Environmentandpeople

EDITORIAL Advisors Narne Prabhakar Kaza Krishna Rao Dr. N. Harinath Prof. Umapathi Varma Dr. V. Haraprasad Advisory Board M. Gopala Krishna, IAS (Retd.)

M. Kamal Naidu I.F.S, (Retd) C.S. Ramalakshmi, I.F.S, Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao Prof. P.G. Sastry Er. G.Prabhakar Prof. D.N. Reddy Dr. Rameshwar Rao S. Raghupathy Prof. I.V. Muralikrishna Editor Dr. P. Narayana Rao Associate Editor Dr.B.Ramana Naik Edited, Printed & Published by P. Narayana Rao on behalf of society for environment and education, hyderabad.

Designing Srinidhi Address for communication 501, Kamala Towers, Street No.14, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad-29. email: nraopotturi@yahoo.com contact: 9247385331 (The views expressed by authors may not be necessarily be the same as those of magazine) May 2013

1

Environment & people

content 14

Plants slow climate change by forming cloud sunshade

3

Do not allow children to use a cell phone for calling

4

Few meaningful changes in wake of Dhaka factory collapse

6

Eternal energy revolution picking up steam

8

How implementable our new national water policy is?

10

Green cures: for healthy gums

12

A feast of millets

18

Since. 2004, 6 lakh hectares of forest cleared for mining

20

Eco tourism

25

Fight for amrut mahal kaval diversion of forest land denounced

26

Eco quotes

30

Environmental conferences in May

31

Eco cartoons

32

How millions of farmers are advancing agriculture for themselves

How did our sacred water get so dirty?

Environment & people

2

May 2013

22

24

How I went organic: taste did it

Plants slow climate change by forming cloud sunshade lants help to slow climate change by emitting gases as temperatures rise that lead to the formation of a sunshade of clouds over the planet, scientists said.

The tiny sun-dimming effect could offset about one percent of warming worldwide and up to 30 percent locally such as over vast northern forests in Siberia, Canada or the Nordic nations, they wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience.

While proportionally small, some scientists said the study provided further evidence of the importance of protecting forests, which help to slow climate change by absorbing greenhouse gases as they grow and to preserve wildlife.

Observations of forests from 11 sites around the world showed that plants emitted tiny particles that float on the wind as temperatures warm and act as seeds for water droplets that create clouds, they wrote.

Clouds' white tops in turn reflect sunlight back into space and offset warming, they wrote.

The study focused on forests in Europe, North America, Russia and southern Africa.

The effect is believed to be smaller over far hotter tropical forests such as in the Amazon or the Congo basin.

"It's a small effect - one percent is not much," said lead author Pauli Paasonen

P

of the University of Helsinki and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

"If temperatures were to increase by 1 degree without this effect, they'd rise 0.99 degrees with it," he told Reuters of a study that included researchers in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Hungary and Sweden.

SUNSHADE Many other tiny aerosols, such as human pollution from factories, cars and power plants, also have a sun-dimming effect that may be slowing the pace of climate change, blamed mainly on emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

But there has been uncertainty about the role of nature, and of plants' emissions of gases such as monoterpenes.

"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," Ari Asmi, a University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study, said in a statement. "That scent is made up of these gases."

It is unclear why plants emit more monoterpenes at higher temperatures - it may be a side-effect of trees' natural air conditioning to reduce heat.

"Forests are providing an additional cooling. This is another reason why we should con-

serve and protect forests," said Dominick Spracklen, an expert on plants and climate change at the University of Leeds who was not involved in the study.

But the damaging effects of warming on forests, such as more wildfires or insect pests, may exceed tiny benefits of more clouds that would only come from healthy forests, he said.

Spracklen said plants' cooling effect was tantalising evidence for people who believe the planet somehow acts as a self-regulating organism for life, sometimes known as the Gaia hypothesis.

One idea launched in 1987 was that warmer temperatures spur the growth of more algae in the upper oceans. These tiny plants would in turn release more of the chemical dimethyl sulphide that seeds clouds to reflect sunlight.

"No one has yet proved that this effect exists," he said.

The U.N. panel of leading climate scientists says that human emissions of greenhouse gases are driving up world temperatures and will lead to ever more floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels.

It says that it is at least 90 percent certain that human activities, rather than natural variations in the climate, are to blame for most of the warming in the past half-century.

(Sorce: http://in.reuters.com)

May 2013

3

Environment & people

tudies show the developing organs of a child, lower bone density of the skull, lower body weight and therefore a less effective blood brain barrier make children particularly vulnerable to the effects of cell phone radiation (de Salles 2006; Gandhi 1996; Kang 2002; Wang 2003; Wiart 2008).

2. Limit phone calls to those that are absolutely necessary.

Keep the length of these calls to an absolute minimum. The biological effects of cellphone use are directly related to the duration of exposure.

3. Use an air tube headset when possible.

As a rule of thumb signal strength falls off in proportion to the square of the distance to the source. So if you double the distance to the source, which is the cell phone to your head, your potential exposure would be four times less, since two squared is four. Airtube headsets are the safest way of increasing this distance. They are comprised of a part-wired cable and part air tube, which makes it so that the electrical signal is converted into harmless airwaves. An airtube type hands free kit can reduce radiation significantly and it is much safer than bluetooth.

Speaker phone mode is another option. This enables you to hold the

S

Environment & people

4

May 2013

phone away from your body when you use it. The downside is that it makes the battery work harder thereby increasing magnetic radiation levels. If you don't have an airtube, speakerphone mode offers a "lesser of two evils" solution.

4. When dialing out do not put your cell phone next to your ear until your correspondent has picked up the communication.

Your cell phone communicates at full power when it is connecting to a number. Hold your phone away from your body when you have finished dialing until the correspondent answers. When receiving an incoming call give yourself a second or two before putting the phone next to your head once you have accepted the call.

5. Avoid carrying your phone directly on your body.

Some phones, like iPhones, emit radiation even when switched off.

Flight mode is a safer alternative, but better to avoid carrying your phone on your body.

Even on standby your cell phone communicates at full power with the nearest cell phone tower regularly to ensure it has the best signal possible.

If you are in a poor signal area, it may transmit every 30 seconds to try and get a better signal. If you do have to keep your cell phone next to your

body keep it away from major organs.

6. Make sure you use your phone only in conditions of optimum reception.

Try to use it outside or near a window as much as possible and avoid using it in a basement, underground station, elevator etc. There is no industry standard on the meaning of the signal bars on cellphones but you are best advised to only telephone when all the signal bars are showing, some phones can ramp up their emissions 1000-fold in areas where the signal is poor. This means that for each signal bar that is missing your exposure increases several hundred times.

7. Do not use your telephone while you are in a moving vehicle.

This might be in a bus, train, car

etc. In a moving vehicle the cell phone antenna is constantly scanning for contact and therefore using the maximum signal strength, hence radiation is intensified.

8. Using your cell phone even in a parked car is not advisable.

Any enclosed metal container works like a microwave oven and produces what scientists call the Faraday cage effect. The radiation from your phone bounces round your car and is absorbed by your body at a higher level than would otherwise be.

9. Never sleep with a cell phone switched on at night beside your bed.

In fact I would go so far as to say never even bring the cell phone into the bedroom, because there is always a risk you may leave it switched on and if you do you will be subjecting yourself to radiation all night. Cell phone radiation has been shown to impede the function of the immune system and reduce the production of melatonin at night.

10. Avoid using your cell phone if you are

feeling in any way run down, the radiation will make you feel even more tired and will weaken your organism further.

The elderly and pregnant women should be heavily discouraged from using a cell phone, the embryo and fetus develops is not conducive to microwave radiation. If you have a metallic appendage in or around your head such as teeth fillings, metal screws and plates, jewelry and metal framed glasses you may be particularly affected.

11. Don't make the mistake of thinking a low SAR cell phone is a safe cell phone.

SAR means Specific Absorption Rate which is the industry measure of microwave radiation absorbed by human body tissue from using a cell phone. Its good to know what the SAR is of your cell phone but do not make the mistake of thinking a low SAR cell phone is a safe cell phone. A "high SAR phone" can be very efficient and normally work at low power, where as a "low SAR phone" can be inefficient and normally have to work at high

power.

12. As much as possible communicate via text messaging rather than making phone calls.

Texting also exposes your body to radiation but it limits the duration of exposure and the proximity to the body. Hold your cell phone away from your body when you press 'send'.

If you find you are developing a sensitivity despite taking all these precautions, protective paints, veils and nets will be able to offer you some relief but ultimately you are best advised to stop using a cell phone.

Do Neutralizing Chips and Diodes Work?

More and more people are tempted into buying chips, stickers and diodes. The manufacturers claim these devices nullifying or neutralize the effects of EMF exposure when you stick them on your cell phone. None of the devices I have tested worked, I don't recommend them.

As a final point I would like to stress that as far as I'm concerned cellphones and cordless phones can be put in the same bag, because some cordless phones are actually worse than cellphones.

(Source: http://www.electricsense.com)

May 2013

5

Environment & people

By Katelyn Fossett orker advocacy groups here are calling on some of the most high-profile U.S.-based clothing companies to make drastic reforms to their international labour practices in the wake of the factory collapse that killed more than 420 workers in Dhaka last week.

But critics say U.S. companies appear to be "meeting" these demands with increasingly creative ways to circumvent their core recommendations, by forming their own safety initiatives that rights groups say are essentially meaningless, or pulling out altogether to avoid the risk.

"Any meaningful programme needs to be legally binding," Liana Foxvog, communications director at the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), an advocacy group here, told IPS. "It needs to pay prices sufficient for ensuring compliance and needs to include worker representation so that worker voices on what they truly need are at the table."

The collapse of an eight-storey factory building known as Rana Plaza was initially reported to have killed more than a hundred workers. As the week progressed and a major fire broke out, that figure quadrupled, setting off a public relations storm as human rights companies scrambled to identify the companies that sourced from the factory.

W

Environment & people

6

May 2013

U.S.-based companies The Children's Place and Cato Fashion have both been tracked as sourcing from the factory, but companies such as JCPenney, which sells European brands manufactured at the factory, are also under pressure from activist groups.

Deadly psychology"

As critics strengthened calls for substantive changes in business practices to prevent another Dhaka tragedy, multinational companies responded this week with a flurry of press releases and attempts at deflecting blame.

"We did not have any ongoing production at the time of the incident," Cato said in a statement.

The Children's Place issued a similar statement, saying "none of our apparel was in production" there at the time of the collapse.

Activist groups also point to companies' reluctance to sign onto a binding agreement known as the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement as a lack of commitment to worker safety.

"The clothing brands' insatiable hunger for lower prices and faster delivery by factories cultivates this deadly psychology in Bangladesh," the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent monitoring group, said in a statement.

According to the WRC, the agreement would obligate participating companies to "open the doors of their Bangladesh factories

to independent inspection and ‌ pay for a country-wide program of renovations and repairs to make these buildings safe."

The agreement, negotiations over which began in December 2010, needs four companies to become binding; so far, it has only attracted two.

One of the most notable instances of a prominent company bowing out of the negotiations was GAP, Inc., which owns GAP, Old Navy, and Banana Republic, among others.

The company chose instead to create their own programme in October 2012.

Yet critics say that GAP's alternative plan is inadequate. The plan carries no provisions about paying more to factories so they can abide by safety standards, for instance, and does not involve workers or unions in oversight and implementation.

Most importantly, the plan is voluntary and has no teeth for enforcing the measures.

IPS contacted GAP for comment but did not receive a response.

Walmart, one of the largest retailers in the United States, denied a connection to Rana Plaza to IPS, but had been listed on the factory website, raising questions from activists. It has taken a similar route to that of GAP. In an e-mail from the company's international corporate affairs office, IPS was referred

Common challenges in going organic Food blogger Chinmayie shows the way through the challenges of price and culinary experience in going organic with your diet.

to a description of the store's 1.6-million-dollar donation after the Tazreen fire in 2012 to establish the Environment, Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh. The Academy would give "comprehensive training" on workplace safety to apparel workers.

Walmart also pointed IPS to a press release about the company's "strengthening" of fire safety regulations in January 2012 in its factories.

Those regulations include "conducting regular fire drills, ensuring adequate number of exit routes and mandating fire safety training to all levels of factory management", which critics say underscore a weak and inadequate commitment.

All a game

Missing from both GAP's and

Walmart's plans is any mention of higher pay to suppliers to pay for safer buildings, which some critics say would be the first line of response if the companies were genuinely committed to the safety of their workers.

This is all just part of a "game" these companies play, Scott Nova, executive director of the Workers Rights Consortium, told IPS. "These companies recognise they have to claim they're doing something in order to avoid damage to the image of the brand, but they don't want to have to do anything," he said.

"So what we see are token donations and empty promises that can't be enforced. They weather the public relations crisis and expect [the media spotlight] to fade."

(Source: http://www.ipsnews.net)

Even though most of us understand that organic food is best for our health, switching over is expectedly challenging. One such challenge is obviously the price aspect but that is the least concerning of all in my opinion. We all are always on the lookout for good bargains and opportunities to spend less but eventually, when it comes to quality of food, compromise is the last thing you would want to do. Stating down some the challenges might help make the necessary switch to organic food.

Price: Organic food may cost up to twice the price of a chemically farmed vegetable or fruit but not letting that hamper your motivation for going organic is a challenge. There are some very easy and simple lifestyle changes that can help as a guide for the switch over to organic food.

1. Cut costs elsewhere: Why do we feel like spending money on food is a luxury when spending money on everything else feels like basic necessities? Don't we respect our bodies even that much? Aren't we and our families worth good food? It may seem like a herculean task but a little cut on your clothes, accessories and travel would not be unreasonable.

(Source: http://thealternative.in)

May 2013

7

Environment & people

t is the first conference in U.S. history where the leaders in the 100-percent renewable energy revolution will share their knowledge and vision.

"There are powerful economic and environmental reasons for this transformation‌ and the sooner we get there the better for the climate," says Diane Moss, organiser of the "Pathways to 100% Renewable Energy" conference at the FortMasonCenter Apr. 16.

"It's already started but we need a serious global dialogue about how to successfully chart the course to a shared 100-percent renewable energy future," Moss told IPS. The clean-and-green-energy era is well underway in Denmark, Scotland, Iceland and in cities like Munich, Germany, Malmo, Sweden, and San Francisco, all of which are moving towards 100 percent renewable energy. Many towns in Europe have already have 100 percent pollution-free "eternal" energy sources from wind, solar, and biomass, she says.

In the United States, Greensberg, Kansas achieved 100-percent green energy in just a few years after the town was devastated by tornados in 2007. Dozens of other towns and cites totalling more than 40 million people have moved or are moving to 100 percent renewable, according to Go100% Renewable

I

Environment & people

8

May 2013

Energy.

In the first three months of this year, the U.S. added more wind and solar energy generating capacity than any other form of energy combined, although renewables remain a fraction of the grid - 13.2 percent in 2012, a little more than half consisting of hydropower.

"The next big step is create policies so communities and the general public directly benefit," says Jose Etcheverry, co-chair, Sustainable Energy Initiative at YorkUniversity in Toronto.

"It's not enough just to get a token payment, the public needs to be directly involved," Etcheverry told IPS. Coastal communities in Denmark have created trusts to finance renewable projects and in some cases green energy has become their main source of income, he said. sing wind, water and sunlight to meet 100 percent or close to 100 percent of energy needs is both feasible and practical.

StanfordUniversity energy expert Mark Jacobson published a detailed plan how New YorkState could reach that goal by 2030, IPS previously reported.

It's not only doable but also "sustainable and inexpensive", Jacobson told IPS Air pollution, which comes mainly from

burning coal, oil and gas, costs U.S. citizens hundreds of billions a year in healthcare, lost days at work and shortened lives. Globally, climate change is estimated to cost 1.2 trillion dollars a year from lost food production and extreme weather events, according to the DARA group, a non-governmental organisation based in Europe.

Much of the San Francisco conference will focus on the best local and regional policies such as feed-in-tariffs, green power purchasing and utility regulation, says Etcheverry.

Feed-in-tariffs are often portrayed as subsidies, which is inaccurate, says Paul Gipe, a wind energy expert from California. They are simply a negotiated price for energy from an energy provider to a user. The price has to be enticing enough for the provider or generator to make the capital investment.

"That is how the electricity sector in the U.S. functioned for years before de-regulation," Gipe told IPS. "I'm opposed to subsidies, especially those the fossil fuel industry receives."

According a new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the fossil energy sector receives a "staggering 1.9 trillion dollars worldwide" a year in public subsidies, rebates and avoided tax on pollution.

(1.9 trillion seconds is roughly 60,000 years) Removing those subsidies would strengthen incentives for "research and development in energy-saving and alternative technologies", the IMF said.

None of this cheers the extraordinarily rich and powerful fossil energy industry. Nor are the nuclear industry and many big power utilities supporters of a renewable revolution.

"Renewables threaten their business model and their profits," Gipe says.

An intense public relations war is underway to persuade the public and political leaders that renewables are too expensive, unreliable, and not practical. Anti-wind movements have sprung up, sometimes in areas where there are no wind turbines.

"It's actually an attack on renewables," Gipe says. "Anti-wind advocates are often angry bullies who shout others down at meetings. My life has been threatened more than once."

In California or Ontario, local utilities require 50 pages of paperwork for a homeowner to plug their rooftop solar panels into the electrical grid. And even then it could take a year or more to be connected. In Germany, the paperwork is four pages and residents have a legal right to connected as fast as possible, Gipe says.

To have a real opportunity to be climate heroes instead of climate victims, the silent majority will have to speak up and stand up to the propaganda and the bullies, he says.

(Source: http://www.ipsnews.net)

Mansukhlal's Mitticool refrigerator roblem - A refrigerator is an essential appliance for households to preserve food and water during the heat of the summer. However, most Indian households are unable to afford a simple fridge that costs at least Rs.10,000. Even if you own a fridge, the frequent power cuts in rural areas render it useless. Petty shops and retail outlets that store soft drinks and ice-cream face a major issue.

Solution - Mitticool is a classic example of Indian jugaad innovation created by utilising local resources that provide the best solution. Innovated by Prajapati Mansukhlal Raghavji, the Mitticool refrigerator is a really cool replacement to the modern so called energy efficient fridges. At the top level of the Mitti Cool fridge, there is a storage chamber of 10 litres capacity, where water is poured in, which percolates down between the double-layered terracotta walls. During this process the water evaporates by convection and keeps the storage chambers cool. The bottom compartments hold 5-7 kg of vegetables, fruits and milk at 8-10째C below room temperature. In 2006, Prof Anil K Gupta from the National Innovation Foundation funded Mansukhlal with Rs 2 lakh to set a company, which has today sold over 7,500 refrigerators and has an annual turnover of around Rs.30 lakh!

P

Idea - Biomass-based Husk Power Systems roblem - Lack of access to electricity is the biggest issue faced by rural households in India. The problem is chronic in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa, where 80-90% of households are without electricity.

Villagers rely on kerosene lanterns for household light and diesel generators for irrigation and commercial power. Both are expensive and destructive to health and the environment. Decentralised power that is easily accessible is the need of the hour to empower rural India.

Solution - Fortunately, biomass and biofuelbased power sources are abundantly available in rural areas. Utilising this resource, a company called 'Husk Power Systems' has provided reliable and affordable option for rural electrification. Husk Power utilises rice husk - a waste product in rice milling - to power a 40 kilowatt power plant, which provides electricity for 500 village households for around six to eight hours every day. At present, the company has installed more than 85 plants across different villages in Bihar. At Rs. 2.2 per watt, the company's rates is cheaper than the subsidised power provided by the government electricity boards!

(Details - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu)

P

May 2013

9

Environment & people

By: Diganta Biswas, New Delhi one is disputing that, the current water crisis in the country is evidence enough that some real change viz water management is the need of the hour. Thanks to the National Water Policy 2012, India appears to be on the threshold of a new water regime. Will it remain on paper or inspire some real' change, is the question.

Last month, Maharashtras Deputy Chief Minister wondered whether urinating into the drying dams could be a way to give respite to the farmers. A comment he was to regret soon. But then, perhaps, dire circumstances require drastic solutions.

The coastal state is experiencing the worst drought in four decades.

The same month, National Water Policy 2012 was released on the inaugural day of the 2nd India Water Week. President Pranab Mukherjee said that the available water must be managed judiciously to meet the twin burden of population growth and economic development. And the brainstorming sessions saw experts expounding a slew of measures aimed at dealing with various challenges in the water sector.

The draft NWP 2012 was approved by the National Water Resources Council on December 28th last year. But go for a reality check and a clear lack of centre-state co-ordination as far as planning and management of fresh water resources is concerned, becomes more than evident. The question, whether the new water policy will make any real difference at a time when climate change and global

No

Environment & people

10

May 2013

warming are not only concepts but hard reality, continues to dog the planners.

Planning, development and management of water resources need to be governed by a common integrated perspective considering local, regional, state-level and national context, having an environmentally sound basis, keeping in view the human, social and economic needs, the 11-page ambitious policy says. But the country needs a political leadership able to take strong decisions and opt for the best suited technologies, the two crucial factors in bringing about any palpable change, feel experts.

Along with a national outlook, ability to take strong decisions is also very important to make a policy work. Only carrying out studies or formulating the policy is not enough, its implementation is also equally important, says R Rangachari, Former Member, Central Water Commission.

Neither privatisation, nor tightening of government control on water resources, will ensure uniform avail-ability in the country. Good governance working in a regulated and controlled manner should be put in place, says Vijay Paranjpye, Chairman of Gomukh Environmental Trust for Sustainable Development.

According to the Constitution of India, water is a state subject and the Centre plays a role in case of any inter-state water sharing. But the irony is that there is hardly any river that does not cross into one or other neighbouring state all over the

country. The new water policy highlights the importance of inter-state water sharing and says,Inter-regional, inter-State, intra-State, as also inter-sectoral disputes in sharing of water, strain relationships and hamper the optimal utilisation of water through scientific planning on basin or sub-basin basis.

There is no co-ordination between the Centre and many states regarding water management, says Rangachari, now Honorary Professor at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Delhi. While implementing the water policy, a step-by-step approach is required to ascertain feasibility of any initiative. Most Indian rivers are international or inter-state and so, the role of the central government is important. Most of the states are not ready to share water with others, but they knock at the Centres door in case of problems like floods, he adds.

Accurate study is also quite important. For example, River Brahmaputra is an international stream that carries water equal to the amount collectively carried by India's 100 other rivers. But rather than utilising that resource, we are putting pressure on the already burdened or drying rivers, Rangachari says. Every State has the right to formulate its own water policy, he adds.

Interestingly, while Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda has opposed the NWP saying it indicates a design to tamper with the basic structure of the Constitution as water is a state subject, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has contended that the laws related to inter-state water sharing should be revisited. All this, despite Prime Minister's repeated assurance that the new policy or the Centre is not going to encroach on the rights of the states.

Casting aside the political drama, lack of water harvesting facilities that can have a magical impact in many areas is another problem.

The new policy mentions technologies like rainwater harvesting and de-salinisation in order to increase the availability of utilisable water. I think it is an excellent move as it would help people to tap the water that otherwise gets wasted. We must go for the most developed technology available in this sector, be it from government, private companies or any other sources. Overall, the policy has

placed a good deal of importance on climate change and it is a welcome step, says Jyoti Sharma, a member of the NWP 2012 drafting committee.

Climate change is impacting water availability in different corners of the country. We have changed the traditional ecosystems. The trees are being cut and that is affecting the water availability as everything is interrelated in an ecosystem, says Mangi Lal Purohit from Aakar Trust, a voluntary organisation working on water management issues at the grass-root level.

There is also provision for water users associations that would play a great role not only in proper management of water, but also to spread public awareness about the ground reality. Today, we are observing that the weather patterns in India are getting scattered and cropping patterns in rain-fed areas are getting disturbed. I think, public awareness is a good weapon to fight the menace, adds Sharma, also the founder of the Forum for Organised Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE), a New Delhi-based NGO. Water Users Associations (WUAs) should be given statutory powers to collect and retain a portion of water charges, manage the volumetric quantum of water allotted to them and maintain the distribution system in their jurisdiction, the policy document states.

There are many small agencies and NGOs who are diligently working at the grass-root level to bring about some change and spread awareness. But the new government policy does not provide them with enough monetary support and so hinders the activities at grassroot level, Udaipur-based Purohit says. Public awareness is quite important. The day full public awareness about water management would become a reality, there will be no problem, he adds.

Often, timely data is not available from the government. There is also a lot of red tape that doesn't help the initiatives of the NGOs, says Paranjpye. Surprisingly, though the new water policy talks about the role expected to be played by the local bodies and communities, there is not even a single mention of the role played or supposed to be played by the NGOs who often engage local people as active mem-

bers to force the essence of change trickle down arguably more effectively than many government agencies are capable of.

Rangachari, a former member of IndoBangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, does not think that rainwater harvesting alone has the ability to fight the scarcity. Rainwater harvesting is fine for the areas with rain, but what about these rain-shadow areas? I think, interlinking of rivers is a good idea that can drive water from surplus to scarce areas, he says.

NWP 2012, however, has spent very few words on the much discussed inter-basin water transfer or river-linking projects and left the matter open for further evaluation.

There are many problems but the situation is changing slowly but surely. Public awareness about problems like water management is growing. Every single community or village has different types of problems and so the solutions are also different. We should keep that in mind while implementing any policy, Purohit says. Now, it is to be seen whether NWP 2012 remains on the paper or brings some real change to the water management scenario in the country. NWP 2012 has really tried to think about the future scenario, Sharma exudes confidence.

Lets wait, as we must, for the future to see the results then.

(Source: http://www. ecoearthcare.com)

Green Cures: For healthy gums ealth is reflected on the face of a person. And the mouth is the most important aesthetic organ in the face, covered beautifully by two lips. In the mouth are the tongue, gums, teeth and palates. Gums are one of the softest parts of the body. They hold the teeth in position.

H

Gums are indicators of good health. When the gums become spongy or inflamed or infected, health problems set in. There are about 75 types of mukharoga - diseases of the mouth - out of which 13 are of the gums.

There are three important things to watch out for the health of the gums: proper circulation of blood proper nerve conductivity and proper nutrition to the soft parts of the gums While brushing our teeth we are actually cleaning our gums also. Any astringent material we use as paste or powder for brushing our teeth is very good for gum health. Astringent materials like the powder

Environment & people

12

May 2013

and paste of arimedha (khair or khadira or acacia katechu) or dried powder of ripened mango leaves, powder of terminalia balarica and black ash of burnt paddy husk are all good astringent materials for gum health.

Black ash of paddy husk is helpful in preventing plaque formation.

Adding a bit of neem leaf powder, clove oil and a few drops of neem oil to this mixture makes it a good gum massage paste.

This can be applied with a little pressure from your index finger every day. It can bring good health to the gums.

Gargling with oil made of acacia bark is excellent for gum health. Arimedha tailam available in reputed traditional Ayurveda stores is good for this purpose. Slightly warm this oil on a low fire and gargle every morning after brushing your teeth and at bedtime. This is a very good method of keeping the health of your gums intact. If you have gum inflammation, this can also be used as a curative measure.

The health of our gums is normally neglected by us because we do not know much about its care. Brushing teeth upwards and downwards with a soft brush or the index finger is a good way of caressing the gums to improve blood circulation.

Here are a few useful tips for better gum health: Brush teeth twice daily with the powder/paste mentioned above or any other good astringent herbal paste with a little salt.

Drink coffee or tea in the morning only after gargling or brushing your teeth.

Drinking one or two glasses of lukewarm water with honey and lemon juice regularly every morning is a good habit.

After each meal gargle with fresh water and lightly massage the gums with your index finger.

Once a week gargle with lukewarm salt water. Fill your mouth with this water and circulate it thoroughly. This is very

good for your gums, the upper part of your throat and teeth.

You can also use a paste made of mustard oil, rock salt, black ash of paddy husk and powder of the acacia catechu bark. It is a good combination for everyday use and can be made at home. This is an excellent remedy for pyorrhea, inflamed and bleeding gums and toothache as it annihilates bacteria in the mouth.

You can also use turmeric powder with salt if there is dental caries. But regular use can cause discoloration of the teeth unless you use black ash of paddy husk after this.

A mix of clove, saunf and a small percentage of jeera makes a good mouth freshener. Chew after meals. It is also good for teeth and gums.

Never eat very hot and chilled items alternately - for example don't eat ice cream after a cup of hot coffee/tea.

Avoid excessive sweets and foods with a high percentage of sugar. And if you consume them, rinse your mouth thoroughly after eating.

Here is my personal prescription for the health of teeth and gums. You can prepare Dasanakantichurnam yourself at home for daily use.

Arimedas twak: Bark of Acacia Yasti: Glycyrrhiza glabra Darvi: Berberis aristata Khadirasara: Katha (used in paan) Gairika: Red Ochre Maricha: Pepper Krishna: Pippali (small pepper) Jatikosa: Pod of nutmeg Jatiphala: Seed of nutmeg Lavanga: Clove Ela: Cardamon Twak: Cinnamon Karpura: Camphor

Eco

IQ

1. Composting can reduce your household waste by: a) 10 percent b) 25 percent c) 50 percent d) 75 percent Take Action: Separate your food waste from your regular garbage and recycling.

Designate a small household container or bucket for your food scraps and then dump the contents into your backyard composter or green bin daily.

2. What type of sector uses the greatest amount of electricity? a) Commercial and industrial b) Restaurant and fast food c) Residential d) Institutional Take Action: When at home or at work, make sure to turn off lights, computers and other energy consuming equipment when not they aren't in use.

3. Which energy source produces the greatest amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide? a) Natural gas b) Nuclear c) Oil d) Coal Take Action: Gases emitted from coal burning plants contribute to acid rain and global warming, and oil and natural gas produce greenhosue gasses, while nuclear energy produces radioactive waste. Consider switching to a renewable energy provider.

4. A typical five-minute shower uses ____ liters of water: a) 50 b) 100 c) 150 d) 200 Take Action: Use a low flow showerhead and you can reduce the amount of water used during a five minute shower to 35 liters.

You will save water and money on your water bill.

5. Over a period of one day, a slow drip from a faucet could fill a: a) Swimming pool b) Bathtub c) Drinking glass d) Sink Take Action: Slow dripping taps can be more wasteful than high volume toilets (and they'll hike your water bill). Fix your faucets as soon as you notice a problem to prevent water waste.

Answers: C, A, D, B, B.

Eat seasonal

Common challenges in going organic

hop for the fruits that are available in the present season.

When apples are Rs.150 a kilo, oranges that are in season at present may cost as low as Rs.60/80. Then, even if you buy organic oranges instead of regular apples it'll work out cheaper. When a fruit/vegetable is in season, apart from consuming it as much as possible in your daily menu, you should also try to preserve these for future use. Take suggestions from your mother, mother in law or grandmother on what they did when they harvested a particular grain/vegetable/fruit in earlier days. They will surely have some very good tips on preservation of the seasonal fruits probably as jam, pickle or dried form so you can continue to use them for the rest of the year.

S

May 2013

13

Environment & people

By Jonathan Latham The world record yield for paddy rice production is not held by an agricultural research station or by a large-scale farmer from the United States, but by a farmer in the state of Bihar in northern India. Sumant Kumar, who has a farm of just two hectares in Darveshpura village, holds a record yield of 22.4 tons per hectare, from a one-acre plot. This feat was achieved with what is known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).

To put his achievement in perspective, the average paddy yield worldwide is about 4 tons per hectare. Even with the use of

fertilizer, average yields are usually not more than 8 tons.

Sumant Kumar's success was not a fluke.

Four of his neighbors, using SRI methods for Environment & people

14

May 2013

the first time, matched or exceeded the previous world record from China - 19 tons per hectare. Moreover, they used only modest amounts of inorganic fertilizer and did not need chemical crop protection.

Origins and principles of SRI Deriving from empirical work started in the 1960s in Madagascar by a French priest - Fr. Henri de LaulaniĂŠ, S.J. - the System of Rice Intensification has shown remarkable capacity to raise smallholders' rice productivity under a wide variety of conditions around the world. From tropical rainforest regions of Indonesia, to mountainous regions in northeastern Afghanistan, to fertile river basins in India and Pakistan and to arid conditions of Timbuktu on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Mali, SRI methods have proved adaptable to a wide range of agroecological settings.

With SRI management, paddy yields are usually increased by 50-100 percent, but sometimes by more, even up to the superyields of Sumant Kumar. Requirements for seed are greatly reduced (by 80-90 percent), as are those for irrigation water (by 25-50 percent). Little or no inorganic fertilizer is required if sufficient organic matter can be provided to the soil, and there is little (if any) need for agrochemical protection. SRI plants are also generally healthier and better able to resist such stresses as well as drought, extremes of temperature, flooding, and storm damage.

SRI methodology is based on four main principles that interact in synergistic ways: >> Establish healthy plants early and carefully, nurturing their root potential;

>> Reduce plant populations, giving each plant more room to grow above and below ground; >> Enrich the soil with organic matter, keeping it well-aerated to support better growth of roots and more aerobic soil biota; and >> Apply water purposefully in ways that favor plant-root and soil-microbial growth, avoiding the commonly flooded (anaerobic) soil conditions These principles are translated into a number of irrigated rice cultivation practices that are typically the following: >> Plant young seedlings carefully and singly, giving them wider spacing, usually in a square pattern, so that both roots and canopy have ample room to spread; >> Provide sufficient water for plant roots and beneficial soil organisms to grow, but not so much as to suffocate or suppress either.

This is done through alternate wetting and drying, or through small but regular water applications; >> Add as much compost, mulch or other organic matter to the soil as possible, 'feeding the soil' to 'feed the plant'; and >> Control weeds with mechanical methods that can incorporate weeds into the soil while breaking up the soil's surface. This actively aerates the root zone The cumulative result of these practices is to induce the growth of more productive and healthier plants (phenotypes) from any genetic variety (genotype).

Using SRI methods, smallholding farmers in many countries are starting to get higher yields and greater productivity from their land, labour, seeds, water and capital, with their crops showing more resilience to the hazards of climate change. These productivity gains have been achieved simply by changing the ways that farmers manage their plants, soil, water and nutrients.

These altered management practices have induced more productive, resilient phenotypes from existing rice plant genotypes in over 50 countries. The reasons for this improvement are not all known, but there is growing literature that helps account for the improvements observed in yield and health for rice crops using SRI. The ideas and practices that constitute SRI are now being adapted to improve the produc-

tivity of a wide variety of other crops.

Producing more output with fewer external inputs may sound improbable, but it derives from a shift in emphasis from improving plant genetic potential via plant breeding, to providing optimal environments for crop growth.

The adaptation of SRI experience and principles to other crops is being referred to generically as the System of Crop Intensification (SCI), encompassing variants for wheat (SWI), maize (SMI), finger millet (SFMI), sugarcane (SSI), mustard (another SMI), tef (STI), legumes such as pigeon peas, lentils and soya beans, and vegetables such as tomatoes, chillies and eggplant.

The evidence reported below has drawn heavily, with permission, from a report prepared by Dr. Norman Uphoff on the extension

The extension of SRI practices to wheat, the next most important cereal crop after rice, was fairly quickly seized upon by farmers and

of SRI to other crops (Uphoff 2012), which accompanied his presentation on 'The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Beyond: Coping with Climate Change,' at the World Bank, Washington, DC, on 10 October 2012.

Much more research and evaluation needs to be done on this progression to satisfy both scientists and practitioners. But this report gives an idea of what kinds of advances in agricultural knowledge and practice are emerging.

It is not a research report. The comparisons reported are not experiment station data but rather results that have come from farmers' fields in Asia and Africa. The measurements of yields reported here probably have some margin of error. But the differences seen are so large and are so often repeated that they are

researchers in India, Ethiopia, Mali and Nepal.

SWI was first tested in 2008 by the People's Science Institute (PSI) which works with farmers in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states. Yield estimates showed a 91 percent increase for non-irrigated SWI plots over usual methods in rainfed areas, and an 82 percent increase for irrigated SWI. This has encouraged an expansion of SWI in these two states.

The most rapid growth and most dramatic results have been in Bihar state of India, where 415 farmers in Gaya district, mostly women, tried SWI methods in 2008-09, with yields averaging 3.6 tons/hectare (ha), compared with 1.6 tons/ha using usual practices.

The next year, 15,808 farmers used SWI with average yields of 4.6 tons/ha. In the past year -

certainly significant agronomically.

SRI farmers regularly use, modify and devise a variety of simple equipment - such as the weeder pictured here - often made locally using inexpensive, widely-available materials.

Once the principles of SRI became understood by farmers and they had mastered its practices for rice, farmers began extending SRI ideas and methods to other crops. NGOs and some scientists have also become interested in and supportive of this extrapolation, so a novel process of innovation has ensued. Some results of this process are summarized here.

Wheat (Triticum)

May 2013

15

Environment & people

2011-12 - the SWI area in Bihar was reported to be 183,063 hectares, with average yields of 5.1 tons/ha. With SWI management, net income per acre was calculated by the NGO PRADAN to rise from Rs. 6,984 to Rs. 17,581, with costs reduced while yields increased.

About the same time, farmers in northern Ethiopia started on-farm trials of SWI, assisted by the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD), supported by a grant from Oxfam America. Seven farmers in 2009 averaged 5.45 tons/ha with SWI methods, the highest reaching 10 tons/ha. There was a larger set of on-farm trials in South Wollo in 2010 where SWI yields averaged 4.7 tons/ha with compost. The control plots averaged wheat yields of 1.8 tons/ha.

Mustard (Brassica)

Farmers in Bihar state of India have recently begun adapting SRI methods for growing mustard (also know as rapeseed or canola). In 2010-11, 283 women farmers who used SMI methods averaged 3.25 tons/ha. In 2011-12, 1,636 farmers averaged yields of 3.5 tons/ha. Those who used all of the practices as recommended averaged 4 tons/ha, and one reached a yield of 4.92 tons/ha as measured by government technicians. With SMI, farmers' costs of production

Environment & people

16

May 2013

were reduced by about half, so it gave more income as well as higher yield.

Sugarcane (Saccarum officinarum)

Shortly after they began using SRI methods in 2004, farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India also began adapting these ideas and practices to their sugarcane production.

Some farmers got as much as three times more yield while cutting their planting materials by 80-90 percent.

By 2009, there had been enough testing, demonstration and modification of these initial practices that the joint Dialogue Project on Food, Water and Environment of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad launched a 'sustainable sugarcane initiative' (SSI).

The director of the Dialogue Project, Dr. Biksham Gujja, together with other SRI and SSI colleagues, established a pro bono company AgSRI in 2010 to disseminate knowledge and practice of these ecologically-friendly innovations among farmers in India and beyond. SSI trials are currently underway in Cuba with initially good results.

Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)

The NGO Green Foundation in

Bangalore in the early '00s learned that farmers in Haveri district of Karnataka state had devised a system for growing that they call Guli Vidhana (square planting). In contrast with conventional methods, which yield around 1.25 to 2 tons/ha, with up to 3.25 tons using fertilizer inputs, Guli Vidhana methods yield 4.5 to 5 tons/ha, with a maximum yield so far of 6.25 tons.

In Jharkhand state of India in 2005, farmers working with the NGO PRADAN began experimenting with SRI methods for their rainfed finger millet. Usual yields there were 750 kg to 1 ton/ha with traditional broadcasting practices. Yields with transplanted SFMI have averaged 3-4 tons/ha.

Costs of production per kg of grain are reduced by 60 percent with SFMI management, from Rs. 34.00 to Rs. 13.50.

Tef (Eragrostis tef)

Adaptations of SRI in Ethiopia started in 2008-09 under the direction of Dr. Tareke Berhe. Typical yields for tef grown with traditional practices based on broadcasting are about 1 ton/ha. But Berhe found that transplanting young seedlings at 20Ă—20 cm spacing gave yields of 3 to 5 tons/ha. With small amendments of micronutrients these yields could be almost doubled again.

In 2010, with a grant from Oxfam America, Dr. Berhe conducted trials and demonstrations at major centres for agricultural research in Ethiopia. Their good results gained acceptance for the new practices. This year, 7,000 farmers are using STI methods in an expanded trial, while another 120,000 farmers are using less 'intensified' methods based on direct-seeding with the same SRI principles.

Tef grown with the System of Tef Intensification (STI) in Tigray, Ethiopia.

Photo courtesy of SRI-Rice/Tareke Berhe.

Legumes: Pigeonpeas (Red Gram Cajanus cajan), Lentils (Black Gram - Vigna mungo), Mung Beans (Green Gram - Vigna radiata), Soya Beans (Glycine max), Kidney Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris), Peas ( Pisum sativum) That SRI principles and methods could be extended from rice to other monocotyledonous plants was not so surprising. That mustard would respond very well to SRI management practices was unexpected, because it is a dicotyledon. It is now being found that a number of leguminous crops can benefit from practices inspired by SRI experience. A summary of these successes is found in Uphoff (2012). Also in the same brochure are farmerled successes in adapting SRI methods to vegetables.

A paradigm shift?

Philosophically, SRI can be understood as an integrated system of plant-centered agriculture. Each of the component activities of SRI has the goal of maximally providing whatever a plant is likely to need in terms of space, light, air, water, and nutrients. SRI thus presents us with the question: if one can provide, in every way, the best possible environment for plants to grow, what benefits and synergisms will we see?

Go Fish

Already, approximately 4-5 million farmers around the world are using SRI methods with rice. The success of SRI methods can be attributed to many factors. Although they may appear risky, they actually reduce risk of crop losses; they don't require farmers to have access to any unfamiliar technologies; they save money on multiple inputs, while giving higher yields that earn them more. Most important is that farmers can quickly see the benefits for themselves.

Where this process will end, nobody knows. Almost invariably the use of SRI concepts and practices has resulted in greater yields, but some farmers' results go beyond others' to achieve super-yields for reasons that are not fully clear. Observations increasingly point to the contributions that plants' microbiomes may be making, and they also suggest that this strategy for optimisation of growing environments is still at the beginning.

The original (longer) version of this article was published in Independent Science News.

For more information on the System of Rice Intensification please visit the SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice).

Dr. Jonathan Latham is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Bioscience Resource Project and Editor of Independent Science News. Dr. Latham holds a Masters degree in Crop Genetics and a PhD in Virology. He was subsequently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Prior to heading the Bioscience Resource Project he published scientific papers in disciplines as diverse as plant ecology, plant virology and genetics. He regularly presents at scientific conferences on papers published by the Bioscience Resource Project. He is also a fellow of the 21st Century Trust.

(Source: http://www.countercurrents.org)

If you suffer from dry eyes, up your seafood intake. Salmon, sardines, and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids, which the body uses to produce tears, among other things. Research suggests that people who consume higher amounts of these fats are less likely to have dry eyes.

Idea - Bio-toilets for railways roblem - Indian Railways is one of the world's largest railway network that carries 25 million passengers every day. However, maintaining cleanliness at railway stations and in trains is a major problem. Particularly, when train toilets unload human excreta and urine directly onto the tracks, the stench emanating from the filth is unbearable at times. Apart from the environmental problem posed by these toilets, corrosion of the railway tracks is another major issue. Cleaning the filth strewn at railway stations has been a messy job, which was highlighted on TV programs such as Satyamev Jayate as well.

P

Bio-toilets developed by DRDO olution - The Indian Railways has at last joined hands with the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop 'Bio-toilets'. Bio-toilet is a self-contained device that breaks down human waste with the help of anaerobic bacteria placed inside a tank filled with 125 litres of water, converting it into harmless and odourless gas and water. Estimated to cost about Rs.1 lakh each, these new age bio-toilets are manufactured at Kapurthala Coach Factory. Although, at present only 9 longdistance trains with 436 coaches are fitted with bio-toilets, the Railway Ministry has targeted installing 2,500 bio-toilets on trains during the 2012-13 Rail Budget.

(Details - http://www.biotoilet.in)

S

May 2013

17

Environment & people

ITIES have forgotten the amazing foods and cuisines they used to once enjoy. To remind them the Millet Network of India (MINI) and Kheti Virasat Mission organised the first ever exhibition of millets at the Press Club in Chandigarh called Bebe di Rasoi (Grandmother's Kitchen).

A bunch of doughty Punjabi women farmers rustled up an awesome range of foods made from millets. The women have rejected chemical farming and opted for biodiverse natural farming.

They call their effort, Trinjan.

The exhibition and the aroma of food roused plenty of curiosity. A 12year-old girl peered at the exhibits and asked her mother, "What

C

are millets?" There was no response, so she persisted till her mother decided to find out.

This is what Bebe di Rasoi had set out to achieve - get people intrigued about our forgotten foods and food cultures. The Millet Network of India had set itself a challenge, to reach out to city folks for whom the word millet had disappeared from their vocabulary and their dining table.

Millets comprise a variety of food grains like Jowar, Bajra, Mandua, Kangni, Sawan, Kodo or Kutki. They might be called by different names in different regions of the country, but they have at one time been integral to our farms, kitchens and even cultural rituals. Over the years, agricultural text books and policies have come to call them coarse grains or 'mote anaaj' (fat grains) in Hindi. Such tagging has given millets a cultural stigma.

But those who understand millets as a concept and not merely as a crop say that these grains are India's future. It is millets which will be the key to resolving India's agricultural crisis burdened b y farmer suicides and soil degradation.

They say this because over the

Environment & people

18

May 2013

years millets have time and again withstood challenges and provided people with food, water, fibre, health, nutrition, livelihood and ecological balance.

The mixed farming system had an inbuilt food security. It ensured food security for rural households as the failure of one crop was balanced by the survival of another. Every farmer who has practiced mixed farming will tell you that it allows different crops to complement each other's requirements of nutrient content in soils and gives us examples of how people's science operates on the ground. Vijay Jardhari from Beej Bachao Andolan, a pioneering farmer's movement from Uttarakhand, says that in the 2009 drought, it is millets in their village that have coped the best.

It was this belief that got Kheti Virasat Mission, the Millet Network of India and the Press Club of Chandigarh to organise Bebe Di Rasoi. In the agricultural capital of India the concept and content of millet grains has disappeared under the burden of commercialised Green Revolution farming. Nothing short of a statement of intent was needed.

So, Bebe Di Rasoi was organised to conserve and revive the traditional and millet based food of Punjab. It had two critical inspirations. First, was the effort of women farmers from different villages from Punjab to move to biodiverse natural farming.

The second was the linkage to MINI, a network of organisations, scientists, consumers, academicians, policy planners who have taken on the agenda of pushing for millet based farming in

Common challenges in going organic

5. Don't waste Do no buy too much of any of the perishable produce. Each one of those bunch of wilted greens, over ripe banana or rotted potato adds up. Buy only how much you can consume. Cook just enough so you don't throw out leftovers otherwise all the hard work would just counterbalance the good achieved.

India. The network is convened by the Deccan Development Society of Andhra Pradesh which comprises of Dalit women farmers who have exemplified the biodiversity capacity of their small harsh red soils. They till this land, feed nutrition to their families and through their outreach inspire many more women farmers.

That was the beauty of Bebe Di Rasoi - women from Punjab taking on the chemical farming agenda and drawing strength from the women farmers of Andhra Pradesh. They exchanged glances, food and, most importantly, strength.

The event attracted an intrigued urban crowd. The biggest confusion was: which food to choose? Should we opt for the Moth-Bajre ki kichdi with Kaur Tumiyan da achaar from Punjab? Or should we try millet rotis, khichdi, curry and savouries from Andhra? Should we save our greed for the delicious ragi ladoos or head towards the mal puas?

Even the Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Prakash Singh Badal could not resist. He was there to inaugurate the seminar on Food Sovereignty and Agricultural Crisis.

He heard out PV Satheesh, convenor of MINI, Claude Alvares from the Organic Farming Association of India and Umendra Dutt from Kheti Virasat Mission. They spoke about the looming agricultural crisis and

how millet based farming can help us find a way out. The Chief Minister said he eats millets for breakfast every morning and knows their importance. He assured the organisers that he will push for millets to be introduced in midday meals schemes in all schools of Punjab. Now that was surely a step forward.

The rural women from different districts held cookery classes on millet based recipes. Yet we have a long way to go. If one looks at the figures of the Ninth and 10th Five Year Plan allotment of grain share, rice is 42 per cent, wheat 35 per cent and coarse grains, 14 per cent. For years, neither the government's public distribution system (PDS) nor the markets had space for these highly nutritious grains. In fact, from 1966 to 2006, India lost 44 per cent of millet cultivation areas to other crops.

Today, the nutritional value of major millets like jowar, bajra and ragi are being recognised by consumers and health specialists. So, after years of neglect, millets are finding their place in agricultural research institutes and the agendas of large private companies, this time as nutraceuticals.

Kanchi Kohli is a member of Kalpavriksh environmental action group

6. Make your own Start making stuff from scratch instead of just buying them. This might not sound like a good idea for people with busy schedules but it's not half as difficult as we think it is. Make your own bread, cookies, and cakes, fry your own munchies, and prepare your own jams or pickles when particular fruit is in season, make peanut butter, chutney powders and spice mixes in its season. A little bit of these would go a long way and you will end up saving a lot more than initially expected.

May 2013

19

Environment & people

EW DELHI: Rejection of big-ticket mining proposals such as Vedanta has been a rare exception in the UPA's nine-year reign. The UPA has given clearance to cut a whopping six lakh hectares of forests of these more than 2.5 lakh hectares were for mining since it came to power in mid-2004.

The data, accessed by TOI from the environment ministry, shows that the in-principle and final clearances add up to the combined area of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, or roughly the equivalent of three large tiger reserves.

In comparison to the vast tracts that have been permitted to be cleared, the UPA has rejected proposals for less than 14,000 hectares out of which only about 11,000 hectares were for mining in forestland. In fact, only 13 rejected mining projects were for more than 100 hectares - Vedanta being one of them. Most rejected cases have been less than five-hectare proposals, ranging from minor mining to hospitals and petrol pumps. The big ticket cases have almost always sailed through in the end.

Any project requiring forestland needs to secure a forest clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

The state governments prepare the proposal upon receiving request from the project developer and send it to the ministry for clearance. The statutory Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) recommends a case to the Centre, what is known as the Stage-1 clearance in the bureaucratic parlance. Once the ministry is assured that the Stage-1 norms have been met, it gives the final clearance to the state government permitting it to hand over the forest to the project developer.

While the industry has often complained of delays in these clearances - and the back and forth causing inordinate hold ups - the data portrays a contrary picture. In a vast majority of cases, the projects have eventually got a nod. Most in-principle clearances have also got the approval.

N

Environment & people

20

May 2013

2. Eat local Cases, adding up to around 37,500 hectares, have been eventually closed in the UPA tenure so far. The ministry classifies cases as closed, when state governments are unable to provide information sought for clearance.

In comparison, the rejected cases can always be revived with some changes.

Government records show that states do send back cases that have been rejected and some of them get a nod after a while.

Records also reveals that despite the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the government has cleared projects in several cases without adhering to their own regulations (passed in 2009) requiring consent from the tribal gram sabhas.

Vedanta was one of the few cases, where the UPA raised the FRA red flag against the mining of the Niyamgiri hills, but here too it later used 'religious rights' as the ruse to defend its decision in the apex court.

The largest tracts of forests have been cleared in Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.

In Arunachal Pradesh, 99,000 hectares were cleared for oil and gas exploration putting it on top of the charts, followed by Punjab due to exclusion of agricultural land from an earlier state forest Act. While, central Indian states, which are also the ore-bearing regions of the country, have seen the maximum destruction of forests. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have bagged maximum clearances during UPA's rule.

The data also questions the deterrent mechanism to maintain green cover. It levies what is called the net present value (NPV), which is deposited in a compensatory afforestation fund after a Supreme Court order mandated it.

But the rampant clearances are a clear pointer that the pittance charged as NPV ranging from Rs 10.43 lakh per hectare to Rs 6.99 lakh per hectare - have hardly been a deterrent. Additionally, the loss of natural forests and the attendant biodiversity cannot be compensated with plantations, experts maintain.

(Source: http://groups.yahoo.com)

Reserve those pears, plums and strawberries for occasional indulgence. Buy the good old bananas, chickoo or custard apple, ample in nutrition and low in costs.

3. Simplify Make your cooking and pantry simple. Stick to simple grains like rice, ragi, wheat, vegetables and meat and you'll end up saving a lot of money. Try experimenting with the available ingredients; you'd still be able to create interesting meals.

4. Stock up Buy large quantities and stock up. You always get things like rice/millets/wheat/dals cheaper if bought in large quantities especially when they are in season. You can buy them directly from farmers so you know where the food is coming from and where the money is going.

Common challenges in going organic May 2013

21

Environment & people

How did our sacred water get so dirty?

"

This political economy of defecation is a topic nobody talks about.

Sewage systems constitute an ecologically mindless technology.

Consider first the large amount of water that is used just to carry away a small quantity of human excreta.

Big dams and tubewells are needed to bring this water home leading to enormous environmental problems.

Then large quantities of water that get flushed down the toilet pollute rivers and large water bodies.

This…nobody talks about. It is neither rational, just or sustainable.

- Anil Agarwal, CSE

Environment & people

" 22

May 2013

y grandfather was not shy about his policies on defecation. For a very long time, he fought the idea of building a toilet in his farm house set in an idyllic village of Coorg district. He said it was for the greater common good that a small inconvenience be suffered by every individual. Doing the potty, therefore, was an interesting adventure armed with nothing more than a pot of water, a little spade in hand, braving leeches, snorting pigs, not to mention the occasional snake, and the joy of discovering the perfect place in the thick woods filled with glorious towering trees and the amazing beauty of bird calls and cicadas! No Kohler could guarantee such excite-

M

ment and natural splendour to enliven the rigamorale of nature's call!

There were people like my granddad who saw through it all. No sanitary pit to worry about, no need to exploit any nightsoil worker, no water wasted; just indulge in a minor adventure so that everyone benefits from a clean environment.

I recall an observation by urban and regional planner, Dr. Subbarayan Prasanna, when we were discussing the evolution of Bangalore as a metropolis. He drew our attention to the fact that when water got pumped into the city about a century ago, when the population was tiny, compared to the crore

plus today, little h e e d was paid to the consequences of this feat of engineering.

The flush tank became popular (even essential), underground drainage surfaced as a sign of modernity, and the unintelligent and unquestioning journey with this process resulted in the draining of collected neighbourhood effluents into the closest raja kaluve or nallah. Soon all the wasted water ended up atrophying lakes, then streams and eventually rivers. So as Prasanna saw it, the engineering of a metropolis suffered from a blind spot.

The result is, that a century after the big stride into the Victorian neighbourhood sanitary project, we now have a crore people aspiring for the commod-ified version of the good life, while half of that population is thirsting for water safe enough to drink.

This, because almost every well, tubewell, stream or rivulet contains water that is absolutely unpotable due to decades of contamination. In some cases the water is so toxic, merely touching it could result in terrible harm and chronic illnesses.

Underground drains hide a lot of stuff that we dispose, including commercial waste and industrial effluents. In a country where water is sacred, not merely H2O to use or consume, how did we end up here?

The answer is deceptively simple. We arrogated personal freedoms over our common futures. We privileged private comfort over the public good. We provisioned water to the urban dwellers on the political promise of equitable access to all, even as we knew the supply lines privileged those with access to power and agency. Today that half of the population of Bangalore without access to safe and sufficient potable water, are all mainly poor.

The case of Bangalore is indicative of the planned disasters we are spreading across

India. For Bangalore evolved for centuries entirely dependent on rain harvested in lakes.

Some existed and many many more were built to accommodate growing demands of an ever increasing population. The city could expand as long as it kept building lakes and maintained the watershed.

The modern industrial project of Bangalore, interestingly, emerged with the introduction of electricity. The potential of electricity and the many wonders it could do, pushed ambitions to such a level that to lift an entire river and bring it to a city, which had seemed impossible, was now possible. This project which was part of the political promise of many Chief Ministers and Irrigation Ministers, finally materialised in the 1970s, when the Cauvery was tapped a 100 kms. away, and lifted over 500 feet, consuming enormous energy in the process, to meet the demands of the city. As the city grew, and demand outstripped supply, new pipelines were drawn.

Even if a lie, it is political mandate that you promise Cauvery water supply in every neighbourhood.

So half the population of Bangalore is living that lie today while extracting ground water that is increasingly unpotable to sustain their needs. The extraction rates have been so high over the past two decades that accessible ground water levels have fallen from a couple of hundred feet to about 1000 feet in most areas.

The ground water maps of the Bangalore region are almost all categorised as dark - more extraction than recharge. The recharge was essentially possible so long as large horticultural farms in and around the city were around.

But with a land use policy that coerces and even forces farmers to abandon this age-old profession, and spikes the cost of real estate has resulted in most such farms disappearing, a majority of them in the past decade.

What we did with our lakes and streams is the story of modern India. We polluted them with impunity, as if it was a fundamental right to do so. Upstream communities didn't care, and the contaminated communities were invariably poor. When it rains, the city now floods, momentarily at least.

Many landscapes intersect the politics of demand and supply of water to Bangalore. To investors, we cannot say there is no water. We provide. Even if this means re-routing a

Cauvery pipeline to the new airport and the SEZ of aerospace engineering that's coming all around it, even as populations in old neighbourhoods and the entire peri-urban area are left seething with rage.

While investors are happy, the residents aren't. And meanwhile, hundreds of crores of loans have been taken from World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JBIC, etc. and more are being taken, without any legislative scrutiny, to set up effluent treatment plants of various kinds.

The prognosis for this emerging megalapolis is bleak.

Harvesting rain by corporates, public institutions, commercial complexes and homes is today an exception - less than 1% of households have complied with the law on this. The protection of lakes has been a rather tardy journey over the past three decades, but there is some hope now with the Karnataka High Court ruling in the Environment Support Group case enforcing the guidelines evolved by the Justice N K Patil Committee that foresee a future where all lakes and canals will be clean and green, help recharge groundwater and provide sylvan spaces to a stressed out population.

Perhaps it would result in re-welcoming the migratory waterfowl which seems to have fled all of this in the past decade or so.

Last November, the Karnataka High Court forced several large industries to shift out of the Peenya Industrial area as they were all polluting the Arkavathy River. The Arkavathy was a major drinking water source till we shifted focus to the main Cauvery. The purpose of the shifting was to try and give Arkavathy a chance to resuscitate, and perhaps provide drinking water for the city once more.

As it turns out, the magic of electricity working to pump water from the Cauvery to Bangalore has lasted a while, working rather divisively along the lines of privilege and access to agency. As the region faces its worst drought in decades, and water levels in all reservoirs have dipped to alarming levels, and groundwater levels are falling, the future of the metropolis and its social order will depend on how intelligently we relate with water.

(Source: http://thealternative.in)

May 2013

23

Environment & people

How I went organic: taste did it

shmeet Kapoor with his delivery van bringing fresh organic produce to Delhi.

I started with veggies I started with converting to eating all organic veggies. Bulk of the pesticides we consume is through daily fruits and vegetables and other perishables (dairy, meat etc.). Non perishables like pulses, wheat don't have that much residue. So really, eating organic veggies is a good starting point. I'm a vegetarian so don't have to worry about hormones and antibiotics in meat.

I definitely felt the taste was much better.. started enjoying things like tori, tinda, ghiya, which I didn't previously. Some might say that it's because we psychologically think it's tastier as we know it's organic!

I put the peel back on!

The biggest advantage was that I started eating most things with the peel on, and we all know

A

Environment & people

24

May 2013

that that's where a lot of the nutritive content is. Cucumbers, Potatoes, apples (without any worry), all are eaten with the peel in my house now.

I started noticing I was having lesser issues like heartburns, and acid reflux which I had regularly before. I've also become very regular with exercising - this doesn't have anything to do directly with organic, but I think eating organic put me in the mindframe of being as healthy as possible and making that conscious decision.

There are better things than milk

As I learnt more and more about food related issues (pertaining to sustainability and health), I realized it was time to give up milk!

Leave apart health issues (like 75% of milk in Delhi being fake!), how unsustainable the animal product industry is and the amount of suffering animals are put through really grossed me out (specially being a vegetarian who is against animal torture). Just giving up milk isn't easy, but it happened slowly. At this point I'm not 100% vegan, but I'm getting there - easier to do at home vs when eating out.

I never drink milk, and hardly use dairy products at home. It's not as hard as we think to give it all up.

Example, you can make delicious mayonnaise substitute using cashews - a lot healthier anyway than the real mayo.

Ashmeet Kapoor is the founder of I Say Organic.

(Source: http://thealternative.in)

Eco Tourism

Dachigam National Park achigam is one of India's most scenic wildlife reserves.

It is located about 22 kms from Srinagar and forms almost half of the famous Dal Lake's catchment area.Dachigam is considered home to some of the unique Himalayan flora and fauna. Primary amongst them is the hangul or Kashmir stag, the most endangered species of red deer in the world.

During winters the upper reaches of Dachigam become inaccessible to visitors and the temperature in lower Dachigam dips as low as minus 10 degree Celsius. Some birds and animals found during this time of the year include cinnamon sparrow, black and yellow grosbeak, black bulbul, monal pheasant and the Himalayan grey langur.The main predator in the park is the leopard, while other scavengers that feed on its prey like the jackal, hill fox, yellow throated marten and the wild boar are also found. Himalayan griffon, lammergeyer, leopard cat, long tailed blue magpie, jungle cat and Himalayan weasel can also be sighted during this period.

With the advent of

D

spring and summer the Himalayan black bear makes its appearance after hibernating in the rocks for the winter period. Birdlife also becomes active and the birds which appear are the golden orioles, pygmy owlets, Himalayan pied woodpeckers, warblers, babblers, buntings and laughing thrushes. In the upper reaches during the short summer new varieties of birds like red-browed finch, Himalyan ruby throat and wagtails also make an appearance. The higher altitudes in the park still harbor a few Himalayan brown bears.

When to visit May to August for upper Dachigam and September to December for lower Dachigam.

Where to stay Two lodges and rest houses in the sanctuary are available. For those staying in Srinagar, hotels and houseboats are available.

How to Reach The nearest town and airport is Srinagar, 22 kms away. It is 310 kms from Jammu,the nearest railway station. A metalled road links Srinagar with lower Dachigam.Upper Dachigam can be reached onfoot.

May 2013

25

Environment & people

T U R M A R O F L T A H V A FIG HAL K t s e r fo f MA o n o i d s e r c e Div denoun land d in t lan es s e r o r pos s of f acre estry pu f sub0 0 0 o r to 10 non-fo eans te vile m s o e r l h t of c istrict fo well as t ding ira State a gran The durga d ology as nities, le pending a c u r e i t i m e rts. e m Ch ns th ocal com ycott th kar repo e t a e o l b thr of han ini S de to nce siste to deci ions. Mal t rs lage bly elec m e s s A

Environment & people

26

May 2013

he conflict of interest between conservation and development manifests itself yet again in the National Green Tribunal instituting a fact finding committee "to determine ecological and environmental consequences of massive diversion of 'Amrut Mahal Kaval' (grasslands) to Defence, Nuclear and Industrial Projects in Chitradurga, Karnataka".

A Bangalore-based NGO - the Environment Support Group (ESG) petitioned the National Green Tribunal's south zone in Chennai objecting to the diversion of nearly 6000 hectares of forest ecosystem to non forestry purposes. If this is actually forest land has become the bone of contention.

ESG submitted documentary evidence to the Green Tribunal stating that 9323 acres of forest lands in Survey numbers 1, 47 and 347 in Challakere Taluq of Chitradurga district in Karnataka are being diverted for non-forestry purposes: These non- forestry purposes or projects include: An advanced R&D complex, a 3.5 km runway and test centre for long-endurance ( 48-72 hours) UAVs and UCAVs (to Defence Research Development Organisation

T

Corporation) Integrated Solar Park Development along with Grid Connected 25 MW Solar PV Power Project (to Sagitaur Ventures India Pvt. Ltd.), and Developing Housing Layout and sale of constructed villas (to Karnataka Housing Board).

Officials contest this and claim that these grazing pastures are not reserved forests, nor do they belong to the forest department; the pastures were granted as grazing lands to herders by the Maharajas of Mysore. The British government had used these grazing lands only for the bullocks in the Army. After Independence, the lands were administered by the Animal Husbandry Department. Citing a 1971 letter, vesting the governance of the grazing lands exclusively for animal husbandry, the department disallowed any human usage.

But after a recent cabinet clearance, the district administration has diverted lands for non-forestry utilisation, as evident from documentation that this magazine is privy to.

Kavals of Halkurke, Chikkasandra and Ramaradevarahalla (which have already been notified as Reserve Forest) are deleted from the list of lands proposed for surrender". This means that these lands, which were notified as reserved forests, have to be excluded and cannot be surrendered for development of the scientific /research complex. Copies of these documents pertaining to land tenure and ownership have been obtained by India Together.

Whose land is it anyway?

These grasslands were earmarked for grazing of the Amrut Mahal cattle - a drought resistant variety of cattle. The grazing lands with degenerate shrub forests "belong to the Animal Husbandry Department, so the question of de-notifying forest land does not arise" district administration officials told India Together. Some pockets of these grazing lands are used for social forestry plantations of Hardwickia binata, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF)

Synchrotron Energy Research Centre and Advanced Aerospace Research Centre (to Indian Institute of Science) Special Material Enrichment Facility (Uranium) (to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) Spacecraft Technologies (to Indian Space Research Organisation) Various industrial ancillary units (to Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development

The documentation obtained by India Together, nevertheless, clearly states "Pending further examination, the three

Kumaraswamy clarified in Chitradurga. Besides, social forestry plantations are used for fodder and fuelwood usage of rural populations.

About 1000 hectares are demarcated as sheep-breeding farm, and also belongs to the Animal Husbandry Department. 'The Kaval comprises of many pastures that host fodder-yielding varieties of trees, ideal for cattle grazing and hence, has been administered by the Animal Husbandry Department,' officials from the district administration in Chitradurga told India Together.

Attempts to seek clarification from the Principal Secretary of the Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment proved futile, despite repeated attempts by e-mail and telephone to seek a personal meeting May 2013

27

Environment & people

Environment & people

28

for clarification and to secure copies of documentation.

Citing a 2002 Karnataka High Court Order, ESG's Leo Saldanha told India Together "A 2002 decision of the Karnataka High Court affirmed that these lands could not be diverted for any other purpose. Pursuant to this, the Government of Karnataka passed a circular confirming that this decision applies to all Amrut Mahal Kaval (lands), and thus could not be diverted, at least not without the permission of the High Court."

ESG draws attention to the judgment in the case of Godavarman versus Union of India (302 / 95) in which the Supreme Court ordered that any habitat supporting biodiversity including flora and fauna must be construed within the dictionary meaning of forests, regardless of the legal status of the ecosystem, in order to protect endangered species. It implies that any land with endangered floral and faunal diversity should be considered forests and conserved as such, notwithstanding any legal nomenclature of forests.

"Post Godavarman ruling, the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes requires the approval of the CEC (Central Empowered Committee), in addition to compliance with the procedure under the Forest Conservation Act," Saldanha insists.

Therefore, the Karnataka government's lack of transparent governance comes into sharp focus yet again, as it is unable to clarify if the notified forest lands according to the Environment Support Group Trust - remain notified forest lands and on what grounds the government might seek exemption from a Supreme Court Order to divert biodiverse lands to non-forestry purposes? If this cannot be justi-

May 2013

fied, the Government of Karnataka can be accused of contempt of court or violation of stringent court orders in the landmark Godavarman case.

Threat to the ecology Presence of wild boar and Kondukuri - a local and a rare breed of deer - has been documented in the arid ecosystem of the region. Adjacent to the grazing lands of the animal husbandry department, there is a patch of dense scrub jungle or dry deciduous forests, senior government officials this correspondent spoke to confirmed.

The degraded forests today nurture the Savannah ecosystem with thriving faunal diversity, despite disappearance of the once stately forests. Kenneth Anderson - South India's hunter of man-eating felines in British India, once hunted a man-eating tiger in the belt between Chitradurga and Channagiri to Bhadravathi. What were once high forests with stately trees like Sandalwood, Rosewood, Pongamia, Peepal tree and other fruit bearing Ficus trees eventually degraded to become a grassland ecosystem, possibly because of anthropogenic conflict.

The grassland ecosystem nevertheless offers habitat to a whole diversity of faunal wealth including the Great Indian Bustard (only 250 are remaining in the wild in entire Asia today), jackals, bears, deer, black buck, leopards, peacocks, scavenger vultures, protected snakes like Indian Python, Indian Cobra, vipers monitor lizards etc.

The Environment Support Group spearheaded the legal defence for the mute wildlife, some of which like the Great Indian Bustard - are so threatened only because they are found exclusively in this latitude.

But what worries conservationists today is that if it is developed further to boost the human development quotient, it can possibly traumatise resident wildlife and lead to human animal conflict even in adjoining areas.

Given that the grassland ecosystem in dry arid shrub forests in Chitradurga forms an ideal habitat for the Great Indian Bustard, jackals, wild boars, bears, black buck, leopards, peacocks, protected snakes like Indian Python, Indian Cobra, vipers monitor lizards etc habitat loss can lead to increase in human animal conflict like crop raiding, wildlife attacks on human habitation. Worse still, habitat loss can lead to isolation of herds and cause genetic isolation of endangered

"

species. In this day and age of climate change, genetic mutation can lead to potentially unknown manifestations of human animal conflict.

"Wildlife cannot differentiate between legal governance and nomenclature of lands, it is a habitat for wildlife," says DCF Kumaraswamy. What if a leopard is hunting a blackbuck or a deer and in the ensuing chase, the leopard or the blackbuck inadvertently stumbles over a piece of broken glass in private property or is caught in the fence? The carnivore will turn a man eater.

The herbivore would die an agonising death followed by gangrene. Neither the forest nor district administration officials in Animal Husbandry, district collectorate, nor any other official will remain accountable.

Human encroachment of forests has robbed endangered wildlife of their home and hearth everywhere. Bellary's infamous mine pits were home to leopards, jackals, hyenas, bears, mongoose, civets, caracals, foxes, vultures, snakes, monitor lizards, etc, all of which are threatened by mining.

Dams, mines, highways, housing, schools, hospitals, offices now even scientific research labs and missile launch pads find real estate only in forests.

If humans encroach even on degraded forests, where does wildlife have to go?

Threat to livelihoods A less emphasized, yet equally significant fall-out of this land alienation is the potential impact on local livelihoods and the environment. More than a lakh people from around 80 villages are set to lose one or more of their main livelihood sources (grazing, weaving, firewood collection etc) due to this diversion of land. Dodda Ullarthi is one such village in the Challakere Taluq of Chitradurga district, with an approximate population of around 5000.

Karianna, the Gram Panchayat member of Dodda Ullarthi told India Together "We are anxious because this is a drought prone district and we are dependent on cattle for livelihoods. We cannot depend on agriculture in this arid ecosystem; so we rear livestock to earn our livelihoods. There are in all about 150000 animals / livestock in these 70 - 80 villages of the Taluqs. We use about 11000 acres in Varavu Kaval and Khudapura Kaval and in Ullarthi AM Kaval 2143 acres are utilised for grazing cattle.

We don't need compensation, we want to graze cattle and sustain our livelihoods."

According to Karianna, the ecosystem also sustains medicinal plants. People weave rugs, and make products of wool from sheep; they also depend on usufruct and

after obtaining necessary permissions and acknowledgements from the election office and police authorities. But on the night of 14 April, police informed the organisers they would not be allowed to go ahead with it as the Election Code of Conduct was in place. The organisers were threatened that if such an event took place, participants would be arrested and a case would be registered against them. This clamp-down on the right to peaceful protest for a legitimate cause led voters of Dodda Ullarthi Village to unanimously decide to boycott the upcoming Vidhana Sabha elections.

"All our livelihoods are at stake. We at least need an assurance from the authorities and politicians that our needs will be looked into for us to exercise our franchise in the

Embrace Bitters Combat a yen for sugar by following a Chinese medicine approach: Eat foods such as endive, radicchio, cooked greens, and olives.

fodder-yielding species of trees in these lands. The community does not support educated people in white-collared occupations, and the economy here revolves around cattle grazing and agriculture.

Residents, naturally, are very concerned about their future in view of the diversion of land.

State high-handedness in the matter has now given the entire episode a political hue as well; on 15 April, residents of the affected villages had organised a peaceful walk

coming elections," says Karianna when asked why they want to risk boycotting elections and losing political representation altogether. Whether such a stance by one village in isolation will actually move authorities to take a serious look at the issue and reconsider the land grants, however, remains suspect.?

Malini Shankar (Source: http://www.indiatogether.org)

May 2013

29

Environment & people

Eco

Quotes

HEALTH TIPS Rub Your Temples

"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"

- Henry David Thoreau

Tame tension headaches by rubbing peppermint oil, Tiger Balm, or white flower oil into your temples. All three remedies contain menthol, which has analgesic properties.

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

- Aldo Leopold "As one scientist puts it, we can now assume that just as children need good nutrition and adequate sleep, they may very well need contact with nature."

- Richard Louv "Man did not weave the web of life...he is merely a strand in that web...whatever he does to the web...he does to himself."

- Chief Seattle "The most common trait of all primitive peoples is a reverence for the life-giving earth, and the native American shared this elemental ethic. The land was alive to his loving touch, and he, its son, was brother to all creatures...During the long Indian tenure the land remained undefiled save for scars no deeper than the scratches of cornfield clearings."

- Stewart Lee Udall

Enjoy Ginger The volatile oils in ginger have long made it a useful herbal remedy for nasal and chest congestion. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over a 1-inch piece of peeled, grated ginger; steep for 10 minutes; and strain. Add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper to the water and drink as needed.

"Take care of the land, and it will take care of you. Take what you need from the land, but need what you take."

- Aboriginal law "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

- Rachel Carson "I love nature, I just don't want to get any of it on me."

- Woody Allen "There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm."

- Theodore Roosevelt "Nature...the only love that does not deceive human hope."

- Honore de Balzac "Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature."

- Gerard De Nerval "Thousands and thousands of colors paint the bosom of the earth so gaily."

- Pierre de Ronsard

Environment & people

30

May 2013

22nd 7th Annual HSE Excellence Europe Prague, Czech Republic 22nd River Basin Management 2013 New Forest, United Kingdom 23rd The Macrotheme Conference on Business and Social Science: IBIZA 2013 Ibiza, Spain 24th Sustainable SCM & Logistics Summit Mumbai, India 27th Sustainable Development and Planning 2013 Kos, Greece 27th 3rd International Conference on Research Frontiers in Chalcogen Cycle Science & Technology Delft, Netherlands 28th Euro-American Conference for Academic Disciplines (Prague 2013) Prague, Czech Republic 28th 7th Annual Postgraduate Workshop Dublin, Ireland 28th Business for the Environment (B4E) Climate Summit 2013 London, United Kingdom

Environmental Conferences in May

29th Urban Transport 2013 Kos, Greece 29th Save the PLANET: 4th Conference and Exhibition on Waste Management, Recycling, Environment for South-East Europe Sofia, Bulgaria 29th Waste Indaba Johannesburg, South Africa 30th Water Risk & Finance 2013 London, United Kingdom 31st Balance-Unbalance 2013 Noosa , Australia

Water saving starts with that smelly drain behind your home ur cities are powerhouses of energy, people and economy. With such growth engines running 24x7, there is a constant requirement for infrastructure that must cater to the people of the city.

Irrespective of the kind of jobs that we do, we all require some kind of basic infrastructure of water, shelter, sanitation and food- not necessarily in that order. Can we imagine a city without water? Can we imagine a city without its sewer lines? Can we imagine our city not getting food from its nearby villages?

Take for example Bangalore's case. We get water from Kaveri- a source that is 100 kms away. Of late, the city has been getting new lines of Cauvery water from the Phase 4 pipeline project, which brings us to an ugly and bitter reality - clean water is no longer nature's gift to us anymore. Running right beside the fresh water lines are the lines that we should pay more attention to, the lines that mark our consumption - the lines of sewage and the storm water drains.

O

What are storm water drains and why do we need them?

Storm water drains are a network of pipes that drain out excess rain and ground water from our streets, parking lots, sidewalks, etc to rivers or streams. In simple words, they prevent the city from being flooded. They are designed to take excess water from cities and to a nearby water source - a river or stream.

Some cities may have this network connected to their sewer systems. But for simplicity - let's stick to drains that merely deal with rainwater and excess ground water from our roads and pavements. How many times have we crossed a drain with our hands/handkerchiefs over our nose from the stench? How many times have we witnessed plastic floating in the open drain behind our building? BBMP cleans its storm water drains once a year.

I cannot but emphasize: water management and solid waste management are integrated with each other- one without the other can often lead to mismanagement of both.

Which brings us to a larger question- what can we locally do?

As people who reside in cities, we have become small mechanized machines of con-

sumption. It is often reflected in our dustbins.

When Bangalore started its segregation mission on 1st of October, several people adopted another dustbin- as a sign, a start to a cleaner tomorrow. But to those who don't get the religion of segregated waste, the city finds its own Mavallipuras and Mandurs in the corners - including smelly drains that run behind our homes.

We all talk of saving water but we seldom understand that water needs saving not just at homes, but also in public spaces. It needs to travel through the channels of storm water drains and reach our rivers. It is this infrastructure whose maintenance must keep up with the city's water needs. Can we contribute to this? Yes, we can start with caring for the public utilities that serve a very useful purpose, only if we use them well.

May 2013

31

Environment & people

Environment & people

32

May 2013