Exposure Visit to Gujarat

India ICZM Project’s one of the cardinal features is to achieve the formation of some kind of knowledge-base and benchmarks about the various the parameters pertaining to the coast which can be integrated into the ICZM Plan. In this regard India ICZM Project has provisions for conducting study tours and exposure visits for its stakeholders both within and outside the national boundaries of India.

West Bengal-SPMU has recently organized an exposure visit to the state of Gujarat where also India ICZM project is being implemented in full swing. A team of 8 members visited Gujarat from 5^th- 9^th,  March, 2014. The members of the delegation comprises of

 (1)Ms. Indrani Saha, Joint Secretary, Urban Development Department),

(2)Mr. Saibal Thakurata, Chief Town Planner, Urban Development Department

(3)Mr. Satyajit Pan, Executive Engineer, PHED

(4)Mr.Swapan Mondal, Asst. Engineer, PHED

(5) Mr.Amlan Jyoti Saha, Asst. Director, Tourism Dept

(6)Mr. Md. Samimul Alam, Asst. Secretary, Tourism Dept

(7)Mr. Niltaratan Mitra, Programme Assistant, SPMU, West Bengal

(8)Mr. Debojoyti Poddar, Project Assistant (Accounts), SPMU, WB.

After reaching Ahmedabad on 5^th March, 2014 the visiting team was briefed by the counterparts of SPMU, Gujarat about the set of activities implemented in the state of Gujarat under India ICZM Project. The presentation of Gujarat, SPMU, highlighted the challenges that they have faced during the implementation of different project components together with the successes that have been achieved till now.

 The team headed towards Jamnagar on 6^th march 2014. Jamnagar happens to be one of the key intervention areas where India ICZM Project had already made its indelible footprint in Gujarat. The visiting team had interactions with an interaction at MNP office with DCF, MNP and ACF, MNP and other Marine National Park officials about their experiences in the management of the Marine National Park (MNP). The team also had the opportunity to meet representatives from Jamnagar Municipal Corporation to make themselves acquainted themselves with the on-going civil work of the sewerage network, along with the sewerage  pumping station and sewerage treatment  plant. Later in the day the team had visited different sites where the physical work pertaining to the sewage network system is being carried-out or had been completed.

 On 7^th March, 2014 the team visited Narara Island (about 65 KM from Jamnagar for doing the Coral Walk), which comes under the jurisdiction of Marine National Park. A huge variety of marine life e.g. crabs, jelly fish, star fish, hard and soft corals, molluscan shells, sea anemones, puffer fish, sea horse, octopus, huge green sea turtles, lobsters, pearl oysters, bivalves, dolphins and dugong can be seen in this area. Coral restoration and regeneration is being carried out in Narara under India ICZM Project. MNP officials brief the team about the important of this sensitive eco-system. The team observed the plethora of marine flora and fauna that thrives in the park. The main point of attraction over here is viewing of the live corals of different shades and hues.

On 8^th March the team visited the sea-turtle hatching center  in Okha Madhi near Dwarka, which is also being managed by MNP in the capacity of a PEA under SPMU, Gujarat. The objective of this component is to promote the breeding & preserving of this threatened marine species. The team had also visited Marine Interpretation Center at Nagesh Garden near Nageshwar Temple. It is developed by MNP for bringing awareness about marine lives. The team has also the opportunity to visit Kharaberaj Village on to observe extent of work being done with respect to sanitation. This village has achieved 100% sanitation courtesy  ICZM Project. The team has  also interacted with the CBO president and other members along with field staffs.

The team departed from Ahmedabad on 9^th March 2014 for Kolkata, with an everlasting memory of how to assimilate and integrate natural resources for sustainable development. 

 

Mass Awareness Campaign in Gangasagar Mela

Kapil Muni Temple

Gangasagar Mela is one of the mega religious congregations in India that happen every year in Sagar Island, located in the state of West Bengal. Government of West Bengal plays a cardinal role in the successful fructification of the Gangasagar Mela each year where teeming millions assemble in banks of “Gangasagar” especially on Makarsankranti ( 14^th January, 2014) to attain divine salvation.

Mass awareness campaign with members of NGOs and CBOs

It can be stated that despite the best of the services rendered by district administration in close coordination with the aid of the NGOs but more to be done from the perspective of coastal environment while keeping in mind the behavioural dynamics of the multitude that gathers from the remotest corners of the country in and around the Gangasagar Mela ground.

Colourful display of the RON-PA group in the Mela ground

Sagar Island is one of the core intervention areas under ICZM Project. Hence it was decided to launch an effective mass awareness campaign in the precincts of Gangasagar Mela which will be populated with people of different shades and hues. The mass awareness campaign was formally launched with the speech of Sri Bankim Hazra, Honourable MLA, Sagar and Chairman Sundarban Development Board on 14th January, 2014.

The central theme of the mass awareness campaign was to spread the message of pollution free coastal environment. State Project Management Unit of the ICZM Project coordinated with its partner NGOs and its CBOs to spearhead the mass awareness campaign in every nook and crannies of the Mela ground.

 

The mass awareness campaign got the requisite stimulus with the integration of the performances of the RON-PA (folk dance) group attired with several messages on hygiene and sanitation. Wherever the RON-PA permeates through the muddy and brick roads inside the Mela ground people zooms in with loud applause and inquisitiveness. Members of the partner NGOs and its CBOs too crisscross the Mela ground with the RON-PA group. Banners were displayed; leaflets were distributed together with the mesmerizing performances of the RON-PA group that enthralled the public at large. It can be claimed without an iota of doubt that ICZM Project had able to create an indelible mark in the minds of the people through this new innovative approach of reaching out to its target audience.

 

 STORM WATER DRAINAGE NETWORK IN DIGHA

Absence of a properly implemented drainage system is causing adverse effect on the hygienic condition in the town of Digha. The drains are too few and were constructed mainly to flush out excess water during high tides. More importantly, the drains also are carrying sullage water and the polluted water is discharged into the sea causing appreciable deterioration in the quality of sea water.

It is a fact that the area lying near the sea coast is mainly of silty sand allowing high rate of percolation of surface run off to ground for which widespread water logging is not in evidence in the area till now, yet with the town getting more populated day by day, incidence of tourists visit looking up along with hotels and institutional buildings getting concentrated in localized area, the need for commissioning an engineered drainage system has been badly felt to discharge the water efficiently into the sea without causing any harmful effect on the environment.

Such a drainage system will exclude any chance of water logging and at the same time will offer a clean and pleasant look for the town. Covered surface drains, to be built with brick masonry and concrete cover, have been designed and planned for implementation at Digha only to collect the surface run off and carry the water by gravity flow.

Sankarpur, being sparsely populated and having a very few hotels / lodges all surrounded by vast expanse of agricultural lands, has been left out of such drainage facility at present.

Construction of storm water drains is an allowed item under CRZ regulation.

To take care of the septic waste separate scheme under PHED has been developed for setting up of STP and development of underground sewerage lines.

For the storm water drainage scheme under DSDA, the project area is basically divided into 2 parts, one the seaside, and the other landside of the foreshore road. The seaside being sloped towards the sea, so it was advisable to follow the outfall at “Jatra Nala” the major outfall of this area.

But the seaside of the old Digha is too far to drain it to this Nala. Considering the proposed landscape of the beach front it was not advisable to drain it to the sea. It will be diverted towards the landside along the main road leading to the major outfall of the landside that is the canal along the newly constructed bye-pass. Most of the landside portions naturally tend to slope towards the drainage canal of the bypass making it an easy and natural drainage system without the help of any mechanical means.

As per the available data, an average intensity of rainfall of 50 mm/hr has been considered. The design has been done as per the rainfall data collected, time of concentration, the graph of the CPHEEO manual and the empirical formulas developed for the most towns situated in the Indian plains.                       

As per CPHEEO manual the residential, commercial and greenery has 75%, 90% and 20% respectively of imperviousness.

Considering the proposed development according to the CRZ rules, it was assumed that the project area will be divided into different zones.

·         Zone 1 : Already built to an average of 30-40% and will remain same.

·         Zone 2 : Already built to an average of 50-60% but considered to be 80% in future.

·         Zone 3 : Very less built form, with public buildings and so may develop to 30% built form in future.

·         Zone 4 : Existing open and green area on sea which will remain to be green (20%).

·         Zone 5 : Heavily built new digha area of average 50-60% but considered to be 90% in future.

·         Zone 6 : Existing open and green area on sea which will remain to be green (20%).

·         Zone 7 : Village area, but most prospective area for controlled development (30%).

Masonry covered drains has been considered for the storm water drainage of the project area. Considering the size of the drains, widths of the road, it has been proposed to cover the drain with precast perforated RCC slab. Cast iron gratings have been avoided considering theft, the cost aspect as well as the weathering effect of the sea. The size, number, orientation of the drains has been done absolutely as per Individual road conditions.

The different conditions of the drains are as follows.

·         Narrow roads will have one side drain with adequate RCC slab to take normal load.

·         RCC underground box drains to cater to the localized thumps of the road due to land form.

·         Totally RCC culvert type drains with flared ends at major road crossings.

·         Drop drains at steep fall in level of the road and invert level beyond 60 cm to maintain the self-cleansing velocity.

·         Ground levels, probable type of future development considered in designing the size and level of proposed drains.

·         No lifting / pumping station has been proposed.

·         The maximum ratio of 1:2 (width : depth) of the drain has been maintained all throughout the area for easy maintenance, construction and to avoid blocking of drains.

·         The major roads will have both side drains to facilitate better inlet of rainwater, as well as easy connection to individual plots.

The storm water drain have been designed with sufficient capacity to avoid frequent flooding of the drainage area and not designed for the peak flow of rare run of such as once in 50 years or more. There may be flooding when any natural calamity occurs or when the precipitation exceeds the design value, which has to be permitted. Though such flooding causes inconvenience, it may have to be accepted once in a while considering the cost economy.

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Wildlife Rescue Operation

Operation carried out by the team of officials’ from Forest Directorate, engaged in the implementation of ICZM Project, West Bengal

Ecology will lose its balance if the variety and volume of wildlife is destroyed. We all know it. But, unfortunately human activities do play an important role in extinction of wildlife varieties from the face of earth. Poaching is the deadliest crime committed against wildlife by humankind. Thus, any conservation initiative should have measures to regulate and stop illegal hunting of wild animals.   

Forest Directorate, West Bengal has taken up anti-poaching measures in coastal areas of East Midnapore under ICZM Project West Bengal. 

One anti-poaching van is purchased by Directorate of Forest, West Bengal under ICZM Project West Bengal. Forest officers from different ranges are utilizing the van for carrying out wildlife rescue the operations in Purba Medinipur.

 

Name of rescued animal	Conservation status by IUCN	Found/caught at -Forest Range	Rehabilitated/ released at -      Forest Range	Rescued Zone - Forest Range
Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)	Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3) Endangered-National	Bhadua village, Marichda, Purba Medinipur	Shankarpur rehabilitation centre, Purba Medinipur	Bajkul and Contai
Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica)	Endangered (IUCN 3.1)	Bhagwanpur, Purba Medinipur	Rupnarayan river, Kolaghat	Bajkul
Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii)	----	Tamlik, Purba Medinipur	Lodhashuli jungle, Paschim Medinipur	Tamluk
Lesser adjacent stork (Leptoptilos javanicus)	Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)	Hatiberia, Haldia, Purba Medinipur	Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur	Haldia
Monkey	------	Panshkura, Purba Medinipur	Lodhashuli jungle, Paschim Medinipur	Panshkura
Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)	Endangered (IUCN 3.1)	Khejuri, Purba Medinipur	Kadirabadchar mangrove, Purba Medinipur	Bajkul
Brydes Whale (Balaenoptera brydei)	Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)	Digha Mohana	Skeleton will be preserved by Zoological Survey of India	Tamluk

 

 

WHALE ON THE SHORE

 

 

 

A Bryde’s Whale was dragged accidentally onto the shore of Digha by the fishing trawlers. the entire sequence of events was painfull.... the tragic accident that took place underneath the sea ( Bay of Bengal) had shaken the sensibilities of the coastal community. The  video clip tries to portray what may have happened under the sea.......... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scientific information about Bryde’s  Whale

Family: Balaenopteridae, Order: Cetacea, Class : Mammalia

Scientific name : Balaenoptera edneni Anderson, 1878

                               Balaenoptera  brydei

Morpho-taxonomic characters:

Head ‘V-shaped’, three prominent ridges on the head anterior to blowhole, forty five ventral pleats / throat- furrows extend up to naval/umbilicus,  baleen fringes coarse, stiff and thick.

Total length is 41.4 ft (curved measurement), matured male, dorsal fin moderate in size and located posterior one-third of back and black in colour., pectoral flippers oblong and black in colour, tail fluke horizontally flattened and grey in colour.

From literature:   

Average weight about 13.6ton, group size is 1-7 individuals, baleen is 42x24cm in size, 230-370 plates on each side, 15-35 bristles per sq.cm, female is slightly larger than male

Food: Krills, bonito and cephalopods

Distribution: Generally found in tropical and warm temperate waters of the world (between 40°N and 40°S latitude), both off and close to the shore. Recorded from Sri Lanka (Trincomalee and Koddiyar Bay), Arabian Sea off Pakisthan, Persian Gulff and Bay of Bengal during 1977-87).

Threats : It has been subjected to coastal whaling off Peru, Chile, S. Africa, Japan, USSR etc., and pelagic whaling in N. Pacific and S. Atlantic.

Commercial value: Oil,meat, blubber and collagen peptide are of commercial use. About 1.660 tonne of oil and 9.3 tonne of usable products were obtained from one animal.