PALNI HILLS CONSERVATION COUNCIL 16th ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 The Executive Committee which met 11 times last year to oversee the activities of the council hereby presents its report to the members: Executive Committee : 1. Mr.J.Nath President 2. Fr.Rev.K.M.Matthew Vice President 3. Mr.Navroz Mody Vice President 4. Mrs.Girija Viraraghavan Secretary 5. Mr.Nevil Moncher Joint Secretary 6. Mr.R.Kannan Treasurer 7. Mr.M.S.Viraraghavan Executive Committee Member 8. Mr.Israel Bhooshi Executive Committee Member 9. Mr.George Roshan Executive Committee Member 10. Mr.V.Sampath Executive Committee Member 11. Mr.Vijay Kumar Executive Committee Member 12. Mrs.Rebecca Chacko Executive Committee Member 13. Mr.Rajagopal Dorai Raja Executive Committee Member Membership: The total number of members of the council as on 31st March 2001 is as follows: Life Members 161 Annual Members 29 Institutional Members 2 Introduction: The first inaugural meeting of the Council had the prophecy of Rev.Fr.Matthew who predicted that there could be another Bhopal here at Kodaikanal. But we were able to stop the catastrophe waiting to happen when a wasteyard containing glass waste with mercury was discovered and action taken to prevent the further spillage of mercury downstream by a transnational corporation. The Natural resource management projects have been progressing well. Last year despite the failure of the North East Monsoon we have managed to distribute, plant and grow 250 000 seedlings as part of our tree growing efforts. The outgoing executive committee hereby presents its annual report to the members: Upper Palnis Centres a. Kodaikanal Centre and office The town has only one Industry and it had the most dangerous element used as the prime product. The product was thermometers and it contained mercury. About five years ago concern was raised in our AGM meeting and we promised to look in to the matter. All queries to the industry in question were met with replies that soon the process will make digital thermometers and not mercury containing ones any more. That the Transnational corporation was running in to waste disposal problems and resorted to selling broken thermometers with mercury inside for any one interested. We found that it was possible to buy these with Hg in them at Rs.1.00 per kg for use a glass spikes to stick to your compound wall. Many bungalows were purchasing and using it. Shops around the lake were using this as thorns to prevent people using their backyard as urinals. Thus there was spreading around of mercury in all possible manner at Kodaikanal. In effect the TNC was creating a Bhopal out of Kodaikanal - the words of Fr.Matthew almost came true. The council in cooperation with Green Peace organised a protest on March 7th 2001. Activists from all over Tamil Nadu were called within a short span of 24 hours and about 400 protesters marched in to the premises of the company Hindustan Lever Ltd. The demands of the protest were to Stop porduction at the facility immediately; clean up all mercury spilled in to the environment; pay compensation to workers and damage to environment. Initially denying the charges the company management attributed the disposal to human error but later agreed to investigate and camp up with the truth. That they have been selling waste to avoid a disposal problem. The production has been suspended and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has constituted a Hazardous Waste Disposal committee for overseeing the decontamination of the entire site off mercury that includes removal of some 4500 tonnes of top soil that has high levels of mercury. The factory premises still have glass waste that contains mercury and the management has agreed to remove all such waste to a safe storage dump in the plains considering the geographical location of the place, which can lead to a situation where toxic wastes can leach down to the Vaigai. The workers of the factory for the past 17 years that, the company has been producing thermometers have been demanding compensation for damages to their health due to exposure to mercury. On World Environment Day a hunger strike was observed in front of the factory in which more than 700 people participated. About 1000 people signed a register to voice their concern about mercury pollution. Further the council also kept a stall at the Bryant Park for the Flower Show where all works of the Council were exhibited. About 1200 people visited the stall and signed a campaign register that was a protest against mercury waste dumping by the transnational corporation. The shola conservation tree nursery: The nursery at our office premises has the work of collecting and germinating shola species. During the past year the nursery has managed to germinate and grow 9000 seedlings of about 40 different species. The nursery has managed to sell 2200 plants from this nursery and has a stock of 7000 seedlings at present. Medicinal plant collection: The medicinal plant germplasm collection has steadily risen and the present stock is 90 species with a total plant number of 1000. The future work is to start multiplication and distribution of the useful specie to the public. We have conducted many environmental awareness programmes for students about the importance of preserving the shola forests of Kodaikanal. The students participated in an one day programme for cleaning the shola of plastic bags left by the tourists. Apiary: The apiary has been conducting trials with queen rearing and this season we have managed to successfully rear queens during the summer swarming season and have produced seven new colonies. The apiary has all five types of hives that the council has used for experimenting. The bamboo hive fabricated for the plains has worked here satisfactorily for the past one year. The apiary maintains about 38 colonies in and around Kodaikanal. Water Quality monitoring programme: The programme has conducted 19 environment awareness camps that has benefited about 435 students and 30 teachers from 15 schools. Since the project now uses a portable kit the water quality parameters have been tested at different locations apart from the Kodaikanal lake. The researchers have conducted water testing and environment awareness programmes at Poombarai; Pannaikadu; Thandigudi; Devadhanapatty; G. Kallupatti and Batlagundu. The students are taught concepts in pollution from plastic manufacturing industry and the environmental effects of paper production. They undertake a quiz programme where they learn about conservation problems with wildlife; pollution of air and water; noise pollution etc. The water testing is done for ground water; municipal or panchayat water supply and stream water. The parameters monitored are pH;fluoride; nitrate; , Iron, Hardness; Residual Chlorine, chloride and coliform bacteria. The surface waters are tested for pH; iron; ammonia, phosphorus; and temperature. There were two programmes for undergraduates of the Mother Teresa University at Kodaikanal on water quality of the Kodaikanal lake. Which is deteriorating day by day. The water quality has deteriorated due to anthropogenic activities around the lake. The Secchi disk depth recorded a maximum of 7.5 mts and a minimum of 1.5 mts clarity recorded was only 95 cms. The Dissolved Oxygen levels have shown a minimum of 4.2 mg/litre and a maximum of 5.4 mg per litre. This compared to the 1998-99 levels of DO of above 6.0 mg per litre at allseasons shows the declining quality of water. Further we have detected phosphate level of 1.00mg per litre which is the best for algae growth. There was also Ferrous content of max 3.0 mg per litre; min 0.5 mg/litre and an ammonia level of 0.2 mg per litre. The submerged macrovegetation mostly comprising of hydrilla lay siege to more than 60 % of the water spread. Thus the lake bottom is now almost dark in colour. Though the Lillies have been removed mechanically there is no assurance that they will not come back as only the floating portions have been weeded out leaving the roots underwater intact. There are now more than 165 minishops around the Bender Lock Road towards the Municipality Office. Out of these there are atleast 80 that are also catering centres for the tourists that serve mostly nonvegetarian food to the visitors. All effluents from these setup enters the lake waters only enriching the same with more nutrients in addition to the 850 toilets that not the lake watershed. The council met the Central Minister for Environment and Forests and presented him a fact sheet concerning the problems of nutrient enrichment of the lake. The government has drawn a plan for cleaning up the lake which we hope will be put to work soon. b. Poomparai nursery and community centre The tree nursery situated by the cemetery has distributed mainly peach rootstock for the farmers in the area who wish to make the landuse change from temperate vegetables to orchard crops. Last season we have distributed 6500 seedlings to farmers in the area. The nursery also has distributed timber trees for planting as shelterbelts in the farmland. The present stock at the nursery is 15600 plants. The community centre started in July 1999 is continuing and 100 students are attending the evening classes everyday. We have also started an apiary here with 5 Colonies and hope to multiply the colonies to get more colonies for the area. A survey conducted for assessing the extent of firewood collection revealed that there are more than 300 headloaders everyday who take wood from the wattle plantations. c. Shenbaganur nursery and community centre The nursery stocks fruit; timber and flowering plants for supply to the farmers in the area. Last season the nursery facilitated planting 8750 seedlings in farmers fields. The planting stock is mainly peach that is grafted the next year with plum or pear. The present stock in the nursery is 14,500 seedlings. The community centre conducts evening classes for 30 students everyday. A survey of firewoood collection for fuel by head loaders was conducted in Perambukkanal and Tiger shola areas. It was found that only about 20 healoaders are collecting firewood from the sholas. d. Melpallam Nursery and apiary The nursery managed to distribute 3,500 plants during the last season to farmers in the area. The present stock is 7000 Seedlings. The tribals at the Savurikadu area are the main beneficiaries of the programme. The apiary here has been stagnant with 15 colonies of Apis cerana indica. e. Vilpatti The nursery stocks mainly peach seedlings and it is supplied to farmers who wish to convert their lands in to orchards. We have also tried and managed to plant some shola species along with peach seedlings. During the last season 4500 seedlings have been distributed to farmers. The present nursery stock is 6200 seedlings. F. Pallangi The nursery stocks only peach seedling for supply to farmers. Last year we have distributed 4250 seedlings from this nursery. The current stock is 7150 seedlings. Seed collection and germination trials for peach seeds are an activity at this centre. For the copping year about 200 measures of peach seeds have been collected. These are sown after the first rains and breaking seed dormancy is the mainproblem here as the best results of germination gave only 20 percent success. Middle Palnis Centres g. Patlankadu The centre is mainly for multiplication of apis cerana colonies and training beekeepers. Last year the centre managed rear queens on two occasions and has trained 25 people in to beekeeping with Apis cerana indica. It maintains 50 colonies of Apis cerana indica out of which 20 are from hybird queens. The present work is to concentrate on training 20 more people in to beekeeping and replace aging queens in the colonies that are maintained by trained beekeepers. h. Semmadioothu The reference apiary has now 15 colonies of apis cerana indica. The colony multiplying through queen rearing work can start here soon. The nursery has a stock of 3000 plants of pepper and orange. Due to the slump in coffee prices the coffee seedling stock last year raised could not be distributed to tribal farmers. i. Pachalur apiary We have established a reference apiary here during the last year and the apiary has 12 colonies that are maintained by tribal folks who have undertaken beekeeping training from our centres. We have also conducted training for 10 persons from nearby villages on minimum management techniques for Apis cerana indica. j. Palkadai The nursery functions from premises and water rented from a farmer in the area. The centre also serves as an extension centre for training tribals in to apiculture with Apis cerana indica. The farmers in the area last year lifted 8000 seedlings and 1800 mango grafts for planting on their fields. At present the nursery stocks 12,000 seedlings for supply in the coming monsoon season. Last year 15 trainees underwent the six month training course in apiculture. The centre has 10 colonies of Apis cerana indica and has had few failures in trying to rear new queens. k. SVK Kombai The main objective of maintaining the centre on the Northern Slopes of the Palni Hills is to preserve the habitat for the Grizzled Giant Squirrel Ratufa macroura indica through land use change from the monoculture of lime. The nursery has a stock of 4000 plants and distributed 3000 plants of pepper and coffee to the tribals resident in the enclave last year. The centre has now good facilities for visitors to stay and observe the flora and fauna there. The proposed minor forest produce collection like Phyllanthus embellica and Lemon grass oil extraction could not be taken up due to poor rains during the north east monsoon. Plains Centres l. Athoor Tree Growing and Beekeeping centre The athoor centre has been chosen as a new venue for extension of the apiculture training progamme. The centre has maintained 22 colonies of Apis cerana indica and is producing grafted queens successfully. The apiculture training centre will be located on the main road connecting. Sempatti and Kannivadi as more trainees are likely to benefit from the training programme with easy access to transport facilities. The tree nursery raised 44,200 seedlings during the last year. Out of these 25000 seedlings were supplied to farmers for planting in their farmland as shelterbelts. The current nursery stock is 40,000 seedlings and the target areas is in the Kodaganar Watershed but again on the Dindigul-Batlagundu main road at J.Pudukkottai village where 60 ha. of dryland will be brought under tree growing and horticultural crops. m. Genguvarpatti Environment Education Centre The plains office of the council has now been shifted here and it now functions as a fulltime centre. The centre has established an apiary that is imparting training to farmers around the Manjalar watershed in beekeeping with Apis cerana indica colonies. The centre has improved infrastructural facilities like a computer and phone. The arboretum has been provided with a drip irrigation system that keeps the trees growing. The tree nursery last year raised 43,000 seedlings. The farmers in the villages of Kallupatti; Genguvarpatti and Amsapuram were supplied with 30,000 seedlings for planting as shelterbelts and 3000 grafted mango and sapota budlings as part of the afforestation effort. At present the nursery has a stock of 46,000 seedlings for supply to farmers during the coming monsoon season. Master plan: A master plan for the development of the centre has been drawn up by Mr.Nevil Moncher and will become functional soon. A thatch hut dormitory has been constructed that can accommodate 25 persons. A visiting students group from Sweden used the thatch dormitory for five days and found the stay there very comfortable. THE ALTERNATIVEPARK Technology is felt to be becoming more and more inhuman. Limitless epansionism in a futile environment cannot last long. We need a technology with a human face, non-violent, and that which blends with nature. The Palni Hills Conservation Council has about 20 acres of land at Genguvarpatti, just before ascending for the hills. Here it is intended to estabilish an Alternative Park - to demonstrate a lifestyle based on clean technologies regarding Energy, Housing, Farming and Health. As one walks along the path you see houses with various designs using local materials like stone, mud, brick, bamboo, etc. It is not so much "how to build" as how to choose techniques and materials appropriate to a given situation. A dormitory to accommodate 50 students and a couple of cottages for lecturers will be used for training programs or seminars. A well equipped Auditorium and Library is placed across the dormitories to facilitate training programs. Nearby is a kitchen and dinning hall. All buildings will be different experiment, the features of which would be explain on signboards. It is proposed not to use electricity from the grid. Various types of windmills, solar panels, solar water heaters or cookers, water - wheels, steam power, bio-gas and like would be used to meet all energy requirements. Basic information of each would make it self explanatory. There would be a plot growing a wide range of herbs and vegetables. Various practices in organic farming like compost boxes, bee keeping, companion planting, preparations for controlling pests and diseases, will be displayed. Model kitchen gardens will be grown around the cottages. The medicinal plants section will grow various "forgotten" herbs and explain their uses for curing general ailments. An Exhibit at the entrance will display various write-ups, photos and models to orient one with the philosophy and methodology of the alternate culture. At the Information Centre one could avail details and literature on every subject demonstrated. One could also place an order for any particular system or item to be purchased and delivered. The park will hence be a comprehensive area where Research, Demonstration, Education, Training and Marketing - all act collectively and continuously under one umbrella towards a sustainable lifestyle - A hope for the future!as dreamt by M.K. Gandhi, Who said, "Every machine that helps every individual has a place, but there should be no place for machines that concentrate power in a few hands and turn the masses into machines, if indeed they do not make them unemployed". Training Programme: The centre has become a place for training camps for students and teachers from allover Tamil Nadu. The past year has seen nine environment education programmes in which 297 students and 10 teachers have participated. Most of the programmes are two day events where the trainees get stay one day at the centre to learn about the natural resources of Palni Hills. They are given exposure to various aspects of tree growing; apiculture and bio diversity conservation works at the centre. The beekeeping programme was started during October last year and the centre has now two full time staff managing 14 colonies of Apis cerana indica. The DBF assisted training project has now 15 women and 10 men taking part in the training course. As part of the honeybee resource use the project also collects honey from Honey Hunter sin the area for processing and sale. A small stall has been set up for the purpose at the easternside of the centre. Butterfly collection: After every rain a large number of lepidoptera visit the centre and arboretum. A sample collection revealed that there are more than 40 species of butterflies in the area. Identification of the larval food plants is in progress with a view to develop a garden for butterflies. The centre was frequented by more than 37 species of avifauna that are resident in the nearby scrub jungle. A checklist of birds has been drawn up that is kept ready for birdwatchers to use while at the arboretum. A donation has been received from Biskofs Arnor Folk school for construction of a new dormitory for the visitors and work will start shorty on this based on the master plan. n. Kudhirayar Tree growing and beekeeping centre The centre has become a hub of activity for various activities of the council. The tree nursery raised and distributed 20,000 plants for the farmers in the area despite the poor monsoon rains. The current stock in the tree nursery is 35,000 seedlings. The harvest of minor forest produce by tribals was taken up for phyllanthus embellica; and Terminalia chebula at the centre. A tribal group of women have been organised to provide microcredit to the harvesting men and women so that they can be independent of the contractors. A trial extraction of lemon grass oil was also done at the forests with paliyar tribes who are hunter gatherers. We hope to improve the process to increase the oil yield and reduce firewood consumption. The availability of bamboo and ettha resources at the centre have made it an ideal location for fabrication of the Mulberry hive with these materials. The trainers and trainees together have fabricated 49 topbar hives of the Mulberry Model here. The centre was also the venue for an internal workshop for the trainers who were at the centre for 15 days. The queen rearing programme has been progressing well and the beekeepers at the centre manage 40 colonies of Apis cerana indica out of which 20 are from hybridisation work. The training of village women has been taken up at the centre itself and 15 women have completed training in the past one year period. The nearby village of Andipatti has now 10 colonies of bees that are maintained by 10 trainees who were trained at Andipatti itself. o. Kadavakurichi Joint Forest Management project The project assisted by SIDA has been completed as per the project proposal. The tree planting work with the farmers in the nineteen villages surrounding the kadavakurichi hillock could be taken up only during the North east monsoon season last year. A total number of 30,000 seedlings were supplied to the farmers as part of the land development activities. The educational centres that were conducting evening tuition for the school goers were run for a period of 20 months at the nineteen centres. A total of 450 students attented these classes. An assessement of the performance of the students at the school who are taking part in our tuition was taken up and it was found that the students were faring well in their classes. p. Oddukkam Tree Seed centre: The tree seed centre has been functioning only from sale of seedlings and tree seeds. As the sale of these have been depressed due to the recession in the farming economy the fortunes of the seed centre have been affected. Last year the centre managed to collect and sell more than 2 tonnes of seeds comprising of 67 species. The tree nursery raised and sold 60,000 seedlings. The nursery has a current stock of 80,000 seedlings hoping for a better monsoon in the coming months. The nursery has severe water problems that are also partly due to a housing colony that has sprung up nearby. q. Viruveedu tree and beekeeping centre The centre has received support from Intercooperation, Bangalore for taking up tree growing in drylands belonging to marginal and small farmers. As part of the programme about 20,000 trees have been planted in the three villages of Valayapatti; Thathapatti and Viruveedu. The nursery has a stock of 65,000 seedlings and plans to raise another 15,000 seedlings for the coming planting season. The sale proceedings from the nursery are now kept in a bank account for the women who work in the nursery. It is proposed to make them function sustainably from the coming season through sale of seedlings. The project also provides sheep and draught animals to village women and farmers through Self Help Groups. The animals are purchased with 50% contribution from project and the other half from the beneficiaries. The objective of the programme is to improve the nutritional status of the drylands and increase income for the women. The programme is progressing well with loan repayment by members on schedule. The DBF assisted beekeeping extension has been able to train 15 women and 10 men in to keeping Apis cerana colonies in the valayapatti and Thathapatti area with good forage of Moringa and Coconut farms. The centre has also been successful in producing grafted queens for the trainees. Out of the 45 colonies that are monitored by the project beekeepers about 20 are having hybrid queens. The centre has been experimenting with making topbar hives from baked clay. Thus far we have produced 10 such hives in which the bees are functioning satisfactorily for the past one year. The hives are locally made and cost little, so that would be beekeepers will be able to procure these from the village potter for themselves. r. Minor Field Studies: An update of the Nilgiri tahr survey was done at the various remote sites where the tahr is found, by our staff and a student of ecology. It is learnt that the tahr population is increasing and thriving despite the loss of habitat and other threats. Conclusion: The year has been a very significant one from the point of view of pollution prevention. We have in co-operation with Green Peace prevented a major watershed contamination with mercury. The task now remains to clean up the toxic wastes that are still accumulated at the site of thermometer production. Despite the poor monsoon we have managed to cover a reasonable target in our ecodevelopment activities. This been made possible by grants from our donors who have contributed to the various projects. The field work of the projects have been taken up by our staff with unflinching enthusiasm, our heartfelt thanks to them. The tree growing centres of Athoor and Kudhirayar are located on the lands belonging to the Dindigul Municipality and Public Works Department respectively our thanks to them for helping us with the facilities there. The following donors have supported the various projects: 1. Danish Beekeers Federation, Denmark 2. Joe Homan Charitable Trust, U.K 3. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Netherlands 4. Intercooperation, Bangalore 5. Swedish Society for Nature conservation, Sweden. 6. Swedish International Development Agency, Delhi Our thanks to the donors for sharing our concern for the environment and sustainable development. Finally our thanks to our auditors M/s.Madhavan and Elango for timely and efficient audit of the books of the council. Kodaikanal J.Nath 25- 7-2001 President