Folded Corner: Our team member Ms. Ekta Sharma has attended FICCI – ICRIER Conference on Strategies for Sustainable Development: Climate Action, Financial Reform held on 3rd August, 2015. The aim of the conference was to examine opportunities for growth in a sustainability paradigm with specific deliberations on sustainable financing, sustainable agriculture and sustainable urbanization. Also she has Folded Corner: Our Director Mr. Pradeep Dadlani has recently attended the 10th Sustainability Summit held on 15-16 September, 2015 organized by CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. The focus areas of the summit were the Road to Paris 2015, Smart Cities: Transforming life, Transforming India, The value and Economic benefits of Biodiversity,  Electric Vehicles : Changing the future of Sustainable Mobility, Next 10 years of Sustainable Business in India, Water for life, SDG and Post 2015 Development Agenda, Fair and Equitable Sourcing in Reputation Economy and Decade of Managing Sustainability.
Folded Corner: Sycom team has conducted the site visit for the assessment of the proposed landfill site and identified  coordinates with the help of Global Positioning System in  Special Area Development Authority(SADA), Gwalior. We have moved forward in the process of Environment Impact   Assessment Clearance and designing the newly proposed landfill site of SADA, Gwalior.  The submission of the Pre-Feasibility Report with SEIAA, Madhya Pradesh, is underway to facilitate EIA approval for the SLF-cum-Processing Plant site. 
Folded Corner: In the July to September period, 4 audits were carried out namely Irai Safari  Retreat and Tadoba tiger Resort situated in Tadoba National Park, Kaav Safari Lodge in Nagarhole Kabini and Camp Corbett in Corbett National Park.

Volume 2: Issue V

SYCOM’s ‘GREEN LETTER’ 

…... A Quarterly e-Newsletter   

July-September 2015

Text Box: PUG AUDIT

As we had informed in our previous issue, the TOFT PUG Audit is now officially recognized by GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council). TOFT PUG  Eco Audit is now first certification programme in Asia which has been recognized for its initiatives to promote sustainable environmental development among accommodation providers operating in adjoining areas of natural habitats.

 

Folded Corner: This is also a moment of pride for our lodges/resorts that have voluntarily joined our accreditation process and agreed to operate under PUG for the conservation of the natural habitats.  Now they can also proudly communicate to their guests that they are PUG Audited Lodge which is globally recognized under GSTC. The goal of getting       recognition of PUG Audit by GSTC could not have been achieved if the support of our member lodges/resorts were not forthcoming.   

We are glad to announce that about 83 lodges/resorts from different parks of India and Nepal have become members of our accreditation system till date. 
Folded Corner:

ONGOING PROJECTS

Folded Corner: A big achievement of the last quarter was signing of an agreement with Jamnagar Municipal Corporation which has entrusted Sycom Projects Consultants Pvt. Ltd. with the preparation of the Detailed Project Report on Solid Waste Management for Jamnagar in conformity with the guidelines laid down under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) by Ministry of Urban Development(MoUD), Government of India. Sycom team has already Folded Corner: Also the PUG Green Team has submitted the TOFT’S Annual Report to its Head office with     major findings and     suggestions.

Jamnagar Municipal Officials

with Sycom’s  Team

 

 

 

 

Add here Jamnagar Photo

Text Box: SADA Official at Site with our Director
Text Box: conducted Preliminary Visits and field surveys in the City to analyze the existing situation. The first milestone of submission of the Inception report has been achieved. The Detailed Project Report would be prepared over a   period of the next few months.

Detailed Project Report

Folded Corner: Sycom as an Expert Contributor would be working in association with Adelphi, on development of a National Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) concept for Municipal Solid Waste Management in India. The scope of the assignment is to prepare a NAMA concept for  support with a thorough monitoring, reporting and verification system (MRV) system in line with the international standards.

Climate Change

Folded Corner: Our director Mr. Pradeep Dadlani has reviewed the Environment and Social Management Plans proposed for  some Sub-projects in the Buddhist Circuit, and the Braj Circuit and Agra, situated in Uttar Pradesh for the Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project (Preparatory Phase) on behalf of The World Bank. The objective of the project is to  unlock the potential of UP’s unique heritage through pro-poor tourism development initiatives for inclusive growth and poverty reduction. The project is expected to improve the living standard of the local people by creating job opportunities, while developing a Sustainable tourism model for the two important circuits in the state.

Review and Evaluation

Folded Corner: As already highlighted in our previous newsletter Sycom as an expert contributor worked on a Drinking Water Resource Mapping and initiatives study with INESA Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. Our team members analyzed the status of bacteriological contamination in drinking water across the various  regions , on the  basis of the collected secondary data and developed an action plan for providing access to safe drinking  water.

Status Report

Folded Corner: The concluding event of “Back to Earth” was organized by TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute at Silver Oak, IHC on 8th August 2015. Our Director Mr. Pradeep Dadlani was invited to share his views on ‘Waste Management and the Environment’ as Guest Speaker along with the renowned Kathak exponent, Padma Shri recipient, Smt. Shovana Narayan.
Folded Corner: Guest Lecture on  Back to –Earth Event 
Folded Corner: This programme was aimed at strengthening the knowledge on waste management and the importance of 4Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) among the school children and making  them aware of  the need to take the necessary actions to conserve the environment, through better waste management practices.
Folded Corner: Our team is taking firm steps towards Karnataka in the field of Solid Waste Management. As a breakthrough Sycom is expected to be assigned the project on Preparation of Detailed Project Report on Solid Waste Management in Harihara, Karnataka in conformity with the guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission, shortly. 
Folded Corner: New Projects 
Folded Corner: Internship

This year we had four interns, of which two were Kurukshetra University and two from GGSIPU. Our interns have finalized their projects and submitted their concluded reports. We would like to place on record the good work done by the summer interns, who completed their projects in the month of July, 2015.

Folded Corner: Communication and Research
Folded Corner: Status of Bacteriological Contamination in Drinking Water  in India

In this issue we are calling attention to the impacts of bacteriological contamination in drinking water in different states of India. Worldwide, the most common and widespread health risk associated with the drinking water is contamination.BIS has laid down the standards (ISO 10500:2012) for safe drinking water. The amount of fresh water actually available to people is finite and without sufficient water, economic development becomes almost impossible and conflict over scare resources virtually predictable. India is the seventh largest country in the world with a landmass of 3.29 million square kilometres (slightly larger than a third of the United States) and a population of just 1.252 billion, according to World Bank (2013).The population of India is expected to stabilize at around 1,640 million by the year 2050. As a result, gross per capita water availability will decline from 1,820 m3 / yr in 2001 to as low as 1,140 m3 /yr in 2050.
An analysis shows that large percentage of habitations across the states in varying degrees, do not have access to safe drinking water. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), GoI has attached a high priority to safe drinking water and is proposing to implement a uniform quality monitoring protocol for all water sources in the country. The establishment of Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission 2003, (RGNDWM) gave further fillip to rural water supply and sanitation services in India.
The major Quality issues confronting the Drinking Water are Hardness, Salinity and Biological contaminants of various hues. Each of these contaminants have adverse effects on the human health. However the most widespread impact on the drinking water quality is from the Biological Contaminants specially the fecal coliform. The Drinking water Scenario in the country indicates that accessibility to safe drinking water in both Urban and the Rural Areas is inadequate and there are large gaps which need to be filled. One of the major reasons for the inadequate quality levels in the drinking water for both Surface water and the Ground water is the source contamination. 
 Central Water Commission (CWC) has conducted several monitoring programmes on the Drinking Water Sources and has observed a high degree of BOD across various sources. Various technologies are in place for surveillance of source water quality and detection of biological & chemical, contaminants. Based on analysis the following 8 States have been short listed for a more detailed scrutiny of the extent of biological contaminants in the drinking water and also for highlighting the specific regions afflicted with this problem.
Andhra Pradesh
Rajasthan
Gujarat
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
West Bengal
 Also, appropriate control technologies need to be developed to address these concerns. The Two major steps identified for protection against the microbial contamination of the drinking water are Treatment and Prevention. 
Purification of pathogenic organisms from drinking water requires the practice of chemical, thermal and/or ultraviolet light treatment. 

Folded Corner: attended Industry Consultation on INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) as a world march towards December’s Paris Climate Summit (COP21), Governments all over the world are determining what actions they will make to reduce emissions and address global climate change.

Name

University

Title of Internship

Prachi Gupta

(M.Sc. Environment Sciences)

Kurukshetra University, Haryana

An overview of MSW Management in Telegana and Rajasthan”

Swati Raina

(M.Tech. Energy and Environment Management)

Kurukshetra University, Haryana

“Impact Assessment of  Rural Water Supply and Sanitation) and “ Odour Management”

Richa Rai

(M.Sc. Natural Resource Management)

GGSIPU, New Delhi

“CSR on Drinking Water with focus on Bacterial Contamination”

Indrajeet Kumar

(M.Sc. Natural Resource Management)

GGSIPU, New Delhi

“Sustainable Ecotourism Certification”