Bhutan is becoming increasingly urbanised
Landlocked in the eastern Himalayas, the tiny country of Bhutan seems almost untouched by globalisation. Its icy peaks, deep green gorges, sparkling rivers and quaint buildings with multi-tiered sloping roofs strengthen the feeling of a country disconnected from the chaos of megacities and concrete jungles.
This pristine impression is partly due to Bhutan's strong commitment to environmental preservation. Bhutan's laws reserve 70 per cent of its land for 'green' cover, of which 60 per cent should be forests.
Bhutan is one of the few countries to employ the concept of gross national happiness — that social and economic development should promote happiness as its primary value.
Conservation of the environment and sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development are the two pillars of gross national happiness, which was declared more important than gross national product by Bhutan's then king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, in 1972.
But today, the country is facing change. Global warming is melting many of its glaciers, while its need for economic development and quest to export hydropower to neighbouring India may harm its fragile terrain. Bhutan is grappling with the dilemma of conservation versus development.
Development taking its toll
A growing population — up from 452,000 in 1984 to 750,000 in 2006 — as well as an increase in urbanisation and infrastructure is taking its toll on Bhutan's environment.
Analysis by the National Environment Commission (NEC), an inter-ministerial body that develops policies on sustainable development, shows that about 25,000 acres of land have been used for development projects, while land and water pollution is an emerging environment problem in and around urban and industrial areas.
Development projects such as roads and power lines, NEC warns, could impact biodiversity by cutting through natural habitats and destablising fragile mountain slopes if they are not built in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Urban areas — along with some rural areas of southern and eastern Bhutan — are already witnessing localised deforestation, says the Bhutan office of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
And a steady increase in vehicles — the number of cars rose by 11–17 per cent each year from 1985 to 2003 — is harming Bhutan's air quality, once considered among the best in South Asia.
Bhutan's development of hydropower plants could also impact the environment. Hydropower potential in Bhutan is estimated at over 30,000 megawatts, 16,000 megawatts of which could be provided safely by exploitable water resources like river run-offs. Only three per cent of this has been tapped, estimates the NEC, with domestic consumption in 2005 only 105 megawatts, and the country hopes to export some of this energy at a profit to neighbouring India.
Global warming at its door
Meanwhile, Bhutan is facing up to the impact of global warming. The country has a fragile mountain ecosystem, and climate change is a serious challenge to sustainable development and the livelihood of the Bhutanese people, says Nado Rinchen, deputy minister for environment.
Bhutan puts the happiness ofits people before development
Credit: Flickr/mick y"Bhutan did not contribute to global warming, and yet we have to suffer the consequences today", he says.
Bhutan is one of the few countries in the world with the capacity to absorb greenhouse gases. NEC's national greenhouse gas inventory — a record of emission and removal of gases that cause global warming, conducted in 2000 — shows that Bhutan is a net greenhouse gas absorber, largely because of its vast forest cover, limited industrialisation and use of hydropower as a clean energy source.
Despite this, Bhutan's glaciers have been retreating over the last few decades at about 20–30 metres every year due to global warming, creating many moraine dammed lakes — lakes clogged by accumulated debris, which prevent meltwater from escaping — that are swelling rapidly.
Floods of these lakes — glacial lake outburst floods — are a serious concern. Bhutan has already experienced several of these floods and has 24 potentially dangerous glacial lakes, according to ICIMOD (the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bhutan's National Adaptation Programme of Action, released in 2006, warns of changes in water flows, increased sedimentation of water reservoirs and networks, and reduced capacity of water catchment areas, all affecting hydropower electricity production.
Higher rainfall in areas without proper drainage systems can destabilise the soil, leading to landslides and more floods. Rinchen says Bhutan urgently needs to map its hazard zones as it is also prone to destructive landslides, mudslides and floods.
Bhutan has no proper weather or climate forecasting capabilities and its climate data and information is sparse, points out Doley Tshering, program officer for energy, environment and disaster, at UNDP's Bhutan office.
Conservation at stake
NEC officials fear that climate change and the consequent rise in temperature and forest fires, along with changing rainfall patterns, could affect the country's extensive forest cover, rich biodiversity and clean water resources.
Bhutan's biodiversity is one of the richest in the world. It ranks among the top ten countries with the highest number of species per unit area, contains three of the World Wildlife Fund's ecoregions of great biological wealth, and many of its plants have medicinal value.
Bhutan forest's are rich inbiodiversity
Credit: Flickr/HoorobUnsurprisingly, conservation is central to Bhutan's 1998 National Environment Strategy, which aims to balance economic development and environmental conservation.
The core of Bhutan's conservation strategy is a system of national parks and protected areas that form 26 per cent of its land. An additional nine per cent is designated as 'biological corridors' or 'wildlife highways' that link protected areas to allow free movement of animals.
Yet much of Bhutan's biological wealth remains unexplored by scientists. There is no baseline data to help scientists document and monitor changes in vegetation, wildlife and forests.
Some efforts have been initiated, with NEC due to sign an agreement with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) this year to set up the Bhutan Integrated Biodiversity Information System to gather, interpret and document biodiversity information from both protected and other areas.
Putting the environment into development
Rinchen says Bhutan's tenth national five-year plan, to be launched in 2008, will allocate ten per cent of all funds to programmes for environment activities, while the UNDP and UNEP are helping NEC to develop guidelines for incorporating environment into development plans and policies.
A National Environment Protection Act (NEPA), approved by Bhutan's national assembly in June 2007, states the people and the government should "strive to consider and adopt its development policies and plans in harmony with the various environment principles".
The act states that to promote environment-friendly technologies, codes of practice and eco-labelling, the government will provide financial incentives for environment protection and compliance.
These will include tax incentives for environmental services, manufacture of environment-friendly products and reduced customs duties on environmentally friendly technologies.
Bhutan also aims to reduce the dependency of national park residents on national park resources, such as firewood, timber, roofing material and other forest products.
It hopes to reduce deforestation through use of alternate technologies include the introduction of electric cookers to substitute traditional fuel wood cookers and using corrugated iron sheets instead of wooden shingles for roofs.
Instead, the government will establish programmes to improve mule tracks and foot bridges, build community centres, supply solar panels and even offer scholarships to poor students so that they do not rely on forest produce for their livelihoods. Community-based ecotourism is also being promoted as an alternative means of livelihood.
Transboundary conservation projects are helping Bhutan come out of its isolation. ICIMOD's Kanchenjunga project, involving Bhutan, India and Nepal, is helping to identify corridors needed to maintain biodiversity links and promote conservation-linked micro-enterprises and ecotourism in the region.
Bhutan is at a crossroads today, charting a course for its future. It plans to hold its first elections in 2008 and join the World Trade Organization. For many developing countries, this isolated Himalayan country could be an example of how to reconcile conservation and national happiness within the global trading framework.
By T. V. Padma
( T. V. Padma reports on Bhutan's dilemma: how to reconcile conservation, economic development and happiness in a modern world.)
Courtsey SciDev.Net
Showing posts with label Matters of Enviornment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matters of Enviornment. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Simple and cheap: Nepal's application of science
Almost unnoticed, Nepal is developing simple and cheap technologies that make the best of local resources and don't damage the environment.
Down a narrow alley in Kathmandu's historic heart, through a low door, you enter Akal Man Nakarmi's workshop. Nakarmi's surname means 'metalsmith' and the soft-spoken craftsman's ancestors crafted copper utensils and forged statues of deities in bronze.
Today, Nakarmi makes small turbines called Peltric Sets for micro-hydro electric generation plants across the Himalaya. He can't keep up with demand.
Nepal's successes in scientific application in recent decades aren't about grandiose hydropower dams or major infrastructure projects.
The new technologies that have worked have been indigenously designed, based on traditional skills and knowledge, and are cheap and easy to use and maintain. In fact, to visit Nepal these days is to see the 'small is beautiful' concept of development economist E. F. Schumacher in action.
From Nakarmi's Peltric Sets to multi-purpose power units based on traditional water mills, from biogas plants to green road construction techniques in the mountains, Nepalis have shown that small is not just beautiful but also desirable and possible.
This is happening not just in technology but also in health, agriculture and forestry. It has gone almost unnoticed that Nepal's infant mortality rate has been reduced by half since 1990. How did that happen? Not because a lot of state-of-the-art hospitals were built. Fewer babies die in Nepal these days mainly because of the spread of awareness about safe drinking water. The message went out through radio, and made an impact because of higher literacy levels and better vaccination coverage.
Another unsung success story is the regeneration of forests across the mid-Himalaya. Again, it wasn't new afforestation techniques or fencing off plantations that revived the vegetation. It was an act of parliament 17 years ago that devolved power to local communities who then had a vested interest in protecting the commons.
Nepal is said to have one of the highest per capita hydropower generation potentials in the world, but it is the small-scale plants set up by villagers that have brought about a real revolution in rural energy. Multi-purpose microhydro plants are built on existing technology of traditional water mills, made more efficient.
Similarly, the number of village biogas plants now exceeds 180,000, one of the most dramatic spreads of methane generation from farm waste in any developing country. Once underground fermentation tanks were designed for affordability, the rest was just economics.
With both micro-hydro and biogas, it was the government subsidy, rural extension and training that made the technologies viable.
Nevertheless, appropriate and localised technology has a long way to go in Nepal.
There is a lot of vested interest in expensive mega-projects. Big projects often bring big kickbacks, which is why politicians prefer them. India's huge demand for water and energy means planners in both countries are looking at mammoth schemes like the high dams on the Kosi and Karnali rivers and a slew of medium-scale reservoir projects in the next six years with the aim of exporting power to India.
It will be difficult to stop these schemes. But we should also promote cheap, small, homegrown technologies. These are no longer in the realm of New Age romanticism. Nepal has shown they work better than costly outside intervention, they deliver, and although the world is slow to take notice, they are quietly improving people's lives.
This now needs to be reflected in media coverage of science and technology, and what we journalists define as news in our countries. Given the challenges of global warming and economic imbalances globally and within countries, locally-built and managed technologies have the best chance of addressing both economic and ecological concerns.
Schumacher showed that human beings could reduce their ecological footprint with the use of appropriate and benevolent technologies that did not waste the planet's finite resources. The path ahead for humankind is to do a lot with less, learning from practical examples like that set by Nepal.
By Kunda Dixit
Courtsey SciDevNet
Down a narrow alley in Kathmandu's historic heart, through a low door, you enter Akal Man Nakarmi's workshop. Nakarmi's surname means 'metalsmith' and the soft-spoken craftsman's ancestors crafted copper utensils and forged statues of deities in bronze.
Today, Nakarmi makes small turbines called Peltric Sets for micro-hydro electric generation plants across the Himalaya. He can't keep up with demand.
Nepal's successes in scientific application in recent decades aren't about grandiose hydropower dams or major infrastructure projects.
The new technologies that have worked have been indigenously designed, based on traditional skills and knowledge, and are cheap and easy to use and maintain. In fact, to visit Nepal these days is to see the 'small is beautiful' concept of development economist E. F. Schumacher in action.
From Nakarmi's Peltric Sets to multi-purpose power units based on traditional water mills, from biogas plants to green road construction techniques in the mountains, Nepalis have shown that small is not just beautiful but also desirable and possible.
This is happening not just in technology but also in health, agriculture and forestry. It has gone almost unnoticed that Nepal's infant mortality rate has been reduced by half since 1990. How did that happen? Not because a lot of state-of-the-art hospitals were built. Fewer babies die in Nepal these days mainly because of the spread of awareness about safe drinking water. The message went out through radio, and made an impact because of higher literacy levels and better vaccination coverage.
Another unsung success story is the regeneration of forests across the mid-Himalaya. Again, it wasn't new afforestation techniques or fencing off plantations that revived the vegetation. It was an act of parliament 17 years ago that devolved power to local communities who then had a vested interest in protecting the commons.
Nepal is said to have one of the highest per capita hydropower generation potentials in the world, but it is the small-scale plants set up by villagers that have brought about a real revolution in rural energy. Multi-purpose microhydro plants are built on existing technology of traditional water mills, made more efficient.
Similarly, the number of village biogas plants now exceeds 180,000, one of the most dramatic spreads of methane generation from farm waste in any developing country. Once underground fermentation tanks were designed for affordability, the rest was just economics.
With both micro-hydro and biogas, it was the government subsidy, rural extension and training that made the technologies viable.
Nevertheless, appropriate and localised technology has a long way to go in Nepal.
There is a lot of vested interest in expensive mega-projects. Big projects often bring big kickbacks, which is why politicians prefer them. India's huge demand for water and energy means planners in both countries are looking at mammoth schemes like the high dams on the Kosi and Karnali rivers and a slew of medium-scale reservoir projects in the next six years with the aim of exporting power to India.
It will be difficult to stop these schemes. But we should also promote cheap, small, homegrown technologies. These are no longer in the realm of New Age romanticism. Nepal has shown they work better than costly outside intervention, they deliver, and although the world is slow to take notice, they are quietly improving people's lives.
This now needs to be reflected in media coverage of science and technology, and what we journalists define as news in our countries. Given the challenges of global warming and economic imbalances globally and within countries, locally-built and managed technologies have the best chance of addressing both economic and ecological concerns.
Schumacher showed that human beings could reduce their ecological footprint with the use of appropriate and benevolent technologies that did not waste the planet's finite resources. The path ahead for humankind is to do a lot with less, learning from practical examples like that set by Nepal.
By Kunda Dixit
Courtsey SciDevNet
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Evidence of Radioactive Material on Blue Lady
New evidence submitted by the former projectmanager of SS Norway (Blue Lady) reveals that the toxic ship-for-scraprenamed Blue Lady and currently anchored 4000 feet off Alang coast hasradioactive material on board in at least 5500 fire detection points.
Americium 241 – a radioactive substance – concentrates in the bone,liver and muscle and can expose surrounding tissues to radiation,thereby increasing the risk of cancer. Ironically, this finding wasmade months after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of TechnicalExperts (CTE) opined "the presence of radioactive materials in apassenger ship like "Blue Lady" is quite unlikely."
The new evidence exposes the shoddy state of science in this country. A body of experts appointed by the apex Court of the countryconfidently, and without evidence, rules on a subject that hasfar-ranging implications on worker health and environment."
Supreme Court in the matter of Ship Breaking dealing with"Decontamination of ships before they are exported to India forbreaking", has specifically directed that "Before a ship arrives atport, it should have proper consent from the authority concerned orthe State Maritime Board, stating that it does not contain anyhazardous waste or radioactive substances. AERB should be consulted inthe matter in appropriate cases." There has been no compliance ofthese directions in the case of Blue Lady. No one has been punishedfor this lapse till date.
"The ship admittedly contains more than 1200 tons of asbestos,significant quantities of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) and other heavy-metal-laden substances. Export of such ships tonon-OECD countries violates the Basel Convention. However, India hasrefused to challenge such imports despite the abysmal environment andsafety record at its ship-breaking yard in Alang."
The Final Report of CTE submitted to the apex court notes, "theaverage annual incidence of fatal accidents in ship breaking industryis 2.0 per 1000 workers while the All India incidence of fatalaccidents during the same period in mining industry, which isconsidered to be the most accident prone industries, is 0.34per 1000workers."
The Final Report also notes of asbestos victims in the ship-breakingindustry and cites the "Medical Examination of the Asbestos Handlers"by a team of National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) thatconcludes, " The X ray examination by NIOH showed linear shadows onchest X rays of 15 (16 %) of 94 workers occupationally exposed toasbestos. These are consistent with asbestosis…" but has failed torecommend any compensation as is required as per court's directions.
"In such a context the imminent contamination from Americium-241 canoccur to people/workers who work at or near a contaminated sidethrough ingestion of food and water, or by inhalation is alarming."
When inhaled, some Americium-241 remains in the lungs, depending uponthe particle size and the chemical form of the Americium compound. Thechemical forms that dissolve easily may pass into the bloodstream fromthe lungs. The chemical forms that dissolve less easily tend to remainin the lungs, or are coughed up through the lung's natural defensesystem, and swallowed. From the stomach, swallowed Americium maydissolve and pass into the bloodstream. That Americium-241 poses a significant risk if ingested (swallowed) orinhaled. It can stay in the body for decades and continue to exposethe surrounding tissues to both alpha and gamma radiation, increasingthe risk of developing cancer. Americium-241 also poses a cancer riskto all organs of the body from direct external exposure to its gammaradiation. Neither the Dismantling Plan submitted by the buyers of theship nor any of the Reports/Affidavits by the Technical Committee orEnvironment Ministry envisage safe removal/destruction of suchradioactive substances contained in the Blue Lady.
For details: H Mahadevan (AITUC), 9818120885, P K Ganguly (CITU),9968214082, Gopal Krishna (Platform on Shipbreaking), 9818089660
Americium 241 – a radioactive substance – concentrates in the bone,liver and muscle and can expose surrounding tissues to radiation,thereby increasing the risk of cancer. Ironically, this finding wasmade months after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of TechnicalExperts (CTE) opined "the presence of radioactive materials in apassenger ship like "Blue Lady" is quite unlikely."
The new evidence exposes the shoddy state of science in this country. A body of experts appointed by the apex Court of the countryconfidently, and without evidence, rules on a subject that hasfar-ranging implications on worker health and environment."
Supreme Court in the matter of Ship Breaking dealing with"Decontamination of ships before they are exported to India forbreaking", has specifically directed that "Before a ship arrives atport, it should have proper consent from the authority concerned orthe State Maritime Board, stating that it does not contain anyhazardous waste or radioactive substances. AERB should be consulted inthe matter in appropriate cases." There has been no compliance ofthese directions in the case of Blue Lady. No one has been punishedfor this lapse till date.
"The ship admittedly contains more than 1200 tons of asbestos,significant quantities of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) and other heavy-metal-laden substances. Export of such ships tonon-OECD countries violates the Basel Convention. However, India hasrefused to challenge such imports despite the abysmal environment andsafety record at its ship-breaking yard in Alang."
The Final Report of CTE submitted to the apex court notes, "theaverage annual incidence of fatal accidents in ship breaking industryis 2.0 per 1000 workers while the All India incidence of fatalaccidents during the same period in mining industry, which isconsidered to be the most accident prone industries, is 0.34per 1000workers."
The Final Report also notes of asbestos victims in the ship-breakingindustry and cites the "Medical Examination of the Asbestos Handlers"by a team of National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) thatconcludes, " The X ray examination by NIOH showed linear shadows onchest X rays of 15 (16 %) of 94 workers occupationally exposed toasbestos. These are consistent with asbestosis…" but has failed torecommend any compensation as is required as per court's directions.
"In such a context the imminent contamination from Americium-241 canoccur to people/workers who work at or near a contaminated sidethrough ingestion of food and water, or by inhalation is alarming."
When inhaled, some Americium-241 remains in the lungs, depending uponthe particle size and the chemical form of the Americium compound. Thechemical forms that dissolve easily may pass into the bloodstream fromthe lungs. The chemical forms that dissolve less easily tend to remainin the lungs, or are coughed up through the lung's natural defensesystem, and swallowed. From the stomach, swallowed Americium maydissolve and pass into the bloodstream. That Americium-241 poses a significant risk if ingested (swallowed) orinhaled. It can stay in the body for decades and continue to exposethe surrounding tissues to both alpha and gamma radiation, increasingthe risk of developing cancer. Americium-241 also poses a cancer riskto all organs of the body from direct external exposure to its gammaradiation. Neither the Dismantling Plan submitted by the buyers of theship nor any of the Reports/Affidavits by the Technical Committee orEnvironment Ministry envisage safe removal/destruction of suchradioactive substances contained in the Blue Lady.
For details: H Mahadevan (AITUC), 9818120885, P K Ganguly (CITU),9968214082, Gopal Krishna (Platform on Shipbreaking), 9818089660
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Harsud; three years hence but saga of the sufferings, never ends ..
The story of sufferings of people of Harsud, one of the 250 villages in the State of Madhya Pradesh which got submerged due to Indira Sagar Dam project, is unending and probably this millenniums most inhumane and undemocratic displacement story. June 30 2007, it will three years hence when the people of Harsud were 'displaced by force' not by will. Till date many of them wait for adequate compensation. Many are unemployed and striving hard to earn their sustenance. Probably their lives have got stuck in the 'files' in 'corridors of powers' of the State Government. The state of affairs is such that out of 5600 families which were resettled in the new Harsud only 1600 families still remain. Fifty families are dalits. Where have the rest gone? Nobody knows. What happened to the children, their education, and health no one has a clue in the State?
Who matters for the state in present situation? If 100 medical students or doctors march on the roads of New Delhi, then Parliament, Media, Corporate starts jumping, but 6000 tribals sitting on Dharna in Bhopal under heavy rains for demanding their fundamental right does not matter for the Government. The Political and State leadership did not go to meet these people at all.
The Harsud got submerged in June 2004. This historic town was established in the year 1815 by the then King Harshvardhan. Before it got submerged it was a Tehsil which was surrounded by villages. People settled here, had means of employment be it their own business, or labour or farming but after their displaced after submergence, they live on state's false promises, with a hope it they may get fulfilled someday.
It may be difficult to locate a town similar to new Harsud in Madhya Pradesh wherein people have built in pucca houses but hardly have anything to eat. All the money they had, they had spent on constructing their homes. Uma Bharti, who was then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had announced that new Harsud will be 'an ideal town', with all the facilities. But reality is far from grim. The land here was made up of hard rocks and it was extremely difficult to construct houses on the same. It took huge effort to dig the rocky land for the foundation which was needed to build the house over it. People had to spend all they had in order to construct their shelter. Builders, cement, sand and construction material dealers minted money, to an extent that prices of building material shot up. Iron rods which are normally priced at Rs 2300 per quintal, were sold at Rs 4000 per quintal while sand which is normally priced at Rs 1000 - 1500 was sold at double the price. All the money they had received as compensation was spent only in constructing houses.
It was painful to see one's own houses getting submerged while they were forced to settle on these barren hard rocky plains. Today, they have a pucca house but only that nothing else. State was able to convince the judiciary that, they have been able to rehabilitate the displaced people. Photographs of the pucca houses were good evidence in the court.
Present revenue records of the state will tell you that new Harsud is developing progressively. But the reality is exactly opposite and grim. Economy and employment are correlated when people have no means of employment how can an economy flourish. New harsud contrary to old one does not have any bus stand, no vegetable wholesale market, and neither any bank which can help the people get loan i.e. nothing which can give the people any employment opportunity. In name of development concrete gutters, damaged roads, there is nothing much.
Dr Ashok Srivastava, a valiant fighter, fighting for rights of those who got displaced say that concrete roads and sewage lines are there as state wanted to show the court that development has been done. But then what? "Old Harsud was a complete economic zone in itself, it had a big wholesale market for farmers, about 200 villages used to cater to the same and almost everyone had a job. But it is exactly the opposite in new Harsud. Except concrete sewage lies, houses and government offices there is nothing. Arundhati Roy, a famous writer had said at the time when Harsud was getting submerged what kind of development is that wherein the name of progress human rights of one's own nation's people get violated.
Though Harsud is the latest example, but in name of progress, in our country after independence more than three crore people have been displaced from their own land and their own culture. All democratic methods of raising concern seem not to deter the state of Madhya Pradesh and NHDC, the company which is building these dams.
Narmada Bachho Andolan's Alok Agarwal shares that people in new harsud have not been given property rights of the land which is allotted to them, meaning that they cannot get any loan on the same. He adds that crime rate has been increasing in last three years. People do not have employment, poverty is rampant and people don't have anything to survive, hence crime rates have increased. It is not that only poor have got affected, even better off families are facing the impact but fact is that poor have the maximum brunt. Even the traders like Trilok Tripathi say that sales have come down as people don't have buying power.
Who will listen to Dalits ?
In the new harsud sector 7 is called dalit sector. It is here where fifty dalit families live in. Children are taking of their school bags and instead they have picked up shovels. Rahul, was studying in tenth class when harsud got submerged but now he has hanged his school bag. More than studies it was essential to get food for his family. Santosh who works as a laborer in harsud and is feeding his family recalls at in old harsud we never had a time when we had had to starve, as their was work at the agricultural farms, and we used to get some work always. But now neither we have any farming nor is there any work for us. We are just surviving, but when rains come we will not have any way of earning our livelihood.
Where is Employment Guarantee Scheme?
This new place for the rehabilitated is nothing but a box of problems and is difficult for community members here to manage just two meals a day. In situation like this why is government silent on getting people some work. What is the reason that state has not initiated an employment guarantee scheme here? Local people say that people here had protested strongly against the conditions prevalent here and corruption which was happening, the same had upset many important ministers like Kailash Vijayavarigya, Anoop Mishra, and the local member of legislative assembly Kunwar Vijay Shah. They are facing the brunt of the same protest. The people here are angry wit Jkunawar Vijay Shah who never spoke a single word for the people and against the displacement. That is the reason he was blessed with gift of Cabinet Ministership. Media has less presence here, no political leaders wants to raise his voice for their concern, as they feel that the vote bank here is not big enough to have an impact on elections. Though this year in fist time Municipal Corporation BJP had lost, but it does not see than they have learnt from their loss.
People are still stranded here.
Kalimachak River was a lifeline for harsud town. But after water levels increased in Indira Sagar dam, backwaters of Kalimachak only submerged Harsud. Though harsud now is depilated and is haunted. But still in ward number nine, Mohi rayat about 150 people of thirty tribal families are not willing to move from here. They till date have not received the compensation amount. Mohan Gaindala from these families tell us that as even after fulfilling all the requirements as laid down in the clause 4 as announced by the state government they still have not received the compensation. Among them is Poonam who is suffering from Tuberculosis shares that patwari and other government officials openly ask for bribes. 'If someone cannot enough to eat how can one afford to pay bribe. Mohan adds that we don't know where our compensation money has gone? There are many here who have not received their compensation yet. Either the state government officials or the powerful have eaten away the money which came as compensation for them.
State government officials including the officiating District Collector Sanjay Goyal do not have any answers'. Tribals communities staying here had previously got afflicted with Chickenguniya. In the last monsoon water had reached just near their huts, but there is no surety this time that water will remain till that place. Included in them there are ten such children who never have received polio vaccination anytime or for that matter neither any supplementary nutrition.
What does District Collector say?:
Khandwa District Collector Sanjay Goyal who is officiating says that district administration is trying its best. Brushing aside the issue of employment he said that somehow all of us, in any form will have to pay the price of development?
By Daya Shanker Mishra
Who matters for the state in present situation? If 100 medical students or doctors march on the roads of New Delhi, then Parliament, Media, Corporate starts jumping, but 6000 tribals sitting on Dharna in Bhopal under heavy rains for demanding their fundamental right does not matter for the Government. The Political and State leadership did not go to meet these people at all.
The Harsud got submerged in June 2004. This historic town was established in the year 1815 by the then King Harshvardhan. Before it got submerged it was a Tehsil which was surrounded by villages. People settled here, had means of employment be it their own business, or labour or farming but after their displaced after submergence, they live on state's false promises, with a hope it they may get fulfilled someday.
It may be difficult to locate a town similar to new Harsud in Madhya Pradesh wherein people have built in pucca houses but hardly have anything to eat. All the money they had, they had spent on constructing their homes. Uma Bharti, who was then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had announced that new Harsud will be 'an ideal town', with all the facilities. But reality is far from grim. The land here was made up of hard rocks and it was extremely difficult to construct houses on the same. It took huge effort to dig the rocky land for the foundation which was needed to build the house over it. People had to spend all they had in order to construct their shelter. Builders, cement, sand and construction material dealers minted money, to an extent that prices of building material shot up. Iron rods which are normally priced at Rs 2300 per quintal, were sold at Rs 4000 per quintal while sand which is normally priced at Rs 1000 - 1500 was sold at double the price. All the money they had received as compensation was spent only in constructing houses.
It was painful to see one's own houses getting submerged while they were forced to settle on these barren hard rocky plains. Today, they have a pucca house but only that nothing else. State was able to convince the judiciary that, they have been able to rehabilitate the displaced people. Photographs of the pucca houses were good evidence in the court.
Present revenue records of the state will tell you that new Harsud is developing progressively. But the reality is exactly opposite and grim. Economy and employment are correlated when people have no means of employment how can an economy flourish. New harsud contrary to old one does not have any bus stand, no vegetable wholesale market, and neither any bank which can help the people get loan i.e. nothing which can give the people any employment opportunity. In name of development concrete gutters, damaged roads, there is nothing much.
Dr Ashok Srivastava, a valiant fighter, fighting for rights of those who got displaced say that concrete roads and sewage lines are there as state wanted to show the court that development has been done. But then what? "Old Harsud was a complete economic zone in itself, it had a big wholesale market for farmers, about 200 villages used to cater to the same and almost everyone had a job. But it is exactly the opposite in new Harsud. Except concrete sewage lies, houses and government offices there is nothing. Arundhati Roy, a famous writer had said at the time when Harsud was getting submerged what kind of development is that wherein the name of progress human rights of one's own nation's people get violated.
Though Harsud is the latest example, but in name of progress, in our country after independence more than three crore people have been displaced from their own land and their own culture. All democratic methods of raising concern seem not to deter the state of Madhya Pradesh and NHDC, the company which is building these dams.
Narmada Bachho Andolan's Alok Agarwal shares that people in new harsud have not been given property rights of the land which is allotted to them, meaning that they cannot get any loan on the same. He adds that crime rate has been increasing in last three years. People do not have employment, poverty is rampant and people don't have anything to survive, hence crime rates have increased. It is not that only poor have got affected, even better off families are facing the impact but fact is that poor have the maximum brunt. Even the traders like Trilok Tripathi say that sales have come down as people don't have buying power.
Who will listen to Dalits ?
In the new harsud sector 7 is called dalit sector. It is here where fifty dalit families live in. Children are taking of their school bags and instead they have picked up shovels. Rahul, was studying in tenth class when harsud got submerged but now he has hanged his school bag. More than studies it was essential to get food for his family. Santosh who works as a laborer in harsud and is feeding his family recalls at in old harsud we never had a time when we had had to starve, as their was work at the agricultural farms, and we used to get some work always. But now neither we have any farming nor is there any work for us. We are just surviving, but when rains come we will not have any way of earning our livelihood.
Where is Employment Guarantee Scheme?
This new place for the rehabilitated is nothing but a box of problems and is difficult for community members here to manage just two meals a day. In situation like this why is government silent on getting people some work. What is the reason that state has not initiated an employment guarantee scheme here? Local people say that people here had protested strongly against the conditions prevalent here and corruption which was happening, the same had upset many important ministers like Kailash Vijayavarigya, Anoop Mishra, and the local member of legislative assembly Kunwar Vijay Shah. They are facing the brunt of the same protest. The people here are angry wit Jkunawar Vijay Shah who never spoke a single word for the people and against the displacement. That is the reason he was blessed with gift of Cabinet Ministership. Media has less presence here, no political leaders wants to raise his voice for their concern, as they feel that the vote bank here is not big enough to have an impact on elections. Though this year in fist time Municipal Corporation BJP had lost, but it does not see than they have learnt from their loss.
People are still stranded here.
Kalimachak River was a lifeline for harsud town. But after water levels increased in Indira Sagar dam, backwaters of Kalimachak only submerged Harsud. Though harsud now is depilated and is haunted. But still in ward number nine, Mohi rayat about 150 people of thirty tribal families are not willing to move from here. They till date have not received the compensation amount. Mohan Gaindala from these families tell us that as even after fulfilling all the requirements as laid down in the clause 4 as announced by the state government they still have not received the compensation. Among them is Poonam who is suffering from Tuberculosis shares that patwari and other government officials openly ask for bribes. 'If someone cannot enough to eat how can one afford to pay bribe. Mohan adds that we don't know where our compensation money has gone? There are many here who have not received their compensation yet. Either the state government officials or the powerful have eaten away the money which came as compensation for them.
State government officials including the officiating District Collector Sanjay Goyal do not have any answers'. Tribals communities staying here had previously got afflicted with Chickenguniya. In the last monsoon water had reached just near their huts, but there is no surety this time that water will remain till that place. Included in them there are ten such children who never have received polio vaccination anytime or for that matter neither any supplementary nutrition.
What does District Collector say?:
Khandwa District Collector Sanjay Goyal who is officiating says that district administration is trying its best. Brushing aside the issue of employment he said that somehow all of us, in any form will have to pay the price of development?
By Daya Shanker Mishra
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Japan may use pact to dump waste
Environmental and social activist groups in the country have expressedconcern that Japan may dump toxic wastes into India by takingadvantage of the proposed comprehensive economic partnership agreement(CEPA)."We are concerned that in the proposed CEPA, toxic waste and otherbanned substances may be included in the list of goods enjoyingpreferential tariffs. This will incentivise trade of hazardous wastefrom Japan, which produces it in large quantities," said Gopal Krishna of the Ban Asbestos Network of India, an alliance of scientists, doctors, public health researchers, trade unions, activists and civil society groups.The concerns are fuelled by Japan's reputation for dumping poisonousand hazardous waste in the south-east Asian countries with which ithas free trade agreements.According to Krishna, Basel Action Network (BAN), a Seattle-basedenvironmental action group, recently complained to the United NationsEnvironment Programme that Japan was using bilateral trade agreementswith Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand to exporthazardous wastes like incinerated ash, waste oil and pharmaceutical waste.These wastes contain residues of highly toxic heavy metals likemercury, lead and traces of organic substances.Civil society groups in the Philippines have been vocal about theinclusion of toxic wastes in the trade agreement with Japan."When BAN did research on the trade pacts of Japan with Singapore, thePhilippines and Malaysia, it found that the toxic wastes were eligiblefor preferential tariff reductions. Moreover, the trade pacts hadprovisions prohibiting non-tariff measures against poisonous wastes.We hope this doesn't happen with India," Krishna said.Environmental and social groups have urged the commerce ministry notto reduce the import tariffs on any toxic technology andinternationally-controlled or banned waste and substances.The groups have also urged India and Japan to follow the provisions ofthe Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements ofHazardous Wastes, which regulates the movement of toxic waste."Due to scarcity of land Japan incinerates its municipal waste. Theash from this incineration, which can be used to make bricks, ishighly toxic. India already imports toxic waste from Japan but theproposed CEPA may open the flood gates for such toxic waste to enterthe country," said Nityanand Jayaraman, member, Collective forEnvironmental, Social and Economic Justice, Chennai.A recent analysis of trade data by Chennai-based CorporateAccountability Desk revealed that Japan exported 2000 tonnes of waste(excluding e-waste) to India between 2003 and 2006. this included 270tonnes of hazardous trash. Such items included zinc ash, lead acidbattery wastes and PVC-coated copper wires, export of which isprohibited by the Basel Convention.
By Rituparna Bhuyan
By Rituparna Bhuyan
Open Letter for Release to the Press
We are deeply troubled at the repression unleashed by the MeghalayaGovernment against activists of a movement against the proposed UraniumMining by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in theDomisiat/Wahkaji area of West Khasi Hills district of MeghalayaThis popular non-violent movement has from the mid nineties opposed thesecretive anti-people behaviour of the Indian Nuclear establishment, andwith considerable courage and popular participation managed to stop themining of Uranium from the area. Instead of respecting the people'sopinions, UCIL, supported by the State Government has tried to split theindigenous community's solidarity through bribes, and attempted tosilence any dissent through use of the draconian Meghalaya PreventiveDetention Act (MPDA).On 12th June, 2007 after announcing a Public Hearing on the issue,without sharing any independent environmental assessment of UraniumMining, a hearing which the movement opposed as flawed, the governmentmade all attempts to get a farcical assent to its plans through riggingthe public hearing by creating a situation of police terror in the area.Although the movement , led by the Khasi Students Union and LangrinYouth Welfare Association had opposed the hearing in principle, itdecided to break through the security blanket, and attend the hearing.Even this rigged Public Hearing had a surprise for the government: morethan three-fourth of the villagers opposed the project . Rather thanaccept the people's verdict, the government has since unleashed avindictive campaign against the activists.Following the hearing, 16 activists have been arrested so far (many ofthem have reported torture), and 7 of them have been booked under theMeghalaya Preventive Detection Act (MPDA), which allows the governmentto hold them under custody for six months without bail or judicialtrial. Most of the other activists have been forced to go underground.We demand that these activist be released, and Governments heed to thevoices of people who do not want Uranium Mining in the state of Meghalaya, or indeed anywhere else.
Signed
Tarun Bhartiya
Sanjay Kak
Himanshu Thakkar __._,_.__
Signed
Tarun Bhartiya
Sanjay Kak
Himanshu Thakkar __._,_.__
Friday, 29 June 2007
India's emissions may be higher due to dams: study
India's greenhouse gas emissions could be 40 percent higher than official estimates if methane released from dams is taken into account, according to a new study.
Methane -- about 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of the amount of heat it traps -- is released from reservoirs, spillways and turbines of hydropower dams as a result of rotting carbon-containing vegetation.
But India, already one of the world's top polluters, has never measured methane emissions from its 4,500 large dams and has therefore never taken it into account in official data.
According to a study by scientists from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, methane equivalent of 825 million tons of carbon dioxide is released annually by India's dams.
"I am quite positive that surface methane emission estimations are correctly estimated," said Ivan B.T. Lima, lead author of "Methane Emissions from Large Dams as Renewable Energy Resources: A Developing Nation Perspective."
"I am confident that Indian dams might be altering atmospheric methane although not precisely to what extent," Lima told Reuters in an e-mail interview.
India's carbon emissions, which excluded the contribution of methane from dams, were around 1,890 million tons in 2000, according to the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think-tank.
FLAWED RESEARCH?
Government officials say methane emissions from dams is not an issue.
"In India, the practice is that all the vegetation is removed before the water flows into the reservoir," said Prodipto Ghosh, a former environment secretary.
"So given that these are our practices in dam construction, you would believe any such study to be deeply flawed."
India, whose economy has surged between 8 and 9 percent in recent years, currently contributes around four percent of global emissions as its consumption of fossil fuels gallops.
But as a developing nation, it is not required to cut emissions, said to be rising 2 to 3 percent annually, under the Kyoto Protocol despite mounting pressure from environmental groups and developed nations.
India, which has the largest number of dams in the world after the U.S. and China, has constructed many to service its farm sector, which makes up around 22 percent of the country's GDP and employs 70 percent of the workforce.
The dams have also been used to help power industry and bring electricity to some of the country's 1.1 billion people, most of whom live in villages.
But the dam constructions have frequently sparked protests for displacing tens of thousands of poor people, ravaging prime forests housing rare flora and fauna as well as destroying river ecosystems.
Activists said India's dam emissions were a serious concern and urged the government to conduct its own investigation.
"Dams are always considered to be a clean source of energy but can we really call them clean when they are contributing so much to global warming?" asked Himanshu Thakkar from the South Asia Network on dams, rivers and people.
By Nita Bhalla
Methane -- about 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of the amount of heat it traps -- is released from reservoirs, spillways and turbines of hydropower dams as a result of rotting carbon-containing vegetation.
But India, already one of the world's top polluters, has never measured methane emissions from its 4,500 large dams and has therefore never taken it into account in official data.
According to a study by scientists from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, methane equivalent of 825 million tons of carbon dioxide is released annually by India's dams.
"I am quite positive that surface methane emission estimations are correctly estimated," said Ivan B.T. Lima, lead author of "Methane Emissions from Large Dams as Renewable Energy Resources: A Developing Nation Perspective."
"I am confident that Indian dams might be altering atmospheric methane although not precisely to what extent," Lima told Reuters in an e-mail interview.
India's carbon emissions, which excluded the contribution of methane from dams, were around 1,890 million tons in 2000, according to the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think-tank.
FLAWED RESEARCH?
Government officials say methane emissions from dams is not an issue.
"In India, the practice is that all the vegetation is removed before the water flows into the reservoir," said Prodipto Ghosh, a former environment secretary.
"So given that these are our practices in dam construction, you would believe any such study to be deeply flawed."
India, whose economy has surged between 8 and 9 percent in recent years, currently contributes around four percent of global emissions as its consumption of fossil fuels gallops.
But as a developing nation, it is not required to cut emissions, said to be rising 2 to 3 percent annually, under the Kyoto Protocol despite mounting pressure from environmental groups and developed nations.
India, which has the largest number of dams in the world after the U.S. and China, has constructed many to service its farm sector, which makes up around 22 percent of the country's GDP and employs 70 percent of the workforce.
The dams have also been used to help power industry and bring electricity to some of the country's 1.1 billion people, most of whom live in villages.
But the dam constructions have frequently sparked protests for displacing tens of thousands of poor people, ravaging prime forests housing rare flora and fauna as well as destroying river ecosystems.
Activists said India's dam emissions were a serious concern and urged the government to conduct its own investigation.
"Dams are always considered to be a clean source of energy but can we really call them clean when they are contributing so much to global warming?" asked Himanshu Thakkar from the South Asia Network on dams, rivers and people.
By Nita Bhalla
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