census.
In 2001, the average per capita water availability in Odisha was around 3,359 cumper year as compared to the naonal
average of 1,816 cum. With projected future populaon, the per capita water availability in the State will reduce to
2,218 cum in 2051. A per capita water availability less than 1,700 cum is termed water stress condion while if it falls
below 1,000 cum, it is termed as water scarce condion.
The groundwater potenal varies in dierent regions of the country. Due to heavy extracon of groundwater and
its limited recharge, the groundwater is geng depleted at a fast rate. This depleon is parcularly marked in most
of the dry land regions of the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and
Maharashtra. Also, there are many villages in the country either with scarce water supply or without any source of
water. In many rural areas, women sll have to walk a distance of about 2.5 km to reach the nearest source of water.
In Odisha, the agriculture sector contributes about 50 per cent of the State domesc product and provides employ-
ment to about 75 per cent of the total working force. In the maximum rain-fed districts like Kalahandi, Koraput,
Nabaragpur and Rayagada, frequent occurrence of drought result in severe crop failure. The basic problems in these
areas include water scarcity which results in low producvity. Many villages in Odisha are showing symptoms of
desercaon. Poor and unsustainable land management techniques also worsen the situaon. Over-culvaon,
overgrazing and deforestaon put great strain on land and water resources.
Sustainable land management is an important measure for tackling desercaon. It includes fostering balanced
freshwater resource management for domesc use, including aquaculture, shing and irrigaon; restoring water-
table recharge, protecng wetlands from negave impacts of agricultural and selement encroachments, restoring
soil producvity and reducing soil erosion through sustainable land management and adopng sustainable cropping
techniques such as organic farming and agro forestry.
To combat drought and water scarcity, acvies like percolaon tanks, water reservoirs and construcon of small,
medium-size dams and rivers are useful which can retain more surface water, while increasing the groundwater
recharge development of watersheds is an important programme to make best use of the rainwater for agricultural
producon while improving soil conservaon and biodiversity.
Watershed management progammes are implemented in drought-prone areas to tackle special problems faced by
those areas constantly aected by severe drought condions. The main objecve of the watershed approach is to
minimise the adverse eects of drought on the producon of crops, livestock and producvity of land, to promote
overall economic development and improve the socioeconomic condion of the people.
An integrated land and water resource management policy would ulmately bring in environmental and socioeco-
nomic benets. Rural and urban populaons both benet from sustainable land management pracces. These also
serve in maintaining signicant agricultural biodiversity and resilient agro ecosystems including forest resources.
Desercaon is not just about adopng physical remedies, as social remedies are equally important. Both remedies
need to be tackled in an integrated manner, rather than separately, if policies for addressing desercaon are to be
eecve.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that the world indeed has become more drought-prone during
the past 25 years, and that climate projecons indicate an increased frequency of severe droughts in many parts
of the world. It is imperave to prepare guidelines from naonal to village-level land use planning for sustainable
land management pracces. Village community groups should be trained for eecve use of land use plans. This
would prevent water scarcity and desercaon in coming years. Eecve prevenon of desercaon requires
drought management strategies and policy approaches that promote sustainable resource use. These strategies must
be science-based and directed at managing the risks and migate the eects of desercaon and drought
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/sustainable-land-management-can-fight-desertificat
ion.html
79
Drug against Sustainable Livelihood (2013-06-26 06:20)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/keep-away-from- drug-for-sake-of-sustainable-
livelihood.html
The problems of drug abuse and illicit tracking are threatening livelihoods and communies in many countries.
Globally, it is esmated that between 153 million and 300 million people aged 15-64 use an illicit substance as per the
United Naons Oce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It is also esmated that there are between 99,000 and 2,53,000
deaths globally due to illicit drug use every year. In India, there are about 3 million esmated vicms of dierent kinds
of drug usages.
Illicit use of psychoacve drugs is dangerous for the health of individuals and society. It induces changes in behaviour
and emoonal status and causes severe psychological disorders. It also undermines the social fabric of the community.
Because of their acon on the brain, such drugs induce dependence on them, leading to loss of interest in many
areas of life. Drugs are placed under naonal and internaonal control to prevent the negave health and social
consequences of substance abuse. Reasons for drug use are closely linked to populaon mobility and livelihoods,
impacng not only on the individual drug user but also on the families and communies in a devastang way and
further aggravang the situaon of poverty.
On June 26, the Internaonal Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Tracking is observed, which serves as a reminder of
the need to combat the problems to the society posed by illicit drugs. This important day was iniated by the United
Naons General Assembly to create a society free of illegal drugs and drug abuse. The UNODC has long been at the
forefront of campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of tradional drugs such as cannabis, heroin, cocaine
and amphetamine-type substances. This day is supported by individuals, communies and various organisaons all
over the world.
Today, however, there is an alarming new drug problem; the demand has soared for substances not under interna-
onal control. Therefore, the 2013 UNODC global awareness campaign Make health your new high in life, not
drugs aims to inform the public, parcularly young people, about the harmful eects of drugs and new psychoac-
ve substances (NPS). Sold openly, including through the internet, these substances, which have not been tested for
safety in humans, can be far more dangerous than tradional drugs.
Drug and alcohol abuse are the examples of drinking and using drugs (prescripon and illicit) that cause harmful ef-
fects to a persons health, livelihood, relaonships and producvity. Single dosage of either alcohol or drugs doesnt
automacally deem the person an addict. However, connuous usage and drug abuse can lead to chemical depen-
dency and addicon. Drug abuse has been known to destroy homes, deteriorate relaonships, causing fatal accidents,
domesc violence and physical abuse. Drug tracking is a global illicit trade involving the culvaon, manufacture,
distribuon and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibion laws. Illicit drugs weaken economic and
social development and contribute to crimes, instability, insecurity and the spread of HIV.
Livelihood is an integrated system enabling people to have a secure and sustainable living. The system is based on
access to educaon, health, hygiene, risk reducon, housing, clothing, skills, means of producon and informaon.
The concept of sustainable livelihoods has been ulised extensively by the UNODC and the internaonal community
as a basis for their work in the eld of alternave development. To date, the major objecve of intervenons in this
area has been to provide alternave sustainable livelihoods to farming families in order to prevent them from being
dependent on illicit crop culvaon. The principal desired outcome of this approach is the cessaon of illicit drug
crop culvaon through creaon of alternave income.
80
People living in poverty are more likely to engage in drug abuse, become criminals and suer from bad health.
Teenagers and young adults are also parcularly vulnerable to using illicit drugs. The prevalence of drug use among
young people is more than twice as high as that among the general populaon. At this age, peer pressure to exper-
iment with illicit drugs can be strong and the self-esteem is oen low. Also, those who take drugs tend to be either
misinformed or insuciently aware of the health risks involved.
The UN General Assembly recognised that despite connued and increased eorts by the internaonal community,
the world drug problemconnues to constute a serious threat to public health, the safety and wellbeing of humanity
and sovereignty of States, and that it undermines socioeconomic and polical stability and sustainable development.
It encourages the UNODC to connue its work on internaonal drug control and urges all Governments to provide the
fullest possible nancial and polical support to enable the UNODC to connue, expand and strengthen its operaonal
and technical cooperaon acvies within its mandates.
There is a need for Government enforcement agencies, nongovernmental philanthropic agencies and others to col-
laborate and supplement each others eorts for a soluon to the problem of drug addicon through educaon and
legal acons.
Steps should be taken to reach out and engage drug users in prevenon, treatment and care strategies that protect
them, their families from infecous diseases, health problems in general and encourage entry into substance depen-
dence treatment and medical care and rehabilitaon.
Taking into account the individual right to a healthy life and the interest of the enre society, specic intervenons
have to be promoted to reduce the adverse health and social consequences of drug abuse. These strategies need to
target the sub-groups of the populaon that are not sensive to prevenon programmes, drug-dependent individuals
who are not movated to aend treatment facilies, non-responders to treatment who connue to use illicit drugs
and those paents who easily relapse into substance abuse.
In a number of countries, laws prescribe severe punishments for all drug-related oences, including drug use and
possession of drugs. The Arcle 47 of the Constuon of India directs the State to regard the raising of the level of nu-
trion and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary dues, and,
in parcular, to endeavour to bring about prohibion of consumpon, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicang
drinks and drugs which are injurious to health.
The Narcoc Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 has been enacted in India. Under this Act, it is illegal
for a person to produce/manufacture/culvate, possess, sell, purchase, transport, store and consume any narcoc
drug or psychotropic substance. The Prevenon of Illicit Tracking in Narcoc Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Act is a drug control law passed in 1988 by the Parliament of India. It was established to enable full implementaon
and enforcement of the NDPS Act of 1985.
Seeking to check the alarming rise of drug abuse in various parts of the country, the Government is planning to intro-
duce a Naonal Policy on Drug Abuse. The State Governments also have their own Health Departments and Social
Welfare Departments, each of which has its own set of acvies relang to Drug Demand Reducon. The Govern-
ments policy has thus been to promote their use for medical and scienc purposes while prevenng their diversion
from licit sources and prohibing illicit trac and abuse.
Governments have a responsibility to counteract both drug tracking and drug abuse, but communies can also
make a major contribuon. Families, schools and civil sociees can do their part to rid their communies of drugs.
The media can also raise awareness about the dangers of drugs. This will foster communies free of drug-related
crimes and violence, individuals free of drug dependence who can contribute to a common future and a safer world
for all.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/keep-away-from-drug-for-sake-of-sustainable-liveli
hood.html
81
2.6 July
Sustainable Human Selement Planning (2013-07-11 22:59)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/needed-sustaina ble-human-selement-
planning.html
Today, populaon explosion is one of the major concerns of the world. The ever-growing populaon of the world has
reached 7,160,183,896 as in June 2013.
The World Populaon Day is an annual event observed on July 11, which seeks to raise awareness of global populaon
issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Naons Development Programme in 1989.
It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the worlds
populaon reached ve billion people. The year 2013 will mark the 24th anniversary of the World Populaon Day.
Almost one-sixth of the worlds populaon lives in squalid, unhealthy areas, mostly without water, sanitaon, public
services or legal security. The report fromthe UNhumanselements programme, UN-Habitat, foundthat urbanslums
are growing faster than expected and that the balance of global poverty was shiing rapidly from the countryside to
cies. Africa now has 20 per cent of the worlds slum-dwellers and Lan America 14 per cent, but the worst urban
condions are in Asia, where more than 550 million people live in unacceptable condions.
Although the report emphasised that not all slum-dwellers are poor, the UNwarned that unplanned, unsanitary sele-
ments threaten polical stability and are creang the environment for an explosion of social problems. In developing
countries, more than half of the urban populaon lives in unplanned selements where their quality of life is sub-
standard and even inhuman. Urban infrastructure provisions are idened as a key area for planning intervenon in
order to integrate these selements into sustainable residenal developments. Besides such provisions, economic
intervenons are also necessary for slum households.
82
The total populaon divided over various levels of geographical areas is very important for the socioeconomic devel-
opment of the enre country and the study of various components. When data regarding populaon is taken into
account, beer planning is possible for dierent facilies such as housing, educaon and healthcare facility.
Besides, a countrys populaon and how it is geographically distributed can inuence access to basic services and
infrastructure and employment opportunies, rural and urban environment and wealth of natural resources. The
impact of human needs on available resources, in the context of the emerging economies, poses a strain on available
public infrastructure, limited land and natural environment and biological resources, including direct habitat destruc-
on and contribuon to greenhouse gases.
Rapid urbanisaon, the concentraon of the urban populaon in large cies, the sprawl of cies into wider geograph-
ical areas and the rapid growth of mega-cies are among the most signicant transformaons of human selements.
This issue of uncontrolled populaon growth is giving birth to other major problems in the world. A few of the ma-
jor consequences of the rapid growth of populaon in the current me are shortage of housing, social and physical
infrastructure and services in dierent selements.
The quality of life and the acvies of all human beings within human selements are closely interrelated with popu-
laon change, demographic paerns, including growth, structure and distribuon of populaon. The sustainability of
the global environment and human life will not be achieved unless, among other things, human selements in both
urban and rural areas are made economically buoyant, socially vibrant and environmentally sound with full respect
for cultural, religious and natural heritages and diversies.
Urban selements hold a promise for human development and for protecon of the worlds natural resources through
their ability to support large numbers of people while liming their impact on the natural environment. Yet many cies
are witnessing harmful paerns of growth, producon and consumpon, land use, mobility and degradaon of their
physical structure. Such problems are oen synonymous with soil, air and water polluon, waste of resources and
destrucon of natural resources. Some human selements are also subject to limited water supply, sanitaon and
drainage and depend upon nonrenewable energy sources which resulted irreversible loss of biodiversity.
Demographic factors combined with poverty and lack of access to resources and unsustainable paerns of producon
and consumpon, parcularly in industrialised countries can cause or exacerbate problems of environmental degrada-
on and resource depleon and, thus, inhibit sustainable development. Therefore, a largely-urbanised world implies
that sustainable development will depend very largely on the capacity of urban and metropolitan areas to manage
the producon and consumpon paerns and the transport and that waste disposal systems need to preserve the
environment.
The living and working condions in all human selements, including regional urban centres, rural service centres,
rural hamlets, rural communies, market towns and villages must be improved with parcular emphasis on shel-
ter, social and physical infrastructure and services. The maintenance and development of rural selements require
sustainable agriculture and forestry acvies, improved agricultural technologies, economic diversicaon and ex-
panded employment opportunies created by encouraging appropriate and environmentally-sustainable investment
in industry, related economic producon and service acvies.
To avoid unbalanced, unhealthy and unsustainable growth of human selements, it is necessary to promote land-
use paerns that minimise transport demands, save energy and protect open and green spaces. Appropriate urban
density and mixed land-use guidelines are of prime importance for urban development. Naonal and local policies
and development plans must be carefully reexamined to ensure opmal land use and geographically beer balanced
economic development, including the protecon of indispensable agricultural land, land that sustains biodiversity,
including coastal areas and other sensive areas in need of protecon.
Green spaces and vegetaon cover in urban and peri-urban areas are essenal for biological and hydrological balance
andeconomic development. Vegetaoncreates natural habitats andpermits beer absorponof rainwater by natural
means. Green areas and vegetaon also play an important part in reducing air polluon and creang more suitable
climac condions, thereby improving the living environment in cies.
83
To promote human selements, Governments and local authories should formulate and implement human sele-
ment development policies that ensure equal access to basic services, including the provision of food security, educa-
on, employment and livelihood, basic healthcare services, safe drinking water and sanitaon, adequate shelter and
access to open and green spaces.
All persons have the right and the duty to parcipate individually and collecvely in the implementaon of policies
and programmes of their human selements. A human selement policy must seek harmonious integraon or co-
ordinaon of a wide variety of components including populaon growth and distribuon, employment, shelter, land
use, infrastructure and services.
There is a need for proper land management plan. Many cies use master plans, zoning, sub-division regulaons,
building codes and other policies to shape development. Urban land policy needs to be linked with a sustainable
programme for infrastructure investment. Such a programme requires a basic spaal structure for each city and used
to esmate the capital costs associated with providing the necessary infrastructure to support development for a
sustainable human selement planning.
Sustainable human selements development requires cooperave and complementary acons amongst interested
pares, planners and sciensts. This would accommodate urban populaon growth and protect natural resources.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/needed-sustainable-human-settlement-planning.html
2.7 August
TRIBALS ROLE IN CONSERVING MEDICINAL PLANTS NEEDS GREATER RECOGNITION (2013-08-10 06:18)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/tribals-role-in -conserving-medicinal-plants-needs-
greater-recognion.html
The Internaonal Day of the Worlds Indigenous People is celebrated on August 9 as this was the date of the rst
meeng in 1982 of the United Naons Working Group of Indigenous Populaon.
It is observed to protect and promote the rights of the worlds indigenous inhabitants. It also recognises the contri-
buons of indigenous people to improve issues like environmental protecon.
The day was rst proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1994. The United Naons 2007 Declaraon
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognised that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and tradional prac-
84
ces tributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment. However,
indigenous peoples sll experience racism, poor health and disproporonate poverty.
The UN esmates that there are 370 million indigenous people in some 70 countries, 84,326,240 indigenous people
(tribals) in India and 8,145,081 in Odisha. Tradional knowledge has played a vital role in the daily lives of the vast
majority of people. It is essenal to the food security and health of millions of people in a developing country like India
and State like Odisha. In many countries, tradional medicines provide the only aordable treatment to indigenous
community. As per the World Health Organisaon (WHO) Fact Sheet: 2002, in developing countries, up to 80 per
cent of the populaon depends on tradional medicines. In India, out of over 7,500 species of medicinal plants
Ayurveda uses about 1,769 species whereas the use of approximately 289 medicinal plant species were documented
in Vedic literature. There are 2,727 plant species idened in Odisha, out of which about 1,200 are in use for medicinal
purposes
Indigenous peoples are custodians to rich linguisc and cultural diversity, carrying unique knowledge of sustainable
living and respect for biodiversity. They have unique cultures. Historically, these cultures are closely ed to their
lands. They have been living in forest environment and developed their knowledge on ora and fauna of the forest
that are known as folk or indigenous knowledge. They have also developed their own folk beliefs based on their
tradional pracces which help themcure various diseases. The common beliefs, customs, pracces related to health
and disease in turn inuence their health seeking behaviour. Tribal groups have developed strong religious healthcare
systems.
The biggest threat to indigenous people now is encroachment of their land. Various companies using their land
threaten the ecosystem through mineral extracon, environmental contaminaon, cash crop producon and gene-
cally modied seeds.
According to the WHO, about 65-80 per cent of the populaon in developing countries depends essenally on plants
for their primary healthcare due to poverty and lack of access to modern medicines. Tradional knowledge of medic-
inal plants and their use by indigenous healers and drug development are not only useful for conservaon of cultural
tradion and biodiversity but also for community healthcare and drug development in the local community.
Odishas climate and topography is highly congenial to growth of a large number of medicinal plants. In Koraput,
Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj, a large number of medicinal plants occur naturally. The Similipal Biosphere Reserve in
Mayurbhanj is rich in medicinal plant resources. The forest area is dominated by a number of tribes like Kol, Santal,
Bhumij, Mankidias and Khadias who depend on forest for their food and medicines. Gandhamardan in Keonjhar is
also famous for its rich medicinal plants. Out of the total 450 species of plants found there, about 250 have been iden-
ed as medicinal. Besides, medicinal plants are also available on hills and mountains like Megasan in Mayurbhanj,
Malayagiri in Sundargarh, Nimragir in Koraput and Mahendragiri in Ganjam.
The important medicinal products collected from dierent parts of Odisha are Amla, Bahada, Banahaladi, Bana Tulsi,
Chakunda, Chireita, Gaba, Harida, Kaincha, Kochila, honey, Nageswar ower, Palash, Sikakai, etc. These precious
resources are immensely used by tribals as they have no alternave source. The medicinal products are used for
curing common diseases like fever, cold, gastrointesnal disorders and skin diseases, asthma, jaundice, rheumatoid
arthris, etc., and for seng fractured bones. Most tribal villages have their own tradional healthcare praconers.
This indigenous knowledge is being eroded by a gradual depleon of forest cover. In Odisha, the medicinal plants are
sll not explored well. It is necessary to document the plants and take eecve steps to conserve them. Tradional
medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and pracces based on the experiences indigenous to dierent
cultures.
Ahuge amount of lands have beenalienatedfromthe tribals for developmental projects depriving themof their source
of livelihoods. Land is not only a livelihood source for tribals, it is also connected with their sense of history and is a
symbol of social status. The tribals of Odisha have been in the pracce of preserving a rich heritage of informaon on
medicinal plants and their usage. Such tradional knowledge systemis important for modern sociees and should be
protected in its own right for the sake of sustainable use of forests, ecosystem services and management.
85
Indigenous peoples are carriers of ancestral knowledge and wisdom about local biodiversity. The Governmental and
nongovernmental organisaons must come forward to sustain such tradional knowledge and the medicinal plant
species for further generaon. There is a need to assess and document tradional knowledge and use of medicinal
plants used by tradional healers.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/tribals-role-in-conserving-medicinal-plants-needs-
greater-recognition.html
2.8 September
PROTECT OZONE LAYER (2013-09-16 20:08)
INDIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR PROTECTION OF OZONE LAYER (2013-09-21 22:21)
[1] hp://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/component/content/arc le/177-68-ga/1423-indian-
perspecve-for-protecon-of-ozone-layer-lessons- learned-from-the-csd
INDIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR PROTECTION OF OZONE LAYER: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CSD
Dr. Mayarani Praharaj, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India
The United Naons Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was established in December 1992, tasked with
ensuring eecve follow-up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Since 1993, the CSD has convened annual mullateral
discussions on a vast array of issues that intersect the three interdependent pillars of sustainable development
the social, economic and environmental.
With renewed interest generated by the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and the 2015
deadline looming for the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), the internaonal community is gearing up to agree-
ing a new global agenda which beer addresses all three dimensions of sustainable development.
Nevertheless, there are sll over two years to go before the exisng framework expires, therefore governments and
stakeholders alike must remain focused on achieving the MDGs. In this regard, under MDG 7 (ensure environmen-
tal sustainability), there is a target to Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and
programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources. One area that should be included under this is the
protecon of the ozone layer.
Fromthe early 1970s, sciensts were aware of the possibility that humanacons coulddeplete the ozone layer, leading
todamaging impacts onhumans andthe biosphere. The CFCs usedas refrigerants, insulators andcleaning agents were
idened as some of the most destrucve agents, and the internaonal community reacted promptly to this scienc
evidence, leading to the 1987 adopon of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The
Montreal Protocol has a clear and detailed compliance regime under which each party is required to report to the
Ozone Secretariat its annual producon and consumpon of ODS. This data is used to measure ODS reducons against
baseline data and therefore assess whether countries are meeng their phase-out obligaons, and also contribute to
the determinaon of developing country status.
86
The CSD has to date played an important role in the implementaon of sustainable development at the naonal level,
including regarding measures to protect the ozone layer. The UN Secretary-Generals report on Protecon of the
Atmosphere for CSD4 in 1996, for example, noted that the substanve prescripons of the 1987 Montreal Protocol
make it a landmark for internaonal cooperaon which embodies many of the core principles of Agenda 21. The
report idened the Protocol as a good example of the precauonary principle in acon, noted the marked decrease
in overall producon and consumpon of ozone depleng substances (ODSs), but also drew aenon to the issue of
illegal trade in chlorouorocarbons (CFCs) and the connued increase in CFC consumpon in some countries.
The CSDalso played a key role in the development of evidence-based indicators to track progress and support decision-
making on the issue. An Intergovernmental Working Group on the Advancement of Environmental Stascs prepared
a paper on Environmental Indicators for CSD in 1995. At the same CSD session, the creaon of a menu of Agenda
21 indicators was proposed, also including the consumpon of ODS, along with the development of methodology
sheets which could then be used voluntarily by Member States.
India Party to the Vienna Convenon for the Protecon of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer is one of the countries that has felt the benet of this work. Indias Ozone Depleng
Substances (Regulaon and Control) Rules, brought in in 2000, provide a comprehensive set of regulaons to control
and monitor producon and use of ODS in the country. Indias Central Polluon Control Board (CPCB) has over the
years been execung a naon-wide iniave known as Naonal Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP). Annual
average concentraons of sulfur oxide (SOx) levels today are within the prescribed Naonal Ambient Air Quality Stan-
dards (NAAQS) in almost all domesc territories. This reducon from earlier levels is due to various measures taken,
including for example, the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in public transport in Delhi, the reducon of sulphur
in diesel and use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) instead of coal as a domesc fuel.
This signicant progress is a useful indicator to protect ozone depleon and boost sustainable development in future,
and provides lessons that we can learn from.
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87
TIME FOR ECO TOURISM PLANNING,ANSUPA (2013-09-27 08:36)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/me-for-ecotou rism-planning-community-growth-of-
ansupa.html
The World Tourism Day is celebrated annually on September 27. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the inter-
naonal community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, polical and economic value.
The event seeks to address the global challenges outlined in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
highlight the tourism sectors contribuon in reaching these goals. In support of United Naons Internaonal Year of
Water Cooperaon, the World TourismDay (WTD) 2013 is being held under the theme Tourismand Water: Protecng
our Common Future. This years theme focuses on tourisms signicant role and contribuon to worldwide water
conservaon eorts and provides an opportunity to further highlight the shared responsibility of the tourism sector
to the wider sustainability objecves while creang benets for local populaons around the water tourism sector.
India by virtue of its extensive geographical extent, varied terrain and climac condions support and sustain diverse
and unique wetland habitats. According to a Space Applicaon Centre (SAC) report, 7.58 million hectare wetlands
are in India which includes 3.56 million ha of freshwater wetlands. Odisha has 16277.5 ha of inland wetland and
88
185431.75 ha of coastal wetland. The rapidly growing human populaons, large-scale changes in land use/land cover
and the improper use of watersheds have caused a substanal decline in wetland resources of the country.
The geographical diversity of India makes it home to a wealth of ecosystems which are well-protected and preserved.
These ecosystems have become the major resources for ecotourism. Ecotourismis sustainable tourism, which is based
on the ecological principle and sustainable development theory. Ecotourism involves local community for conserva-
on of the areas ecology; and biodiversity, in its return, provides economic incenves to the community.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC ) has recently noed India as one of the fastest-growing tourism
economies in the world. In May 2002, the Department of Tourism, Government of India, formulated a new Naonal
Tourism Policy emphasising on development and promoon of Indian tourism to harness its economic benets to a
large segment of its populaon.
Odisha with its bounes of nature and scenic natural beauty has immense potenal to occupy a place of pride in the
ecotourism map of the country. Ecotourism oers an opportunity to showcase the States unique natural heritage to
visitors while enhancing the livelihood opons for the local people. The State is rich with important water resources.
The very famous natural heritage site Ansupa lake in Cuack district holds a prominent posion in the tourist map of
Odisha for its picturesque landscape. The lake is the largest and very old freshwater lake. The water spread area is
around 2.12 sqkm. The length of the lake is around 3 km and its average width is around 1.3 km. The lake is directly
linked with river Mahanadi by a channel, Kabula Nala, through which oodwater of the Mahanadi enters the lake.
The main aracon of the lake is its natural beauty. Besides, more than 30,000 people living in the peripheral villages
depend very much on the lake resources, mainly shery, for their livelihoods.
Ansupa is of naonal importance due to its unique biodiversity character having varied aquac fauna and ora and
is a famous natural heritage. It is bounded by the Saranda hills on the western side and the Bishnupur hills on its
northern side. The lake has assumed internaonal importance as it is home to several species of migratory birds from
far-o Siberia, Europe, etc, in winter as well as domiciled birds.
The very old Saranda Fort, built during the Keshari dynasty, is situated near the lake. Now, the Saranda hill has turned
bald due to tree felling. The lake is fast buried with soil erosion form the hill. For income-generang acvies, i.e.,
culvaon and shery, the people depend upon the lake resources. Due to environmental degradaons like siltaon,
both sherman and culvators are facing a lot of problems. There is also no proper irrigaon system like canals, for
which the people nd diculty in culvaon. The lake is degrading very fast threatening the ecosystem, as a result of
which the shery and tourism potenals are adversely aected.
The Ansupa lake is declared a Community Reserve according to an amendment made in the Wildlife Protecon Act
(1972) in 2003. Realising the importance of tourismpotenal and conservaon of the lake, the State Government has
been working towards an integrated economic, social, and conservaon development plan for the lake over the past
decade.
The Government has iniated an integrated Sustainable Environmental Management Programme like catchment area
treatment, including soil conservaon measures with plantaons to arrest siltaon and eutrophicaon, weed man-
agement acvies and constant environmental monitoring to assess the progress of the work.
As per the Dra Guidelines published by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011, the State Govern-
ments are to develop a State-level ecotourismstrategy. The Odisha EcotourismDevelopment Board is proposed to be
the apex body in the State engaged in promoon of ecotourism and development of requisite systems and standards
for the same. The tourismindustry, besides generang more employment opportunies provides incenves to foster
the quality of environment. The travel and tourism sector contributes to the naonal integraon, preserves natural
and cultural environments as well as enriches social and cultural lives of people.
The Odisha Government in its tourism policy has priorised development of ecotourism to aract Indian and foreign
tourists. In 2009-10, a newscheme was introduced for ecotourismdevelopment in the Ansupa lake. The Departments
of Tourism in the States are responsible for implementaon of the tourism projects funded by the Union Ministry of
Tourism and the projects idened by them under their respecve State tourism policies.
89
Ansupa should be conserved in an integrated manner which should be implemented with community mobilisaon
and parcipaon for sustainability so that the lake would not only aract both naonal and internaonal tourists but
be conserved well for the posterity. For this, harmony between development of tourismdesnaon and environment
improvement in cies is extremely essenal.
There is a need to prepare a TourismPerspecve Plan for development of basic infrastructure and creaon of tourism
circuits. The plan should focus on sustainable tourismdevelopment which is environment-friendly and tourist-friendly.
An environment planning approach is essenal for sustainable development of tourism. This implies that all the
aspects of environment should be carefully studied and analysed while proposing development at sensive tourist
desnaons. Thus, it calls for a separate cell whereby all monitoring acvies related to the environment can be
carried out.
For ecotourismplanning and sustainable community development, there is a need to increase ecotourismawareness,
capacity building for ecotourismfor the local community and community parcipaon for development of ecotourism
in our State. Besides, a proper implementaon of a Tourism Perspecve Plan is necessary for development of eco-
tourism of Ansupa. This is possible only when people acvely parcipate in the actual implementaon of the plan.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/time-for-ecotourism-planning-community-growth-of-a
nsupa.html
2.9 October
NEEDED: MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT THAN PERSONAL VEHICLES (2013-10-07 06:17)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/needed-more-pub lic-transport-than-personal-
vehicles.html
The United Naons has designated the rst Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day since 1986. The
purpose is to reect on the state of our towns and cies and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also
intended to remind the world that we all have responsibility to shape the future of our cies and towns.
90
This year, the UN has chosen the days theme Urban Mobility because mobility and access to goods and services is
essenal to an ecient funconing of cies and towns as they expand.
Urban mobility and transport is vital for the cies funconing. On the other hand, it causes many problems, notably
in densely-inhabited areas. As cies grow rapidly, motor vehicle use increases and trac ow varies just as quickly,
creang or worsening severe problems. Road trac crashes account for 1.2 million deaths per year, and this gure
is likely to double by 2030 to become the h leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health
Organisaon. Many cies face urban mobility issues like increased road congeson, wasted me due to trac delays
and increased energy consumpon resulng in more carbon emissions.
Roads also contribute to eecve mobility, which is crucial for a citys prosperity. Congested roads and poor facilies
for pedestrians are the most pervasive transport problems in developing countries. To reduce trac by maintaining
or increasing the level of mobility for cizens and goods, one challenge is how to use the current infrastructure more
eciently. The purpose of transportaon is to gain access to desnaons, acvies, services and goods. Urban plan-
ning and design should focus on how to bring people and places together by creang cies that focus on accessibility,
rather than simply increasing the length of urban transport infrastructure or increasing the movement of people or
goods (rather than movement of vehicles).
There is a need to create a highly-ecient, exible, responsive, safe and aordable urban mobility system with the
least the amount of trac and travel while ensuring environmental sustainability. Accessible cies encourage a shi
towards more sustainable modes of transportaon and draw more and more travellers out of cars and onto trains,
buses and sidewalks. This means giving priority to public transport, goods vehicles, pedestrians and non-motorised
vehicles. It depends on providing ecient public transport services and reducing the demand for motorised travel.
India is experiencing a steady increase in the numbers of cars and roads. This has led to a constant rise in road
deaths. Transport demand in most Indian cies has increased substanally due to increases in populaon as a result
of both natural increase and migraon from rural areas and smaller towns. Availability of motorised transport and
increase in household income and commercial acvies have further added to transport demand. In many cases,
demand has outstripped road capacity. A high level of polluon is another undesirable feature of overloaded streets.
Stascs indicate that trac accidents are a primary cause of accidental deaths in Indian cies. The main reasons for
this are the prevailing imbalance in modal split, inadequate transport infrastructure, and its subopmal use. Public
transport systems have not been able to keep pace with the rapid increases in demand over the past few decades.
Bus services in parcular have deteriorated and their relave output has been further reduced as passengers have
turned to personalised modes and intermediate public transport.
The pace of urbanisaon in India creates an urgent opportunity to provide safe streets. The objecve of the Naonal
Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) for India is to ensure safe, aordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable ac-
cess for the growing number of city residents to jobs, educaon and recreaon. The policys salient features include
incorporang urban transportaon as an important parameter at the urban planning stage, rather than being a con-
sequenal requirement. Apart fromthis, the NUTP will encourage integrated land use and transport planning in cies
so that travel distances are minimised and access to livelihood, educaon and other social needs is improved.
Over the past decade, there has been a shiin many countries fromovercoming congeson to improving mobility. Im-
proving mobility is less about engineering and more about changing behaviour. Improving mobility starts with public
parcipaon, consultaon, focus group discussions, consensus building and cooperaon among dierent stakehold-
ers.
Instead, Indian cies can followthe example of developing cies in countries like Brazil, Mexico and Philippines which
have sustainable transport policies, encouraging high-density, mixed-use development near high-quality mass transit,
to improve the quality of life for their residents.
For improving the trac owof passenger and freight vehicles, there are currently some projects on the implementa-
on of cooperave intelligent transport systems and services (ITS), which enables exchanging data between vehicles
and roadside units. Innovave soluons enabling smart new services based on informaon and communicaons
technology (ICT) can help cies address these issues by providing alternaves in combinaon with other soluons.
91
Shiing to more ecient and safer modes like walking, cycling and mass transit can create sustainable urban mobility
and fuel eciency. Some cies have taken innovave steps to enhance mobility. A bus rapid transit (BRT) system
delivers fast, comfortable and cost-eecve urban mobility.
There must be a general recognion that without public transport cies would be even less viable.
There is a need to encourage public transport instead of personal vehicles. This requires both an increase in quanty
and quality of public transport and eecve use of demand as well as supply-side management measures. People
should also be encouraged to use non-motorised transport and investments may be made to make it safer.
Cies are the major contributors to economic growth, and movements in and between cies are crucial for improved
quality of life. Road infrastructure improvement measures, like new road alignments, hierarchy of roads, provision
of service roads (bypasses, ring roads, bus bays, wide medians, intersecon improvements, construcon and repair
of footpaths and roads, removal of encroachments and good surface drainage) should also be introduced. Besides
short- and medium-termmeasures, there is a need to have long-termones as well, involving technology upgrades and
introducon of high-speed, high-capacity public transport systems parcularly along high-density trac corridors.
Finally, there is a need to empower the urban local bodies to raise nances and coordinate the acvies of various
agencies involved in the provision of transport infrastructure. Mobility is not just about developing transport infras-
tructure and services; it is about overcoming social, economic, polical and physical barriers to movement such as
class, gender relaons, poverty, physical disabilies and aordability.
Urban transport policies cannot succeed without the fullest cooperaon of all the city residents. Such cooperaon can
be best secured if the objecve of any iniave is made clearly known to them. It is, therefore, necessary to launch
intensive awareness campaigns that educate people on the ill eects of the growing transport problems, especially
on their health and wellbeing. There is need for a great variety of bus transport services in Indian cies. The BRT and
mass transit systems are an example of shiing people out of their cars into mass transit to improve road condions,
mobility and public health. Even the rich, poor and people with physical disabilies will travel in BRT which will be an
important change for sustainable urban mobility.
An urban transport strategy should also encourage the need for developing green modes such as bicycles, cycle
rickshaws and pedestrians. First of all, the safety concerns of cyclists and pedestrians have to be addressed adequately.
For this, there has to be a segregated right-of-way for bicycles and pedestrians.
Apart from improving safety, this will help improve trac ow, increase the average speed of trac, and reduce
emissions resulng from low speeds and create an image for sustainable urban mobility and transport for all.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/needed-more-public-transport-than-personal-vehicles.
html
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BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL DEPENDS ON WOMENS EDUCATION (2013-10-11 14:24)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/beer-future-f or-all-depends-on-womens-
educaon.html
The United Naons General Assembly declared October 11 as the Internaonal Day of the Girl Child to recognise girls
rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. This years theme is Innovang for Girls Educaon.
Educaon is a fundamental right of every human being. It lays the foundaon for the development of society. Women
are an indispensible part of a society. The future generaons development mainly depends on the educaon of
women. So, educaon of women is realised to be the most essenal part for the societys development. It can help
every woman educate her children to be good managers of the family as well as acve members of the society.
Females constute about 50 per cent of Indias human resource, but lack of educaon snatches their chance to be
part of the countys progress. Due to this, there is a considerable gap between male and female literacy rates in the
country.
Indias literacy rate grew to 74.04 per cent in 2011 from 12 per cent at the end of Brish rule in 1947. Although this
was greater than a six-fold improvement, the level is well belowthe world average rate of 84 per cent. There is a wide
gender disparity in the literacy rate in India and the eecve literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14 per
cent for men and 65.46 per cent for women. Kerala has the highest female literacy rate (92 % as per the 2011 census)
whereas Rajasthan (52.7 %). Odisha has a female literacy rate of 64.4 per cent and male literacy rate of 82.4 per cent.
Poverty is the root cause of many problems in India and also of lowfemale literacy rate. More than one-third of Indian
populaon is living belowthe poverty line. More than 50 per cent of girls in India fail to enrol in school and those who
do are likely to drop out by the age of 12. Another contribung factor is the rapid populaon growth. Most Indian
households have a number of children whose needs are much higher than their earning capacity. This leads to the
neglect of girl educaon and puts more emphasis on the educaon of the boy child. This becomes as an impediment
in the educaon of the Indian woman.
Though Government is pung eorts to make primary educaon free, parents are sll not ready to send their girls
to school. This is connected with the accessibility to schools. In most of the rural areas, lack of easy accessibility to
school is another reason for low female literacy. Parents do not prefer to send girls to schools if these are located at
a far distance from their homes.
Even if schools are there then lack of adequate school facilies becomes a hurdle. Some schools are really in pathec
infrastructural condions and do not have even basic facilies.
93
Empowering adult women, building their condence and educaon levels can have a powerful impact on enrolling
more girls in schools. Internaonal leadership on girls educaon is currently dispersed across a number of organisa-
ons which need to improve the way they work together.
The Unicef is tasked with the lead role for girls educaon. It is also leading the UN Girls Educaon Iniave (UNGEI),
which is a global partnership established to raise the prole of girls educaon. The CAREs Girls Educaon Pro-
gramme (GEP) in India has been in operaon for over 10 years. Signicantly, the successful implementaon of resi-
denal camps and other innovave educaon strategies for marginalised girls have enabled the CARE India to shape
naonal educaonal policy, contribung to adopon of residenal bridge courses as part of a naonal scheme to get
more girls into school. The CARE has collaborated in the design and rollout of the Governments Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) schools, a residenal school scheme at the upper primary level for girls from minority and
educaonally-disadvantaged communies. The GEP seeks to improve opportunies for girls and women through their
increased parcipaon in formal and alternave educaon systems.
The Naonal Programme for Educaon of Girls for Elementary Level (NPEGEL), launched in September 2003, is an
integral but disnct component of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
It provides addional provisions for enhancing the educaonof underprivileged/disadvantagedgirls at the elementary
level through more intense community mobilisaon, the development of model schools in clusters, early child care
and educaon facilies and provision of need-based incenves like escorts, staoneries, work books and uniforms for
girls. All Educaonally Backward Blocks have been included under the NPEGEL.
The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme was launched in 2004 for seng up residenal schools at the
upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communies. It is implemented
in educaonally-backward blocks where the female rural literacy is below the naonal average and the gender gap in
literacy is above the naonal average.
But despite all reasons, women must realise that educaon is highly needed for them so that they can live a life with
pride. In case of any misfortune in life, it is educaon that would help them and not anything else.
Literacy is one of the key socioeconomic indicators which helps plan a countrys development path. In India, the low
literacy level is a result of the prevailing socioeconomic factors. The literacy rate is also lower in rural areas than urban
areas, with the rural areas reporng a rate of 68.9 per cent and urban areas 85.0 per cent. The pronounced dierence
in the rural-urban distribuon proves that signicant eorts need to be undertaken to improve the literacy status in
the rural areas. The Government should really work towards the number, distance and quality of schools in rural as
well as urban India.
The countrys future will largely be shaped by todays girls and tomorrows women. An educated Indian woman will
yield a posive impact in the society by contribung posively to the economy of both the country and the society.
The lowlevel of literacy not only has a negave impact on womens lives but also on their families and on the countrys
economic development. India has consolidated its earlier educaonal reforms with increased resources and stronger
policy commitments for achieving elementary educaon for all children, parcularly girls. Besides, community a-
tudes can also play a crical role in shaping the parameters of girls access to educaon.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/better-future-for-all-depends-on-womens-education.
html
94
RURAL-URBAN GROWTH LINKAGES IMPORTANT FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION (2013-10-17 08:34)
Poor urban planning and management can have crucial results for the urban economy. Poorly-managed urban set-
tlements cannot keep pace with urban expansion, and slums will grow, bringing with them poverty and social unrest.
It is important that the governments at the naonal and local (municipal) levels of cies and towns and rural areas,
recognise the potenals of rural-urban development linkages and the posive role they can play in poverty alleviaon.
It is nowwidely recognised that there exists an economic, social and environmental interdependence between urban
and rural areas and a need for balanced and mutually supporve approach to development of the two areas. Rural-
urban linkage generally refers to the growing owof public and private capital, people (migraon and commung) and
goods (trade) between the urban and rural areas. Adequate infrastructure such as transportaon, communicaon,
energy and basic services is the backbone of the urban-rural development linkage approach. Adequate investments
in infrastructure, parcularly transportaon infrastructure, also improve rural producvity.
Besides, good governance is vital to poverty reducon as it directly supports parcipatory pro-poor policies, facilitates
soundmacroeconomic andpublic expenditure management, ensures accountability, encourages growthof the private
sector, promotes eecve delivery of public services and helps establish a rule of law.
95
NEEDED:Use of Disaster risk info on Land use Planning (2013-10-29 13:47)
2.10 November
ODISHA TOWN PLANNING DAY TO REMEMBER KOENIGSBERGER (2013-11-08 07:02)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/lets-observe-od isha-town-planning-day-to-
remember-koenigsberger.html
LETS OBSERVE ODISHA TOWN PLANNING DAY TO REMEMBER KOENIGSBERGER
The World Town Planning Day (WTPD) is an event held every year on November 8 in 30 countries, including India,
96
to recognise and promote the role of planning in creang livable communies. An internaonal organisaon for the
WTPD was founded in 1949 by late Prof Carlos Maria della Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires.
The main movaons to plan the WTPD event are to educate all members of the community about town plannings
posive impacts on community livability. Major cies have been coming up with hundreds of thousands of new
residents each year and transforming in form, design, economies, social relaons, governance and ways of living.
Approaches to planning for cies are changing as well. Ideas that were leading planning just a few decades ago are
being replaced by innovave approaches that focus on the livability of cies in an age of global interdependence and
parcipatory governance.
On the WTPD, planners share lessons, experiences and opportunies for innovaons in engaging people and their
communies in making cies resilient and livable in a global age. Land use planning, zoning and the laws that dictate
development of cies need to be revised to reect the changing socioeconomic need of the people. The infrastructure
and service development plans need to be made with broad framework and achievable goals.
Bhubaneswar is Odishas capital established as a modernised city by German architect and town planner Oo Koenigs-
berger. It was visualised as a planned city along the lines of New Delhi (by Edwin Lutyens) and Chandigarh (by Le
Corbusier). Koenigsberger (October 13, 1908-January 3, 1999) prepared the new Bhubaneswar Master Plan in 1948.
The WTPD presents an excellent opportunity to look at planning from a global perspecve and encourages architects
and planners in Odisha to consider city planning challenges and soluons in todays context.
Koenigsberger enjoyed a long, remarkable career that began with work as a Government architect in Berlin in the
1930s. It took him eventually to most connents as a teacher, adviser and consultant on many aspects of physical
planning, architecture, design and technology. In 1939, he had two choices: teaching at the University of Michigan
and becoming the Chief Architect of the Mysore State in India. He chose India and arrived in Mysore as an migr
architect at the invitaon of Sir Mirza Ismail, Dewan (Prime Minister) of Mysore, which was under indirect Brish rule
that meant that the Maharajah of Mysore paid a subsidy to the Brish for military protecon. He carried out hospital
and housing projects as well as the design of Victory Hall, Bangalore and Jayachamarenda Instute of Technology.
Koenigsberger served the Public Works Department (PWD) in Mysore from1939 to 1948. He also served as a planner
to corporate houses like the Tatas and to the Government of India. In 1945, he prepared the third-phase plans for
the industrial town of Jamshedpur. In Mysore, the most important change that occurred in his buildings was the
adaptaon of climate-responsive design through outdoor living spaces, indigenous construcon technologies, passive
condioning and renewable sources of energy. Mysore and Bangalore enjoy mild climates, and, therefore, one might
argue that designing climate-responsive buildings would be easy in these two cies.
In 1948, Koenigsberger moved to Delhi and became the Federal Director of Housing (1948-51) for the Ministry of
Health in Nehrus Government. His rst acve involvement with development work began to solve the massive hous-
ing demand problem posed by Paron refugees by proposing a prefabricated housing module for reseling the
refugees. His work involved both planning and architecture projects to resele paron refugees. During this period,
he also served as planning advisor for the new towns of Faridabad, Rajpura, Gandhidham and Sindri, which were
developed to resele refugees.
He was the member of Greater Delhi Development Commiee and Technical Commiee for revision of byelaws for
Delhi in 1951.
In 1953, he moved to London and became head of the Department of Development and Tropical Studies at the Ar-
chitectural Associaon, which later became the Development Planning Unit of the University College, London, where
he worked as a professor unl his rerement in 1978. He received many honours during his lifeme, including an
emeritus professorship from the University College, London. However, it was the award of the rst Habitat Scroll
of Honour in 1989 from the United Naons (Centre for Human Selements, UNCHS) that brought him the greatest
sasfacon.
Koenigsberger did not use the term renewable energy but made the use of renewable as natural sources of energy
like the use of wind in cooling buildings and sunlight for indoor lighng. These techniques are widely used in passive
97
design in Green Architecture. He theorised and quaned these design variables correlated with climac data in the
form of knowledge easily accessible and usable by architects and planners.
In 1939, he travelled to several parts of India to study the pre-colonial and colonial architectures. He began docu-
menng these buildings for their technological competency, use of materials and spaal conguraon in the context
of local materials, climate responsiveness, and overall eciency. He noced how Mughal monuments used features
such as the Jalis (stone screens) to control light and temperature.
Even 65 years aer he planned the city of Bhubaneswar, with no memory of his in public space, Dr Koenigsberger
remains unknown for the residents of Bhubaneswar. The Bhubaneswar designed by himis a special urban heritage site
with outstanding planning features and has a public value. To retain its planned character, the area should be declared
as urban heritage having groups of buildings, neighbourhoods and public spaces including landscapes and natural
features which provide character and disncve identy to the city. The listed urban heritage should be emphasised in
the CDP (Comprehensive Development Plan) and, if understood and managed properly, it could eecvely contribute
to the overall quality of urban areas and serve as a vital asset and example for future urban development. This would
idenfy the visual, spaal and cultural character of the city.
Observance of an Odisha Town Planning Day on the memory of Koenigsberger at the State-level may give insight to
the newgeneraon about the visionary works of the great planner. We can celebrate the day on his birth anniversary
as the memory of the rst planner of new Bhubaneswar, which is one of Indias rst planned towns.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/lets-observe-odisha-town-planning-day-to-remember-
koenigsberger.html
Trac Demand Management Strategy (2013-11-19 10:50)
HOW TO PLAN TRAFFIC DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY?
Sunday, 17 November 2013 | PNS | in
Urban transport governance reform in India (2013-11-21 13:25)
Urban transport governance reform in India
Dr. Mayarani Praharaj, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India
Urban transportaon is the single most important component in shaping urban development and urban living. Since
transport is one of the prime determinants of quality of life, it is for governments to arculate the need for mobility
98
and facilitate it through appropriate mechanisms. In fact, eciency of cies greatly depends on the development of
transport systems, as urban transport is a catalyst for overall development.
[1] About 377 million Indians , comprising of about 31 per cent of the countrys
populaon, live in urban areas according to the 2011 Census . Projecons are that by 2031, about 600 million Indians
will reside in urban areas, an increase of over 200 million in just 20 years. According to the World Health Organizaon
(WHO), less than 50 per cent of two-wheeler drivers in India wear helmets, while only 27 per cent of drivers wear
seatbelts. The report says that while 88 countries have reduced the number of road fatalies between 2008 and
2011, Indian roads, on the contrary, have become more deadly. Not only that, but India also tops the list of total
number of deaths recorded on the road in 2011 at 143,000. The report says that only 28 countries, have adequate
laws that address all ve risk factors speed, driving under the inuence, helmets, seatbelts and child restraints, and
India has poor record on all ve risk factors.
Most of the cies in India have been facing urban transport problems for many years, aecng the mobility of people
and the economic growth of urban areas. These problems are due to a prevailing imbalance in modal split, inadequate
transport infrastructure and no integraon between land use and transport planning. Congeson is another serious
problem in Indian cies. Besides roads congeson, trac accidents, public health incidence and air polluon, sharp
increases in road transport also have a huge impact on fuel consumpon and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Yet India is already starng to make strides toward sustainable transport. The Government of India approved the
Naonal Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in 2006. The Policy primarily focuses on the mobility of people, not the
mobility of vehicles. This will require the public transportaon system being more aracve to use.
Cies in India vary considerably in terms of their populaon, area, urban form, topography, economic acvies, in-
come levels, growth constraints, etc. Accordingly, the design of transport systems will have to take into account these
city specic features. Further, transport planning is intrinsically linked to land use planning and both need to be devel-
oped together in a manner that serves the enre populaon but also minimises the need to travel. In developing such
plans, aenon should also be paid to channelling the future growth of a city around a pre-planned transport network
rather than develop a transport systemaer an uncontrolled sprawl has taken place. This calls for a renewed thrust to-
wards improvement in governance structures, especially at the level of urban local bodies, and a major improvement
in delivery of urban services in cies.
Government policies are dicult to implement. For that there needs to be proper governance structures to monitor
policies. Good governance can help to improve the resiliency and adapve capacity of cies in the case of urban
mobility. Parcipaon of cizens in urban governance should be part of every comprehensive trac planning and
management authority in cies.
About the author
Dr. Mayarani Praharaj works at the Department of Architecture at the College of Engineering and Technology,
Bhubaneswar, India
[2]hp://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/previous-edions/cop- 19/198-cop-19-day-9-cies-
urban-governance-and-transport/11629-urban-trans port-governance-reform-in-india
1. http://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/previous-editions/cop-19/198-cop-19-day-9-cities-ur
ban-governance-and-transport/11629-urban-transport-governance-reform-in-india
99
2. http://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/previous-editions/cop-19/198-cop-19-day-9-cities-ur
ban-governance-and-transport/11629-urban-transport-governance-reform-in-india
2.11 December
Barrier free Design (2013-12-03 14:30)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/barrier-free-de sign-making-environment-accessible-
to-the-disabled.html
BARRIER-FREE DESIGN: MAKING ENVIRONMENT ACCESSIBLE TO THE DISABLED
The UNs Internaonal Day of Persons with Disabilies is being observed on December 3 to promote accessibility,
remove all types of barriers and to realise full and equal parcipaon of persons with disabilies. This years theme
is Break Barriers, Open Doors for an Inclusive Society and Development for All.
Around one billion people in the world live with some form of disability. Persons with disabilies face physical, social,
economic and atudinal barriers that exclude them from parcipang fully and eecvely in the society.
They lack equal access to basic resources like educaon, employment, healthcare and social and legal support systems
and have a higher rate of mortality. Despite this, disability has remained largely invisible in the mainstream develop-
ment agenda in many countries. Barrier-free environment is one which enables people with disabilies to move about
safely and freely and use all facilies within the built environment, roads, parks, gardens and other places. The goal
of barrier-free design is to provide an environment that supports independent funconing of individuals so that they
can parcipate in all acvies without assistance.
There is a popular belief that a ramp and an elevator/li is all that is needed to make a built space barrier-free. But
barrier-free has many other aspects ranging from door and passage widths to ooring surface, from counter heights
to door handles and railings and fromsignage to auditory signal. Barrier-free design should be incorporated to access
disabled persons.
100
A small child, an elderly person, a pregnant woman, the temporarily disabled, all are vulnerable to barriers. A list of
designelements needs tobe consideredwhencreang a barrier-free environment are, ramps, handrails andgrab-bars,
lis, signage, informaon and service counters, etc.
India has more than 21 million people suering from one or the other kind of disability. The Persons with Disabili-
es Equal Opportunies, Protecon of Rights and Full Parcipaon Act of 1995 heralded a new dawn in the lives of
disabled people. For the rst me in independent India, a separate law has been formulated which talks about the
mulple needs of disabled people. The Act spulates that the Governments, local authories ensure provisions of
barrier-free facilies in all new Government buildings and public ulies, roads and transport.
It enjoins upon the authories to ensure within their economic capacity provision for installaon of auditory signals
in public roads for the benet of persons with visual handicaps, kerbs and slopes to be made in pavements for the
easy access of wheelchair users, devising appropriate symbols of disability at appropriate places.
Regarding non-discriminaon in the built environment, provisions have been made in the Act for ramps in public
buildings, adaptaon of toilets for wheelchair users, Braille symbols and auditory signals in elevators. Curb cuts and
slopes to be made in pavements for easy access of wheelchair users; engraving on the surface of the zebra crossing
for the blind or persons with low vision.
Amendment of building bylaws is the most important step towards creaon of a barrier-free built environment in
dierent cies and the guidelines for barrier-free environment may be referred from Bureau of Indian Standards and
the Urban Development Ministry guidelines.
In order to create a barrier-free environment in consonance with the provisions of the Act, the Union Ministry of Urban
Aairs & Employment is currently engaged in the process of amending the exisng building bylaws which would be
applicable to all buildings and facilies used by the public.
A provision of barrier-free design has also been incorporated in the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Building
Regulaon, 2008.Besides, access audit for various public buildings and urban spaces frequently visited by public is
required to promote barrier-free built environment. Access audit will include idenfying the barriers in terms of
external and internal built environment of the buildings such as approach, main gates, parking, building entrance,
public dealing areas, corridors and general circulaon areas.
Today accessibility for all is recognised as a basic necessity, and there are aempts all over the world to ensure this.
Barrier-free features are now becoming fundamental to all design concepts. The awareness level about the necessity
of barrier-free access needs to be raised. The exisng code must be eecvely implemented to break barriers, open
doors for an inclusive society. This new design approach will provide a barrier-free environment for all.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/barrier-free-design-making-environment-accessible-
to-the-disabled.html
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Regional Planning to reduce Rural-Urban migraon (2013-12-18 10:19)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/needed-regional -growth-planning-to-reduce-rural-
urban-migraon.html
NEEDED: REGIONAL GROWTH PLANNING TO REDUCE RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION
The United Naons Internaonal Migrants Day is observed on December 18 to recognise the eorts, contribuons
and rights of migrants worldwide. In 2013, the number of internaonal migrants in the world reached 232 million, up
from 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990. Migraon is now more widely distributed across the countries and
one of every ten migrants is under the age of 15.
Rapid urbanisaon, concentraon of populaon in large cies, sprawl of cies into wider geographical areas and
rapid growth of megacies are among the most signicant transformaons of human selements. In the coming
years, urban and rural populaon will be increasingly interdependent for their economic, environmental and social
wellbeing. Among the economic and social factors inuencing this process are populaon growth and voluntary and
involuntary migraon, real and perceived employment opportunies, cultural expectaons, changing consumpon
and producon paerns and serious imbalances and disparies among regions.
Migraon in India is not new. Historical accounts show people have moved in search of work, in response to environ-
mental shocks and stresses. Improved communicaons, transport networks, conicts over natural resources and new
economic opportunies have created unprecedented levels of mobility.
All three sectors of the Indian economy, agriculture, industry and services employ very large numbers of migrant
workers. The major subsectors using migrant labour are texles, construcon, stone quarries and mines, brick kilns,
small-scale industry (diamond cung, leather accessories, etc), crop transplanng and harvesng, plantaons, rick-
shaw pulling, food processing including sh and prawn processing, domesc work, security services, small hotels and
roadside restaurants and teashops and street vending.
Some of the sectors are strongly associated with specic migraon streams as migraon from western Odisha for
brick kiln work in Andhra Pradesh and migraon from Bihar for agricultural work in Punjab. Western Odisha has long
been a major source area for migrants because of its highly unequal land distribuon, high levels of poverty among
landless and marginal farmers and low levels of human capital, industrialisaon, urbanisaon and diversicaon into
nonfarm occupaons. The region suers from mulple social and economic disadvantages leaving the poor with few
local opons for making a living.
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High-producvity agricultural areas connue to be important desnaons, but rural-urban migraon is the fastest
growing type of migraon as more migrants choose to work in the beer paying nonfarm occupaons in urban areas.
Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra are top desnaons for migrant labour.
One key factor of this migraon is the lack of employment in rural areas, increasing exponenally the ever-growing
challenges related to providing adequate basic infrastructure to a growing number of unplanned low-income urban
selements. The lack of reliable infrastructure assets in rural areas leading to lack of access to basic social services,
markets and job opportunies, oen force the rural populaon to migrate. Rural and urban development strategies
can be explicitly made more pro-poor by opmising the employment impact of physical upgrading strategies in in-
frastructure and service delivery, providing social safety nets and other alternaves in the form of unemployment
insurance, micro nancing or job training.
Our Constuon (Arcle 19) gives the right to all cizens to move freely throughout the territory of India; to reside
and sele in any part of the territory of India. Indias total populaon, as per the Census 2011, is 1.21 billion. Internal
migrants in India constute a large populaon as 309 million internal migrants or 30 per cent of the populaon (Census
2001), and by more recent esmates 326 million or 28.5 per cent of the populaon (NSSO 20072008). This far
exceeds the esmates of Indian emigrants (11.4 million) (The World Bank 2011).
Migraon in India is primarily of two types, as long-termmigraon resulng in relocaon of an individual or household
and seasonal migraon involving back and forth movement between a source and desnaon. Most short-term
migrants belong to socioeconomically deprived groups like Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes having negligible
educaonal aainment, limited assets.
Migrants face denial of basic entlements including access to subsidised food, housing, drinking water, sanitaon and
public health facilies, educaon and banking services and legal protecon.
One noceable issue in the society today is the rate at which people migrate fromrural to urban areas. Like a paradox,
while the urban areas are increasing in populaon, the rural areas are decreasing. The rural-urban migraon has
negave consequences. It leads to overpopulaon of urban areas encouraging crimes and slows down the rate of
development of rural areas. So, the Government of each country should strive to provide social amenies and jobs for
rural cizens. Agro-allied industries must be set up in rural areas to provide jobs. Agricultural inputs and technologies
should be introduced to rural people to improve the producon level.
The global plan of acon outlined in the Habitat Agenda emphasises the interdependence between urban and rural
areas and the need to promote their balanced development. So, rural and urban areas should be connected by infras-
tructure, principally transport, electricity and telecommunicaon networks. Public policies and urban and regional
plans can help support economic growth while protecng natural and agricultural land uses.
Sustainability of global environment and human life will not be achieved unless both urban and rural human sele-
ments are made economically buoyant, socially vibrant and environmentally sound.
All these concerns and demands require a regional and cross-sectoral approach to human selements planning, which
places emphasis on rural/urban linkages and treats villages and cies as two ends of a human selements connuum
in a common ecosystem. Regional development planning creates a beer urban-rural balance and reduces migraon
pressure on urban areas. It is important for planners and policymakers to develop strategies based on the realies of
peoples lives in both rural and urban areas.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/needed-regional-growth-planning-to-reduce-rural-ur
ban-migration.html
103
Safe Public Space Design for Women (2013-12-23 10:08)
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3. 2014
3.1 February
Astronomical Architecture (2014-02-28 09:40)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/astronomical-ar chitecture-has-a-key-role-in-
popularising-science.html
ASTRONOMICAL ARCHITECTURE HAS A KEY ROLE IN POPULARISING SCIENCE
Naonal Science Day is celebrated in India on February 28 to commemorate the invenon of the Raman Eect by
Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on this day in 1928, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1930.
The theme of Naonal Science Day, 2014 is Fostering Scienc Temper. Scienc temper is a way of life, an individ-
ual and social process of thinking and acng, which uses a scienc method. First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
strongly believed in two wonderful concepts, freedom of speech and a concept he had coined, a naon with a sci-
enc temper. By a scienc temper, he wanted to speak of the people of a naon who would be able to think
independently, understand and pracse the scienc method in their daily lives.
Art and science are closely bound together, both historically and in educaon pracce. Every art has its foundaon in
science, and every science nds its expression in art. The arsts and crasmen always apply the principles and laws
formulated and systemased by science. Astronomy has a key role for popularising science. Astronomy develops
scienc temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform among students, working professionals and general
masses.
Astronomy has been applied in buildings and temple architecture in India. The 10th-Century Mukteswar Temple and
13th-Century Konark temple in Odisha were built on astronomical observaons. Due to its architectural excellence
105
Konark has been inscribed as a World Heritage Monument since November 2, 1984. The special feature of this temple
is that it is wholly erected in the form of a huge chariot, which is placed on twelve pairs of splendidly-carved wheels
and drawn by seven dynamic horses. The chariots wheels have an interesng fact. Each wheel has a set of eight
spokes and these spokes serve as sundials. Sundials are simple mekeeping devices and work with the help of the
Sun. Each wheel comprises eight spokes indicang eight Praharas of the day, one Prahara being equal to three hours.
The hub of the wheel casts shadow on the spokes indicang me. In the Mukteswar Temple, there is also a huge old
sundial made of stone. This belongs to the horizontal category and is sll in working condion.
The Jantar Mantar Observatory is another example of astronomical architecture having a key role in popularising
science. In the 18th Century, Maharajah Jai Singh II, a regional king under the Mogul empire, constructed ve astro-
nomical observatories in Delhi, Jaipur, Mathura, Ujjain and Varanasi. The Jaipur observatory is the largest. This was
built as a focal point of his new capital, Jaipur, the rst and earliest geometrically planned Indian city. He wanted to
facilitate naked eye observaon and make science of astronomy accessible to people.
One of Jai Singhs foremost objecves was to create astronomical instruments that would be more accurate and
permanent than the brass instruments. The calculang instruments of the Jantar Mantar were constructed of local
stone faced with white marble and bronze. Various thin rings and facings were craed fromthe ducle alloy of copper
and n though it may tarnish, it will not rust and thus not stain and crack the stonework.
This simple yet remarkable decision brought forth a collecon of large structures for measurement of celesal object
posions on the Earths surface. The observatories, or Jantar Mantars, as they are commonly known, incorporate mul-
ple buildings of unique form, each with a specialised funcon for astronomical measurement. These structures, with
their striking combinaons of geometric forms, have capvated the aenon of architects, arsts, and art historians
worldwide.
The Jaipur Jantar Mantar has 19 mainastronomical instruments built for naked-eye observaons of the celesal bodies
and precision was achieved through their monumental dimensions. The sizes of instruments are among the largest
in the world. This observatory was included in the World Heritage List in July 2010. A unique aspect of this cultural
heritage site is that it embodies both art and science in one comprehensive form. The most signicant instruments
(Yantras) include Brihat Samrat, probably the largest gnomon-sundial ever built. It measures local me to an accuracy
of two seconds.
Great Ram is a rare, and perhaps unique, double-cylinder instrument to record the azimuth of celesal bodies. The
Kapala Yantra records the coordinates of celesal bodies in both the azimuth-altude and equatorial systems and
permits a direct visual transformaon of the coordinates of any point in the sky between the two systems and the Ra-
sivalaya Yantra is a group of 12 gnomon-dials to measure the eclipc coordinates of celesal objects. The observatory
was very acve during Jai Singhs life, with around 20 permanent astronomers. Aer his death in 1743, this landmark
in Jaipur remained in use almost connuously unl around 1800. In the 19th Century, the observatory ceased to func-
on permanently, being reopened fromme to me. Some important restoraons occurred at the end of the century
under the Brish rule. This started a new life for the observatory. The interweaving of science, cosmology-religion
and social control has a great importance in the Rajasthan culture since the 18th century.
The scienc temper is an atude, a way of living, which should be applicable to all aspects of our life. To develop
scienc temper is one of the fundamental dues of Indian cizens, according to Arcle 51A (h), the Constuon.
The fundamental duty is observable by all cizens, be they scholarly or illiterate, for the naons benet. The
Mukteswar and Konark sundials and the Jantar Mantars are examples of astronomical architecture having a key role
in popularising science. The main threats to the sites apparently come from their increasing tourist use, rainwater
penetraon in the foundaons and urban polluon.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/astronomical-architecture-has-a-key-role-in-popula
rising-science.html
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3.2 March
Community safety for Women (2014-03-10 13:49)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/how-to-ensure-c ommunity-safety-for-
women.html
HOW TO ENSURE COMMUNITY SAFETY FOR WOMEN
Women are the indispensible part of the society. Many women have lived with the fear of being unsafe at certain
mes of the day and in certain places. For many women and girls around the world, just passing through a public
space, a market, a crowded street or riding the bus, is cause for great anxiety. Women express greater fears for their
safety in urban environments. This has a huge impact on womens ability to engage in employment, adult educaon,
civic and community parcipaon, social and leisure acvies.
To encourage advocacy for womens advancement, the Internaonal Womens Day is celebrated on March 8. For the
year 2014, the theme of the day is Inspiring Change. As per the United Naons Development Programmes Human
Development Report 2013, India ranks 132 out of 187 countries on the Gender Inequality Index GII, which is a new
index for measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report. This is a
composite measure which captures the loss of achievement, within a country, due to gender inequality, and uses
three dimensions to do so reproducve health, empowerment and labour market parcipaon.
Since the past several centuries, Indian women were never given equal status and opportunies compared to their
male counterparts. According tothe Naonal Family HealthSurvey (NFHS), 34 per cent of womeninOdisha experience
physical violence. The impact of fear, whatever the cause, on womens use of urban places has implicaons for the
role that planning and design of the public realmcan play in increasing the use of spaces by women and reducing levels
of fear. In terms of housing and residenal neighbourhoods, women are over-represented in public housing. They
are more likely to be pedestrians and require access to public transport. Therefore, the design of neighbourhoods for
safety in and around the home and from the home to transit stops and facilies is paramount.
Womens experience of safety in urban areas is dierent to that of men. Urban sengs and the way they are designed
aect levels of fear which are higher among women and which vary by locaon, me of day, mode of transport
107
and the level and nature of other uses. Women in parcular, construct detailed mental maps of parts of the urban
area which feel safe, and those that dont and should be avoided. They should, therefore, be involved in the design
and planning process. Planning and designing for women and girls means creang public spaces with features that
enhance womens safety and feelings of safety and detract from features that cause womens insecurity and feelings
of insecurity.
Thus, planning and designing safe public spaces for women and girls also means analysing the various uses of public
spaces, who uses them, when, and for howlong. This is because when certain groups, like women or girls, do not use
a space, it is usually an indicaon that the space feels insecure to members of that group.
Planning and designing safe public spaces for women and girls is the process whereby urban planners, designers,
architects, women, grassroots and other community actors collaborate to make the physical features of public spaces
safe andwelcoming for women. If public spaces are dark, abandoned, unclean, overgrown, or lacking certainelements
like benches or emergency phones, they are potenally unsafe for everybody, but for women in parcular. Therefore,
there is an increased chance that women will not use spaces where they feel and experience violence. For designing
safe public safe public spaces for women, architects and planners place special focus on lighng, landscaping, visibility,
motorised trac, pedestrian trac, urban furniture, signage, security personnel, proximity to other public spaces,
proximity to emergency service, and access to public transportaon.
The best way to ensure that spaces are welcoming to women is to consult them. However, women may nd it dicult
to parcipate in public planning and design discussions for a variety of reasons. In order to be successful, planners
and designers must pay aenon to how people express themselves in, and interact with, public space.
Previously many women may not have quesoned the social factors that have contributed to their fears. But now,
women form organisaons to work to change the relaons between the genders and the social frameworks. There
is a need to create cies that are inclusive and respect the right of all people, especially women, to live and work
without fear.
Each person feels ed into society, and proud of it. UN-HABITAT and Safer Cies purport an approach to urban safety
that links women iniaves and local government iniaves as a way of inuencing public policy and addressing
the causes of violence against women. Womens safety is increasingly recognised as a key health, development and
human rights issue. To make meaningful progress in eorts to promote womens safety, eecve programmac and
policy approaches must be idened. Urban administrave division can have a major impact on the safety of women
by developing careful strategic approaches.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/how-to-ensure-community-safety-for-women.html
108
City urban forests and Climate change (2014-03-21 09:15)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/urban-forests-m ake-cies-more-climate-change-
resilient.html
URBAN FORESTS MAKE CITIES MORE CLIMATE-CHANGE-RESILIENT
Forests are a very essenal part of life on Earth. They always full the demands of human beings by providing shadow,
shelter, refreshment including clean air and water. In the present world of growing global populaon the demand of
forest products is on the increase; so the forests are at big risks of degradaon.
To raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, United Naons Internaonal Day of Forests is celebrated
on March 21. The theme of the day this year is Ecosystem Management.
Cies across the world, due to the rapid growth of their populaons and large-scale developmental investments, are
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. A major challenge for the cies is to maintain environmental sustainabil-
ity. Sustainable forest management signicantly contributes to migaon of the harmful eects on the environment.
In general, the termmigaon refers to all acvies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removal of CO2
from the atmosphere. Acons needed in the forest sector include expanding forests through aorestaon, reducing
deforestaon and reversing the loss of forest cover, providing an enabling environment for investments and market
access to sustainable forest-based products.
Forests cover 30 per cent of the Earths land surface providing a crical ecosystem. Forests help alleviate land degra-
daon and desercaon. Deforestaon and desercaon adversely aect agricultural producvity, health of hu-
109
mans and livestock and economic acvies such as ecotourism. According to a UNEP report, 13 million hectares of
the worlds forests are converted into other land uses every year. India has lost 367 sqkm of forest cover in the past
two years as per the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
Forests have been a source of food, water, bre and livelihoods. They are also central to combang climate change.
Climate change is the greatest global threat as it can cause great damage to water and land resources, ecosystem,
food security and health. Forest loss enhances the loss of the inhabitant animal species. Deforestaon leads to the
global warming. Desercaonandthe associatedloss of vegetaoncause biodiversity loss andcontributes toclimate
change.
What is needed is an environmentally appropriate, socially benecial, and economically viable management of forests
for present and future generaons. This contributes to food security, poverty alleviaon, economic development and
sustainable land use in the wider context of sustainable development. Forests and climate change are inherently
linked. As greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, they trap heat. The increased heat leads to changes in
climate paerns. Managing forests to help them retain and increase their carbon storage potenal can maximise
their ability to migate climate change.
A sustainable urban forest management is important to sustain the numerous values associated with urban trees.
These values are threatened by the advent of climate change. The urban forest can be dened as the trees of the
city. Urban forests dier fromhinterland forests in several ways. Firstly, urban forests have a diverse structure. Urban
trees can be found in stands, in a park, arranged in lines along streets or as single trees and be close to infrastructure
or people. They can be remnants of nave forests or be deliberately grown. The interacons between climate change
and urban forests include three main elements urban forest contribuons, urban forest vulnerability and the impacts
of climate change on urban forests.
Urban trees help regulate the urban microclimate, augmenng or minimising climac change. This occurs either by
reducing albedo and providing shade and cover or by regulang the hydrological regime of cies that aects the
urban microclimate. Heat from the earth is trapped in the atmosphere due to high levels of carbon dioxide and
other heat-trapping gases that prohibit it from releasing the heat into space. This creates a phenomenon known as
the greenhouse eect. Therefore, trees help remove CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and return
oxygen back into the atmosphere as a by-product. Trees act as carbon sinks, alleviang the greenhouse eect. Trees
also reduce the greenhouse eect by shading houses and oce buildings. This reduces the need for air-condioning
by up to 30 per cent which in turn reduces the amount of fossil fuels burnt to produce electricity.
In the warmer months of the year, urban areas realise lower air temperatures when trees are strategically planted
along streets and near buildings. Trees also help with energy costs in the winter by blocking cold winds thereby
reducing the strain on heang units. These energy savings can reduce the demand for power producon by ulity
plants, which also reduce the amount of air pollutants produced by the power plants.
City climate acon plans oen incorporate urban forestry into climate change migaon and adapon strategies,
recognising that healthy trees and forests can strengthen a communitys ability to withstand climate-related threats.
An acve urban forest management for climate change strengthens community resilience to climate change impacts.
Urban forests should be included in the city planning process and incorporated successfully into modern, high-density
towns and cies.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/urban-forests-make-cities-more-climate-change-resi
lient.html
110
Role of Youth to ght climate change (2014-03-23 11:19)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/engage-youth-to -meet-climate-change-
challenges.html
ENGAGE YOUTH TO MEET CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES
Our planets climate is changing and this change is already having, and will connue to have, a lasng impact on our
environment and our lives.
Human acvies such as the use of fossil fuels, deforestaon and unsustainable agriculture have been substanally
increasing the atmospheric concentraons of greenhouse gases. All this will result in addional warming of the Earths
surface and atmosphere
and may adversely aect natural ecosystems and humankind. Climate change also decreases the availability of nutri-
ous food and clean water.
This leads to malnutrion and migraon, rendering youth parcularly vulnerable. Throughout the year, meteorolo-
gists across the world work together to collect, analyse and share informaon including reliable and mely weather
forecasts.
The United Naons World Meteorological Day is observed on March 23 to improve our understanding of weather
paerns and to beer forecast the Earths weather and climate.
The day commemorates the entry intoforce, onthat date in1950, of the convenoncreang the WorldMeteorological
Organisaon(WMO). The mainmove behindthis day is toexamine the state andbehaviour of the Earths atmosphere
and its interacon with climate, ocean and water resources.
111
This years theme Weather and Climate: Engaging Youth focuses on howtodays youth will benet fromthe dramac
advances being made in science to improve our understanding of weather paerns and to beer forecast the Earths
weather and climate.
Most youths will live into the second half of this
century and experience the increasing impacts of climate change. About 2.2 billion people in the world are under the
age of 18, represenng
nearly one-third of the populaon.
It is esmated that 87 per cent of the worlds adolescents live in countries aected by poverty, hunger, disease and
violence. Young women are oen especially vulnerable to the negave impacts of climate change.
In many sociees in mes of drought, young women may have to walk much further and more frequently to collect
safe water, leaving themvulnerable to disease and violent aack along their route, and with lile me to go to school,
generate income or take care of their families. Many youths are already experiencing the impacts of the changing
global environment.
The WMO encourages youths to learn more about climate system and contribute to acon on climate change. As
they live and play in their communies, they oen gain unique insights into the local environment, its strengths and
weaknesses. Young people are also oen creave and open-minded in their problem solving: they have iniave to
take acon to reduce the impact of climate change and prepare to face emergencies. They oen play a key role in the
survival of their families and communies in the event of disasters.
Despite all of this, children and young people have, to date, been relavely absent in the climate change policies and
plans being developed by many countries. These policies and frameworks aim to support countries to reduce the risk
posed by climate change. Youth-based organisaons must be encouraged to work with local authories and naonal
governments to establish
protecve environments
for children and young
people.
A successful plan is one that is developed, implemented and owned by young people in partnership with other adults
in the community. It is believed that by recognising the rights and capacies of youths, the challenges of climate
change can be turned into opportunies for sustainable development.
Climate change is a global problem and need global soluon.
The role of youth is not only to work for sustainable development locally or naonally but also to work for developing
such a network that will make the movement of sustainable development global.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/engage-youth-to-meet-climate-change-challenges.html
112
3.3 April
Friendly houses for Auscs (2014-04-03 12:40)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/design-right-ho uses-friendly-to-people-with-
ausm.html
DESIGN RIGHT HOUSES FRIENDLY TO PEOPLE WITH AUTISM
One in every 150 people in the world is ausc. This number is a very rough esmate as Ausm is a disease with
a wide spectrum of symptoms and disorders, ranging from a fully funconal adult with slight ausc tendencies or
minor learning disorders to individuals who have the most severe formof syndrome. Ausmis a complicated disorder
that aects communicaon and the senses. For ausc people, the eects of complexity are much greater; they are
unable to discern separate noises, shapes, etc, easily; this can lead to tension.
Ausmspectrumdisorder (ASD) and ausmare both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain develop-
ment. These disorders are characterised, in varying degrees, by dicules in social interacon, verbal and non-verbal
communicaon and repeve paerns of behaviour.
Many ausc people have exceponal abilies in visual skills, music and academic skills. To improve the lives of
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those who suer from the ASD, the United Naons World Ausm Awareness Day is observed on April 2. In 2008,
the Convenon on the Rights of Persons with Disabilies entered into force, rearming the fundamental principle
of universal human rights for all. This covers many issues, including employment, recreaon, religion, educaon and
accessibility to public services.
Of all needs, housing is the most important for ausc people. In this context, architects have a great role in designing
ausm-friendly housing. Architects employ their imaginaon to build funconal and usable built space. Le Corbusier
(October 6, 1887 August 27, 1965), an architect, designer, writer and pioneer of modern architecture wrote, You
employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construcon.
Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly, you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beauful. That
is architecture. The meaning aributed to a certain physical environment depends to a large extent on the personal
interpretaon people aach to this environment, inuenced by their personal interests.
Both the characterisc behaviour and the parcular way of sense-making of people with ausminuence their spaal
experience and interacon with the physical environment. The homes and neighborhoods where adults with ASDs
live may signicantly impact the quality of their lives. Yet many housing providers, developers and architects are
unfamiliar with how residenal design factors and neighbourhood amenies aect these residents wellbeing. Issues
to consider include access to amenies and transportaon and the potenal for residents to be integrated into exisng
community.
Architecture design for ausm seeks to develop environments that accommodate the needs of ausc individuals.
Despite prevalence of ausm, there are currently no standards for an architectural design specic to the ausc peo-
ples needs. When people think of treatments for ausc disorders, they may think about behavioural intervenons,
biomedical treatments and play therapies. Rarely do they think about building structures that accommodate the
needs of these people. Architecture design for ausm addresses sensory needs as it develops an environment that is
sensive to the symptoms.
Developing standard guidelines for creang ausc-friendly environments rely greatly on research. The dynamic
between an ausc persons behaviour and the physical environment is a primary concern. If a building is planned in a
simple manner, the user will require lile eort to use and enjoy the building. Aclear layout and organisaon of spaces
can help a person use the building without confusion as to the locaon of rooms. The basic design consideraons
should focus on safety and security.
Amajor characterisc of ausmis diculty with transions. For those leaving homes they have lived in for many years,
moving into a new residence and neighbourhood can be a very disorienng experience. Ausc adults can become
confused and frightened with changes in place and organisaon. Creang connuity and connecon with the past
facilitates the transion. The design of homes and support services should all work to maximise the orientaon of
these adults to their physical and social environment, assisng them in knowing where they are. If improvements
are needed in an occupied building, measures need to be taken to make it ausm-friendly.
Ausm aects girls and boys of geographic regions. The prevalence is currently rising in many countries. Caring for
and educang children and young people with this condion places challenges on ausm-friendly housing, healthcare
and educaon.
Providing a right environment for ausc people is not only desirable but surely their right. Environments designed
and created especially for people with the ASD have a benecial impact not only on the children but also on those
who care for them.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/design-right-houses-friendly-to-people-with-autism
.html
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Vector-borne diseases in Slums (2014-04-07 10:10)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/how-to-prevent- vector-borne-diseases-in-slums.html
HOW TO PREVENT VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES IN SLUMS
The WorldHealthDay is celebratedonApril 7 tomark the anniversary of the founding of the WorldHealthOrganisaon
(WHO) in 1948. The days theme for 2014 is Prevenon and Control of Vector-Borne Disease in Informal Selements.
So, the day this year highlights some of the most commonly known vectors responsible for transming a wide range
of parasites and pathogens that aack humans or animals. Mosquitoes, for example, not only transmit malaria and
dengue but also lymphac lariasis, chikungunya and yellow fever.
Vectors are organisms that transmit pathogens and parasites from one infected person to another. They are most
commonly found in tropical areas and places where access to safe drinking water and sanitaon systems is problem-
ac.
Over 60 per cent of water and vector-borne diseases in urban areas are reported from slum clusters due to lack of
basic amenies. These selements are the areas where groups of housing units have been constructed on land that
the occupants have no legal claim to, or occupy illegally. These are the areas where housing is not in compliance with
planning and building regulaons. The reasons for informal selements vary fromplace to place, but the most crical
factors are lack of aordable legal opons, poverty and intense demand for housing.
Slums and homeless peoples number are growing day by day in all urban centres. India has a very high percentage
of urban households living in informal selements. In Census 2011, slum blocks have been delineated in all towns
irrespecve of populaon size. Out of the 4,041 Statutory Towns in Census 2011, slums were reported from 2,543
(63 %). The total slum enumeraon blocks (SEBs) is about 1.08 lakh in the country. The top ve States reporng slum
households are Andhra Pradesh, Chhasgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. The proporon of slum
households (HHs) to urban HHs is 35.7 % in Andhra Pradesh and 23.1 % in Odisha. Most slum households have no
access to any waste collecon and suer from insucient drinking water.
Bhubaneswar, one of the fast-growing India cies, has lost its earlier planned status due to massive growth of slum
populaon and the increased informal sector acvies in the recent years. This sector of Bhubaneswar is dominated
by migrant workers. The building acvity over a long period needed the service of thousands of unskilled, semiskilled
and skilled workers, who came from all over Odisha and other States during the enre construcon period. These
workers, along with those working in the service sector, rickshaw-pullers and small vendors built their temporary
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houses invacant private andGovernment lands. Inthe process, slums appearedat many places. The migrant labourers
of Bhubaneswar usually sele in various slums to earn their livelihoods in dierent acvies.
The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has classied the slum selements into slum colonies belonging to
industrial workers, common slums, populaon squang on the land belonging to the Railways and other Government
agencies. The distribuon of slum and squaers inside the city is very much specic locaon-bound. However in the
present context, shiing of slum populaon is connuously taking place. But this is not a permanent soluon for the
slum dwellers.
Generally, as populaon grows, there is an increase in the demand for land by Government, private individuals and
corporate bodies. Unfortunately, since the overall physical supply of land within a geographical area is xed, the de-
mand always outstrips supply by a wide margin. In the market, the corporate bodies and rich individuals with higher
bargaining power dominate the transacon while slumdwellers are le with lile choice. This group of individuals oc-
cupies the less desirable areas like marshy sites, areas adjacent to refuse dumps and encroaches on Government lands.
This selement is characterised by infrastructure deciencies, shanty structures, poor sanitaon, urban violence and
crime.
The lack of access to adequate water and sanitaon remains the major concerns in slums. Over 60 per cent of them
have inadequate access to sanitaon. They lack either an individual toilet or a shared toilet. They are forced to depend
on badly maintained and overcrowded toilet blocks. Open spaces are thus the only opon.
In Bhubaneswar, there is a need to check mosquito breeding. The vector-borne diseases can be prevented if mosquito
breeding grounds are eliminated. This needs coordinated policies and acons related to slum-upgrading. First, the
growth of slums needs to be slowed down and eventually stopped through legal and land market reform planning,
zoning regulaons and building codes to make housing more aordable. Second, there is s need to adopt prevenve
strategies.
The Naonal Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) is the programme for prevenon and control of
the vector-borne diseases as an integral part of the Naonal Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The NVBDCP envisages
a self-sustained and well-informed, healthy India free from vector-borne diseases with equitable access to quality
healthcare.
The Government of India iniated the Naonal Slum Development Programme. To enable the slim people to gain
access to basic services like potable water, sanitaon, health and educaonal facilies, a number of schemes have
been launched from me to me. This development programme can prevent vector-borne diseases in many slum
selements.
Many organisaons and volunteers spend huge amounts of me and money for remedial measures, but sll we see
more people coming to the slum. Therefore, a Strategic Construcon Plan and Grid must be implemented to ensure
that the project is completed on a meline for slum dwellers benet. There is a need to reserve lands in every urban
development project for undertaking EWS and LIG housing as also re-housing sites for slum dwellers. This would
enable connuous supply of land for housing of slum dwellers.
The slum dwellers, an integral part of the city, have a share in the growth, status and prosperity of the city. They have
not willingly chosen their shanty structures and unhygienic environment but have been driven to this opon as they
were thrown out of the formal housing sector. Slumis a social problem. It may cause deterrent to future planning and
growth of the city. It is imperave to enhance the standard of living of slum dwellers with authorised dwelling units.
A slum-free city plan should be prepared for all areas and strategies need to be developed for prevenon of future
slums, including reservaon of land and housing for the urban poor. This will improve slumdwellers living condions
and prevent vector-borne diseases in cies.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/how-to-prevent-vector-borne-diseases-in-slums.html
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Bhubaneswar to become World Heritage City (2014-04-15 11:49)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/a-proposal-to-m ake-bhubaneswar-a-world-heritage-
city.html
A PROPOSAL TO MAKE BHUBANESWAR A WORLD HERITAGE CITY
The 66th Foundaon day of Bhubaneswar will be celebrated on April 13 (Sunday). It was on this day in 1948 that the
rst Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the State capital citys foundaon-stone. Since then,
Bhubaneswar remains a celebrated model of modern architecture and city planning with the prehistoric past as a
Temple City. Punjab capital Chandigarh was also designed in the same era of the post-Independent India.
While laying the foundaon-stone, Nehru had observed that Bhubaneswar Would not be a city of big buildings for
ocers and rich men without relaon to common masses. It would accord with an idea of reducing dierences
between the rich and poor. The New Capital would embody the beauful art of Odisha, and it would be a place for
beauty..so that life might become an adjunct to beauty.
Chandigarh was planned by French architect Le Corbusier and Bhubaneswar by German architect Dr Oo Koenigs-
berger. Le Corbusiers architectural work in Chandigarh is in the process to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage
List by the UNESCO. In 2006-07, Chandigarh came up on the tentave list, but in 2010 the decision on it was deferred.
However, there is every possibility that Chandigarh is going to be declared as a World Heritage City in near future.
But no proposal has been submied to the UNESCO to enlist Bhubaneswar in this list though it has more potenal
than Chandigarh to qualify for the recognion. Bhubaneswar has its identy as a temple town with a series of an-
cient sandstone temples varying in size from the towering eleventh century Lingaraja Temple, 55-metre high. A large
number of
Grade-I temples of naonal importance at Old Bhubaneswar have been protected by the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), examples being Ananta Basudeva, Mukteswara, Persurameswara andRajarani Temples. Withthis backdrop
of ancient temples of Old Bhubaneswar, a new capital has taken shape.
The city has a prehistoric past. Physically, the plan of Old Bhubaneswar is based on the Asta Ayatana concept, which
stands for eight sacred complexes as described in the sacred chronicles like Ekamra Purana and comprises 54 monu-
ments. Even today, there is a ritual connecon of Lingaraja with the temples in Asta Ayatana. This forms the genesis
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of the order and coherence of physical and socio-religious development of Old Bhubaneswar. The area has been
declared as a Special Heritage Zone as Ekamra Kshetra.
The Dhauli Hill is a Buddhist tourist desnaon with ancient sculptures and the extraordinary art forms. The area
has been declared as a Special Heritage Zone as Sanskrik Kshetra. Sisupalagarh was the ancient citadel of capital of
Kalinga ll 4th century AD. The city was systemacally planned with well built houses of laterite or brick laid out in
orderly streets in a grid paern. The area has been declared as a Special Heritage Zone as Aihasik Kshetra.
The Udayagiri and Khandagiri Hills represent one of the earliest groups of Jain rock-cut architecture built around
2nd century BC. Archaeologically signicant of the Pali records engraved in the Hathi Gumpha, displays the 13 year
megalithic record of king Kharavela of the Chedi dynasty.
The unique combinaon of built, natural and cultural heritage resources with Oo Koenigsbergers Master Plan with
neighbourhood units and climate responsive buildings by Architect Julius Vaz demand the city to be listed in the
World Heritage List. According to Koenigsbergers guidelines, most government buildings have been designed with
impressive corridors, which were also intended to protect the walls of oce rooms from direct sunrays.
Neighbourhood units were designed by Koenigsberger with the best amenies of urban life, with units placed at short
distances to give people easy access to school, hospital and other facilies. The buildings designed by Julius Vaz and
the Master Plan by Koenigsberger are outstanding examples of architectural design and town planning.
Besides, the State Museumin Bhubaneswar holds a huge collecon of arfacts and cras, including the worlds largest
collecon of palm-leaf manuscripts. The citys Tribal Museumis a testament to the lifestyles, arts and cras of Odishas
tribal heritage encompassing over 60 dierent tribes.
To be included in the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one of the
ten selecon criteria. There are more than 100 cies in the world declared as World Heritage Cies. In Asia, there are
four in Japan, three in China but none in India. The UNESCO confers the heritage status when the heritage sites/cies
are nominated by naons along with data, maps and photographs.
Bhubaneswar fulls four criteria: to represent a masterpiece of human creave genius; to exhibit an important inter-
change of human values over a span of me or within a cultural area of the world on developments in architecture or
technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design; to bear a unique or at least exceponal tesmony
to a cultural tradion or to a civilisaon which is living or which has disappeared; and to be directly or tangibly associ-
ated with events or living tradions with ideas or with beliefs, with arsc and literary works of outstanding universal
signicance.
If declared a world heritage, Bhubaneswar can maintain its identy for future generaons. Top UNESCOocial during
their visit to Odisha assured that they would consider the States recommendaon to include Bhubaneswar in the
World Heritage List. If Bhubaneswar qualies for it, it would become the second Indian city to be included in the
tentave list aer Chandigarh. The preparaon of the list is not randomselecon of places, but it is a tedious exercise
involving detailed study of history, architecture and heritage of places for its uniqueness/values before deciding on
its selecon.
If Bhubaneswar is declared as a World Heritage city, it will have more benets. The World Heritage Status, rst of
all, is the highest honour and the most presgious tle given to heritage monuments, sites, cies, etc., in recognion
of their historic/architectural signicance, not just at the local/naonal levels but at an internaonal level for having
heritage of outstanding universal value. The tle gives a tremendous impetus to internaonal tourismand also opens
up avenues of funding for comprehensive development of the city. The status makes preservaon and maintenance
of heritage mandatory, thus facilitang to uphold the citys cultural identy.
Subming a proposal does not guarantee the world heritage status. Lots of works need to be done by the State
Government and conservaon NGOs to get the status for Bhubaneswar. Besides, public awareness and community
parcipaon are also vital to make the proposal successful.
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1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/a-proposal-to-make-bhubaneswar-a-world-heritage-ci
ty.html
Konark temple conservaon demands urgent aenon (2014-04-20 10:32)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/konark-temple-c onservaon-demands-urgent-
aenon.html
Konark temple conservaon demands urgent aenon
The World Heritage Day is celebrated on April 18 to educate people about protecon, preservaon and propagaon
of world heritage. World heritage refers to those monuments and sites which have shaped, inuenced, or represent
the most impressive achievements of human sociees. World heritage sites are those which illustrate the best of
human achievements such as the pyramids of ancient Egypt, The Great Wall of China, Konark temple in Odisha, etc.
World heritage is the shared wealth of humankind. Protecng and preserving this valuable asset demands collecve
eorts of the internaonal community.
The theme of the day for 2014 is Heritage of Commemoraon. It provides an opportunity to present those construc-
ons that have been intenonally created with the purpose of commemorang an event, a person, an idea, etc.
The Sun Temple at Konark is a pinnacle of Indian temple architecture and the most magnicent architectural achieve-
ment undertaken in India ll date. The temple was a technological wonder. The builders had a comprehensive knowl-
edge of astronomy and architecture. The temple was built in by King Narasimhadeva I (AD 1236-1264) of the Ganga
dynasty and dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya. Due to its architectural excellence, it has been inscribed as a
World
Heritage Monument since November 2, 1984.
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The temple was designed as a chariot with 12 huge carved stone wheels and seven stone horses around its base. The
horses were conceived in such a way that it gives the impression that the Sun God himself drives this chariot. The
temple complex was located in a walled enclosure of about 260m x 160m.The complex consists of Vaishnav Temple
(superstructure collapsed), Maya Devi Temple, Sun Temple (superstructure collapsed), Jagamohana (Intact), Aruna
Pillar (now in front of Jagannath Temple, Puri), Natamandapa (superstructure collapsed), kitchen (only basement
exisng).
Towards the end of the 16th century or early in the 17th, Muslims apparently aacked and damaged the temple
complex causing violaon of the sancty of the temple and, thus, it was abandoned as a place of worship. Over the
next centuries, the temple was no longer used and maintained and it suered fromstructural deterioraon, sand dri
and robbery and the main temple collapsed. Due to human negligence, the masterpiece of art and sculpture fell into
ruins.
That the decay andcollapse was gradual is substanatedby ASrling, whovisitedthe site in1825 AD. He menons that
the temple sll stood, even in 1848; a corner of the Rekha Sikhara remained to a considerable height. The standing
corner of the tower was further recorded by James Fergusson in 1837 AD who esmates its height as nearly 45 mand
Kioe in 1838 AD who esmates the height between 24 m and 30 m. This solitary remnant of the main temple also
fell in October 1848 due to a strong gale. However, in course of me the main temple collapsed. Rajendra Lal Mita
while vising the temple in 1868 and Hunter in 1870 have recorded eyewitness accounts of the ruins. The former
menons it as only an enormous mass of stones studded with a few trees here and there.
The main temple has been esmated to have been 67m height at the beginning. The Jagamohana is the total height
of 37m. It is the audience hall where the people assembled for worship. Only the Jagamohana or Mukhasala stands
today.
The temple is indeed the only one of its kind. The huge granite blocks were extremely polished and plain. The blocks
were separated by iron plates. The enre structure was held together by several magnets. It is believed that the idol
of Sun God was kept suspended in the air by the force of the magnets. The idol had a diamond which reected sunrays.
The magnet at the temples top was the main force holding most of the structure. This was so powerful that it used
to disrupt the magnec compass of the ships going through that route as Konark was a major port at that me.
During the Brish rule, steps were taken to conserve the remaining part of the temple. Towards the end of the 19th
century, proposals were made for undertaking certain repairs, but signicant work did not get underway unl 1903.
In 1903, the Jagamohana was sealed aer lling the interior with sand, aer observing certain structural deciency
in it, to avoid possible collapse. However neither a clear record of the condion of the inside of the monument prior
to 1903 nor the actual reason for lling the interior of Jagamohana with sand is available.
In 1950, the Government of India appointed an expert commiee on conservaon, engineering, art, architecture,
geology and chemistry to suggest measures for conservaon. The southern and eastern gateways were thoroughly
conserved by restoring the missing stones and replacing the damaged courses by newones. Extensive chemical clean-
ing and preservaon of the facade of the temple was also undertaken.
There are many speculaons about the cause of the fall of the temple. Legends describe a loadstone on the tem-
ple top. The loadstone disturbed ship compass so that they did not funcon correctly. To save their shipping, the
Portuguese voyagers took away the loadstone, which was acng as the central stone and keeping all the stones and
the iron columns and walls of the temple in balance. Due to its displacement, the temple walls lost their balance
and, eventually, fell. But there is no record of this occurrence in any historical records, nor is there any record of the
existence of such a powerful loadstone at the temple. The exact date and reason for the fall of the monument are
sll in mystery.
Though in a dilapidated condion, the temples charmsll aracts visitors fromfar and wide throughout the year. The
remaining structure and the ruins around sll profoundly tesfy the boundless creavity of the Odishan arsts and
their contribuons to the treasury of Indian art and building techniques.
The Sun Temple is protected under the Naonal Framework of India by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958. Other relevant legislaons include the Forest Act, Konark Development Act and
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Noed Council Area Act. Under the AMASR Act, a zone of 100 metres outside the property and a further zone of 200
metres outside it constute, respecvely, prohibited and regulated zones for development or other similar acvity
that may have adverse eects on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. All conservaon programmes are
undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India.
There are ve management-related plans: safety, environment, master planning, environmental development and
tourism. World Heritage funding was received to carry out an assessment of structural stability.
The Jagamohana, which was sealed, is at risk due to lateral thrusts on the structural walls. The conservaon of the
remaining part of the temple will be a challenge aer removal of sand. Research works are on in respect of removal
of sand from the Jagamohana.
Over the years, it has been observed that the sand level has gone down by nearly 15 feet. This indicates that the
top poron has become vacant. Therefore, many quesons arise for the conservaon of the World Heritage, Konark.
If sand removal is possible, people can see the Jagamohanas interior condion. However, there is a need to study
its possible impact on the structure. The Konark temples world cultural heritage status certainly demands that the
structure be given immediate aenon.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/konark-temple-conservation-demands-urgent-attention.
html
Green Vision for City Planning (2014-04-23 09:29)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/its-important-t o-have-green-vision-for-city-
planning.html
ITS IMPORTANT TO HAVE GREEN VISION FOR CITY PLANNING
The annual Internaonal Mother Earth Day was observed on April 22 to demonstrate and support for environmental
protecon.
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Urban areas are now home to 50 per cent of the worlds populaon, but they account for 60-80 per cent of energy
consumpon and 75 per cent of carbon emissions. Rapid urbanisaon is exerng pressure on fresh water supplies,
sewage, the living environment and public health. In many cases, urbanisaon is characterised by urban sprawl and
haphazard development of periphery of the town which is not only socially divisive but increases energy demand,
carbon emissions and puts pressure on ecosystems.
The Earth Day 2014 focussed on the global theme Green Cies. This would encourage people to create a sustainable,
healthy environment by greening communies worldwide. As the urban populaon grows and the eects of climate
change worsen, our city planning has to change.
Green vision for city planning includes three key elements: buildings, energy and transportaon. A green city derives
its energy from renewable sources like solar and wind and distributes it through ecient micro grids. A green city
is made up of buildings that are energy-ecient, conserve water and reduce waste. Compact, relavely densely
populated cies with mixed-use urban formare more resource-ecient than any other selement paern with similar
levels of economic output. Urban infrastructure including streets, water and sewage systems come at considerably
lower costs per unit as urban density rises.
Besides, a city that preserves and maximises its open spaces, natural landscapes and recreaonal opportunies is
more healthy and resilient. Many cies have been designed with green space-oriented community development
strategy at both naonal and local levels. Greenways may be designed as a planning strategy. These are networks
of land containing linear element that are planned, designed and managed for mul purposes including ecological,
recreaonal, cultural or other purposes compable with the concept of sustainable land use.
Bhubaneswar was a city with pleasant climac condion throughout the year. Since last decade, this city is experienc-
ing high populaon growth, urbanisaon and disnct weather condion. Earlier, it had a sound coverage of greenery,
but now it has decreased substanally, leading to uncomfortable condions. Modicaon of the land surface by ur-
ban development and reducon of open space is another reason for the unusual mercurial rise in Bhubaneswar in
summer. Small water bodies and wetlands are increasingly being lled up by mulstoried buildings.
The level of polluon has also increased due to the increasing trac and decrease in foliage. The expansion of the
city and lots of concrete structures are also the reason for its microclimac change over the years. Bhubaneswar
contained a 54-per cent forest area in 1930, which is nowa mere 3 per cent, mostly shrubs only. As per the CDP-2008,
the Bhubaneswar Development Plan Area (BDPA) contains only 19.07 per cent of forest area.
To develop green vision, green corridors can be designed properly in Bhubaneswar. The enre BDPA is gied with
tremendous natural resources in the form of rivers like Kuakhai, Bhargavi and Daya as well as areas with dense veg-
etaon/forest such as Bharatpur forest area and Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary. In the CDP, the enre river belt
zone has been proposed for recreaonal land use with green buers running all along the river embankment, thereby
forming a connuous Green Corridor on the eastern side of the BDPA. Secondly, enre Bharatpur is a green zone
with its forest area and the Nandankanan sanctuary placed sequenally along the main access. It is also forming the
Green Corridor on the western side of the BDPA. These open areas must be developed as organised green and suitably
landscaped. It is also advisable to have greening of the enre townships.
It is beer to think of the open spaces of a city as a mulfaceted matrix, performing a variety of funcons and having
a variety of uses. By this, cies can maintain green space within and throughout their urban and suburban centres,
including trees and green space for recreaon, cooling, stormwater management and simple aesthec enhancement
and livability. A number of cies are developing this idea of Green Corridor as a tool both for the protecon of
biodiversity and to provide a sense of connuity between town and the region.
Avenues of trees in the streets, public urban parks and conservaon of green areas within private plots can all con-
tribute to improving condions in the urban area. Scaered green space within the compactly built up area may act
as a connuous patch of green, widening at the edge of the city into the green belt and then into a rural landscape,
establishing a coherent relaonship between urban and rural areas. Such designs encourage healthy lifestyles with
the ability to serve many daily needs by walking or cycling. This development paerns can also help keep a community
economically vibrant.
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People who live close to green space are more resistant to stress, have lower incidence of behavioural disorders,
anxiety and depression and have a higher measure of condence. Green space also smulates social interacons
between people.
As the concept of a green city is sll new, their development faces many challenges. The large majority of green cies
are sll at the planning stage. Although there are many new ideas and agenda for green city planning, a few of them
have been implemented to generate broad conclusions.
Many buildings are designed in the city without considering climac condions of the area. These buildings need
air-condioning to keep them cool. As an alternave, architects should keep climac condions in mind and design
building that would cut down on energy consumpon. More emphasis should be given on factors like ensuring maxi-
mum natural light and venlaon.
Green buildings have minimal adverse impacts on the natural environment and are designed to minimise the envi-
ronmental impact of materials, construcon and operaon. They also seek to maximise opportunies for indoor
environmental quality and performance, saving money, reducing waste, increasing worker producvity and creang
healthier environment for people to live and work.
It has become paramount that an assembly of green buildings alone will not be the only deciding factor in green
city developments. Many green innovaons can be comprehensively integrated into statutory urban planning and
development control systems, including planning standards and building regulaons. Green building standards have
been used in some cies as part of a move towards carbon neutrality. The bylaws and codes need to be revised to
integrate aspects of green city and energy conservaon building code. These regulaons should include a combinaon
of mandatory rules and voluntary guidelines such that minimumenergy performance standards should be compulsory
for all new buildings with exibility in the ways to achieve the same.
With the rapid urbanisaon and fast depleon of the earths resources, we need to rethink about planning our future
cies. Planning, development and maintenance of urban green space is among the key elements of sustainable
urban development. City planners must have a major role in designing green cies which would be more livable,
sustainable and environment-friendly.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/its-important-to-have-green-vision-for-city-planni
ng.html
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Odisha tops Malaria states in India (2014-04-25 09:20)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/odisha-accounts -for-most-malaria-cases-in-
india.html
ODISHA ACCOUNTS FOR MOST MALARIA CASES IN INDIA
Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in the world. The World Health Organisaon (WHO) esmates 300-500
million cases of malaria with over one million deaths each year worldwide. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in
sub-Saharan Africa. However, Asia, Lan America, and to a lesser extent the Middle East and parts of Europe are also
aected. In India, the maximum people aected by malaria are from Odisha State.
The World Malaria Day, instuted by the WHO in 2007, is celebrated on April 25. The says campaign theme for 2014
is Invest in the future. Defeat malaria. The day is an occasion to highlight the need for connued investment and
sustained polical commitment to control and eliminate this deadly disease.
Malaria is transmied exclusively through the bites of anopheles mosquitoes, which mainly breed in stagnant waters.
Some mosquitoes breed in small water pockets parally or completely exposed to the sun while others breed in
shaded stagnant water. Malaria transmission is more intense in places where the mosquito lifespan is longer (so that
the parasite has me to complete its development inside the mosquito). In many places, transmission is seasonal with
the peak during and just aer the rainy season. Lack of maintenance of the road drainage ditches, drainage water
treatment and disposal facilies create problems of silng, slow water ow or stagnant water.
If there are severe storms and excessive rainfall amounts for several days, the ground might not be able to absorb
all the water. This leads to development of stagnant water bodies. Another common cause of stagnant water is if
the sepc systems are lled with too much water, causing the sewage to ow on ground. These types of water are
lled with bacteria, creang possible diseases. Areas with a shallowwater table are more suscepble to groundwater
stagnaon due to the lower availability of natural soil drainage. Excessive watering may cause ground or surface water
stagnaon. People should clean their surrounding environment to clear o stagnant water. During the o ooding
period the stagnant water is to be drained o to the nearby water channels. Proper surface and subsurface drainage
to remove excess water in a mely manner plays an important role in controlling water-related diseases.
Management of drainage system is presently a challenge for urban authories in many developing cies because of
rapid growth of populaon and unplanned development acvies. Therefore, a close coordinaon among urban au-
124
thories and collaboraon between public and private sectors is needed for eecve management and sustainable
operaon of urban drainage system. High-intensity rains can cause urban ooding since urban areas have a lot of
concrete structures and there isnt much open soil available for water to percolate, causing a huge burden on the
drainage systems. Several days of ooding allows mosquito larvae breeding and leads to an increase in malaria trans-
mission. Emphasis on drainage development works will have to be undertaken in the severely waterlogged areas to
reduce the spreading of diseases.
Floods and waterlogging in the low-lying areas have become common due to unplanned growth. Bhubaneswars
rapid expansion in all direcons makes the city prone to urban ooding. The high rate of urbanisaon has led to
waterlogging in several areas of the city. It is very crucial to take decisiond while changing land use from agriculture
category to residenal area. However, as real estate developers and new selers have started converng agricultural
land into residenal colonies, the natural channels for water discharge have been blocked.
In Bhubaneswar, the land use change from vegetaon to other category was 63.3 per cent and land use change from
agriculture to other category was 32.4 per cent in 2000-2005 for residenal area which was the highest compared
to other category of land uses. This trend is also connuing now. In many cases, people are construcng houses
without considering the drainage paern and they suer the problem aer construcon of the buildings. It is very
dicult to incorporate drainage plan aer construcon. In many low-lying areas of Bhubaneswar like Acharya Vihar,
Jayadev Vihar, Bhimatangi, Old Town, Jagamohan Nagar, Laxmisagar and Kapilprasad, people are suering fromwater
stagnaon. In many cases, construcon over the natural drainage channel blocks the water ow.
Common drainage problems can be avoided if due consideraon is given to these issues during planning stage. The
me and costs spent trying to address problems before and during the construcon stage will normally be less than
the costs of migang eorts aer the works have been completed.
Water collected through a road drainage systemneeds to be carefully discharged fromthe road, avoiding any damages
to the adjacent low-lying land. Equally, the drainage system of a road needs to be carefully adjusted so it does not
conict with the drainage systems on adjacent neighbourhood land. Besides the proper design of side drains can
reduce the drainage problem in the city. The funcon of the side drains (or ditches) is to collect water from the
carriageway and surrounding areas and lead it to an exit point where it can be safely discharged. The absence of side
drain also aggravates the problem. The exact dimensions of the side drains are dependent on the expected amount
of rainwater and the distance to the next exit point where the water can be diverted from the road. The drainage
facilies demand management of drains, which involve the prevenon of ooding and illegal encroachments, periodic
maintenance and provisions of adequate land for future reconstrucon and augmentaon acvies.
Inadequate provision for drainage can increase the risk of malaria. Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden
could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitaon, hygiene and management of water resources. Such im-
provements reduce child mortality and improve health in a sustainable way. Malaria can create a huge economic
burden for a country. This is due to the number of hospital admissions and the cost of naonal malaria control pro-
grammes. In this context, innovave nancing would play an important role. Investments in malaria prevenon have
been among the best investments in global health facility, resulng in a dramac decrease in malarial deaths and
illness.
Finally, urban planning which is done keeping community needs in mind would go a long way in checking the spread
of malaria by parcipatory planning for beer preparedness for potenal urban water supply, proper waste disposal
and eliminaon of stagnant water bodies. There is a need to improve waste water treatment, management and
modicaons to the drainage system in every city. Besides, public awareness and community parcipaon play an
important role in the planning process. A variety of diseases can be prevented by improving the provision of water
and sanitaon and implemenng proper drainage and control of disease vectors.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/odisha-accounts-for-most-malaria-cases-in-india.ht
ml
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Bio- Medical Waste Management in Bhubaneswar (2014-04-28 10:01)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/biomedical-wast e-management-in-bhubaneswar-
poses-risks.html
BIO-MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BHUBANESWAR POSES RISKS
Improper procedures of medical waste management have been reported from many places. At the global level, up
to 64 per cent of healthcare instuons are reported to have unsasfactory biomedical waste management (BMWM)
facilies. Expansion of healthcare facilies and the recent trend of using disposables have led to an unprecedented
burden of healthcare-related wastes. Since the last decade, unregulated handling of biomedical wastes is emerging
as a serious threat to human health and safety.
The Internaonal Labour Organisaon (ILO) observes the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28 to
promote prevenon of occupaonal accidents and diseases. April 28 is also the day on which the worlds trade union
movement holds its internaonal Commemoraon Day for Dead and Injured Workers in memory of the vicms of
occupaonal accidents and diseases.
Biomedical wastes are generated in the diagnosis and treatment of human and animal diseases. Hospitals, clinics
and laboratories produce huge quanes of biomedical wastes, which pose occupaonal health risks to those who
generate or come in contact with them. According to the WHO, almost 80 per cent of medical wastes are benign and
comparable to domesc wastes. The remaining 20 per cent is considered hazardous.
In many cies, collecon, segregaon, transportaon, and disposal of solid wastes has been done in a very unscienc
way. Segregaon of wastes has not been done before disposal. Solid wastes contain biomedical waste and somemes
other toxic and hazardous wastes.
The wastes from hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, etc., are apparently infecous unless treated carefully. These
wastes include blood-soaked bandages, culture dishes and other glassware, discarded surgical gloves, discarded surgi-
cal instruments, discarded needles, etc. All acvies in medical waste management fromcollecon to disposal involve
risk either to the worker directly involved or to nearby residents.
Occupaonal health and safety now has an impact on every worker in every workplace. Employers have a duty to
prevent occupaonal diseases by taking prevenve and protecve measures through assessment and control of risks
at work. Poor management of healthcare wastes potenally exposes health workers, waste handlers, paents and
the community at large to infecon, toxic eects and injuries. Prospecve workers should be educated about the
biohazards to which they may be occupaonally exposed, the types of exposures that place their health at risk, the
nature and signicance of such risks as well as the appropriate rst aid and follow-up for potenal exposures.
126
The Constuon of India has detailed provisions for the rights of cizens and also lays down the Direcve Principles
of State Policy which set an aim to which the acvies of the state are to be guided. On the basis of these Direcve
Principles, the Government is commied to regulate all economic acvies for management of safety and health
risks at workplaces and to provide measures to ensure safe and healthy working condions for every working man
and woman. The Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rule 1998, prescribed by the Union Ministry of
Environment and Forests, came into force on July 20, 1998.
Hospital wastes can be categorised and segregated on the basis constuents. Such as infecous materials containing
dangerous concentraons of waste, if exposed, can cause diseases are included in this category. It includes wastes
from surgery on paents with infecous diseases; sharp disposable needles, syringes, blades, broken glasses or any
other items that can cause injury; pharmaceucals like drugs and chemicals that are returned from wards, spilled,
expired, contaminated or exposed for longer period are included in this category. There are also radioacve like solids,
liquids and gaseous wastes contaminated with radioacve substances used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Whether the method of disposal is on-site or o-site, biomedical wastes must be segregated from the general waste
stream. If biomedical wastes are mixed with general refuse, the total waste stream would require special treatment
and handling. Waste segregaon relies on the waste being segregated at its point of generaon and placed into
appropriate waste containers. Segregaon permits facilies to eecvely divert those materials that are recyclable,
require special handling or disposal. Used syringes need to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. Syringes
and needles must be damaged before they are put in containers.
There is a need of proper management of biomedical wastes. In this regard, public awareness will play an important
role in addressing the issue at local level. Various types of awareness programmes are being organised to spread
awareness for management of this problem. Policies and procedures should be made available and include methods
of segregang, packaging, labeling, moving, storing, treang and transporng the various waste types and a list of all
regulaons and legislaons concerning biomedical wastes and provision for regular, ongoing sta instrucon about
proper handling and potenal hazards of biomedical waste.
Workers and their organisaons have a right to be involved at all levels in formulang, supervising and implemenng
prevenon policies and programmes for occupaonal safety and health and prevenon of occupaonal diseases.
It has been felt that the solid waste management in Bhubaneswar is not in tune with the rapid development of the city.
The indiscriminate disposal of biomedical wastes poses a great risk to human health and environment in the city. The
hazardous and infecous wastes fromhospital and nursing homes are at present disposed of in a manner which is not
environmentally sound. Within the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporaon areas there are ve Government hospitals,
two private hospitals, 17 Government Dispensaries, about 20 nursing homes which generate a total of one tonne of
biomedical wastes every day. The wastes are currently dumped along with municipal solid wastes. This poses high
risks to the city.
There are no demarcated dump yards for biomedical waste disposal in Bhubaneswar. Many open areas in the city
have been converted into dumping yards. Medical wastes are simply dumped with other solid wastes in dierent
locaons. These sites are visually unpleasant without any visual barriers. Besides, open dumping oen leads to a
number of problems like air, water and ground polluon, spread of diseases, etc. People involved in the disposal
process can suer from needle sck injuries. This can happen during the disposal of the used syringe or even aer
disposal to those involved in recovering them. Of all the potenal sources of infecon transmission from biomedical
wastes, needle scks are of prime concern to the health sta and the community at large.
The management of solid wastes including biomedical waste should, therefore, be a priority for the city of
Bhubaneswar. Protecon against personal injury is essenal for all workers who are at risk. The individuals respon-
sible for management of healthcare wastes should ensure that all risks are idened and suitable protecon from
those risks is provided. It is essenal that all medical waste materials are segregated at the point of generaon,
appropriately treated and disposed of safely.
127
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/biomedical-waste-management-in-bhubaneswar-poses-r
isks.html
3.4 May
ECOTOURISM IN CHILIKA (2014-05-12 09:38)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/bird-watching-c an-further-boost-ecotourism-in-
chilika.html
BIRD-WATCHING CAN FURTHER BOOST ECOTOURISM IN CHILIKA
Migratory birds and people have been closely linked throughout history and migratory birds connue to play a very
signicant cultural, aesthec and economic role in the lives of people around the world. Migratory birds undertake
some of the most daring journeys, oen covering thousands of kilometers to migrate.
There is also a growing trend among bird tour operators to pracse sustainable and socially responsible ecotourism,
while relying on local goods and services or supporng local conservaon projects. Hundreds of thousands of bird-
watchers travel to various places in the world to watch birds, hoping to glimpse rare species.
To conserve migratory birds and their habitats, World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is celebrated on May 11-12 every
year since 2006. For 2014, the theme of the day is Desnaon Flyways: Migratory Birds and Tourism. This years
theme is linked to the topic of tourism and migratory birds, focusing on the global bird and sustainable tourism. Each
year, millions of migratory birds set out to travel the world, ying along the same routes, known as yways. The
yways represent one of the most spectacular and valuable assets of the worlds natural heritage. The WMBD works
as a network to increase public knowledge about migratory birds and their importance.
128
During their travels, migratory birds depend upon a chain of vital sites for breeding and wintering. Due to their natural
values, these sites are oen managed under dierent conservaon schemes and also endowed with great tourism
potenal. Bird-watching tourism typically involves travelling away from home to a bird-watching desnaon. This
desnaon may be a parcular locaon such as a well-known, bird-rich site. Bird-watching tourism has aracted
aenon in recent years as an apparently environment-friendly way of producing income for operators, local commu-
nies and whole countries.
Odishas Chilika lagoon, the largest brackish water lake in Asia covering an area of over 1,100 sqkm, is a great aracon
for tourists for bird-watching. Chilika, which is also a hotspot for biodiversity, has been named Desnaon Flyways by
the United Naons World Tourism Organisaon (UNWTO). The lagoon was so named for its sustainable and resilient
desnaon for migratory birds. The UNs body arm, under the project Desnaon Flyways, will help the Chilika
Development Authority (CDA) to develop strategies for protecon of migratory birds through creaon of innovave
tourismand livelihood products with funding support fromFederal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservaon
and Nuclear Safety of Germany. The UN bodys arm on tourism and biodiversity would assist in development and
implementaon of strategies and projects linking sustainable tourism and livelihood resources.
Chilika is the only site tobe selected fromAsia by the UNWTOand was recommendedby internaonal agencies such as
Secretariat of the Convenon of Biological Diversity, Convenon of Migratory Species, Ramsar Convenon Secretariat,
World Heritage and Man and the Biosphere Programmes of UNESCO.
By providing an adequate framework for sustainable tourismmanagement and diversifying the tourismoer along the
yways, Desnaon Flyways will generate revenue for improved management of biodiversity and spread the benets
of tourism to local communies, while creang aracve experiences for tourists. This can be done by developing
and implemenng site management plans bringing together environmental and tourism objecves.
Recognised as a Ramsar Wetland of Internaonal Importance for its biodiversity, Chilika aracts an impressive array of
bird life, with over a million migratory waterfowls and shorebirds during winter. The lake is also the largest wintering
ground for migratory birds in the Indian sub-connent. In the peak season, as many as 160 species of birds can be
found here. Birds seeking wintering ground come from as far as the Caspian Sea, remote parts of Russia, Central and
South-East Asia, the Himalayas, etc. They are sea eagles, grey lag geese, purple moorhen, jacana, herons, amingos,
etc. The lake is one of the best places for bird-watching. Besides, the tourists can enjoy dolphin watching, boang,
shing, wetland viewing and camping. There are numbers of ecotourism points like the Nalabana bird sanctuary and
island, Satpada wetland and dolphin viewpoint, Mangalajodi conservaon centre, Parikuda Island, Kalijai and Chilika
Ecopark.
Bird-watching plays a signicant part in the tourism industry and creates direct and indirect economic benets for
many countries and communies. Bird-watching is a highly popular recreaonal acvity. Ecotourism involves local
community for conservaon of the areas ecology and biodiversity and, in return, provides economic incenves to
the community. Ecotourismcan help conserve important habitats of migratory birds and biodiversity on a much great
scale. This results in economic benet by disbursing funds for travelling, accommodaon and entrance fees. A key
aspect is raising awareness among local communies and involving them in safeguarding the endangered species.
They provide tour guides, accommodaon, transportaon and necessary infrastructure. Besides, local people might
engage in long-term monitoring which is crucial for designing an ecient conservaon strategy.
The open air and scenic natural ora and fauna of the Chilika lake are an aracon for ecotourism. This is expected
to provide a degree of alternate employment to the local community and generate environmental awareness among
local residents as well as visitors about conservaon and wise use of the lakes natural resources.
In general, anthropogenic pressures have a major impact on the general wildlife and avifauna in Odisha. However,
natural processes also cause several types of degradaon. For example, Odisha is located in the cyclone-prone zone
having frequent storms and heavy winds resulng in erosion and large-scale destrucons. Polluon is also another
factor. The alarming decline in the bird populaon indicates that air polluon levels in many cies are rising danger-
ously. Since many birds are mainly grain eaters, it could mean that the grains contain higher amount of pescides
than before. Besides, land-use change and overall increase of human selements may threaten the bird populaon.
129
Unfortunately, there has been a decline in the number of migratory birds arriving in Chilika due to habitat loss and
wetland polluon. This season, around 7.19 lakh migratory birds have been sighted in this 1,100-sqkm lagoon, which
is 1.58 lakh less than the previous year. Around 8.77 lakh birds visited the lake in 2013. This may be due to the pressure
on land, conversion of lake area to agriculture and deforestaon in the catchment area. If this trend connues then the
number of migratory birds will reduce in the coming years. This may result in a substanal decrease in internaonal
tourists.
However, the number of tourists coming to Chilika is increasing each year. An esmated 1.7 million tourists visit Chilika
every year and the duraon of their stay is increasing. It is also expected that Chilika with all its ecotourismassets can
aract a much larger number of tourists in future.
Creaon of tourism awareness is of prime importance in promong tourism in any desnaon. It involves educang
the local people about the benets incurred fromtourismindustry and the necessity of developing tourism. In Chilika,
conservaon of migratory birds requires connuous adaptaon based on a review of the changes in various compo-
nents of ecological character of the wetland. There is a need for ecosystem conservaon and sustainable resource
development and livelihood improvement supported by instuonal development, communicaon, educaon and
public awareness. The ecosystem conservaon would comprise catchment conservaon, water management and
biodiversity conservaon. Siltaon is the major problem of the lake. There is a need to reduce this load by suitable
plantaon and watershed development programme in the catchment areas. Besides, research and collaborave
eorts are needed to beer understand relaonships between bird-watching and ecotourismand ensure meaningful
benets for conservaon of the lake ecosystem.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/bird-watching-can-further-boost-ecotourism-in-chil
ika.html
LIVING INSTITUTIONS THAT BOND VISITORS WITH CULTURES (2014-05-19 09:27)
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[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/living-instut ions-that-bond-visitors-with-
cultures.html
LIVING INSTITUTIONS THAT BOND VISITORS WITH CULTURES
Museums are living instuons that help create bonds between visitors, generaons and cultures around the world.
In its very essence, a museum is a link between the generaons as it allows present and future generaons to beer
comprehend their origins and history. Museums are constantly facing changes that bring themto reconsider their tra-
dional mission and nd new strategies to aract visitors towards more accessible collecons. Thus, many museums
restore the tradional methods of presentaon of their collecons to involve the community.
Since 1977, the Internaonal Museum Day is held worldwide on May 18, coordinated by the Internaonal Council
of Museums (ICOM). For 2014, the theme of the day is Museum collecons make connecons. It emphasises the
collaboraons between museums and their importance for cultural exchanges and the knowledge of the worlds cul-
tures. The best thing about museums is how they link dierent cultures together - by showcasing arfacts from past
mes and dierent countries and by making museums available for travelling tourists to learn about other places and
people.
The day provides an opportunity for museum professionals to meet the public and alert them to the challenges that
museums face. Following the denion of museums provided by the ICOM, a museum is a nonprot, permanent
instuon in the service of society and its development, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and
exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of educaon, study
and enjoyment.
The concept of museums in India may be traced back to the historic mes, in which references to the Chitrasala
(picture gallery) do occur. However in India, the earliest necessity to house objects of anquarian remains dates back
to late 1796 AD when the Asiac Society of Bengal felt the need to house the enormous collecon of archaeological,
ethnological, geological and zoological pursuits. The nucleus of the Asiac Society Museum later provided to the
Indian Museum, Calcua in 1814. Since then, it has so magnicently developed and culminated into the fruiul
existence of more than 400 museums in the country.
India is famous for its museums that prove the countrys rich culture. Indian museums are best to explore the peo-
ple, culture, beliefs, and history of ancient India. Some of the unique Indian museums are the Indian Museum, the
Chhatrapa Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, and the Naonal Museum and the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) museums. The Indian Museumis the largest and oldest in India and has rare collecons of anques, armour and
ornaments, fossils, skeletons and painngs. This is an autonomous instuon under the Union Ministry of Culture.
The Chhatrapa Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is the main
museum in Mumbai. It was founded in the early years of the 20th century by prominent cizens of Bombay to com-
memorate the visit of the then Prince of Wales. The museumwas renamed in the early 2000s aer Shivaji, the founder
of the Maratha Empire. It houses about 50,000 exhibits, categorised primarily into three secons: Art, Archaeology
and Natural History.
The Naonal Museum, New Delhi is one of the largest Indian museums established in 1949. It holds arcles ranging
from the prehistoric era to modern works of art. It also funcons under the Union Ministry of Culture. The Sun God
Surya is one of the nest from the Sun Ttemple, Konark in Odisha. The sculpture was once the sanctum image of the
Konark temple installed for worship in the temples Garbhagriha and was later shied to the Naonal Museum for
beer upkeep. The image is normal two-armedrenderedpursuing standards of humananatomy. Sadly, the sculptures
forearms holding lotus have been completely destroyed.
It has been the policy of the Government of India to keep the small and movable anquies, recovered from the
ancient sites, in close associaon with the remains to which they belong so that they may be studied amid their
natural surroundings and not lose focus by being transported. Therefore, a separate Museums Branch in the ASI was
created in 1946. Aer the Independence, there was a spurt in the growth of the ASIs site museums at dierent places.
Presently, there are 44 site museums under the ASIs control.
131
There are a very few museums in Odisha, the most famous being the State Museum, Bhubaneswar. The genesis of
this museum goes back to the year 1932 when two notable historians Prof NC Banerjee and Prof Ghanshyam Dash of
RavenshawCollege started collecon of archaeological treasures. The small museumwas then housed in the premises
of the college. In 1938, the Government of Odisha transformed this nucleus into the Provincial Museum of Odisha.
One of the most signicant aspects of this museum is its manuscript gallery. Some of the rare palm leaf manuscripts,
about 50,000, are housed in this gallery. Covering diverse subjects like religion, philosophy, astronomy, astrology,
poetry, science, medicine, mathemacs, warfare and cras, these manuscripts are a repository of arsc expressions
of that me.
These manuscripts were made by the incision of Odia script on a dried palmleaf with a stylus. The manuscripts depict
highly symbolic scenery with costumes, jewellery, hairstyle and facial expressions similar to stone sculptures of Odisha.
The museum also houses an illustrated manuscript of Gita Govinda wrien by the 12th-century poet Jayadeva.
The Tribal Research Instute Museumin Bhubaneswar has life-sized authenc tribal dwellings created by tribal cras-
men oering a view of the States tribal heritage. It has secons which showcase tribal arfacts and objects focusing
on well researched, documented cultural life of Odisha tribals. Besides, the Regional Museum of Natural History,
Bhubaneswar is an eastern regional centre of the Naonal Museum of Natural History under the Union Ministry of
Environment and Forests. Its goal is to impart environmental educaon to the public in general and the student
community in parcular in order to inculcate an awareness about the importance of ora ad fauna and subsequent
conservaon of our natural resources.
Museums have recognised that we cannot rely on tradional exhibion techniques to reach out and impact upon
broad audience. We need to rethink our methods completely. We need to nd new connecons, new languages,
new techniques and, most of all, new atudes for development of the museums.
Museums are repositories of a naons valuable treasures. They play a posive and important role in modelling peo-
ples tastes and making them aware of the history and creave talent. Technology today allows museums to explore
their goals of educaon, study and enjoyment. These latest trends in seeking greater disseminaon and sharing of in-
formaon could lead to museum audience working together to form new online (and even o-line) communies and
social networks. Websites are extremely popular with museums today because they can present much more informa-
on than ever possible. Museum websites have incorporated search engines for their online collecons databases,
where by typing in a few words, users can access thousands of images and descripve informaon.
Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual under-
standing and peace among peoples. New social paradigms such as the widespread adopon of social networking,
together with ever-changing visitor expectaons and the opportunies presented by digital media, will aract
visitors to learn more about the arfacts of the museums. This will help make connecons with dierent people
from dierent regions.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/living-institutions-that-bond-visitors-with-cultur
es.html
132
WORLDS FINEST CULTURAL HERITAGES (2014-05-21 10:05)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/odisha-is-repos itory-of-one-of-worlds-nest-cultural-
heritages.html
ODISHA IS REPOSITORY OF ONE OF WORLDS FINEST CULTURAL HERITAGES
The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, celebrated on May 21, aims to encourage people
to live together beer. It was established by the United Naons in November 2001 following the adopon of a
Universal Declaraon on Cultural Diversity by the United Naons Educaonal, Scienc and Cultural Organisaon
(UNESCO).
The days theme for 2014 is Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion, aimed at engaging people around the world
to Do One Thing to support Cultural Diversity and Inclusion. On this day, the UNESCO emphasises the need to ght
against imbalances that exist between global exchanges of cultural goods, and stresses the importance of preserving
the worlds most vulnerable cultures, together with the need for cultural policies and structural measures in devel-
oping countries. The day also provides an opportunity for mobilisaon on the parts of governments, policymakers,
civil society organisaons, communies, cultural professionals to promote culture in its diversity and in all its forms:
tangible and intangible heritage, creave industries, goods and services.
Culture takes diverse forms across me and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of
the idenes of the groups and sociees making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovaon and creavity,
cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage
of humanity and should be recognised and armed for the benet of present and future generaons.
India is a country with diversied cultures, arts and tradions. The cultural diversity means a range of dierent soci-
ees of peoples with dierent origins, religious and tradions all living and interacng together. India has beneted
from diversity throughout its long history and is currently one of the most culturally diverse countries.
The culture of India refers to the way of life of the people of India. Indias languages, religions, dance, music, art, food
and customs dier from place to place within the country. The Indian culture, oen labelled as an amalgamaon of
several cultures, spans across the Indian subconnent and has been inuenced by a history that is several millennia
old.
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Odisha has been a repository of one of the worlds nest cultural heritages. The State has a rich arsc heritage and
has produced some of the nest examples of Indian art and architecture. Among the most notable tradions in the
arts are mural painng, stone-carving, woodcarving, Paa Chitra, and painng on palmleaves. The State is also widely
recognised for its exquisite silver ligree ornamentaon, poery and decorave work. The classical dance of Odisha
has survived for more than 700 years. Originally, it was a temple dance performed for the gods. The movements,
gestures, and poses of the dance are depicted on the walls of the great temples.
Besides, tribal culture forms an important part of the colourful spectrum of Odisha. The State is the homeland of the
largest variety of tribal communies, including 13 primive tribal groups, which are now at various stages of socioe-
conomic development. They express their cultural identy and disncveness in their social organisaon, language,
rituals, fesvals including their dresses, ornaments, arts and cras. Every facet of their life is inmately connected
with religious beliefs and ritual pracces. The tribes of Odisha have retained the rich and varied heritage of colour-
ful dance and music forming an integral part of their fesvals and rituals. The arsc skill of tribal people is not
only conned to dance and music but also manifested through their dresses, ornaments, handicras, wall painngs,
woodcarvings and decoraons, etc.
Despite belonging to dierent linguisc divisions, the tribes of Odisha have many socio-cultural similaries, and to-
gether they characterise the noon of tribalism. Tribal sociees share certain common characteriscs and by these
they are disnguished from advanced sociees. In India, tribal sociees have remained outside the main historical
current of the civilisaon for centuries. Therefore, they manifest cultural features signifying a primive level of socio-
cultural existence and each type has a disnct style of life.
Odisha has the disncon of having the largest number of Parcularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) among all
the States and Union Territories of India. Odisha is home to 62 types of tribes, of which 13 are designated as PVTGs
for their disnct culture, lifestyle and socioeconomic condions. Bonda is the rst tribe which was designated as
a PVTG in Odisha during the 5th Five-Year Plan, and in subsequent years other 12 tribes, Juang, Lanjia Saora, Kua
Kondh, Dongaria Kondh, Saora, Paudi Bhuyan, Birhor, Didayi, Hill Kharia, Mankirdia, Lodha and Chuka Bhunjia, were
included in the list of PVTGs.
Besides, Odisha is rich in folkdances. The dierent folkdances are Ranappa, Gopua, Ektara, tribal dance, Paika
Akhada, Chhau, puppetry show, Danda Nacha, Dalkhai, Pala, Daskathia Chai Ghoda Nacha and much more. Arsts
perform dierent dances during their fesvals.
Bhubaneswar oers a rich cultural heritage with Ekamra Kshetra being the heart of the cultural capital over the cen-
turies. There is a need for augmentaon of the exisng cultural facilies in distributed urban centres throughout the
planning area. There are proposals for propagaon and development of culture in a Cultural Diversity Plan (CDP). This
includes promoon of tradional fairs and fesvals through Government and NGOs to generate awareness among
the new generaon towards cultural heritage and inving cultural tourism. Another proposal includes seng up of
an Utkal Sanskri Prangan, a representaonal centre of tradional art and culture, cra, cuisine and living style, fair
and fesvals of Odisha in Bhubaneswar. In addion to this, suitable locaons may be idened for observaon and
celebraon of cultural acvies such as Ekamra Utsav, Kalinga Mahotsav, etc.
Tradional art and cra villages can be developed in the peri-urban areas of Bhubaneswar. The art villages with tribal
arts and handicras centers will aract tribal folk and tourists to the area. This will give enough informaon about
their unique lifestyles and culture. When visited, tourists would get a fair idea on various dimensions of tradional
Odishan culture on a single plaorm. Odishi dance styles, music, Yatra, Pala, Paa Chitra, tradional folk arts and
cras, delicious cuisines and texles, all may be documentedand displayed for both naonal and internaonal tourists.
Tribal people will also come in contact with the urban folk, publicise their own creaons and will also able to improve
their quality of life.
Cultural diversity is based on the idea that cultural idenes should not be discarded or ignored but rather maintained
and valued. The foundaon of this belief is that every culture and race has made a substanal contribuon to the
society. Culture and society are the two sides of a coin; one cannot exist without the other. Culture needs society and
its inhabitants to sustain its existence and iniate its change, and society needs culture to hold it together and survive.
It is equally impossible to have a culture without a society or a society without culture.
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Modernisaon has entered the eld of culture and tradion. However, forgeng our tradion and culture is like
losing our identy. Both should go hand in hand. We should preserve it and develop with modern achievement, but
the elements provided should be tradional and based on culture and society.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/odisha-is-repository-of-one-of-worlds-finest-cultu
ral-heritages.html
EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT MEASURES IN BHUBANESWAR (2014-05-28 10:17)
[1]
[2]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/adhere-to-earth quake-resistant-measures-in-
bhubaneswar.html
ADHERE TO EARTHQUAKE-RESISTANT MEASURES IN BHUBANESWAR
During an earthquake an individual could be thrown out of bed at night, be unable to stand upright and be forced to
kneel on the ground. This happened during the earthquake on May 21, when the tremor measuring 5.8 on the richter
scale hit Odisha at 9:52 pm.
The epicentre of the quake was 266 kmothe Paradip coast in the south-east Bay of Bengal. In Bhubaneswar, over 100
people were injured and cracks developed in some high-rise buildings. People ran out of homes and the earthquake
connued for 5 to 20 seconds.
An earthquake is a natural phenomenon that results froman underground movement along a fault plane. Somemes,
it is so mild that it passes unnoced. Somemes, it is quite strong and creates vast openings in the earths surface,
and in its impact, buildings fall down and many lives are lost.
With careful study, geologists are slowly learning about such quesons: Can earthquake be predicted? Can we stop
earthquake before it occurs? Can we design buildings and a city to withstand an earthquake? Studies and research
135
are going on. To know about earthquake, many clues are generally referred to such as strange animal behaviour,
increase in the rate of smaller earthquakes, gap in the regular frequency of the earthquake, etc. But none has correctly
predicted it.
Recently, earthquakes and the subsequent disastrous eects have established an urgent need of evolving a coordi-
nateddesignsystemtoprovide earthquake-resistant structures inOdisha. Buildings canbe made earthquake-resistant
by incorporang methods and techniques of earthquake-resistant design and construcon depending upon seismic
zones.
About 54 per cent of Indias lands are vulnerable to earthquakes. The increase in demographic pressure, unplanned
and ill-planned development pracces and poor quality of construcon techniques have contributed immensely to
the proliferaon of seismic risk. There are ways of making structures safer than the current ones. Researchers and
engineers have mobilised their eorts to achieve that goal, working on removing shortcomings in the design of struc-
tures that have not performed well in seismic events and coming up with improved versions capable of standing up
to a certain level of earthquakes.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a statutory organisaon under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act. One of
its acvies is formulaon of Indian standards on dierent subjects of engineering through various councils. Seismic
codes are unique to a parcular region or country. They take into account the local seismology, accepted level of
seismic risk, building typologies and materials and methods used in construcon. The rst formal seismic code in
India, namely IS 1893, was published in 1962. Today, the BIS has a number of seismic codes. IS 1893 (Part I): 2002,
Indian Standard Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures (5th Revision), IS 4326: 1993, Indian Standard
Code of Pracce for Earthquake-Resistant Design and Construcon of Buildings (2nd Revision); IS 13827: 1993, Indian
Standard Guidelines for Improving Earthquake Resistance of Earthen Buildings; IS 13828: 1993, Indian Standard Guide-
lines for Improving Earthquake Resistance of Low Strength Masonry Buildings; IS 13920: 1993, Indian Standard Code
of Pracce for Ducle Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces; IS 13935: 1993, Indian
Standard Guidelines for Repair and Seismic Strengthening of Buildings. The codes cover all aspects of design includ-
ing analysis, detailing and construcon and strengthening of exisng structures. These codes dene the provisions
required according to risk zone in which a structure is located.
Locaon is a major determinant of the type and frequency of natural hazards. Before beginning construcon of any
building, it is very much important to have the complete knowledge about the soil. Soil tests should be conducted to
know its type, bearing capacity, strata, composion, etc. There are mainly three soil types; Firm: Those soils which
have an allowable bearing capacity of more than 10 t/m2, So: Those having allowable bearing capacity less than
or equal to 10 t /m2 and Weak: Those liable to large dierenal selement or liquefacon during an earthquake.
Buildings can be constructed on rm and so soils, but it will be dangerous to build them on weak soils. Hence,
appropriate soil invesgaons should be carried out to establish the allowable bearing capacity and nature of the soil.
Weak soils must be avoided or compacted to improve them so as to qualify as rm or so.
The layout of buildings should be as simple as possible. Depending upon the seismic zones, heights of the buildings
and thickness of walls are decided. The building as a whole or its various blocks should be kept symmetrical about
both the axes. Asymmetry leads to torsion during earthquakes and is dangerous. In general, openings in walls of a
building tend to weaken the walls, and the fewer the openings less the damage it will suer during an earthquake.
If it is necessary to have large openings through a building, special provisions should be made to ensure structural
integrity.
The earthquake zones have been categorised considering its region, its risk factors, intensity and rate of damage as
Zone V (Very high damage risk zone ), Zone IV (High Damage Risk Zone), Zone III (Moderate Damage Risk Zone), and
Zone II (Low Damage Risk Zone).
Odisha is coming under Zone II and Zone III. In Odiahs, minor to moderate earthquakes have occurred now and then
at dierent localies. Rarely a building has collapsed or any human casualty reported ever. The maximum magnitude
of these earthquakes has been reported around 4.5 to 5.3 in the Richter scale. Considering the recent earthquake
of 5.8, it cannot be condently said that a higher intensity earthquake is not unlikely in future. Besides, in the 2004
136
tsunami, India was the third country severely baered aer Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The States severely aected
by tsunami are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar Island. Odisha with over 480 km of
coastline may be prone to tsunami. There is a need for reassessment of the seismic status of Odisha and to devise
and incorporate technologies in all structures.
Land Use Zoning aims at determining the locaons and the extent of areas likely to be aected by the hazards of
dierent intensies and frequencies, and to develop such areas in a manner that the loss to the development is
reducedtothe minimum. Areas under seismic zones III, IVandVare basedonintensies VII, VIII, IXor more. Therefore,
all areas in these three zones will be considered prone to earthquake hazards. In these zones, the areas which have
soil condions including the level of water table favourable to liquefacon or selements under earthquake vibraons
will have greater risk to buildings which will be of special consideraon under Land Use Zoning.
The Bhubaneswar Development Plan Area (BDPA) falls under Zone III (Moderate Damage Risk Zone). Since the soil
in the BDPA is laterite (bearing capacity:18-20 t/m2), buildings starng from single to mulstoried may be allowed,
provided earthquake-resistant measures suggested in the Indian Standards are properly adhered to.
Seismic retrong can be applied to the exisng building constructed without following the earthquake-resistant
standards. The seismic retrong consists in upgrading the strength of an exisng structure with the aim to increase
its capacity to withstand earthquakes.
The consequences of damage have to be kept in view in the design philosophy. For example, important buildings
like hospitals and re staons must remain funconal immediately aer the earthquake. These structures should be
designed for a higher level of earthquake protecon.
Seismic risk reducon demands a systemac evaluaon of the hazards, vulnerability and risk mapping of the enre
region. Town and Country Planning Acts, Master Plan, Development Control Rules and Building Regulaons of some
of the metros in India have menoned adequately on the importance of safety requirements against natural hazards.
Services of architects and structural engineers with experience in earthquake-resistant construcon are highly needed
for design of buildings. It should be made mandatory for all owners and developers to get their buildings cered
from structural engineers for safety reasons.
It is the joint responsibility of the architectural, engineering and construcon community to incorporate the code
in architectural and structural design to make the building earthquake-resistant. Structural plans and details of the
building submied for approval should sasfy the structural safety requirements. However, further research will add
to the design with appropriate building materials and technology most suited to earthquake zones.
[3]
1. https://www.blogger.com/
2. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/adhere-to-earthquake-resistant-measures-in-bhubane
swar.html
3. https://www.blogger.com/
137
TOBACCO-FREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES (2014-05-31 16:12)
A majority of students prefer tobacco-free campuses. Informaon on the smoke-free campus policy should be dis-
seminated to all faculty, sta, students and new members of the college. The colleges which have not implemented
tobacco-free policy should adopt it. Smoke-free campus policies should cover all types of tobacco products like
cigarees, bidis, and smokeless tobacco.
Its easiest to prohibit tobacco use from the beginning. Tobacco-free campus policy works best when compliance is
viewed as the shared responsibility and the right of all in the campus community smokers and non-smokers alike.
Besides, tobacco taxes are the most cost-eecve way to reduce tobacco use, especially among students.
A well-planned communicaon campaign will result in smooth implementaon with greater compliance. Pictorial
warnings signicantly increase students awareness of the harms of tobacco use. Also, implemenng a tobacco-
free policy is a great opportunity for higher educaon instuons to demonstrate their role as leaders in public health.
138
3.5 June
BHUBANESWAR ENVIRONMENT DEGRADED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES (2014-06-05 15:33)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/bhubaneswar-env ironment-degraded-by-human-
acvies.html
BHUBANESWAR ENVIRONMENT DEGRADED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Urban control, bioaesthec planning needed
Urban development challenges in many countries are mulfaceted and appear to be overwhelming at mes. They
include insucient provision of infrastructure, rapidly growing slums, urban sprawl and the associated degradaon of
urban and peri-urban ecosystems. Many of these challenges are aggravated by global phenomena like climate change.
Temperatures are rising, rainfall paerns shiing, glaciers and snow melng, and the global mean sea level is rising.
We expect that these changes will connue, and that extreme weather events resulng in hazards such as oods and
droughts will become more frequent and intense.
The World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on June 5 to raise awareness about unique development challenges
and successes regarding a range of environmental problems, including climate change, waste management, unsus-
tainable consumpon, degradaon of natural resources and extreme natural disasters.
Urbanisaon changes the climate of a place. This iniates a feedback loop that aects inhabitants way of life and
use of energy resources. For example, the heat island that follows high density urban development accelerates the
use of air-condioning equipment which demands more electricity and contributes to further warming-up of the city
environment.
Currently, cies suer from severe environmental problems ranging from polluon, congeson, excessive waste, etc.
Paying aenon to the environmental impacts of growth is crical for provision of adequate housing, energy, water,
sanitaon and mobility needs in a manner that does not cause major depleon of natural resources or endanger
future generaons.
It is very likely that most of the warming since the mid -20th century is due to the observed increase in greenhouse
gas (GHG) concentraons as a result of emissions from human acvies. The United Naons Framework Convenon
139
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has recognised the goal to limit the global mean temperature increase. Even if policies
and eorts to reduce emissions prove eecve, some climate change is inevitable; therefore, strategies and acons
to adapt to its impacts are highly needed.
The environment of the city of Bhubaneswar has been degraded due to dierent human acvies. The eects of
climate change have been observed since last few years in Bhubaneswar. It has been found to be excessive heat in
summer both during day and night .The temperature in summer is ranging in most of the days around 40 degree
Celsius, which not only aects the health and comfort of the people but also demands more energy. The number of
rainy days has decreased, and the city receives average 1,550 mm of rainfall per year. Most of the rainfall is due to
cyclone than monsoon. The groundwater level has decreased by one meter in major areas of the city. In rainy season,
if high intensity rainfall occurs for some me, urban ooding is seen in dierent parts of the city like Acharya Bihar,
Shastri Nagar, Old Town, etc. The stagnant water gets polluted and creates environmental hazards.
There are 10 major natural drains running west to east of Bhubaneswar. Some of these nally join the Ganguanallah.
The enre city has not been covered with stormwater drains. Encroachment of natural drains by construcon, dump-
ing of waste material by people making the storm water drains inecient result in blocking and chocking of drains.
These are the reasons of urban ooding in Bhubaneswar.
The dierent sources of air polluon in Bhubaneswar are small-scale industries, motor vehicles, etc. The Odisha State
Polluon Control Board idened 88 industries in Bhubaneswar, out of which 16 are air pollung and 34 are both air
and water pollung. Bhubaneswar also suers air polluon from the domesc front. Though LPG is the most-used
fuel in the city, in the slum areas people use rewood, cow dung, kerosene and coal contribung to air polluon. It
can be expected that the air quality of the area will move from bad to worse if sucient precauons are not taken.
Besides, the city generates a huge quanty of solid wastes. Aer collecon of the wastes from dierent wards, they
are transported to open dumping yards situated at dierent places in and around the city. No processing of solid
wastes is done before their disposal; hence it degrades the environment.
A detailed air quality analysis of Bhubaneswar is to be done to idenfy the most pollung and hazardous industrial
units. Industries in and around the area are to be advised to instal and operate electrostac precipitator to control
parculate pollutants. Industries should be directed to strictly observe polluon control norms. The city should be
equipped with a sucient number of auto emission tesng centres where the petrol and diesel-driven vehicles could
be tested and cered. As far as possible, the coal supply for domesc use is to be replaced with LPG. Green belt
development and aorestaon should be encouraged which may act as sink for air pollutants.
Urban control in Bhubaneswar has to be operated at three levels, the periphery, the Master Plan and architectural
control. Bioaesthec planning is closely connected with town planning. In Bhubaneswar, there are urban forests with
dierent tress, green belt in the periphery, natural drains, rivers and lakes. Due to disorderly cinstrucons, many of
the drainage channels and water bodies have been blocked. This has to be avoided staggering the sing of houses in
such a manner that the natural drainage channels and water bodies remain intact.
Trees should be carefully chosen with due regard to colours of their owers, beauty of foliage and shape of crown. In
addion to ulitarian and aesthec aspects, trees in city areas constute an eecve buer against dust and noise
and also act as windbreaks. The trees will not only modify the climate but also enhance their architectural appeal
by presenng a foil of texture, colour and form by way of contrasts. Footpaths, which are provided at the sides for
pedestrians, have to be shaded by rows of trees. For pedestrians, a mulple row of trees with very heavy deciduous
foliage is required. In summer, the trees would provide shade and in winter the deciduous trees will permit the suns
rays to pass.
The areas vulnerable to annual ooding should be earmarked as the catchments detenon areas. During the o-
ooding period, the stagnant water is to be drained o to the nearby water channels with preliminary treatment.
Bhubaneswars public transportaon system is very weak. Peoples use their own vehicles and depend on auto rick-
shaws to travel to dierent parts of the city. A mass transportaon system should be introduced which will reduce
the fuel consumpon and trac congeson. Dependencies on fossil fuels should be reduced. People should be en-
couraged to use bicycles, and bicycle tracks should be constructed.
140
There should not be any dumping yard inside the city for solid waste disposal. The wastes should be disposed in
sanitary landll. The storm water drains should be cleaned regularly. Encroachment of natural drains should also
be cleared. Wetlands and water bodies like lakes, ponds should not be encroached, and they should be protected
properly. Rainwater harvesng should be encouraged to increase the level of groundwater.
Developing a climate-responsible master plan will prevent the environmental hazards. Master Plans and Comprehen-
sive Development Plans (CDPs) need to incorporate climate change consideraons. The plans should contain proper
green space for plantaon. Components of land-use plan including zoning, FAR, setback, etc., should be implemented
eecvely for sustainable development.
Sustainability is not only about town planning architectural strategies and building soluons; it is not only about en-
vironmental processes and management systems. Sustainability is about the way people live. Everything individuals
do in their lives has an impact on the environment. The choices of food, housing, entertainment, work and mobility,
all directly or indirectly aect the environment.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/bhubaneswar-environment-degraded-by-human-activiti
es.html
Odishas coastal ecosystems under increasing threat (2014-06-08 05:57)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/ocean-acidica on-polluon-on-the-rise.html
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION, POLLUTION ON THE RISE
Odishas coastal ecosystems under increasing threat
Over three billion people in the world depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Oceans contain
nearly 2 lakh idened species, but actual numbers may lie in the millions. Oceans absorb about 30 per cent of carbon
dioxide produced by humans, buering the impacts of global warming. However approximately 40 per cent of the
oceans are heavily aected by human acvies, including acidicaon, polluon and loss of coastal habitats.
141
The United Naons has proclaimed June 8 as the World Oceans Day to raise awareness of the plight of the oceans
and the marine ecosystems they contain. This years theme is Together we have the power to protect the ocean.
The oceans their temperature, chemistry, and life drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for hu-
mankind. Our rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food, and even the oxygen in the
air we breathe, are all ulmately provided and regulated by the sea. Oceans and seas have been vital conduits for
trade and transportaon.
However, oceans and coastal regions are coming under rising environmental pressures. The oceans have become 26
per cent more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revoluon and connue to acidify at an unprecedented rate,
threatening marine ecosystems, aquaculture and the sociees that rely on them. As ocean acidity increases, its ca-
pacity to absorb carbo dioxide fromthe atmosphere decreases. This decreases the oceans role in moderang climate
change.
Our connued burning of fossil fuels is increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Most of the carbon
dioxide released into the atmosphere ulmately ends up in oceans. The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in oceans
is causing ocean acidicaon. For millions of years, oceans have maintained a relavely stable acidity level. Its within
this steady environment that the rich and varied web of life in seas has arisen and ourished. But research shows that
this ancient balance is being undone by a rapid drop in surface pH that could have devastang global consequences.
Ocean acidicaon may adversely impact some plankton species, and their loss would ripple through food webs to
impact larger animals like sh. Corals are also very suscepble to the impacts of ocean acidicaon. Ocean acidica-
on will aect ocean ecosystems and therefore food supplies, lead to the death of coral reefs and thus expose coasts
to greater stormsurge and wave acon. Ocean acidicaon has the potenal to cause widespread changes in marine
ecosystems which may eventually disrupt the ocean goods and services we depend on.
Biologists are now coming to realise that the rising acid levels in the ocean can aect many other forms of sea life as
well. If nothing is done to help curb ocean acidicaon, its negave impacts may be felt on global economy. Besides,
many ocean pollutants are released into the environment fromcoastlines. Nitrogen-rich ferlisers applied by farmers
inland, for example, end up in local streams, rivers and oceans.
Researchers are just beginning to study the eects of ocean acidicaon on marine ecosystems. But all signs indi-
cate that unless humans are able to control and eventually eliminate fossil fuel emissions, ocean organisms will nd
themselves under increasing pressure to adapt to their habitats changing chemistry or perish.
The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) monitoring iniaves has improved the capability to assess oceano-
graphic condions, making it possible to detect changes on high temporal and spaal resoluon and assess the ef-
fecveness of policies adopted. To coordinate internaonal eorts to document the status and progress of ocean
acidicaon in open-ocean and coastal environments and to understand its drivers and impacts on marine ecosys-
tems, it will be necessary to develop a coordinated muldisciplinary mulnaonal approach for observaons.
India has a coastline of 7,500 km and 2,000 km wide exclusive economic zone. The coastline supports almost 30
per cent of its human populaon. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are rich shing grounds. Various types of
polluon cause degradaon of the natural quality of the coastal environments. The causes of coastal polluon are
populaon growth, urbanisaon and industrialisaon. The pollung sources mainly are domesc waste, industrial
euents and agricultural runo.
Successful management of the seacoast depends on scienc exploraon and exploitaon of the living and nonliving
resources in coastal waters. To conserve resources by controlling their depleon and regulate development acvies,
the Government of India has enacted the Environmental (Protecon) Act 1986. The Coastal Regulaon Zone (CRZ)
Nocaon 1991 was issued under Secons-3(i) and 3(ii) (v) of the Environment (Protecon) Act. Under this noca-
on, the coastal stretches fromHigh Tide Line to 500mtowards land and fromHigh Tide Line to LowTide Line towards
sea are idened as Coastal Regulaon Zone.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has issued a dra nocaon, the Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
Nocaon 2007, under the Environmental (Protecon) Act 1986. The objecve of the nocaon is protecon and
142
sustainable development of the coastal stretches and marine environment through sustainable coastal zone man-
agement pracces based on sound, scienc principles taking into account the vulnerability of the coast to natural
hazards, sustainable livelihood for local communies and conservaon of the ecologically and culturally signicant
coastal resources.
Odisha has a coastline of 480 km. Uses of the coastline are generally considered under four categories: resource
exploitaon (including sheries, forestry); infrastructure (including transportaon, ports, harbours); tourism and
recreaon; and conservaon and protecon of biodiversity. The coastal ecosystems are now highly disturbed and
very much threatened, encountering problems like polluon, siltaon, erosion, ooding, storm surges, uncontrolled
coastal developments and other acvies due to ever-expanding human selements.
The major issues are coastal polluon, encroachment of coastal lands and over exploitaon of coastal resources.
Coastal polluon is gradually emerging as an important issue in the State. Domesc wastes and industrial wastes,
ferlisers and pescide residues reach coastal and marine waters through rivers, creeks, bays, etc.
There is a need for assessment and periodic monitoring of coastal and marine environment including changes in land
use (coastal zone), ambient air quality and water quality (coastal and marine waters). The Government of India has
constuted the Naonal Coastal Zone Management Authority, which has the responsibility for taking measures for
protecng and improving the quality of the coastal environment and prevenng, abang and controlling environmen-
tal polluon in coastal areas. At the State level, an Odisha Coastal Zone Management Authority has been constuted,
the primary responsibility of which is to take adequate measures for protecng and improving the quality of the
coastal environment. The Odisha State Polluon Control Board acts as the regulang authority for implementaon of
the Coastal Zone Nocaon.
Despite the huge challenges facing the worlds ocean, we can achieve a healthy ocean by our collecve eort.
Awareness is highly needed to protect the marine ecosystem.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/ocean-acidification-pollution-on-the-rise.html
Poverty Elleviaon and Child Labour (2014-06-13 23:05)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/educaon-pover ty-alleviaon-only-can-eradicate-
child-labour.html
EDUCATION, POVERTY ALLEVIATION ONLY CAN ERADICATE CHILD LABOUR
Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children work, many full-me. They do not go to school and have
lile or no me to play. Many do not receive proper nutrion or care. More than half of them are exposed to the
worst forms of child labour such as work in hazardous environments, slavery or other forms of forced labour.
The Internaonal Labour Organisaon (ILO) launched the World Day against Child Labour in 2002 to focus aenon
on the global extent of child labour and the acon and eorts needed to eliminate it. Each year on June 12, the World
Day against Child Labour brings together governments, employers and workers organisaons, civil society as well as
millions of people around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.
To some children, the main obstacles to educaon are not school availability, cost or quality but rather poverty, eco-
nomic insecurity and discriminaon. Dropout from school is one of the major causes of child labour. The school
dropout scenario in India is extremely high as over 80 million children are not compleng the full cycle of elementary
educaon while eight million are out of school over a period of years, according to a UNICEF report.
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In Odisha, the dropout rate at the primary educaon level is 32 per cent and it is 52 per cent among Scheduled Tribe
children. The dropout rate increases cumulavely as it proceeds towards higher levels. At the upper primary level,
the dropout rate is 49.1 per cent and among Scheduled Caste children it is 55 per cent and among ST children 69.5
per cent. It is found that the overwhelming rate of dropouts has been due to pressure on children to work.
Educaon is a human right and a key factor to reduce poverty and child labour. Around the world, large numbers of
children are engaged in paid or unpaid domesc work in the home of a third party or employer. These children can
be parcularly vulnerable to exploitaon. Their work is oen hidden from the public eye; they may be isolated and
may be working far away from their homes. Stories of the abuse of children in domesc work are all too common.
All non-school going children are child workers in one form or the other. Child labour proscribed under internaonal
law falls into three categories: (1) The uncondional worst forms of child labour, which are internaonally dened
as slavery, tracking and other forms of forced labour; (2) Labour performed by a child who is under the minimum
age specied for that kind of work, and that is thus likely to impede the childs educaon and full development; (3)
Labour that jeopardises the physical, mental or moral wellbeing of a child, either because of its nature or because of
the condions in which it is carried out, known as hazardous work.
Legislave and policy reforms are required to ensure eliminaon of child labour. A number of policy iniaves and
programmes have been undertaken in India over the last decade with the basic objecve of dealing with the prob-
lem of the rapidly increasing number of child workers. The formulaon of a new Naonal Child Labour Policy, the
enactment of the Child Labour (Prohibion and Regulaon) Act 1986, the seng up of a Task Force on child labour,
the adopon of the Convenon on the Rights of the Child and the like have all formed parts of this process. Corre-
sponding iniaves were taken in the related area of educaon where a new educaon policy was formulated which
incorporated a separate component for working children.
Children have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitaon and violence. There is a need
to adopt and enforce laws and improve the implementaon of policies and programmes to protect children from all
forms of violence and exploitaon, whether at home, in school or other instuons, workplace or in the community.
The Constuon of India, through various arcles enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and the Direcve Principles
of State Policy as: No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in
any other hazardous employment (Arcle 24); The State shall provide free and compulsory educaon to all children
of the age six to 14 years (Arcle 21A); The State shall direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength
of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused and that they are not forced by economic
necessity to enter vocaons unsuited to their age and strength (Arcle 39E).
As per the Child Labour (Prohibion and Regulaon) Act, 1986, any person who employs any child in contravenon of
the provision of Secon 3 of the Act is liable for a jail term which shall not be less than three months but which may
extend to two years or with ne which shall not be less than Rs 20,000 but which may extend to Rs 50,000 or with
both.
In order to stop child labour, the Government of Odisha has passed some rules. One of the important rules is the
Orissa Child Labour (Prohibion and Regulaon) Rules, 1994. Childrens development and the overall eradicaon of
child labour problem depend on acve public-private partnership, proper government policies and programmes for
eliminang poverty and unemployment and free basic facilies and educaon to poor people in the society.
There are many soluons to stop child labour. Income of the families should be increased and educaon for all children
irrespecve of their economic and social backgrounds should be ensured. That helps children learn skills and earn a
livelihood.
At the internaonal level, dierent organisaons are alsoworking to eradicate child labour, but sll there are lots
of eorts needed to create an environment which will be free from child labour. There is a need to take steps in
this direcon so that all children get free educaon and live a healthy life. This will be benecial to the individual
family as well as whole society. The family is the basic unit of the society and as such should be strengthened. It is
entled to receive comprehensive protecon and support. The primary responsibility for the protecon, upbringing
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and development of children rests with the family. However, many parents, on account of poverty, send their children
to work in order to supplement their income.
All social instuons should respect childrens rights and render appropriate assistance to parents, families, legal
guardians and other caregivers so that children can grow in a safe and stable environment and in an atmosphere of
happiness, love and understanding. Besides, considerable numbers of children live without parental support, such as
orphans, children living on the street, children aected by tracking and economic exploitaon. Special measures
should be taken to educate such children.
Eradicaon of poverty and reducon of disparies must, therefore, be a key objecve of development eorts. Ul-
mately, a child-friendly learning environment is required, in which they feel safe, are protected from abuse and
encouraged to learn. Some of the child labour problems will be solved by oering beer educaonal facility for such
children.
In 2010, the internaonal community adopted a roadmap for achieving eliminaon of the worst forms of child labour
by 2016, which stressed that child labour is an impediment to childrens rights and a barrier to development. In
August 2012, the Government of Jharkhand approved a State Acon Plan. This policy framework envisages a Child
Labour-Free State by 2016 and details the vision of the State and its plan towards achieving the eliminaon of child
labour and ensuring the right to educaon to every child. Similar policy framework in other States can eradicate child
labour in our country.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/education-poverty-alleviation-only-can-eradicate-c
hild-labour.html
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3.6 July
Role of Family against Elder Abuse (2014-07-03 15:27)
146
Eecve Drug Rehabilitaon Centre (2014-07-03 15:38)
Growing Populaon and Sustainable Housing (2014-07-11 09:44)
RISING POPULATION NEEDS SUSTAINABLE HOUSING
The World Populaon Day is an annual event observed on July 11 every year seeking to raise awareness of global pop-
ulaon issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Naons Development Programme
in 1989.
The date of observance was inspired by that of Five Billion Day when the worlds populaon reached ve billion on
July 11, 1987. The day is celebrated since 1989, the year of its announcement.
The worlds ever-growing populaon has reached 7,160,183,896 as in June 2014. The populaon explosion is one of
the major global concerns and this issue of uncontrolled populaon growth is giving birth to other major problems.
The major consequences of the populaon growth include poverty, shortage of housing, unemployment, polluon
and deforestaon. Many cies are failing to cope with the challenges of generang employment, providing adequate
housing and meeng the basic needs of their cizens. By the year 2025, the world populaon will increase by at least
50 per cent and these people will need housing, shopping complexes and places to work.
Urbanisaon and the demographic transion have accelerated the demand for new housing. In an urbanising world,
provision of adequate and aordable housing remains a key priority as housing plays a crucial role in achieving sus-
tainable development. However, the concept of housing requires a new understanding to eecvely address the
economic and human development, slum prevenon and climate change. Housing is also part of the relaonships
between society and environment. On the one hand, housing construcon and operaon consume large amounts
147
of natural resources (land, energy, water and building materials) while producing wastes ad air and water polluon.
On the other hand, housing itself is exposed to a variety of environmental impacts and hazards, including those as-
sociated with natural disasters and climate change. These aspects are also signicant consideraons for sustainable
development.
Sustainable housing oers a great spectrum of opportunies to promote economic development, quality of life and
social equality while migang the problems related to populaon growth, urbanisaon, slums, poverty and climate
change. The annual percentage of populaon growth in India was 1.21 per cent in 2011. As per recent esmates,
Indias populaon in 2014 is 1.27 billion. The rate of populaon growth in India has slowed considerably in recent
years although it is sll growing more quickly than China. A recent UN report suggests that Indias populaon will
surpass Chinas by 2028 when both India and China will have populaons of 1.45 billion.
As per the 2011 Census, Odisha, with 41 million people, is the eleventh-most populous Indian State. Over the last
decade, Odisha has witnessed a 14.1-per cent populaon rise while the urban populaon increased at a rate of 27.2
per cent. There are shortages of 4,10,000 dwelling units for EWS/LIG housing in Odisha. Besides lack of aordable
housing leads to slums in many parts of the State.
The land everywhere is under pressure due to the populaon growth and economic development. In areas where
land is in greatest demand for residenal, agricultural, industrial or business use, it aracts increasing commercial
value. To achieve secure and sustainable access to land for all those needing it, and especially for the poor, has be-
come a crical issue. A number of housing clusters have mushroomed in and around various metropolitan centres in
haphazard manners without proper layouts and devoid of service lines and other essenal facilies. These unautho-
rised developments are encroachments on land parcels belonging to Government bodies, public-private-instuons
or areas meant to be green belts.
Therefore, urban human selements require a more inclusive approach to planning and land management to sustain
all the people who live in the selement. A basic need in cies is shelter. The rst step in creang sustainable urban
selements is to recognise that slum people have a right to live in proper shelters.
There is a strong correlaon between improved housing and poverty reducon. In India, this has been introduced
through the Jawaharlal Nehru Naonal Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) reforms, which states that 20-25 % lands
would be reserved for economically weaker secon (EWS) housing in the newdevelopments. Under the JNNURM, 65
Indian cies had an opportunity to bridge this infrastructure gap and also to resolve some of the housing problems for
the urban poor through the BSUP (Basic Services for the Urban Poor) component of the Central Government-funded
mission. There is also another scheme, the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). Under the RAY guidelines, all urban local bodies
are to map and take a census of all the slums and create strategies to improve exisng condions of slums. Besides,
the Naonal Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 has been enacted, an endeavour to carry out in-situ upgradaon
of dwelling units for 95 per cent of slum households.
There is a need for sustainable site planning and construcon techniques that reduce polluon and create a balance
between built and natural systems. New sustainable urban development or redevelopment should provide a variety
of commercial, instuonal, educaonal uses as well as housing for sustainable urban development.
The housing requirements in Bhubaneswar are changing due to high populaon growth. To accommodate more hous-
ing for this populaon, there is a need to assess the exisng housing scenario and future housing demand. As per the
CDP, the quantave housing in the Bhubaneswar Development Plan Area (BDPA) for 2030 needs 3,66,295 units. The
exisng 13,70,000 BDPA populace will growto 30,00,000 by 2030. The addion of 16,30,000 people requires 3,60,000
dwelling units. The exisng backlog is already around 15,220 dwelling units. Qualitave shortage and obsolescence
raise the total BDPA housing requirement in 2030 to 4,31, 915 units.
The housing requirements will be sased by increasing the housing density and re-densicaon. The exisng land
use of 12.4 per cent for housing in the BDPA will increase to 33.7 per cent. The total addional area requirement
for housing in the BDPA is computed to be 9,286 acres, giving a net housing density of 46 units per acre. There is a
need to design the semi-open spaces in the residenal zone. This will facilitate green areas and gardening, which will
improve the environment for social acvies. Specic housing plans can be evolved for Bhubaneswar with reference
148
to the determinaon of area requirement and idencaon of the areas for urbanisaon/housing development. In
order to increase the eciency of space, there is a need to analyse the physical density in terms of oor area rao
(FAR) and percentage of ground coverage by buildings.
There is a close relaonship between density and sustainability. Density is oen the most commonly-accepted indi-
cator providing a reference for the amount of land needed for supporng facilies with regard to a given populaon.
Whatever methodology is adopted to determine the opmum density, an understanding of how the socio-cultural
needs of urban communies transform into idenable physical paerns is inuenal to a sustainable city develop-
ment. To achieve sustainable urban development, the Development Plans/Master Plans as well as Zonal Plans and
Local Area Plans should be made and updated regularly.
3.7 August
Vernacular Architecture and Indigenous Technology (2014-08-11 09:55)
REVIVE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AND INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY
The Internaonal Day of the Worlds Indigenous People is celebratedon August 9 and people fromdierent naons are
encouraged to observe it to spread the United Naons message on indigenous peoples. The UN 2007 Declaraon on
the Rights of Indigenous People recognised that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and tradional pracces
tributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment.
The phrase indigenous knowledge has dierent connotaons such as tradional knowledge, local knowledge, rural
peoples knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is the tradional knowledge of the local community exisng within and
developed around the specic condions of women and men indigenous to a parcular geographical area. Indigenous
people are the holders of unique languages, tradional knowledge systems and vernacular construcon technologies
for sustainable management of natural resources.
However, in the modern world, vernacular architecture and indigenous technology are fast disappearing or are subject
toaccelerang social change. Indigenous buildings, repeatedover generaons, become me-testedresponses tolocal
climac condions.
From igloos to bamboo houses, from thatched roofs to terraced roof, people create shelter and comfort in unique
structures in response to their locaons on the globe. A lack of understanding of materials and their usage has led to
a slow decay of vernacular architecture.
India has a long history and enriched culture. There is abundant reservoir of indigenous knowledge in every part of
the country. The vernacular building technologies in India are being passed down from generaons to generaons
and they take into account the local climate, available materials and the strong cultural ethos.
This was the result of repeated cycles of trial and error and the experience of generaons of builders, which sas-
es the occupants demands for thermal comfort and durability. Dierent regions of India have dierent types of
indigenous building technology.
Odisha is the land of enriched cultural heritage and tradions. It has a vast reservoir of vernacular architecture and
indigenous knowledge exisng in rural society. Vernacular architecture can be dened as architecture born out of
local building materials and technologies, which are climate-responsive and a reecon of the customs and lifestyles
of a parcular community. Contemporary architecture can also be vernacular if it is generated froman understanding
of local materials and indigenous methods of building construcons.
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The vernacular forms for building are those that have existed in the region in their primive forms, as a sloping roof
surface to bear rainfall, a circular house formto combat cyclonic winds, a mud roof that keeps out the heat of the sun,
or an internal courtyard that makes the shaded open space.
In Odisha, vernacular architecture sll exists and people are sll using vernacular architecture with some indigenous
technologies.
The main factor inuencing development of vernacular architecture is related to the availability of local building ma-
terials. The typical Odia house in a village has stone wall and gable roof on a wood or bamboo frame thatched with
straw. In the simple village houses, there are some very sophiscated design systems like sloped thatch roof with Au
(mud ceiling with bamboo/mber raer), Kadi Baraga roof, etc.
The Kadi (mber beam) and Baraga (mber raer) applied for at roof construcon. Due to porosity of the Au built
on bamboo or wooden frames; hot air goes out, keeping the building cool in summer and also acts as re protecon.
Mud, on account of its easy availability, good insulaon and good binding properes has been extensively used.
This Au, whose peculiar form is characterisc to this parcular area, proves to be a disnct identy of the area. In
Kadi Baraga roof, the structural arrangement includes Kadi and Baraga without any reinforcement applied for at roof
construcon. Such buildings prevented loss of life during the Super Cyclone that hit the Odisha coast in October 1999.
The designing space has been improved over me as per the need from single unit to double unit and mulple units
separated by enclosed courtyard. The orientaons of the buildings were mostly chosen on the basis of topography,
solar movement and wind direcon. Design features have been mostly inuenced by the local skill and crasmanship.
A typical vernacular house consists of a common verandah, a small room for cale, entrance room and other rooms
arranged around the courtyard. In most of the day and night me, people use this courtyard for dierent works,
mostly for social interacon.
It does not include toilet which is located at the back side of the house. In the row housing, there is a long verandah
connecng all the dwellings which permits social gathering as well as the storage of paddy. There are vast open spaces
in the front and backside of the building.
The front side is used as gardens and the back side as both gardens and drying yard. The external garden is used as a
comfortable outdoor space. The trees provide shade and the lower shrubs channel cool breeze for natural venlaon.
Globalisaon causes people to change the vernacular paern of living. The vernacular paern of living has been
changed. Similarly, the housing paerns in rural areas of Odisha cause people to change their living paerns.
New buildings are constructed and older buildings are replaced or modied. The lessons of vernacular architecture
regarding climate control have also been generally ignored. Dwellings constructed as a large enclosed glazed space
with no provision for venlaon and protecon from the sun. For that, people are increasingly dependent upon
air-condioning to maintain comfort levels in summer. This is the main cause of climate change gases and global
warming.
However, vernacular buildings retain some indigenous construcon techniques for thermal comfort. With the passage
of me such buildings are vanishing due to change in funconal requirements. New building materials and new
construcon techniques have been adopted.
Changes have been made by introducon of alternave building materials. Many new construcons do not integrate
to the local environment and social context which otherwise cause serious damage to the environment. The cost of
maintenance and acute shortage of skilled crasmen are also responsible for loss of rich architectural heritage of the
region.
The vernacular buildings are climate-responsive and a beer opon for rural people of Odisha. Similarly tribal houses
in Odisha are built in a rowleaving a street in between with locally available materials. The walls are made of wooden
poles stuck close to one another and plastered with earth.
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The changes of architecture in urban areas are happening faster than in rural areas of Odisha. These changes of archi-
tecture in the urban context fail to full some of the sustainability criteria such as economic, social and environmental
aspects while the vernacular architecture showed its sustainability.
To nd out a soluon for overcoming this adverse situaon for the built environment, a proper study of vernacular
architecture and indigenous technology is needed.
There is considerable recent interest in research and development related to indigenous construcon technologies
found in dierent parts of the country.
Most research acvies are, however, limited to documentaon. Only very limited research eort focuses on devel-
oping quantave understanding of behaviour of these structures so that the technologies can be further improved
and analycal methods for their use developed.
Many vernacular technologies are energy-ecient although some of them are currently no longer properly funcon-
ing because of changed cultural and tradional pracces.
In this regard, the key challenge is to learn fundamental lessons and principles of vernacular architecture and nd ways
of integrang those principles into development programmes to plan newselements or to upgrade the exisng ones.
Studying indigenous technologies to understand the sustainable strategies used in vernacular architecture may con-
tribute to the eld of sustainable development.
Architectural Photography of Monuments (2014-08-19 09:41)
[1]HTTP://WWW.DAILYPIONEER.COM/STATE-EDITIONS/BHUBANESWAR/ARCHITECTURAL-P HOTOGRAPHY-OF-PAST-
MONUMENTS-OF-VITAL-IMPORTANCE.HTML
ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF PAST MONUMENTS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE
151
The WorldPhotography Day is all about celebrang photography. It marks the 175thanniversary of the rst permanent
photographic process patented and freely released to the world on August 19, 1839. The day is celebrated on August
19 because that was the day the French Government allowed the daguerreotype process to be known to the world.
The process had been invented by Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Daguerre which was veried and approved by
the French Academy of Sciences, which dubbed the ability to capture an image using a camera onto a light sensive
silver iodide plate as the Daguerreotype Process.
The day is dedicated to honour the arsts who are in pursuit of immortalising those precious moments that seem to
pass us by in a minute. This year, the day is encouraging businesses, organisaons and social groups to inuence the
power of photography by engaging their communies as part of a global photography celebraon.
Photography itself can have a powerful eect on architecture, not only as a means of record but through its commu-
nicave power that can be an aesthec force for change or inuence. From the very earliest days of its invenon, the
photographic medium has a parcular resonance with architectural subject maers. The relaonship was to some
extent born of necessity, buildings being one of the fewsubjects that would withstand long exposures, but the anity
goes much deeper. Photography is also fundamental in shaping our understanding of the contemporary architectural
design pracces.
The meaning of architecture is tobe foundinthe expressive detailing of a structure, andis communicatedtothe viewer.
Photographs extend the range of human vision and communicate aesthec and symbolic qualies in architecture.
Architecture is one of the most appreciated art forms that date back to the me before the pyramids were erected.
It took many forms; even the simplest geometrical lines were considered architecture. As the years went on, more
complex creaons were introduced to the world. Today, each work of architecture depicts more than just a design;
each work carries an identy, disnct characteriscs and meaning.
Architectural photography is commonly described as the form of photography that uses buildings and other struc-
tures as subjects. It has many classicaons, but the two most common and simplest types are Interior and Exterior
Architectural Photography. Dierent types of photographs are captured in such a manner that dene space and allow
communicaon through aesthec ideals that take on social, philosophical or religious meaning.
Architecture and photography concrese moments of beauty and provide visual expressions for exisng and new
ideas. An exterior architectural photographer prefers scenes with good landscaping around a building. The main
aim of an exterior architectural photographer is to invite interest and curiosity among viewers. In this architectural
photography, the most important element is space. This is why those taking interior and exterior shots of buildings
and monuments use wide-angle lens. Theyll be beer able to capture the complete picture, including the aesthec
elements. This greatly helps in establishing the focus and highlighng the character of a space or structure. An
architectural photographers techniques also help produce photos that add more dimension, life and meaning into
an architectural creaon. For instance, while many people can recall what the Taj Mahal, Lotus Temple, Kutab Minar,
Gol Gumbaz, etc., look alike, most have never been to these places. A series of photographic depicons of such
architecture construct a physical and spaal mental image of space.
Photography provides a powerful way for architecture to be appreciated from a distance. Besides, architectural pho-
tographs enliven the memories of contemporary past. Many of the photographs from Odisha are available with the
Archaeological Survey of India. These were captured by dierent tourists in the past. However, the structures are
destroyed with the passage of me.
In the 1850s, Edouard-Denis Baldus, Hippolyte Bayard, Henri Le Secq, and Gustave Le Gray were commissioned by the
French Government to photograph historic buildings before they were destroyed during Haussmanns renovaons of
Paris. There have been countless others who have contributed to this documentaon of our environment, both built
and natural.
Odisha is quite rich in its heritage and houses many remarkable monuments of ancient mes. Some exist in ruins
and many are totally destroyed. The photograph of this arcle is the representaon of a massive two-storied gateway
in Bhubaneswar. This is from the Archaeological Survey of India Collecons taken by William Henry Cornish in 1892.
Bhubaneswar has many Hindu temples built between the Seventh and the Thirteenth Centuries in the Odishan variant
152
of the Nagara or Northern Indian style of architecture. These temples normally comprise a sanctuary covered by a
tall curvilinear tower divided into horizontal bands and capped by an Amalaka and a pot nial. The square Mandap
or hall has a pyramidal roof. Most temples of Bhubaneswar are grouped around the Bindu Sagar, the tank in the
middle of the ancient town. This view shows a ruined unidened gateway. This photograph is also available in the
Brish Library. Such photographs have been shared by all. However when photography didnt exist, those precious
monuments couldnt be captured.
This clearly indicates that historical research and analysis is supported by photographic records. Analycal studies are
necessary toascertainall the features of the edice, including those whichwere not executedandthose leunnished
and those were destroyed. Geometric diagrams indicang modules or proporonal systems and indicaons of design
techniques are also of the greatest interest. Old drawings and photographs may give a lot of informaon about the
past art forms.
Irregularies of shape and outline and damaged parts can be seen more clearly on photographs than by any other
means, hence vital for the purpose of documentaon. Photographs also have many uses for publicity purposes in
raising funds for preservaon of cultural property. Many historic monuments have been destroyed in warfare or by
earthquake or other disasters. As an insurance against such events, full photographic records are advisable.
Photographs can revive the contemporary art and architecture of dierent monuments and structures which do not
exist now. Their documentaon will help study and research more on the contemporary art and architecture of our
State.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/architectural-photography-of-past-monuments-of-vit
al-importance.html
3.8 September
Urban Flooding in capital city Bhubaneswar (2014-09-06 06:23)
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[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/drain-encroachm ent-main-cause-of-ooding-in-
capital-city.html
DRAIN ENCROACHMENT MAIN CAUSE OF FLOODING IN CAPITAL CITY
Drainage master plan brooks no delay
A number of major cies and towns in India reported a series of devastang urban oods in the recent decade. Major
cies like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai suered ooding. Urban oods happen when a large volume of rain
falls within a short me. Uneven distribuon of rainfall, encroachment or blockage of natural drainage channels and
lakes for converng them to high-value urban land are the main causes of ooding.
Urban ooding is signicantly dierent fromooding in rural areas as urbanisaon results in impermeable catchments
causing ood peaks by up to three to four mes. Many water bodies in urban areas have disappeared due to human-
induced succession lled with wastes and development or slum encroachments. Unplanned urbanisaon is the key
cause of ooding. Urbanisaon leads to paving of surfaces which decreases ground absorpon and increases the
speed and amount of surface ow.
The water rushes down suddenly into the streams from their catchment areas leading to oods. Various kinds of
depression and low-lying areas near or around cies which act as cushions and ood absorbers are gradually lled up.
This results in inadequate channel capacity. During heavy rains, the silted drains cant carry full discharge.
A number of drainage systems in many urban areas of Odisha have collapsed resulng in ooding. This can be seen
during rainy seasons in major cies like Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuack. In Bhubaneswar, dwellings in and around
Ekamara Kanan, Jayadev Vihar, Gajapa Nagar, Sainik School, Vani Vihar, west of Mancheshwar, Acharya Vihar, Iskcon
Temple, Aiginia, Jagamara and Pokhariput are the areas through which the natural drains pass.
But due to upcoming structures in these areas, the oodwater cannot drain properly and creates waterlogging. The
general topography of the Bhubaneswar municipal area has a gentle slope from west to east. The level dierence is
about 80 metres between the west end (Kalinga Nagar near Chandaka Road) and the east end (near Jharpada and
Badagada).
Thus, the overall topography slopes from western highlands to eastern plains, rendering a natural advantage of
drainage. There are 10 major natural drains running west to east. Some of these nally join the Gangua Nallah.
Bhubaneswars storm water ows into these 10 drain channels. But the enre city has not been covered with storm
water drains.
This apart, encroachment of natural drains by construcon and dumping of waste materials make the storm water
drains inecient, resulng in blockage and chocking. The citys drain No1 opens to river Kuakhai and the other nine
drain channels (No2 toNo10) ow into the Gangua Nallah.
The starng point and ouall of the drains are as follows: Drain No1 (Paa-Chandrasekharpur to Daya West Canal
Crossing to river Kuakhai); Drain No2 Sainik School Road Culvert to Railway Bridges (conuence with Drain No3) to
Gangua Nallah; Drain No3 (OAP area)- eld near Sainik School to Railway Bridges (conuence with Drain No2) to
Gangua Nallah; Drain No4 (Vani Vihar)-Reserve Forest, Bharatpur to Daya West Canal Crossing to Gangua Nallah;
Drain No5 (Laxmisagar)-Janpath Road to Gangua Nallah; Drain No6 (Baragada)-Railway Bridges to Gangua Nallah;
Drain No7 (Kedargauri)-Airport Road to Gangua Nallah; Drain No8 (Airport)-Joklandi Road to conuence with Drain
No8 to Gangua Nallah; Drain No9 (Ghakia)-Culvert on NH-5 to Pokhariput Railway Bridge to Gangua Nallah; and
Drain No10 (Nicco Park)-Lake near CRP Colony to Gangua Nallah.
The BMC maintains the minor drains, which comprise secondary and terary drains. These drains essenally convey
storm water runo from the road surface, household roof drains and form the catchment area in undeveloped or
parally developed porons of the city to the major drains. Although 10 natural drains are owing through the city,
it is fou nd that because of encroachment many drains are not geng adequate space to discharge storm water. The
drains are also choked owing to siltaon. Buildings are oen constructed without ood inundaon in mind.
A large number of mulstoried apartments have been constructed without considering the drainage paern of the
area. Also, in many areas, the widths the nullahs have been reduced. Another reason is that the enre city has not
154
been covered with surface water drain. With the rising populaon, new residenal areas are bound to come up, but
rst priority should be given to water discharge system. An integrated approach needs to combine watershed and
land-use management with development planning, engineering measures and preparedness for ooding.
Apart from this, prevenve measures like improvement of drainage eciency and adopng rainwater harvesng sys-
tem are some of the prevenve measures to curb ooding. Natural streams and watercourses have formed over
thousands of years due to the forces of owing water in the respecve watersheds.
Ideally, the natural drains should have been widened (similar to road widening for increased trac) to accommodate
the higher ows of storm water. But on the contrary, there have been large-scale encroachments on the natural
drains. Management of urban ooding is an emerging subject, and as such, it has to be treated holiscally in a mul-
disciplinary manner. In many cies, rainwater causes ooding on the road despite the existence of the underground
drainage system.
It is seen that the inlets to drain water from the roads into the roadside drains are either not properly aligned or
nonexistent leading to severe waterlogging on roads. Provision of a simple connecng element, namely, drainage
inlet through which the water can ow from roadside drain into the underground drain can signicantly reduce wa-
terlogging on the roads.
Rainwater harvesng is a formof source control in which water can be converted into a resource. Due to urbanisaon,
groundwater recharge has decreased and the peak runos from rainfall and consequent ooding have increased. So,
rainwater harvesng should be carried out extensively. This would serve the twin purposes of lowering the peak
runo and raising the groundwater table.
Urban water bodies also play a very important role in the management of urban ooding by reducing the stormwater
run-o by capturing it. In the past there have been many water bodies in Bhubaneswar, but over the years their
number has been dwindling. All water bodies in the city should be protected.
Besides, a master plan for drainage is highly needed for Bhubaneswar. The natural widths of all major drainage chan-
nels in the city should be protected, and there should not be any encroachment at least 4 to 5 metre on either side
of the channel. The exact bed width, land width and the land requirement for drainage channel can be calculated
aer preparaon of a drainage master plan of the various zones of the city. This would lead to a sustainable urban
drainage system and reduce ooding in the city.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/drain-encroachment-main-cause-of-flooding-in-capit
al-city.html
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Ozone Layer Protecon (2014-09-16 09:44)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/ozone-layer-pro tecon-must-for-sustaining-mother-
earth.html
OZONE LAYER PROTECTION MUST FOR SUSTAINING MOTHER EARTH
The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere protects humans and other organisms against ultraviolet (UV) radiaon from
the sun. About 90 per cent of all ozone molecules are found in the stratosphere, a region that begins about 10-16
km above the Earths surface and extends up to about 50 km. Most of this ozone is found in the lower stratosphere,
commonly known as the ozone layer. The remaining 10 per cent of ozone is in the troposphere, the lowest region
of the atmosphere.
In the 1970s sciensts discovered that certain man-made chemicals deplete the ozone layer, leading to an increased
level of UV radiaon reaching the Earth. Excessive heat from the sun due to this ozone hole is a major contributor to
the high temperature regimes, and the result is global warning.
The United Naons (UN) Internaonal Day for the Preservaon of the Ozone Layer is celebrated on September 16.
The event commemorates the date of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer in 1987. The 2014 theme of the day is Ozone Layer Protecon: The Mission Goes on.
Molecules of ozone formed a thin layer in the Earths outer atmosphere hundreds of millions of years ago. Ozone
depleon substances are chemical compounds that degrade the ozone layer. Since the ozone layer lters the most
harmful ultraviolet radiaon fromthe sun before it reaches the land, it is essenal to avoid the use of ozone depleon
substances in building projects. In the past, these ozone depleng substances like CFCs, HCFCs were used in air-
condioning system as refrigerant. Ozone depleon also occurred due to certain industrially produced chemicals
containing chlorine or bromine and damaging the Earths protecve ozone layer.
Ozone is also produced in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) by the chemical reacons between pollutants like
nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons and UV radiaon. This ground-level ozone is a signicant component of photo-
chemical smog found in many polluted areas and has adverse eects on human health and environment. For exam-
ple, increased UV radiaon reduces the levels of plankton in the oceans and subsequently diminishes sh stocks. It
can also have adverse eects on plant growth, reducing agricultural producvity. Besides, heang, venlaon and
air condioning (HVAC) systems can release compounds into the atmosphere resulng in depleon of the protecve
ozone layer. With its successful implementaon, the Montreal Protocol has been gradually strengthened to cover the
phase-out of nearly 100 ozone-depleng substances.
156
In India, almost 70 per cent of the workforce is dependent on agriculture. The climate change represents an addi-
onal stress on ecological and socioeconomic systems that are already facing tremendous pressures due to rapid
urbanisaon and industrialisaon.
A variety of policies and measures have been implemented in reducing the use or emissions of ODSs. India, a party to
the Vienna Convenon for the Protecon of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer, is one of the countries that have felt the benet of this work. Indias Central Polluon Control
Board (CPCB) has been execung a naon-wide iniave, the Naonal Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP).
The annual average concentraons of sulfur oxide levels today are within the prescribed Naonal Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS) in almost all domesc territories.
Most global and regional environmental problems originate in cies, which import increasing amounts of natural
resources and export vast quanes of emissions and waste. The main human sources of GHGs contribung to global
warming are the dramac rise in energy use, land-use changes and emissions from industrial acvies. There is a
need to study the nature of these changes and their ramicaons for sustainable human selement.
Reducing the contribuon of cies to climate change, or migaon, requires an adequate understanding of the drivers
of urban GHG emissions, while eecve adaptaon must be based on a good understanding of what makes cies
vulnerable or resilient to climate change impacts. If properly designed, constructed and operated, a sustainable city
and sustainable building will require less money and fewer resources to operate and will be healthier for its occupants.
Buildings are sustainable when they are designed, built and operated with lowenvironmental, social, and economic
impacts. Planning looks at the needs of people and the environment while respecng limits to development. Urban
planning must recognise regional limits to development to maintain natural habitats and biodiversity.
Use of green areas is a major planning technique by which town planners can prevent or reduce adverse eects of
climate. Therefore, many cies in the developed world are planning to transformthemselves into green metropolises.
The Government of India has prepared a Naonal Acon Plan for Climate Change. To address issues relang to mit-
igaon and adaptaon in human selements, a Naonal Mission on Sustainable Habitat has been iniated. It aims
to make cies sustainable through improvements in energy eciency in buildings, management of solid waste and
shi to public transport. The Naonal Mission on Sustainable Habitat would broadly cover the following aspects: Ex-
tension of the energy conservaon building code which addresses the design of new and large commercial buildings
to opmise their energy demand; Beer urban planning and modal shi to public transport - make long-term trans-
port plans to facilitate growth of medium and small cies in such a way that ensures ecient and convenient public
transport; Recycling of material and urban waste management - a special area of focus would be development of tech-
nology for producing power form wastes. The mission would also facilitate adaptaon to vulnerabilies arising out
of climate change like adverse impacts on water resources, increased frequencies of extreme weather like droughts,
oods, cyclones, storm water surge, rise in sea levels and heat waves.
Besides, there is a number of praccal measures which can be taken at individual level to protect nature Earth. To
protect the ozone layer, we must prevent the release of ozone-depleng substances to the atmosphere and select
materials with zero ozone depleon potenal (ZODP). Whenever possible, we must also replace themwith safer alter-
naves. This signicant progress is a useful indicator to protect ozone depleon and boost sustainable development,
which would be benecial for future of planet Earth and mankind.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/ozone-layer-protection-must-for-sustaining-mother-
earth.html
157
Odisha Nature Tourism (2014-09-29 16:22)
[1]hps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7459242837272653609#editor/target=post;postID=12146033870279-
03060
LOCAL COMMUNITIES YET TO BENEFIT MUCH FROM ODISHA NATURE TOURISM
The World Tourism Day (WTD), celebrated on September 27, highlights tourisms social, cultural, polical and eco-
nomic value. WTD 2014 has the theme Tourism and Community Development focusing on the ability of tourism to
empower people and provide them with skills to achieve changes in their local communies.
Tourism is the largest industry in the world according to gures on employment and expenditures. Over 800 million
people travel internaonally each year, and many more travelling within their countries.
Travel and Tourism in India is an integral part of Indian tradion and culture. India is ranked 68th among the worlds
139 most aracve desnaons and scores very high on natural resources (ranked 8th) and cultural resources (24th);
with 30 world heritage sites.
158
Tourismthat features nature is generally termed environmental or nature-based tourism, a broad termthat includes
a range of tourism experiences including adventure tourism, ecotourism and aspects of cultural and rural tourism.
Nature-based tourism is disnguished from other tourism forms by its natural area seng. More and more people
are living an urban life and the amenies and conveniences that come with globalisaon increasingly lead to a near
complete disconnect from nature. For many people, geng back in touch with nature tourism provides a dierent
experience to enjoy natural heritage. Natural heritages include all natural features like mountains, valleys, forests,
deserts, water bodies, landscapes, ora and fauna.
Odisha is an ideal place for nature tourism as nature has given it everything like beauful beaches, rivers, water
streams, falls and wide variees of ora and fauna. The widespread sea beaches at Puri, Gopalpur and Chandrabhaga
and the charming Chilika lake have a special aracon. Odisha is rich with sacred rivers like the Mahanadi, Brahmani,
Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Rushikulya. Mountains like Deomali and Gandhamardan are well-known. There are
a number of beauful waterfalls, Bada-Ghagara, Sana-Ghagara and Khandadhar in Keonjhar district, Koilighugar in
Jharsuguda, Barehipani in the Similipal Naonal Park. The natural hot springs are Atri (Khordha), Taptapani (Ganjam)
and Deuljhari (Angul). To maintain the eco-balance and protect the ora and fauna, naonal parks are earmarked at
Similipal and Bhitarakanika of Odisha. Besides, the State has a number of wildlife sanctuaries.
Tourismin Odisha has developed considerably in recent years due to various aracons ranging fromnatural scenery,
wildlife reserves and beaches to temples and monuments and the arts and fesvals. Nature tourism provides a high
scope for rural tourism and a degree of alternate employment to the local community and generates environmen-
tal awareness among local residents as well as visitors. Nature tourism is responsible travel to natural areas which
conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people. Examples include bird-watching, photography,
vising natural areas, etc.
Social, economic and cultural sustainability depend on the impacts of nature tourism on local residents and commu-
nies and also the experiences of visitors. Nature tourism has the potenal to improve both economic and spiritual
wellbeing.
The United Naons World Tourism Organisaon (UNWTO) report on the implementaon of the Global Code of Ethics
for Tourism notes that tourism policies should be applied in such a way as to raise the standard of living of the pop-
ulaons of the regions visited which is parcularly important for the deprived or remote communies in their ght
against poverty. The UNWTO has vast experience in providing technical assistance to countries and desnaons
in their eorts to develop tourism as an engine to foster socioeconomic development, especially for disadvantaged
groups. The UNWTOlaunched the ST-EP Programme (Sustainable Tourismfor the Eliminaon of Poverty) at the Johan-
nesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Its aim is to reduce poverty levels through promong
sustainable forms of tourism.
Community involvement in decision-making and residents receipt of benets from tourism is expected to play a vital
role in sustainable tourism as well as preservaon and conservaon of biodiversity. The development of infrastruc-
ture in areas having potenal for nature tourism is highly needed. The intenon is to benet the local community
economically and socially.
However, the local communies are not beneted much fromnature tourismprojects in Odisha. The level of parcipa-
on of community residents in nature tourismis very low. In many cases, the residents are neglected while preparing
acon plan and evaluaon and monitoring process of projects. Community-based nature tourismcan provide a more
sustainable nature tourismdevelopment. There is a need to study howcommunies can benet fromnature tourism
in a sustainable way. It can be done by extending need-based tourism educaon and short and long-term tourism
manpower development strategies.
The Odisha Tourism Policy has been formulated as a promoter and catalyst to create an environment for planned
and sustained development of tourism. It also welcomes and encourages non-government sectors to parcipate
in development of tourism. Besides government eort, private-sector parcipaon, administrave improvement,
travel and tourism research, adopon of integrated and coordinated tourism development plan can be developed for
sustainable nature tourism in Odisha.
159
1. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7459242837272653609#editor/target=post;postID=1214603387027903060
3.9 October
Gandhian concept of Rural-Urban Interdependence (2014-10-03 09:55)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/gandhian-concep t-of-rural-urban-interdependence-
yet-to-materialize.html
GANDHIAN CONCEPT OF RURAL-URBAN INTERDEPENDENCE YET TO MATERIALIZE
Gandhi Jayan is celebrated on October 2 to observe the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Naon. The
United Naons General Assembly also declared the day as the Internaonal Day of Nonviolence.
Gandhi had a very clear percepon of Indian villages. He started from analysing the causes of poverty owing to the
Brish Rule. In his words, India lives in her seven and a half lakhs of villages. He believed India would have to live
in villages, not in towns; in huts not in palaces. He observed, If village perishes, India will perish too. He was of the
view that the countrys progress lies in development of its villages and growth of rural economy, industry and rural
skills.
Gandhi aimed at aainment of Village Swaraj. In 1942, he said, My idea of Village Swaraj is that it is a complete
republic, independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and get interdependent for many others in which
dependence is a necessity. Every villages rst concern will be to grow its own food crop and coon for its cloth. My
ideal village will contain intelligent human beings. They will not live in dirt and darkness as animals.
The decentralised economic units would thus facilitate the best possible use of local raw materials, talents and man-
power; promote occupaonal equilibrium, ecological balance and cooperave living. In the eld of agriculture, Gand-
hiji recommended cooperave farming which would save labour, capital, tools and provide employment to all adult
villagers. Gandhian economics places importance to means of achieving the aimof development and this means must
be nonviolent, ethical and truthful in all economic spheres. So, he dvocated trusteeship, decentralisaon of economic
acvies, labour-intensive technology and priority to weaker secons.
However, in todays context, the process of transformaon in Indian villages has led to migraon. Villages get inte-
grated into urban areas. There are several reasons why villages have been changing. Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3
160
crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas, as per the 2011 Census. The absolute increase in popu-
laon is more in urban areas than in rural areas. The level of urbanisaon increased from 27.81 per cent in the 2001
Census to 31.16 per cent in the 2011 Census, while the rural populaon declined from 72.19 per cent to 68.84 per
cent. Of the total populaon of Odisha, 83.32 per cent live in rural areas and 16.68 per cent in urban areas.
Rural development has assumed global aenon. It has great signicance for a country like India where 69 per cent
of the people live in rural areas. In India, agriculture contributes nearly one-h of the gross domesc product. Agri-
culture, handicras, sheries, poultry and dairy are the primary contributors to the rural economy.
There exists an economic, social and environmental interdependence between urban and rural areas. Rural-urban
linkage generally refers to the growing ow of public and private capital, people (migraon and commung) and
goods (trade) between the urban and rural areas. Adequate infrastructure such as transportaon, communicaon,
energy and basic services is the backbone of the rural-urban development linkage approach.
A majority of the Indian villages sll face constraints such as access to educaon, healthcare, drinking water, power,
roads, etc. Against this background, adopon of especially villages in backward regions through preparaon of Village
Development Plans (VDPs) would go a long way in ensuring holisc and integrated development of the villages con-
cerned. The objecve of VDPs is to develop the selected village in an integrated manner. This would include economic
development and other aspects of human development.
The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constuon iniated the processes for introducing instuonal arrangements
for integrated development of selements, areas and regions. So, these amendments provide for two types of com-
miees, District Planning Commiee and Metropolitan Planning Commiee. These commiees would ensure that
the plans prepared by local bodies at the village and town levels are integrated and accommodated within the frame-
work of 20 to 25-year perspecve plans and 5-year economic development plans prepared at the naonal and State
levels.
The Instute of Town Planners, India in the year 1995 conducted a study to detail urban development plans formu-
laon and implementaon (UDPFI) guidelines. The purpose was to arrive at a methodology of plan preparaon that
would not only help prepare beer master plans but also help achieve integrated development of rural and urban
areas. Urban and Regional Planners being spaally trained to look into the mul-sector dimensions of development
in an area would be preparing a spaal plan and would be achieving the objecve of rural-urban integraon.
Rural communies are responsible for the stewardship of ecosystem services essenal to human survival, such
as clean air and water, ood and drought migaon, polluon migaon, biodiversity, and climate stabilisaon.
Metropolitan congeson is given some relief by smaller towns and cies that oer aordability, space and safety.
Metropolitan areas provide the concentrated markets for rural goods and services. They are also the locaon of a
wide variety of specialised services like healthcare, cultural acvies and legal and nancial services.
One noceable issue today is the rate at which people migrate from rural to urban areas. This has negave conse-
quences. It leads to overpopulaon of urban areas and encouraging crimes and slows down the rate of rural develop-
ment. So, each State the Government should strive to provide social amenies and jobs for rural cizens. Agro-allied
industries must be set up in rural areas to provide jobs. Agricultural inputs and technologies should be introduced to
rural people to improve the producon level.
Gandhijis vision to make Indian villages prosperous is possible through rural-urban interdependence. Gandhiji had
an elaborate plan for labour-intensive producon which would generate more employment opportunies and suit
to the rural community. Regional development planning creates a beer urban-rural balance and reduces migraon
pressure on urban areas. It is important for planners and policymakers to develop strategies based on the realies
of peoples lives in both urban and rural areas. This would reect Gandhijis vision of an ideal region that would be
eco-friendly and sustainable for future generaon.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/gandhian-concept-of-rural-urban-interdependence-ye
t-to-materialize.html
161
Right of Slum Populaons in the City (2014-10-06 06:02)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/slum-populaon s-have-a-right-to-be-in-the-city.html
SLUM POPULATIONS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE IN THE CITY
The United Naons has designated the rst Monday in October as the World Habitat Day to reect on the state of
human selements and the basic right to adequate shelter for all.
This year the day is celebrated on October 6. The day is also intended to remind the world of its collecve responsibility
for the future of human habitat. This years theme is Voices from Slums, giving voice to people who have lived or
live in slums or other vulnerable urban contexts. A slum can be dened as a compact selement with a collecon of
poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking
water facilies in unhygienic condions.
The rapid urbanisaon in conjuncon with industrialisaon and lack of infrastructural and employment opportunies
in rural areas have led to mass rural-urban migraon, and this has resulted in the growth of slums. The proliferaon
of slums occurs due to many factors such as the shortage of developed land for housing and the high prices of land
that are beyond the reach of urban poor.
About 32 per cent of the worlds urban populaon lives in slums and a majority of them in the developing world.
According to the 2011 Census, 17.4 per cent of urban Indias populaon lives in slums. In the ve States of Andhra
Pradesh, Chhasgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, more than 1 in 5 urban households live in a slum.
In Odisha, the percentage of slum populaon is 23.1. Bhubaneswar has a 3.50-lakh populaon living in 377 slums.
Most of the slum dwellers occupied Government land. The encroachment of Government land by the slum people
creates unhygienic condions, trac jams, etc. Slum dwellers have not willingly chosen their shanty structures and
unhygienic environment but have been driven to this opon due to compelling circumstances as they are unable to
enter into the formal housing sector.
All slums and squaers are made of bamboo, straw, low-quality wood, n and plasc sheets. The populaon density
in slums and squaers is high. Aminimumof four and maximumof ten people share a room, which is highly congested
and unhealthy. This poor housing and lifestyle cause a number of problems for the city environment. They lack safe
drinking water and proper sewerage services. There are no toilets and people defecate in the open. As a result, both
162
household wastes and human generated wastes go directly or indirectly into the low-lying lands, open spaces or water
bodies of the city and cause a number of problems. Besides, heaps of garbage are found here and there.
The city authories are of the view is that most people are illegally living in slums. Because of this, cies do not plan
for or manage slums, and the people living in themare overlooked and excluded. They receive none of the benets of
more auent cizens, such as access to municipal water, roads, sanitaon and sewage. This atude to slumdwellers
and approaches that disregard themperpetuate the levels and scale of poverty, which impacts on the cies as a whole.
The great slums of India are predominantly created when large numbers of individuals or families move to the urban
centres, usually in search of beer economic prospects. This is because culvable land in villages is limited and not
enough to support the landless labourers in the village. Instead of starving in villages, they along with their family
move on to cies in search of employment. No wonder, the slums in the capital and metro cies are geng larger
and larger.
The Indian Government has started recognising informal selements, regularising unauthorised construcons and
changing planning standards to meet the needs of the poor beer. However, the slum problems cannot be solved
by focusing on the cies alone. A comprehensive soluon is necessary for development of rural areas with improved
infrastructures, educaon and employment opportunies.
Urban human selements require a more inclusive approach to planning and land management if they are to sustain
all the people who live in them. A basic need for all people living in cies is shelter. The rst step then in creang
sustainable urban selements is for cies to recognise that people living in slums have a right to be in the city. This
recognion would begin to make slum dwellers legimate cizens, which would start legalising their tenure.
Government makes land available for human selements through various land management tools. Since cies do not
formally plan these slums, they have no maps or layouts showing streets and sites; so, people living in slums have no
ocially-recognised street addresses. Therefore, a number of stakeholders should be involved in city-wide planning
to ensure a sustainable supply of land for the poor that can be serviced and developed. These stakeholders include
dierent secons of Government, the private sector and civil society. The Government sector includes both naonal
and local governments as well as city authories.
The UN-Habitat assists citywide slum upgrading programmes and helps strengthen instuonal building as well as
skills development of technical cadre from Governments and other stakeholders involved in developing informal set-
tlements. In this process, a number of parcipatory planning tools have been developed. These include tools for
enumeraon and mapping, programme management guidelines and general guides to support implementaon of
complex slum upgrading programmes.
Besides, there is a strong correlaon between improved housing and poverty reducon. In India, this has been intro-
duced through the Jawaharlal Nehru Naonal Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) reforms, which states that 20-25 %
lands would be reserved for low income and economically weaker secon housing (EWS) in the new developments.
Under the JNNURM, 65 Indian cies had an opportunity to bridge this infrastructure gap and also to resolve some
of the housing problems for the urban poor through the BSUP (Basic Services for the Urban Poor) component of the
Central Government-funded mission. The Government also created another scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). Under
the RAY guidelines, all the urban local bodies are expected to map and take a census of all the slums and create strate-
gies to improve exisng condion of slums. Besides, the Naonal Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 has been
enacted, which states that the endeavour would be to carry out in-situ upgradaon of dwelling units for 95 per cent
of the slum households.
Cies without slums should be the objecve of all urban planning for social and economic development. There is a
need to reserve lands in every urban development project to be set apart for undertaking EWS and LIG housing. This
would enable connuous supply of serviced land for housing of the slum dwellers. Cies should draw up long-term
local strategies for improving the living condion of slum dwellers. These should include access to aordable land,
employment opportunies and basic infrastructures and social services. Local governments should develop strategies
to prevent formaon of new slums.
163
The best way to deal with the problem of slums would be to stop migraon of landless labourers from rural to urban
areas by providing employment avenues in villages. Dierent labour-intensive industries can be promoted in villages.
Small-scale industries with loan facilies can be established for educated rural youth. This would reduce migraon
and there would be no reason for slums to come up. Besides, a detailed survey of slum populaon should be carried
out. The outcome of the survey should be integrated with the present land use plan especially in housing category.
This would help provide authorised dwelling units to all slum populaon to make the city slum-free.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/slum-populations-have-a-right-to-be-in-the-city.ht
ml
Family Farming to prevent Hunger and Poverty (2014-10-16 06:56)
[1]hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/family-farming- needed-to-prevent-hunger-and-
poverty.html
FAMILY FARMING NEEDED TO PREVENT HUNGER AND POVERTY
The 2014 World Food Day theme Family Farming: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth has been chosen to raise
the prole of family farming and smallholder farmers. It focuses world aenon on the signicant role of family
farming in eradicang hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrion, improving livelihoods, managing
natural resources, protecng the environment and achieving sustainable development. The UN General Assembly
has also designated 2014 as the Internaonal Year of Family Farming. So, the internaonal community recognises the
important contribuon of family farmers to food security.
Rapid urbanisaon in developing naons is accompanied by a rapid increase in poverty and food insecurity. This
scenario is further aggravated by the fact that high food inaon, which by now is a global phenomenon, is expected
to connue. The worlds populaon is likely to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. The Food and Agriculture Organisaon (FAO)
esmates that by 2050, global food demand will increase by 70 per cent to feed this populaon. This is going to put a
tremendous pressure on the already scarce land and water resources implying an urgent need for an alternave way
to combat food shortages.
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A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvaon. Ensuring food
security ought to be an issue of great importance for a country like India, where more than one-third of the populaon
is absolutely poor.
The report Global Hunger Index (GHI) by the Internaonal Food Policy Research Instute (IFPRI) is based on three
equally weighted indicators, namely, undernourishment (proporon of undernourished people as percentage of pop-
ulaon), child underweight and child mortality. The GHI measures progress and failures in the ght against hunger. It
ranks countries on a 100-point scale with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst, though neither
of these extremes is achieved in pracce. The higher is the score, the worse the food situaon of a country. Values
less than 4.9 reect low hunger; values between 5 and 9.9 reect moderate hunger, values between 10 and 19.9
indicate a serious; values between 20 and 29.9 are alarming; and values exceeding 30 are extremely alarming
hunger problem. In India, the GHI is 17.8 and is coming under serious category. In Odisha, it is 23.8 and coming
under alarming category.
Despite progress made, the level of hunger in the world is sll serious, with 805 million people connuing to go
hungry, according to esmates by the FAO. One-third of the worlds hungry people live in India. Because India is
experiencing a shi over me from a largely rural and agrarian populaon to urban, non-agriculture centres. India
has a populaon of 1.2 billion as per the 2011 Census and is the second most populous country aer China. However,
it is projected that India will be the worlds most populous country by 2025. By 2050, it will have over 1.6 billion
people. Hence, with limited natural resources of water and land area and a vast majority of poor, the cies will be
unsustainable. Good pracce of urban agriculture is one of the soluons for food security in India.
Family farming is dened as a means of organising agricultural, forestry, sheries, pastoral and aquaculture producon
which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on nonwage family labour, both men and
women. It is one of the most predominant forms of agriculture both in developing and in developed countries. The
sector comprises a wide spectrum of farm sizes and types, ranging from very large land holdings in high-income
economies that are easily culvated by one or two family members with the use of labour-saving machinery and
hired labour to the small holdings of a few hectares or less in low-income economies.
City planners have a unique opportunity to support, facilitate and lead food security iniaves at a local and com-
munity level through the decisions about the use of land. For instance, much producve agricultural land has been
converted to other uses. During the planning stage, planners could be involved in collecon of data on community
food system and assessment on the impact of current planning on the local food system. Integraon of agriculture
with urban greening programmes can provide food to urban residents, reduce urban polluon and temperatures as
well as oer recreaon opportunies to improve quality of urban life. It demonstrates how urban agriculture liveli-
hood can be integrated in spaal land use planning and improves urban land governance. Locaon and peri-urban
typology help understand the policy and praccal premises that constrain urban agriculture livelihood integraon in
urban land use planning processes and land management principles.
Among global agricultural instuons, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisaon (FAO) has a longstanding role in
the ght against hunger, malnutrion and poverty. With the support of its member-states and in collaboraon with
other intergovernmental organisaons, the FAO has developed its extensive technical and policy resources primarily
to address the rural side of agricultural producon with a focus on farmers, including small farmers, in the developing
world.
The Naonal Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide
subsidised food grains to approximately two-thirds of the 1.2-billion people. It was signed into law on September
12, 2013. In India, the livelihood security of more than 50 per cent of the populaon depends on crop and animal
husbandry, inland and marine sheries, forestry and agro-forestry. Under such condions, agriculture should be given
top priority. The Good Pracce of Urban Agriculture has to be linked with food systemplanning and land use planning
of a city and its surroundings. There is a need for idencaon of land for urban development with agriculture.
Agricultural land within urban area is to be protected under the Town and Country Planning Act. New townships
should incorporate urban agriculture like city farming, horculture, family farming, etc.; from the very beginning in
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the planning stage. This will provide food security and urban resilience in a sustainable way. Small family farms are the
key toreduce poverty andimprove global foodsecurity. Muchof the worlds experience insustainable farming systems
has been gained by family-run farms. Fromgeneraon to generaon, family farmers have transmied knowledge and
skills, preserving and improving many pracces and technologies that can support agricultural sustainability.
Throughout the country, farmers are using innovave techniques to produce and distribute food. Family farming is
now being done on rooops, in community gardens and anywhere there is space. Rooop gardens are used in cies
to reduce the citys temperature, parcularly the heat island eect, greenhouse gas emissions and can be used for
family farming. Backyard gardens and private open space can be used for food producon.
To achieve food security to all, potenalies of urban agriculture should be seriously explored. There is a need
for greater awareness about urban agriculture. Socially-oriented enterprises can play a signicant role to spread
knowledge-intensive techniques in this area. The Government at the same me should facilitate urban agriculture
through various schemes for food security in the city. Economic policies should be reoriented to provide adequate
support for Indias agriculture and its vast rural populaon. Besides, agriculture can provide the largest source of
employment to the rural poor. This not only increases their incomes and food security but also facilitates reducon
of poverty for a sustainable livelihood.
1. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/family-farming-needed-to-prevent-hunger-and-povert
y.html
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