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At least 16 feared dead, 15 injured in massive fire in Pulgoan arms depot
CAD, Pulgaon is
located at about 115 Km from Nagpur, in Maharashtra. The depot is spread
over an area of more than 7000 acres and is an important ammunition
depot of the Indian Army.
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi |
Published:May 31, 2016 7:37 pm
In this image made from video of K.K.Productions, a huge fire is seen
at the Pulgaon ammunition depot in Pulgaon in the Indian state of
Maharastra, Tuesday, May 31, 2016. (Source: PA)
At least 16 defence personnel were killed and 15 others were injured
in a massive fire that broke out on Tuesday in Central Ammunition Depot
(CAD) in Pulgaon, Maharashtra.
The fire which started at 1 am in the morning, according to
officials, has been completely doused and the situation is brought under
control.
“However, in efforts to douse the fire, two officers and 14 personnel
(to include one Army jawan and 13 civilian fire fighting staff) lost
their lives and two officers and 15 personnel (to include nine Army
Jawans and six civilian fire fighting staff) were injured,” Director
General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters in New
Delhi. Also read | PM Modi asks Manohar Parrikar to take stock of the situation
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and the Army has instituted an inquiry into the incident, Singh added.
The Pulgaon army depot, which is India’s biggest ammunition
stockpile, is an important reserve for the army housing “highly
sensitive” ammo.
“Actions to assess the damage are in progress,” the DGMO said. The
Army had earlier put the casualty at 17 which has now been revised to
16. It had also earlier said the majority of personnel killed were
Defence Security Corps jawans.
Following a directive from PM Narendra Modi,
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was in Pune, rushed to the spot.
Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag also visited the site.
Modi tweeted, “Pained by loss of lives caused by a fire at central
ammunition depot in Pulgaon, Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the
bereaved families. Highlights | Fire in depot completely doused, says military official
“I pray that those who are injured recover quickly. Have asked RM
@manoharparrikar to visit the spot & take stock of the situation”,
he said. CAD, Pulgaon is located at about 115 Km from Nagpur, in Maharashtra.
The depot is spread over an area of more than 7000 acres and is an
important ammunition depot of the Indian Army. Stocks including bombs, grenades, shells, assorted rifles, missiles
and other explosives from various factories comes here first and is then
distributed to various forward areas.
As per initial reports, the fire started in one of the sheds at
approximately 1:00 in this morning, and immediate action was taken by
the fire fighting parties and Quick Reaction Teams located in the depot
by putting the fire fighting mechanism into place as per the laid down
procedures.
“This restricted the fire to one shed only which contained highly sensitive ammunition,” Lt Gen Singh said.
The injured personnel have been evacuated to Multi Specialty
Hospital, Wardha (35 Km from Pulgaon) and are undergoing medical
treatment.
The medical condition of the injured personnel is reported to be
stable, the DGMO said adding Army medical teams have been moved from
Pune to provide specialist medical attention.
He expressed deep condolences to the families of the brave hearts who
have lost their lives while protecting and securing the important
ammunition depot.
When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses, it served
as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs
outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly
threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the
sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to emotional
intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from
the rest of the pack.
How much of an impact does emotional intelligence (EQ) have on your
professional success? The short answer is: a lot! It’s a powerful way
to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. Of all
the people we’ve studied at work, we've found that 90% of top performers
have high EQs. You can be a top performer without emotional
intelligence, but the chances are slim.
Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a
bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social
complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results.
Emotional intelligence is made up of four core skills that pair up
under two primary competencies: personal competence and social
competence. Personal competence
comprises your self-awareness and self-management skills, which focus
more on you individually than on your interactions with other people.
Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and
manage your behavior and tendencies.
Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
Self-Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your behavior.
Social competence is made up of your social
awareness and relationship management skills; social competence is your
ability to understand other people’s moods, behavior, and motives in
order to respond effectively and improve the quality of your
relationships.
Social Awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really going on.
Relationship Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions and the others’ emotions to manage interactions successfully.
Despite the significance of emotional intelligence, its intangible
nature makes it very difficult to know which behaviors you should
emulate. So I’ve analyzed the data from the million-plus people TalentSmart has tested in order to identify the habits that set high-EQ people apart. They’re relentlessly positive. Keep your eyes on
the news for any length of time, and you’ll see that it’s just one
endless cycle of war, violent attacks, fragile economies, failing
companies, and environmental disasters. It’s easy to think the world is
headed downhill fast. And who knows? Maybe it is. But emotionally
intelligent people don’t worry about that because they don’t get caught
up in things they can’t control. They focus their energy on directing
the two things that are completely within their power—their attention
and their effort. Numerous studies have shown that optimists are
physically and psychologically healthier than pessimists. They also
perform better at work. Remind yourself of this the next time a negative
train of thought takes hold of you. They have a robust emotional vocabulary. All
people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately
identify them as they occur. Our research shows that only 36% of people
can do this, which is problematic because unlabeled emotions often go
misunderstood, which leads to irrational choices and counterproductive
actions. People with high EQs master their emotions because they
understand them, and they use an extensive vocabulary of feelings to do
so. While many people might describe themselves as simply feeling “bad,”
emotionally intelligent people can pinpoint whether they feel
“irritable,” “frustrated,” “downtrodden,” or “anxious.” The more
specific your word choice, the better insight you have into exactly how
you are feeling, what caused it, and what you should do about it. They’re assertive. People with high EQs balance
good manners, empathy, and kindness with the ability to assert
themselves and establish boundaries. This tactful combination is ideal
for handling conflict. When most people are crossed, they default to
passive or aggressive behavior. Emotionally intelligent people remain
balanced and assertive by steering themselves away from unfiltered
emotional reactions. This enables them to neutralize difficult and toxic
people without creating enemies. They’re curious about other people. It doesn’t
matter if they’re introverted or extroverted, emotionally intelligent
people are curious about everyone around them. This curiosity is the
product of empathy, one of the most significant gateways to a high EQ.
The more you care about other people and what they’re going through, the
more curiosity you’re going to have about them. They forgive, but they don’t forget. Emotionally
intelligent people live by the motto “Fool me once, shame on you; fool
me twice, shame on me.” They forgive in order to prevent a grudge, but
they never forget. The negative emotions that come with holding onto a
grudge are actually a stress response. Holding on to that stress can
have devastating health consequences, and emotionally intelligent people
know to avoid this at all costs. However, offering forgiveness doesn’t
mean they’ll give a wrongdoer another chance. Emotionally intelligent
people will not be bogged down by mistreatment from others, so they
quickly let things go and are assertive in protecting themselves from
future harm. They won’t let anyone limit their joy. When your
sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself
to others, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When
emotionally intelligent people feel good about something that they’ve
done, they won’t let anyone’s opinions or accomplishments take that away
from them. While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what
others think of you, you don’t have to compare yourself to others, and
you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no
matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes
from within. Regardless of what people think of you at any particular
moment, one thing is certain—you’re never as good or bad as they say you
are. They make things fun. Emotionally intelligent
people know exactly what makes them happy, and they constantly work to
bring this happiness into everything they do. They turn monotonous work
into games, go the extra mile to make people they care about happy, and
take breaks to enjoy the things they love no matter how busy they are.
They know that injecting this fun into their lives fights off stress and
builds lasting resilience. They are difficult to offend. If you have a firm
grasp of whom you are, it’s difficult for someone to say or do something
that gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident
and open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin. They quash negative self-talk. A big step in
developing emotional intelligence involves stopping negative self-talk
in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more
power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just
that—thoughts, not facts. You can stop the negative and pessimistic
things your inner voice says by writing them down. Once you’ve taken a
moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be
more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity. You can bet
that your statements aren’t true any time you use words such as
“never,” “worst,” and “ever.” If your statements still look like facts
once they’re on paper, take them to a friend and see if he or she agrees
with you. Then the truth will surely come out.
Bringing It All Together
Unlike your IQ, your EQ is highly malleable. As you train your
brain by repeatedly practicing new emotionally intelligent behaviors,
your brain builds the pathways needed to make them into habits. Before
long, you will begin responding to your surroundings with emotional
intelligence without even having to think about it. And as your brain
reinforces the use of new behaviors, the connections supporting old,
destructive behaviors will die off.
If you’re preparing to start auditing against ISO 9001:2015, you’ve
probably already asked yourself the timeless question: What the heck am I
going to ask these people? There’s no worse feeling in the world than
being in the middle of an audit and realizing that you don’t have
anything to say in the way of questions. Preparation and planning can
remedy this, of course, but the fact remains that ISO 9001:2015 includes
a lot of new requirements that have never been part of most audits. In
order to expedite your thinking, these are what I believe to be the most
important audit questions for ISO 9001:2015: 1. What can you tell me about the context of your organization?
This question is the starting point of ISO 9001:2015, appearing in
section 4.1. The standard uses the clunky term "context," but this could
easily be substituted by asking about the organization's internal and
external success factors. Questions about context are usually directed
at top management or the person leading the QMS (formerly known as the
management representative). As an auditor, you’re looking for a clear
examination of forces at work within and around the organization. Does
this sound broad and a little vague? It is. Thankfully the standard
provides some guidance, saying that context must include internal and
external issues that are relevant to your organizations’ purpose,
strategy, and goals of the QMS. Many organizations will probably use
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to
help get their arms around context, but it’s not a requirement. What the
organization learns with this will be a key input to risk analysis.
(NOTE: Not everybody will understand the term ‘context.’ Be prepared to
discuss the concept and describe what ISO 9001:2015 is asking for.) 2. Who are your interested parties and what are their requirements?
The natural follow-up to context is interested parties, found in
section 4.2. The term "interested parties" has a bizarre, stalker-like
ring to it, so smart auditors might want to replace it with
"stakeholders." Remember, effective auditors try to translate the arcane
language of ISO 9001:2015 into understandable terms that auditees can
grasp. Typical interested parties are employees, customers, supplier,
business owners, debt holders, neighbors, and regulators. As an auditor
you’re making sure that a reasonable range of interested parties has
been identified, along with their corresponding requirements. The best
way to audit this is as an exploratory discussion. Ask questions about
the interested parties, and probe what they’re interested in. If you’ve
done some preparation in advance of the audit, then you’ll know whether
their examination of interested parties is adequate. That brings up an
important planning issue: You will have to do a bit more preparation
before an ISO 9001:2015 audit. Why? So you’ll have a grasp of context
and interested parties. How can you evaluate their responses if you
don’t know what the responses should be? 3. What risks and opportunities have been identified, and what are you doing about them?
Risks and opportunities could accurately be called the foundation of
ISO 9001:2015. No fewer than 13 other clauses refer directly to risks
and opportunities, making them the most “connected” section of the
standard. If an organization does a poor job of identifying risks and
opportunities, then the QMS cannot be effective, period. Auditors should
verify that risks and opportunities include issues that focus on
desired outcomes, prevent problems, and drive improvement. Once risks
and opportunities are identified, actions must be planned to address
them. ISO 9001:2015 does not specifically mention prioritizing risks and
opportunities, though it would be wise for organizations to do this.
Risks and opportunities are limitless, but resources are not. 4. What plans have been put in place to achieve quality objectives?
Measurable quality objectives have long been a part of ISO 9001. What
is new is the requirement to plan actions to make them happen. The plans
are intended to be specific and actionable, addressing actions,
resources, responsibilities, timeframes, and evaluation of results.
Auditors should closely examine how the plans have been implemented
throughout the organization, and who has knowledge of them. Just as
employees should be aware of how they contribute to objectives, they
should be familiar with the action plans. 5. How has the QMS been integrated into the organization’s business processes?
In other words, how are you using ISO 9001:2015 to help you run the
company? This is asked directly of top management (see section 5.1.1c)
and is a very revealing question. The point is that ISO 9001 is moving
away from being a quality management system standard and becoming a
strategic management system. It’s not just about making sure products or
services meet requirements anymore. The standard is about managing
every aspect of the business. Remember sections 4.1 and 4.2 of ISO
9001:2015? There we examined the key topics of context and interested
parties. These concepts touch every corner of the organization, and this
is exactly how ISO 9001:2015 is intended to be used. Top management
should be able to describe how the QMS is used to run the company, not
just pass an audit. 6. How do you manage change? This topic comes up
multiple times in ISO 9001:2015. The first and biggest clause on the
topic comes up in section 6.3. Here we identify changes that we know are
coming, and develop plan for their implementation. What kind of
changes? Nearly anything, but the following changes come to mind as
candidates: new or modified products, processes, equipment, tools,
employees, regulations. The list is endless. An auditor should review
changes that took place, and seek evidence that the change was
identified and planned proactively. Change that happens in a less
planned manner is addressed in section 8.5.6. Here the auditor will seek
records that the changes met requirements, the results of reviewing
changes, who authorized them, and subsequent actions that were
necessary. 7. How do you capture and use knowledge? ISO
9001:2015 wants organizations to learn from their experiences, both good
and bad. This could be handled by a variety of means: project debriefs,
job close-outs, staff meetings, customer reviews, examination of data,
customer feedback. How the organization captures knowledge is up to
them, but the process should be clear and functional. The knowledge
should also be maintained and accessible. This almost sounds like it
will be “documented” in some way, doesn’t it? That’s exactly right. One
way to audit this would be to inquire about recent failures or
successes. How did the organization learn from these events in a way
that will help make them more successful? It’s the conversion of raw
information to true knowledge, and it just happens to be one of the most
difficult things an organization can achieve.
These are by no means the only questions you’ll want to ask. They’re
just the starting point. We didn’t even mention management review,
corrective action, or improvement—all of which are crucial to an
effective QMS. The seven topics discussed here are the biggest new
requirements that auditors will need to probe. I would be very
interested in hearing from you on this subject. What audit questions do
you see as critical in ISO 9001:2015?
While
planting a sapling we always wish that the Plant should grow and
prosper. But some times we observe that the young plant is gradually
paling, withering and dying. We are worried as to”why” it is all
happening. Why the poor plant is not growing?“ There may be many
reasons. Maybe the plant was not protected, or properly looked after.
But our own negligence and incorrect method of planting is one of the
causes.”
Remember
“We
can save many plants if we initially plant them correctly and
properly.”Monsoon is about to start. That is the best time to prepare
for the tree planting. Come, we shall plant the trees the right way
from the beginning.
Correct planting – site preparation
Prepare
30cmX 30cm X30cm long, wide and deep pits at a distance of 1 to 11/2
metres. For fruit and shade trees dig them one meter more deep. Remove
the soil and let it lie outside for some time. Remove stones and
pebbles. Put 1/3rd manure and the soil back into the pit. An ideal pit
is like an ideal home for a plant.
Planting day
Rains are on. Plant will get sufficient water during the season. Select a rainy or cloudy day for tree planting.
Collect
and carry seedlings from the nursery in polythene bags or in baskets.
The roots should be intact in wet soil ball. Rough handling and exposed
roots lead to drying of plant. Remove the polythene bag. Waste no time
once sapling are brought to site.
Hold the soil lump carefully. Put the sapling Straight with roots in the pit and plant collars out.
Remember, if plant is kept deep it will dry.
If roots are left exposed, it will not survive.
If the roots bend, the plant will die.
An inclined plant won’t grow upright.
Put
the soil back into the pit and press it securely around the root. It
will keep the plant straight, erect and the rain water will not
stagnate.
Water the sapling, or else it will die.
Protect it with a tree guard if need be and remove weeds as and when they grow. Look at the plant! How cheerful it looks.
A sapling of today is a tree for tomorrow. It is our universal Resource.
Local Weather Report and Forecast For: KakinadaDated :May 30, 2016
Past 24 Hours Weather Data
Maximum Temp(oC) (Recorded. on 30/05/16)
39.5
Minimum Temp (oC) (Recorded. on 30/05/16)
28.6
Departure from Normal(oC)
1
24 Hours Rainfall (mm) (Recorded from 0830 hrs IST of yesterday to 0830 hrs IST of today)
NIL
Todays Sunset (IST)
18:31
Tommorows Sunrise (IST)
05:27
Moonset (IST)
12:44
Moonrise (IST)
00:33
7 Day's Forecast
Date
Min Temp
Max Temp
Weather
30-May
29.0
40.0
Partly cloudy sky in the morning hours becoming generally cloudy sky
towards evening or night with possibility of rain or thundershowers
accompanied with squall
31-May
29.0
40.0
Partly cloudy sky in the morning hours becoming generally cloudy sky
towards evening or night with possibility of rain or thundershowers
accompanied with squall
01-Jun
29.0
40.0
Partly cloudy sky in the morning hours becoming generally cloudy sky
towards evening or night with possibility of rain or thundershowers
accompanied with squall
02-Jun
29.0
40.0
Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or Thunderstorm or Duststorm
03-Jun
29.0
41.0
Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or Thunderstorm or Duststorm
04-Jun
29.0
41.0
Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or Thunderstorm
05-Jun
29.0
41.0
Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or Thunderstorm
The
booming illegal trade in wildlife products is eroding Earth’s precious
biodiversity, robbing us of our natural heritage and driving whole
species to the brink of extinction. The killing and smuggling is also
undermining economies and ecoystems, fuelling organized crime, and
feeding corruption and insecurity across the globe.
Wildlife crime endangers iconic elephants, rhinos,
tigers, gorillas and sea turtles. In 2011, a subspecies of Javan rhino
went extinct in Vietnam, while the last western black rhinos vanished
from Cameroon the same year. Great apes have disappeared from Gambia,
Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo, and other countries could quickly follow.
Lesser-known victims include helmeted hornbills and pangolins as well as
wild orchids and timbers like Rosewood – flowers and timber are also
considered wildlife!
Huge efforts to counter the illicit trade -
including stronger policies, awareness campaigns and investments in
community conservation and law enforcement - have scored some great
successes. However, many species remain at risk and it will take a
dedicated and sustained effort by each and every one of us to turn the
tide.
How can we do it? More people need to understand
the damage this illicit business is doing to our environment,
livelihoods, communities and security. We must change our habits and
behaviour so that demand for illegal wildlife products falls. More
awareness and action pushes governments and international bodies to
introduce and enforce tougher laws and combat those still willing to
break them.
This year’s theme for WED – Go Wild for Life –
encourages you to celebrate all those species under threat and take
action of your own to help safeguard them for future generations. This
can be about animals or plants that are threatened within your local
area as well as at the national or global level - many local extinctions
will eventually add up to a global extinction! Whoever you are, and
wherever you live, show zero-tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife
in word and deed, and make a difference.
Variety of activities are planned to celebrate this great event in
different countries to encourage more people towards the celebration.
Various news channels take part very actively in the celebration to
cover the news and distribute messages about the celebration among
common public through their news publications to bring effective and
positive changes towards the environment to solve all the environmental
issues. Some of the national and international level activities include
street rallies, tree plantation, garbage recycling, surrounding areas
clean-up, parades and so many activities in order to draw people
attention towards wide range of environmental issues as well as bring
difference.
People of all age groups actively involve during the celebration to
save their planet in original form as gifted by the nature. Especially
modern day youths hugely take part in the celebration through many
activities such as clean up campaigns, art exhibitions, motivating
people for tree-planting, dance activities, recycling garbage, film
festivals, community events, essays writing, poster competitions, social
media campaigns and lot more. Many awareness campaigns are also run at
schools, colleges and other educational institutions to motivate
students towards their environmental safety. The celebration takes place
at national and international level by organizing various activities in
the public places to aware common public about the real causes of
environment status degradation as well as let them know what steps
should be taken to solve such environmental issues.
World Environment Day Theme and Slogan
Each year celebration of the World Environment Day is based on the
particular theme decided by the United Nations to make the celebration
more effective by encouraging mass people worldwide to hugely take part
in addressing environmental issues on global scale. Year wise list of
the themes and slogans of world environment day are mentioned below:
The theme of the year 2016
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
er place”.
The theme of the year 2015 was “One World, One Environment”.
The theme of the year 2014 was “small island developing states” or “SIDS” and “Raise your voice, not the sea level”.
The theme of the year 2013 was “Think. Eat. Save.” And slogan was “Reduce Your Foodprint”.
The theme of the year 2012 was “Green Economy: Does it include you?”.
The theme of the year 2011 was “Forests: Nature at your Service”.
The theme of the year 2010 was “Many Species. One Planet. One Future”.
The theme of the year 2009 was “Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change”.
The theme and slogan of the year 2008 was “CO2, Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”.
The theme of the year 2007 was “Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?”.
The theme of the year 2006 was “Deserts and Desertification” and slogan was “Don’t Desert Drylands!.”
The theme of the year 2005 was “Green Cities” and slogan was “Plan for the Planet!”.
The theme of the year 2004 was “Wanted! Seas and Oceans” and slogan was “Dead or Alive?”.
The theme of the year 2003 was “Water” and slogan was “Two Billion People are Dying for It!”.
The theme of the year 2002 was “Give Earth a Chance”.
The theme of the year 2001 was “Connect with the World Wide Web of Life”.
The theme of the year 2000 was “The Environment Millennium” and slogan was “Time to Act”.
The theme of the year 1999 was “Our Earth – Our Future” and slogan was “Just Save It!”.
The theme of the year 1998 was “For Life on Earth and slogan was “Save Our Seas”.
The theme of the year 1997 was “For Life on Earth”.
The theme of the year 1996 was “Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home”.
The theme of the year 1995 was “We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment”.
The theme of the year 1994 was “One Earth One Family”.
The theme of the year 1993 was “Poverty and the Environment and slogan was “Breaking the Vicious Circle”.
The theme of the year 1992 was “Only One Earth, Care and Share”.
The theme of the year 1991 was “Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership”.
The theme of the year 1990 was “Children and the Environment”.
The theme of the year 1989 was “Global Warming; Global Warning”.
The theme of the year 1988 was “When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last”.
The theme of the year 1987 was “Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof”.
The theme of the year 1986 was “A Tree for Peace”.
The theme of the year 1985 was “Youth: Population and the Environment”.
The theme of the year 1984 was “Desertification”.
The theme of the year 1983 was “Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy”.
The theme of the year 1982 was “Ten Years after Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns)”.
The theme of the year 1981 was “Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains”.
The theme of the year 1980 was “A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development without Destruction”.
The theme of the year 1979 was “Only One Future for Our Children and slogan was “Development without Destruction”.
The theme of the year 1978 was “Development without Destruction”.
The theme of the year 1977 was “Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation”.
The theme of the year 1976 was “Water: Vital Resource for Life”.
The theme of the year 1975 was “Human Settlements”.
The theme of the year 1974 was “Only one Earth during Expo ’74”.
Some of the famous quotes (written by the famous personalities) on world environment day are mentioned below:
“The environment is everything that isn’t me”. – Albert Einstein
“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease,
avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them
from fools”. – John Muir
“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth”. – Henry David Thoreau
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”. –
Margaret Mead
“We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment”. – Margaret Mead
“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment”. – Ansel Adams
“I think the environment should be put in the category of our
national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as
defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend”? – Robert Redford
“Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of
Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall
you”. – John Muir
“Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble”. – Roger Tory Peterson
“By polluting clear water with slime you will never find good drinking water”. – Aeschylus
“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food, either”. – Joseph Wood Krutch
“They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and
fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings
and their refuse”. – Sitting Bull
“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land”. – Aldo Leopold
“After all, sustainability means running the global environment –
Earth Inc. – like a corporation: with depreciation, amortization and
maintenance accounts. In other words, keeping the asset whole, rather
than undermining your natural capital”. – Maurice Strong
“Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left”. – Aldo Leopold
“You will die but the carbon will not; its career does not end with
you. It will return to the soil, and there a plant may take it up again
in time, sending it once more on a cycle of plant and animal life”.
-Jacob Bronowski
“People blame their environment. There is only one person to blame – and only one – themselves”. – Robert Collier
“I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment”. – Pat Buckley
“We must return to nature and nature’s god”. – Luther Burbank
“The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the
environment, is to get everybody involved”. – Richard Rogers
“Journey with me to a true commitment to our environment. Journey
with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in
equilibrium”. – Paul Tsongas
“Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics,
terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide
problems that don’t stop at a nation’s borders”. – Warren Christopher
“I think the government has to reposition environment on top of their national and international priorities”. – Brian Mulroney
“Environmental concern is now firmly embedded in public life: in
education, medicine and law; in journalism, literature and art”. – Barry
Commoner
“Earth Day 1970 was irrefutable evidence that the American people
understood the environmental threat and wanted action to resolve it”. –
Barry Commoner
“The government should set a goal for a clean environment but not mandate how that goal should be implemented”. – Dixie Lee Ray
“Why has it seemed that the only way to protect the environment is with heavy-handed government regulation”? – Gale Norton
“The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely
mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture”.
– Gaylord Nelson
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”. – Mahatma Gandhi
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror
reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another”. –
Mahatma Gandhi
Many
types of higher and lower plants and microorganisms have the capability
to tolerate and absorb large amounts of gaseous, liquid and solid
pollutants from the environment and decompose them into harmless
substances. This ability of such organisms can be usefully exploited in
the control of environmental pollution.
Plants
cover about one third of the land area as forests and grasslands and
another one third as agricultural crops. Large surface area of ponds,
lakes, rivers and sea coasts is also covered with aquatic flora. All
this vegetation provides huge surface area that can be gainfully used to
trap pollutants from the environment. In this large vegetational cover,
those plant species that can absorb large quantities of pollutants and
accumulate them in their tissues without damage (tolerant-accumulator species)
provide natural storehouses or sinks of various pollutants without any
cost. Such plants are very important resource materials in environmental
pollution control strategies. Generally, woody plants absorb more
pollutants than herbaceous plants. Actively growing tissue of wood
absorbs larger amounts of pollutants than dormant tissues. Therefore,
trees are comparatively more useful than herbaceous plants in pollution
control.
Use of tolerant-accumulator plats in the control of air and soil pollution involves:
Identification of pollutant(s) present in the area,
Identification of tolerant-accumulator plant species suitable for the climate and the pollution problem of the area and then
Plantation of identified plant species in the area on available bare
lands, fallow lands, community lands, waste lands, along roads, railway
lines, canal banks as well as green belts, shelter belts, wind breaks,
city forests, parks etc.
Trees
reduce the velocity of air passing through them thus facilitating the
absorption of pollutants by the foliage. Establishment of
tolerant-accumulator epiphytic mosses and lichens on the trees may also
help in absorption of pollutants. Many microorganisms that can degrade
pollutants to harmless substances are also established on the leaves as
phyllosphere. Many plants absorb pollutants from the soil and thus check
their runoff into water bodies or their leaching into the groundwater.
Use
of plants in the control of water pollution mostly involves treatment
of sewage an industrial effluents before their release into lakes or
rivers and treatment of polluted water bodies. Introduction and
maintenance of accumulator aquatic plants like Eichhornia, Azolla, Cladophora, Fontinalis squamosa
etc. in the ponds is very effective in cleaning polluted water and
keeping them free of organic, chemical and metal pollution. Most
important sewage and effluent treatment systems using plants are:
Peat moss treatment systems: Many types of systems have been designed to treat urban sewage and industrial effluents using Sphagnum
moss. These can treat upto 91,000 litres of effluent per day. Effluents
are passed through columns containing the moss, which absorbs metals
and the used up moss is then destroyed. Pre-treatment of moss with CaCO3 increases the metal absorption.
Eichhornia treatment systems: Diluted sewage or industrial effluent is passed through a zig-zag system of ponds and canals in which Eichhornia plants are grown. These plants asorb pollutants and retain them in their rhizomes. Plants from these hyacinth lagoons
are regularly harvested and can be used to produce biogas in suitable
digesters or after extraction of absorbed metals, can be used in making
paper, boards etc. In the lagoons, the growth and death rates of plants
are continuously monitored and managed by regulating the dissolved
oxygen, biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand, pH,
turbidity and conductivity of the water at different stages of cleaning.
Microbial treatment/biogas systems:
Treatment systems for organic sewage use suitable aerobic/anaerobic
decomposer bacteria, ammnifying and sulphur bacteria in anaerobic
lagoons. The organic matter in he polluted water is decomposed producing
methane and carbon dioxide. In such systems, combination of decomposer
bacteria and algae like Spirulina, Scendesmus, Clorella etc.
can also be used. The decomposed organic matter is used up by algal
growth. These protein-rich algal cultures can be regularly harvested and
used as cattle feed. In the biogas systems, anaerobic bacterial
decomposition of organic matter produces combustible gas. The freed
metals and other pollutants are removed and clean effluent is used as
rich fertilizer.
Many bacteria can absorb metals (e.g. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and T. thiooxidans absorb copper), degrade petroleum oil (Pseudomonas sp.)
or other chemicals. Genetic engineering is being applied to create new
and more efficient strains of bacteria for use in mining and industries
to control metal pollution, to clean oil spills, to degrade herbicides
and pesticides in the soil and to absorb SO2 from chimney gases before their release into the atmosphere. Pseodomonas, Staphylococcus and a cornybacterium that accumulate metal bearing particles like silver, Aspergillus and Penicilium that concentrate uranium and phosphate are examples of such useful bacteria. Sulphur bacteria like Chlorobium, Chromatium and Thiospirillum may be helpful in control of SO2 pollution of air.
It is known that
vegetation can filter out dust, shoot, smoke and much other fine
particulate matter present in air by process of absorption,
detoxification, accumulation or metabolization. The tree species
possessing higher dust escaping capacity has higher chances of survival
in the polluted areas. The study indicated that evergreen plants with
simple, rough, hairy and fast growing trees are good dust arrestors. The
study suggested a systematic way of selecting plant species on the
basis of their efficiency in dust control.
Keywords
Stone quarry, Dust pollution and dust abatement by trees.
INTRODUCTION
The role of trees in controlling ambient temperature and
rainfall has long been understood. The variation of dust
deposition in different plants is due to the fact that different
plants have acquired different morphological features apart from
those factors like phyllotaxy, leaf shape, plant height, leaf
texture, presence or absence of hairs, stomatal frequency are also
related to the efficiency of dust collecting capacity of plants
(Das et al. 1978) have shown that not only the upper
surface but the lower surface of the leaf also collect significant
amount of dust particle. The study suggested a systematic way of
selecting plant species on the basis of their efficiency in dust
control.
Earlier studies have revealed that extent of dust
deposition on plants depends on the morphology structure and
arrangement of leaves (Pattanayak et al. 1994,). It is
known that vegetation can filter out dust, shoot, smoke and many
other fine particulate matter present in air by process of absorption,
detoxification, accumulation or metabolisation (Maiti, 1992). Dust
particulates remain in air for varying lengths of time and get
settled out on various parts of plant, especially on leaf surface,
which affects the vegetation of the area. The extent of impact
depends on the amount of dust deposition. Hence the present study
is an attempt to select the appropriate tree species that could be
recommended for plantation in stone quarry area. The approach has been
that the tree species possessing higher dust escaping capacity has
higher chances of survival in these polluted areas. The
objectives of the present study is
- To estimate the amount of deposition of particulate on the surface of leaves of various species.
- To study the dust filtering capacity of different species of plants having different leaf shape, physiology etc.
- To suggest suitable plant species foe plantation in stone quarry area.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The leaves of 12 different plant species were collected
from the same place, height and age in the stone crushing area.
Following plant species were selected for the present
investigation.
For the present study plant species chosen were of both
evergreen and deciduous types with simple and compound leaves. The
leaves were collected in a polythene bags and washed with
distilled water (Patel et al. 1991). The sampled bags were taken
to laboratory and leaves were washed with 300 ml distilled water
and polythene bags were also washed with 50ml of distilled water
to wash out the dust remaining inside the polythene bags. The dust
was filtered with GF/C filter paper and dried at 70 to 80° C for 3
hours and dried dust was weighed. Individual leaf area in cm2 was calculated by tracing out the leaves on graph paper and results were expressed in g/m2.
Results
The detailed morphological characteristics of the
sampled plant species in the study area are shown in the Table 1.
The dust trapping efficiency of different plant species listed in
ascending order is shown in the Table 2. The investigation
revealed many interesting and vital information on the dust escaping
efficiency of the trees which can be considered highly favorable for
promoting their growth in stone quarry area. The maximum dust
depositions recorded were in Tectona grandis, Ficus
bengalensis, Psidium gaujava, Butea monosperma, Mangifera indica,
Muntingia calabura, Artocarpus heterophyllus etc., which may
be attributed to hairy surface of leaves, horizontal elevation, stiff
petiole and branches etc., which results in less movement of
leaves thus exhibiting lesser chances of falling of accumulated
dust.
Earlier studies have revealed that extent of dust
deposition on plant depends on the morphological structure and
arrangement of leaves (Pattanayak et al. 1994) Smooth and flexible leaves like Millingtonia hortensis, Azadiracta indica, Melia rubia do not hold dust to the same degree compared to horizontally arranged leaves of Grevillea robusta, Delonix regia, Anacardium occidentale, Tamarindus indica species bearing stiff, horizontal and elevated leaves with rough and hairy surface which hold large amount of dust particles.
Similarly drooping leaves and branches have higher
chances of dropping down dust during disturbance by agents like
wind, animal etc. Free hanging leaves as well as swirling leaves
are the main morphological characteristics of dust escaping
efficiency as in Dalbergia sisso, Eucalyptus globulus, Acacia auriculiformis etc.
Certain species acquire a peculiar type of leaves which are
devoid of leaf damage and hurt. Such modification of leaf surface is
highly favorable in dusty environment like stone quarry.
Discussion
The variation in the deposition of pollutants in
different plant species sampled is due to to the fact that the
different plants have acquired different dust collecting capacity.
Among the species investigated Psidium gaujava, Muntigia calabura, Mangifera indica, Terminalia arjuna
etc., showed highest dust collecting capacity. There are also
other factors responsible for the collection of pollutants on the
leaf surface. The phyllotaxy of leaf of also played important role
in this regard. It has been found of alternatly arranged leaves have
acquired highest dust collecting capacity. this is because in
alternate phyllotaxy there is only one leaf in each node. As a
result these leaves are more exposed to free silica content than
the leaves of cyclic phyllotaxy where two or more leaves present
at each side.
Similarly the shape of the leaf is also important. Lanceolate type of the leaf shows highest dust collecting capacity (Terminalia arjuna).
The lowest dust collecting capacity pf Pithacolobium dulse
species can be attributable to its arrangement of leaves. In whorled
phyllotaxy there are more than two leaves present at each node.
There fore each leaf at each node receives lesser amount of
pollutants than one leaf at each internodes.
Conclusion
The study indicated that, plants can be used as
potential device of dust remover in stone quarry area. For dust
abatement purpose the leaves showing evergreen, simpled, rough and
hairy and fast growing trees are suggested. The above findings
suggest that species like Terminalia arjuna, Tabebuia argentia,
Eucalyptus globulus, Muntingia calabura, Ficus bengalensis, mangifera
indica, psidium guajava ect., can be grown in dust polluted areas to reduce the pollution.
Tables at a glance
Table 1
Table 2
References
Das,
T.M. and Pattanayak, P. 1977. The nature and pattern of deposition of
air borne particle on leaf surface of plants, Proc.seminor on
Afforestation, Inst. J.of P.H.E. pp. 56-62.
Jackson, M.L. 1973. The Text book of Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice-Hall Inc., Engle Wood Cliffs, Jersy.
Maiti, S.K. 1992. Dust collection capacity of plants growing in coal mining areas. IJEP. 13 (4) : 276-280.
Tiwari,
T.N. and Patel, M.K. 1993. Effect of cement dust on some plants :
Correlations among foliar dust deposition, chlorophyll content and
calcium content. Ind. J. Envt. Prot. 13 (2) : 93 - 95.
Patel,
M.K. and Tiwari, T.N. 1991. A study of dust pollution in the Rourkela
industrial complex. Part -I . Ind. J. Proc. 11 : 29 - 31.
In this image made from video of K.K.Productions, a huge fire is seen
at the Pulgaon ammunition depot in Pulgaon in the Indian state of
Maharastra, Tuesday, May 31, 2016. (Source: PA)
At least 16 defence personnel were killed and 15 others were injured
in a massive fire that broke out on Tuesday in Central Ammunition Depot
(CAD) in Pulgaon, Maharashtra.
