THE SCRIPT        (from the writer of ' The Feeling')

Rajesh:  So the script we are writing is that of an action/ love story right?

Neha:  Yeah, it has to be something unique , something which the audience has never seen before , something which is path breaking  and innovative.

Jayesh: Exactly!!!!  We have to stay away from those awful clichés which come out every alternate week in Bollywood.

Krish: Yeah , like Heropanti. I mean who in his right sense names his son after an animal.

Neha: What if Jackie goes with his son Tiger to see some tigers in a tiger zoo? Can you imagine the mass confusion which will take place?  When Jackie says ‘look tiger!!!’ is he referring to the animal or the human??

Rajesh:  Guys!! Can we cut out these needless jokes and get serious here. Coming to clichés I have an excellent idea. To make an original script we must know what an unoriginal script is and then it is our duty to deviate from it as much as possible.

Neha: Excellent idea!!!! So let us first discuss the most clichéd Bollywood romantic/ action movie script ever.

Jayesh: There has to be a main hero who is absolutely gorgeous and handsome when it comes to looks.

Neha: He has to have six pack abs if not 8 and has to be extremely intelligent .

Jayesh: That’s funny coz throughout the entire movie we won’t know how he earns a living, yet he drives the best of vehicles , wears the best of clothes and wouldn’t six pack abs require a lot of gym, involving money?

Rajesh : He also has to be prolific in sports like tennis , football , cricket , badminton , swimming , fencing , all track and field events , chess , ice-hockey , hunting , paragliding , wrestling and must have mastered all forms of martial arts ranging from karate , taekwondo , western boxing otherwise how will we justify the scenes when he knocks 100 people in the air like they are dummies and…..

Krish: WE DON’T JUSTIFY ANYTHING MAN.  He just does it like he is born with the above

Rajesh: Oh yeah……sorry.

Neha: He must be living in some small city and his life must be marked with some personal tragedy which kind of troubles him when he is sleeping or something. And we must show those scenes in black and white even if they are not related to the main plot in any manner. It’s just to remind our audience that he is human after all.

Jayesh: I’m thinking uncle’s death Krish: That’s too discrete brother.  I think father’s death should do the trick.

Neha: Or how about his entire family getting killed in a car accident and him getting separated from his brother who he only meets in the climax and gets those weird flashback scenes again making him realize who his brother actually is.

Krish: Perfect!!!! That’s our sub plot which nobody really cares about.

Jayesh: You forgot one critical thing!!!   The hero must have super cheesy one liners always up his sleeve which he uses to compliment the heroine who first finds it annoying but somehow later in the movie finds it super romantic.

Krish:   Like ‘ dosti mein no sorry no thank you’ .

Rajesh:   Okay. Now coming to the heroine. She too has to be funny, smart, cute, beautiful and hot. She comes from America or something to visit/live in the small town in which our hero coincidently lives. And did I forget to mention that she is brilliant in singing. Her voice is like honey and has some harmonious whistle tunes  which she keeps on singing when it comes to thoughts about love.

Neha :  And our hero must possess the ability to read minds like Professor X coz guess what? He sings the same exact whistle tune casually when he is out on the road.

Krish: And this exact tune reunites them in the first place.

Neha :  No. The hero sees the heroine shopping or something and then we must focus on the face of the heroine who (as if she knows the hero is watching him) keeps on smiling and giving the cutest expressions of all time.

Jayesh : And we must back that scene up with some random chorus singing , uttering words which only sound pleasant but have no meaning.

Rajesh :  Coming to songs and music , the sad song has to be there  in the break-up scene

Krish :  Which takes place in the rain . Rajesh : Or in a train station where the hero runs after the coach of the train in which the heroine is sitting while she is sobbing.

Jayesh :  Don’t forget that the rain is also reserved for their kissing scene.

Neha :  Guys!!!! Have you forgotten about the foreign location song which takes place on the Alps of Switzerland or Kashmir where the heroine wears a gorgeous sari while the hero wears a simple shirt and none of them feel cold They just casually lie on the snow and also randomly travel to rose- filled gardens and farms where for some reason it’s the perfect time coz it’s only the two of them in the place. I mean you would expect some tourists there right or some local inhabitants. Nevertheless both the heroine and hero must have superb dancing skills. Break dance , bhangra , kathakali , hip -hop you name it!!!

Rajesh: Ok so terrible and impractical songs are fixed , weak character development is done .  All we need are some scenes and then our movie is done coz we don’t have to worry about any concrete story or even editing for that matter

Krish : What about the big shock ?

Neha :  You mean the one in which we come to know the heroine is engaged to someone else ? Or the heroine’s parents don’t allow the marriage to take place coz they for some reason don’t approve of the perfect hero?

Rajesh:   Something which is common these days is the notion that the heroine apparently does not believe in the concept of love. Doesn’t that negate the whole notion of the ‘love story’?

Krish :  Absolutely!!! That must be included when there are like 30-35 minutes left. This will give us about 40 minutes for the mindless introduction of the characters , a good 30 minutes for the first glance scene , 30 minutes for cheesy dialogues and first interactions , 10 minutes for second interactions . 5 minutes for the realization of love for the hero (his annoying best friend tells him or something coz he is too stupid to realize it himself) 15 minutes for the realization of love for the heroine ( they always take longer), a good 45 minutes for the action scene where the hero bashes up uncles , aunts , bodyguards , random people in the street and even more random bike gang people who for some reason find only the heroine to tease.

Rajesh : Needless to say that each part has to be accompanied by songs which will take up 1 hour.

Neha :  and don’t forget the 10 minutes of depression scenes and 15 minutes of the final “climax” .

Jayesh :  Which gives us a 4 hour plus movie and as you said editing is not required at all.

Krish :  So how many coincidental confrontations must we keep?

Neha :  One will be in a bookstore , you know she drops her books or something while the other must take place when she is with her fiance (A.K.A the ‘other guy’) who is a complete idiot when compared to the hero.

Jayesh :  And who will rip of the hero’s clothes of in the climax movie just to remind the audience of his abs even though we have seen it in countless songs and pointless scenes ?

Neha :   That can be either the hero himself or the villain and we must pause at his body for 5 minutes and then go slow motion style to his neck , then to his nose , then eyes and then the cheesiest of all dialogues will be spoken out loud and clear.  And the sound will echo all around the place.

Krish :  And the villain and his people will also just stay their admiring his body and applauding his dialogue instead of just going in a large group and beating the crap out of him. They will also attack one by one , perhaps having an internal discussion of the order in which they would want to be thrown , kicked , punched....in short beaten up.

Rajesh :  Brilliant!!!!   That’s done. Now we can easily make our own script which must contain none of the things we have discussed.

Neha :   Lets do it!!!!!!

Krish :  Its going to be legendary and innovative.

3 days later…

Rajesh :  I had a feeling form the start only that romance was not really our cup of tea.

Neha :  Me too.

Jayesh :   So now we are switching to horror right.

Krish :  Yeah.. It has to be something which the audience has never seen before. It has to be unique.

Rajesh :  Coming to unique I’ve got a great idea.

The others :  What!!!!!!!

Rajesh :  Never mind!!!                                                  

Suggested Action

Heavily urbanized wetland periphery is a major management challange

Suggested Action : 

It is proposed to begin the task of wetland preservation using a modified technique to achieve workable information in the least possible time and this is where ‘Rapid Appraisal Survey’ comes in. Rapid appraisal survey, as a technique, will be collection of baseline information. It will still be necessary, in few cases, to carry out detailed evaluation depending on the resource potential and ecosystem variety of the wetland. Furthermore, the appraisal will have to be reviewed from time to time to guide necessary changes in planning, arising out of contingencies.

Research, Investigation and Training
While developing wetland programmes, the problem of weak research support, shortage of trained wetland managers and technical assistants, has to be dealt with. It is necessary to build these support systems with a sustained effort.

The general trend in scientific research still remains confined within laboratories and the tendency of safe research is largely predominant amongst most of the doctoral candidates. The most serious gap, here, is the inability of the scientific community to appreciate the significance of traditional practices in the use of land. No formal training is available to study the nature of land and suggest ways for more efficient use of land. These defects will have to be rectified before expecting significant changes to take place in the entire effort of development of wetlands.

This is a joint and these are the places land use in East 

Kolkata Wetlands is discussed more intensely and imaginatively than any research institutions, university departments, non-profit organisations or 

places of governance anywhere else in the world. 

Action points:
To study the existing resource systems and traditional uses of wetland.

To carry out benefit estimations and impact assessments of developmental projects and actions relating to use of wetland.

To prepare classified inventory of unutilized and under-utilized wetlands.

To train the participants in wetland developmental efforts through tutorials and on the field activities.

School Children learning about wetlands

Wetland Preservation

EKW is one of those places on earth where there is no distinction made between human and sauna. They live seamlessly with each other.

Living creatively with nature

Wetland Preservation
The major problems confronting the wetlands are

• Encroachment
• Siltation
• weed infestation
• pollution 
• indiscriminate aquaculture. 

The combined threat of these factors has given rise to the following problems:

• Decrease in biological diversity particularly endemic and endangered species;

• Deterioration of water quality;

• Sedimentation and shrinkage in the area;

• Decrease in migratory bird population, fish and other faunal productivity;

• Prolific growth of obnoxious aquatic weeds damaging vegetation cover.

Function of the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority (EKWMA)

Function of the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority (EKWMA)
The East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act 2006 represents an integral landmark for establishing an appropriate institutional regime for managing this Ramsar Site. The Act termed EKW as a Wetland of International Importance and its various ecosystem services, including regulation of water regime, mechanism for waste water treatment as source for underground water recharging and other socio cultural values. It also recognized the immense urbanization pressure on the wetland and the need to prevent its conversion for alternate uses. Any further diminution of the wetland area, change in its (ecological) character, and land use was banned under the act.

It paved way for establishment of the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority for conservation and management of the wetlands and identified the following fuctions:-

• Demarcation of the wetland boundaries, detecting changes in ecological character and land use and enforcing land use control 
• Preventing any unauthorized developmental project within the boundaries of the wetland system 
• Preventing any mining, quarrying, blasting or any similar operation to protect and conserve the wetland system 

• Undertaking measures to abate pollution and conserving the wetland biodiversity 
• Promoting research and networking with other Ramsar sites 
• Raising awareness on wetlands in general and EKW in particular
• Promoting conservation principles like sewage-fed fisheries and eco-tourism
• Improving community livelihoods and quality of life 

EKWMA is also undertaking efforts for grave improving community livelihoods and quality of life while ensuring maintenance of ecological character of the wetland system.

A number of villages in EKW are affected by grave arsenic contamination. The authority has therefore granted permission to the KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) for setting up of a water treatment plant at Dhapa to provide purified drinking water.

The sanitation situation within EKW also needs urgent attention. A survey was carried out to understand the exact extent of the problem. Data on access to toilets, drinking water sources and availability, diseases, status and adequacy of access to community health infrastructure was compiled. This data will form the basis of implementation of a comprehensive community health programme. The main aim of the programme would be to greatly improve the existing sanitation facilities.

Limited afforestation programmes have also been taken up within the wetland area with financial support of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with an objective of enhancing local hydrological regimes and access to non wood based products. The locations were identified in consultation with the communities and considering the hydrological and ecological aspects. A total of 5000 seedlings, comprising a mixture of both deciduous and evergreen varieties were planted in the selected sites with the help of local residents, school children and clubs.

Further, the authority has identified 35 villages for electrification. This work will be funded by CESC (Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation) for installation of 220 KV overhead power line through EKW, without causing any land use change.

Over 20000 households live within the wetland complex

Bamboo provides an important livelihood option

The wetlands and “PUBLIC”

Fish from farms is being transported in bundles to market

The wetlands and “Public”

In 1992, a case study on EKW was presented in the expert committee meeting of the Ramsar Convention and the site was declared as the only Indian case study on wise use of wetlands in a document published by the same name by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, initiating the process of declaration of the site as a Wetland of International Importance. Thus, when the idea of establishing a World Trade Centre on the wetland was mooted in 1991, a group of non-government organizations, notable of which was ‘PUBLIC’ (People United for Better Living in Calcutta) filed a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court, asking directions of the state authorities to protect the wetlands and maintain their character, in particular, preventing their reclamation as well as change in land use from agriculture to residential or commercial uses. ‘PUBLIC’ was strongly against the urbanization of natural beauty, a predicament which plagues almost every country in the world today. The court ruled in favour of maintaining the overall environmental values of the wetland system and banned any conversion or changes in land use.

The East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority

EKWMA is an authority formed under the State Legislation in 2006 as per the East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act. It has been entrusted with the statutory responsibility for conservation and management of the EKW area. The main task of the authority is to maintain and manage the existing land use along with its unique recycling activities, for which the Wetlands has been included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance during the Ramsar convention on Aug 19, 2002.

Celebration of World Wetlands Day in EKW

Microbial Biodiversity

Microbial Diversity is an integral part of wetland biodiversity which includes bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae, protozoa and protists. East Kolkata Wetland shows an immense diversity of flora and fauna not only at the micro level but at the macro level also. Microbial richness of a region is its unseen asset that needs to be explored and conserved. Soil samples collected from EKW shows the presence of various new strains of microbes which are not only ecologically important, but also have commercial value. These include Actinobacteria, which are responsible for the degradation of nitrophenol, nitroaromatic compounds, pesticides and herbicides; Proteobacteria related to the bioremediation of heavy metals, degradation and recycling of woody tissues of plants, oil contaminated soil and toxic compounds and nitrogen fixation along with the cyanobacters playing important roles in metal accumulation, oil degradation, antimicrobial compound production, enzyme production etc.

Flora
The EKW thrives with flora with over 100 plant species being identified.

Several kinds of water hyacinths grow across these wetlands. Local farmers and fisher folk use water hyacinth to create a buffer between land and water to minimize erosion.

The area is also home to a large numbers of coconut and betel nut trees. Many varieties of vegetables are farmed here, including cauliflower, eggplant, pumpkin, sunflower and sacred basil. Tracts of land are dedicated to paddy cultivation as well.


Fauna

Numerous species of fish are farmed in the sewage fed ponds called bheris in these wetlands. These include silver carp, tilapia, The area is also home to marsh mongoose and small Indian mongoose. Palm Civet and Small Indian Civet are significant in and around the Wetlands. Approximately 20 mammals are reported from this region, including variety of Snakes.

Fishing in the early morning

Gradual Building of the Wetlands

Kolkata grew to be a large urban and trade centre virtually without any proper sewerage and solid waste management system causing frequent drainage congestion, resulting in health impacts. A committee established to look into alternate solutions to the drainage problems, recommended transferring all wastes to salt lakes, as the city had a natural eastwards elevation. The wetlands were nearly 8.5 feet below the highest point of the city. This recommendation prompted construction of a series of sewers and pumping stations towards the salt lakes. In 1864, a portion of the salt lakes was acquired for dumping solid waste. The first attempt to fresh-water aquaculture was in 1918. Subsequently, construction of waste water channels in the city, increased access to waste-water, which in turn encouraged others to adopt waste-water aquaculture. This served as the foundation behind the building of the wetlands.

                  Pumping stations transfer sewage from Kolkata city to EKW

The solid waste dumping area on the western periphery of the wetlands were converted to horticulture since 1876. The whole area has come to be recognized officially as Waste Recycling Region.

Garbage farming

East Calcutta Wetlands – Location and Area

The East Calcutta Wetlands, also known as the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) (22 0 27’ N 88 0 27’ E), are a complex of natural and human-made wetlands lying east of the city of Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal in India. These wetlands from a part of the extensive inter-distributory wetland regions formed by the Gangetic Delta. They play an integral part in India’s vegetation and serve as a storehouse of many important resources.

The wetlands cover 125 square kilometers and include salt marshes and salt meadows, as well as sewage farms and settling ponds.

The map above shows the distribution of various types of vegetation across the wetland.

          The wastewater distributaries

Features of Wetland
EKW sustains the world's largest and perhaps oldest integrated resource recovery practice based on a combination of agriculture and aquaculture and provides livelihood support to a large, economically underprivileged and deprived population of around 20,000 families which depend upon the various wetland products, primarily fish and vegetables for their daily sustenance.

The wetland system currently produces over 15,000 MT of fish per annum from its 264 functioning aquaculture ponds, locally called ‘Bheries’. Additionally, nearly 150 MT of vegetables are produced daily by subsistence farmers. EKW serves as the backbone of food security of Kolkata City. It will not be incorrect to say that the vibrant bustling city of Kolkata would not have been what it is without the EKW.

The wetlands are used to treat Kolkata's sewage, and the nutrients contained in the waste water sustain fish farms and agriculture.

EKW forms the basis of food security of Kolkata

Dhapa produces 150 MT vegetable daily

Other than food security, EKW maintain a positive balance in nature as many of it’s places (like DHAPA) serve as the hub of recycling plants in Kolkata.

Co-recycling in Dhapa

Here we see the mechanism behind the substantial production of fish which plays such an integral part of the metropolitan city of Kolkata.

Fishery effluent to paddy field

Wetlands International – South Asia

WISA is the South Asia Programme of Wetlands International, a global organization dedicated to conservation and wise use of wetlands. Its ultimate mission is to sustain and restore wetlands, their resources and biodiversity for future generations. WISA provides scientific and technical support to national governments, wetland authorities, non government organizations, and the private sector for wetland management planning and implementation in South Asia region. It is registered as a non government organization under the Societies Registration Act and steered by eminent conservation planners and wetland experts.

What are Wetlands

A patch of land that develops pools of water after a rain storm would not be considered a "wetland," even though the land is wet. Wetlands have unique characteristics: they are generally distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level and on the types of plants that live within them. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a water table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants.

Wetlands are described as ecotones, providing a transition between dry land and water bodies.

A wetland is "an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic processes, which, in turn, forces the biota, particularly rooted plants, to adapt to flooding."

There are four main kinds of wetlands -- marsh, swamp, bog and fen (bogs and fens both being types of mires). Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types.