 Dear Panditji,
The GT issue on railways, was of great interest. On the poster page, under the heading
'Gauges: Curious yardstick', the origins of the railway gauge of 4'8" was
highlighted. However, while this was the gauge adopted in Britain in the early days of
railways, in India the main railway gauges are the broad gauge and metre gauge. It would
be fascinating to know why the British in India adopted the two rail gauges, both
different from the British ones.
Also, on page 63, you have said: "A round ticket from London to Manchester would cost
L3 and 10 cents by the stagecoach - the most popular form till then. By 1851, the train
fare for the same journey cost only five cents..." The currency in Britain until
decimalisation in 1971 was pounds, shillings and pence. (12 pence=1 shilling; 20
shillings=1 pound) Cents never had a place in Britain!
David Hopkins
Kausani, Uttaranchal
Dear Panditji,
Sure enough the issues raised by Gobar Times and Down to Earth are really pertinent. Keep
up the good work!One problem which I feel has
largely been ignored by those responsible for it, is the use of electricity in the
government offices. Almost all of them use tube lights to illuminate their workplaces
throughout the day. Even where the natural light is available, the windows are never
opened. This is because the buildings and bhawans are designed to shut off the natural
light completely. The computerised environment has further dictated that the rooms should
be air-conditioned and bright light be shut. What a colossal waste of electricity and the
natural resources used to produce it! Think it over.
Sunil Khatwani
Via Email
Dear Panditji,
You have regular features about the effects of chemicals in agriculture. As a company
manufacturing eco-friendly microbial products, and as a regular exporter, we focus on
organic farming technologies and sustainable agriculture. It would be nice if you could
address issues about microbial inputs in agriculture.
Sandeepa Kanitkar
Krishimitra, Via Email
Dear Panditji,
I am a teacher at Pallikoodam, a school in Kottayam, Kerala, which has an ongoing
programme on environmental consciousness. In the last ten years, we have been studying the
patterns of waste management in residential and commercial areas.
 Unsegregated waste is disposed of in plastic
bags in dumpyards. The problem of unsegregated waste is aggravated more than 50 times
over, since all the municipality and panchayat wards use the dump yards. Aerobic
composting can be an effective means to manage organic waste. But the storage and disposal
of inorganic waste, specially plastic, is mind-boggling. And plastic seems to be here to
stay.
We are trying to juggle options for a solution. We have been asking companies to recycle
plastic. The plastic manufacturers claim 'minimum microbe' safety and manage to thwart any
legal action against them. People are willing to cooperate but the infrastructure of the
municipality and panchayat defeats every effort. There is also no penalty for littering
and no action taken for compulsory segregation. Waste is looked at as someone else's
problem - mostly the government's. The government can perhaps give tax incentives to those
who comply with environmental norms. I hope you can shed some light on this issue.
Susan Varghese
Via Email |
