Dear Nimesh,
You thought wisely about having a biogas plant instead of getting cylinders for use in the village. In many villages it is a standard practice and it works quite well. I know of villages in Gujarat where biogas plants are the only source of energy and manure (The slurry left behind in biogas plants acts as very good organic manure).

The MNES (Ministry for Non Conventional Energy Sources) has a division working on biogas plant implementation. I will not be able to tell you about the specific agencies in Maharashtra but you could contact MNES, Mumbai/ Pune and get the addresses from them.

Normally for a family of 5-6 members, gas produced by the dung of one buffalo is enough for a day. You could connect the toilet also to the plant but in that case you will need low water using sanitation pits called the low-cost sanitation pits used in Sulabh Shauchalaya. You can contact Sulabh at this address: Sulabh International, Palam-Dabri Moar, New Delhi - 110045

Every evening in our residential complex at 6 pm a man goes around with a smoke-spouting system on his shoulder that belches out columns of a white smoke, presumably to drive away or eliminate mosquitoes.

I have a few queries on this:
1.What is the chemical(s) involved in this gas?
2.What are the side effects?
3.Is it legal to use this in India?
4.Are there any plans to ban its use in India?
5.Is it really effective in any way against mosquitoes?
6.What are the alternatives to it?

Dear Susheel,
So many questions!! I am very happy.
1. The name of the chemical for fumigation is Malathion.
2. This is not very safe for any person, be it a child or an adult. Those suffering from any kind of bronchial tract problem, e.g. asthma, should always stay away from this as the gas can aggravate the problem.
3. No documentation of safety measures has ever been done of this in India.
4. No one even questions it. So question of banning does not arise.
5. Fumigating is not a solution. It really doesn't help as it is never done in proper conditions. For example, it should always done on windless (with minimal air currents) night. It should be done in an area of 5-6 km together. This gas has no residual effect. The mosquitoes come back anyway after a few hours of gassing.
6. Of course better drainage. If you want water to be around (in a pond for instance) then introduce fishes like Guppy and Gumbusia. Try neem oil as another measure. It's cheap. It's effective. And it's safe!

I am a sixth class student of Gyan Bharati School and a keen environment enthusiast. For my science homework for the vacations, I have to prepare a project on Water / Soil pollution. I will be grateful if you can send some small, simple articles on garbage disposal, surgical waste (bio-medical disposal) and non-biodegradable waste (plastics)

Also, I have often thought of starting an Eco-club in my lane to spread awareness for water conservation. Please help me with materials in the form of slides or text on water.

GT replies: It was a pleasure reading your keen letter. We can definitely share material with you for your project. You can in fact come and visit our library. It is also acessible through our website: www.cseindia.org.

We have free posters and fact sheets that we can send you for use in your local eco-group. Photograghs, videos and TPs are also available for sale.

There were two important days in this year's calender: International Day of Action on POPs (Persistant Organic Pollutants), May 23, 2002, and Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration, June 17, 2002.

If you were not involved this time, here are some things that GT readers could do next year on these days:

— Public hearings near burning waste dumps (important POPs sources)
— Observe 'no plastics' day
— Small demonstrations outside chemical factories
— Make others aware of the problem by screening films on chemical pollution like Many Faces of Madness by Amar Kanwar (based on Gujarat chemical pollution), Nagara-Nyrmalya by Environment Support Group, followed by talks.
— Perform street plays in colleges/schools/public places.
— Write letters to the editor in your local newspaper.
— Visit resident associations or communities that are managing waste locally and are doing great job. Like ALMs in Mumbai, or community projects in Bangalore, Zero waste Kovalum, areas where Srishti/ACCORD/Care Plus people, and Chintan are working.
— Last but the most important, find out more about POPs from the net, books and organisations.

Madhumita Dutta
Toxics Links, New Delhi

Dead Yamuna The best example of water pollution in urban cities is the river Yamuna which till Wazirabad flows as a fresh water river but as it enters Delhi, turns to a sewage, containing the most harmful chemicals. The sewage of all urban cities is untreated and unknowingly dumped into the nearby ponds, lakes, rivers, etc. The problem with sewage disposal is that it can never be treated into pure water. The accidental leakage of 95,000 tonnes of crude oil into the English channel from a big oil tanker, Torrey Canyon, resulted in the degradation of water affecting the aquatic flora and fauna. Lead level in the river bed of Hoogly near Calcutta was found to be 20 times more than the normal lead in Ganga. Dimple Bansal, Bal Bhawan School Laxmi Nagar, New Delh

This is regarding your new format of DTE magazine. Glad to see that you are including more letters from readers and have increased the number of Gobar Times issues. However, since you have pinned it to the main magazine, I have lost one nice convenience. Earlier, when it was separate, my daughter could take it and keep it as part of her collection, but now she can't. So, please consider keeping GT as a separate pull-out supplement.

GT replies: GT is still a separate pullout section. Due to rules of the postal department we had to change the format to its present size. Also, it has to be attached to the main magazine Down To Earth. Therefore the glue to make it stick. Please separate GT by carefully removing it from the main magazine without tearing it and enjoy reading it at your leisure.

Do not forget to send your comments on the new avatar of your favourite magazine on environment and almost everything!