Comments
ANUMAKONDA JAGADEESH said
08 September 2015
Good article.
Here is a Road Map for Renewable Energy Utilisation in India:
WHITHER RENEWABLE ENERGY IN INDIA ?
Physical Progress (Achievements)
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
Programme/ Scheme wise Physical Progress in 2015-16 (During the month of June, 2015)
Sector FY- 2015-16 Cumulative
Achievements
Target Achievement (as on 30.06.2015)
I. GRID-INTERACTIVE POWER (CAPACITIES IN MW)
Wind Power 2400.00 319.20 23762.81
Solar Power 1400.00 317.68 4060.65
Small Hydro Power 250.00 46.20 4101.55
Bio-Power (Biomass & Gasification and Bagasse Cogeneration) 400.00 0.00 4418.55
Waste to Power 10.00 12.00 127.08
Total 4460.00 695.08 36470.64
II. OFF-GRID/ CAPTIVE POWER (CAPACITIES IN MWEQ)
Waste to Energy 10.00 0.50 146.51
Biomass(non-bagasse) Cogeneration 60.00 10.50 602.37
Biomass Gasifiers
-Rural
-Industrial 2.00 0.00 17.95
6.00 0.00 0.00
Aero-Genrators/Hybrid systems 0.50 0.13 2.67
SPV Systems 50.00 0.00 234.35
Water mills/micro hydel 2.00 0.00 17.21
Total 130.50 11.13 1021.06
III. OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
Family Biogas Plants (numbers in lakh) 1.10 0.00 48.18
Solar Water Heating – Coll. Areas(million m2) - 0.08 8.90
(Source: http://mnre.gov.in/mission-and-vision-2/achievements/_ )
Here is a Blue print on INTEGRATED APPROACH ON HARNESSING RENEWABLES AND ENERGY CONSERVATION IN INDIA WITH PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION:
1. Promote Offshore Wind Farms.
2. Promote small wind generators as decentralised systems
3. Roof Top PV Solar
4. Creating Renewable Energy Fund. Investment by Income Tax Payers to be exempted under Section 80C(For Central Government).
5. Wind Farm Co-operatives on the lines of those in Germany,Denmark etc.
6. Solar Co-operatives on the lines of those in US.
7. Energy Conservation by replacing most of the inefficient 2.6 Crore irrigation electric pump sets(About 30% power can be saved). Agriculture consumes much power next only to Industry
8. Reading lights with reliable and quality dual powered(Solar/Electricity/USB) to save enormous energy.
9. Biofuel/Biogas for power generation and cooking from Agave/opuntia care-free growth,regenerative and CAM plants. In China Biogas for cooking is supplied trough pipes.
In the vast vacant land in India Agave and Opuntia can be grown and power generation established as decentralised locally.
10. Simple Box Type Solar Cooker with frying facility( 3D approach,Design,Demonstrate and Disseminate)
11.Cost effective vertical and cylindrical,mobile solar water heater design.
12. Low head Micro hydro device to generate power from the head of falling water from the delivery pipe of Electric/diesel pump
sets.
13. KW size Biogas power/cooking plant for villages.
14. Simple solar drier
15. Growing CAM Plants in Waste and Vacant lands which act as Carbon Sink.
Energy Conservation
https://www.scribd.com/doc/250077351/Energy-Conservation
Though Solar Energy has to be promoted on a big scale,it is nowhere compared to Wind Energy both in India(Particularly Andhra Pradesh) and abroad. The Efficiency of Wind Turbines is quite high compared to Solar PV. For a country with vast waste land,biofuel/biogaspower/biochar has great potential from regenerative,care-free growth CAM plants like Agave and Opuntia.
SAVE ENERGY IN ELECTRIC PUMP SETS
I have had been suggesting this since years.
Without anybody’s insistence in our fields we replaced 5 electric motors with efficient ones and we could see the enormous energy saving.
Energy Conservation in Electric Pump sets for Agriculture:
Energy conservation yields quick results than energy generation. In India Agricultural pump sets consume power next only to Industry. There are about 26 Million Agricultural Electric Motors in the country( about13 Lakhs in Andhra Pradesh). Many of them are quite old and inefficient. For Agricultural pump sets the power tariff is nominal or nil in some states. A scheme can be chalked out By both Central and State Governments to replace the old and inefficient agricultural pump sets with efficient ones by giving a subsidy. Electricity is a high grade energy which finds use in Industry, lighting etc. As such it must be judiciously used especially in the agricultural sector. Next to Industry Agriculture consumes about 27% of power. By replacing the inefficient pump sets, one can save 30% of power.
Energy Conservation
https://www.scribd.com/doc/250077351/Energy-Conservation
I have had been advocating energy conservation since long. Apart from Energy generation from Renewables, Energy Saving is the need of the hour in India. A Novel Scheme to replace Old and inefficient agricultural pump sets: Out of the 26 Million Agricultural pump sets in the country many are old and inefficient. The power tariff for farmers is minimal. Electricity is a high grade energy which is needed in industries, domestic purposes, computers etc. A scheme can be chalked out to replace the inefficient motors by efficient ones. The cost of a 5 HP Electric motor because is aboutRs 30,000.A subsidy of Rs 25,000 can be provided to replace these inefficient motors. This yields quick results and “Energy conservation is better than energy generation”. Each Kwh saved is each Kwh generated (1 US$= Rs 60). There must be some contribution from the beneficiary otherwise he won’t take care of the system. Giving free leads to misuse. In 80s the then Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources(Now MNRE)under Demonstration Programme installed over 4000 Water Pumping Mills free of cost. In Andhra Pradesh about 500 were installed. At that time a windmill was costing Rs 20,000. A reliable windmill costs around Rs 80,000 at that time. In fact in our Filelds in Muthukur, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh 2 Wind mills were installed. None of the windmills worked and vanished in no time. Based on several studies carried out on agricultural pump set efficiency, it has been found that the pump efficiency varies from25-35% due to various factors. By adopting BEE star labeled agricultural pump sets, the efficiency can be enhanced upto 50-52%. It is estimated that, by replacement of existing pumps with the BEE star labeled pumps, the achievable saving potential is30-40% and sectoral saving potential works out to be 4.34 BU per year. Instead of huge investment on New Power projects, The Government of India and different state Governments can jointly plan a scheme to replace the existing old and inefficient agricultural pump sets with efficient ones. This yields quick results. Energy conservation refers to reducing energy consumption through using less of an energy service. Energy conservation differs from efficient energy use, which refers to using less energy for a constant service. For example, driving less is an example of energy conservation. Driving the same amount with a higher mileage vehicle is an example of energy efficiency. Energy conservation and efficiency are both energy reduction techniques. Even though energy conservation reduces energy services, it can result in increased, environmental quality, national security, and personal financial security. It is at the top of the sustainable energy hierarchy. One of the primary ways to improve energy conservation in buildings is to use an energy audit. An energy audit is an inspection and analysis of energy use and flows for energy conservation in a building, process or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s). This is normally accomplished by trained professionals and can be part of some of the national programs discussed above. In addition, recent development of smart phone apps enable homeowners to complete relatively sophisticated energy audits themselves. Building technologies and smart meters can allow energy users, business and residential, to see graphically the impact their energy use can have in their workplace or homes. Advanced real-time energy metering is able to help people save energy by their actions. Elements of passive solar design, shown in a direct gain application. In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate. Elements to be considered include window placement and glazing type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading. Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but existing buildings can be retrofitted. Energy Saving in Lighting. One innovation that saves enormous power in light is READING SOLAR LIGHT dual powered. Normally in India students read under a 40 Watt Fluorescent bulb. In school and college hostels Dual powered reading lights can be promoted.
Here are some policies to promote wind energy in India:
Encourage Wind Farm Co-operatives like the ones in Denmark and other European countries.
Community wind projects are locally owned by farmers, investors, businesses, schools, utilities, or other public or private entities who utilize wind energy to support and reduce energy costs to the local community. The key feature is that local community members have a significant, direct financial stake in the project beyond land lease payments and tax revenue. Projects may be used for on-site power or to generate wholesale power for sale, usually on a commercial-scale greater than 100 kW.
Australia
The Hepburn Wind Project is a wind farm at Leonards Hill near Daylesford, Victoria, north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. It comprises two 2MW wind turbines which produce enough power for 2,300 households.
This is the first Australian community-owned wind farm. The initiative has emerged because the community felt that the state and federal governments were not doing enough to address climate change.
Canada
Community wind power is in its infancy in Canada but there are reasons for optimism. One such reason is the launch of a new Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program in the Province of Ontario . A number of community wind projects are in development in Ontario but the first project that is likely to obtain a FIT contract and connect to the grid is thePukwis Community Wind Park. Pukwis will be unique in that it is a joint Aboriginal/Community wind project that will be majority-owned by the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, with a local renewable energy co-operative (the Pukwis Energy Co-operative) owning the remainder of the project.
Denmark
In Denmark, families were offered a tax exemption for generating their own electricity within their own or an adjoining commune. By 2001 over 100,000 families belonged to wind turbine cooperatives, which had installed 86% of all the wind turbines in Denmark, a world leader in wind power. Wind power has gained very high social acceptance in Denmark, with the development of community wind farms playing a major role.[
In 1997, Samsø won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community. An offshore wind farm comprising 10 turbines (making a total of 21 altogether including land-based windmills), was completed, funded by the islanders. 100% of its electricity comes from wind power and 75% of its heat comes from solar power and biomass energy. An Energy Academy has opened in Ballen, with a visitor education center.
Germany
In Germany, hundreds of thousands of people have invested in citizens' wind farms across the country and thousands of small and medium sized enterprises are running successful businesses in a new sector that in 2008 employed 90,000 people and generated 8 percent of Germany's electricity. Wind power has gained very high social acceptance in Germany, with the development of community wind farms playing a major role.
In the German district of North Frisia there are more than 60 wind farms with a capacity of about 700 MW, and 90 percent are community-owned. North Frisia is seen to be a model location for community wind, leading the way for other regions, especially in southern Germany.
India
Starting in 2006, a village panchayat (local self-governing body) in Tamil Nadu state has become completely self-sufficient in energy by using renewable sources like wind, solar and biogas.
The Odanthurai village panchayat near Coimbatore city comprises 11 villages and has a population of about 8,000. By 2009, it had set up its own 350kW windfarm to meet its energy needs. The windmill was set up at Malwadi near Udumalpet and generates about 8 lakh units annually. The power requirement for Odanthurai stands at about 4.5 lakh units, and the local panchayat body is now selling the surplus power to the state grid. This gives the panchayat an annual income of 19 lakh rupees.
The village cooperative is also using other sources of renewable energy. It has 65 solar streetlights in two hamlets and a nine-KW (kilowatt) biomass gasifier to pump drinking water from the river to the overhead tanks. Doing so, Odanthurai became the first local body in India to utilize the remunerative enterprises scheme of the state government.
The Netherlands
Sixty-three farmers in De Zuidlob, the southern part of the municipality of Zeewolde, have entered into a cooperative agreement that aims to develop a wind farm of at least 108 MW. The project will include the installation of three phases of 12 wind turbines with capacities of 3 to 4.5 MW each. The aim is to put the wind farm into service in 2012
The Netherlands has an active community of wind cooperatives. They build and operate wind parks in all regions of the Netherlands. This started in the 1980s with the first Lagerweij turbines. Back then, these turbines could be financed by the members of the cooperatives. Today, the cooperatives build larger wind parks, but not as large as commercial parties do. Some still operate self-sufficiently, others partner with larger commercial wind park developers.
Because of the very unproductive state policies for financing wind parks in the Netherlands, the cooperatives have developed a new financing model, where members of a cooperative do not have to pay taxes for the electricity they generate with their community wind park. In this construction the Zelfleveringsmodel the cooperative operates the wind park, and a traditional energy company only acts as a service provider, for billing and energy balance on the public grid. This is the new role for energy companies in the future, where production is largely decentralized.
United Kingdom
As of 2012, there are 43 communities who are in the process of or already producing renewable energy through co-operative structures in the UK. They are set up and run by everyday people, mostly local residents, who are investing their time and money and together installing large wind turbines, solar panels, or hydro-electric power for their local communities.
Baywind Energy Co-operative was the first co-operative to own wind turbines in the United Kingdom. Baywind was modeled on the similar wind turbine cooperatives and other renewable energy co-operatives that are common in Scandinavia, and was founded as an industrial and provident society in 1996. It grew to exceed 1,300 members, each with one vote.
A proportion of the profits is invested in local community environmental initiatives through the Baywind Energy Conservation Trust. As of 2006, Baywind owns a 2.5 megawatt five-turbine wind farm at Harlock Hill near Ulverston, Cumbria (operational since 29 January 1997), and one of the 600 kilowatt turbines at the Haverigg II wind farm near Millom, Cumbria.
Community-owned schemes in Scotland include one on the Isle of Gigha. The Heritage Trust set up Gigha Renewable Energy to buy and operate three Vestas V27 wind turbines, known locally as The Dancing Ladies or Creideas, Dòchas is Carthannas (Gaelic for Faith, Hope and Charity). They were commissioned on 21 January 2005 and are capable of generating up to 675 kW of power. Revenue is produced by selling the electricity to the grid via an intermediary called Green Energy UK. Gigha residents control the whole project and profits are reinvested in the community.
Another community-owned wind farm, Westmill Wind Farm Cooperative, opened in May 2008 in the Oxfordshire village of Watchfield. It consists of five 1.3 megawatt turbines, and is described by its promoters as the UK's largest community-owned wind farm. It was structured as a cooperative, whose shares and loan stock were sold to the local community. Other businesses, such as Midcounties Co-operative, also invested, and the Co-operative Bank provided a loan.
Community Energy Scotland is an independent Scottish charity established in 2008 that provides advice and financial support for renewable energy projects developed by community groups in Scotland. The stated aim of Community Energy Scotland is 'to build confidence, resilience and wealth at community level in Scotland through sustainable energy development'.
Findhorn Ecovillage has four Vestas wind turbines which can generate up to 750 kW. These make the community net exporters of renewable-generated electricity. Most of the generation is used on-site with any surplus exported to the National Grid.
Boyndie Wind Farm Co-operative is part of the Energy4All group, which promotes community ownership. A number of other schemes supported by Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company are in the pipeline.
Unity Wind Ltd is an industrial and provident society that intends to install two 2MW wind turbines at North Walsham in North Norfolk. Its key aim is community wind turbines installed and run by community investment and for financial benefit to the community.
United States
In 2009, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory published a report that identified three different types of community wind projects in the United States.. The first model describes a project owned by a municipal utility, such as the Hull Wind Project in Massachusetts. The second model is a wind project that is jointly owned by local community members, such as the MinWind Projects near Luverne, Minnesota. The third type is a flip-style ownership. This model allows local investors to partner with a corporation in order to take advantage of Production Tax Credit federal incentives. Flip projects have been built in Minnesota and Texas.
So are Solar Co-operatives.
OFFSHORE WIND FARMS:
India has a long coastline. There is much progress in offshore wind farms in Europe especially in UK and US, China,Taiwan have ambitious plans. The advantage of offshore Wind farms( about 10 km away from the coast) is wind on the sea is higher as roughness factor of water and ice is zero. Since there will be no obstacles for free flow of wind compared onshore wind speeds will be about 30% higher offshore. In the power equation Power is having cubic relation with velocity of wind. Other factors remaining constant wind energy offshore will be about 30% more nearby onshore. Moreover because of higher velocities large wind turbines can be deployed. Capacities of even 8 MW wind turbines are established.
It is unfortunate even though India occupies 5th position in the world on wind, is yet to start offshore wind farms.
Hitherto incentives like Depreciation are given to big industries who set up Renewable Energy Projects. A Renewable Energy Fund can be created by Central Government and contributions under Section 80C by individual tax payers can be exempted. This way there will be he money for Renewable Energy Projects recurring annually besides mass involvement in Renewable Energy.
As of 31 March 2015 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 23,444 MW :
Tamil Nadu (7,253 MW),
Gujarat (3,093 MW),
Maharashtra (2,976 MW),
Karnataka (2,113 MW),
Rajasthan(2,355 MW),
Andhra Pradesh (916 MW),
Madhya Pradesh (386 MW),
Kerala (35.1 MW)
Solar Energy Grid Connected
MW
Rajasthan 1,147.01
Gujarat 1,000.05
Madhya Pradesh 563.58
Maharashtra 363.07
Andhra Pradesh 186.00
Tamilnadu 148.00
Karnataka 78.22
Uttar Pradesh 71.26
Telangana 63.00
If we look at the solar and Wind power in Andhra Pradesh it is negligible. The State Nodal Agency NREDCAP needs to be strengthened. Moreover there are lack of trained personnel in Renewable Energy. With expansion of Renewables,there is the need to start short term training programs in Renewables with expertise from home and abroad for Graduates in Engineering, Diploma Holders and ITI Certificate holders.
Roof Top solar makes sense in Andhra Pradesh in view of multi storied Apartments in most towns and Cities. But to get maximum benefit it is better to go for small wind generators as well as Wind – Solar Hybrid Systems. These hybrid systems will be more reliable that solar alone.
Energy Conservation
https://www.scribd.com/doc/250077351/Energy-Conservation
Though Solar Energy has to be promoted on a big scale,it is nowhere compared to Wind Energy both in India(Particularly Andhra Pradesh) and abroad. The Efficiency of Wind Turbines is quite high compared to Solar PV. For a country with vast waste land,biofuel/biogaspower/biochar has great potential from regenerative,care-free growth CAM plants like Agave and Opuntia.
SAVE ENERGY IN ELECTRIC PUMP SETS
I have had been suggesting this since years.
Without anybody’s insistence in our fields we replaced 5 electric motors with efficient ones and we could see the enormous energy saving.
Energy Conservation in Electric Pump sets for Agriculture:
Energy conservation yields quick results than energy generation. In India Agricultural pump sets consume power next only to Industry. There are about 26 Million Agricultural Electric Motors in the country( about13 Lakhs in Andhra Pradesh). Many of them are quite old and inefficient. For Agricultural pump sets the power tariff is nominal or nil in some states. A scheme can be chalked out By both Central and State Governments to replace the old and inefficient agricultural pump sets with efficient ones by giving a subsidy. Electricity is a high grade energy which finds use in Industry, lighting etc. As such it must be judiciously used especially in the agricultural sector. Next to Industry Agriculture consumes about 27% of power. By replacing the inefficient pump sets, one can save 30% of power.
Energy Conservation
https://www.scribd.com/doc/250077351/Energy-Conservation
I have had been advocating energy conservation since long. Apart from Energy generation from Renewables, Energy Saving is the need of the hour in India. A Novel Scheme to replace Old and inefficient agricultural pump sets: Out of the 26 Million Agricultural pump sets in the country many are old and inefficient. The power tariff for farmers is minimal. Electricity is a high grade energy which is needed in industries, domestic purposes, computers etc. A scheme can be chalked out to replace the inefficient motors by efficient ones. The cost of a 5 HP Electric motor because is aboutRs 30,000.A subsidy of Rs 25,000 can be provided to replace
these inefficient motors. This yields quick results and “Energy conservation is better than energy generation”. Each Kwh saved is each Kwh generated (1 US$= Rs 60). There must be some contribution from the beneficiary otherwise he won’t take care of
the system. Giving free leads to misuse. In 80s the then Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources(Now MNRE)under Demonstration Programme installed over 4000 Water Pumping Mills free of cost. In Andhra Pradesh about 500 were installed. At that time a windmill was costing Rs 20,000. A reliable windmill costs around Rs 80,000 at that time. In fact in our Filelds in Muthukur, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh 2 Wind mills were installed. None of the windmills worked and vanished in no time. Based on several studies carried out on agricultural pump set efficiency, it has been found that the pump efficiency varies from25-35% due to various factors. By adopting BEE star labeled agricultural pump sets, the efficiency can be enhanced upto 50-52%. It is estimated that, by replacement of existing pumps with the BEE star labeled pumps, the achievable saving potential is30-40% and sectoral saving potential works out to be 4.34 BU per year. Instead of huge investment on New Power projects, The Government of India and different state Governments can jointly plan a scheme to replace the existing old and inefficient agricultural pump sets with efficient ones. This yields quick results. Energy conservation refers to reducing energy consumption through using less of an energy service. Energy conservation differs from efficient energy use, which refers to using less energy for a constant service. For example, driving less is an example of energy conservation. Driving the same amount with a higher mileage vehicle is an example of energy efficiency. Energy conservation and efficiency are both energy reduction techniques. Even though energy conservation reduces energy services, it can result in increased, environmental quality, national security, and personal financial security. It is at the top of the sustainable energy hierarchy. One of the primary ways to improve energy conservation in buildings is to use an energy audit. An energy audit is an inspection and analysis of energy use and flows for energy conservation in a building, process or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s). This is normally accomplished by trained professionals and can be part of some of the national programs discussed above. In addition, recent development of smart phone apps enable homeowners to complete relatively sophisticated energy audits themselves. Building technologies and smart meters can allow energy users, business and residential, to see graphically the impact their energy use can have in their workplace or homes. Advanced real-time energy metering is able to help people save energy by their actions. Elements of passive solar design, shown in a direct gain application. In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate. Elements to be considered include window placement and glazing type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading. Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but existing buildings can be retrofitted. Energy Saving in Lighting. One innovation that saves enormous power in light is READING SOLAR LIGHT dual powered. Normally in India students read under a 40 Watt Fluorescent bulb. In school and college hostels Dual powered reading lights can be promoted.
Kolleru Lake & Utilisation of Water Hyacinth:
Located about 95 km from Vijaywada, it is located between the wide deltas of Godavari & Krishna and is the largest fresh Water Lake in the country.
It receives water from four rivers, namely Budameru, Ramileru, Tammileru and Errakalva and 18 drains. This lake empties its water into the Bay of Bengal, every six months through an outlet called 'upputera'. Its majestic beauty comes alive during monsoons when it spans nearly 260-sq-kms.
It is home to a fine Bird sanctuary called Kolleru Sanctuary that attracts several species of birds. It is the largest pelican refuge that is a rich haven for migrating birds. The lake also supports a rich biodiversity and high biomass of fish, plankton that forms the source of food for birds. Pelicans arrive here during the nesting season to raise their young.
Kolleru Lake witnesses great activity during winters. The place can also be reached from 1.5 km from Kaikaluru town, 3 km from Gudivakalankas and 15 km from Eluru.
Kolleru Lake
Location Andhra Pradesh
Coordinates 16°39'N 81°13'ECoordinates: 16°39'N 81°13'E
Basin countries
India
Surface area 245 km2
Kolleru Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India located in state of Andhra Pradesh 20 kilometers away from the city of Eluru. Kolleru is located betweenKrishna and Godavari delta. Kolleru spans into two districts - Krishna and West Godavari. The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers. The lake is fed directly by water from the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru streams, and is connected to the Krishna and Godavari systems by over 68 in-flowing drains and channels.this lake is a major tourist attraction. Many birds migrate here in winter, such as Siberian crane, ibis, and painted storks. The lake was an important habitat for an estimated 20 million resident and migratory birds, including the grey or spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis). The lake was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under India's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and designated a wetland of international importance in November 2002 under the international Ramsar Convention. The wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 308 km2.[1]
Egrets, grey herons, painted storks and black-headed ibises gathering in thousands at Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Current state of the lake
Kolleru lake is suffering from the unsatisfied greed of people and selfish interests of mankind who exploit the lake’s integrity. Thousands of fish tanks were dug up effectively converting the lake into a mere drain. This had great impact in terms of pollution, leading to difficulty in getting drinking water for the local people. This is in addition to the loss of ecological diversity and intrusion of sea water into the land masses and its fallout in terms of adverse influence on the rainfall pattern in this region. This imbalance has an adverse effect on the thousands of acres of crop in the upper reaches of sanctuary in view of stoppages of water flow into the sea because of obstruction by bunds of the fish tanks that appeared illegally.
Kolleru Lake
Satellite images taken on February 9, 2001 by the Indian remote sensing satellite found that approximately 42% of the 245 km2 lake was occupied by aquaculture, while agriculture had encroached another 8.5%. The area under aquaculture consisted of 1050 fish ponds within the lake and 38 dried-up fish ponds, which together covered an area of 103 km2. The agricultural encroachments were mostly rice paddies. Surprisingly no clear water could be found in the satellite image. The rest of the lake is being diminished by water diversions or was infested with weeds like elephant grass and water hyacinth. Rich in flora and fauna, it attracts migratory birds from northern Asia and Eastern Europe between the months of October and March. During this season, the lake is visited by an estimated two million birds. The resident birds include grey pelicans, Asian open-billed storks (Anastomus oscitans), painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala), glossy ibises, white ibises, teals, pintails and shovellers. The migratory birds include red-crested pochards, blackwinged stilts, avocets, common red shanks, wigeons, gadwalls and cormorants, garganeys, herons and flamingos.
Kolleru lake contains numerous fertile islets called lanka's,many of the small ones are submerged during floods. The origin of unusual depression which forms the bed of the lake is unknown, but it was possibly the results of an earthquake. Therefore many ancient villages are precepted in the bed of the lake as a result of floods and earthquake.
History
Two copper plates of the early Pallava dynasty have been found in the lake, tracing its history to Langula Narasimha Deva (Langulya Gajapathi Raju) an Ganga Vanshi Odishaking, (Oddiya/Odia raju) . According to legend, the Gajapathi fort was located at Kolleti Kota on one of the eastern islands of the lake. The enemy general "muhammadan" probably a Bahamany general encamped at "Chiguru kota" located on the shores. In some ways, the lake protected the Odia forces. The enemy finally tried to excavate a channel, the modern-day Upputeru, so that the water of the lake would empty into the sea and the level would fall so that they could attack the Gajapathi fort. The royal Odiaarmy general sacrificed his own daughter to propitiate Gods and ensure his success against Muhammadan and her name was "Perantala Kanama". Therefore the channel was called Perantala Kanama. Sri Peddinti Ammavari Temple(http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details…) is one of the oldest and famous temples found in Kolleru. The Suryavanshi Gajapatis of Odisha, on the height of their power in the 15th century, ruled over a kingdom extending from the Ganges river in the north to the Kaveri in the south under Gajapati Kapilendra Deva. But by the early 16th century, the Gajapatis lost great portions of their southern dominion to Vijayanagar and Golconda.The Gajapatis were a medieval HinduSuryavamsi dynasty of Kalinga- Utkal Odisha who ruled large parts of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. During the glorious reign of Kapilendra deva, the first Suryavamsi Gajapati emperor, the boundary of the Kalinga empire (Ancient Odisha) stretched from river Ganges in North to Kaveri in South and from Amarkantak in West to Bay of Bengal(Kalinga Sagara) in east. This lake has a disaster story regarding a quotation many people use it when they lost everything "Na kompa kolleru aiyindi " it meant that back in '50s many of the people of Telaprolu village head family's has invested and boughtlands near kolleru lake due to expansion of lake they lost all their properties.
Sanctuary
The sanctuary has the following watch towers for sighting the birds.
Atapaka: 1.5 km from Kaikaluru to see varieties of waterfowl. Murthyraju tank 8 km from Nidamarru East Chodavaram: 53 km from Eluru where openbill storks nest in colonies from July to December.
The sanctuary is approachable from all four sides of the lake by road, directly to the following places.
• Atapaka – 2.5 km from Kaikaluru town
• Bhujabalapatnam - 6 km from Kaikaluru town
• Kovvada Lanka—7 km from Kaikaluru town *Murthiraju Tanks – 8 km from Nidamarru
• Gudivakalanka – 3 km from Gudivakalanka or 15 km from Eluru the recent president of Gudivakalanka is Gantasala Rambabugaru. The nearest city is Vijayawada, which is 65 km by road or rail; nearest town is Eluru.
• Prathikola Lanaka or 19 km from Eluru the recent president of Prathikola Lanka is Gantasala Mahalaxman Raju garu. The nearest city is Eluru, which is 35 km by road.
Kolleru Lake is eutrophic which receives high nutrient load from the various industries and drainage canals which enhances the growth of water hyacinth. The plant biomass was increased to several folds during the last five years and its spread to the lake is rapidly increasing from day to day. The biomass of the water hyacinth should be properly utilized for mushrooms production and biogas production as found in the literature.
Water Hyacinth which is regarded as Waste has many uses.
• In food production
• As leaf protein concentrate, which is rich in protein and vitamin A.
• As a substrate for mushroom cultivation,
• By making soils more fertile which yield better crops,
• By purifying water, in which fish can then thrive,
• Through the production of silage, for fattening animals,
• Through vermiculture, producing feed for poultry or fish,
• In regenerating degraded soils,
• As mulch
• As compost
• As fertilizer, produced by mixing with other organic materials, and phosphate rock.
• In biogas production. 1 hectare of weed can produce 100 tons of dry water hyacinth/year which could produce 30,000 cubic meters of gas sufficient to supply cooking for 40 families. The residual slurry must be used as mulch.
• As briquettes, which can be used for cooking in kitchens for schools and restaurants.
• In providing employment and income, through the production and sale of a range of art papers and cards, crafts and furniture, (on industrial level), chemicals and liquid fuels.
• Nutritious Protein from Water Hyacinth
• Leaf Fractionation:
• Leaf fractionation produces up to 10 times as much protein per hectare as when the land is used to grow food for animals. It doers not require artificially fixed nitrogen, which is made using a large amount of energy. It is already being used on Lucerne, or alfalfa in France, Hungary and the US to make supplementary feed for pigs and poultry. As Lucerne is a legume, it adds nitrogen to the soil. The process can be applied to almost any fresh green leaves, including weeds such as water hyacinth and nettles. The leaf protein it produces contains no animal fats, and the fibrous residue is an excellent ruminant food.
FURNITURE FROM WATER HYACINTH:
Fine Furniture is made from roots of water hyacinth in Indonesia,Thailand and Vietnam and exported to Europe and other countries.
It is high time the Government of Andhra Pradesh takes steps to utilize Water Hyacinth.
Some of the Text: Wikipedia
Photos: Internet
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP)
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com
Note: The majority of comments posted are created by members of the
public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those
Elsevier Ltd. We are not responsible for any content posted by members of the public
or content of any third party sites that are accessible through this site. Any links
to third party websites from this website do not amount to any endorsement of that
site by the Elsevier Ltd and any use of that site by you is at your own risk. For
further information, please refer to our Terms & Conditions.