A Death knell to River Noyyal or Farmers?

As white and fresh as lillies the froth on the water is definitely a romantic sight to behold over the Noyyal riverain. The only glitch to the otherwise lovesome atmosphere is that the froth is made of poisonous residual wastages from hundreds of dyeing units along the course of the river. Knowing the riverscape of this water body would explain its present deplorable condition.

The Genesis

River Noyyal is birthed by the Western Ghats just like dozens of her sister rivers are. From the landmark Vellingiri hills she dashes off to Chithirai Chavadi Dam to reach Coimbatore. Her love affair with Coimbatore is many centuries old. She entwines the city through her canals and water storage tanks and leaves for Tirupur. En route she acts as the life line for over 1800 square kilometer area of agricultural land. She tours country sides and cities to reach Kooduthurai at Noyyal Village near Kodunudi in Karur where she consummates with river Kaveri. The basin is over 150 kilometers long around 25 kilometers wide. 

Causes of Concern

Since the river traverses populated cities, over the course of years numerous canals and tanks were constructed to store water, act as a means of transport and aid in replenishing ground water level. It has a 25 kilometer alluvial soil land fill that acts as a suction pump to absorb water into the land. River Noyyal mothers 34 seasonal rivulets, 23 checkdams and 32 tanks of which only 11 are now functional. With the increase of industrial units up on the river banks the quality of water deteriorated. The river was vitiated by hundreds of dyeing units of Tirupur which drained untreated industrial sewage directly into the river. 

Two major dams Orathuppalayam dam and Aathupalayam dam were built across the river to irrigate thousands of acres in Tirupur and Karur districts. The Orathuppalayam dam was decommissioned due to high concentration of chemicals discharged from the fabric industries.

Legal Aid

Since the river is used for irrigation, the effluents reach agriculural lands directly. The farmers benefitted by the river became aware of the situation and moved petions legally to shut down firms that do not comply with environmental regulations of the state back in 2011. Though an order was issued by High Court effecting to the closure of hundreds of miscreant industries, no further data is available about the actual complinace. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board's (TNPCB) investigations on the industries' Effluent Treatment Facilities in the industries deemed numerous units as unfit to function. The Zero Liquid Discharge norm was ignored altogether to reduce power cost. 

With the permission of TNPCB, few industries were let to operate on a trial basis. The trial basis seems to continue for two years now. Farmers have declared the trial a bad joke played up on them. Meanwhile the frothing on the river is causing skin allergy and other ailments. The ground water is contaminated beyond description. 

Several petions were moved over the last decade with no proper initiative from the government. One minister of the state rubbished the frothing as a result of people bathing in the river using soap. Many social activists and organizations took the issue on a broader scale which resulted in the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu allocating 150 crores in 2018 to prevent pollution in Tirupur and its suburbs. We are yet to witness the magic 150 crores could do to transform the river to its original pristine state.

The question is HOW and not HOW MUCH

The Dyeing Units Association says it is being vigilant to enforce the industries to adhere to ZLD norms. The issue of non-compliance is economical than social. The industrialists overlook these pre-requisites of government because the ZLD requires high amount of electricity which in turn hikes the actual cost of dyeing. The dyers call for a subsidized electricity from government to comply with the norms. When allocation of fund is definitely a silver lining, the actual challenge is in spending the ransom on right areas that can bring real change.

Social Aid

Noyyal river serves as a torchbearer to the sorry state of hundreds of rivers across the country. A river running through main cities providing water for irrigation and drinking is a blessing that ought to be revered. There is no denying the fact that the negligence of not just the government but also people has resulted in the river's pollution menace reeling out of control. It is the failed responsibility of society and its lack of civic sense. Just like industrial effluents, an individual's waste add up to the pollution. As a society, it is our responsibility to check what we chuck into the environment because it returns to us in multiple folds.

Corals - The Life Line of Marine Ecosystems

What are Corals

Corals are marine inhabiting invertebrate sea animals. They live in colonies of many identical individual polyps. Corals species build reefs in tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. They form some of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem in the planet that houses over 4,000 species of fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and numerous other animals. These reefs also act as a barrier for coasts from currents and waves. 

Corals contribute to the physical structure of the coral reefs that develop in tropical and subtropical waters, such as the Great Barrier Reef off the coast in Australia. The best reefs are associated with the Barrier-type reefs located offshore in the northwestern, southeastern and the eastern waters. The Gulf of Mannar off the Tamil Nadu coast is an ecologically rich coral reef. Fringing reefs are abundant in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, west coasts of Thailand and Malaysia and northwest Sumatra of Indonesia. Coral species in other locations in the Indian region include Gulf of Kutch and Lakshadweep.

Benefits

Corals are extracted for lime industry, to capture fisheries and harvest exotic reef resources for export and tourism related activities. Coral reefs also exhibit medicinal properties. They are used to treat cancer and AIDS. Due to their hard exterior they are used as a source of building material in some parts of the world. Corals are of many colours and are used in jewellery making. Their aesthetic appeal draws thousands of tourists all over the world. Increased human activities has degrade the quality of the reefs, particularly the nearshore regions.The multi benefits of corals has increased its demand all over the world.

Threats

Coral reefs are hyper-sensitive to climate. Increase in the temperature due to green house gas emissions lead to sea temperature rise which affects the corals. Water temperature changes of more than 1–2 °C or salinity changes have the potential to completely destroy few species of corals. When the sea surface temperature rises, corals turn white which is called bleaching. When bleaching is prolonged under extreme conditions they lose their life. They also require optimum chemical conditions in the sea to thrive. Due to thier diverse uses they are mined heavily. Urban runoffs, sewage waters that are directly discharged into the sea and pollution have destroyed the marine ecosystems. Over fishing or destructive fishing methods, over mining of corals, sedimentation, digging of canals and access into islands and bays are threats to coral ecosystems.

The Future

We have lost 16% of the world's reefs to climate change in the last century. Around 10% of the reefs are dead already. More than half of the world's reefs are at risk due to anthropogenic activities. The impact is worser in regions of Southeast Asia. If this state continues, in ten years time half of the coral reefs will be lost. The years 2016 and 2017 experienced consecutive mass bleaching of corals. Coral reefs in many locations suffered severe loss. 

While corals are gradually recovering, nations ought to protect them through environmental laws. Coral aquaculture or coral gardening, is the cultivation of corals for coral reef restoration or industrial uses. Aquaculture continues to remain as a potentially effective tool for restoring coral reefs. The hatchery technique involve growing fragments known as "seeds" in nurseries and then replanting them on the reef. This way the probability of corals surviving extreme conditions during its natal period is bypassed.

When Money talks Morals listen

India leads the world pack in Renewable power

India is fourth in the world for installed wind capacity and fifth for solar

India has been able to steer a clear path for its energy sector to wean away from its reliability on coal based power plants over the last two decades.

India is one of the countries with the largest production of energy from renewable sources. the, renewable energy including large scale hydro-power currently adds up to more than 33% of the total installed power capacity in India.

India was the first country in the world to set up a ministry of non-conventional energy resources, in the early 1980s.Wind power capacity was 34,046 MW as of 31 March 2018, making India the fourth-largest wind power producer in the world

India has an ambitious target of achieving 100 GW of solar power by 2022. Four of the top seven largest solar parks worldwide are in India including the second largest solar park in the world at Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, with a capacity of 1000 MW. The world's largest solar power plant, Bhadla Solar Park by multiple operators is coming up in Rajasthan with a capacity of 2255 MW. Aprroximately 500 MW have been commissioned till date, which is behind original schedule. 

Tamil Nadu is the biggest producer of wind electricity in India. India plans to achieve 40% of its total electricity generation from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. A blueprint draft published by Central Electricity Authority projects that 57% of the total electricity capacity will be from renewable sources by 2027. the 2027 forecasts, India to have a renewable energy installed capacity of 275 GW, in addition to 72 GW of hydro-energy, 15 GW of nuclear energy and nearly 100 GW from “other zero emission” sources.

Grid connected installed capacity from all sources as of 31 May 2018
Source	Installed Capacity (MW)	Share
Coal	196,957.50	57.27%
Large hydro	45,403.42	13.20%
Other renewable	69,022.39	20.07%
Gas	24,897.46	7.23%
Diesel	837.63	0.24%
Nuclear	6,780.00	1.97%
Total	343,898.39	100.00%

India is running one of the largest and most ambitious renewable capacity expansion programs in the world. Newer renewable electricity sources are projected to grow massively by more than doubling of India's large wind power capacity and an almost 15 fold increase in solar power. Such ambitious targets would place India among the world leaders in renewable energy use and place India at the centre of its "Sunshine Countries

Can we regain the Cooum River for future generations of Chennai

The Cooum’s strangulation over the past fifty years by government inaction and active connivance is recorded history.

Right from the seventies, when the deterioration of the main water way of Chennai city had caught the attention of its citizens, governments have leveraged the political significance with half measures . Why I say half measurers is because most of the causative problems like slums and encroachments have also blossomed under the government’s watchful patronage over the same period.
The Reclamation of polluted Cooum cannot be a time limited activity. It must be a permanent process in continuum. It must begin with a consensus between all political formations that the Cooum’s restoration to its original flood plains and catchment areas consisting of tanks etc is non negotiable and inviolable political territory. Legislation to this effect must be done forthwith in alignment with national environmental objectives. Only then can the real corrective implementation recommended by reputed institutions and technical studies be possible without fear or favour.
The encroachments including government and educational institutions must be removed. It is sad that while technical studies are based on return periods of 10,100 and 200 years. The significance is immediately overlooked when the study then accepts configurations as it exists with encroachments that have come up over the last few decades. Hard engineering solutions like concrete walls 10 mtrs high is offered as solutions. The government quietly condone past impounding of flood plains by vested interests. A strong retrieval of records will throw up sufficient data in the governments favour. But do they wish to reclaim the flood plains. Roads have been laid over the channel beds and approved buildings over wide drains in many instances within the city limits.

Ecological reason of the death of Cooum river.

Historically, the fate of the Chennai rivers changed, after the artificial Harbour was built in Chennai (Madras) in late 19th century.
The natural "Littoral drift" along the Indian east coast moves the sand in a south to north direction along the coastline. If any wall is built into the sea, this flow is affected. The Chennai harbour breakwater forms a long wall built into the sea from the land. This disrupts the northern movement of the littoral drift. So the sand which was to move further north of Chennai Port, started getting accumulated south of it.
Hence, when you see the satellite image of Chennai, you can find the width of the Sandy area of Chennai Beach being wide just beneath the Port (Anna/MGR memorials) and the width gradually reduces as we go south.. This has contributed to the land erosion in the areas north of Chennai port (Ennore etc.). The currents having lost its sand load south of the port replenishes its sediment carrying capacity, leading to the constant erosion just north of the port.
The cooum river's mouth, south of Chennai Port, gets filled up with sand affecting the tidal action and thereby flow of the river. You can find sand settlements increasing along the south side, of the Ennore port as well (which in turn has started blocking the flow of Ennore creek/Kosathalai aaru).
shortcomings of the Integrated Cooum River Eco - Restoration Plan
The government under the above plan, has done a fairly comprehensive study and recommended possible Solutions.
This present plan is a very capital intensive plan estimated at about Rs 1500 crores, with a component of 1200 crores to be spend in the first three years. The plan is based entirely on hard engineering interventionist methodology. The major components are slum relocation, dredging and embankment beautification. The evaluation has failed to consider globally proven and accepted bio-remediation technologies that can be executed at fraction of the cost.
Research over the past half of a century of natural bio remediation and hard engineering solutions have been carried out by reputed institutions. Most hard engineering solutions world over have been seen to last for not more than 25 years. Bioremediation solutions performance, on the other hand, get stronger over period of time and are self sustainable and cost much less.
While some of the changes regarding encroachment along the banks and reclaiming the flood plains are essential it also forms a part of the long term bioremediation process. Some work as usual has started on the relocation of slims (about 7 nos).
One major shortcoming is the acceptance of the present flow conditions of the Cooum as the performance objective. the non flow months is envisaged to be augmented with the discharges from STPs along the banks. This is a veiled admission of the fact that the Cooum will continue to be used for sewage flow. It is not only dangerous but recipe for disaster of the plan. It is a recorded fact that some of the major point pollution is from the non performing STPs discharging raw sewage into the Cooum. Hence this possibility of this happening should be completely eliminated.
When The PCB is insisting on industries to have zero discharge, why is the government STPs given such liberty to pollute public water ways. It must release only fully treated water to required specification into the Cooum which can sustain aquatic life. This alone will regenerate the dead Cooum into a living stream for Chennai. This is technologically feasible and should be non negotiable parameter if STPs are to be allowed.

The cosmetic recommendation of parks and walk ways must be de-prioritized to first enhance performance metrics and conserve resources. The objective focus on a clean Cooum must not be diluted It can definitely be taken up, but much later. The resources available must initially be used to improve the water quality to sustain aquatic life. Only this will set the stage for natural rejuvenation process to set in. Then and then alone will walk ways and parks be relevant for public use.
Bio-remediation the natural cost effective rejuvenation process
Technologies are available for bio remediation of both flowing and semi stagnant polluted water bodies like Cooum. In this technology of naturally multiplying microorganisms is a one time introduction into the soil. They biologically react with pollutants converting them to harmless by products and simultaneously release oxygen into the water body. This supports other species of flora and fauna to revive naturally . This renders the polluted water non toxic. Also aquatic life can regenerate and sustain further reduction of COD and BOD to levels that can bring back life back to the Cooum.

Secondary works after improving water quality.

The core reason for the death of the Cooum from a living water way into a sewage channel is the anthropogenic causes within the 17 kms of the urban stretch inside Chennai limits. the sheer apathy of the government which has allowed unabridged flow of effluents by private and commercial and public sources into the Cooum.

Ensuring strict compliance under existing PCB norms itself will eliminate 80% of the effluent discharge and achieve enhanced water quality without any additional financial outlays but within available budgets. But will the government have the political will and commitment to carry out these simple enforcements. The government can save millions in investments and leakage of funds by using appropriate technologies. But Will the government initiate a serious evaluation of bio-remedial technologies? Bioremediation systems is only fraction of the costs of hard engineering solutions and also fully sustainable. Can we avoid another round of splurge of public money is done.
The original river bed level enabled tidal action and assisted water exchange in the final reaches of the Cooum. But the river bed has risen due to sedimentation of dumping of solid waste. Absence of tidal exchange has caused stagnation over the last 1.5 kms of the Cooum. Dredging in phases to enable the tidal action and natural rain flow from the tanks should be a long term measure. This will increase natural flows to original levels. The cost of transporting dredged materials, a huge element of cost in the envisaged plan, can be totally eliminated. The dredged soil can be used in-situ through suitable design for embankments and appropriate usage. The proper management of Chembarambakkam over flow should enable better flow parameters to flush the Cooum also.
Both civil society’s non participation and lack of political will have taken a toll on the once beautiful river. It may be difficult but not impossible given the opportunity in restoring its lost glory. Can we look forward to someone taking up the cause for a clean Cooum

Namami Gange Mission.

20,000 crores dumped down the river in four years.

Namami Gange Mission is both a dream and a promise washed down the river (or should we call it washed down the sewage?). The mission was launched with much fanfare and enthusiasm as it should be for any new mission only to end up with no clean water flowing into the river as promised. Calling the 'Clean Ganga' scheme a failure, the National Green Tribunal slammed the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government for their failure to clean the river in Varanasi

The Ganga River is the longest river in the country. The basin of the 2525 km long river spans four countries (China, Nepal, India, Bangladesh) and 11 Indian states running across large areas of Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. It supports 29 Class I cities, 23 Class II cities, 48 towns and thousands of villages and serves around 400 million people. Few will actually admit it but the total sewage flow into the river system, with its 40 tributaries is greater than the water flow itself. 7,300 million litres of sewage is flowing directly or indirectly into the river every day in the form of effluents dumped from over 1500 polluting industries in the bank of the river and chemical fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural fields. The river which is worshipped and revered because of its purity is also subjected to religious rituals. More than 60 million people came to the Ganga river in the city of Allahabad for pilgrimage in January 2007 during Kumbh Mela, making it the largest gathering in the world. It will again happen in January 2019. 

The river with its long course of journey into villages and towns alike runs the risk of being subjected to various adverse anthropogenic activities like urban and industrial pollution, catchment degradation, flood plain encroachment, unsustainable sand mining, building of dams and hydropower projects, biodiversity loss, deforestation, loss of local water bodies, unsustainable groundwater extraction, failure of pollution control mechanism and governance, climate change and much more that affects not just the main stream but also most of it's tributaries.The project of cleaning a water body of this magnitude and diversity is a complex and challenging business. Integrated and systematic ramping up of cleaning process is the right way to do it. 

However the government's idea of pursuing a limited scope of cleaning up the sewage inflow would hardly qualify for a river cleaning project. Even if it’s attractive to look at the water pollution problem and treat it in isolation, one cannot lose sight of the fact that all the problems plaguing the river are inter-related. The government has misjudged, mismanaged  and underestimated the multidisciplinary technical expertise and synchronization that was required to achieve a clean Ganga river. Just creating a focused ministry on a project mode without the necessary comprehension of geological and ecological integrity of  nature was the tragic mistake of the Namami ganga project. The scheme is 100% centrally funded but is implemented by local authorities. Many STPs have been constructed and how it performs will show the feasibility of reducing the problem. A recent RTI revealed that the quality of Ganga has deteriorated in last four years even at Varanasi.

A mindset that does not really understand a river and sees it essentially as a water channel that can be endlessly dammed and exploited(waterways, dredging, river linking plan, riverfront development) in the name of development would apparently result in new threats for the river. In Uttarakhand, in the name of Char Dham Yatra, lakhs of trees are being cut, fraudulent ways are used to escape scrutiny, all affecting the river in the name of religious tourism, not even thinking who needs that all-weather road that looks more like an invitation to disaster. Each of them are pushed without even assessing the impact of these projects on the river and its health. Most importantly, the whole catchment is in a continuous process of degradation, reducing its capacity to hold, store and recharge rainwater locally. But there is no attention or effort of the state or the central governments to reverse that. Nevertheless, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been repeatedly saying that  Clean (nimral) Ganga can never be achieved without ensuring year round flow in the river (aviral) .

With the elections approaching, the government will surely come up with a dramatic quick fix to the problem. However, a government that remains in election mode will not always be able to comprehend the intricacies of such a complex subject. 

History of Ganga cleaning efforts

• Aug 2011

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)[iv]was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),19

• June 2014

The newly elected NDA govt at center renamed Ministry of  Water Resources as Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and all the work related to Ganga and other tributaries was transferred from Ministry of Environment and Forests to the new ministry. The Union Government in June 2014 allocated a budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore

•Feb 2015

A High Level Task Force (HLTF) was constituted on 6th Feb 2015 under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary to facilitate interaction among Ministries/ Departments and State Governments and to ensure effective coordination and implementation of the program(first sign of ineffective structure and complications)

• 2016

Government of India constituted Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation consisting of Secretary of concerned Ministries and Chief Secretary of states and CEO, Niti Aayog.(repeated sign of nonperformance and capacity insufficience)

• Sept 2016 

The constitution of National Ganga Council (NGC) , justification “Although, the NMCG has been functional as a registered Society since 2012 its role has been largely limited to fund the projects to implementing organisations. It neither had the mandate to take cognizance of various threats to river Ganga nor the powers to issue directions to the concerned authorities/polluters. While the organisation has been made responsible as custodian of river Ganga in both public eye as well as various courts, the mission is grossly ill-equipped to handle such expectations. It is expected that the move (constitution of NGC and Ganga notification) will ensure effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of the River Ganga, maintain ecological flows in the River, impose restrictions on polluting industries and carry out inspections to ensure compliance. In addition, it is proposed to maintain and disseminate data and carry out research on the condition of the river.” (full and final admission of failure and implementation and non feasible programme) There is no evidence to show any of these have been achieved."

• Oct 2016

National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council) was constituted under notification no. O. 3187(E) dt. 7th October 2016 under EPA 1986, to replace NGRBA. The NGC is headed by the Prime Minister

• Sept 2017 

With nothing to offer as explanation, the portfolio of “Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation” was given as an additional portfolio to Nitin Gadkar(a political apology)