Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Update Date: 2009/07/16 04:09 [Compiled by Luo Yanjie / Comprehensive Report]
Once the filming location for the James Bond movie "Octopussy" and a favorite among Hollywood stars like Madonna and Nicole Kidman, India's "Lake Palace" hotel has lost its proud lakefront due to the worst drought in a year. The 83-room, white marble luxury hotel now stands surrounded by nothing but parched land.
Located in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a desert region, the "Lake Palace" rises from the middle of the 3-meter-deep Lake Pichola. Once a royal retreat filled with romance, the palace is now encircled not by azure waters but by mud. Guests must be transported to their rooms by horse-drawn carriages instead of boats, while the dried-up lakebed has become a playground for children.
Forty percent of Udaipur's residents rely on tourism for their livelihoods. Locals say Lake Pichola's drying is partly due to last year's low rainfall and regular water extraction for drinking. After the Mumbai terrorist attacks and economic downturn at the end of last year, the local tourism industry has suffered another heavy blow from the lake's disappearance.
According to estimates by the Indian Meteorological Department, this year's monsoon rainfall is only 43% of the long-term average. Experts further predict that the El Niño phenomenon may further disrupt global weather patterns, potentially bringing even drier conditions to Australia and Asia.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090716/ 78/ 1n583. html
Climate Catastrophe: India's Lake Palace Hotel Turns to Mud Palace
Once the filming location for the James Bond movie "Octopussy" and a favorite among Hollywood stars like Madonna and Nicole Kidman, India's "Lake Palace" hotel has lost its proud lakefront due to the worst drought in a year. The 83-room, white marble luxury hotel now stands surrounded by nothing but parched land.
Located in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a desert region, the "Lake Palace" rises from the middle of the 3-meter-deep Lake Pichola. Once a royal retreat filled with romance, the palace is now encircled not by azure waters but by mud. Guests must be transported to their rooms by horse-drawn carriages instead of boats, while the dried-up lakebed has become a playground for children.
Forty percent of Udaipur's residents rely on tourism for their livelihoods. Locals say Lake Pichola's drying is partly due to last year's low rainfall and regular water extraction for drinking. After the Mumbai terrorist attacks and economic downturn at the end of last year, the local tourism industry has suffered another heavy blow from the lake's disappearance.
According to estimates by the Indian Meteorological Department, this year's monsoon rainfall is only 43% of the long-term average. Experts further predict that the El Niño phenomenon may further disrupt global weather patterns, potentially bringing even drier conditions to Australia and Asia.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090716/ 78/ 1n583. html