Ecology Class Yr 2 - Dark Side of Electricity -2

For Thursday’s trip we went to Ennore.  When we were going to Ennore we made our first stop near the Chennai port. We stopped near the beach. We learned that the industrialization was bringing the ocean into the land. We learned that the ocean carries sand 8 months north and 4 months south. So what’s happening is that the port is stopping Marina Beach to give the sand on the other side of the port.

The next stop we made was at Ennore in a large ground next to a power plant. That power plant had stopped working in 2010 or so because it couldn’t produce the amount of watts it needed to.

The amount of ash the power plant produces per day is equal to a football field when laid out. The coal ash is harmful for the human body and the power plant dumps the ash in a nearby field where kids play.   In summer, when the fly ash starts flaying it goes inside their lungs and gets stuck on the alveoli which causes respiratory disease.

Did you ever wonder what kind of building you live in? Well you are actually living in poison. Because the cement you use to stick bricks together may contain fly ash.  So, it is better to live in a house made of limestone.

Well after that we stepped on a bridge over Kosasthalaiyar and saw people in the water looking for worms. They sell the worms to big companies so they can get some money. The power plant had polluted the water so no fish were living there.

There were pipes connecting the power plant and the point to transfer the coal. And I saw that there was a crack and something was leaking. I just hope it doesn’t break.  We went and saw some more pipes and they are in a very horrible condition. Some had a water fountain coming out of them. Most of this water goes and lands in the river’s flood area (an extra area in the river that is used if there is too much rain.

As we were getting further into Ennore, the pollution was getting stronger. Alhamdulillah the pollution in our place is not that high. I could hardly breathe. It was suffocating me.

We also saw traditional methods of fishing. An uncle was on his knees in the water catching shrimps with his hands, putting them into the bag.

Then the girls were talking about how to solve the problem, but we didn’t get an exact solution.  Now I realise if we want to change earth, we just have to cut down electricity usage. Well this is my own solution, not everyone has to listen to it. Why don’t we switch the lights off in the day time and sit under a tree for cool breeze.

- Fareeha Rafeek, Grade7