Issue Nº338 – News in brief

More monkeys are visiting Auroville than before. While this is a welcome sign for the environment, people are warned of the consequences of an increasing monkey population in the area. These include damage to temporary roofing and solar panels. Houses without grills and wire mesh will also have to be protected from their curiosity and food foraging activities.

On August 14th, the new building of the Auroville Electrical Service and the Auroville Solar Service in the Service Area was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh.

On Tuesday, 15th August, the foundation laying ceremony of the future building of the Temporary European House was held in the International Zone.

Eco-femme continues to lead in sustainable menstrual hygiene by being the first certified organic sanitary napkin company in India. Eco-femme meets the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), a worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres which includes ecological and social criteria and involves independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. All of Eco-femme’s pads are now made of organic certified cotton. Check out #BleedOrganic on Twitter.

On July 26th, the Sustainable Livelihood Institute, a joint venture of the Tamil Nadu Government and the Auroville Foundation, celebrated the Tamil month of Aadi by a Seed Festival in Auroville. It brought together traditional seed savers from across the state to celebrate seed diversity and to create awareness about local indigenous seed varieties and establish a network for the exchange of traditional seeds. Seed savers from Cuddalore, Villupuram, Trichy and Auroville displayed and sold over 300 varieties of traditional seeds. The seed varieties included paddy, vegetables, millets and indigenous trees. The event included knowledge-exchange sessions, talks and an exhibition of seeds.

The Matrimandir Lake team has decided to start work on a large test pond of 100 x 100 metres wide and 10 metres at its deepest point. The new test pond will be located at the site of the present test ponds, and be lined with HDPE foil. The total volume of earth to be excavated is about 79,000 cubic meters, which, if stored in an area of 100 metres diameter, will result in a hill 16 metres high with a diameter of 40 metres at the top.

On the morning of 28 February 2018, on the occasion of Auroville’s 50th anniversary, a water ceremony will take place in the Matrimandir Amphitheatre. Everybody is invited to bring to Auroville in their checked-in luggage a bottle of water from a lake, river, spring or other water source from their part of the world. The volume can be 500-1000 ml from each water source, or a smaller quantity Each bottle must be labelled with the name of the country, the name and place of the water source, and if possible the GPS location of the area from where the water was collected. Participants are also asked to take a few photographs of the water source so that they can be posted. The water donations can be made up to 18 February 2018. For more information contact worldwater@auroville.org.in