DYING LAKES , DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN WATER , WATER LOSS BY EVAPORATION AND RUN OFF INTO SEA , ACID RAIN , GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION , INDISCRIMINATE USE OF BOREWELLS LOWERING GROUND WATER LEVEL , PREVENTING WATER WARS , ROLE OF TOXIC LAWN PESTICIDES , PHOSPHATES IN DETERGENTS , EUTROPHICATION CAUSED BY UREA NITRATE IN ARTIFICIAL FERTILISERS , LAKE FISH MORTALITY , BOD5 AND COD SAMPLING WATER TESTS , AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIA , HYPERTROPHIC LAKES , ALGAE AND WATER HYACINTH BLOOMS , RECHARGING DISUSED BOREWELLS , GANESH VISARJAN - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
Above: Dying lake
Above: Dead lake
Above: One of the most ancient inhabited and holy spots of India-- the glorious Pushkar lake of Rajasthan
Above: Pushkar lake being desilted in 2009, in a MINDLESS manner , virtually killing it.
Obviously we cant give a gold medal to whoever destroyed a blue water lake , existing since hoary antiquity..
The person who can revive this lake to its pristine glory will get MOKSHA -- all he has to do is to read and understand this post , penned by a perceptive man .
Above : "KILLED Pushkar lake" -- by man's ignorance
EVEN TODAY ALL ARE SCRATCHING THEIR COLLECTIVE HEADS -- NO INDIAN OR FOREIGN EXPERT HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT --
I WILL TELL YOU WHY.
As per our puranas , Pushkar Lake is appeared when Lord Brahma dropped a lotus in the middle of the Thar Desert. His blessing on the land caused the Lake to form.
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This holy lake is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus.
A dip in the cool blue water of the lake cleansed human beings of sin and disease. All this is now history.
Two decades ago my Chemical tanker carried white kaolin clay slurry from Savannah USA to Vancouver, Nanaimo Island , Canada. This liquefied clay ( can be pumped ) is used to make expensive porcelain crockery and glazed white paper.
Punch into Google search-
CLAY SLURRIES ON CHEMICAL TANKERS VADAKAYIL
After discharge of clay slurry we have to clean our tanks and then berth at Vancouver and backload Mono Ethylene Glycol ( Fibre grade ) , one of the cleanest cargoes on chemical tankers, where more cleanliness is requires than white Bacardi rum.
Below : Pushkar lake just before de-silting
Below : Pushkar lake one year after de-silting
The ship tank cleaning process to remove white Kaolin clay sediments is very long.
So we had a Scandinavian supercargo who has a brain wave — save time by cleaning tanks during clay discharge as the clay slurry tanks emptied out. The cleaned white coloured fresh water would be taken to the nearest beach , by trucks , where he dug out two large pits using a bulldozer .
I had warned him that this wont work, as clay colloids with immediately fill up all the sand grain spaces and kill percolation-- in seconds .
But then you see he wanted to prove that he is right – it was more of a show of Viking syndrome -- See I am head and shoulders above the rest.
Both huge sand pits held the water – and ultimately he gave up , after trying for hours to poke holes here and there with long crow bars .The water inside those sand pits would remain there till the sun evaporated it.
If the pit is covered it is as good as having water in a huge syntax tank we use in our homes to store water – for ever .
Pushkar lake is in the middle of the sandy Thar desert.
If lake water has to be contained— the underwater bottom and sides must have a clay lining.
Mind you even now, they can revive the lake –if done in an intelligent manner .
ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS TO DIG OUT THE LAKE AS PER SPECS — PUMP CLAY SLURRY ON THE SIDES AND BOTTOM AND FILL UP THE LAKE ARTIFICIALLY USING BORE WELLS .
IF WATER IS NOT AVAILABLE , THE CLAY JOB CAN BE DONE , RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE RAINS -- JUST PUMP CLAY SLURRY INTO THE LAKE WATER . . .
MY READERS FROM RAJASTHAN MUST SHOW THIS POST TO THE CHIEF MINISTER.
MY READERS FROM RAJASTHAN MUST SHOW THIS POST TO THE CHIEF MINISTER.
"Pushkaradhipati Tirthani Gangadhayasaritasthata" means that among spots of pilgrimage Lake Pushkar occupies the highest place , as verily as sacred river Ganga occupies the place among rivers.
The significance of Pushkar has been mentioned both in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
There are 400 temples in Pushkar and the most important amongst them are dedicated to Lord Lord Brahma, Goddess Savitri and Varaha avatar.
The lake, elliptical in shape, is encircled by 52 ghats . The important ghats are Varaha Ghat and Brahma Ghat . The Varah Ghat is the most popular because it is believed that Lord Vishnu once appeared here in the form of a varaha (boar).
Punch into google search-
VISHNU AVATAR VARAHA BOAR , TILTING THE EARTH AT AN AXIS OF 23.4 DEGREES VADAKAYIL
It is on this ghat that the crowds gather on the eve of Kartik Purnima to pay homage to the lake.
As per our scriptures a demon called Vajra Nabha, living in Pushkar, had killed the children of Brahma and in revenge Brahma killed him with a lotus stalk.
To commemorate this joyous event, devotees for thousands of years , set afloat large leaves bearing little delicate clay lamps surrounded by fresh flowers.
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Later modern rationalists and environmentalists banned this age old practice quoting superstition, thus depriving the lake of its precious input of bottom and side clay lining .
Later modern rationalists and environmentalists banned this age old practice quoting superstition, thus depriving the lake of its precious input of bottom and side clay lining .
This is where the problems began.
Desilting removed the impervious underwater clay lining ( built over thousand of years by clay offered by devotees ) resulting in heavy percolation and seepage losses --and now the lake can never hold water ..
By mechanical churning you are basically doing DEagglomeration or DEflocculation. The clay will NOT get sedimented because the colloids are stabilized by static electricity. All the particles have a mutual repulsion , and thus the dispersion remains stable.
When you put egg whites and vegetable oil and beat them in a mixer, you get mayonnaise— it remains so because of electric charges, which keep colloids apart. In milk factories they all milk power and use a homogenizer to thicken the milk ( without telling anybody PSSSST ) .
When colloids combine they flocculate to form clumps and settle down.
First do a small experiment on your sandy beach or a sand pit.
Take a lump of clay. Put it in a bucket and churn it up into a COLLOIDAL SLURRY using a mechanical mixer or homogeniser.
Now dig a hole in the sand enough to hold 10 litres . Pour the clay slurry in .
See for yourself . Once the percolation has stopped scoop out the stagnant muddy water in the hole. Now pour clean water.
See, you have a small lake for yourself. The water will remain there .
In the case of Pushkar lake they have to identify the underwater fresh water springs. Just leave those areas clear. Those water spring ingress areas will be WET in the dry lake .
Water charging of lake can be done in the rainy season by building up ground water level all around the lake, it is so simple.
I will describe that in greater detail , as the post gets longer.
If you do NOT want to remove the muddy water and introduce clean water (as you do NOT have water to waste )-- all you have to do is to add some alum to cause agglomeration and sedimentation--the opposite effect of homogenisation . All the clay colloids will clump together ( flocculation ) and sink to the bottom giving crystal clear water.
Ganapati Visarjan was banned in Pushkar lake to prevent water pollution by rationalists .
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But let me tell you that Ganapati idols are to me made of clay with biodegradable decorations, and organic paints , using NIL non-biodegradable plastic .
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This clay from the idol gives the lake life. This is NOT a superstition, by any stretch of our imagination.
But let me tell you that Ganapati idols are to me made of clay with biodegradable decorations, and organic paints , using NIL non-biodegradable plastic .
This clay from the idol gives the lake life. This is NOT a superstition, by any stretch of our imagination.
This annual surcharge of good quality clay is so very important for sustaining the lake level and also the quality of the water.
Agnihotra rituals used to be done by the side of the Pushkar lake, considering Lord Brahma aslo did the same ritual in the hoary past, by the side of the lake he created . Again, this homam is NOT a superstition done by PAGAN Hindus..
Punch into Google search-
AGNIHOTRA, GHEE, COW DUNG FUEL VADAKAYIL
All those who think that one or two spoons of vegetable oil in each of the floating earth lamps will pollute the lake – I must tell them , this vegetable oil is good for the lake.
If there is fish in the lake, it is food for them which will help them to become healthy and fat. An oil like coconut oil will help them to improve their nutrition value for humans .
If the lake does NOT have any fish , it will help to swamp and kill mosquito larvae, which cause dengue , malaria and chikungunya.
Do I hear someone , some ignoramus, crying that oil pollutes water?
Sorry, I have been a Captain at sea for 30 years . All international and local laws prohibit mineral oils ( Annex 1 oils—kerosene, diesel, petrol etc ) from being discharged into the water. Vegetable oil is Annex 2 oil and there are NO such restrictions .
Do you want to hear a shocker?
TILL 31STDEC 2006, WE COULD PUMP 100 TONS OUT OF A PARCEL OF 1000 TONS OF VEGETABLE OIL INTO THE SEA — NO THERE IS NO TYPO ( 10% ) .
It was due to the persistent efforts of a certain Captain Ajit Vadakayil ( via European PSC inspectors / USCG ) that vegetable oils got reclassified based on their melting point, discharge temperature and viscosity.
This happened as I saw sea gulls getting drowned in front of my eyes as their wings got coated in frozen palm oil in cold North seas .
I do NOT like to boast about such things – but just in case some skeptics ( who do NOT know who Capt Ajit Vadakayyil is ) , still scoff, let them read the post below about global warming.
Punch into Google search-
THE NAIVE SAILOR , MAGNETISED PV VALVES VADAKAYIL
You really have zilch idea how much this blogsite has helped the planet, India and Hindusim.
And to hell with all those science books we had in school ( made by Macaulay ) that we must pour kerosene in lakes to prevent mosquitoes breeding. This kills the lake.
Kerosene causes intense pain and death to non-poisonous and harmless water snakes – and this is BAD KARMA.
Even if the clay Ganesha idol is immersed in the sea , the clay lining along the coast. prevents SALT WATER ingress inland when the fresh water ground table level is low in hot summer season.
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Such an ingress from the sea, causes AQUIFERS to get contaminated -- coastal lakes and borewells to go saline and dead..
Such an ingress from the sea, causes AQUIFERS to get contaminated -- coastal lakes and borewells to go saline and dead..
Building a dam to hold water is a STUPID way. The enormous water body ( artificial lake ) causes massive loss of water due to evaporation.
The bright thing to do is to store the water underground. This underground bank of water ( where there is NO evaporation or flow to the sea ) is called an AQUIFER.
Dams have to be designed by intelligent people —NOT the Pushkar Syndrome types, who have zilch idea what a ground water aquifer means .
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Causing a large water surface for evaporation loss is NOT a bright thing to do.
TO BE CONTINUED -
CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
..