Is Rushikulya dying a slow death?

River Rushikulya near Tara-Tarini Hill Shrine

Heavy siltation of the Rushikulya river has led to increased conductivity of the water and the river bed has risen up to the land level making it unfit for consumption and even cultivation. Around 60 per cent of arable land in Ganjam district receives water from this river. According to a report by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the ability to conduct electricity (conductivity) of Rushikulya is 20 times more than the ideal 2,250 micro mhos/cm, which is highest in the State. The high electrical conductivity may adversely affect the yield per hectare in the district. The river is considered lifeline of the farmers in Ganjam. The river’s mean conductivity has been estimated 10 times higher at over 20,786 micro mhos/cm and is among the few in the country to exhibit such conductivity. The CPCB report states that high conductivity would increase the corrosive characteristic of the water, hence it would become unfit for use. Experts of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology stated that concentration of dissolved salts in the water increases the conductivity. They said dissolution of salts would either be through groundwater or inflow of surface water into the river. Conductivity not only affects the harvest but also the quality of the soil. Worse still, water availability for the crop would reduce greatly. This would be catastrophic for the district that has around 80 per cent of its cultivated area under irrigation during kharif season. Surface water has been the mainstay of irrigation in the district. “Except for a patch work, no steps were taken to renovate the riverbed. The water is unfit for drinking and irrigating,” alleged social scientist Chitaranjan Dash. He urged the Government to take steps to reduce the conductivity and called for research on the effect on humans if they consumed this water.

Source: New Indian Express

Army displays fire power at Gopalpur

BERHAMPUR: The Indian Army gave a demonstration of fire power at the Army Air Defence College, Gopalpur today. It was a show of air defence capabilities of the Indian Army for visitors from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. “The visitors included air vice marshal Ramesh Rai, chief instructor (Air), Brigadier Rajbir Singh, senior instructor (Army) and Commodore Lalit Bhatnagar, and senior instructor (Navy) of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College. A total of 222 student officers, including 17 from 15 friendly foreign countries, witnessed the demonstration,” said Major Joginder Singh, general staff officer-2. The visiting officers were also taken around the military station and shown various state-of-the-art training facilities and infrastructure available at the college. Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh, commandant of the Army AD College, was the chief host. The fire power included firing of three types of missile, including OSA- AK weapon system on pilotless target aircraft Lakshya, and para barrels dropped from AN-32 aircraft from an altitude of 5,000 metre. Major Manish Saigal of the Infantry Army, who is on a visit to the Army Air Defence College, said: “I think it is a very good opportunity for all the three services that the Army AD College has been able to showcase all its might.” “The fire power demonstration was very interesting,” Saigal added. Commodore Das of the submarine wing of the Indian Navy said: “The fire power demonstration has made us happy that the nation is in safe hands. It was a wonderful display of the air defence capabilities of the Indian Army.” Army Air Defence College, a prestigious training institution of Army Air Defence, is located near the Bay of Bengal. The sprawling campus has state-of-the-art training infrastructure and facilities ably managed by a team of instructors. In addition to army, personnel of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and students from friendly foreign defence forces also undergo various courses at the college.

Source: The Telegraph

Indian Army demonstrates air defence capability near Berhampur city

BERHAMPUR: A fire power demonstration was conducted by the Gopalpur based Army Air Defence College (AADC) near Berhampur. It was a display of might of air defence capability of the Indian Army. Around 270 officers of Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and friendly foreign countries witnessed this fire power demonstration. Staff and student officers of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in Tamil Nadu took part in it as part of their study tour. A group of around 17 foreign delegates from defence forces of friendly countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Mangolia, Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, Afganistan, Maldives, Bhutan Ethiopia, Tanzania and United States were also guests at this display of air defence strength of our Army. The demonstration also included visit of the delegates to various training facilities in the AADC. Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh, Commandant of the AADC was the chief host of the occasion. It was second demonstration of air defence fire power at the AADC. The last demonstration was held in January last year. The AADC authorities said they would make this display of fire an annual affair to be held in January every year.

Also see Dharitri (http://www.dharitri.com/080110/story8.asp) and the Samaja (http://www.thesamaja.com/news_view.php?news_id=8538) for the news on AAD College.

The missile systems which were fired included the OSA-AK weapon system, Strella 10 m missile, Igla-1M shoulder fired missile. It may be noted that the OSA-AK weapon system is a highly mobile, low altitude, short range tactical surface to air missile system. The anti air-craft guns demonstrated included Schilka weapon system, L/70 gun and ZU-23 mm twin barrel gun, which play a major role in the air defence of the Indian Army. The aerial target support was provided by state-of-the-art Inter Services Pilotless Target Aircraft, Lakshya produced indigenously by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The Lakshya is a remotely piloted high speed target drone system. Aeromodels of 26 cc and 7.5 cc, Air Target Imitator (ATI), Aeromodels with infra red flares were also used as targets. Para-barrels dropped from AN-32 aircraft of Indian air Force from a height of 5000 metres were also used for target practice.

Source: The Hindu, The Samaja, Dharitri