Category Archives: Business & Economy

Growing homes the natural way

Business & Economy

For the last two years, Bengaluru-based start-up Beforest has not only been investing in land, but also turning it into a green cover, reviving and restoring the ecosystem

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Chennai :

I didn’t want to just buy a piece of land and then sit on it for 20 years. I joined Beforest because that way I can ensure a clean sustainable second home for my children,” said Rajvel Manoharan, member of the Coorg collective of Beforest. Many city dwellers like Rajvel want to live in a home nestled in the flowery arms of nature but the truth is that only a few are willing to take the effort to maintain it. Sameer Shisodia and Sunit Reddy nipped the problem in the bud by introducing Beforest in 2017, an initiative to create sustainable living within a self-sufficient ecosystem.

“The people gave us the idea to start something like this,” said Sameer. Most city folks are looking to invest in a home away from the city. Some want to live amid nature while others may just want holiday homes. “We are looking for people who are not only ready to invest in the land but are also ready to buy into the idea of rejuvenating it first. The idea is to revive a self-sustaining forest ecosystem and then create pockets for agriculture in between” he said. The two-year-old initiative is currently working with three functioning collectives, two in Karnataka and one in Telangana, while two more are in the pipeline.

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Testing waters, Sameer initiated the first project called Tamarind Valley, in Bengaluru with a group of 15 people in 2017. They invested in a piece of land and collectively came up with a plan on how to restore the ecosystem. “Most of the farms we work on advocate forests or a good ecosystem,” said Praveen Ram, general manager, Farm Ops. “There is a lot of land that does not list under forest cover in government records but has thriving forests growing there. We pick land where traces of a healthy ecosystem remain, and improve them,” he explained.

At the Tamarind Valley initiative, maximum effort is being put into reviving the ecosystem. “Because the land was dry and barren, we borrowed functioning ecosystems from neighbouring farms and introduced them to the land. We don’t know what crops we will grow because our priority is to first set up a self-sustaining forest ecosystem over 75 per cent of the land, before thinking about the harvest,” said Sunit Reddy, co-founder.

Success project
Every project they take-up requires a different renewal plan because of the diverse local ecosystems. While their projects in Tamarind Valley and Hyderabad involve rejuvenating the ecosystem, their project in Poomalee, Coorg is a whole new story. “With a rainforest cover and coffee plantation that pans across the 130-acre farm, we are still learning about what resources we can gather and use sustainably,” said Sunit.

The 30 to 40 members part of the Coorg collective actively participate in maintaining the ecology at their farm. Many members meet regularly on the fifth of every month while the rest share inputs on their WhatsApp group. “The streams and hills in the forest are already producing a lot that we didn’t know about. We recently made tamarind jam which was distributed among the members and the ground team stationed there,” added Sameer.Praveen said, “The biggest challenge we face is the illegal extraction of resources from forest ecosystems. It makes the land dry and loose fertility.”

What’s new
“Hyderabad is our latest project. Due to the water scarcity, we are able to retain very little of what the land has to offer. We started from scratch by first setting up a mono-culture, once that grows, we will convert it into a natural food farming ecosystem by introducing it to the land,” said Sameer.

Ground team
They hired a ground team to carry out the day-to-day steps to care for the land. “We generally hire locals and provide them with accommodation,” he said. The ground team is in charge of implementing all revival plans designed by the members — collective and the founders.

“We consider our ground force as stakeholders in our project too. Most are accustomed to living in the forest and share homegrown ideas of improving the lands’ ecosystem,” he said.Beforest is looking forward to beginning work in the Krishnagiri district. “We have received a lot of requests to set up there,” said Sunit. They are also working on converting a mono-culture into a natural forest ecosystem at Alphonso By The Lake, another project set up in Bengaluru.

Cost with vision
“According to the current model, we charge an initial payment of `45 lakh for a 2- to 3-acre property with a house on it,” said Sunit. Both founders insist that the members renovate the houses on their land,“This ensures minimal intervention in the ecosystem,” said Sameer. At a time when everyone is looking for speed in their lives, many may stop to smell the flowers but even fewer make sure that the flowers are still there.

In a nutshell
Beforest was started in Bengaluru in 2017 with a 15-member team
The two-year-old team is currently working on three collectives
They charge an initial payment of `45 lakh for 2-to 3-acre property
They started with an investment in a piece of land and came up with a plan on how to restore the ecosystem.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Naaz Ghani / Express News Service / October 26th, 2019

India’s coffee growers share history with Nobel winner Michael Kremer

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Records, All, Science & Technology, Sports, World Opinion
The winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics in the screen grab — Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer (AP file)
The winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics in the screen grab — Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer (AP file)

– Michael Kremer, a Harvard University professor, was the co-Founder of ‘Precision Agriculture Development’ or PAD

– It advised the Coffee Board to pilot a missed-call enabled service to help coffee farmers in Karnataka
___________________________________

Bengaluru:

India’s Coffee Board, a state-run body that promotes coffee production and drinking, shares a slice of history with Michael Kremer, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics along with Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee.

Kremer, a Harvard University professor, was the co-Founder of ‘Precision Agriculture Development’ or PAD, which advised the Coffee Board to pilot a missed-call enabled service to help coffee farmers in Karnataka. The IVR call service can give precise advise to the grower from scientists at Central Coffee Research Institute.

“Under his guidance and leadership, Team PAD have been working with Coffee Board of India and the coffee ecosystem for more than one year now. Thanks to the stellar efforts of Michael, Shawn, Madhur, Niriksha and Team Coffee Board, we have been able to have a positive impact on the lives of 15000 coffee farmers using a simple missed call service, free of cost to coffee farmers,” said Srivatsa Krishna, Chief Executive Officer of Coffee Board, in a statement to the media.

The service, Coffee Krishi Taranga, gives registered growers a weekly advisory on critical farm operations and daily market statistics through an automated push call when a farmer places a missed call on the helpline (080-37685000) run by the Board. It has helped growers improve productivity, profitability and environmental outlook, and will be expanded to cover 50000 growers shortly, according to the Coffee Board.

The PAD’s journey in India begun as an academic experiment in Gujarat with cotton farmers in 2011, when Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, encouraged testing a similar service in his state called Krishi Tarang, said Srivatsa. “On behalf of the entire Indian coffee ecosystem, the finest shade-grown, hand-picked rainforest Coffees in the world, we congratulate Dr.Kremer and thank Team PAD for their contributions,” said Srivatsa Krishna.

source: http://www.livemint.com /Live Mint / Home> Explore / by Nidheesh M.K. / October 15th, 2019

C. B. Muthamma – The First Woman Diplomat of India

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

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Women today are seen in every sector. Professions that were conventionally considered to be ‘men’s jobs’ are now crowded with women. The women of today do not face as much struggle or prejudice in pursuing the career of their dreams as they did two or three decades before. This has been possible because of a few women who have confronted the unjust ways of the patriarchal world and made name for themselves.

One of these powerful ladies was C.B. Muthamma. Muthamma was the first IFS officer of India. She joined foreign services in the first qualifying batch of the service, right after the independence in the year 1949. This was at a time when a woman in diplomacy was a rarity in itself.

For the longest time, women were not considered fit for holding a diplomatic position across the globe. In fact, in 1933 it was stated in a debate in British House of Commons that “The special virtues of women are ill-adapted to the diplomatic life,” the virtues referred being ‘sympathy’ and ‘intuition’. These virtues were considered fatal as a balanced attitude was required in order to preserve diplomatic relations.

A British author Helen McCarthy has remarked in her book, ‘Women of the world’ that, “Even in the 21st century, a woman wielding serious powers in the global arena is an oddity. A phenomenon to be explained rather than taken for granted. Not only is her performance subject to closer scrutiny than her male peers, but it often comes to stand as a test of the ability of all women and to reflect for good or ill, the wisdom of allowing a woman to do a man’s job.”

There was a criterion up until the 1970s that only unmarried women can apply for the IFS services, and they will need to quit their positions whenever they choose to get married. Women were also not promoted to senior positions in the services.

C. B. Muthamma believed that this was clear discrimination. Which is why, when she was not considered for a well-deserved promotion, she filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India against the government of India, seeking justice for herself and all the women who would want to pursue their career in international relations. In a very famous case known as ‘Union of India vs. C. B. Muthamma’, the government changed its policy of not promoting the women before the apex court could give out its judgement for the case. The petition filed by Muthamma was then dismissed with her promotion to Grade 1 of the IFS, with the words by the judges that “We hereby dismiss the petition, but not the problem.”

The landmark case pushed the government to change its rules regarding these discriminating laws. And women now represent 18.5% of the total foreign officers of the country. However, it was this case that set off the trigger for many women to pursue careers in diplomacy while simultaneously leading a normal family life.

C.B. Muthamma has served as an inspiration to all the female diplomats, not only in India but across the world. India lost an exceptional officer of its foreign services when she bid adieu to the world on October 14, 2009.

source: http://www.thecsrjournal.in / The CSR Journal / Home> Header News / by Hency Thacker / October 15th, 2019

Handmade by a Mom & Preservative-Free, These Organic Jams, Pickles Are a Must Try

Business & Economy, Nature

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A few years ago, George Ramapuram fell seriously ill and preservative-induced food was a total no-no. So, the Coorg family decided to make it themselves!

The Earth Reserve was formed in 2017 and is based in Coorg. It has nine people and makes jams, pickles and preserves.

So far, so normal. But two things that will make their products the most unique bottle on your shelf.

Firstly, they get fruits entirely from the wild and organic – no farms, no harmful chemicals.

Every day, a couple of hands to go into the wilds of Coorg and collect organic ripe fruits, spices and vegetables. The fruits are then sun-dried.

And here’s the second fantastic thing about these products – 64-year-old Sheela handmakes these delicious jams and pickles and is involved until the very last step. You will be eating preserves made from the hands of a mother – literally!

Now that is special indeed.

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How it all came about:

“Contains artificial colouring and preservatives”- a sign that should ideally motivate one to keep the product back in the shop shelf. For the sake of convenience, we continually risked our health.

For 27-year-old architect George Ramapuram, this realisation came after months of hospitalisation, due to a pancreatic condition he had developed.

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“We were forced to go out hunting for jams, pickles and juices that contained no preservatives but we could not find them in the market. Back when we were young, this was no problem. Our mothers and grandmothers would always have containers of such foods ready. When we found it nearly impossible to get preservative-free food in the market, we decided to go back to those roots,” Thresi, George’s sister shares with The Better India.

At the time, Thresi had just returned from the USA and was caring for her ill brother. The two bounced ideas off each other to see if this can be scaled on a market level.

Preservative-free, organic, handmade foods. Would people like them?

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The two had grown up eating jams, pickles and juices made from the wild fruits that grew in their backyards.

Plums, figs, passion fruit and mango – all grew in their hometown of Coorg. Their mother, Sheela, would pluck them, dry them and make them into delicious preserves for the children to have.

The jams and pickles were always made in abundance and shared with friends and family. What Thresi and George wanted was for these to be sold commercially so people across India could get the goodness of preservative-free handmade food at the click of a button.

“It was an exciting but quite ambitious project. Asking mom to make jams and pickles for friends and family is one thing. But making a business from this idea also requires us to consider costs, resources as well as the responses we may get. Plus, we wanted our products to be purely handmade, so that was another challenge,” she adds.

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Through cautious experiments, the Ramapuram trio set a process for The Earth Reserve.

And the idea has worked indeed.

“We hadn’t expected such a positive response from not just Karnataka but also Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and several other states. We are excited to expand into bath and body ranges too!” Thresi says.

Completely organic and handmade, just like your grandma made them, these food preserves are as healthy as they are tasty. Click here to purchase them and make a tasty addition to your kitchen!

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

source: http://www.thebetterindia.com / The Better India / Home> Food> The Better Life / by Tanvi Patel / October 01st, 2019

Slurp! Wild Coriander Leaves, Turmeric To Spice Up Tribal Food

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Nature

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Mysuru:

Tribal food section at ‘Dasara Aahara Mela’ to be held at Scouts and Guides Grounds will have new inclusions with more delicious Bamboo Biriyani to tickle the taste buds of foodies.

Addressing a press meet at Pathrakarthara Bhavan yesterday, Karnataka Adivasi Rakshana Parishat State President M. Krishnaiah revealed that special wild coriander leaves, curry leaves and turmeric usually grown in forests would be used to spice up the popular bamboo biriyani to give a new look and rare and exotic taste. He said that tribal foods are being served at ’Aahara Mela’ since 2014 and has been very popular.

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Continuing, Krishnaiah said that the exclusively and traditionally decorated stall would deliver ‘Haadi Mane Oota’ (tribal home food) with authentic tribal delicacies other than Bamboo Biriyani like boiled sweet potato with honey, ‘Bidirakki Payasa’, ‘Makali Beru tea’ and crab soup with ragi balls. They will be priced at Rs. 50 (a bowl), Rs. 50 (a cup), Rs. 20 (a cup) and Rs. 100 (a plate) with the popular Bamboo Biriyani at Rs. 180 a plate, he said.

Krishnaiah further said that Nagamma will be back with her herbal medicines. She sells herbal medicines and medicines to cure skin diseases. Nagamma, a nature therapist or Naati Vaidya, will come from Doddabettageri Village in Dubare Forest of Kodagu district to provide medicines to visitors. Krishnaiah added that a 30-member team would be readying the stall and prepare food for visitors.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / September 27th, 2019

Farmers To Take Out Talacauvery To Bengaluru Bike Rally

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Records, All

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Mysuru:

Urging the State Government for effective tackling of floods and drought in the State, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) will take out a bike rally from Talacauvery to Bengaluru next month.

Addressing farmers from 6 districts of Mysuru region at Jaladarshini Guest House here recently, KRRS President Badagalapura Nagendra said the bike rally will be launched at Talacauvery, the birth place of river Cauvery, on Oct.12.

The rally will pass through Periyapatna and Hunsur to reach Mysuru where a massive farmers meet will be held at Town Hall on Oct.13. After the meet, the rally will travel to Mandya, passing through Srirangapatna. The rally will then travel to Shivapura near Maddur where a farmers meet will take place. After the meet, the rally will proceed to Channapatna, where the rallyists will stay for the night.

The rally will reach Bengaluru on Oct.14, where a massive conference of farmers will take place at 1 pm, Badagalapura Nagendra said and added that over 10,000 farmers from different parts of the State are expected to take part.

He further said that the farmers meet will demand a special package for restoration of flood hit areas, scientific compensation to displaced farmers and constitution of an expert committee for management of drought and floods.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / September 27th, 2019

Kodagu needs hi-tech hospital: B Sriramulu

Business & Economy

There was a Twitter campaign “#WeNeedEmergencyHospitalinKodagu” for Super specialty hospital in Kodagu.

Minister Sriramulu at the district hospital in Madikeri on Thursday night as part of his ‘Hospital Vaasthavya’ programme.
Minister Sriramulu at the district hospital in Madikeri on Thursday night as part of his ‘Hospital Vaasthavya’ programme.

Mysuru:

Health and family welfare minister B. Sriramulu conducted a ‘Hospital Vaasthavya’ visit and stayed overnight at the district hospital in Madikeri (which is attached to Kodagu Medical College) to avail first hand information on the facilities available at the hospital and the problems of patients Thursday night. He even interacted with patients and held a discussion with hospital staff and officers of the district administration.

Speaking to the media on Friday morning, he said, Kodagu being a hilly area it is difficult to travel to Mysuru or Mangaluru for emergency treatment. So there is a need for a multi specialty hospital which he would discuss with the chief minister.

The government has already taken measures to fill vacant posts and will ensure that all facilities are available to patients at government hospitals in the state, he said.

Following complaints by patients, he ordered the suspension of the doctor of Madapura public health care centre. There was a Twitter campaign “#WeNeedEmergencyHospitalinKodagu” for Super specialty hospital in Kodagu recently and the second leg of that campaign had restarted on Thursday.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Politics / by Shilpa P, Deccan Chronicle / September 28th, 2019

Kavya Madappa’s Bluecat Paper wants to make ‘tree-free’ paper mainstream

Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders
Kavya Madappa | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Kavya Madappa | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain

Instead of wood pulp, Bluecat Paper uses cotton, linen rags, coffee husk, banana fibre, mulberry, corn husk and flax fibre among other things

Kavya Madappa’s cabin at Bluecat Paper, a company that makes upcycled paper, overlooks a small verdant garden with a passion fruit vine and other plants. A black native dog sleeps on a thick sheet that is spread on a plush couch. It is not her pet. “He just likes to hang out here,” says Kavya from her desk. The office, located in Peenya, is airy, green and relaxing — it is unsurprising that Kavya also owns a spa resort in Coorg.

“I grew up in Coorg. Having a large backyard with lots of trees is something I took for granted,” she says. When she moved to Bengaluru, it took a while to adjust to the city’s traffic and bustle. Most conspicuous — and disturbing — to her, however, was the rapid felling of trees. She realised this when she happened to witness the large-scale production of paper at a mill.

Paper is mostly produced from wood pulp, which requires sawing of timber and removal of bark. Environmental activist Mandy Haggith, in her book Paper Trails: From Trees to Trash – The True Cost of Paper, writes: “The paper industry consumes 42% of all the wood felled industrially every year and its share of the world’s cleared forest is an area of about three million hectares annually.”

According to worldatlas.com, in the past four decades, the use of paper has risen by 400%. Roughly 26% of solid waste dumped in dumping sites is discarded paper and paperboard. A report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations says that by 2050, more than half of the world’s total demand for wood and wood products is likely to consist of paper and paper products.

Bluecat Paper products | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Bluecat Paper products | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain

These numbers suggest that Kavya’s concern for trees at the paper mill wasn’t misplaced. She sought and found a way to make paper without wood pulp. For two years, she studied about paper, met papermakers and experimented with different methods. A 15-day hand papermaking course at the Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute in Jaipur equipped her to set up Bluecat Paper in 2018.

Instead of wood pulp, Bluecat Paper uses cotton, linen rags, coffee husk, banana fibre, mulberry, corn husk and flax fibre among other things to make paper. These raw materials, according to Kavya, are abundant. Even the quality of her “tree-free paper”, she assures, is as good as the ones made from wood pulp. But handmade papers are expensive as their production is labour- and time-intensive.

“Most machines are developed for rolls of paper, whereas handmade paper is made into sheets,” explains Kavya. She, however, hopes that “tree-free paper” becomes mainstream. “I had to scale it up because most of the hand papermakers I knew were making paper in their backyard or in small units. At Bluecat, we can make 5,000 to 6,000 sheets of paper a day,” she says. But this number is a trifle compared to the lakhs of sheets manufactured at a paper mill every day.

“Paper isn’t a big deal,” says Kavya, “It is use and throw. You don’t even think you are wasting paper because it is cheap… But it comes at a price for planet Earth.”

Kavya steps out of her cabin to pluck a raw passion fruit. “A tree needs to grow at least 20 years before it can be cut for paper. But by this time, it has its own little ecosystem.But one fine day, you come and cut 50,000 trees at one go and say, ‘It is okay’… Come on, it’s ridiculous!”

(Bluecat’s products are available on bluecatpaper.com and leading e-commerce sites)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Praveen Sudevan / September 26th, 2019

Training For Army Recruitment Rally

Business & Economy

With the Department of Saink Welfare and Resettlement, in association with the District Employment Exchange Office, scheduled to hold an Army recruitment rally from Oct.13 to 18 at the District Stadium in Madikeri, Kodagu.

The Department is organising a free pre-recruitment training camp for SSLC/PUC candidates from Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts from Oct. 1 to 11.

Candidates interested in joining the Army, can register by presenting the necessary documents (2 passport size photographs and Xerox copy of marks cards) at the Office of Department of Sainik Welfare and Recruitment, near DC Office, Mysuru before Sept.25.

For details, call Ph:0821-2425240 or 2489972.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Briefs / September 21st, 2019

Kodagu Disaster: GSI Must Be More Pragmatic And Purposeful

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Sir,

This is in response to the letter by Geologist Mrinmoy Chakraborty (SOM dated Aug.11, 2019) defending the views of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) published in SOM dated Apr.25. I write this to bring to light a few facts that go to show that Chakraborty has hastened to defend the warnings given by GSI a bit too early and to furnish some clarifications regarding the extreme events that wreaked havoc in Kodagu this August and perceptions arising out of them.

The series of landslides that devastated Kodagu in 2018 occurred mostly during the period 15th, 16th and 17th August. Some intriguing data on rainfall pertaining to this period tells the story. This data is from the rain gauge at Kudigana, a place near the border of the catchment of Harangi, which witnessed the worst kind of disasters in 2018.

Record rainfall

Till 6th August, the station had recorded about 5,500 mm of rain, and then on rainfall on the successive days read (in mm): 81, 250, 269, 90, 115, 121, 262, 295, 320, 461 (16th), 394, 197, 164, 95, the total for the fortnight amounting to 3,114 mm (Mysuru’s annual rainfall is 780 mm). Probably the 5-day extreme rainfall recorded then at Kudigana (1,686 mm) is the highest ever recorded in the rain gauging history of Kodagu (which extends for over 120 years now), the earlier highest being 1,462 mm in 1964 pertaining to the station of Bhagamandala.

On the other hand, the records at Kudigana for this year read thus: Total rainfall up to 1st August – 2,041 mm; then on – 30, 0, 16, 136, 183, 254, 312, 276, 298, 158, 90, 46, 35, 100 (15th), during the next 14 days – this is the period when the floods ravaged the district. The extremes here are just about 75% of last year’s and the total for season up to 20th Aug. is not even half of last year’s (nearly 4,090 and 8,614 mm respectively).

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Once in 10-12 years

The highest one-day rainfall recorded this year has been reported from Bhagamandala, places around which contribute to flow in Cauvery and stands at 400 mm. The seven-day extreme for this year here has been 1,142 mm. Strangely, these values have return periods of 12 years and 10 years respectively.

This means, the type of flood-causing rain that fell this year occurs, according to data available, nearly once in 10-12 years. Even the flood magnitudes in the four rivers of the basin that were reported this year have return periods of 15 – 20 years.

On the other hand, the rainfall of 2018 that caused havoc in areas around Madikeri and in the catchment of Harangi shows a return period of over 50 years! This is the reason why even though Kodagu experienced severe floods this August, only just a couple of incidents of severe landslides have occurred.

Technical data

Very often, blockage of roads due to mud falls from tall and nearly vertical cuttings (Plate 1), many times triggered by uprooting of trees and washing away of the valley side road formations, are also termed as landslides, while the landslides of 2018 were removal of unimaginably large portions of hills, mostly in the valleys.

A large number of the over 150 landslides that occurred then got initiated far away from the highways and inhabitations (Plate 2), in total contrast to the common belief that tampering with nature and cutting land indiscreetly is the root-cause of landslides.

Many of these slides carried tens of thousands of cubic meters (like 200 m x 100 m x 2 m) of earth submerging hundreds of hectares of land downstream in mud (Plate 3 and 4). However, even earth falls of volume of a few hundred cubic meters (20 m x 10 m x 2 m) block roads and cause damage to houses — only one landslide of the former nature has been reported this year. It is not strange that extremes not quantified by measurements are blown out of proportion, painted colourfully and projected as catastrophes in this era of rampant use of mass and social media.

Predictions fail

Dr. H.S.M. Prakash, Director General of GSI, is reported to have explained (SOM, 25th April) thus: “There are indications of excessive downpour happening in five phases just like last year …”; “likewise, three to four more similar downpours are likely to be experienced… The rainfall in August is likely to result in floods”. Yes, one spell of rainfall has resulted in floods. But what about the rest? It is a common experience that any astrologer, once approached, would point out a number of cases in which his predictions have gone perfectly right, hiding others! The fact is that rainfall in Kodagu this year has been very poor except for that one spell — even after that week of deluge, the total seasonal rainfall for the year remains 25-40% lower than the normal (except in small pockets of Virajpet), while the last year it was about 25-50% higher than the normal.

Strong low pressure

It is claimed by Chakraborty (SOM, 11th Aug.) that the predictions for this year have been those based on “evidences”. Dr. Prakash had explained: “There is a possibility of heavy rain being caused due to volcanic eruptions in Hawaii and Mauritius. And, as if an indication, it has already started raining in Kodagu (in April)”.

It is utterly sad that an agency with a legacy of 200 years has fished out evidences for the floods in August, in the excessive rainfall of April! It is well established that the pre-monsoon rains of April and May are a phenomenon occurring due to local convections, while the monsoon rains in Kodagu are due to the global circulation, aided by strong low pressures in North/ Central India and the local orography (high rising mountains) of the Sahyadris.

It is now popularly known that the excessive rainfall of the ten days of August this year has been due to a strong low pressure that developed in the Odisha coast, and experts from GSI claim it to be due to excessive heat of magma in Mauritius!!

Better to err on safer side

Being half correct about events not known of is one hundred perfect in Statistics — probably the messengers, the people at the helm of affairs, believe that it is better to err on the safer side than on the other. Sweeping and arbitrary long-range predictions are not only unwarranted, but are also dangerous.

Rather, there shall be healthy introspection and debate on why even extreme events of smaller magnitude have been resulting in excessive damages in recent days. Further, very little of the Hydrology of this region has been understood, much remains to be done. It is hoped that the agencies concerned take a more pragmatic and purposeful look at the recent events and use them to learn about the region.

– Yadupathi Putty, Mysuru, 3.9.2019

You can also mail us your views, opinions, and stories to voice@starofmysore.com

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Voice of the Reader / September 16th, 2019