Rural Ambulance service inauguration in Hingalganj:

Professional Institute for Development and Socio Environmental Management – PRISM, a non-governmental, non-profit organization, is set up to develop and implement solutions that balance the need for food, shelter, income and environmental quality prescribed for all.


PRISM has developed a rural ambulance, which is an improvised version of the common rickshaw van, well designed to serve the purpose of an ambulance in a much more effective way. After its introduction villagers have started getting an Ambulance Plus service - It has been used for 'early warning', 'rescue' and 'relief' before and during the floods in the Gaighata and Swarupnagar Blocks of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal since 2004.
(Details of their activities are available in http://ritpbyprism.blogspot.com/)

SWANIRVAR and PRISM worked together in relief and rehabilitation works in Hingalganj block. One day our staff, Nilangshu and Nishambhu requested PRISM’s Technical Director, Dr. Aniruddha Dey to visit one of our ARTC ( Agri-school) in Hingalganj and meet our sustainable farmers. During his meeting with the farmers he expressed his willingness to give one such Rural Ambulance to them. ARTC farmers gladly accepted his proposals and they sent a request proposal to PRISM. Finally it was decided that the ambulance would be handed over on 28th November, 2009.

Hingalgnaj was famous for its rich cultural heritage of folk(vatiali songs) and drama. One of the ATRC member, Basudeb Das was a famous Jatra( folk drama) actor wrote a drama and requested us for some financial help so that they ARTC farmers can perform that on the same venue.

On 28th November,09 three SWANIRVAR staff and three PRISM officials and a Government Medical Officer, Dr. Supti Biswas went to Hingalganj and was splendid after seeing that the entire Police ground was decorated by the colorful ribbons and papers. A small stage was made in the corners of the field for the drama and ambulance opening. The function was started at 6.00p.m. The key of the ambulance was handed over by Dr. Biswas to the president of the ARTC. More than 2 thousand villagers expressed their cheers in that moment and after that a drama was performed by the local farmers.

Rise in sea level may hit Kolkata

Days before the Copenhagen conference on climate change kicks off, a major study by a group of 100 international scientists has said that sea levels are likely to rise by as much as 1.4 metres by the end of this century.
That’s twice as much as predicted in IPCC’s fourth assessment report in 2007.
The study also enhances the threat to the Indian coast — and cities like Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report is the first comprehensive review of the impact of global warming on Antarctica. The IPCC report had projected that sea levels could rise 18-59 cm by 2099.
Subsequent studies of glacial melts in Greenland and Antarctica had raised fears that the rise could be higher.
 
TNN 2 December 2009

Sundarbans water warming eight times faster than global average

NEW DELHI: In the Sundarbans, surface water temperature has been rising at the rate of 0.5 degree Celsius per decade over the past three decades, eight times the rate of global warming, says a new study.

That makes the Sundarbans one of the worst climate change hotspots on the globe.

The study, carried out over 27 years from 1980 by scientists from India and the US, found a change of 1.5 degrees Celsius, a clear challenge to the survival of flora and fauna in the world's largest mangrove forest.

A Unesco World Heritage site, the Sundarbans covers 9,630 sq km in India and Bangladesh. It is home to a number of endangered species.

"Surface water temperature in the deltaic complex of the Indian Sundarbans experienced a gradual increase of 0.5 degree Celsius per decade in last three decades. This rate is much higher than the global warming rate of 0.06 degree Celsius per decade and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-documented rate of 0.2 degree Celsius per decade in the Indian Ocean during 1970-99," Abhijit Mitra, professor in the Department of Marine Sciences, Calcutta University, told IANS.

The study published in the latest issue of scientific journal Current Science found that faster melting of Himalayan glaciers have decreased the salinity at the western end of the Indian Sundarbans while salinity has increased on the eastern end due to clogging of connections of the estuaries with fresh water on account of heavy siltation and solid waste disposal from Kolkata.

The scientists also studied variations in dissolved oxygen, pH level (a measure of acidity), transparency and water quality to know the impact of global warming on the ecosystem.

"The surface water pH over the past 30 years has reduced in the region, thus increasing acidification. The variations in salinity and increased temperature could be reasons for observed variation in pH and dissolved oxygen," said Mitra.

The concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the western sector of the Sundarbans showed an increasing trend in contrast to the eastern part where it is decreasing significantly.

"Depletion in dissolved oxygen can cause major shifts in the ecological habitation in the region. Rising temperature could also be one of the reasons for decreasing dissolved oxygen in the Sundarbans," he said.

Global warming accelerates the process of erosion in coastal and estuarine zones either through increased summer flow from the glaciers or by increased tidal amplitude due to sea level rise.

Erosion and sedimentation processes, along with subsequent churning action, increase the saturation of suspended solids, thus decreasing the transparency.

"The reduced transparency affects the growth and survival of phytoplankton, the small microscopic plants in the oceans that produce three-fourths of the earth's oxygen supply. Damage to this community may adversely affect the food chain in this mangrove-dominated deltaic complex, which is the nursery and breeding ground of 150-250 species of fish and other organisms," said Mitra.

The study concluded that although the observed changes could result from a combination of climate change and human interventions and related phenomena, the changes are real and their impact will be felt in the ecosystem in the coming years.

Times of India, 1 December 2009