The article appeared in The Hans India New Paper on Biochar and its uses - Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy

1. HYDERABAD HANS Lifestyle Art & Culture FRIDAY 30 September 2011 Guide Celebrations
Citizens at the mercy of
autos, private vehicles
SRIDHAR K PENNA
T
he struggle for a separate
statehood for Telangana
may have evoked mixed re-
actions but there are certain sec-
tions that are deriving maximum
advantage of the Samme that has
brought the administrative ma-
chinery to a standstill.
For instance, auto-rickshaw
drivers and private bus opera-
tors, including Setwin services,
are making a killing, as a conse-
quence.
Home guard Srinivas Naik who threatened to commit sui- A shot in the arm came when
cide by jumping from a tower near AIR office in the city. employees of the state-run Road
Photo: Hrudayanand Transport Corporation (AP-
SRTC) joined the ongoing agita-
Suicide threat by sacked tion. To literally strike the iron
when it is hot, auto drivers
home guard from tower shunned their `regular’ cus-
tomers to cash in on the jackpot
Passengers are feeling the pinch as autos and private vehicles are demanding exorbitant fares.
that waited them at public places taken over by three-wheelers. terminus hoping against hope disorganized manner. The driv- him occupying a seat. He has no
OUR SENIOR been removed from serv- like railway and major bus sta- There is no dearth of gullible that bus services would `resume’ ers literally jostle with one an- other go but wait till the auto is
CORRESPONDENT ice, had been making the tions. passengers, who are Malkajgiri- at any point of time! other to take the passenger onto overloaded. It’s an altogether dif-
rounds of senior officials For instance, the Uppal bus ter- Lalapet-bound. In spite of the It is a mad scene out there, par- his vehicle. ferent matter that the vehicle
A sacked home guard seeking reinstatement. minus beside Mother Teresa’s strike by RTC employees belong- ticularly since the time buses For the passenger, who is in a moves ahead even with ten peo-
climbed atop a tower at Even as home guards statue near Secunderabad Rail- ing to Telangana region, the com- went off the roads. Auto-rick- hurry to reach his destination, ple (excluding the driver, of
the AIR office in front of were holding discussions ways Station has literally been muters diligently stand at the shaws are not just parked in a the trauma does not end with (Continued on P II)
the State Assembly on with the Home Minister
Thursday, threatened to on Thursday, Srinivas
Let a thousand flowers
commit suicide by jump- climbed atop the tower
ing, and, after three and threatened to com-
hours of high drama, mit suicide if he was not
climbed down, with his reinstated. He called up
wife and others implor- one of the sub-inspectors
ing him to see reason. of Asifnagar Police Sta-
bloom with ‘biochar’
The police said the tion and informed him
home guard, Srinivas about his decision.
Naik of Warangal dis- Senior officials rushed
trict, was working at the to the spot and spoke to
Asifnagar Police Station him over phone. Later,
and lived in the Bo- they arranged for his
jagutta area of Mehdi- wife Vinoda to come to The concrete jungle in which we ‘live’ these days makes everyone aspire for a beautiful garden on
patnam. He was the spot and persuade
removed from service her husband to come the terrace or balcony with blooming flowers or kitchen gardens that abound in luscious vegetables.
last December along down. After three hours,
with 825 other home Srinivas came down and Such gardens are no longer a big deal if only people start using ‘biochar’. The Hans India’s corre-
guards, following the de- was taken away to the
tection of certain irregu- Gandinagar Police Sta- spondent Venu K Kodimela digs deep into this natural soil nutrient.
larities in the tion for counseling.
I
recruitment process. Later, a case was regis- n a concrete jungle Dr Saibhaskar Reddy using charcoal and ash as shards, fish bones, com-
Since then, he, along tered against him for at- everyone aspires for a Nakka, founder of and part of traditional and post etc was added to the
with others who had tempting suicide. beautiful garden with CEO of Geoecology En- cultural practices. less fertile acidic soils in
blooming flowers and veg- ergy Organisation (GEO) “The value of Biochar the rain forests to improve
etables on terraces and has come up with was known to man for their fertility.
balconies. Lack of time to ‘biochar’ for sustainable centuries. The evidence of “Biochar is an excellent
water the plants regu- agriculture and allied ac- the use of biochar for im- media for rooftop gardens.
larly and application of tivities. proving soil fertility is When added to the soil
fertilizers and pesticides Biochar is simply a mix found all over the world. the density of the result-
could make one to put off of charcoal, farmyard ma- “Terra Preta was prac- ant soil composition re-
their plans indefinitely. nure, soil microbes, ver- ticed for more than 5,000 duces, thereby lessens
Biochar is a right solution micompost, mulch, years in the Amazon weight on the rooftop.”
for enriching fertility of micro-nutrients, sand, basin even before the ar- The urine could be di-
soils and improving pro- gypsum, fertilizers, and rival of Europeans,” Dr luted and added to the
ductivity of plants silt are used to enhance Reddy explained. plants for improved fertil-
through natural and sus- the fertility of the land. He pointed out that rural ity. The biodegradable
tainable process. Farmers have been trash consisting of pottery (Continued on P II)
Inside
Foldable bicycle
Page 2
Godrej unveils new
security systems
Page 3
Goddess Durga in
myriad forms
Page 4
HANS TUNES
Samudrala
Scene after a blast at the Anup Metal Factory, an aluminium recycling unit, near Kamatipura on Thursday.
10 injured in boiler blast
OUR SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
plosion occurred at the alu- peals. The police later quelled the
minium recycling unit being run mob.
A
bout 10 workers of an alu- by one Sunil Kapadia at Chandu- Sources said the unit was being
minium recycling unit sus- lal Baradari. The boiler exploded run illegally and safety measures
tained injuries, two of them around 5 pm. were not taken at all. The equip-
seriously, when a boiler exploded The unit is located in a residen- ment used in the unit was out-
on Thursday evening. The injured tial area. Residents gathered at dated and the management was
They are running buses persons were rushed to a private the unit in huge numbers and playing with the lives of the work-
hospital for treatment. staged a protest for not shifting ers. The Kamatipura Police have
with full security ! The police said the industrial ex- the unit, despite repeated ap- registered a case.