: At least six persons were killed due to a landslide at Norton Bridge in Hatton of Sri Lanka's hill country, Disaster Management Centre said. According to the Norton Bridge police the landslide occurred near the police station early this morning due to torrential rains. Disaster Management Centre said a …
Dry soil is powdered, sieved and mixed with straw, lime and natural adhesives. It is then pounded into an even mixture manually or by having bullocks tread over the mixture. The damp soil mixture is compressed into blocks and put in between wood planks. The blocks are compacted manually or …
The two-storey house Futane built is spread over 2,200 sq feet and cost just Rs 3 lakh, that is Rs 137 per sq foot. A similar sized single storey structure in brick and cement mortar would have cost him Rs 8.8 lakh or Rs 400 per sq foot, three times …
Just a few days after an Indonesian court rejected a lawsuit brought by environmental groups against an energy company alleged to have caused mud volcano in Sidoarjo district, hot and black sludge from the volcano started flowing again. Heavy monsoon rains have exacerbated the mud flow causing dams surrounding the …
Lusi, as Indonesians call the mudflow, is one of the more bizarre expressions of Indonesia's geologic turmoil. Since May 2006, it has spewed millions of barrels of heated sludge, blanketing an area twice the size of New York City's Central Park. Villages have disappeared under the mud, 60 feet (18 …
After struggling for nine months with hot torrents of mud, Indonesian officials are now experimenting with a new strategy to contain the noxious matter. In the last week of February, they dropped 300-400 kg concrete balls into the crater of the mud volcano. Over the next few weeks, they plan …
• Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo has reinstated three senior civil servants, suspended for their involvement in the dumping of toxic wastes around the capital city of Abidjan, in September 2006. • Borneo island in Indonesia is being plagued by mud flows, containing toxic substances like nitrogen oxide and methane. …
bricks make homes, but brick kilns contribute to pollution. Though many states in India have regulations in place, the growing demand for bricks is increasing pollution. Fly ash is a byproduct of all coal-based power plants. In fact, India produces about 75-80 million tonnes of fly ash every year. A …
Chinese authorities and a dredging contractor are involved in a mud-slinging match. The government stopped the contractor, Gitanes Engineering, from dumping nearly 250,000 cu m of sludge in Chinese waters. The dispute over contaminated mud has reached the High Court with the contractor issuing a writ claiming US $18.76 million …
INHABITANTS of the vast Sahel desert need no longer wander in search of wood -- a scarce and consequently, expensive commodity in a desert -- when they construct a house. They can instead build woodless domed and vaulted roofs made entirely of mud, thanks to a technology developed by a …
AT MIDNIGHT on September 29-30, Gulab Jawalge and his family went to bed, exhausted by the prolonged Ganesh Puja celebrations in their village, Mangrool, in Maharashtra. Less than four hours later, Jawalge found himself trapped in a pile of rubble that his house had become. When he extricated himself half-an-hour …
Mud housing enthusiasts received a blow recently when the Delhi High Court dismissed a writ petition by the Mud Village Society (MVS), staking claim to a 2.1 ha plot in East Delhi on which it intends to build a housing colony. The court held that as there was no letter …
PHOTOGRAPHS of the recent devastating tornado that swept away five villages near Kandi in West Bengal's Murshidabad district show some high walls still standing amidst surrounding debris -- mute witnesses to nature's wrath. A closer look shows the walls are made of mud and they were part of the double- …
THERE is a resurgence of interest among urban builders in mud, the traditional construction material of rural India, and many government housing schemes are adopting itMud's low cost and easy availablity, compared with conventional building material, make it a viable construction option for the poor. Other appreciate its malliability, good …
CANTON will soon wear a different look as its commuters abandon the traditional bicycle for other modes of transport. In a dramatic step to ease traffic congestion, Cantonese officials intend to restrict and eventually ban the environment-friendly carrier, the China News Service (CNS) reports. CNS says the plan to crack …
MUD IS a versatile building material that has been used to make some extraordinary architectural marvels -- from 1,000-year-old ksars (forts) in Morocco and 6,000-year-old arches, vaults and domes in the Nile Valley to multi-storeyed houses of adobe, sun-baked bricks of mud and straw, which is the traditional building material …
