Plastic woes

When considering Trivandrum’s (or any other city’s) rapid development and expansion, it is hardly surprising that numerous retailers are colonising any available spaces to sell their products. And with India being one of the biggest consumers of plastics/ polythenes, it is not unanticipated to find the plastic menace rearing up its ugly head.

Matters were quite different less than two decades ago. One was expected to utilise a shopping bag (usually durable) when commencing on the customary and/or sporadic shopping expeditions. And retailers, in turn, used old newspapers to pack the products. Bags were either of paper or jute, and those tantalising plastic bags with pink, blue, yellow, and white hues could be bought only for a price.

The past morphing into the present has resulted in many changes, one of which is that these plastic bags are now generously supplied by all retailers (and, usually, for no charge) - even the fishmonger. It has become such an integral part of the average existence, that I am met with surprised and sneering looks when I insist on the vendors placing the purchases into my large shopping bag instead of using their plastic bags.

Manufacturers of these plastic bags are quick to insist that these don’t cause any environmental problems. Furthermore, banning these bags would jeopardize the livelihood of many workers. Retailers are also in the same bandwagon for these bags provide an affordable marketing and publicity solution. Surely, there is no one who hasn’t noticed the glaring logo of Burberry Prorsum on that silver (or gold) bag held proudly by a WAG? And isn’t it common to find consumers carrying plastic bags which advertise sales at the large department stores (including John Lewis/Peter Jones)?

Denying the environmental problems caused by plastic bags is akin to insisting that the sun revolves around the earth. Firstly, it is difficult and expensive to recycle plastic bags. Secondly, being non-biodegradable, these bags take a loooong time to degrade (apparently 300-1000 years). Even then, these degraded pieces are toxic and would contaminate the area in which they are found. Fourthly, animals trying to swallow plastic bags are common sights- and the conclusion is inevitable. The plastic bags continue to dodge one when walking in any street- in the gutters, on the road, amongst the undergrowth, and on the rivers and streams (and it seems as if residents have assumed that these are the ideal sites for discarding plastics and other wastes). Another common sight is plastic being burned- should I elaborate more on the composition of these noxious fumes and the effects which it will have on human health?

I understand that the state has now stipulated a minimum thickness of plastic bags (around 30-50 microns) - but this still doesn’t curtail the use of plastic bags. The best solution would be if everyone would reuse the same bags instead of absent-mindedly accepting more at the various shops - and if each one of us refuses to a plastic/polythene bag each day, this amounts to refusing 365 plastic bags per annum! Another option would be to use a jute shopping bag- spacious and hardy.

If there is no improvement, the retailers could be pressurised to institute a hefty charge for the plastic bags (something along the lines of Rs 15 per bag)- and this, surely, will reap benefits.

Or perhaps the solution is along the lines of what has been so effectively implemented by the Municipal Council of Nagercoil (in Tamil Nadu)- anyone using/manufacturing flimsy plastic bags faces hefty fines (the minimum is Rs 25; the maximum is around Rs 5000). I recommend something much more heftier.

Image: http://www.everystockphoto.com/ (photographer:tibetanelements)

Gross forest cover loss

We are mostly aware of deforestation occurring in third world countries. Which is exactly why I must convey the findings of a particularly illuminating paper, ‘Quantification of global gross forest cover loss’, by Matthew Hansen, Stephen Stehman, and Peter Potapov of South Dakota State University and State University of New York (SUNY), published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (April 2010).

The researchers used satellite imagery to quantify the Gross Forest Cover Loss, GFCL, defined as ‘the area of forest cover removed because of any disturbance, including both natural and human-induced causes’ from 2000 to 2005 (‘forest cover’ is specified as 25% (or greater) of canopy closure for trees over 5 metres tall).

To summarise the findings:
Firstly, during this time period, 3% (1011,000 km2 ) of the world’s forest disappeared, which relates as a loss of 3.1% from the estimated total forested area in 2000 (32688,000 km2).

Secondly, amongst the biomes, the boreal experienced the largest GFCL (where 60% was due to fire), followed by the humid tropical (mostly due to clearing for agriculture and plantations, especially in Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia), dry tropical (again, due to clearing for agriculture, and mostly in Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay), and temperate biomes.

Thirdly, amongst the continents, North America had the greatest GFCL (around 30%), followed by Asia and South America. Interestingly, Africa exhibited the least GFCL.

Fourthly, amongst the seven countries which has over 100,000 km2 of forests (Russia, Brazil, US, Canada, China, Indonesia, and Congo), Brazil showed the largest GFCL (165,000 km2; of which 26000 km2 were rainforests and 7000 km2 were dry tropical forests) followed by Canada (160,000 km2).

Fifthly, the greatest proportional GFCL was exhibited by US, which lost more than 120,000 km2 (6% of its forest cover in 2000) mainly due to logging. Canada’s proportional forest loss was 5.2% of its forest cover, higher than Brazil’s. Of the remainder, Indonesia lost 3.6%, Russia lost 2.8%, China lost 2.3%, and DRC lost 0.6% of their respective forest covers.

There are some caveats with this otherwise illuminating study: it did not factor in forest gains during this time period. Secondly, the study period is from 2000-2005, and obviously is not indicative of what happened over the past half decade. It is also limited by its definition of forest cover. Yet, it does serve to remove some amount of misconceptions!
Hansen, M., Stehman, S., & Potapov, P. (2010). From the Cover: Quantification of global gross forest cover loss Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (19), 8650-8655 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0912668107

Poll results of 'What is your ideal indoor temperature'?

20-24 deg C: 50%
16-19 deg C: 33%
0 deg C: 16%

New poll added.

The modern-day Sisyphus

Development is essential. But what I dislike is when the funds for development are squandered in the most despicable manner.


I would like to present the following as an example of mismanaged development plans:
Ever since I returned back to Trivandrum, I have been witnessing many road expansion works. Now, unlike Washington DC, the roads of Trivandrum weren’t planned after deducing the population of Trivandum in the 21st century (774,983 residents as per the 2001 census) and accounting for roughly 315000 residents (in 2003) possessing a vehicle (which, I reckon, would have at least trebled by now). And unlike Cambridge with its narrow roads, the current powers-that-be have decided against implementing efficient system of one-ways and effective traffic management.


Road expansion projects are generally unpopular. Firstly, it is a bane for those owning properties or buildings by the road side: they would, inevitably, have to vacate, undergo the excruciating torture of witnessing their hard work being demolished to rubble, and are forced to accept a paltry compensation (if any). Secondly, these projects generate so much of dust which results in particulates much higher than the usual levels (considered to be supposedly 50 microgram per cubic metre; the US EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality’s standards are 150 µg/m3 for 24-hour PM10 and 35 µg/m3 for 24-hour PM2.5). Thirdly, all of this digging may result in a hapless wayfarer falling into the ditches.


Nevertheless, once slated, road expansion projects are seldom deterred, although there might be some amount of delays. The end result is quite striking: relatively wide metalled roads, with good terracotta-tiled footpaths (they definitely don’t spare any expenses!), and lawn turfs on the traffic islands, bordered by flowering herbs and shrubs such as bougainvillea, hibiscus, and canna. All lovely except that the vision is marred by 99.99% of vehicle drivers violating the basic rules of driving…


I shan’t deviate into listing the hazards of traveling in these roads, but would like to direct the attention towards these newly-made roads for, unfortunately, the happiness derived from observing these are transient. Within a month or two, one is bound to find these metalled roads and footpaths dug up so that the other-powers-that-be can install water pipes, electricity cables, and sundry. Upon completion of these ‘works’, the roads are seldom metalled again, neither are the footpaths reinstalled. Now, another recently developed road at Plamood (Plamoodu) has work underway to reduce the width of the footpath and to relocate the newly made bus stop. Numerous other sites in the city are also witnessing the laying of pipes and cables resulting in dug up roads and footpaths. And I am not the only individual who is frustrated by all this.


It is baffling as to why the departments concerned with such development plans are bent on negating all the good work done by the others. Surely all of this could be avoided with some amount of effective communication? This could, for instance, ensure that the pipeworks and electricity works are conducted first, followed by metalling the roads and creating footpaths. After all, all these development plans require resources, time, and expenditure. Doing this all over again only results in waste. Surely these powers-that-be wouldn’t practice the same whilst constructing their own residences?

Now, what’s the source of these development funds? Certainly not their own personal funds.

Flying elephants? Dumbos? Or just, elephants?

We often come across fiercely contested disputes which, after a spell of intense discussion, are shifted to the backburner, and then surface once more after a new stimulus prods it back to the limelight. The local newspapers of late have been featuring one such debate, which first emerged in the early 1990s. What are we to believe? Does the Kallana exist or not?


Kani tribals, who dwell in the rainforests of Peppara (in Trivandrum district), very much insist that these Kallana (I would spell it as ‘Kal-aana’) exists. Based on the accounts, Kallana are pygmy elephants, miniature versions of the Indian elephant, around five foot tall, supposedly subsisting in the forests of the southern Western Ghats ranges. Their feeding habits are similar to that of the stately Indian elephant, but their smaller size enables them to be agile and scamper over steep and rocky slopes (and thus can be seen in the higher altitudes of the mountain ranges, where the topography comprises of rocks and grasslands).


Wildlife photographer Sali Palode, who has been trekking in the forests of Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining areas for nearly fifteen years, had photographed a herd, ten years ago, which were identified by the Kani as adult Kallanas. In 2005, Palode and Mallan Kani (a member of the tribe) encountered a small herd in the Sanctuary. In January 2010, he photographed a supposed Kallana carcass, which the Kani found in Kuttiyaar (within the Sanctuary). The Kani explained that a group of four Kallanas had come to the area. Subsequently, guided by Mallan Kani, Sali Palode and fellow photographer Jain Angadikkal photographed one such elephant sighted in the Kotoor division of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation, adjacent to the Sanctuary. Last month, Mallan also guided photographer Ajanta Benny, to a water body in Marakappara, where another Kallana was photographed. However, when forest officials, along with Mallan, visited the area immediately after these sightings were reported, they could find no evidence at all.


Zoologists and ecologists are sceptical since the Kallana’s existence has not been scientifically proven. Apart from eyewitness accounts and photographs not being strong evidence, the criticisms are:
i. Peppara Sanctuary is not an island forest where animals could evolve in isolation.
ii. The photographs doesn’t provide anything which could serve as a scale.
iii. Could it be the Borneo pygmy elephant? (more on this later)
iv. Is it a true elephant dwarf as opposed to a different subspecies/species?
v. These could be adolescent Indian elephants.


Palode argues that Kallanas are not baby elephants since they lacked the fine hairs characteristically present on the babies. Furthermore, these were sighted at altitudes and thickly forested and steeply inclined terrains, which are not usually haunted by the Indian elephants.


Fossil records demonstrate extinct pygmy elephants from around the world. However, in 2003, after conducting DNA analysis on nine dwarf elephant specimens, it was concluded that these are 'the results of individual cases of nanism (dwarfism) or pathological growth'. The elephants of Borneo, tagged as ‘pygmy elephants’, are around 6 foot tall. The population of approximately 1000 lives in the northern tip of Sabah and extreme north of Kalimantan in north Borneo. A DNA analysis, by Columbia University in 2003, confirmed these to be a genetically distinct type of the Asian elephants.


The Forest Department has supposedly dispatched search teams to the forests of Agasthyavanam, Neyyar, and the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary. Previously, in 1995, the Kerala Forest Research Institute’s (KFRI) search/survey for the kallana, supported by the ecologists from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) was abandoned due to heavy rains. Searches in 2005 and 2008 came up with naught.


Interestingly, the older generation recollects Kallanas. One local narrated to me of how, before the 1940s, a Kallana had been domesticated by a landlord of a nearby village. It was very popular with children- hardly surprising since I picture it as a Dumbo. Unfortunately, it met its demise when being forced to carry heavy timber along with other sturdier Indian elephants.


If the Kallana indeed exists, what resulted in this different morphology- ecological conditions? Or is it a variation within the species? Would the tribals make some cock-and-bull story, one which is traditionally believed? After all, the tribals are much more aware of the forest biodiversity than the best ecologist in the world.


As for why the search teams came up with nothing, it is certainly much easier to survey animals in the African grasslands than in the oft-impenetrable forests of Kerala. And as for the experts’ opinion, I have my own doubts: after all, they failed to identify the mysterious animal in a television footage of someone’s backgarden, some even supposing that it might be an unidentified species…. until an academic (who isn’t a zoologist per se) easily pointed out that it was none other than a slender loris.


In any case, I am hoping that the ‘DNA sample’, reportedly taken from the corpse of the Kallana by the Kerala Forest Research Institute in January, would solve the puzzle- provided they locate the sample first!

Global Forest Resources Assessment

My new post on FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment can be accessed at the Ecoratorio blog.

Watery facts

Further to my post alluding to the quality of tap water supplied in Kerala, the Water Resources Minister admitted that:
- 1,879 wards in Kerala have sub-standard drinking water.
- 43 water treatment plants are outdated.
Over the years, we were always advised to drink boiled water since the water treatment itself uses unsafe levels of various chemicals (sometimes it is exceptionally easy to detect chlorine!). Moreover, the drinking water is easily contaminated by the adjacent drainage/sewage pipes, especially during the rains.

Paradoxically, according to V Srinivasa Chary (Director of the Centre for Energy, Environment, Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development in Hyderabad), Trivandrum is the one among the two Indian cities to have continuous water supply (the other being Kota).