Economy trumps environment for India's rivers

About ten years ago, I watch a video on the death of Ganges, people left semi cremated bodies in the river. 

 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/06/economy-trumps-environment-india-rivers-2014620111419376318.html

Economy trumps environment for India's rivers

Discharges into the Yamuna river in Delhi point to an environment under severe strain, despite government efforts.

Faiz Jamil | 20 Jun 2014 15:40 GMT

Industrial waste from inland areas and untreated sewage pour into the river through discharge drains [File: AP]New Delhi, India - Polluted rivers in India pose a major threat to agriculture and public health but there are few signs that costly efforts to tackle the problem are making headway.

In New Delhi, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent since the 1990s to clean up the Yamuna river - but with little positive impact.
Fears are now growing that the emphasis placed by candidates in the country’s recent elections on kick-starting India’s economic engine - which has slowed to less than five percent - will confine efforts to revive the country’s dying rivers to the back seat.
Journey back in time
Residents in New Delhi in the 1960s still recall swimming and fishing in the Yamuna every day.
But today, most people cannot bear to walk by the river for more than a few minutes, overwhelmed by the foul stench of garbage and, at times, stagnant water.

grafted cacti

Thinking of my oldest daughter. Many years ago, grafted cacti was popular, and I was crazy about them. My daughter went abroad, bought me one, and took lots of photos.

Saw these in our garden centre, and thought of her who is abroad.

Neem and uses

was curious about Neem as pesticide. These are my 2 trees in NTU in Singapore. I watch on TV, you can make yr own pesticide by blending leaves and steep in cold water for a few days. I did once use the paste on my daughter's head, and she said it was soothing. Anyone have a neem tree?

Lee Judy We have these trees everywhere. My thai 

 

friend would harvest the young leaves whenever 

 

MPPP comes to trim the trees n make kerabu. I use 

 

them for my children n grandchild when they had 

 

chickenpox. Stuff an old sarong with lots of leaves 

 

and sleep on it. It will stop the itch. My Indian cleaner 

 

use it to bathe the baby borne with jaundice

FSO: Wide angle

Jan 30: In the Wide Angle - Share your town with us in the wide angle. Show us the scope of mountains, buildings, wide fields, rivers and lakes.

http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/

ABC Wed: letter D

 

 dog at the beach

 Chinese dough sticks

 drinks

Christmas drama
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/
 

ABC Wednesday letter C

 This cabbage plant has been attacked by white butterfly

 The sweet corn grew to produce small corn.

 This car makes me think of bat-mobile.

 My car had problem, my car mechanis said it's the coil that cause the problem, and told me what the coil is.

Nobody is "maning" the counter here.
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/
 

Save the world: Grow patches of native plants in the city

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

When you visit Singapore, and go out to the west, you will come to the Nanyang Technological University. You will see many manicured gardens. You will also see a patch of green. Dependng on who or what are you, you will see it as either a piece of natural paradise, or a piece of eye sore.

This is a legacy left by me after living 16 years there. What started was similar to the allotment in UK. The university didn't like the residents to plant any where, and after lots of negotiation, they gave us this plot. Unfortunately, it was at a slope and under big rain trees whose canopy blocked the sun.

Friends came to plant and left frustrated by the plants failing to grow. I was the only one undetered, I didn't care if people stole my bananas, because I didn't eat them, the pandan leaves as I didn't use them. But I did care when they pulled up my clumps of lemon grass. Any way, I had fun getting my fingers dirty.

When I left about fours years ago, the plot was abandoned. The native plants and ferns thrived. I revisited last July. Friends told me that it is gone. I thought the university had dug up my plants. To them, gone meant good bye to my manicured garden. To me, it was quite beautiful as it is. It probably houses a lot of insects like praying mantises and butterflies.