Tag: ecology

Radiation Scare

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As otherwise abundant bird species get rare in the cities, experts hold electromagnetic radiation responsible for the mess. The faster communication technologies will add to the stress of the birds and impact an ecological balance, reports Umaima Reshi
Migratory Birds Flying-high-in Hokersar Wetland
With the 5G already becoming popular, the debate about its possible impact on different life forms is back to the table talk. There are reports that bird populations are getting impacted by the radiations emitted by the base tower stations (BTS), a key infrastructure for all kinds of mobile telephony.
BTS is vital in communication. It is an electromagnetic device with pernicious radiation. It is a fixed transceiver in all mobile networks, which connects mobile devices to the network. It sends and receives radio signals to mobile devices and converts them to digital signals. Besides, it passes on the network to route to other terminals in the network or to the internet. The quantum of radiation depends on the number of sensors installed on a BTS. Its power potency changes with distance.
The BTS Networks
Electromagnetic fields and radiations are usually pervasive. People already live with a variety of electromagnetic radiations that power the radio, television, and cell phones. Unlike all others, however, BTS are the major sources of electromagnetic field and radiation in any environment. Cell phone technologies have densities mostly between 800MHz and 3GHz and BTS antennae have a frequency of 900 or 1800MHz, pulsed at low densities, generally known as microwaves (300MHz–300GHz). The use of cell phones has helped in the spread of BTS and it has converted most of the space into an electromagnetic field immensely.
BTS, the cell phone tower station.
Unlike all earlier BTS, the ones used for the 5G network are reportedly impacting the ecology more. The 5G network emanates high-density signals on the scale of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. This is being seen as the source-adverse impact on the surrounding. In an appeal to the European Union, 180 scientists and doctors from 36 countries warned that there are assuredly legitimate concerns regarding the 5G technology.
Birds Hit
In comparison to humans, birds have a considerable body-to-weight ratio, which is why they captivate more radiation. The liquid form, like blood, platelets, and plasma in the anatomy of a bird is subordinate, and so it turns feverish promptly. Magnetic exposure from the tower hinders the navigation skills of the birds. When birds are exposed to EMR; they get adrift and muddled and start to fly erratically. Besides, a copious number of birds succumb due to clashes with telecommunication masts, annually.

The diversity of bird species is said to be at risk due to various causes including strong electromagnetic fields. In Kashmir, many bird species like sparrows, pigeons, and swans are gradually disappearing from the cities and many people link it to the strong electromagnetic fields around.
According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) report of 2016, specifically, 16764 BTS are installed at 8554 sites across Jammu and Kashmir. In Kashmirm there are 4000 Base transceiver stations (BTS), increasing with the number of users.
The Lolab Survey
Attempts were made to understand the repercussions of mobile tower radiation on birds at different sites and villages of Lolab Valley in Kupwara in 2019. It was jointly carried out by zoology scholars of Dr CV Raman University, Kota Bilaspur – Tawseef Ahmad Bhat, and Dr R K Singh.
In the course of the evaluation, a sum total of 17 groups of birds were listed at particular sites. The number of birds documented within a 200-meter radius of the mobile tower was comparably less than that embarked exterior to a 200-meter radius.
The survey suggested that the birds are afflicted more within this range as the expanse and reverberations of electromagnetic radiations effused by mobile towers are inversely correlated to the stretch from the tower as per ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection).
The birds that were found within as well as outside the radius of different sites were Common Myna, Rock Pigeon, Steppe Eagle, House Sparrow, Jungle Crow, and Eurasian Jackdaw. The distribution of birds outside the radius included Slatyheaded Parakeet, Grey Bushchat, Eurasian Hoopoe, European Turtle Dove, Himalayan Bulbul, Yellow-billed Magpie, Himalayan Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Spotted Forktail, and Phimbeous.
Radiations from cellular towers cause exasperation among the birds; making them depart to other areas where the impact of radiation is low, which layouts a signal for their disappearance from towns. The survey concluded that birds are highly affected by electromagnetic radiation. “Behaviour of birds may be changed when exposed to such radiations. They may lose the power of orientation, natural navigation and fly in any direction,” it said.
A flock of birds on a low-tension power distribution line. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
“The electromagnetic radiation grimly affects the generative achievement of birds due to which the conceiving success is reduced. Contemporary scientific testaments reveal that protracted vulnerability to electromagnetic radiation can also strike immune system activity. Magnetic fields can impact the advancement and occurrence of deformities in the fertilization of embryos and at the same time, an agitated immune system also escalates the proneness of birds to ill effects and diseases,” one of the avian fauna veterinarians said. “Feather loss is the very first ailment of deteriorating health in birds. There are many other symptoms and susceptibility to radiation because the exposure depends upon genetics and the physical condition of the impacted creatures.”
10 Species
The depletion of ten species of avian fauna, commonly found in the city was recorded. The situation was quite the same in the consolidated areas of the territory. Now they are nowhere to be seen. The vanishing of house sparrows and crows has been majorly reported. The cause behind that is microwaves (300 MHz to 300 GHz) emitted by cell phone towers and handsets, are damaging eggs and embryos of sparrows.
Though the Telecommunication industry has introduced protective guidance for human beings vulnerable to wireless radiation; there is no analogous protective clue for living organisms.

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#Radiation #Scare
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

May 5, 2023
Preserving Natural Heritage

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With 60000 specimens, the 51-year-old Kashmir University Herbarium (KASH) is the only address for studying the diverse plant basket of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. In near future, it is planning to get digitized, reports Insha Shirazi
Mrs and Mr Dr Ralph R Stewart, the last major botanist who immensely contributed to the taxonomy in Kashmir.
It has been a phenomenal growth. The Kashmir University Herbarium, founded in 1972 by AR Naqshi with a meagre collection of 500 species in a single room, has now blossomed into a haven of Himalayan plant specimens with a staggering 60,000 plant specimens. Known globally for its unique and endemic plant diversity, the herbarium is a magnet for plant enthusiasts and researchers. As early as 1980, the Herbarium was recognised by the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature based in New York, under the acronym KASH. Housed in the University’s Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy (CBT), it had only 12,000 plant specimens, then. In the last four decades, the collects have gone up five times.
Index Herbarium puts this herbarium and rank three in the North-Western Himalayas of India. Although Central National Herbarium, Kolkata is home to more than 200000 plant specimens and Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and IIIM of Jammu have more than 12000 plant specimens each, none of these major herbariums has a collection as diverse and unique as that of the Kashmir University Herbarium.
Professionals associated with the herbarium have collected the plant species from diverse habitats across Jammu and Kashmir. It has plants that grow in Guraze, Tulail, Karnah, Keran, Badherwah, Doda, Kishtwar, Warwun, Marwah, Dachin, Padder, Rajouri, Poonch, Drass, Kargil, Zanskar, and Nubra. Part of the collection was sent to renowned herbaria including the Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, besides various others within India.
The Preservation
“Herbarium is a dried plant specimen collected through different techniques. We go to the field and collect them, dry them in newspapers or blotting paper, depending on the moisture content,” Akhtar H Malik, Junior Scientist and Curator for Biodiversity and Taxonomy (CBT) at the Kashmir University Herbarium (KASH), said while explaining the process of collecting and preserving plant specimens. “After drying, we paste these specimens on specialized sheets called herbarium sheets, which have an international standard size of 29×41.5 cm. On the bottom side of the plant specimen, we paste a special label known as the herbarium label that has data like the spot where it was collected, location, date, habitat, etc. After that, we transfer these plant specimens to the herbarium and arrange them according to the Bentham and Hooker systems. Nowadays, we arrange them in herbarium compactors according to the family of the plant specimens.”
However, preserving these plant specimens for long-term storage requires more care. “We use chemicals to preserve these plant specimens at the time of pasting on specialized Herbarium sheet. Then, the second step is to use a small amount of mercuric chloride with glue because plants that we collect from different places, such as aquatic bodies, can be contaminated by pests. After that, we keep them in fumigation chambers with chemicals like Para dichlorobenzene and naphthalene for 10 days until these chemicals are exposed. Finally, we transfer them to herbarium compactors.” Malik added.
These plant specimens last for a long time. “We have species that are more than 100 years old, collected by British botanists from Kashmir,” Malik said. “They collected a lot of specimens from the Himalayas of Kashmir and kept those specimens in Dehradun. We obtained 10 specimens from them and kept them in our Herbarium.”

These plant specimens are not only important for scientific research but also for education and cultural heritage. “Every year we get students from schools, colleges, and Universities. If this herbarium would not be there a researcher or student might have to go to another place to submit their specimen,” Malik said.
The Importance
KASH (Kashmir University Herbarium) holds a huge collection and has emerged as a valuable resource for identifying unknown and rare plant species.
“We have specimens of Kuth (Saussurea costus) and Kahzaban (Arnebia benthamii) that identify the genuine from similar plants, said Malik. “These specimens are not only useful for researchers and scholars but also for students who visit our herbarium to learn about plant diversity.”
The curator at KASH Herbarium at the University of Kashmir explains things to visitors. KL Image Special Arrangement
Herbariums are crucial for documenting plant diversity. “We can create a flora or inventory of plant species based on herbarium data. We can also determine the location of a particular plant species with the help of herbarium specimens,” added Malik.
Off late, KASH has also become a popular destination for students, scholars, and researchers from different colleges, schools, and universities. Besides, Herbariums represent Kashmir’s natural heritage of plants.
Climate Change
The herbarium can be used as a tool to determine how the phenology of plants changes due to climate change. Now, some plants flower in February. “We can take historical data from the Herbarium of these plants whose flowering was preponing, by one month,” Malik said. “The collectors collected these plants for the herbarium when the flowering was seen in March but now it is February. It clearly explains the climate change impact.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared at least six medicinal and aromatic plant species on the red list of extinction in Jammu and Kashmir. “We can do mapping of extinct plants. We write the herbaria data of the plant specimens, location, its geo coordinates and make a map about their distribution range then and now,” Malik said. “Suppose we have 50 locations in herbarium specimens but on the ground, we can locate 10 or 15 locations and we go for their In-situ conservation.”
The data on medicinal plants in the herbarium is collected by scholars from different locations of Kashmir like Gulmarg, Kokernag, and Daksum.. When they go to collect the specimens after 30 years and fail to locate the particular specimen, it reflects a shift in climate change, land use patterns, population expansion, habitat fragmentation or any other reason.
A Rich Collection
“I have visited the KASH 8-10 times. In comparison to established herbaria, it is an active herbarium of northwestern Himalaya and houses a rich collection of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. This has a collection of very remote areas which are not found in any other herbariums,” Dr Priyanka, Principal Scientist CSIR, National Botanical Researcher Institute Lucknow (NBRI) said. “If we want to study plant diversity of Jammu and Kashmir and Himalayan you can sit in Kashmir University herbarium and compile a lot of data on plant diversity.”
Priyanka is working on the Himalayas. Though the Herbarium of Kolkata has an almost 200 years old collection, the specimens are not in good condition.
“My 20 students have visited KASH because it is mandatory. It is important for Kashmir and Ladakh flora as they are representing a good amount of plant diversity in India,” Priyanka said. “The main collectors of the KASH are well-renowned taxonomists. The specimens are well-identified and well-researched and represent the Standard reference diversity.”
Plant Collectors In Kashmir
Improvement
With technology shifts in knowledge management, KASH is also changing. “We will go for digitization of all the specimens and we have submitted the proposal also,” Malik said. “We can use a high-end digital scanner and can scan the specimens and we can keep all those scanned images of all the plant specimens on the website by which the student and scholars across the world can asses those scanned images of plant specimens at home. It will take 3-4 years to execute this plan.”
The Financial Assistance for Science and Technology (FIST) grants the Kashmir University herbarium 10 lakh rupees for the herbarium compactors.
“Many herbariums in India and outside India have digitized their herbariums. If the herbarium of Kashmir gets digitized it would be the very fantastic job and it will be very useful for the researcher from outside Kashmir to assess the plant specimens sitting at the home. It will save time and money,” Dr Priyanka said.

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#Preserving #Natural #Heritage
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 29, 2023
A Lake Exploration

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A cultural anthropologist gives time to Kashmir’s famed Dal Lake and generates an impressive piece of literature, writes Insha Shirazi
Tourists enjoying a sunset in Dal lake, rendered golden by the sub. KL Image Bilal Bahadur
Michael J Casimir’s The Cultural Ecology of the Dal Lake in Kashmir is a thorough and instructive exploration of one of the most exquisite and significant bodies of water. The lake has natural and cultural significance. Well known for its beauty, the lake is a significant source of income.
Casimir paints a clear picture of how the lake has been shaped over the centuries and how it still matters for contemporary culture and ecology. A professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Cologne, Casimir has spent a lot of time in the field studying ecology, economy, and environmental management.
The book goes into great length on the lake’s intricate ecosystem, the history of houseboats, and water transportation. It offers details about the evolution of tourism and its literal paralysis owing to political upheaval in the 1980s and 1990s. While detailing Kashmir’s transition to Islam, the book offers a sketch of Kashmir’s “caste systems”, sectarianism, marital customs and social structure.
The book dives into the ins and outs of Dal Lake while detailing its ecosystem. It explains the development of the houseboat and water transportation.
The key focus of the book is the exploration of the lifestyle of the Hanji people, a group of fishermen living in the lake and how they play an essential role in the advancement of culture, the economy, and aesthetics. He provides an in-depth look at the Lake market gardens, raised fields, and floating gardens, and how the residents make an artificial landscape on the water and plant vegetables, flowers, weeds, and water lilies.
The book explains how market gardeners plan their gardens based on weather trends and how the 2014 flood affected the growth of the lake. Offering interesting insights into intriguing lotus gardens, the book explains how the lotus rhizomes are a source of revenue. An interesting and engaging read, the book provides an enlightening and informative look into the lives of the Hanjis and how essential they are to the economy and ecology of Srinagar city.

A man clears snow from the roof of his houseboat during heavy snowfall at river Jehlum in Srinagar
The Houseboats
Detailing the history and evolution of the houseboats, the book does not forget to link the other economies and offer a window to explain how modern technologies like the cell phone has impacted space. It offers an unbiased examination of the impacts of human-driven development on the ecology of the lake and its inhabitants, exploring both the positive and negative effects. He also provides a thorough discussion of the lake’s many fish species, vegetation, and water birds, as well as the issue of sewage pollution. The author offers insight into the lake’s ecology and how it has changed over the centuries as a result of human-driven development.
The Pollution
Off late, the lake has been facing severe environmental issues due to the unregulated construction of various buildings on its banks, and the overuse of fertilizers for agricultural purposes. Massive concentration of fertilizers has resulted in the death of many native fish and aquatic species, including the now incredibly rare Schizothorax niger.
The government has relocated many of the local fishermen. It has made efforts to improve the lake’s condition, such as implementing sewage treatment programmes and providing better access to roads, basic sanitation, and quality education. Flagging the issues facing the lake, particularly its deterioration due to sedimentation, domestic sewage, and other human activities, the author has observed that success is eluding the policymakers.
Painting a grim picture of Lake’s future, the author believes that proper funding and support from the government can help the water body to regain its pristine status. The author argues that the political forces in power often have conflicting interests, and this can lead to the people of Kashmir being disconnected from their spiritual roots. To protect the iconic Lake, the author argues that both the public and the governing authorities must engage in actions that uphold the teachings of Islam. This will not only preserve the natural beauty of the lake and its surroundings but also preserve the culture and spiritual identity of the region. To achieve this goal, it is crucial that the general public cooperates with the government and that the government implements its policies in a manner that serves the best interests of the people.

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#Lake #Exploration
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 27, 2023
Sher Bagh, Anantnag

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Once upon a time, the garden was an address for peak summer bathing, swimming and prayers. Now, Sher Bagh is a place for a brief halt for patients visiting the women’s hospital, reports Aasiya Nazir
Once the town’s coolest place for prayers, fresh air, and rest, Anantnag’s Sher Bagh is a sort of ruin now. Its glory is lost, and so is its quality of water and the freshwater fish ponds that would help kids pick up swimming and understand the aquatic life.
It is a historic garden. Residents attribute it to the Mughal era insisting that the pleasure-seeking occupiers laid most of the gardens in Kashmir including the south. However, history lacks a clear idea to vindicate the claim.
“Till 1951, the discharge from the Andar Nag spring had created a marsh on the spot,” M Salim Baig, the INTACH convenor in Jammu and Kashmir said. “One day when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah visited the town, the residents talked about the marsh and he suggested it be converted into the garden for the locality and since then it is named Sher Bagh.”
Baigh said he has checked with the historians and they have revealed that the residents went to neighbouring Mattan wherefrom they got fish and were introduced to the newly refurbished garden. Andar Bagh has a spring called Nagbal and the discharge made a small waterfall. Given the fact that there are a few references to the garden prior to 1947, there is a possibility that there might have been some kind of garden which was in duse and mismanaged and resulted in a marsh. “Mughals avoided laying gardens in the towns. All the Mughal gardens are far away from the population. They avoided laying a major garden in Srinagar.”
The neighbouring Rani Bagh, part of which houses an educational institution, is attributed to the Dogra period.
Sher Bagh is located on the foot of a hill that is home to a Sulphur spring, the Andar Nag. In fact, the discharge from this spring lands in Sher Bagh and moves through the neighbouring localities and eventually gets into the Jhelum. The water channel, however, is in ruins as the discharge has gone down.

Even though the water discharge has gone down, fish are hardly seen in the ponds, the garden still holds its majestic looks. It has enormous Chinars and during summers it is lush green.
A view of Sher Bagh in Anantnag garden in February 2023. KL Image: Shah Hilal
What makes the Andar Nag and Sher Bagh premises interesting is that it has the stakeholding of all the faiths. The Nag premises have a temple and a Gurudwara. The Sher Bagh has an open mosque, where, till recently prayers were offered five times a day. It is an impressive platform that has a freshwater pond and various water channels surrounding it. The main pond has been a public swimming pool for generations. However, it was never called a mosque and was always referred to as Nimazgah.
“We used to swim in smaller channels and once we would get trained, we will finally swim in the main pond,” Abdul Rashid, a resident, now a doctor said. Originating from the sulphur spring, the water would normally be cold in spring and slightly warmer in winter. “It was a place for recreation and picking the real-life skill, the swimming and in between, there would be prayers.”
= Now, the garden is the casualty of the times. Officially it is managed by the fisheries department but there is no any fish in the ponds and the channels. The space that would be crowded by the residents during afternoons till late in the evening is now the resting place for the attendants of women admitted to the Maternity and Child Care Hospital.
The park space has been relocated. Realigned, it is craving for upkeep and proper maintenance.
Residents allege that the park has received little to no attention in the last many years. They claimed that visitors have ceased to get in. The fish have disappeared. They attribute it to the pollution over the hill.
“When I was a kid the number of fishes in the ponds was such that the surface was never visible,” resident, Mohammad Yousuf, said. “The water was so clean that we used to drink it. Now the water is polluted.”
Even though it lost its beauty, the garden retains its utility. Located near one of the busiest markets in the town, people still get in, take a rest and leave.
Society has equally contributed to the unmaking of this space. Though enough and adequate parking space is available near Rani Park, most of the people park their vehicles outside Sher Bagh, polluting its atmosphere. The parking at the main gate of the Bagh is impacting business and sometimes hinders the emergency cases in the hospital in their movement.
Another telling mess of the park is that the people who have lunch in the park, throw away a lot of waste. The park managers have failed to offer any kind of system that will enable the space to stay clean. Dustbins are there but nobody uses them.
Those visiting the park have their own issues. Zaina Begum is a frequent visitor. “The single biggest issue that the people face is the closure of the washrooms,” Begum said. “The public toilets were so dirty that they were locked, once and for all.”
Residents said the park is facing a crisis because there is multiple stakeholdings. While the property belongs to the Waqf Board, fish are supposed to be the Fisheries Department’s responsibility and the park is to be maintained by the Floriculture department. Residents said it would be ideal if the Bagh is given to a private party that will maintain it and manage it at a cost. “There is no harm in people paying some coins for spending a few hours in the park,” one resident suggested.

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#Sher #Bagh #Anantnag
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 25, 2023