Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

City solar firm completes 640 KW projects in Manipur

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Solar energy solutions provider Freyr Energy has completed 640 KW solar rooftop projects in Manipur.

Announcing this, a release from the Hyderabad-based firm on Wednesday said the list of projects include off-grid 100 KW battery-powered systems. The inverter maximises solar power generation and helps stabilise power from the grid. It also has the functionality to smartly optimise and export solar power when the cost of grid power is at its highest, and draws power when it is low. The system helps withstand power fluctuations and guarantees power round the clock and can also be monitored remotely, the company said.

Co-Founder and Managing Director of Freyr Energy Saurabh Marda said the projects were completed within the stipulated timeline of six months. The projects include four 100 KW system each in City Convention Centre, Interstate Bus Terminus, National Sports Academy Hostel in Imphal and at the Central Agricultural University. The project supports the Khwairamband Bazaar through a 50 KW system, which is incidentally, the world’s only all-women marketplace and one of Imphal’s main tourist attractions. The systems were installed at various government buildings after the company bagged the tender from the Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency, the release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – April 05th, 2018

Putting waste to good use

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology
Ajay Popat, president of Ion Exchange (India) Ltd, addressing the media in the city on Thursday.

Ion Exchange sets up waste-to-energy project with ₹7 crore

Water and environment management solutions provider Ion Exchange (India) Ltd commissioned a waste-to-energy project in Hyderabad that integrates technology to combine solid organic waste and waste water to generate power, purified water and fertilizer.

The company intends to use the facility, established at Akshaya Patra’s community kitchen on the city outskirts, as a demonstration project for prospective customers.

Stating that it was the country’s first such waste-to-energy system, Ion Exchange (India) president Ajay Popat said it was based on the ANDICOS (anaerobic digestion by combining waste stream) design. While projects based on ANDICOS had been deployed for the industrial consumers, it was being used for the first time for community segment, he told presspersons here on Thursday.

Organic fertilizer

The project, established by the company at Akshaya Patra, has a capacity to treat around 1,000 kg of organic kitchen waste and 2-6 cubic metre of sewage sludge on a daily basis. It will generate about 20KW/H of electrical power along with 1.35 tonnes of organic fertilizer per day.

Noting that the company had set up the plant with ₹7 crore, Mr. Popat said the company would be showcasing the facility to prospective customers in the government. Among the agencies that were either working or evaluating the prospects of engaging with Ion Exchange include the municipal corporation of Mumbai, Delhi Jal Board as well as the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) on behalf of the Telangana government.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 30th, 2018

Indian company among finalists in ‘water from air’ competition

Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Los Angeles-based XPRIZE, which designs incentive competitions to solve humanity’s big challenges, is running the water abundance prize with the support of the Tata Group and Australian Aid.

Indian startup Uravu that has developed a technology to create water from the air is among the five finalists in a global competition. The two-year competition is to create a device that extracts a minimum of 2,000 liters of water per day from the air using 100% renewable energy.

The Hyderabad-based company will compete with four other companies in the final round of the Water Abundance XPRIZE, worth $ 1.75 million. The five finalists were selected from 98 teams in the previous round, from 25 countries, and will share a $250,000 milestone prize purse. The winners will receive $ 1.5 million, to be announced in August 2018.

Los Angeles-based XPRIZE, which designs incentive competitions to solve humanity’s big challenges, is running the water abundance prize with the support of the Tata Group and Australian Aid.

Uravu is run by a multidisciplinary team of five, with engineering, sciences, architecture and design backgrounds. The young team says it “believes in working on hard problems which are technologically achievable and also culturally and socially salient.” “Solving challenges around water not only requires amazing technology but also empathy and systems thinking,” a release from XPRIZE said on the team’s vision.

Led by Swapnil Shrivastav, Amit, Bharath, Sandeep and Venkatesh are other members of the group. “….the team is developing a completely off-grid water from air device, spinning together the magic of material sciences and solar thermal energy,” the release said. A scalable device of this nature could revolutionise access to fresh water.

The finalists will begin round 2 testing in July 2018 at a location to be determined. During this phase, teams must fully demonstrate that their device can extract a minimum of 2,000 liters of water per day from the atmosphere using 100 percent renewable energy, at a cost of no more than two cents per liter, XPRIZE said. “At the end of this testing phase, the team whose solution enables the greatest ability to create decentralized access to water – giving people the power to access fresh water whenever and wherever they need it” will win the prize.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> International / by Varghese K. George / Washington – March 22nd, 2018

Hyderabad varsity faculty wins Young Scientist Award

Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology
Governor of Imphal Najma Heptulla has presented the Young Scientist Award to Dr Murali Banavoth in 105th ISC.

Dr Banavoth has been conferred with three Young Scientist Awards till now, after his joining the University of Hyderabad in January 2017, according to a press release.

Hyderabad:

For his contributions to the solar energy research during the 105th Indian Science Congress (ISC) held at Manipur University, Imphal from March 16 to 20, Dr Murali Banavoth, faculty in the School of Chemistry at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been conferred with the Young Scientist Award in the Materials Science domain.

India Science Congress Association is a professional body under Department of Science & Technology and Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. The 105th Science Congress, was attended by about 5,000 delegations including scientists, scholars and researchers from all across the country with a focal theme: “Reaching the unreached through Science and Technology”. Governor of Imphal Najma Heptulla has presented the awards.

Dr Banavoth has been conferred with three Young Scientist Awards till now, after his joining the University of Hyderabad in January 2017, according to a press release. After obtaining his Ph.D., from Indian Institute of Science, he had moved to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at Solar Center as a post-doctoral associate and carried out pioneering work in the field of hybrid functional materials for solar harvesting, the release added.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home / by T Lalith Singh / March 21st, 2018

Forest officer saves trees and dignity of his department too

Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Nature
Braving odd: The gutsy Indhanpalli Forest Range Officer R. Srinivas Rao who saved several trees braving immense political pressure. | Photo Credit: S_HARPALSINGH

Refusing to succumb to official pressure, gutsy FRO chalks out alternative road diversion plan in Kawal Tiger Reserve

The likes of R. Srinivas Rao, the Forest Range Officer (FRO) of Indhanpalli range in Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR), are a rare species in the State. As many as 30 trees stand testimony to his steely resolve towards protection of the forest, which would otherwise have been stripped of greenery for creating a road diversion.

Braving immense political and official pressure, the gutsy forest officer saved several trees, thereby upholding the honour and dignity of his department. Not just that, he even demonstrated that damage to environment can be minimised if enough thought is given to the otherwise conventional idea of ‘development’.

The government has taken up the task of strengthening old bridges passing through KTR, mostly in Mancherial and Nirmal districts. It is alleged that the developmental work was taken up without due permission and a good number of trees were felled when new and large bridges until Jannaram from Luxettipet side were commissioned to create diversion from inside the forest.

Mr. Rao, who took over as FRO of Indhanpalli just six months ago, however, did not allow cutting of trees when R&B authorities wanted to create a diversion from the new bridge near the Anjaneya temple.

“I did not recommend felling of the 30 fully matured trees, 18 of which are teak, as it meant a lot of destruction just to create a diversion,” he says.

The not-so-busy Luxettipet-Nirmal road is 66 feet wide and the bridge needed to have a width of 10 metres. No tree was needed to be sacrificed for expanding the existing three-metre wide bridge, the FRO felt. “I wanted the R&B officials and the contractor to explore the possibility of a diversion without felling even a single tree. What I got instead of a plan was calls from various quarters to relent,” chuckles Mr. Rao.

Finally, the road authorities themselves relented and worked as per the plan shared by the forest officer. That included not just sparing the trees but setting up of the camp for the workforce away from the site of the bridge.

“I ensured that the camp was not set up at the place as wild animals criss-cross the area in the night. There would have been lot of disturbance in the forest due to movement of labourers,” the FRO signs off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by S. Harpal Singh / Indhanpalli (Mancherial District) / March 17th, 2018

An eventful year for the seed sector in Telangana

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Seed exported to a few OECD countries for the first time this year

The year that is coming to an end has been the most eventful for the seed sector of Telangana since it has seen the State taking the leadership role at the national level and also making a mark at the international level with export of seed under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) programme.

Setting the house in order first, the State government ensured timely availability of seed before the commencement of every agriculture season for the last three years, although the problem of inferior quality seed raised its head every now and then. As it had little or no powers to deal with the spurious seed issue/offenders, the State government amended an existing law bringing the subject under the purview of Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act.

Admitting that all incidents of farmers suffering losses due to spurious seed may not have been addressed, a senior officer of the Agriculture Department said: “A good beginning has been made this year by making two seed companies pay compensation to chilli farmers in Gadwal, Khammam and Warangal (Rural) districts after they suffered crop loss due to inferior quality seed”.

On the other hand, the Telangana government hosted stakeholders’ conferences on OECD seed certification twice and national meeting of public sector seed entities towards improving the quality of seed to international standards. It was decided to promote inter-State sale of seed by public sector entities to make them affordable to the farming community.

“We have mooted setting up seed export promotion council and a centre of excellence to promote seed exports through single window system to OECD countries in South and South East Asia and Africa and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare is examining it,” Agriculture Production Commissioner C. Parthasarathi, who has been recently appointed as co-chairman of the national task force on OECD seed schemes, said when contacted.

After becoming the nodal agency for OECD seed certification for four States, Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Agency (TSSOCA) has achieved the distinction of exporting sorghum and paddy seed for the first time to Sudan, Philippines, Vietnam and Egypt. “About 17,000 qunitals seed raised with international standards in 2,271 acres in Telangana has been exported to those countries and we have plans to increase it to 50,000 quintals this year from over 6,000 acres,” Director of TSSOCA K. Keshavulu explained.

One more recognition that has come to the Telangana State seed sector this year is selection of Mr. Keshavulu as the chairman of the advisory council of the International Seed Testing Association to coordinate the international seed agencies and the seed industry. The Union Agriculture Ministry has already appointed him as the nodal officer for taking up a field-level study for the country’s membership in the Europe Equivalence.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by B. Chandrashekhar / Hyderabad – December 29th, 2017

Kacheguda becomes India’s first energy-efficient railway station

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology, Travel
File photo of the Kacheguda railway station in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: P.V.SIVAKUMAR

Kacheguda Railway Station under the South Central Railway (SCR) has earned the unique distinction of being the first Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station on Indian Railways.

The station has achieved 100% energy efficiency by replacing 1,312 conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, among other steps. About 370 ceiling fans, too, were replaced with energy efficient Brushless DC Electrical (BLDC) motors fans, and 12 air conditioners with energy efficient inverter-type air conditioners. All these measures would save about 1.76 lakh units and ₹14.08 lakh per annum with reduction of the connected load by 46.18 kW for Railways, said General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav.

Complimenting Divisional Railway Manager Arun Kumar Jain and his colleagues V. Venkata Ramana and P. Prem Kumar for the feat, Mr. Yadav said they had put in extensive efforts to achieve this distinction.

Kacheguda Railway station is a historic building and had completed 100 years. Situated in the heart of Hyderabad, it was built in 1916 by the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway during the reign of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Geetanath / Hyderabad – December 08th, 2017

Pattiseema Project sets another record

Amazing Feats, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All

Hyderabad :

Pattiseema project has added another feather to its hat. Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL), which set a record in the execution of the Pattiseema project, has set another record by diverting 100 TMC of water from River Godavari to River Krishna through a lift system in 148 days.

Pattiseema project is a prestigious project of the AP government that has linked both Krishna and Godavari. The project was taken up to divert 80 TMC of water from Godavari and Krishna in 110 days. In this year, the project has diverted 100 TMC of water in 148 days. This is an increase of 20% over the intended usage of the project.

Official sources said Pattiseema is the only project in India to divert 100 TMC of water in one season. In this year, 98% of the acreage under river Krishna has been brought under cultivation.

“Normally, in any lift irrigation project, the pumps and motors are put to use only for three months or less every year. In Pattiseema project, all the 24 motors have been functional for the last 4 months. The 24 motors, one lakh twenty thousand hours, 159 TMC of diverted water,” a senior official of AP Irrigation department said.

Interestingly, the project was completed before time by the project contractor MEIL and subsequently entered into the Limca Book of Records for diverting 100 TMC of water this year from River Godavari to Krishna Delta. The works began on March 30, 2015 and completed the works by March 20, 2016.

Officials said Pattiseema is the first project in India to be completed on time without any budgetary enhancements. In spite of many challenges and setbacks, the government planned diligently and employed a workforce of 2,000 to complete the project. The first pump was made functional in 173 days (on 18th September 2015) and water was released.

According to a release, the pump house which is spread across an area of 7476 sq. m. is the largest in Asia. The project pumps 240 cusecs of water through 24 pumps. After the completion of the project, the pumps have been operational for 1.2 lakh hours till now. This means that each pump has been operational for 5000 hours without any hurdles. The pumps were successful in diverting 4 TMC of water in 93 days in the first year (2015), 55.6 TMC of water in 137 days in 2016, and 148 TMC of water till now in 2017.

Irrigation officials said this year, the farmers of Krishna Delta received water to their farmlands in the beginning of July. This has never happened in the past.

These farmers sowed their paddy crops in the months of October and November every year due to water scarcity. They incurred heavy losses when their crops were inundated during the monsoons and other calamities. After the completion of the Pattisam project, the farmers have started receiving water on time. As a result, they are reaping the benefits of a good harvest without any obstacles. The officials from irrigation and water resources department are able to ascertain the actual reason behind such abundant harvests.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News> Civic News / by Koridi Mahesh / TNN / November 16th, 2017

Hyderabad: 1,000 kgs of waste recycled to make cube-glass stools, rubber planters

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

After the summit, the street furniture will be shifted to parks or the Necklace Road.

Trash piled up at a collection centre in Hyderabad on Monday. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad:

A tonne of trash, 85 used rubber tyres and four drums disposed of by residents in the west zone have been used to make street furniture for the Global Entrepreneur’s Summit to be held in Hyderabad from November 28.

Two tetra-pack toilets, a cube glass stool, furniture made from rubber tyres and tiles made of plastic will be displayed near HICC, the venue of the summit, from November 26. The trash was collected from the dry waste centre at Serilingampally. After the summit, the street furniture will be shifted to parks or the Necklace Road.

A sculpture made of multicoloured chips packets, polythene covers, plastic bottles, metal wires and old shoes will be placed at the entrance of HICC. The cube-glass stools, currently displayed on Madhapur street, are made of both metal angles and 8 mm toughened glass filled with scrap such as chips packets and soft drink cans.

Some 85 discarded rubber tyres were made into an all-weather sofa set that can be used both indoors and outdoors. The metal drums have been fashioned into chairs and tables.

Prashanth Lingam of Bamboo India, who has worked on these items in coordination with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, said that the scrap was provided free of cost by the GHMC which also paid for the labour.

He said 1,000 kgs of trash was recycled to make the cube-glass stools, rubber planters, rubber based sofa, and tiles made of plastic.

“We are working on a tetra pack toilet and trash man. The idea is to showcase recycling using daily used scrap and put it to functional use in public spaces as a street art form or public utility,” he said.

West Zone Municipal Commissioner Hari Chandana Dasari said, “GHMC is making efforts to promote recycling and reuse waste. The street furniture is all made from waste that people have generated. The wrappers were collected by GHMC teams and the tyres were mostly from heavy duty GHMC vehicles which will be used as planters.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Coreena Suares, Deccan Chronicle / November 14th, 2017

It’s time to say goodbye to Kodurupaka

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All
A villager expressing his pain of leaving the village through a wall writing on his ancestral house in Kodurupaka village. | Photo Credit: By K M Dayashankar

SRSP waters forces villagers to bid an emotional farewell to their ancestral homes

“Feeling so sad to leave my sweet home” is written on the wall of a house in Kodurupaka village of Vemulawada mandal in Rajanna-Sircilla district, which is submerged under the Mid Manair Reservoir (MMR) project.

Incidentally, Kodurupaka is the native village of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s in-laws.

An eerie silence prevails over the village which now has only empty structures without roof, doors or windows. The villagers could be seen packing their belongings to move to their allocated Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) colonies on the Karimnagar-Vemulawada road.

Empty shells

“This house, was a home to my grandfather, my father and I and my kids. We are leaving it as it would be submerged under the MMR project. While going we are taking away the roof, doors and windows,” said B. Shankar, a former MPP in emotionally choked voice. He has since moved to Karimnagar town with his belongings and is building a new house in the R&R colony, which does not even have basic infrastructure.

As the MMR neared completion and crest gates were being fixed, the Irrigation Department authorities decided to store at least five TMCFT of water in the reservoir. But, the project oustees refused to leave their homes during the Dasara and Diwali festivals when the SRSP waters were released from the flood flow canal into the MMR.

At that time, the Irrigation and Revenue officials urged the villagers to vacate the village as the MMR would be filled with 10 TMCFT of water against its storage capacity of 26 TMCFT.

2BHK dreams

With the water entering the village, the villagers had no option but to leave their ancestral homes. Hurriedly, they shifted to Vemulawada, Sircilla and adjoining villages and also Karimnagar town and took shelter there as they had not built their houses in the allocated R&R colonies.

When asked why they did not build houses, the villagers said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao during his maiden visit to Vemulawada temple town in June 2015 had announced that the government would construct double-bedroom houses for MMR land oustees at a cost of ₹5.4 lakh each.

“We hoped that the CM’s promise would materialise, but in vain. Now, we are struggling to build new houses in R&R colonies,” complained Venkataiah of Kodurupaka village.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> City> Hyderabad / by K.M. Dayashankar / Rajanna-Sircilla – November 04th, 2017