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News
Mangroves ruined root and branch
The Forest Department has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife to protect the mangrove cover and include the local population in promotion of mangroves in Puducherry. The move has come following extensive damage to the mangroves in the region.
With the new proposal, the Forest Department will attempt to re-plant the mangroves and with the cooperation of the locals, they can ensure that the mangroves will thrive, Conservator of Forests A. Anil Kumar told The Hindu.
While one of the main reasons for mangrove damage and destruction is untreated sewage water being released into the mangroves, there are several other problems. When the boats were being cleared after the cyclone Thane backhoe loaders were used and an entire stretch of mangroves was pulled out from the roots, he said.
Much of the destruction of the mangroves is in the Ariyankuppam and the Thengathittu areas, he said.
Tsunami Scare Shows Gaps as Thousands Miss Quake Warnings
Khairil Razali thought a tire had blown out as his white Mitsubishi Strada pickup shuddered on the road as he drove to Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra.
GIS-based system to assess disaster damage
The Union Territory of Puducherry is the first in the country to incorporate a GIS-based Decision Support System to help simulate the damage that could occur during a natural disaster, according to Special Secretary P. Mathew Samuel, who is holding charge as District Collector.
The online decision making system also has the capability to estimate the quantum of damage that a natural disaster would produce, he told a stakeholders' meeting for the State Disaster Management Plan here on Friday.
Joint Secretary (Education) L. Mohammed Mansoor said one of the main enhancements the new plan had brought in was engaging villagers.
MP for interest-free loans to cyclone-hit
Cuddalore MP K.S. Alagiri has appealed to the nationalised banks to sanction interest free loan to the extent of Rs.1 lakh to each of the cyclone affected farmers.
In a representation addressed to E. Sundararajan, Zonal Manager of Indian Bank (which is the lead bank in Cuddalore district) Mr. Alagiri stated that since Cuddalore was a predominantly agriculture based economy the ‘Thane' cyclone that struck on December 30, 2011 blighted the prospects of a good harvest.
Even if the farmers, particularly those owning cashew and coconut groves, started re-plantation right earnest it would not be before seven to ten years they would reap the benefit.
Therefore, to help the farmers who were economically in a bad shape the banks should come forward to extend interest free loans.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3334711.ece
Tsunami simulations scare Japan
Japan’s government is heeding a key message from last year’s Tohoku earthquake and tsunami: the underwater faults that encircle the country can unleash much greater devastation than previously anticipated. Last week, the cabinet’s disaster-management division briefed local officials on simulations that raise the spectre of waves even larger and more destructive than those last March, sending the officials scrambling to rethink their tsunami defence plans.