Issue 11, Volume 16- an Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media Publication

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Volume 16 Issue 11

An IIJNM Publication

THE WEEK THAT WAS NATIONAL

Trouble at Home A family feud in UP’s Samajwadi Party played out dramatically over the past week, which Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav are still trying to work out amicably.

INTERNATIONAL Judgement day nears The Republican and Democratic camps in the U.S. are wrapping up their final campaigns as the Election Day in the country comes closer. Different polls by the media show a tightly fought race .

Tremors in Italy Italy’s National Vulcanology Center says about 23 of the 60-odd tremors carried a magnitude of more than 3.0,the aftershocks sent residents running to the streets

SPORTS Comeback for New Zealand New Zealand defeat India by 19 runs in the fourth one day international match at Ranchi yesterday, levelling the series 2-2. The final match will be played on Saturday at Visakhapatnam.

BUSINESS Ratan Tata takes over

Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry was replaced by interim Chairman Ratan Tata following which the company’s board has named a fivemember search committee, which includes Tata, to choose a successor to Mistry. Source: The Hindu

RBI alerts citizens on Fake Currency RBI asks citizens to make it a habit to examine the notes during transactions, expressing concern over the high circulation of fake currency notes of Rs. 500 ,Rs. 1,000 denomination this Diwali.

TECHNOLOGY Microsoft ups ante

Microsoft’s, announced the launch of a new Surface Book laptop, a Surface Studio PC aimed at professionals, a Surface Dial for interacting with these devices, and a Windows 10 Creators update.

THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2016

STPs working at 40 percent capacity, says BWSSB Cherry Agarwal cherry.a@iijnm.org BENGALURU: The absence of well-connected sewage lines and the under-performance of sewage treatment plants is resulting in release of untreated sewage into nearby basins, say Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is duty-bound to provide water and sewage treatment services to areas under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagra Palike’s (BBMP) jurisdiction, says Tushar Girinath, BWSSB chairman. But raw sewage is flowing into storm water drains, basins and water bodies resulting in undrinkable groundwater and dead lakes. “We are working at a [sewage treatment] capacity of 40-45 percent. We are going to increase our capacity during 2018-2019 and by 2021 we are going to catch up to 1,300 million litres per day,” after more pipelines are laid, Girinath said. The 1,300 million litres per day excludes waste generated from unaccounted sources, especially borewells, said Girinath. “The untreated waste is also going through orifices, into some basins,” he added. S Vishwanath, director of Biome Environmental Solutions, said the impact of continuous discharge of raw sewage is polluting ground and surface water and will result in dead lakes. “This means

Vrishabhavathi Valley treatment plant, one of BWSSB's largest STP,

currently works at two-thirds of its design capacity. | Leo Regan that there would be no life in the lake – no fishes, no birds, nothing,” he said. The city needs a chain of sewage treatment plants in the city and town municipal areas, Girinath said. “We are just not trying to provide water but also laying down main sewer pipeline in those areas,” he said. While the pipelines are being laid, 60 percent of the untreated sewage ends in storm water drains, said Ramakrishna S.M., chief engineer of the waste water management zone for BWSSB. With the city consuming more than 1,450 million litres of water daily, the lakes could be contaminated before the sewer network is completed.

Soak pits: Until the pipelines are laid, people in the seven erstwhile City Mu-

Funds insufficient for health care Supriya.D supriya.d@iijnm.org Bengaluru: According to the Economic Survey 2015-2016, India spends only 1.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare, making it difficult for public hospitals to provide quality services to patients, say healthcare advocates. “The total expenditure for health is only 1.62 percent of the whole budget out of which the National Health Mission has a share of less than one percent,” said Ameer Khan, of Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action. “The government is deviating from the core strategies of the National Health Mission - there is no increase in allocation for the health sector. It appears to move towards a public-private partnership mode of operation,” Khan said.India’s per capita government expenditure on healthcare in 2012 was $60 USD, while that of the U.S. was $4,153, according to World Health Statistics 2015. “One of the challenges in public hospitals is the patientdoctor ratio. There are fewer doctors in these hospitals to treat a large number of patients. The 1.3 per cent of GDP spent on health care is insufficient to provide quality services to the patients,”

said Dr. Harshad Rajge, a specialist at MGM Hospital in Mumbai. “The consultancy fee charged by the private hospitals is quite high and hence, no matter what, the patients prefer government hospitals compromising on the quality of services.’’ The poor quality of services provided by government hospitals has been one prominent reason why India has the highest infant mortality rates among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India has only one bed for every 1,050 patients and 0.07 percent doctors per 1,000 patients. “As on March 31, 2015, there was a shortage of 3,002 doctors at primary health centres in rural areas,” said Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health and Welfare, Delhi. According to statistical data provided by The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency, the 2016 infant mortality rate in India is 40.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. India registered 27.5 male deaths per 1,000 live births last year compared to 34.2 female deaths per 1,000 live births, records by The World Factbook shows.

nicipal Corporations, one Town Municipal Corporation and the 110 villages – which were added to the Palike’s jurisdiction in 2007 – will have to use soak pits, Girinath said. A soak pit, or leach pit, is a covered, porous-walled hole in the ground that filters sewage from water. The disadvantage of a soak pit is that it requires effluents to be settled before entering the pit, according to Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management’s website. Therefore, soaks pits require construction of extra infrastructure.

Decentralisationof sewage treatment plants: Despite working at 40 percent capacity, officials are looking at decentralizing sewage treatment plants. In an earlier notification, the water supply board mandated con-

struction of sewage treatment plants or grey water treatment plants, in all residences, educational institutions and commercial complexes based on their built-up areas to reduce discharge of untreated sewage. “Centralization will help partly. De-centralization is the way forward,” said Ramakrishna. “We need not carry the sewage over long distances by laying big pipelines; it can be treated there and reused, while the rest of the treated water can be released into the open drains.” Decentralization increases the risk of unchecked release of raw sewage into rivers and lakes. “You have to make sure they [STP’s] work well and the regulator who makes sure that it works well has to be on his toes all the time,” Vishwanath added. “There is checking for everything,” Ramakrishna said. BWSSB and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board will conduct the checks, he said. Ramakrishna said dual piping would allow reuse of the treated water, reducing pressure for Cauvery water, he adds. Despite its environmental viability, decentralization would mean added cost for residents. Setting up one sewage treatment plant can cost about ten lakhs to fifteen lakhs. Hence it would become cost effective only with apartments more than eighty in number, expert says.

Karnataka records low fish yeild; country loses three crore Divya R divya..r@iijnm.org Bengaluru: The country’s fish production is down dramatically due to odd rainfall distribution in marine regions like Mangalore, Karwar and Bangalore ports, according to Kumaraswamy, the assistant directorate of Karnataka State Fisheries Department. The production of both marine and inland fish has fallen to 5.81 lakh metric tonnes in 2015-16 from 6.12 lakh metric tonnes, said Kumaraswamy. Export value has decreased by 3 crore compared to last year, according to the Marine Products Export Development Authority. Karnataka, which accounts for a significant part of the country’s total fish exports, is a major producer of both marine and inland fish, including shrimp. India ranks fifth in the world for fish and seafood exports with $4.6 billion USD in revenue, according to the United Nations. According to Seenappa, chief scientific officer of Inland Fisheries at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Hebbal, “Promoting inland fisheries is of prime importance. There should be a strategic system for seed banking. This is a huge problem because in the breeding season [May-August], there is no rainfall and in the rainy season [after September] there are no

seeds.” He added saying, “More than 20,000 tanks in the state have transferred ownership to Gram Panchayats for revenue. Among them, only 10-15% is being utilised, the rest are exploited. Essential training and education is necessary to make sure the perennial tanks are not exploited affecting the ecology of fishes.”

DOODLE WOODLE

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