City’s first woman chief urban planner dead

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She played a key role in the planning for the Chennai Metropolitan Area in 2008

Chithra Narayanan, 60, the first woman chief urban planner of the Chennai Metropolitan Area, died on Friday.

According to family members, she was undergoing treatment for fluid accumulation in her lungs for the past few days. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials point to her integrity and honesty.

“Ms. Chithra played a key role in the preparation of the second master plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Area in 2008. She also contributed to the expansion and proposal for the preparation of the Strategic Regional Plan for the region,” said K. Kumar, former Chief Planner, CMDA.

“Her contribution to the public consultation for the second master plan was significant. It was the largest public consultation in the country. The process of doing it in a consultative manner was successful because of her contribution,” he said.

Ms. Chithra did her Ph.D in Madras University and was a visiting faculty of the School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University. “She was a very good officer with high integrity. A very disciplined and bold officer. She also contributed to the preparation of structure plan for Chennai in the late 1970s. But the government did not implement it. It would have solved the problem of inundation,” said Mr. Kumar.

CMDA Chief Planner M. Sivashanmugam said she was a very hard working and bold officer. She was also held in high esteem by those who work for a corruption-free government. She was an active member of the Institute of Town Planning, India. She also contributed towards heritage conservation in Chennai.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – August 04th, 2018

Swelect uses sun, air to make drinking water

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Coimbatore 21/10/2012. A one megawatt scale grid-connected solar power plant commissioned by Swelect Energy Systems Limited under REC scheme at Kuppaepalayam near Coimbatore. The solar arrays are ground mounted with light sensing tracking systems for increasing output. Photo:K.Ananthan. | Photo Credit: K_Ananthan
Coimbatore 21/10/2012. A one megawatt scale grid-connected solar power plant commissioned by Swelect Energy Systems Limited under REC scheme at Kuppaepalayam near Coimbatore. The solar arrays are ground mounted with light sensing tracking systems for increasing output.
Photo:K.Ananthan. | Photo Credit: K_Ananthan

Tastes better than bottled water: firm

Swelect Energy Systems Ltd. (formerly known as Numeric Power Systems Ltd.) has unveiled ‘Source,’ a hydro (solar) panel to provide pure drinking water using sunlight and air, said a top official.

“For this, we have partnered with U.S.-based Zero Mass Water,” said R. Chellappan, managing director, Swelect Energy Systems Ltd. “By using hydropanels, we are eliminating plastic and water waste of bottled and filtered water.”

Source is a combination of solar PV (photovolatic), material science and other technologies. It is a standalone product and can work anywhere — on top of the building or on the ground. It can be installed immediately. It doesn’t require any electrical input.

Absorbing water vapour

He said water vapour from air is drawn into Source through fans, following which special materials absorb the water. The vapour is collected as the air flow passes through a condenser, then flows into a reservoir where it is mineralised with calcium and magnesium. Water is pumped through a polishing cartridge before being delivered to a dispenser. “The water will taste better than bottled water and the total cost of ownership will be cheaper when compared with bottled water,” he said.

The price per panel will be ₹2 lakh and it will generate up to five litres of water per day depending on humidity and sunlight, he said. The panel would last for about 15 years. There is also a storing facility underneath a panel that can hold 30 litres.

“The product is very similar to solar PV. It is scalable and we can do one panel per home to 100 panels for a village,” said Robert Bartrop, executive vice-president– business development, Zero Mass Water.

Swelect plans to sell Source panels to government-run programmes on water, retail and institutional markets through its network of channel partners. The company will target primary health centres, schools, large villas, resorts and water-starved places.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> India / by N. Anand / Chennai – July 30th, 2018