Cracking the whip on all those throwing plastic bags in drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined nearly 150 people and collected a fine of Rs 1.32 lakh in a fortnight.

After having learnt lessons from July 26 deluge, when plastic bags had blocked drains and led to flooding in the metropolis, the civic body has formed two ‘plastic ban’ squads consisting of six people.

“We have collected a fine of Rs 1.32 lakh from 146 people who were caught throwing plastic in drains in the last 12-13 days. These people are largely hawkers and shopkeepers,” Deputy Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Bhosale told PTI here.

On June 11, Municipal Commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya had announced that anyone caught throwing plastic, thermocol and other items during monsoon will have to pay fine ranging from Rs 100-5,000.

“These cases are mostly from eastern suburbs like Kurla, Mulund, Chembur, Govandi and others followed by western suburbs and the island city,” Bhosale said.

Drain clogging had led to massive flooding on July 26, 2005 forcing the state government to contemplate banning polythene bags.

As per the Maharashtra Non-biodegradable Garbage Control Act, the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags must be 50 micron and their size should be no less than 8×12 inches.

IMA CHEMBUR Community Service cell is organising an awareness programme on cancer of the cervix (lower end of the uterus). CaCervix is the No. 1 cause of mortaliy due to cancer in women in india. It spares no strata of society affecting women fom all socio-economic sections of society.

IMA Chembur is making an effort to sensitise the community to this health problem so that people can take adequate measures in time. Early screening, simple diagnostic tests like PAP smear, PAP dna screening and vaccination can help minimise the toll on society.

We cordially invite for this informative interactive programme . those attending can also avail of discount on the MRP of the vaccine ( if they choose / opt for vaccination).

We request you to be present and also fwd this to as many people as possible to maximise the benefit to all.

Venue: Community Hall, Chembur Gymkhana, Phase II

Date :    Sunday, 23.05.10

Time :    10.00 a.m – 12.00 noon

Entry free

Tea  & biscuits will be served.

Regards,

Dr. B.Ramnarayan

President, IMA CHEMBUR 2010-11

For those of  us who are even a tiny bit interested in conservation & nature and donot consider the term “Environmentally Friendly” as just another cli·ché, here’s a new shop “Naturally Yours”  in Chembur you must visit , next time you are around the Chembur Station area….

I get impressed by little things… Paper bag, Soap and the samples of the organic tea

I have been thinking to visit Naturally Yours,  since I  got a pamphelt through my newspaper a few weeks back. I finally did yesterday.
I must say, when I visited yesterday during my lunch hour ,  was quite surprised to note that “IT WAS A LITTLE PLACE”,  especially seemed so, after what us Chemburites  have been introduced to off late, Supermarkets!!!!.  If right now,  if you are getting a picture of  BigBazar or FoodBazar  in your heads , then this is not a place for you to try out…

If you can pardon me another  cli·ché,  ”Good things comes in small packages”.  The shop seems just big enough , but they  do have a stock of quite a few  organic stuff.  Since my sole purpose was a site visit ( and had to get back to work ),  and as I’m not the person currently incharge of kitchen , I dint shop at the store!!!

Having said that, I did buy a nice organic soap ( I was impressed with the packaging, recycled, i mean!) . The  friendly young lady at the store , also gave me some free samples of some organic/herbal tea…

The acid test ….  I was  asked if i wanted a carry bag … Humm!  It sounded like LOST HOPE!!!! Unfriendly poly carry  bags  to carry my organic stuff ? NO I said!!!  and there came a reply, the bags are recycled too … Paper Bags!!!!

Not many shops, in Chembur, except a few like FabIndia, provide recycled paper bags … Well! if not more , we have  one more. Baby steps but we are getting environmentally friendlier.  Thanks to people like Vinod Kumar (owner) , for doing their bit to educate us and contributing towards our future !!!!

WELL! and what I want to add is , I am not a person who likes to write reviews about shops and businesses, or  atleast this is my first one….  but since i was impressed, I thought I must write this recommendation …

“Such businesses/establishments  needs to be encouraged for doing their bit for our collective future  and also to show that such tiny  initiatives  by local business ARE APPRECIATED by people …
PLEASE DO VISIT Naturally Yours!!!!”

P.s. The Soap is worth it and the tea was nice!

http://www.inchembur.com/chembur-shops-business/281/details/Naturally-Yours

Excerpt from Jyothi Bhave’s BLOG : Read Full Article / Visit her blog

My gardening efforts took off in 2000 when I shifted to ground floor flat with a small empty patch by the side of my flat. Wanting to be a true gardener first i bought all the tools and started digging the land. Planted few flowering plants like Anant, Jaswandi, Sonchafa Sadafuli so also Kadipatta and Tulsi. As the days passed I realised that growing plants gave me a feeling of growing children and i started observing them, taking care of them and loving them.

Last year when I tried to grow Bottle gourd, Okra and Palak, for my project, my first attempt to grow vegetables, I realised that I dont know the right way of growing them organically except adding dried cow dung to the red soil. The need to know about organic farming made me surf the net and I came to know about Preeti’s terrace garden. The flowers, fruiting trees and variety of vegetables grown in just 3000 sq ft motivated me to know about her techniques which is Natueco Farming.

After attending 7th June 09 workshop I was eager to make Amrut Mitti myself. For me procuring cow dung, cow urine and biomass was a challenge initially but when there is a will there is a way. I tied up with a lady outside a temple to provide cow dung and cow urine and started picking biomass from the nearest municipal public garden. I also procured two plastic drums one to prepare Amrut jal and second to store heaps of biomass. The only difficult factor for me was to really wait for 100 days to get perfect matured soil

After I made the first heap in July, I could hardly wait for 30 days and planted a drumstick plant in the semi decomposed biomass. After that I must have made the heaps 4/5 times but i dont remember the dates and used it all for my already existing plants like banana, amla, bamboo, sonchafa, arvi, neem, lemon and few more. Amla has already started fruiting and sonchafa has started bearing beautiful flowers (both 3 yrs old). Arvi leaves, my mum-in -law has cooked thrice so far and I have cooked drumstick leaves for one time vegetable and what can I say……its a great feeling to cook and eat home made vegetable. drumstick plant has started flowering in Feb, now I am waiting for fruiting of Banana and lemon tree.

Best Wishes ,

Jyoti Bhave

… Read Full Article @ Jyoti’s  blog

Excerpt from CG+, reported by Vibha Singh on March 20, 2010: Read Full Article

Twenty thousand one hundred sixty litres of water everyday. How much water is that? For an area battling water scarcity, where every drop counts, it has to be a lot in quantifiable terms. Thirty seven school students from class 5 in the Marathi-medium municipal school in Deonar  colony have made their school change its water consumption habits.

The persistence of these class 5 students (above) got their teacher Dr Seema Chudekar (right) to start them off on a water saving project. They began with  measuring the water lost through leaking taps in their school

Just how big is the feat? Considering that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on an average, supplies 90 litres of water per person per day; the quantity of water saved by the group is enough to meet the water needs of 200 people. In times of severe water crisis, it’s an example worth emulating.

Suprabha Marathe, executive engineer, rainwater harvesting and water conservation cell of the BMC said, “Considering that the BMC supplies 90 litres of water per person per day, the savings brought about by the students will prove sufficient to take care of water needs of 200 people.”

On Earth Hour millions of people around the world come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour is a WWF initiative which sends across an inspiring message of hope and action for Climate Change. At 8.30pm on 27th March 2010, cities, towns and municipalities across the world will turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – sending a powerful global message that it’s possible to take action on global warming.

Excerpt from http://www.earthhour.in/ ….
Earth Hour 2010 continues to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

In what we hope will be the world’s largest mass participation event, Earth Hour 2010 will be the culmination of over one billion people around the globe, in more than 6000 cities, towns turning off lights for one hour on one night. Iconic buildings and landmarks across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and The Americas will go dark.
In India, we hope to make Earth Hour 2010 even bigger and better than last year. Besides Delhi & Mumbai , this year we are taking Earth Hour to Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, apart from several other cities where people will be encouraged to participate and turn-off the lights in their homes, offices and buildings from 8:30pm – 9:30pm on Saturday, 27 March 2010. Our participation will go a long way in showing to the world that India is united on its stand against global warming and is demanding immediate action.
We want to let the world leaders know that the world is still watching, post the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009 and that we, the citizens of the planet, demand commitment to actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the benefit of the planet.

Excerpt from DNA, reported Sandeep Ashar, February 5, 2010: Read Full Article
With the city battling with its worst ever water crisis, a bunch of young heroes have emerged to inspire Mumbaikars to save water.

A class of 37 school students from a Marathi-medium school in Deonar have made their school change its water consumption habits. The initiative, by the class V students, has helped the city save close to 20,160 litres of water everyday.

Here’s how the 10-year-old’s have brought about the change. Disturbed by the water loss due to leaky taps in their school, the students with help from their class teacher — Dr Seema Chudekar — undertook a project mapping the water loss and suggested preventive steps.

While the project was undertaken in the last week of December, the students and the teacher recently submitted a report based on the project to the schools administration. “Whenever the subject of using water judiciously was discussed in the class, the students kept pointing towards the water loss from taps in the school and often asked why it was not being curbed. This led to the project,” Chudekar said.

The students divided themselves in small groups and first mapped the number of leaking taps, and then measured the quantity of water loss. “Of the 18 taps on the ground floor of the premises, we found 14 were leaking. While the water loss was in drops at a few taps, from many others there was a constant trickle,” Noorjahan Majid, one of the students, said.

As reported in TOI  by Anahita Mukherji on 05/01/2010

“Aaj Ki Naari Kaisi Hai, Phool Nahi Chingari Hai.’’
Repeating the slogan at least a dozen times at Mankhurd’s Annabhau Saathe Nagar slum on Sunday morning were a 100-odd men, women and children, packed like sardines in the hot sun along a narrow bylane. The occasion? They were inaugurating the Sakhi Navnirman Rozgar Shikhlai Kendra—a tin shed from which the women of the slum planned to sew their own cloth bags as an alternative to plastic.

Incidentally, Sunday happened to be the birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule, a 19th century social reformer who pioneered women’s rights in India. Her photograph was placed outside the centre. But occupying pride of place inside was a newspaper clipping on plastic bags. The initiative has been supported by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), led by activist Medha Patkar.

“Slum communities bring a whole host of services to the doorstep of the middle class, from delivering newspapers to domestic work. But their labour is not recognised. The women from the slum are very skilled and we hope such centres will go a long way in providing them with a source of self-employment. The initiative will also help the government in its fight against plastic bags. We hope the middle-class will help us and purchase these bags,’’ said Patkar.

Two expert seamstresses from the slum, Shabnam Khan and Sonu Mutte, displayed a dozen cloth bags they had stitched the day before. Not only will they stitch their own cloth bags at the centre, but they will also teach sewing to other women from the slum.

The women plan to sell their bags at cheap rates as they will eliminate middlemen and sell directly to the consumer. “Instead of washing utensils and sweeping floors at other people’s homes, women from our slum can make a living working for themselves,’’ says Sushila Patel, a woman from the slum.
A similar centre was set up two years ago in the Ambujwadi slums at Malad.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, reported by Nazia Sayed and Geeta Desai on December 29, 2009 : Read Full Article

Woman drawing water from an illegal well in Mankhurd

The polio-causing virus passes from infected faecal matter, contaminates ground water and finds its way into humans though the mouth.

Driven by sheer desperation caused by an unprecedented water crisis, residents in Shivajinagar, Deonar, Trombay and Mankhurd, have resorted to digging illegal wells in their own backyard and drinking poisonous water — almost 70 per cent of which is contaminated with the deadly enterovirus which causes polio.
Not only that, WHO tests carried out on the samples from these wells, have revealed the presence of other crippling viruses too — hepatitis and cholera to name two.

Consuming this deadly cocktail every day makes the people vulnerable to a number of diseases, but none as grave as polio, which has technically no cure, and to eradicate which the government has spent nearly Rs 26 billion till date.

Excerpt from DNA, reported by Ashwin Aghor on December 26, 2009: Read Full Article : Disaster is around the corner for Mumbai

Mumbai, beware! The list of most polluted industrial clusters in the country, which were announced on Thursday, figures five in and around the city. Domivli, Navi Mumbai, Tarapur, Chembur and Pimpri-Chinchwad are names that appear in the top 50 most polluted areas out of the 88 areas identified by the Union environment and forest ministry.

The areas have reached their top level in terms of air, water and land pollution. And, the worst is that all the five clusters have reached critical levels of pollution, which has forced the Centre to put on hold expansion in these areas.

Chembur, which ranks 46 in the list, with a comprehensive environment pollution index (CEPI) of 69.19 has chemical industries, a power plant and refineries that have severely affected marine life in Mahul creek.

Chembur residents, who have chemical factories and refineries as their neighbours, have been complaining about the pollution for a long time. Frequent breathing problems that the residents have to bear are being ignored by the authorities.