Chennai: Chennai is no more sizzling hot. Reason? Rain has been lashing the city occasionally and flooding parts of Tamilnadu and severely the neighbouring States. When the city was parched, almost every neighbourhood had a crusader advocating rainwater harvesting and greening the spaces. But would people forget it once it rains?
Climate literacy is a niche area that has not been focused on. Exploring the neglected space is eminent musician, Chitravina N Ravikiran, who is on a global mission to educate people on climate, with his initiative Smart Planet with Planet Symphony’s SURE (Scientific Urban Roofscaping for Environment) Solutions’ with members from 65 countries.
Having raised funds for several environmental causes worldwide, this is another initiative of the musician.
Explaining the idea, Ravikiran said, ‘The developments happening in Chennai and across the globe are electronic-driven. With Smart Planet, we empower humans and make them environmentally smart. At the end of the day, we cannot survive without the fundamentals – air, water, food – which cannot be solved with electronic support but a good environment taking other living beings into account.’
He advocates empowering humans by educating on climate. ‘The more we are able to increase climate literacy, the better human beings will be empowered environmentally.’
PROJECT GREEN
The team devises macro solutions for the climate problem impacting several countries. Giving an example, Ravikiran added, ‘People are on a sapling planting spree of late. Although it is a good move, if we have the literacy of how much we need to plant, then we would be able to organise and work towards it.’
According to Planet Symphony’s findings, the planet needs around 36-54 billion trees. Explaining how the team arrived at the number, Ravikiran says, ‘We collated a lot of data that we acquired from sources such as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), National Geographic and Discovery Science and we came up with the count based on the healthy average of 40-60 trees per acre. To reach the target, there should be land space measuring 900 million acre.’
ATTRACTING RAIN
There has been a lot of dialogues surrounding water harvesting. However, Chennai witnessed monsoon failure. So how would we harvest water when it does not rain? The musician says that we need to attract rain. ‘The tree cover should be maximised at the ground and terrace level and all the plantation drives happen at the ground level.’
Ravikiran further suggests that all terraces should have potted plants that do not consume water and purify air to attract rain-bearing clouds. ‘The number of plants can be evenly spread across the space and grow-bags can be used in case one fears mishap. To reduce weight, the soil can be mixed with coco peat,’ he adds.
SOLAR POWER
The global initiative backs using solar energy and works with educational institutions for adopting the natural resource.
‘We are working around financing solutions to shift towards solar with minimal investment. The solar panels are efficient only to a certain extent: technology has to be improved to ensure that the device is utilised to its maximum capacity.’
Not stopping with suggesting ways to augment rain and purify air, Planet Symphony has experts who will help ‘you get this done today’. Planet Symphony can be contacted over e-mail at [email protected] or WhatsApp 98401 22711.