Mumbai under water by 2100?

Mumbai: The Gateway of India will be wiped off the Mumbai skyline. Bhelpuri at Chowpatty will become the stuff of grandmother’s tales. No flights will take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport. No couple will canoodle on the Marine Drive promenade and even Shah Rukh Khan will not be able to resist being evicted from his home. Ninety-two years from now, all these landmarks of Mumbai will be under water.
That’s the apocalypse scenario drawn up in a report titled ‘Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions’ that has been commissioned by Greenpeace, a non-governmental organisation. Prepared by climate expert and professor of humanities at IIT Chennai Sudhir Chella Rajan, the report says that a potential increase in temperatures by 4 to 5 degrees due to greenhouse emissions at the current rate would mean a corresponding rise in sea levels of up to five metres by 2100. This, in turn, would imply that approximately 50 million Indians would be rendered homeless and become ‘climate migrants’.
“The low elevation coastal zone (LECZ), which comprises the coastal region that is less than 10 metres above average sea level, is obviously at direct risk. Even prime commercial properties like the Backbay complex and the Bandra-Kurla Complex fall into this category. It’s not just the average Koli who will be affected but also superstars like SRK, whose Bandra Bandstand bungalow Mannat would be on the wrong side of the coastline once the sea level rises,’’ said Greenpeace activist Shweta Ganesh Kumar.
Greenpeace envisages that human migration 92 years hence would be equivalent to 10 times the movement seen during Partition. “This means that even the limited space in your Virar-Churchgate local will be affected,’’ Kumar said.
However, Rakesh Kumar of Neeri felt the figures in the Greenpeace study seemed exaggerated. “This can create a scare in the minds of the people. There will be submersion, but only in the low-lying areas. At most, the foundations of buildings near the shore may be weakened due to saline formation,’’ he said. Mumbaikars get ‘blue’ future alert
Mumbai: Despite naysayers, Greenpeace activists are on a mission to raise awareness about the impending doom. Around 40 Greenpeace activists or ‘Blue Busters’ sporting symbolic blue raincoats hit the city streets on Sunday.
Blue cautionary signs, saying ‘Climate Change Zone Ahead’ with illustrations of drowning individuals bearing a distinct resemblance to traditional traffic signs, were put up along the Bandra-Kurla Complex and other areas.
Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner Brikesh Singh said, “We want to alert Mumbaikars to the blue future they have in store if steps are not taken to fight global warming. If we don’t act now, our city of dreams will be caught up in a never-ending nightmare, and we are the last generation that can prevent this from happening.’’
The ‘Blue Alert’ signs were part of a Greenpeace campaign launched in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Panaji and Puri. “The campaign aims at bringing home the reality of climate change to the common man and empowering people to force their MPs to speak out about the issue of climate change,’’ said Singh.
Greenpeace activists will slap token ‘eviction-warning’ notices on the doors of structures that may be affected. These include the homes of actors Shah Rukh Khan, Rekha and Farhan Akhtar.
mansi.choksi@timesgroup.com

Tropical storm kills 5 in Bangladesh, levels 3,000 huts across 4 villages

clipped from www.bostonherald.com SUNAMGANJ, Bangladesh - A tropical storm killed at least five villagers Saturday in northeastern Bangladesh, an official said. The storm also leveled about 3,000 huts in four villages in the northeastern district of Sunamganj, said Mozammel Haq, a local Disaster Management and Relief Ministry official. Most of the victims died when their bamboo and tin homes collapsed on them, Haq said. Sunamganj district is 110 miles northeast of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. Pre-monsoon storms, accompanied by high winds and lightning, are common at this time of year in the South Asian country.

Disaster maangement centre in Latur

PUNE: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has a disaster management centre at Talegaon, will now set up another disaster management training centre at Latur to undertake various disaster mitigation programmes.

Union home minister Shivraj Patil will lay the foundation stone of the institute on March 23. The institute will have an initial training capacity of 700 personnel at a time. The total expenditure for the infrastructure, coming up on 200 acres, will be Rs 92.99 crore.

The institute will focus on medical first responder (MFR) and collapsed structure search and rescue (CSSR) for calamities, flood rescue and relief operations for man-made accidents and special training for nuclear, biological and chemical disasters. Along with the 200 battalions of the CRPF, the training institute will also offer disaster management training to other organisations, including the state police.

The institute will come up within the next two years and will be developed as a centre for excellence. Training for paramedics will also be given, as they have an important role to play in disaster mitigation. The centre will also cater to trainees from SAARC an ASEAN countries. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is formulating a policy to mitigate losses from disasters.

The training institute will have a training block, technical building, administrative block, quarter guard and hospital. Apart from the hospital, there will be a section for paramedics. Training in flood, river and swimming pool rescue will be offered with the help of a breathing apparatus gallery on the institute premises. For high altitude search and rescue training, CRPF training will have a drill tower, industrial tower, control tower and water bodies, which will cover various calamities.

Magnitude 7.2 quake, three others, hit China

clipped from edition.cnn.com (CNN) -- A total of four earthquakes -- the strongest of them a powerful 7.2 magnitude quake -- hit western China on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The Chinese Seismological Network also reported the quakes -- estimating the initial quake at 7.3 on the Richter scale and reporting a fifth tremor about two hours afterward. The network uses the Richter scale to measure quake intensity rather than magnitude. There were no immediate reports of damage or fatalities, a spokeswoman for the seismological network said. She said the quake happened in Yutian County, a remote region in the Kunlun Mountains far from any residential areas. The quakes hit the border area of western China's Xinjiang and Xizang regions starting at about 6:30 a.m. local time, according to the USGS. Their epicenters were all at least six miles under the Earth's surface. The last aftershock hit the area more than an hour later. The USGS considers earthquakes between 7.0 and 7.9 to be "major" earthquakes.

FIRE ALARM

Statistics show that in five years, incidents of fire in Mumbai have gone up by a 1000. Every day, the fire department gets about 70 emergency calls. What's the problem?

SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI

REASONS

• Storage of LPG, PNG, CNG cylinders: People keep these cylinders just about anywhere, without taking adequate precaution. In many cases, children have easy access to these cylinders.

• Underground cables: When various authorities dig up roads for a variety of reasons, they often cut through underground electric cables, which create sparks, leading to fire.

• Storage of unauthorised scrap material in godowns: Several such godowns are located in Kurla, Mankhurd, Veera Desai Road and the industrial area of Andheri (west). The smallest spark is often enough to set such godowns on fire. Since chemical substances are also stored illegally at various godowns, there are often explosions here, causing injury.

• The chulha: Slum dewellers often use the chulha for cooking. It's one of the biggest causes of fire in these areas, when accompanied by negligence.
PROBLEMS

• Traffic: Fire engines find it difficult to reach their destinations in time mainly due to traffic snarls. This always leads to the intensity of the fire being increased, thus causing more causality and damages, by the time it is finally put out.

• Bad roads and bridges under construction: Fire engines often have to use longer routes due to roads and bridges being under construction.

• Bad attitude: Car, autorickshaw and taxi drivers very often don't give right of way to fire engines.

• Small number of fire stations:
The city has only 33-odd fire stations, while it actually requires at least a hundred. Response time can be reduced if the city gets more fire stations.

• Six regional fire command centres need strengthening:
These centres are Byculla, Wadala, Mankhurd, Vikroli, Marol and Borivili. The response time should be not more than four minutes at these centres.

• Pedestrians: Fire engines are often stopped in their path by pedestrians thronging the roads too.
Density of population

• 48,418 people/km in the city:
serviced by 15 fire stations

• 24,042 people/km in the western suburbs: serviced by 12 fire stations

• 22,064 people/km in the eastern suburbs: serviced by 6 fire stations IN THE HOT SEAT Anil Sawant, chief fire brigade officer, discusses his problems and plans
What do you plan to do in the face of the increasing numbers of incidents of fire in the city?
We are trying our best to control the situation. The fire brigade has decided to increase the number of fire stations and very soon the proposal will be placed before the BMC. We will also conduct awareness campaigns for residents.
Are you giving any training to firemen to cope with fires at highrise buildings and slum areas?
Recently we conducted a training programme for firemen at Kamshet. The training includes activities like river crossing, rock climbing and highrise rope rescue training. Moreover, in some areas in Mumbai, we train citizens in climbing and rescuing themselves too, during crises.
Do you have any system for detecting explosive chemicals when they are brought into the city?
That's very difficult to achieve. Actually, the concerned area authorities should conduct round-the-clock checks to detect explosive chemicals stored illegally. We do conduct surveys and submit the lists to civic ward officials, but they have to take action themselves.
IN FLAMES A few incidents of fire in Mumbai
November 2, 2007
A fire broke out on the mezzanine floor of the twostoreyed Jaipan Studios in Goregaon, destroying its accounts office and godown. A television serial's shoot was in progress on the second floor when the incident occurred. The accident brings to light the lack of fire safety norms in many studios across the city. It destroyed all the furniture, eight computers and documents including share certificates and property papers.
January 29, 2008
An LPG driven Maruti Omni ferrying 13 school students burst into flames and four children were burnt to death. According to the police, a leakage in the LPG tank caused the fire. Later it was found that the driver was carrying petrol in bottles, kept under the seats. The Omni's interiors were charred and there was a gaping hole in the roof.
February 23, 2008
A fire broke out in a building belonging to the Everest Masala Company in Ghatkopar. Eight fire engines and five water tankers managed to douse the flames in about three hours. No casualties were reported.
February 27, 2008
A major fire broke out in Dharavi, at a plastic factory at Ankitnagar.There were no casualties.
January 10, 2008
Two months ago, at Veera Desai Road (Andheri - West), a major fire broke out in the industrial area. While dousing the fire, three firemen burn were seriously injured when some chemical substances exploded abruptly. Later on, it was found that the chemical substances had been stored illegally.

Fire at Byculla industrial estate claims 10 lives

Fire at Byculla industrial estate claims 10 lives

59 people were injured after short-circuit sets off aerosol cans stored in one of the rooms

DANISH KHAN/ NILESH NIKADE

In one of the worst fires in Mumbai, 10 persons were killed and 59 wounded when a fire broke out on Monday afternoon at an industrial estate in Byculla, predominantly occupied by perfume manufacturing units.
The fire brigade and medical staff were still searching for victims four hours after the fire broke out, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility more bodies being found in the building. The congested lane where the industrial estate is located, accompanied by the absence of fire hydrants in the vicinity, made the job of the fire brigade extremely difficult. The presence of a large number of pressurised spray cans kept fuelling the fire.
The fire was so huge that a 12 fire engines were deployed and 8 tankers continuously ferried water for four hours even as three BMC ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals.
According to police records, 59 injured persons were admitted to Sir J J Hospital and KEM hospital, 42 of them being men and 10 being women. Of them, three women and one man later succumbed to injuries. They have been identified as Chitra Mahadik, 28, Nalini Tirlotkar, 35, and Neelam Pilwankar, 18, while the lone man killed in the accident has been identified as Hussain (age not known). Three more unidentified bodies were removed from the estate late Monday night.
The cause of the fire is suspected to be an explosion on the third floor of the five-storey Retiwala Industrial Estate located close to Byculla Zoo. According to police sources, a fire broke out at Gala No 309 (Rekhi Enterprises) which manufactures room fresheners and perfume aerosol cans. A short-circuit sparked the cans stored in the gala which started exploding one-by-one. Within minutes the fire had engulfed the entire third-storey and began spreading to other floors.
The Retiwala estate has 50 galas, 10 on each floor and a number of manufacturing units like perfume-making, a printing press, leather product manufacturers and so on. Residents of chawls in the vicinity said approximately 150 to 200 workers, a majority of them women, used to work in these manufacturing units.
Most of the workers who escaped unhurt were those on the ground floor and two floors above.
Till the time the fire brigade reached the spot, residents of nearby localities had already got into the act. Some daredevil youth tried to get closer to the fourth floor of the estate with the help of ropes and rescued people trapped inside. According to residents of neighbouring Durvankur Housing Society, at least three fires have broken out in the industrial estate in the past two years and society members had even lodged complaints with the municipal authorities and the pollution control board against the inflammable material illegally stored inside the complex.
Late on Monday night, Deputy Chief Minister, R R Patil visited the injured along with Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor, Joint Police Commissioner (law & order) K L Prasad and DCP Brajesh Singh.
“We will look into the compensation issue. An inquiry has already been ordered into the incident and we will check if safety measures were adhered to by the owners of the building. We will also look into allegations that the fire brigade did not reach on time,” Patil said.

A fire broke out at a perfume manufacturing unit at Retiwala Industrial Estate, Byculla, on Monday afternoon

Ten people were killed and 59 injured in the fire

12 fire engines and 8 tankers were pressed into service and took four hours to put out the fire

Watch it now Coke addicts!!!!!!

Pepsi and Coca Cola Contains PORK (PIG) extracts - PROVEN!!

Shocking / Bad News : Pepsi and Coca Cola contains extract from Pork (Pig)

 

Most of the people avoid Pepsi and Coca-Cola for various reasons:-
because of harmful chemical contents such as excessive carbonates, etc.

Now there is yet another reason which is more dangerous. The scientific and medical research says that drinking Pepsi & Cola leads to cancer because the key element is taken from Pigs sausage.


The pig is the only animal that eats dirt, dung and urine, which makes lethal and deadly fabric polluted germs and microbes.

According to a report published in Jordanian magazine, the Head of Delhi University Science and Technology , Dr. Mangoshada scientifically proved that the key element in Pepsi and Cola contains extract from the intestines of Pig which causes cancer and other deadly diseases.

The Indian university conducted tests on the impact of drinking Pepsi and Coca Cola which proved that drinking them lead to more rapid heart rate and low pressure.



Also drinking 6 bottles of Pepsi or Cola at a time causes instant death. It also contains chemicals such as carbonic and phosphoric acids, citric acid which harms teeth and causes bone fragility. Bones kept in the Cup of Pepsi melts during the week knowing that the bones of the dead remain in the grave for thirty years.


Research itself confirmed that the calcium dissolved in Pepsi and it weakens the bladder, kidneys, kills the pancreatic, leads to diabetes and infectious diseases.

Pepsi or Coca-Cola lovers nothing to worry as it is not the only drinks available on this earth, as we have other healthy alternatives such as natural fruit juices, canned coconut water, flavoured milks, buttermilk etc., all of them are conveniently available even in the small stores. 

PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE TO ALL UR FRIENDS & CONTACT

 

 

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