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e Flora & Fauna of India The concept of forest and wildlife conservation is very ancient to India. Since time immemorial, wildlife here has enjoyed a privileged position of protection through religious philosophy. India's flora and fauna are as diverse as its cultural variances. The Indian subcontinent has many fascinating sights for its nature lovers. Only around 10% of the country still has forest cover, and only 4% is protected within national parks and similar reserves. However, in the past few decades the government has taken serious steps towards environmental management and has established numerous parks, sanctuaries and reserves. The melange of India's climate and topography is reflected in its rich flora & fauna. India is world renown for its tigers, elephants and rhinoceroses, but these are just three of the more than 500 species of mammals harbouring in the country. India has for years captivated the attentions of wildlife experts and lovers. The assortment of wildlife you can see in India is truly mind-boggling, no where else you can find such a fascinating variety and numbers it boasts of. Book Flora & Fauna Tour Home to many rare and unique species - the majestic tiger, the Asiatic lion, the one horned rhinoceros, the wild ass, the Asian elephant, many species of deer, bears, leopards, monkeys, antelopes and birds - India's wildlife sanctuaries are a nature lover's paradise. It is exciting and exceptional to be in India and it is far more exciting and entertaining to be in the Indian wildlife biosphere, mainly confined in the Indian wildlife sanctuary or national park. Wildlife heritage of India is as much or more diverse than the cultural heritage of this country. In all India has 80 national parks and 441 sanctuaries, of which 19 fall under the purview of Project Tiger. The total area of India's protected wilderness is approximately 140,000 sq km. This contains 4 % of the country's total land area. Not o nly are these vast patches of forests preserved as natural habitats for wildlife, but are even more unique owing to the fact that they vary from region to region and each has something unique, be it its flora, fauna, avi fauna or aqua-fauna. Many of the species harboured in these areas are rare and endangered. India is blessed with over 2,000 species of birds, over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians and around 30,000 species of insects, including the colorful butterflies. Conservation projects have be established to en preserve them. Floras In India The wide range of climatic conditions helps India boasts of its rich variety of vegetation that no other country in this world can boast of. The vegetation comprises some 15,000 species of plants. Accordin to g the distribution of the flora, India can be classified into, Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus Plain, Ganga Plain, Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans. Indian flora fluctuates from the Western Himalayan and Assamese, from the species of the Indus Plain to those of the gangetic plain, from the Deccan and Malabari to the vegetation of the Andamans. The floral treasure ranges from the Alpine to the temperate thorn, from the coniferous to the evergreen, from scrubs to deciduous forests, from thick tropical jungles to cool temperate woods. The Western Himalayan biosphere is bouncy with Chirpine and other conifers deodar, blue pine, spruce, silver fir, and junipers. The Eastern Himalayan region consists of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder, and birch and dwarf willows. The Assam region is full of evergreen forests with lots of bamboo and tall grasses. The Indus plain supports very scanty vegetation and the Ganges Plain is under cultivation. The Deccan
region is full of scrubs and mixed deciduous forests. The Malabar region is under commercial crops like coconut, betel, pepper, coffee and tea. Andaman region is plentiful in evergreen and mangrove forests. Book Flora & Fauna Tour Faunas in India Popular mammals include the Elephant, the famous white lions and some common lions, the Royal Bengal Tiger, Rhinos, Wild Bisons some varieties from the cat family, deer, monkeys, wild goats, etc. Elephants are found in the sparsely populated hill areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa. A variety of deer and antelope species can be seen, but these are now mostly confined to the protected areas because of competition with domestic animals and the effects of t heir diseases. They include graceful Indian gazelles (chinkaras); Indian antelopes (blackbucks); diminutive, four homed ante- lopes (chowsinghas); large and ungainly looking blue bulls (nilgais); rare swamp deer (barasinghas); sambars, India's largest deer; beautiful spotted deer (chitals); the larger barking deer (muntjacs); and the tiny mouse deer (chevrotains). Also seen are wild buffaloes, massive Indian bisons (gaurs), shaggy sloth bears, striped hyenas, wild pigs, jackals, Indian foxes, wolves, and Indian wild dogs (dhole), which resembles giant foxes but roam in packs in forests. Lions are found in the rocky hills and forests of the Gir area of Gujarat, Tigers in the Sunderbans and the Brahmaputra valley. The famous Project Tiger is a scheme financed by the government of India to safeguard the tiger in its habitat in nine selected reserves. Indian Fauna also include the wild ass of Rajasthan, Nilgiri Langur, Lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri mongoose and Malaber civer of the southern hills and the spotted deer. Leopards are found in many forests, Wolves roam the open country. Cheetahs are found in the Deccan
plateau. Avi-faunas In India India is blessed with over 2000 species and sub-species of birds. The diverse birdlife of the forests includes large hornbills, serpent eagles and fishing owls, as well as the elegant national bird, the peacock. Waterbirds, such as herons, ibises, storks, cranes, pelicans and others, are seen not only in parks but at numerous special waterbird sanctuaries. These sanctuarie contain large breeding colonies, and are of great s importance for the countless numbers of migrating birds which visit India annually. Bird-Life in India is rich and colorful. The birds include the beautiful Peacock to the Parrots, and thousands of immigrant birds. Other common Indian birds are pheasants, geese ducks, mynahs, parakeets, pigeons, cranes, and hornbills. India now maintains 80 national parks, 441 wildlife sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens. Reptiles In India Among the other wildlife are over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians, including magnificent king cobras, pythons, crocodiles, large freshwater tortoises and monitor lizards. There are also 10,000 insect species. including large and colourful butlerflies.
A huge number of snake varieties, lizards and crocodiles account for the reptile count. Snakes include the deadly King cobras to the equally poisonous Kraits. Scorpions and insects are aplenty in this country. Disease carrying mosquitoes and destructive locusts are to be found. U seful insects include the bees, silkworms and the Lac insect. Book Flora & Fauna Tour
Wildlife Tour Package 08 Days Attractions : One-horned Rhinos, Elephants, Jeep Safari. Destinations : Guwahati - Kaziranga - Nameri...
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People:e Flora & Fauna of India The concept of forest and wildlife conservation is very ancient to India. Since time immemorial, wildlife here has enjoyed a privileged position of protection through religious philosophy. India's flora and fauna are as diverse as its cultural variances. The Indian subcontinent has many fascinating sights for its nature lovers. Only around 10% of the country still has forest cover, and only 4% is protected within national parks and similar reserves. However, in the past few decades the government has taken serious steps towards environmental management and has established numerous parks, sanctuaries and reserves. The melange of India's climate and topography is reflected in its rich flora & fauna. India is world renown for its tigers, elephants and rhinoceroses, but these are just three of the more than 500 species of mammals harbouring in the country. India has for years captivated the attentions of wildlife experts and lovers. The assortment of wildlife you can see in India is truly min d-boggling, no where else you can find such a fascinating variety and numbers it boasts of. Book Flora & Fauna Tour
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Home to many rare and unique species - the majestic tiger, the Asiatic lion, the one horned rhinoceros, the wild ass, the Asian elephant, many species of deer, bears, leopards, monkeys, antelopes and birds - India's wildlife sanctuaries are a nature lover's paradise. It is exciting and exceptional to be in India and it is far more exciting and entertaining to be in the Indian wildlife biosphere, mainly confined in the Indian wildlife sanctuary or national park. Wildlife heritage of India is as much or more diverse than the cultural heritage of this cou ntry. In all India has 80 national parks and 441 sanctuaries, of which 19 fall under the purview of Project Tiger. The total area of India's protected wilderness is approximately 140,000 sq km. This contains 4 % of the country's total land area. Not only a re these vast patches of forests preserved as natural habitats for wildlife, but are even more unique owing to the fact that they vary from region to region and each has something unique, be it its flora, fauna, avi fauna or aqua-fauna. Many of the species harboured in these areas are rare and endangered. India is blessed with over 2,000 species of birds, over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians and around 30,000 species of insects, including the colorful butterflies. Conservation projects have been es tablished to preserve them. Floras In India The wide range of climatic conditions helps India boasts of its rich variety of vegetation that no other country in this world can boast of. The vegetation comprises some 15,000 species of plants. According to the distribution of the flora, India can be classified into, Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus Plain, Ganga Plain, Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans. Indian flora fluctuates from the Western Himalayan and Assamese, from the species of the Indus Plain to those of the gangetic plain, from the Deccan and Malabari to the vegetation of the Andamans. The floral treasure ranges from the Alpine to the temperate thorn, from the coniferous to the evergreen, from scrubs to deciduous forests, from thick tropical jungles to cool temperate woods. The Western Himalayan biosphere is bouncy with Chirpine and other conifers deodar, blue pine, spruce, silver fir, and junipers. The Eastern Himalayan region consists of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder, and birch and dwarf willows. The Assam region is full of evergreen forests with lots of bamboo and tall grasses. The Indus plain supports very scanty vegetation and the Ganges Plain is under cultivation. The Deccan region is full of scrubs and mixed deciduous forests. The Malabar region is under commercial crops like coconut, betel, pepper, coffee and tea. Andaman region is plentiful in evergreen and mangrove forests. Book Flora & Fauna Tour Faunas in India Popular mammals include the Elephant, the famous white lions and some common lions, the Royal Bengal Tiger, Rhinos, Wild Bisons some varieties from the cat family, deer, monkeys, wild goats, etc. Elephants are found in the sparsely populated hill areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa. A variety of deer and antelope species can be seen, but these are now mostly confined to the protected areas because of competition with domestic animals and the effects of their diseases. They include graceful Indian gazelles (chinkaras); Indian antelopes (blackbucks); diminutive, four homed ante- lopes (chowsinghas); large and ungainly looking blue bulls (nilgais); rare swamp deer (barasinghas); sambars, India's largest deer; beautiful spotted deer (chitals); the larger barking deer (muntjacs); and the tiny
mouse deer (chevrotains). Also seen are wild buffaloes, massive Indian bisons (gaurs), shaggy sloth bears, striped hyenas, wild pigs, jackals, Indian foxes, wolves, and Indian wild dogs (dhole), which resembles giant foxes but roam in packs in forests. Lions are found in the rocky hills and forests of the Gir area of Gujarat, Tigers in the Sunderbans and the Brahmaputra valley. The famous Project Tiger is a scheme financed by t e government h of India to safeguard the tiger in its habitat in nine selected reserves. Indian Fauna also include the wild ass of Rajasthan, Nilgiri Langur, Lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri mongoose and Malaber civer of the southern hills and the spotted deer. Leopards are found in many forests, Wolves roam the open country. Cheetahs are found in the Deccan plateau. Avi-faunas In India India is blessed with over 2000 species and sub-species of birds. The diverse birdlife of the forests includes large hornbills, serpent eagles and fishing owls, as well as the elegant national bird, the peacock. Waterbirds, such as herons, ibises, storks, cranes, pelicans and others, are seen not only in parks but at numerous special waterbird sanctuaries. These sanctuaries cont ain large breeding colonies, and are of great importance for the countless numbers of migrating birds which visit India annually. Bird-Life in India is rich and colorful. The birds include the beautiful Peacock to the Parrots, and thousands of immigrant birds. Other common Indian birds are pheasants, geese ducks, mynahs, parakeets, pigeons, cranes, and hornbills. India now maintains 80 national parks, 441 wildlife sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens. Reptiles In India Among the other wildlife are over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians, including magnificent king cobras, pythons, crocodiles, large freshwater tortoises and monitor lizards. There are also 10,000 insect species. including large and colourful butlerflies. A huge number of snake varieties, lizards and crocodiles account for the reptile count. Snakes include the deadly King cobras to the equally poisonous Kraits. Scorpions and insects are aplenty in this country. Disease carrying mosquitoes and destructive locusts are to be found. Useful insects include the bees, silkworms and the Lac insect. Book Flora & Fauna Tour
Wildlife Tour Package 08 Days Attractions : One-horned Rhinos, Elephants, Jeep Safari. Destinations : Guwahati - Kaziranga - Nameri... book this tour | more detail
South India Wild Life Tour 15 Days Attractions : Tigers, Birds, Elephant Safari, Jeep Safari... Destinations : Chennai - Trichy - Madurai - Periyar... book this tour | more detail
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People:ikkim, in addition with its mountains and lakes, has acquired its maximum splendor owing to its loaded flora and fauna. Located in a natural spot of the lower Himalayas, Sikkim is one amongst the three eco-regions of India. Sikkim has acquired a small portion in the domain of India, yet the state boasts of a rich variety of plants and animals. Perhaps, the main reason could be the weather that remains favorable for the vegetation. Due to the altitudinal shift, Sikkim possesses an extensive range of plants and foliage, providing a great place to explore for a naturalist. Read further to know about flora & fauna of Sikkim Flora Sikkim has approximately 5,000 blossoming plants, 515 extraordinary orchids, 60 primula species, 36 rhododendron species, 11 oak varieties, 23 bamboo varieties, 16 conifer species, 362 types of ferns & ferns' allies, 8 tree ferns and more than 424 medicinal plants. The Rhododendron is acclaimed to be the state tree. Sikkim boasts of a wide range of the species that grows in sub-tropical to alpine regions. In the lower altitudes, orchids, figs, laurel, bananas, sal trees and bamboo are traceable enjoying the subtropical climate. Above 1,500 meters (in temperate regions), oaks, chestnuts, maples, birches, alders and magnolias are found in large nu mbers. Under alpine-affected regions, juniper, pine, firs, cypresses and rhododendrons are quite common that happen to come across between the altitudes of 3,500 to 5 000 m. The Fauna The woods provide a favorable abode to the wide-ranging fauna of Sikkim. The animal kingdom comprises Snow Leopard, Musk Deer, Bhoral, Himalayan Tahr, Red Panda, Himalayan Marmot, Serow, Goral, Barking Deer, Langur, Himalayan Black Bear, Clouded Leopard, Marbled Cat, Leopard Cat, Wild Dog, Tibetan Wolf, Hog Badger, Binturong, Jungle Cat and Civet Cat. In the alpine zone, one can easily find yaks that are generally nurtured for their milk, meat and as a beast to carry burden. The state treasures a large variety of arthropods too. official flower of Sikkim is Orchid Dendrobium Nobile.
Sikkim boasts of not less than 550 species of birds and out of them, some are recognized to be rare and endangered. Impeyan Pheasant, Crimson Horned Pheasant, Snow Partridge, Snow Cock, Lammergeyer, Griffon Vultures, Golden Eagles, Quail, Plovers, Woodcock, Sandpipers, Pigeons, Old World Flycatchers, Babblers and Robins formulate the avifauna of Sikkim. Yet another group of fauna is that of butterflies. In Sikkim, 695 species of butterflies have been recorded, while Indian subcontinent has 1438 species on the whole. Kaiser-i-hind, Yellow Gorgon and Bhutan Glory are some of the endangered species of butterflies that are found in Sikkim.
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Fauna of India
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Part of the Wildlife of India seriesPortal:Indian wildlife Flora of India Fauna of India Mammals Birds Fish Butterflies Moths Indian natural history Endangered species Conservation Ecoregions Wildlife Institute National parks Biosphere reserves Protected forests Private Protected areas Wildlife sanctuaries Forestry in India Communal forests Ministry of Environment and Forests Indian Forest Service Forest Management Project Tiger Project Elephant Indian Forest Act, 1927 Protection Act of 1972 Zoos
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Asian Elephant
Tiger
Asiatic Lion
Indian Rhinoceros
India has some of the world's most biodiverse regions. The political boundaries of India encompass a wide range of ecozones desert, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, swamplands, plains, grasslands, riverine areas as well as island archipelago. It hosts three biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas, and the hilly ranges that straddle the India -Myanmar border. These hotspots have numerous endemic species.[1] India, for the most part, lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, with the upper reaches of the Himalayas forming part of the Palearctic ecozone; the contours of 2000 to 2500m are considered to be the altitu dinal boundary between the Indo -Malayan and Palearctic zones. India displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[2] The region is also heavily influenced by summer monsoons that cause major seasonal changes in vegetation and habitat. India forms a large part of the Indomalayan biogeographical zone and many of the floral and faunal forms show Malayan affinities with only a few taxa being unique to the Indian region. The unique forms includes the snake family Uropeltidae found only in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. Fossil taxa from the Cretaceous show links to the Seychelles and Madagascar chain of islands. [3] The Cretaceous fauna include reptiles, amphibians and fi shes and an extant species demonstrating this phylogeographical link is the Purple Frog. The separation of India and Madagascar is traditionally estimated to have taken place about 88 million years ago. However there are suggestions that the links to Madagascar and Africa were present even at the time when the Indian subcontinent met Eura sia. India has been suggested as a ship for the movement of several African taxa into Asia. These taxa include five frog families (including the Myobatrachidae), three caecilian families, a lacertid lizard and freshwater snails of the family Potamiopsidae. [4] A fossil tooth of what is believed to be of from a lemur -like primate from the Bugti Hills of central Pakistan however has led to suggestions that the lemurs may have originated in Asia. These fossils are however from the Oligocene (30 m illion years ago) and have led to controversy. [5][6] Lemur fossils from India in the past led to theories of a lost continent called Lemuria. This theory however was dismissed when continental drift and plate tectonics became well established. The flora and fauna of India have been studied and recorded from early times in folk traditions and later by researchers following more formal sc ientific approaches (See Natural history in India). Game laws are reported from the third century BC. [7] A little under 5% of this total area is formally classified under protected areas. India is home to several well known large mammals including the Asian Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Leopard and Indian Rhinoceros. Some of these animals are engrained in
culture, often being associated with deities. These large mammals are important for wildlife tourism in India and several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries cater to these needs. The popularity of these charismatic animals have helped greatly in conservation efforts in India. The tiger has been particularly important and Project Tiger started in 1972 was a major effort to conserve the tiger and its habitats. [8] Project Elephant, though less known, started in 1992 and works for elephant protection. [9] Most of India's rhinos today survive in the Kaziranga National Park. Other well known large Indian mammals include ungulates such as the Water Buffalo, Nilgai, Gaur and several species of deer and antelope. Some members of the dog family such as the Indian Wolf, Bengal Fox, Golden Jackal and the Dhole or Wild Dogs are also widely distributed. It is also home to the Striped Hyaena. Many smaller animals such as the Macaques, Langurs and Mongoose species are especially well known due to their ability to live close to or inside urban areas. Diversity There is insufficient information about the invertebrate and lower forms of India with significant work having been done only in a few groups of insects notably the butterflies , odonates, hymenoptera, the larger coleoptera and heteroptera. Few concerted attempts to document the biodiversity have been made since the publication of the Fauna of British India series. There are about 2546 species of fishes (about 11% of the world species) found in Indian waters. About 197 species of amphibians (4.4% of the world total) and more than 408 reptile species (6% of the world total) are found in India. Among these groups the highest levels of endemism are found in the amphibians. There are about 1250 species of birds from India with some variations depending on taxonomic treatments accounting for about 12% of the world species [10]. There are about 410 species of mammals known from India which is about 8.86% of the world species.[11] The World Conservation Monitoring Centre gives an estimate of about 15,000 species of flowering plants in India. Biodiversity hotspots
The Western GhatsMain article: Western Ghats The Western Ghats are a chain of hills that run along the western edge of peninsular India. Their proximity to the ocean and through orographic effect, they receive high ra infall. These regions have moist deciduous forest and rain forest. The region shows high species diversity
as well as high levels of endemism. Nearly 77% of the amphibians and 62% of the reptile species found here are found nowhere else. [12] The region shows biogeographical affinities to the Malayan region, and the Satpura hypothesis proposed by Sunder Lal Hora suggests that the hill chains of Central India may have once formed a connection with the forests of northeastern India and into the Indo -Malayan region. Hora used torrent stream fishes to support the theory, but it was also suggested to hold for birds. [13] Later studies have suggested that Hora's original model species were a demons tration of convergent evolution rather than speciation by isolation. [12] More recent phylogeographic studies have attempted to study the problem using molecular approaches.[14] There are also differences in taxa which are dependent on time of divergence and geological history. [15] Along with Sri Lanka this region also shows some faunal similarities with the Madagascan region especially in the reptiles and amphibians. Examples include the Sibynophis snakes, the Purple frog and Sri Lankan lizard genus Nessia which appears similar to the Madagascan genus Acontias. [16] Numerous floral links to the Madagascan region also exist. [17] An alternate hypothesis that these taxa may have originally evolved out-of-India has also been suggested. [18] Biogeographical quirks exist with some taxa of Malayan or igin occurring in Sri Lanka but absent in the Western Ghats. These include insects groups such as the zoraptera and plants such as those of the genus Nepenthes.
The Eastern Himalayas
The Red Panda or Firefox is native to the Himalayas in India and Nepal and southern China. The Eastern Himalayas is the region encompassing Bhutan, northeastern I ndia, and southern, central, and eastern Nepal. The region is geologically young and shows high altitudinal variation. It has nearly 163 globally threatened species including the One -horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Wild Asian Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis (Arnee)) and in all 45 mammals, 50 birds, 17 reptiles, 12 amphibians, 3 invertebrate and 36 plant species. [19][20] The Relict Dragonfly (Epiophlebia laidlawi) is an endangered species found here with the only other species in the genus being found in Japan. The region is also home to the Himalayan Newt (Tylototriton verrucosus), the only salamander species found within Indian limits. [21]
Indo-BurmaExtinct and fossil forms
During the early Tertiary period, the Indian tableland, what is today peninsular India, was a large island. Prior to becoming an island it was connected to the African region. During the tertiary period this island was separated from the Asian m ainland by a shallow sea. The Himalayan region and the greater part of Tibet lay under this sea. The movement of the Indian subcontinent into the Asian landmass created the great Himalayan ranges and raised the sea bed into what is today the plains of nort hern India.
Elephas ganesa a fossil elephant from the Siwaliks Once connected to the Asian mainland, many species moved into India. The Himalayas were created in several upheavals. The Siwaliks were formed in the last and the largest number of fossils of the Tertiary period are found in these ranges. [22] The Siwalik fossils include Mastodons, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, Sivatherium, a large fourhorned ruminant, giraffe, horses, camels, bison, deer, antelope, pigs, chimpanzees, orangutans, baboons, langurs, macaques, cheetahs, Sabre-toothed tigers, lions, tigers, sloth bear, Aurochs, leopards, wolves, dholes, porcupines, rabbits and a host of other mammals.[22] Many fossil tree species have been found in the intertrappean beds [23] including Grewioxylon from the Eocene and Heritieroxylon keralensis from the middle Miocene in Kerala and Heritieroxylon arunachalensis from the Mio-Pliocene of Arunachal Pradesh and at many other places. The discovery of Glossopteris fern fossils from India and Antarctica led to the discovery of Gondwanaland and led to the greater understanding of continental drift. Fossil Cycads[24] are known from India while seven Cycad species continue to survive in India. [25][26] Titanosaurus indicus was perhaps the first dinosaur discovered in India by Richard Lydekker in 1877 in the Narmada valley. This area has been one of the most important areas for paleontology in India. Another dinosaur known from India is Rajasaurus narmadensis [27], a heavy-bodied and stout carnivorous ab elisaurid (theropod) dinosaur that inhabited the area near present-day Narmada river. It was 9 m in length and 3 m in height and somewhat horizontal in posture with a double -crested crown on the skull. Some fossil snakes from the Cenozoic era are also known.[28]
Some scientists have suggested that the Deccan lava flows and the gases produced were responsible for the global extinction of dinosaurs however these have been disputed. [29] [30] Himalayacetus subathuensis the oldest-known whale fossil of the family Protocetidae (Eocene), about 53.5 millio n years old was found in the Simla hills in the foothills of the Himalayas. This area was underwater (in the Tethys sea) during the Tertiary period (when India was an island off Asia). This whale may have been capable of living partly on land. [31] [32] Other fossil whales from India include Remingtonocetus approximately 43-46 million years old. Several small mammal fossils have been recorded in the intertrap pean beds, however larger mammals are mostly unknown. The only major primate fossils have been from the nearby region of Myanmar.y
See also Geology of India
Recent extinctions
Illustration of a Himalayan Quail from A. O. Hume's work. Last seen in 1876 The exploitation of land and forest resources by humans along with hunting and trapping for food and sport has led to the extinction of many species in India in recent times. Probably the first species to vanish during the time of the Indus Vally civilisation wa s the species of wild cattle, Bos primegenius nomadicus or the wild zebu, which vanished from its range in the Indus valley and western India, possibly due to inter -breeding with domestic cattle and resultant fragmentation of wild populations due to loss of habitat. [33] Notable mammals which became or are presumed extinct within the country itself include the Indian / Asiatic Cheetah, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros.[34] While some of these large mammal species are confirmed extinct, there have been many smaller animal and plant species whose status is harder to determine. Many species have not been seen since their description. Hubbardia heptaneuron , a species of grass that grew in the spray zone of the Jog Falls prior to the construction of the Linganamakki reservoir, was thought to be extinct but a few were rediscovered near Kolhapur. [35] Some species of birds have gone extinct in recent times, including the Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) and the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa). A species of warbler, Acrocephalus orinus, known earlier from a single specimen collected by Allan
Octavian Hume from near Rampur in Himachal Pradesh was rediscovered after 139 years in Thailand.[36][37] Similarly, the Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus), named after the zoologist Thomas C. Jerdon who discovered it in 1848, was rediscovered in 1986 by Bharat Bhushan, an ornithologist at the Bombay Natural History Society after being thought to be extinct. Species estimates
Glimpses of biodiversity An estimate of the numbers of species by group in India is given below. This is based on Alfred, 1998. [38]Taxonomic Group PROTISTA Protozoa Total (Protista) ANIMALIA Mesozoa Porifera Cnidaria Ctenophora Platyhelminthes Nemertinea Rotifera Gastrotricha Kinorhyncha Nematoda Nematomorpha Acanthocephala Sipuncula Mollusca Echiura Annelida Onychophora Arthropoda Crustacea Insecta Arachnida Pycnogonida Pauropoda Chilopoda Diplopoda World species Indian species % in India
31250 31250 71 4562 9916 100 17500 600 2500 3000 100 30000 250 800 145 66535 127 12700 100 987949 35534 73440 600 360 3000 7500
2577 2577 10 486 842 12 1622 330 100 10 2850 229 35 5070 43 840 1 68389 2934
8.24 8.24 14.08 10.65 8.49 12 9.27 13.2 3.33 10 9.5 28.62 24.14 7.62 33.86 6.61 1 6.9 8.26 6.83 7.9 2.67 3.33 2.16
100 162
Symphyla Merostomata Phoronida Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) Endoprocta Brachiopoda Pogonophora Praipulida Pentastomida Chaetognatha Tardigrada Echinodermata Hemichordata Chordata Protochordata (Cephalochordata+Urochordata) Pisces Amphibia Reptilia Aves Mammalia Total (Animalia) Grand Total (Protosticta+Animalia) Taxonomic lists and indices
120 4 11 4000 60 300 80 8 70 111 514 6223 120 48451 2106 21723 5150 5817 9026 4629 1196903 1228153
4 2 3 200 10 3
3.33 50 27.27 5 16.66 1
30 30 765 12 4952 119 2546 209 456 1232 390 868741 871318
27.02 5.83 12.29 10 10.22 5.65 11.72 4.06 7.84 13.66 8.42 7.25 7.09
A praying mantis
Harpegnathos saltator
An Idiopid spider endemic to India
Deccan Mahseer Tor khudree This section provides links to lists of species of various taxa found in India.
Animals.Invertebratesy y y
Molluscs o List of non-marine molluscs of India Arachnids o Spiders of India Insects o Coccinellidae Ladybird beetles of India o Odonata Dragonflies and damselflies of India o Lepidoptera Butterflies of India Papilionid butterflies of India Pierid butterflies of India Nymphalid butterflies of India Lycaenid butterflies of India Hesperid butterflies of India Riodinid butterflies of India Moths of India o Hymenoptera Ants of India
Vertebratesy y y y
Fishes of India Amphibians of India Reptiles of India Snakes of India o Birds of South Asia
y
Mammals of India
PlantsSee Flora of India Threatened species Many plants and animals are threatened or endangered due largely to habitat loss and population pressure apart from hunting and extraction. India stands out as one of the few countries with high human populations as well as a high number of threatened species. [39]
Threatened plant speciesThreat Category (IUCN) Number of species
Extinct Extinct/Endangered Endangered Endangered/Vulnerable Vulnerable Rare Indeterminate Insufficiently Known No information Not threatenedTOTAL
19 43 149 2 108 256 719 9 1441 3743120
Threatened Animal speciesNumber of species per group according to IUC N threat categories (1994)
Threat categories Source: WCMC See alsoy y y y y y y y y y y
Endemic birds of South Asia Ecoregions in India Indian natural history Flora and fauna of Karnataka List of Indian state birds Endangered Mammals of India Flora of India Fauna of British India Wildlife of India Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India Endemic birds of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , India
References http://www.teriin.org/biodiv/hotspot.htm Dr S.K.Puri. "Biodiversity Profile of India (Text Only)". http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/cesmg/indiabio.html . Retrieved 2007-06-20. 3. Jean-Claude Rage (2003) Relationships of the Malagasy fauna during the Late Cretaceous: Northern or Southern routes? Acta Paleontologica Polonica 48(4):661 -662 PDF 4. Briggs, JC (2003) The biogeographic and tectonic hi story of India. Journal of Biogeography, 30:381388 1. 2.
Marivaux L., Welcomme J.-L., Antoine P-O., Mtais G., Baloch I.M., Benammi M., Chaimanee Y., Ducrocq S., and Jaeger J. -J. (2001) A fossil lemur from the Oligocene of Pakistan. Science, 294: 587591. Oligocene Lemur fossil hints at Asian origin Accessed February 2007 6. 7. Krausman, PR & AJT Johnsingh (1990) Conservation and wildlife education in India. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 18:342 -347 8. Project Tiger Accessed Feb, 2007 9. Project Elephant Accessed Feb, 2007 http://www.wcmc.org.uk/igcmc/main.html WCMC website 10. Nameer, PO (1998). Checklist of Indian mammals. Kerala Forest Department, 11. Thiruvananthapuram 12.0 12.1 12. Daniels, R. J. R. (2001) Endemic fishes of the Western Ghats and the Satpura hypothesis. Current Science 81(3):240 -244 PDF Ripley, Dillon S. (1949) Avian relicts and double invasions in Peninsular India and 13. Ceylon. Evolution 2:150-159 14. Karanth, P. K. (2003) Evolution of disjunct distributions among wet -zone species of the Indian subcontinent: Testing various hypotheses using a phylogenetic approach Current Science, 85(9): 1276-1283 PDF 15. Biswas, S. and Pawar S. S. (2006) Phylogenetic tests of distribution patterns in South Asia: towards an integrative approach; J. Biosci. 31 95 113 PDF 16. affinities 17. Biogeography of Madagascar 18. Karanth, P. 2006 Out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian biota. Current Science 90(6):789-792 [1] 19. http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/where_we_work/eastern_himalayas/eastern_himalayas_info .xml Conservation International 2006 http://assets.panda.org/downloads/final_ehimalayas_ep.pdf 20. 21. Amphibian Species of the World - Desmognathus imitator Dunn, 1927 22.0 22.1 Prater, S. H. (1971) The Book of Indian Animals. BNHS 22. Stewart R. Hinsley Notes on fossil wood(Accessed September 2006) 23. 24. Robert Buckler (1999) A brief review of the fossil cycads. PDF http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi -bin/cycadpg?region=ind Royal Botanical 25. Gardens, Sydney, Australia 26. Singh, Rita, P. Radha (2006) A new species of Cycas from the Malabar Coast, Western Ghats, India. Volume 58(2):119 -123 Rajasaurus and Indian Dinosaur. Geological Survey of India. PDF 27. 28. Rage J.-C., Bajpai S., Thewissen J. G. M. & Tiwari B. N. 2003. Early Eocene snakes from Kutch, Western India, with a review of the Pa laeophiidae. Geodiversitas 25 (4) : 695-716 PDF 29. Floodvolcanism is the main cause of mass extinctions: Nice try, but where is the evidence? PDF
5.
30. 31. 32.
Volcanism Whale fossils Bajpai, S. and Gingerich P.D. (1998) A new Eocene archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from India and the time of origin of whales Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:1546415468 PDF 33. Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History, pp 4. 34. Vivek Menon (2003). A field guide to Indian mammals . Dorling Kindersley, Delhi. ISBN 0143029983. IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) E-Bulletin - December 2002 [2] 35. Accessed October 2006 36. Threatened birds of Asia [3] Accessed October 2006 The Nation, March 6, 2007 37. 38. Alfred, J.R.B. (1998) Faunal Diversity in India: An Overview: In Faunal Diversity in India, i-viii, 1-495. (Editors. Alfred, JRB, e t al., 1998). ENVIS Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. IUCN (2004) A Global Species Assessment. ISBN 2-8317-0826-5 [4] 39.y
y y
SPECIES CHECKLIST: Species Diversity in India; ENVIS Centre: Wildlife & Protected Areas (Secondary Database); Wildlife Institute of India (WII) ENVIS Centre: Wildlife & Protected Areas (Secondary Database) ; Wildlife Institute of India (WII) ENVIS Centre on Conservation of Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sights of India ; ENVIS; C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre is a Cent re of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fauna of India World Conservation Monitoring Center Tata Energy Research Institute Alliance for Zero extinction The official Indian Environment information siteshowv [[|d]] e
y y y y
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NextLast Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 22 About Hot Bollywood Actresses: The expanse of bollywood stretches from the reigning queen Aishwarya Rai to the newest sensation Anushka Sharma. Bollywood has always accommodated the wannabe actresses and turned their dreams into a reality. Right from the dreamgirl Hema Malini to sultry Rekha to Madhuri Dixit to hot Sridevi to the present reigning queensAishwarya Rai , Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and right down to the newest sensation Anushka Sharma everybody has their fair share of fame and glory inbollywood. Bollywood is in fact teeming with breathtaking gorgeous hot beauties possessing abundant multi -talents. The reigning queen Aishwarya Rai has reached the pinnacle of glory in bollywood with memorable performances in movies like 'Mohabbatein' [2000], 'Devdas' [2002], 'Dhoom:2' [2006] 'Guru' [2007] to name a few. Following in her footsteps, the dazzling hot beauty Katrina Kaif is already on her way to the summits of successes inbollywood with six hits in 2007 & 2008 consecutively. Her outstanding performances in films like 'Welcome' [2007], 'Singh Is Kinng' [2008], 'Yuvvraaj' [2008] has made her one of the top notchactresses in bollywood. Now she has lined up six must-see Hindi films of hers this year. Hot Deepika Padukone, the internationally acclaimed model has hit bollywood chanting 'Om Shanti Om' in 2007 and gained stardom overnight. Her next couple of movies too stood in her good stead earning her rave reviews. Hot Deepika is now catching up her stardom with two more films this 2009 'Love Aaj Kal' and 'Kartik Calling Kartik'.Bollywood also boasts of other stars, the likes of sizzling Priyanka Chopra, style diva Lara Dutta, the dusky hot Bipash a Basu, the beauty diva Kareena Kapoor whose scintillating performances madebollywood more colorful than ever. Amazing hot bollywood actress like Juhi Chawla, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty who enthralled the audiences with outstanding performances in movi es are otherwise busy conducting the equally scintillating IPL2 cricket matches in South Africa. They are enthralling and entertaining the different spectrum of crowd this time - the cricket lovers the world over. There are also many other promising newactresses in bollywood who are biding their time for the right movie and the right break at the right time. Till such time it wouldn't be a cake-walk for these wannabe topactresses in this glamorous world of bollywood . They have to toil and toil hard till success embraces them at the right time. Anushka Sharma who became famous overnight with her brilliant performance in 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' [2008] is now planning to spring another surprise this year too with some good movies lined up. After Anushka Sharma Who? Wait tillbollywood springs a surprise on us with a new gorgeous
dazzling face in the year 2009. With plenty of hot new actresses with great acting skills it should not be long before we see glimpses of the next superstar bollywood actress.
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Bhopal gas tragedy
Eighteen years have gone by since the Bhopal Gas tragedy. The victims of the biggest industrial accident are yet to receive succour. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy has been lost in the collective consciousness of the nation. Yes, life has to go on - we must light candles and offer prayers for the victims of September, 11 2001 - but do spare a thought for those who lost their lives in their devotion to duty. I am talking of the unhonoured, unwept and unsung railwaymen who stood like boys on the burning deck and kept the wheels of Indian Railways turning. Third of December 1984 dawned like any other day at Bhusaval Junction the heart of Central Railway operations. It was a pleasant bracing winter morning and it was business as usual. The 00-00 hours to 08-00 hours shift in the Control
Office was busy tying up the loose ends of the previous days operations and gathering information to plan the days work. The telephone lines were buzzing from different directions and all the control boards were busy like the proverbial beehives. North bound trains towards Itarsi Junction, South bound trains towards Mumbai, West bound trains towards Surat and East bound trains towards Nagpur marked their progress on the control charts. But wait! the Itarsi line was fading. Those were the days when railway communication was mainly through the overhead telegraph wires. Optic Fibre Cable was still in its infancy. It was the pre Sam-Pitroda days and telephone instruments were a luxury. There were no STD facilities and what was called a lighting call took a couple of hours to materialise! At first the Bhusaval Control Office shrugged off the lack of communication with Itarsi as routine, but when the silence continued it was disquieting. The railways still had their more than 100 years old MORSE instruments functioning and there was a class of railwaymen which is extinct now called Signallers who used the DOT -DASH-DOT method to raise Bhopal. Finally the headquarters control office at Mumbai confirmed
that there was something seriously amiss at Bhopal which in those days was an area controlled from the Jhansi Railway Divisional Office. Communication to Bhopal was via Itarsi. By about 6-00 a.m it was evident that a disaster had struck Bhopal. No trains were leaving Bhopal and those which entered just seemed to have disappeared into a black hole till the yard was full and no more trains could be admitted. The initial reports were almost flippant . some evil fairy has struck and sleeping sickness has overtaken Bhopal. Wild rumours started spreading. In the
aftermath of the 1984 riots the militant Sikh organisations were blamed for everything. Black 3rd December brought the news that people had been dropping dead like flies in Bhopal and those who could manage were scrambling into trains which were running away from Bhopal. There was a mass exodus with the Government functionaries abandoning Bhopal and commandeering whate ver vehicles were available. As the next shift railway workers streamed in at Bhopal they saw the horrifying sight of their colleagues slumped over at the workspot. Signalmen and Stationmasters in the busy NISHATPURA yard which was the epicentre of the ga s leak had collapsed with the signal levers still in their hands. Since the signals did not turn green the engine drivers, died in their cabs dutifully waiting for the signals. Clerks at the booking windows had keeled over with the ticket boxes and the c ash safe wide open. The only redeeming feature was that the deadly gas had struck without fear or favour and even thieves dare not enter Bhopal! Back at the Bhusaval Control Office the full impact of the happenings at Bhopal was still sinking in. Plans were made to send medical aid and manpower to Bhopal to restart the operations.
In the glorious tradition of Indian Railways not one employee questioned the decision to send people to Bhopal. Whenever there is a disaster, man made or natural, it is ingrained in railwaymen to rush to the scene of the disaster and none will quit his post till the job is done. The last civilian to leave Tezpur when the Chinese invaded India in 1962 was the Station Master!
Meanwhile, rumours had spread that a secon d wave of poisonous gas, even deadlier than the first one, had broken loose and the steady exodus further swelled due to the rush of the panic stricken residents. While these streams of humanity were going out of Bhopal, there was one band of railwaymen going towards Bhopal. In retrospect one may say Fools rushed where angels feared to tread, but at that point of time the Railwaymen and women of Itarsi, 90 kms. from Bhopal banded themselves together and set off in a caravan of road vehicles to the illfated city of Bhopal. Unmindful of the people exhorting them to go
back, the unsung heroes armed with food and medicine, wended their way to Bhopal. Nobody knew exactly what had happened except that some gas had engulfed Bhopal and as the sun rose the gas diffused and finally dispersed leaving in its wake thousands of humans choking, coughing and blinded. The council of war at the Bhusaval control office decided that a relief train should start immediately. On the presumption that only a nerve gas could disable people so rapidly, all the stocks of ATROPINE were commandeered along with hundreds of vials of eye drops. The Special Train carrying a multidisciplinary team of railway employees including doctors and para-medics, covered the distance of 302 kms. from Bhusaval to Itarsi in 3 hours flat. When we reached Bhopal we were informed that the Government Administration had finally got their act together - probably shamed into action by the railwaymen who had proceeded from Itarsi.
We were told to organise relief operations in the Itarsi civil hospital. We found that the ATROPINE vials and Visine eye drops were useless. I still do not know whether there is an antidote to METHYL ISOCYANATE - the poisonous substance which had annihilated everyone near the Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal. The sight at Itarsi was something straight out of Dantes Inferno. Dozens of men, women and children were writhing in agony and we watched them in horrified helplessness. Death was a welcome relief to the victims, their eyeballs swollen red and bursting, every breath bringing agony to their burning lungs. The screams of the tortured bodies were in different languages. As train after train went past Itarsi discharging the bodies of the victims of t he monstrous gas, the famous clich that from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari Indian Railways is one was poignantly apparent as we tried our best to soothe the victims in whatever language we could speak. Faced with their end these poor souls uncomplainingly requested that their next of kin should be informed and their belongings taken care of. I still cannot forget the poor blinded Malayalee boy holding my hands imploring me to convey some important news to his mother in Kerala. The dying wish of a TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner ) was that his settlement dues should be expedited and his family cared for. In his delirious death he kept
apologising for abandoning his train and pressed the reservation chart into the hands of another railwayman. His sightless eyes failed to reveal that it was a doctor. There was no way for postmortem to be performed and all the death certificates were signed with the words Cardiac arrest due to unknown causes.
The railways raced back to normality within 24 hours of the accident. Hundreds of railwaymen still bear the physical and mental scars of that black day. When I joined the Railways I was asked to make a daily prayer that there should be no fatal railway accidents in my career and I do not have to remove mangled bodies from a train wreck. I never expected that I would live to see so many dead and dying humans around. While we continue to pray for their souls, let us salute the railwaymen who tenaciously clung to their workspots and rushed to the scene of disaster. V. Anand, Ex-ADRM/BSL/CR,Twenty-five years have passed since that night of terror and death in Bhopal, which saw a cloud of deadly gases explode out of a faulty tank in a pesticide factory and silently spread into the homes of sleeping people. Although no official count of casualties has ever been done, estimates based on hospital and rehabilitation records show that about 20,000 people died and about 5.7 lakh suffered bodily damage, making it by far the worlds worst industr ial disaster ever. Many who breathed the highly toxic cocktail that night suffered a horrible death with multiple organ failure. Those who survived have suffered multiple diseases for 25 years. A report of the Gas Tragedy Relief Department of the state says that the morbidity rate (occurrence of ailments) is nearly 20% among gas-affected persons compared to about 5% among the unaffected population. Following the disaster, there was an international outcry for relief for the victims and punishment to those responsible for the gas leakage. The pesticide plant from where the gas leaked belonged to Union Carbide India, a subsidiary of the US -based Union Carbide Company. They were asked to pay compensation and arrange for medical treatment. The matter immediately got embroiled in legal controversies. Thus began a long and painful struggle of the victims for compensation, medical attention and rehabilitation that has spluttered along for a quarter century.
In February 1989, the Supreme Court announced that it was approving a settlement for Bhopal victims under which Union Carbide agreed to pay Rs 713 crore for compensation to victims, while the government agreed to drop all criminal cases against it. However, due to intense public shock and anger at letting off the culprits, the court agreed to reopen the criminal cases in 1991. Two installments of compensation of up to Rs 25,000 each have been given till now to the injured, one in 1994 and the next in 2004. N D Jayaprakash of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS), one of the groups fighting for the rights of gas victims, calls this a massive fraud because the number of gas-affected persons was arbitrarily fixed by the government at 105,000, including about 3,000 dead. In reality, nearly 20,000 people have died, and 5.7 lakh have suffered injuries. The compensation amount Rs 713 crore, paid by Union Carbide was meant for about 1 lakh persons but has been distributed among nearly 6 lakh people. Of the Rs 713 crores, Rs 113 crores was for loss of livestock and property. The balance Rs 600 crore distributed among 5.74 lakh persons works out to about Rs 12,410 per victim on average. In contrast, in the Uphaar tragedy in Delhi, families of those who died got between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 18 lakh e ach, while injured persons got Rs 1 lakh each. In addition, they got interest at the rate of 9% per annum for the roughly six years that the legal proceedings took. Stung by this injustice, the victims approached the apex court, which told them to approach the state government. In Bhopal, the Welfare Commissioner rejected their demand. They appealed to the MP high court. On November 30 this year, the HC too dismissed the petition. We will go back to the Supreme Court, says Jayaprakash. Even after 25 years, gas victims are suffering serious health problems. On an average, 6,000 gasaffected patients visit hospitals in Bhopal every day, that is, about 2 million visits per year. The government adopted a one-size-fits-all policy for categorisation of injuries a person with compromised lungs may ultimately develop other diseases, besides being unable to work fully. But such distinctions were not maintained and meagre compensation was doled out. Sadhana Pradhan, who has worked among the gas victims since the disaster in 1984 points out that no line of treatment was ever evolved. The government has treated the victims on an ad hoc basis, she says. Medical records are yet not centralized as recommended by the monitoring committee set up by the Supreme Court in 2004. As a result, doctors have no idea about the patients history. This has led to development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB in many cases, says Dr Saxena, who spent 11 years in the governments TB hospital in Bhopal. Another dimension of the ongoing tragedy of Bhopal is the poisonous chemical waste lying around in the abandoned premises of the pesticide plant. Several committees have inspected it and found 44,000 kgs of tarry residues and 25,000 kgs of alpha naphthol lying in the open since 1984. Various studies have established that the soil, ground water, vegetables and even breast milk have traces of toxic chemicals.
Abdul Jabbar Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) says that actually there is much more poisonous waste, which the company used to routinely bury in the premises since 1969. There is no piped water supply. People still use contaminated groundwater daily, he says.
Summary of background and causesThe UCIL factory was established in 1969 near Bhopal. 50.9 % was owned by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and 49.1 % by various Indian investors, including public sector financial institutions.[3][4] It produced the pesticide carbaryl (trademark Sevin). In 1979 a methyl isocyanate (MIC) production plant was added to the site. MIC, an intermediate in carbaryl manufacture, was used instead of less hazardous but more expensive materials. UCC understood the properties of MIC and its handling requirements.[11][12][13] During the night of December 23, 1984, large amounts of water entered tank 610, containing 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate. The resulting exothermic reaction increased the temperature inside the tank to over 200 C (392 F), raising the pressure to a level the tank was not designed to withstand. This forced the emergency venting of pressure from the MIC holding tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases into the atmosphere. The reaction sped up because of the presence of iron in corroding non-stainless steel pipelines. A mixture of poisonous gases flooded the city of Bhopal, causing great panic as people woke up with a burning sensation in their lungs. Thousands died immediately from the effects of the gas and many were trampled in the panic. Theories of how the water entered the tank differ. At the time, workers were cleaning out pipes with water, and some claim that owing to bad maintenance and leaking valves, it was possible for the water to leak into tank 610.[14] In December 1985 The New York Times reported that according to UCIL plant managers the hypothesis of this route of entry of water was tested in the presence of the Central Bureau Investigators and was found to be negative.[15] UCC also maintains that this route was not possible, and that it was an act of sabotage by a "disgruntled worker" who introduced water directly into the tank.[16] However, the company's investigation team found no evidence of the necessary connection.[17] The 1985 reports[17][18][19] give a picture of what led to the disaster and how it developed, although they differ in details. Factors leading to this huge gas leak include:y y y y y y
The use of hazardous chemicals (MIC) instead of less dangerous ones Storing these chemicals in large tanks instead of over 200 steel drums. Possible corroding material in pipelines Poor maintenance after the plant ceased production in the early 1980s Failure of several safety systems (due to poor maintenance and regulations). Safety systems being switched off to save moneyincluding the MIC tank refrigeration system which alone would have prevented the disaster.
Plant design modified by Indian engineers to abide by government regulations and economic pressures to reduce expenses contributed most to the actual leak[citation needed]. The problem was then made worse
by the plant's location near a densely populated area, non-existent catastrophe plans and shortcomings in health care and socio-economic rehabilitation. Analysis shows that the parties responsible for the magnitude of the disaster are the two owners, Union Carbide Corporation and the Government of India, and to some extent, the Government of Madhya Pradesh.[3][4][20]
[edit] Public informationMuch speculation arose in the aftermath. The closing of the plant to outsiders (including UCC) by the Indian government, and the failure to make data public contributed to the confusion. The CSIR report[19] was formally released 15 years after the disaster. The authors of the ICMR studies[21] on health effects were forbidden to publish their data until after 1994. UCC has still not released their research about the disaster or the effects of the gas on human health. Soon after the disaster UCC was not allowed to take part in the investigation by the government. The initial investigation was conducted entirely by the government agencies - Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the directorship of Dr. Varadajan and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). UCC and the Government of India maintained until 1994, when the International Medical Commission on Bhopal met, that MIC had no longterm health effects.[4]
[edit] Contributing factorsy
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The deficiencies in the Bhopal plant design can be summarised as: choosing a dangerous method of manufacturing pesticides; large-scale storage of MIC before processing; location close to a densely populated area; under-dimensioning of the safety features; dependence on manual operations. [4] Deficiencies in the management of UCIL can be summarised: lack of skilled operators due to the staffing policy; reduction of safety management due to reducing the staff; insufficient maintenance of the plant; lack of emergency response plans. [4][22]
[edit] Plant production processUnion Carbide produced the pesticide, Sevin (a trademarked brand name for carbaryl), using MIC as an intermediate. Until 1979, MIC was imported from the USA.[4] Other manufacturers, such as Bayer, made carbaryl without MIC, though at greater manufacturing costs.[23] The chemical process, or "route", used in the Bhopal plant reacted methylamine with phosgene to form MIC (methyl isocyanate), which was then reacted with 1-naphthol to form the final product, carbaryl. This route differed from MIC-free routes used elsewhere, in which the same raw materials are combined in a different manufacturing order, with phosgene first reacted with the naphthol to form a chloroformate ester, which is then reacted with methyl amine. In the early 1980s, the demand for pesticides had fallen though production continued, leading to buildup of stores of unused MIC.[4][23]
See also: Carbaryl#Production
[edit] Work conditionsAttempts to reduce expenses affected the factory's employees and their conditions.y
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y
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Kurzman argues that "cuts ... meant less stringent quality control and thus looser safety rules. A pipe leaked? Don't replace it, employees said they were told ... MIC workers needed more training? They could do with less. Promotions were halted, seriously affecting employee morale and driving some of the most skilled ... elsewhere". [24] Workers were forced to use English manuals, even though only a few had a grasp of the language. [14][25] By 1984, only six of the original twelve operators were still working with MIC and the number of supervisory personnel was also cut in half. No maintenance supervisor was placed on the night shift and instrument readings were taken every two hours, rather than the previous and required one -hour readings.[14][24] Workers made complaints about the cuts through their union but were ignored. One employee was fired after going on a 15-day hunger strike. 70% of the plant's employees were fined before the disaster for refusing to deviate from the proper safety regulations under pressure from management.[14][24] In addition, some observers, such as those writing in the Trade Environmental Database (TED) Case Studies as part of the Mandala Project from American University, have pointed to "serious communication problems and management gaps between Union Carbide and its Indian operation", characterised by "the parent companies [sic] handsoff approach to its overseas operation" and "cross-cultural barriers".[26] The personnel management policy led to an exodus of skilled personnel to better and safer jobs.[14][22]
[edit] Equipment and safety regulations
Union Carbide MIC planty
It emerged in 1998, during civil action suits in India, that, unl ike Union Carbide plants in the USA, its Indian subsidiary plants were not prepared for problems. No action plans
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had been established to cope with incidents of this magnitude. This included not informing local authorities of the quantities or dangers of c hemicals used and manufactured at Bhopal.[3][4][14][23] The MIC tank alarms had not worked for 4 years. [3][4][14][27] There was only one manual back-up system, not the four-stage system used in the USA.[3][4][14][27] The flare tower and the vent gas scrubber had been out of service for 5 months before the disaster. The gas scrubber therefore did not treat escaping gases with sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which might have brought the concentration down to a safe level. [27] Even if the scrubber had been working, according to Weir, investigations in the aftermath of the disaster discovered that the maximum pressure it could handle was only one-quarter of that which was present in the accident. Furthermore, the flare tower itself was improperly designed and could only hold one -quarter of the volume of gas that was leaked in 1984. [3][4][14][28] To reduce energy costs, the refrigeration system, designed to inhibit the volatilization of MIC, had been left idlethe MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius (room temperature), not the 4.5 degrees advised by the manual, and some of the coolant was being used elsewhere.[3][4][14][27] The steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was out of action for unknown reasons.[3][4][14][27] Slip-blind plates that would have prevented water from pipes being cleaned from leaking into the MIC tanks through faulty valves were not installed. Their installation had been omitted from the cleaning checklist.[3][4][14] Water sprays designed to "knock down" gas leaks were poorly designed set to 13 metres and below, they could not spray high enough to reduce the concentration of escaping gas.[3][4][14][27] The MIC tank had been malfunctioning for roughly a week. Other tanks had been used for that week, rather than repairing the broken one, which was left to "stew". The build up in temperature and pressure is believed to have affected the magnitude of the gas release.[3][4][14][27] Carbon steel valves were used at the factory, even though they corrode when exposed to acid.[23] On the night of the disaster, a leaking carbon steel valve was found, allowing water to enter the MIC tanks. The pipe was not repaired because it was believed it would take too much time and be too expensive.[3][4][14][27] UCC admitted in their own investigation report that most of the safety systems were not functioning on the night of December 3, 1984. [18] Themistocles D'Silva asserts in the latest bookThe Black Box of Bhopalthat the design of the MIC plant, fol lowing government guidelines, was "Indianized" by UCIL engineers to maximize the use of indigenous materials and products. It also dispensed with the use of sophisticated instrumentation as not appropriate for the Indian plant. Because of the unavailability of electronic parts in India, the Indian engineers preferred pneumatic instrumentation. This is supported with original government
documents,which are appended. The book also discredits the unproven allegations in the CSIR Report.[29] See also: Carbaryl#Production
[edit] Previous warnings and accidentsA series of prior warnings and MIC-related accidents had occurred:y y y y y y
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In 1976, the two trade unions reacted because of pollution within the plant. [4][22] In 1981, a worker was splashed with phosgene. In panic he ripped off his mask, thus inhaling a large amount of phosgene gas; he died 72 hours later. [4][22] In January 1982, there was a phosgene leak, when 24 workers were exposed and had to be admitted to hospital. None of the workers had been ordered to wear protective masks. In February 1982, an MIC leak affected 18 workers.[4][22] In August 1982, a chemical engineer came into contact with liquid MIC, resulting in burns over 30 percent of his body. [4][22] In October 1982, there was a leak of MIC, methylcarbaryl chloride, chloroform and hydrochloric acid. In attempting to stop the leak, the MIC supervisor suffered intensive chemical burns and two other workers were severely exposed to the gases.[4][22] During 1983 and 1984, leaks of the following substances regularly took place in the MIC plant: MIC, chlorine, monomethylamine, phosgene, and carbon tetrachloride, sometimes in combination. [4][22] Reports issued months before the incident by scientists within the Union Carbide corporation warned of the possibility of an accident almost identical to that which occurred in Bhopal. The reports were ignored and never reached senior staff. [4][23] Union Carbide was warned by American experts who visited the plant after 1981 of the potential of a "runaway reaction" in the MIC storage tank; local Indian authorities warned the company of problems on several occasions from 1979 onwards. Again, these warnings were not heeded.[4][23]
[edit] The leakagey
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In November 1984, most of the safety systems were not functioning. Many valves and lines were in poor condition. Tank 610 contained 42 tonnes MIC, much more than safety rules allowed.[4] During the nights of 23 December, a large amount of water entered tank 610. A runaway reaction started, which was accelerated by contaminants, high temperatures and other factors. The reaction generated a major increase in the temperature inside the tank to over 200C (400F). This forced the emergency venting of pressure from the MIC holding tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases. The reaction was sped up by the presence of iron from corroding non-stainless steel pipelines.[4]
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It is known that workers cleaned pipelines with water. They were not told by the supervisor to add a slip-blind water isolation plate. Because of this, and of the bad maintenance, the workers consider it possible for water to have accidentally entered the MIC tank.[4][14] UCC maintains that a "disgruntled worker" deliberately connected a hose to a pressure gauge. [4][16] UCC's investigation team found no evidence of the suggested connection. [17]
[edit] Timeline, summaryAt the plant[4]y y y y y
21.00 Water cleaning of pipes starts. 22.00 Water enters tank 610, reaction starts. 22.30 Gases are emitted from the vent gas scrubber tower. 00.30 The large siren sounds and is turned off. 00.50 The siren is heard within the plant area. The workers escape.
Outside[4]y y y y y y
22.30 First sensations due to the gases are feltsuffocation, cough, burning eyes and vomiting. 1.00 Police are alerted. Residents of the area evacuate. Union Carbide director denies any leak. 2.00 The first people reached Hamidia hospital. Symptoms include visual impairment and blindness, respiratory difficulties, frothing at the mouth, and vomiting. 2.10 The alarm is heard outside the plant. 4.00 The gases are brought under control. 6.00 A police loudspeaker broadcasts: "Everything is normal".
[edit] Health effects [edit] Short term health effectsy
Apart from MIC, the gas cloud may have contained phosgene, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, oxides of nitrogen, monomethyl amine (MMA) and carbon dioxide, either produced in the storage tank or in the atmosphere. [4] The gas cloud composed mainly of materials denser than the surrounding air, stayed close to the ground and spread outwards through the surrounding community. The initial effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation. People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant. Those who
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ran inhaled more than those who had a vehicle to ride. Owing to their height, children and other people of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations. Many people were trampled trying to escape.[4]y
Thousands of people had succumbed by the morning hours. There were mass funerals and mass cremations as well as disposal of bodies in the Narmada river. 170,000 people were treated at hospitals and temporary dispensaries. 2,000 buffalo, goats, and other animals were collected and buried. Within a few days, leaves on trees yellowed and fell off. Supplies, including food, became scarce owing to suppliers' safety fears. Fishing was prohibited as well, which caused further supply shortages. [4] A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as being "gas affected", affecting a population of 520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. In 1991, 3,928 deaths had been certified. Independent organizations recorded 8,000 dead in the first days. Other estimations vary between 10,000 and 30,000. Another 100,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to have permanent injuries of different degrees.[4] The acute symptoms were burning in the respiratory tract and eyes, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. The causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising enteritis.[30] The stillbirth rate increased by up to 300% and neonatal mortality rate by 200 %.[4]
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[edit] Hydrogen cyanide or not?y y
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Whether hydrogen cyanide was present in the gas mixture is still a controversy.[30][31] Exposed at higher temperatures, MIC breaks down to hydrogen cyanide (HCN). According to Kulling & Lorin, at +200C, 3 % of the gas is HCN. [32] However, according to another scientific publication, [33] MIC when heated in the gas-phase starts breaks down to hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and other products above 400C. Concentrations of 300 ppm can lead to immediate collapse. Laboratory replication studies by CSIR and UCC scientists failed to detect any HCN or HCN- derived side products. Chemically, HCN is known to be very reactive with MIC. [34] HCN is also known to react with hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and methylamine (also produced in tank 610 during the vigorous reaction with water and choloroform) and also with itself under acidic conditions to form trimers of HCN called triazenes. None of the HCN-derived side products were detected in the tank residue. [35] The non-toxic antidote sodium thiosulfate (Na2 S2O3) in intravenous injections increases the rate of conversion from cyanide to non-toxic thiocyanate. Treatment was suggested
early, but because of confusion within the medical establishments, it was not used on larger scale until June 1985. [4]
[edit] Long term health effectsy
It is estimated that 20,000 have died since the accident from gas-related diseases. Another 100,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to have permanent injuries. [4] The quality of the epidemiological and clinical research varies. Reported and studied symptoms are eye problems, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders, cardiac failure secondary to lung injury, female reproductive difficulties and birth defects among children born to affected women. Other symptoms and diseases are often ascribed to the gas exposure, but there is no good research supporting this. [4] There is a clinic established by a group of survivors and activists known as Sambhavna. Sambhavna is the only clinic that will treat anybody affected by the gas, or the subsequent water poisoning, and treats the condition with a combination of Western and traditional Indian medicines, and has performed extensive research.[36] Union Carbide as well as the Indian Government long denied permanent injuries by MIC and the other gases. In January, 1994, the International Medical Commission on Bhopal (IMCB) visited Bhopal to investigate the health status among the survivors as well as the health care system and the socio-economic rehabilitation. The reports from Indian Council of Medical Research[21] were not completely released until around 2003. For a review of the research on the health effects of the Bhopal disaster, see Dhara & Dhara (2002).[37]
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[edit] Aftermath of the leakagey y
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Medical staff were unprepared for the thousands of casualties.[4] Doctors and hospitals were not informed of proper treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation. They were told to simply give cough medicine and eye drops to their patients.[4] The gases immediately caused visible damage to the trees. Within a few days, all the leaves fell off.[4] 2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed.[4] "Operation Faith": On December 16, the tanks 611 and 619 were emptied of the remaining MIC. This led to a second mass evacuation from Bhopal.[4]
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Complaints of a lack of information or misinformation were widespread. The Bhopal plant medical doctor did not have proper information about the properties of the gases. An Indian Government spokesman said that "Carbide is more interested in getting information from us than in helping our relief work." [4] As of 2008, UCC had not released information about the possible composition of the cloud.[4] Formal statements were issued that air, water, vegetation and foodstuffs were safe within the city. At the same time, people were informed that poultry was unaffected, but were warned not to consume fish.[4]
[edit] Compensation from Union Carbidey y
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The Government of India passed the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act that gave the government rights to represent all victims in or outside India. [4] UCC offered US$ 350 million, the insurance sum. [4] The Government of India claimed US$ 3.3 billion from UCC.[4] In 1999, a settlement was reached under which UCC agreed to pay US$470 million (the insurance sum, plus interest) in a full and final settlement of its civil and criminal liability.[4] When UCC wanted to sell its shares in UCIL, it was directed by the Supreme Court to finance a 500-bed hospital for the medical care of the survivors. Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) was inaugurated in 1998. It was obliged to give free care for survivors for eight years.[4]
[edit] Economic rehabilitationy y y y y y
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After the accident, no one under the age of 18 was registered. The number of children exposed to the gases was at least 200,000.[4] Immediate relief was decided two days after the tragedy.[4] Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was distributed for a short period and ration cards were distributed.[4] Widow pension of the rate of Rs 200/per month (later Rs 750) was provided. [4] One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,500 to families with monthly income Rs 500 or less was decided.[4] Each claimant was to be categorised by a doctor. In court, the claimants were expected to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that death or injury in each case was attributable to exposure. In 1992, 44 percent of the claimants still had to be medically examined. [4] From 1990 interim relief of Rs 200 was paid to everyone in the family who was born before the disaster.[4] The final compensation (including interim relief) for personal injury was for the majority Rs 25,000 (US$ 830). For death claim, the average sum paid out was Rs 62,000. [4] Effects of interim relief were more children sent to school, more money spent on treatment, more money spent on food, improvement of housing conditions. [4]
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The management of registration and distribution of relief showed many shortcomings. [38] In 2007, 1,029,517 cases were registered and decided. Number of awarded cases were 574,304 and number of rejected cases 455,213. Total compensation awarded was Rs.1,546.47 crores.[39] Because of the smallness of the sums paid and the denial of interest to the claimants, a sum as large as Rs 10 billion is expected to be left over after all claims have been settled.[4]
[edit] Occupational rehabilitationy y y
33 of the 50 planned worksheds for gas victims started. All except one was closed down by 1992.[4] 1986, the MP government invested in the Special Industrial Area Bhopal. 152 of the planned 200 worksheds were built. In 2000, 16 were partially functioning. [4] It is estimated that 50,000 persons need alternative jobs, and that less than 100 gas victims have found regular employment under the government's scheme. [4]
[edit] Habitation rehabilitationy
2,486 flats in two- and four-story buildings were constructed in the "Widows colony" outside Bhopal. The water did not reach the upper floors. It was not possible to keep cattle. Infrastructure like buses, schools, etc. were missing for at least a decade.[4]
[edit] Health carey
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In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the health care system became tremendously overloaded. Within weeks, the State Government established a number of hospitals, clinics and mobile units in the gas -affected area.[4] Radical health groups set up JSK (the People's Health Centre) that was working a few years from 1985.[4] Since the leak, a very large number of private practitioners have opened in Bhopal. In the severely affected areas, nearly 70 percent do not appear to be professionally qualified.[4] The Government of India has focused primarily on increasing the hospital -based services for gas victims. Several hospitals have been built after the disaster. In 1994, there were approximately 1.25 beds per 1,000, compared to the recommendation from the World bank of 1.0 beds per 1,000 in developing countries. [4] The Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) is a 350-bedded super speciality hospital. Heart surgery and hemodialysis are done. Major specialities missing are gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics. Eight mini-units (outreach health centres) were started. Free health care for gas victims should be offered until 2006. [4] The management has faced problems with strikes, and the quality of the health care is disputed.[40][41][42]
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Sambhavna Trust is a charitable trust that registered in 1995. The clinic gives modern and Ayurvedic treatments to gas victims, free of charge.[4][43]
[edit] Environmental rehabilitationy
When the factory was closed in 19851986, pipes, drums and tanks were cleaned and sold. The MIC and the Sevin plants are still there, as are storages of different residues. Isolation material is falling down and spreading. [4] The area around the plant was used as a dumping area for hazardous chemicals. In 1982 tubewells in the vicinity of the UCC factory had to be abandoned. [4] UCC's laboratory tests in 1989 revealed that soil and water samples collected from near the factory and inside the plant were toxic to fish. [44] Several other studies has shown polluted soil and groundwater in the area.[4]. Reported polluting compounds are, among others, naphthol, naphthalene, Sevin, tarry residue, mercury, toxic organochlorines, volatile organochlorine compounds, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, hexachloroethane, hexachlorobutadiene, pesticide HCH and haloorganics [clarification needed ]. It is plausible that these chemicals have some negative health effects on those exposed, but there is no scientific evidence. [4] In order to provide safe drinking water to the population around the UCC factory, there is a scheme for improvement of water supply.[39] In December 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided that the toxic waste should be incinerated at Ankleshwar in Gujarat.[45]
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[edit] Union Carbide's defenseNow owned by Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide denies allegations against it on its website dedicated to the tragedy. The corporation believes that the accident was the result of sabotage, stating that safety systems were in place and operative. It also stresses that it did all it could to alleviate human suffering following the disaster.[46]
[edit] Investigation into possible sabotageTheories of how the water entered the tank differ. At the time, workers were cleaning out pipes with water. The workers maintain that entry of water through the plant's piping system during the washing of lines was possible because a slip-bind was not used, the downstream bleeder lines were partially clogged, many valves were leaking, and the tank was not pressurised. The water, which was not draining properly through the bleeder valves, may have built up in the pipe, rising high enough to pour back down through another series of lines in the MIC storage tank. Once water had accumulated to a
height of 6 meters (20 feet), it could drain by gravity flow back into the system. Alternatively, the water may have been routed through another standby "jumper line" that had only recently been connected to the system. Indian scientists suggested that additional water might have been introduced as a "back-flow" from the defectively designed vent-gas scrubber.[4][14] However, none of these possible routes of entry could be duplicated when tested.[by whom?] The company cites an investigation conducted by the engineering consulting firm Arthur D. Little, which concluded that a single employee secretly and deliberately introduced a large amount of water into the MIC tank by removing a meter and connecting a water hose directly to the tank through the metering port.[16] Carbide claims such a large amount of water could not have found its way into the tank by accident, and safety systems were not designed to deal with intentional sabotage. Documents cited in the Arthur D. Little Report as well as in the recent book The Black Box of Bhopal state that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with UCIL engineers tried to simulate the water-washing hypothesis as a route of the entry of water into the tank. This all-important test failed to support this as a route of water entry. UCC claims the plant staff falsified numerous records to distance themselves from the incident, and that the Indian Government impeded its investigation and declined to prosecute the employee responsible, presumably because that would weaken its allegations of negligence by Union Carbide.[citation needed]
[edit] Safety and equipment issuesThe corporation denies the claim that the valves on the tank were malfunctioning, claiming that "documented evidence gathered after the incident showed that the valve close to the plant's waterwashing operation was closed and leak-tight. Furthermore, process safety systemsin place and operationalwould have prevented water from entering the tank by accident". Carbide states that the safety concerns identified in 1982 were all allayed before 1984 and "none of them had anything to do with the incident".[47] The company admits that "the safety systems in place could not have prevented a chemical reaction of this magnitude from causing a leak". According to Carbide, "in designing the plant's safety systems, a chemical reaction of this magnitude was not factored in" because "the tank's gas storage system was designed to automatically prevent such a large amount of water from being inadvertently introduced into the system" and "process safety systemsin place and operationalwould have prevented water from entering the tank by accident". Instead, they claim that "employee sabotagenot faulty design or operationwas the cause of the tragedy".[47]
[edit] ResponseThe company stresses the "immediate action" taken after the disaster and their continued commitment to helping the victims. On December 4, the day following the leak, Union Carbide sent material aid and several international medical experts to assist the medical facilities in Bhopal.[47]
Carbide put $2 million into the Indian Prime Minister's immediate disaster relief fund on 11 December 1984.[47] The corporation established the Employees' Bhopal Relief Fund in February 1985, which raised more than $5 million for immediate relief.[48] In August 1987, Carbide made an additional $4.6 million in humanitarian interim relief available.[48] Union Carbide also undertook several steps to provide continuing aid to the victims of the Bhopal disaster after the court ruling, including:y
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