The New Nation - Internet Edition

Fuel price hike without checking oil guzzle meaningless

As the world celebrates Environment Day and on the day after the fuel price hike, Centre for Science and

Environment (CSE) says it is not time to celebrate. CSE is deeply concerned that the fuel price hike has not come with accompanying fiscal measures to save fuel in the transport sector.

"Price hike cannot be an adequate strategy to address the energy emergency that the country is facing today," says Sunita Narain, director, CSE. "This action is too little and too late and will be inadequate as international fuel prices are expected to increase, not decrease. Reactions such as these, without taking steps to save fuels by promoting public transport and fuel-efficient vehicles, will hurtle India towards a serious energy crisis."

Instead of introducing fiscal measures, the government has given an 11 per cent hike in petrol prices and 9.5 per cent hike in diesel prices - thus continuing to maintain the wide price gap between the two fuels. "This will further incite car users to insulate themselves by opting for cars running on cheaper diesel," says Anumita Roychoudhury, associate director, CSE. "It will not make any dent on the oil-guzzling that is on the rise due to the explosive increase in personal vehicle numbers. But it will certainly harm public health."

Need tax measures to promote buses

Today, while the Delhi government has introduced comfortable AC buses as part of the larger scheme to increase the city bus fleet, the Central government has not come forward to cushion the cost of this investment by waiving off the excise tax on buses.

The newly designed urban buses will cost substantially high, says Roychowdhury. But the cosmetic gesture of the finance minister to reduce the excise duty to a mere 12 per cent-same as that on small cars-cannot help city governments. It will make little difference to the cost of low-floor urban CNG buses, which come at over Rs 40 lakh apiece.

It is important for the government to recognise that the usage of mass transport will go a long way in making substantial fuel savings and insulate consumers from price vagaries. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that in 2035, the total fuel consumption of on-road vehicles in the country will be six times higher than in 2005 - this growth will be driven by light-duty vehicles, mainly cars. In its study on Bangalore, the ADB estimated that the city can save 21 per cent of the fuel it consumed if it increases its share of public transport from the current 62 per cent to 80 per cent.

Need fuel economy standards to check oil guzzling

It is extremely ironical that when the energy crisis has taken such a serious proportion, the car industry is refusing to disclose certified fuel economy data for all its makes and models. It is not sharing information on the actual trends in fuel economy of each vehicle model and the technical parameters that influence the fuel economy of a vehicle.

Now even the CO2 emissions factors developed by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) highlighted by CSE recently, are under attack. The ARAI has developed a range of emissions factors for different model years of vehicles for the first time to help the government decide the future roadmap for emissions standards in the country. The emissions factors represent the emissions profile of a 'vintage class' of vehicle produced in a specified time frame. In other words, the emissions factors do not compare one individual brand of the vehicle with the same brand of a vehicle in terms of its CO2 emissions, but instead groups the vehicles into different categories - in this case ARAI has considered the engine size - considers the most representative samples, and then compares the groups' emissions over the different years.

A comparison of the emissions factors for CO2, developed as part of this project, and highlighted by CSE, shows steady increase through successive vintages of vehicles - 1991-96, 1996-2000, post-2000, and post-2005; CO2 emissions are directly linked to fuel economy of vehicles.

CSE has a particular reason to be worried: its environmental rating of the Indian automobile sector, carried out way back in 2001, had shown that CO2 emissions of even a particular diesel car model and a popular SUV model had actually increased when they graduated from Euro I and Euro II norms. As such trends are possible in the absence of fuel economy regulations, there is all the more reason why complete information on fuel economy and related parameters of vehicles must be shared. It is precisely because of these tell tale signs and to understand the actual changes in the fuel economy of each car model and make, CSE had requested for data from the ARAI under Right to information Act. CSE wanted to see the changes in a range of factors that influence fuel economy of the vehicles including weight, power, technology, engine type, etc. But this information was categorically denied under RTI.

CSE demands fuel economy norms and scaling up of public transport It is unacceptable that when the country is reeling under severe economic pressure, household budgets are stretched there is no official strategy to help reduce energy consumption in the transport sector, says Narain. It is time the government announces the policy of mandatory disclosure of fuel economy of vehicle models with complete details of technical parameters including weight, power etc and at the same time implements fuel economy standards.

Give tax waiver on buses to help city governments to speed up and scale up public transport systems.

Develop and enforce mandatory fuel economy standards. Carmakers must declare fuel economy of their vehicles. Once fuel economy standards are in place link tax measures with clean and fuel efficient vehicle technology.

(For more details, please contact Anumita Roychowdhury at anumita @cseindia.org)

Stockholm Industry Water Award 2008

Pioneering work to develop the world's largest water purification plant for groundwater recharge has earned the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District, California, USA, the 2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award. The prestigious distinction will be presented on August 21 during the 2008 World Water Week in Stockholm.

People expect water to be there when they turn on the faucet. But in growing arid regions like Orange County in Southern California, sufficient water is not naturally guaranteed. Fortunately for the 2.3 million residents living there, the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District jointly developed the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) system, a water purification system which will provide enough water to meet the needs of an additional 500 000 people without diminishing groundwater resources for current or future generations.

The GWR System diverts highly treated sewer water that is currently discharged into the ocean and purifies it through a series of advanced techniques: microfiltration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection and hydrogen peroxide. The cleaned water is returned to the groundwater basin to increase both water supply and quality. The GWR system has established a blueprint for large-scale wastewater purification that is already being emulated in dry regions and nations, such as Singapore.

"Both agencies have demonstrated how communities can develop, implement and achieve sustainable water reuse," says Mr. Lars Gunnarsson, chairman of the Award Committee. "Their extensive involvement of private sector companies such as CDM and Trojan and Siemens, long-term commitment to research and development, and utilisation of cutting-edge technologies has established a model for water-stressed regions to replenish groundwater resources and improve water security."

Saving the tigers

Muhammad Shafiullah

As the world experiences the devastating effects of environmental degradation more and more, the call for saving the nature has gained considerable impetus in many countries including Bangladesh. Activists, politicians and even the general public in Bangladesh are demanding protection of the nature. The question now arises: why should we save (?!) nature and what's in it for the average person like you and me? Questions like whether nature really needs help and whether damage to the environment do exist in the form of global warming, destruction of wetland and forest, and other problems that result from human activities. Of course, global warming and other environmental problems exist. We have seen the repercussions of our unhelpful activities in the form of landslides in Chittagong a couple of years ago, more powerful and devastating storms and hurricanes like hurricane Katrina in the US and cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the recent spike in food prices and shortages in many parts of the world, and its impact on our health. Then we ask why should we save the tigers and nature in Bangladesh when most Bangladeshis are struggling to put their both ends meet? How would we benefit from saving one of the most powerful and dangerous wild carnivore on earth? We need to save the nature (and the tigers) because it would help us tackle our economic problems, because we have cultural and religious connections and responsibility towards the nature, because it will help reduce natural disaster and its impacts and because in the long run it will help all of us Bangladeshis (and everyone else in the world for that matter).

Firstly, let us evaluate the economic impacts of environmental damage. Environmental damage incurs a heavy cost on human societies (and animals alike). Environmental damage can lead to many diseases such as asthma, dengue, malaria, jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and many other ailments. "Cleaning up after your go" is a term that is considered in Bangladesh as something that just beautifies and as a luxury. Ironically, it is the poor that usually suffer from pollution rather than the rich. The recent rainfalls won't cause severe water logging or discomfort in the posh areas like Baridhara, Gulshan or Dhanmondi. Low income and impoverished households living in filthy environments in some parts of Mirpur, Tejgaon and Badda are paying the price with their health. Recently I conducted a survey on costs incurred by students of North South University because of illnesses caused by urban pollution and found that each person pays some 1200 taka per year. Of course NSU students don't represent the average resident of Dhaka and we expect the cost burden to be much higher. In addition, the loss of productivity of workers due to diseases is an added cost on the economy. Other issues like loss of cultivable land, increased severity and frequency of natural disasters like cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh and cyclone Nargis in Myanmar continue to inflict severe economic and political blows. The unsustainable method that we use for agriculture that was borrowed from (or imposed upon by) the West and some of its irresponsible scientists can cause substantial damage to the land, its yield and humans as well as plants and wild animals. This high use of fertilizer and pesticide caused diseases as well as death to numerous humans including reduced development in children and nature. It should be noted that some 52% of Bangladesh's labor force is connected with agriculture. Even in this case the poor are involved in this industry for the most part. Any negative impact on it would spell disaster for the poor and over at least half of Bangladesh. The heat wave that crippled Dhaka in April this year would have been less intense had we got more greenery and less concrete in the capital city. Therefore, ensuring a safe habitat for the tiger will allow us to have a sustainable and productive economy.

Bangladeshi culture is very closely tied to nature. The tiger is our national emblem, we celebrate Falgun, Boishakh, and various crop harvests; nature is (or used to be) an integral part of a Bangali's life. The tiger is as Bangladeshi as every human being on this piece of land. If they don't have a domain to live on then I would suggest we should cease to call ourselves and our cricket the "Tigers" as soon as the tiger vanishes. A majority, about 85%, of Bangladeshis follow Islam. The Holy Qur'an and Hadith have explicit instructions on caring for the environment, planting trees and responsibility to animals and other creations of Allah and warn about exploiting nature. Yet, many Muslims in Bangladesh are quite apathetic towards taking care of their environment as well as of their trees and animals. Hindus comprise the largest minority and nature is a big part of their religion. However, even Hindus have little concern over the environment now. Everyone, Hindu and Muslim alike, seems to be busy accumulating wealth by cutting trees and raising concrete structures on every available inch of land. We are, in my opinion, rejecting Bangali culture and desecrating our respective religions in the process of decimating the unique Bangladeshi flora and fauna. Saving the tiger will help us save our culture and respect our religion.

Saving the environment reduces the severity of the impact of natural disasters. Trees are, in fact, massive oxygen factories and carbon storage tanks. Forests help moderate the local as well as global climate by providing shade, absorbing some of the sun's heat, absorbing greenhouse gases and pollutants to some extent. Trees, small plants and grasses also help prevent soil erosion and landslides which occur in Bangladesh during the rainy season. For a sustainable natural environment, a country must have at least 25% of its total area covered by forests. Sadly only 14% of Bangladesh is forest.

While monocultures like paddy and other crops are essential for food supply of human, they usually don't lessen soil erosion or landslides. Soil erosion and landslides cause significant loss of land available for agriculture. Land is very precious in Bangladesh and even a little loss is far too big for us to bear. Furthermore, coastal vegetation may also help reduce the severity of coastal storms. The Sunderbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. In addition it is also a protected forest. Nevertheless, it is constantly being shrunk through illegal logging. It is also under threat from the rising sea levels to which the so-called "developed nations" have a disproportionately high contribution. We must lobby these nations to cut down on their greenhouse emissions as well as other environmental damage their lifestyle brings upon. We must also do our part in preventing illegal logging and leasing forest areas to big companies, both foreign and domestic. Thus we need to ensure that we have sufficient forests and jungles to have a sustainable environment.

Lastly, saving the tigers (and the environment) helps us all. Tigers are very smart, powerful and dangerous animals. They are the biggest cats on earth. The tiger is an apex predator and the top carnivore of the jungle (that used to cover a lot) in Bangladesh. Carnivores play a vital role in any ecosystem as they control the population of herbivores that could otherwise exhaust the vegetation through overgrazing. While they have the strength and cunning to hunt humans, they usually ignore humans and prefer their natural prey like the "cheetal" deer and water buffalo. I personally wouldn't want to confront a wild tiger nor would any other human being but that is no reason to annihilate this magnificent hunter. The Bengal tiger is on the brink of extinction due to habitat destruction brought about by man. The top predator's condition often reflects the state of the ecosystem itself. The tiger's plight might mean the ecosystem of Bangladesh and its sustainability may be in danger. Even in a country and culture that used to be so much intertwined with nature, the ideology of "Man vs Nature" prevails. This type of selfish, arrogant and downright irresponsible doctrine has been "borrowed" from the elites of the West where their ideologies are increasingly being shunned. It is never possible for man to be against or distinguish him from nature because "man" is a part of nature. He can't possibly ever run away from it. Why is it that we spend so much money to selfishly decorate and beatify our homes whilst our environment faces utter neglect? The answer is again the "Man vs. Nature" attitude. Humans think that they are somehow isolated from nature and their activities have no effect on it. Yes sir, it does. Every living organism has an impact on its environment but no one can match the way humans do.

If we save the tiger we save our forests. This in turn will save the environment and help ease the pressure agriculture on those who are closely tied to the environment, i.e. the poor farmers in rural areas and those in slums in the cities. It will act as buffer from natural calamities and help ease food crisis. Humans have the intelligence and means to help the environment that will eventually benefit them. However, most people would argue that humans should let nature take its course, i.e. we need to do nothing to save the environment. But have we really left nature alone? Is cutting trees a part of letting nature take its course? The answer is clearly no. Of course, many other species that lived on this earth have become extinct now. In fact, scientists say more than 90% of the plant and animal life that appeared on earth became extinct. Most of these species became extinct before humans appeared on earth according to these scientists. There is always the phenomenon called background extinction; species become extinct due to natural calamities, diseases, fierce competition, lack of food and various other reasons. However, modern extinction rates are more than a hundred times faster than the background extinction rate. Many conservation groups have sprung up over the last few decades which aim to save animals. Scientists in such groups study animals by radio-collaring them. These types of activities have unfortunately been linked to deaths of several tigers in the Sunderbans. The bottom-line is we need to leave nature in peace and let it take its course. Furthermore, as far as I know, the best way to study tigers is on an elephant's back.

Like humans, a country's unique flora and fauna are also its resources. As you destroy your environment, you are bound to destroy yourself. As a matter of fact it has actually happened in Rapa Nui or Easter Island. The destruction of the island's vegetation seems to have brought about the decline of the civilization on that Island which was once flourishing. Such catastrophes are a wakeup call for all of us. We may not take nature for granted and over-exploit it. Environmental damage affects us all but the poor are more vulnerable than the rich. Thus we must save the tigers to protect our natural resources and ease the suffering of the poor. If we take time to learn from nature, work with it and try preserving it, it may become a seemingly endless resource. So, please take a while to think and try taking actions in saving the tiger. You will be doing yourself, your culture, religion, country, the economy and the future generation a massive favor. Conserving nature will preserve our culture, heritage, our respective religions and all Bangladeshis (every living being on this earth) regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status. Protecting the tigers (and nature for that matter) is not a worthless or failed cause. Save the tiger, and it will help save Bangladesh.

(The writer is studying a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics at North South University.)

Air pollution

Environmental pollution is really a social problem. Pollution may be defined as the unfavorable alteration of our surroundings, wholly or largely as a direct or indirect consequence of man's actions. Pollution of air is the most concern today. Air pollution is the contamination of air by different harmful (physical, chemical, biological) substances. These substances are called pollutants, can occur naturally or can be produced by human activities. Natural pollutants include dust, smoke, particles. Different types of gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen's oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons etc. are also responsible for air pollution. Sources of air pollution are combustion fired power plants, emission from industries, burn practices in agriculture and forestry management, burning fossil fuels, wood, fireplaces, stoves, furnaces and incinerator use in hospital, oil refinery power plant operations, fumes from paint, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents, military uses nuclear weapons, waste disposal in landfills which generate methane. Natural sources such of as pine trees which emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), volcanic activities, wild fires etc. There are various types of effects of air pollution such as damage to materials, vegetations, farm animals, darkening of sky and reduction in visibility, effect on human health and human activities. It can contribute to respiratory diseases like bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer lead poisoning in inhalation and ingestion and allergies and effects on materials like soil clothing, corroding metals, eroding building surfaces, discoloring. It also causes acid rain. To reduce air pollution we should take such steps like as- to develop infrastructural facilities of vehicles, to stop the improper land use planning, reduce the use of aerosols in households, reduce impure fuel. Car should as far as possible be fitted with catalytic converters. Use only unleaded petrol and awareness of people etc.

Strategies taken for reducing air pollution in Dhaka City: Phase out of two stroke engine vehicles which really causes air pollution. Ban on leaded gasoline. Provision for catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter to the new vehicles as well as existing vehicles. Vehicles inspection stations have been constructed. Construction workshop for CNG conversion vehicles in both private and public sector. Instillation of CNG filling station. CNG operated bus, taxies and three wheelers. Development of vehicular emission standards for new and in-use vehicles. Establishment of continuous air monitoring state etc. Then we can save our air from air pollution.

Niloya Paul

Mawlana Bhashani Science & Technology University, Tangail

Landslide

A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. We can say it "the downward sliding of a relatively dry mass of earth and rock". Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability.

Landslides are caused when the stability of a slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone:

Natural causes are groundwater pressure acting to destabilise the slope; loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil structure; erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves ; weakening of a slope through saturation by snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains; earthquakes adding loads to barely-stable slopes ; earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilising slopes; volcanic eruptions.

Human causes are vibrations from machinery or traffic ; blasting ; earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an existing slope; in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluviums to bedrock ; construction, agricultural, or forestry activities which change the amount of water which infiltrates into the soil.

Afsana Akter Shilpy

MBSTU Tangail

Global warming should stop

Global warming means the increasing of global average temperature of the earth. The average temperature of the earth is about 15-22 oC. But in recent times, the average temperature is increasing due to various reasons which may includes- Green house effects, extensive deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, changes in climatic pattern and atmospheric changes etc.

Mainly human activities are responsible for causing global warming. The activities that are responsible for global warming includes- burning of fossil fuels which contain different gases that are acting in green house effects, cutting or clearing of forest areas that have significant role in the regulation of global temperature and thus the average temperature is increasing.

The effects of global warming will be very dangerous to all living organisms.

The effects of global warming are- melting of ice and glaciers, sea level rising, ecological balance disruption, affecting world food and agricultural production, decreasing of biological productivity, increasing of breeding of pests and diseases, severe and intensive tropical storm etc. Many scientists assumed that if we cannot stop global warming, we have to face many problems which may lead the extinction of different flora and fauna. Human being will also suffer from many problems.

So, we must stop global warming by all means for the survival of human being as well as for the other living beings in the planet earth. The steps and programmes that we must be taken immediately are- conservation of forests, extensive afforestation, encouraging community forestry, reduction in the burning of fossil fuels, Development of environmentally compatible technologies, effective check on the growth of population and imparting of formal and non-formal environmental education.

Thus, we can ensure a better planet and environment for the present generation as well as for the future offspring.

Sharifa Yasmin Shawn

MBSTU, Tangail.

River pollution threat to fresh water

Rivers, the most desirable and essential natural resources of Bangladesh, are major sources of water in various aspects. Approximately 230 rivers are are spreaded over Bangladesh as like as web and networking to one another. Most of the rivers becoming polluted and others are dried and silted. Rivers are now in vulnerable condition. River pollution is the most devastative phenomena that mean any constitutional alteration of rivers water, degradation of water quality. Its generally alteration of physical and chemical parameters such as odor, taste, colour, turbidity, Total hardness, arsenic, chlorides BOD, COD, E. coli, of waters is known as water pollution. Rivers are the most common and important sources of water supply in many cities of our country and are the major survival media for aquatic biodiversity (plants, fishes, and other organism). unfortunately, the water quality are badly altered because of oral disposal of municipal wastes, liquid or semi-liquid lechate from different industries like textile mills, pulp and paper industries, leather tanning, fertiliser and chemical , detergent industry and also dairy industry . Besides that unplanned habitation of slums, over population, rapid increases urbanisation and industrialisation etc. So huge amount of pollutants made the river as a waste sewer, not a container of natural water. As a result of unwanted human activities and industrial discharges, natural water of river reduces capacity of being survival media for aquatic lives, damaging of ecosystem and imbalanced water quality, poisoned water in drinking purpose on water supply. Buriganga, Shitalakha is the remarkable example of it. So, these are. lacking of drinking water. For this aspect DWASA decided to collect water from alternate river. It is not a proper and long live solution for drinking water supply. We should have to protect our river, conserve our water source, safe our aquatic biodiversity for us and future generation. Every relevant organisation and government should have taken protective measure including mass participation to ensure pure and natural simplicity of river water. Every industry, mill, factory and relevant authority should take EEC (Environmental Clearance Certificate), ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant), and EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment). Everybody should remember that pure water is life; life is more valuable than one's commercial sentiment.

Sharifa Yasmin

MBSTU, Tangail