Down to Earth - 1 July 2013

DISASTEROUTCARVED

S C I E N C E A N D E N V I R O N M E N T F O R T N I G H T L Y

DownToEarthSU

BSCR

IBER

CO

PY

NO

T F

OR

RESA

LE

Ban

gla

des

h: T

aka

58.0

0 /

Paki

stan

: Rs

58.0

0 /

Nep

al: R

s 38

.00

/ Sr

i Lan

ka: R

s 11

7.00

/ M

ald

ives

: Rf

28.0

0B

hu

tan

: Ng

ult

rum

24

/ R

est

of

the

Wo

rld

(So

uth

): U

S $2

.70

/ R

est

of

the

Wo

rld

(N

ort

h):

US

$3.4

0JU

LY 1

-15,

201

3

`45.00

HAPHAZARD DEVELOPMENT AND POOR DISASTER RESPONSE

TURN FLOODS IN UTTARAKHAND INTO A CALAMITY

GET A GRIP ON THE SUBJECT OF LAND. ITS USE AND ABUSE. AND THE STRUGGLE FOR IT.

BESIDES LAND, IT WILL BRING YOU FACE TO FACE WITH ISSUES LIKE WATER, CLIMATE CHANGE, POLLUTION, HEALTH, INDUSTRY AND MUCH MORE…

A A N N U A L P U B L I C A T I O NDownToEarth

ANNUAL STATE OF INDIA'S

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2014

For more details, contact Ramachandran at [email protected] / 9810641996

THIS IS OUR INAUGURAL EDITION. LIMITED COPIES ARE BEING PRINTED.

July 1-15, 2013 • Down To Earth 3

� E D I T O R ’ S P A G E

Himalayan blunders

The floods in the Himalayas have been ferociousand deadly. Fears are that the final body countcould run into several thousands. There is noclear estimate of the number of villages wiped

out, property destroyed, roads washed away andhydropower projects damaged in the mountain state ofUttarakhand. The mountains are bleeding and its peoplehave been left battered, bruised and dead.

We know that the Himalayas are the world’s youngestmountain range, prone to landslide and flash floods. Butwhat we do not easily comprehend is that two factors havemade the already vulnerable region more hazardous. One,climate change-related extreme weather events; Indianmonsoon has become more intense. Studies showextreme rain events are becoming more frequent as com-pared to moderate rain events. Rainfall is also becomingvariable and unseasonal. This is whathappened in Uttarakhand on that fatefulJune 16. It rained without a break; some200 mm came down within hours at a fewplaces like Kedarnath. It brought downthe mighty Himalayas. Rain was alsounseasonal. June is still not consideredthe beginning of the monsoon season, sopilgrims and tourists thronging theregion were caught unawares.

What really compounded the disas-ter—made it truly man-made—is thescale of development intervention in thepast decade or so. This Himalayan regionhas seen unchecked construction activity, illegal and legalmining, unscientific road building and, of course,hydropower projects built next to each other. InKedarnath large-scale construction has been done on theland evacuated by glacier in the past few years. It is smallwonder that the water, moraine and stones came crashingdown and took all with it. Many human lives were lostthat morning and families shattered. This is the deadlyand painful cost of environmental mismanagement.

Will we learn from this? Will we learn how to live withthe excesses and shortages of water, particularly in the frag-ile Himalayan ecosystem? Will we learn that extreme rainconditions will require us to build a new water culture?

In 1991, environmentalist Anil Agarwal, after monthsof research for the publication, Flood, Flood Plains andEnvironmental Myths, brought to attention facts, whichwere then considered inconvenient. He wanted to under-stand why floods occurred, with greater intensity, in theplains of India. The common perception was deforestationin the Himalayas caused floods in the plains. Planting treesupstream would “fix” the problem. His research showedthat the Himalayas were geologically dynamic, prone tolandslides, which would in turn block rivers and createnatural dams. The bursting of these dams made of rubble,stone and silt, would wreak havoc downstream. He then

went on to argue that we needed to consider a Himalayanpolicy that took into account the fragility and vulnerabili-ty of the region. By then, road activity had started to scarthe hills and landslides were increasing. This, in turn, wasmaking it more dangerous for people to live there.

His message was tough: stop blaming the people livingin the Himalayas for the floods in the Indo-Gangeticplains. Instead, focus on building a management systemto live with floods; to harvest the excess water in ponds,tanks and groundwater recharge systems. It was the willfuldestruction of the flood plains through unchecked con-struction of buildings and drainage systems that had exac-erbated floods. The Himalayas, he said, would remainvulnerable to landslides and flash floods and developmentwould not work if it did not take into account the truenature of the region. Learn, therefore, to live with the haz-

ards of the Himalayas. The bottom lineis that we need to learn to live withnature and not have the temerity tothink that we can overcome it.

He had another message a few yearslater on how we could optimise use ofnature’s bounty. In 1997, he published,once again, a seminal volume, DyingWisdom: Rise, fall and potential ofIndia’s traditional water harvesting sys-tem. It taught us how every region hadtraditionally devised a unique system ofwater management, which harvestedrainwater and adapted to both scarcity

and excess of it. The principle was catch rain where it falls.This system was different from how water bureaucraciesfunctioned by centralising water storage and making itsdistribution through canals and pipelines the responsibil-ity of the irrigation and water agencies. Agarwal argued,against conventional thinking, that this centralised systemwould not serve India in the future. We needed to rebuildour water systems of the past and in do ing so use modernscience and technology to improve it.

As we sadly witness the devastation and loss of lives,Agarwal’s messages hit home. The future will be evenmore uncertain and riskier because of extreme weatherevents and mismanagement of resources.

The way ahead is to respect the vulnerability of the re -gion. It cannot be anybody’s contention that the Himala -yan region must not see development. The question toconsider is how it should develop: by building roads andhydropower projects or local economies based on tourism,which do not work against nature. It is also a fact that cha -nging monsoon pattern will require us to optimise use ofevery drop and not allow rain to become devastating flood.Only then will the Himalayan tragedy not be repeated.

This is our agenda for survival. Let’s learn it fast. ■

—Sunita Narain


DownToEarth

VOL 22, NO 4; To ta l No o f pages 80Editorial, subscriptions and advertisements: Society forEnvironmental Communications, 41, TughlakabadInstitutional Area, New Delhi 110 062, Phone: 91-11-29955124, 29956110, 29956394, 29956399 Fax: 91-11-29955879. Email: [email protected] © 2005 Societyfor Environmental Communications. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Printed and published by Sunita Narain on behalfof Society for Environmental Communications. Printed atInternational Print-o-Pac Limited, B-204, 205, OkhlaIndustrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi-110020 INDIA and published at 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062.

FOR ADVERTISEMENT CONTACT: Jyoti [email protected]

FOR SUBSCRIPTION CONTACT: K C R [email protected]

FOUNDER EDITOR: Anil Agarwal

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Sunita Narain

FEATURES EDITOR: Kaushik Das Gupta

SCIENCE EDITOR: Vibha Varshney

NEWS EDITOR: Arnab Pratim Dutta

CHIEF COPY EDITOR: Archana Yadav

SENIOR EDITORS: Latha Jishnu

Richard Mahapatra

ASSISTANT ART EDITOR: Anirban Bora

REPORTING TEAM:Aparna Pallavi [Nagpur]M Suchitra [Hyderabad]Sayantan Bera [Kolkata]Alok Gupta [Patna]Ankur PaliwalJyotika SoodKumar Sambhav ShrivastavaAnupam Chakravartty

COPY DESK: Aruna P SharmaSonalika SinhaSnigdha DasPooja SinghSmita Pandey

DESIGN TEAM: Chaitanya ChandanShri Krishan

PHOTO LIBRARY: Anil Kumar

WEB TEAM: Allan LyngdohRajendra RawatJaidev Sharma

PRODUCTION: Rakesh ShrivastavaGundhar Das

CONSULTING EDITORS: Chandra BhushanAnumita RoychowdhuryAditya Batra

Down To Earth • July 1-15, 20134

JULY 1-15, 2013

DOWN TO EARTH EDITORIAL DOES NOT ENDORSE THE CONTENT OF ADVERTISEMENTSPRINTED IN THE MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

22COVER STORY In water’s wayThe deaths and devastation caused by rains in Uttarakhand are not just a natural calamity but also reflect human folly. A report on how the disasterunfolded and why the Himalayan region is becoming even more vulnerable

FRONTPAGE

SPECIAL REPORT

09Wolf to guard thesheep?Government proposesprivate investment ingramin banks to makethem viable

14Exotic worry

Indian middle class’ preferencefor foreign food is pushing up

import cost and raising health concern


20-PAGE DTE SUPPLEMENTW I T H S U B S C R I P T I O N C O P I E S

gobartimesgobartimes59-78

Supplement Editor: Sumita DasguptaCopy: Anupriya Roy, Ajanta Sikdar, Anjali NambissanDesign: Kadambari Misra, Surender Singh


DownToEarth On the Webw w w . d o w n t o e a r t h . o r g . i n

Special FeatureUTTARAKHAND FLOODSEXPLAINEDSee sattellite images released by ISRO’sNational Remote Sensing Centre that couldpossibly expain the floods in Uttarakhand

Special FeatureIS THE DISASTER HUMAN-INDUCED?A compilation of articles and newsreports that look at various aspects ofUttarakhand floods

Quick TakesShort news reports from ground zero as thedisaster unfolded

� PHOTO GALLERY � BOOKS AND FILMS � BLOG � FOOD � DTE REWIND

Photo GalleryImages of devastation and the fight forsurvival from flood-affected regions ofUttarakhand

LIKE US ON FACEBOOKwww.facebook.com/downtoearthindia

LIKE US ON TWITTERtwitter.com/down2earthindia

plus.google.com/+downearthmagazine/posts

ColumnHIGH COST OF DEVELOPMENTRead about the link between Uttarakhand floods and ill-planneddevelopment

3 EDITOR’S PAGE

6 LETTERS

NEWS

11 Over 450 tribals in Thane appeal against RTI replies on land rights

12 WHO clears new drug for resistant TB

13 Sri Lanka employs floating plants to clean up Kandy lake

SPECIAL REPORTS

19 Gujarat’s scheme for pregnant women fails to deliver

34 Why is environment ministry in a rush to clear development projects

36 Maharashtra’s conservation plan uses tribals as pawns in Naxal area

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

40 Parasites: the missing link in food chain

41 Chennai researchers develop SMS-based elephant alert system

42 Scientists bioengineer kidneys

43 Infant formula can cause obesity, diabetes later in life

FOOD

44 Puyanu, the wild wonder of Garhwal

INTERVIEW

47 Architect Benny Kuriakose on the legacy of Laurie Baker

INITIATIVE

50 A school in Nepal teaches farmers how to fight erratic weather

COLUMN

51 US Supreme Court keeps everyone happy in Myriad Genetics case

CROSSCURRENTS

52 Efficient fishing gear v traditional fisherfolk

54 Myths of pilgrimage in protected areas

56 MEDIA

58 LAST WORD

COVER PHOTO: SANJAY SEMWAL


� L E T T E R S

This is with reference to the cover story, “Veggies delight”(April 1-15, 2013). It is heartening to note that India hasbecome the second largest producer of vegetables in recentyears. There is one farming technique that has the potentialto increase vegetable production in India further: hydro-ponics. It is a soil-less method of growing plants using min-eral nutrient solutions. Though some Indian agriculturalscientists showed interest in the practice a few years ago ithas largely remained unexplored by Indian farmers. Themethod is popular in western countries for growing vegeta-bles like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and broccoli.

Hydroponics involves growing plants by suspending onlytheir roots in a nutrient solution or in nutrients mixed in aninert medium like perlite, gravel, mineral wool, expandedclay or coconut husk. Today, hydroponics is being adaptedaround the world as it lowers irrigation and nutrition costsand nutrient pollution. There is also lesser incidence of pestsand diseases in hydroponically grown plants. Results fromvarious countries show it has definite advantages over con-ventional horticulture methods.

The technique can be a boon for Indian farmers as itneeds just 5 per cent of the water required by a conventionalfarm to produce the same amount of vegetables. The envi-ronment in a hydroponics greenhouse can be tightly con-trolled for maximum efficiency. The soil-less, controlled-environment farming technique can help us grow food cropsregardless of temperature, season and water availability.

A JAGADEESH [email protected]

Apropos the write-up, “Chaos in theiron age” (May 16-31, 2013), India hasbecome a net importer of iron ore froma net exporter since mining was bannedin some states. In many parts of theworld people are involved in sustainablemining. We in India need not re-inventthe wheel but only follow such practices.Instead of that we are banning existingmining blocks that have already beendevastated environmentally and plan-ning to issue licences in greenfield areasthat will clear more forests.

The existing mining fields are ineffi-

ciently mined only from the surface tokeep mining costs minimum. Why is noone talking about it? Where are the reg-ulatory norms that can easily be put inplace, considering the enormous rev-enue generated from the resources andtechnological advances in satelliteimagery? Every cubic feet of miningresource extracted can be monitored ata very reasonable cost by using this tech-nology if there is a political will. It is theMinistry of Environment and Foreststhat has to educate itself and adopt glob-al best practices without political bias.

[email protected]

EYE IN THE SKY

FLUIDFARMS

ILLUSTRATIONS: ANIRBAN BORA / CSE

L E T T E R S


DISASTER IN THE MAKINGThis is with reference to the editorial,“In celebration of biodiversity” (May16-31, 2013). We are only one epidemicaway from wiping out major crops dueto lack of diversity in our crop varieties.Some time back I read an article that inthe Hawaii islands only one variety ofpapaya is grown. Imagine if this varietyis infested with a bug or virus; wholepapaya population would be wiped outin a season or two. Same goes for the fewrice varieties that we are growing inIndia at the cost of thousand others thatwere present till just a decade or two ago.

PRASAD N [email protected]

� The editorial is a reminder of themost serious mistake our governmentsare making at the behest of the WorldTrade Organization (WTO). WTO sup-ports agribusiness giants like Monsantowho hold the patents of most of thegenetically modified food plant varietiesand want to weaken indigenous agricul-tural systems. Natural diversity can onlybe maintained in situ. It can be support-ed by genome storage but cannot bereplaced by it. Biodiversity keepsincreasing in nature as plants evolveafter facing new stresses. In cryopreser-vation the genes can at the best be main-tained as such, they cannot be made toevolve. Why don’t our so-called greatscientists understand this simple truth?

JAWINDER [email protected]

� Loss of biological and culturaldiversity is not a looming threat any-more; it is happening. This is particular-ly true for wild plants used in food andmedicine. Scientists understand most ofthe issues concerning the conservationof our unparalleled biodiversity but areunable to act due to ego clashes.Conservation of wild plants is impor-

during Kharif season in Vidarbha,where I grew up, used to be quite wide,ranging between 10 and 13 crops. It wasa common practice to maintain specialcrop alleys called pata in the farms,where a variety of vegetables weregrown. Weeds also formed an impor-tant part of our diet. This wide biodiver-sity of vegetables, whether wild or culti-vated, keep the diet nutritionally rich.

The crop diversity completely disappeared with the adoption of green

tant as many of these species may offerus options when climate change wipesout a good part of the biodiversity

VINAY [email protected]

LIMITED MENUThe article, “Become iron woman, eatveggies” (May 16-31, 2013), focuses ona very important issue of dietary defi-ciencies. In my childhood crop diversity

The Bhoomi College for Sustainability Studies Offers a 1 year Post Graduate Programme (August 2013 - June 2014) Science and Management for Sustainable Living

For students who wish to take up green careers or take a Gap Year.5 months of sessions in the Bangalore Bhoomi Campus and 5 months of

Look up

The Bhoom

y Sainabilittyusttafor Sollegemi C

studieS

iths of sessions5 monts who wishntudeor sF

Science and MOffers a 1 year Po

ok upLo

g

te Bhoomi Campus and 5 monalor Bangn the.eare a Gap Yakor tseerareen cgrup eako th t

Livainabletor Sust fnmeeManagogramme (August 2013 - Juost Graduate Pr

ths of

vingune 2014)

N O T I C E B O A R D

Sahyadri SchoolKrishnamurti Foundation India

Tiwai Hill, Rajgurunagar,

Dist. Pune – 410 513.

You are invited to a learning

opportunity at Sahyadri School. We

strive to cultivate the child’s natural

intelligence and physical fitness. The

wider intent is to discover right living

and right relationship with the earth.

Sahyadri, a fully residential, co-

educational, ICSE school is situated

amidst great natural beauty in the

Western Ghats. The school provides a

balanced vegetarian diet.

Students may apply for admission in

classes 4 to 7. A limited number of

seats may also be available for class 8.

Positions are available in teaching as

well as other areas.

For information:

Call: 02135-306100, 288442/3

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.sahyadrischool.org

revolution technologies that empha-sised on a few cash crops. In middle andwestern Vidarabha only three crops—cotton, soya bean and pigeon pea—nowcover 85 to 95 per cent of the total culti-vated area.

TARAK KATE [email protected]

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRYAngelina Jolie did a commendable jobby publicly discussing her double mas-tectomy (‘A myriad gene worries’, June1-15, 2013). The surgery has reduced herrisk of getting breast cancer from 87 percent to less than 5 per cent. It is said thatshe is planning to get her ovariesremoved too. In the US, 5 to 10 per centof breast cancer cases in women arecaused by inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2genetic mutations. The gene test candiagnose symptoms of cancer and go along way in reducing the number ofdeaths caused by breast or ovarian can-cer. The actor’s bold announcement has

given hope to millions of women suffer-ing from ovarian or breast cancer inIndia, which tops the list of cervical can-cer deaths according to a May 2013 reportby Cervical Cancer-Free Coalition.

MAHESH [email protected]

FERN FOR FLAVOURThis is apropos the write-up, “Howabout some baby crocs?” (June 1-15,2013). The fern, Diplazium esculentum,is extensively used in hilly areas in north

and north-east India as well. It is calleddhekia saag in Arunachal Pradesh andAssam, while in Himachal Pradesh it isknown as lingadi. People in north-eastIndia prefer it boiled or with only a littlespices, while in Himachal Pradesh peo-ple prepare a wonderful pickle out of it.

NIVEDITA [email protected]

� This is one of the favourite greenvegetables found in local vegetable mar-kets of Assam, Bangladesh, and WestBengal. Also known as dhekia, it isadded to both vegetarian and non-vege-tarian preparations. It grows in flood-plains, gardens and on roadsides.Kachu-dhekia (yam-fern) also regularlyappears in Assamese literary works.

[email protected]




L E T T E R S

SHOLAI SCHOOLLocated in the campus of the Centre for Learning,Organic Agriculture and Appropriate Technology,in a beautiful sylvan valley of the Palani Hills, we area non-conventional, 70 acre residential School registered with the University of CambridgeInternational Examinations (IN499). The studentstake IGCSE (Xth standard) and A level exams.Having a teacher : student ratio of 1:6 we are able toexplore learning well beyond the confines of syllabi.

Comprehension of conditioning and its limiting effect onthe mind and reflecting on responsibility and sensitivityin relationships are some of the themes exploredbetween students and teachers. Send for brochure to:

Sholai School, P.O.Box 57, Kodaikanal - 624 101.Telephone-04542-230393/297/487Email: [email protected] Website: sholaicloaat.org

EHS and Social Compliance AuditsPhase-I Environmental Site Assessment and Due Diligence Audits

Specialized EHS Manpower Support and ContinualTechnical Assistance to Facilities

Continual EHS and Social Regulatory Support through - EnviroEnvirotrendstrends- the regulatory news & documentation services

Facilities’ Certification Audits for EMS-ISO 14001 andOHSAS-18001 Standards

Hazardous Materials and Wastes Management3rd Party Audits of Centralized Waste Treatment, Storage

and Disposal FacilitiesPhase-II Soil and Groundwater Investigations & Soil Gas Surveys

Soil Remediation and Cleanup ProjectsSpecialized Environmental, Personal and Work Area Monitoring

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Management PlanningEHS Training & Capacity Building

INDUS Environmental Services Pvt. Ltd.A-8, C.R. Park, New Delhi - 110 019, INDIA.T 91.11.2627 1433 F 91.11.2627 7133E [email protected] W indusenviro.com

…striving for excellence in environmental, health & safety services

Env

iroX

pres

sion

s/IN

DU

S/02

/201

0E

nvir

oXpr

essi

ons/

IND

US/

02/2

010

®

INDUSINDUS T R E E ®

…INDUS’ Package of Client Service Initiatives onThe Road to Environmental Excellence TM

INDUSINDUS T R E E ®

®

Down To Earth welcomes letters, responses and other contributions from readers. Send to SunitaNarain, Editor, Down To Earth, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 062. Email: [email protected]

JITENDRA

IN YET another attempt to save regionalrural banks from collapse, the govern-ment intends to take private parties onboard. In the recently concluded budgetsession of Parliament, the finance min-istry tabled a Bill that allows regionalrural banks (RRB), also known as graminbanks, to raise capital from privatesources. Analysts are skeptical. They sayprivate shareholding may ensure finan-cial stability but would distract RRBsfrom their objective of strengtheningrural economy.

RRBs were set up in 1975 to ensurebanking and institutional credit facilityto those engaged in the agriculture sec-tor and cottage industries. It is jointlyowned by the Centre, the state govern-ment and some designated commercialbanks, called sponsor banks, who fundits capital base in the proportion of 50

per cent, 15 per cent and 35 per cent,respectively. But RRB could neverbecome a profitable venture. In fact,most RRBs were saddled with bad loanwithin five years of inception.

The Regional Rural Banks Amend -ment Bill, 2013, aims to infuse vigourinto RRBs by increasing their capital basefrom ̀ 5 crore to ̀ 500 crore. But the cap-ital would no longer be entirely borneby the Centre, concerned state govern-ment and sponsor bank. Their share-holdings would be limited to 51 per centand the rest would be raised from pri-vate investors, according to the bill draft(see ‘Proposed amendments’).

If this provision sails throughParliament, it will push RRBs towardsprivatisation, alleges Sayeed Khan, gen-eral secretary of All India Regional RuralBank Employee Association. Khanquestions the need for private invest-ment at a time when the government

has already taken measures to revive thebanks, though after 25 long years.

Why the delaySince the inception of RRBS, the govern-ment has appointed at least 10 expertcommittees to analyse their financialsand suggest measures to revive them(see ‘Ignored for long’ on p10). Mostcommittees recommended merger ofthe loss-making RRBs either with neigh-bouring viable RRBs or with their spon-sor banks. Some also recommendedtheir liquidation. But the governmentdid not act until 2005.

That year, the government beganconsolidating loss-making RRBs with theprofit-making ones to make them eco-nomically viable. By April 2013 therewere just 62 RRBs from 196 in 2004 (seetables on p10). In the next couple ofyears, following the recommendation ofthe panel headed by K C Chakrabarty,

Drastic step or careless move?Bill allows regional rural banks to tap private capital

� F R O N T P A G E


PROPOSED AMENDMENTS● Capital base of RRBs be increased

from `5 crore to `500 crore● Shareholdings of the Centre, state

and sponsor banks be limited to 51per cent. Rest of the fund be raisedfrom private soures

● Change financial year end of RRBsfrom December 31 to March 31

● The term of non-official directorsshould be fixed for two years

Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank is one of the remaining 10 regional rural banks in Uttar Pradesh

SUN

IL K

UM

AR

SIN

GH

deputy governor of the Reserve Bank ofIndia, the government increased thecapital inflow of 40 loss-making RRBs.Chakrabarty panel had recommendedthat the Centre, the state governmentsand sponsor banks should release`2,200 crore to bail out these banks. Theimpact of this capital infusion has begunshowing on the ground.

The latest RBI report shows therehave been improvements in credit flowto rural areas. In 2010, the loans dis-bursed for agriculture, including croploans, agriculture and allied activities,was `46,282 crore. The loan amountincreased to `55,067 crore in 2011. Thedisbursement of non-agriculture loansincreased from `36,537 crore to `45,231during the period.

Going by the performance, is therestill need for private investment?

Proper mentoring is the key Biswa Swarup Misra, an economist andbanking expert, blames the stakeholdersof RRB for its poor performance. In 2007,Misra presented a paper on the perfor-mance of RRBs to the Reserve Bank ofIndia. “RRBs could have done better hadsponsor banks played a proactive role inguiding them and state governmentsprovided conducive banking environ-ment,” says Misra. In 2004, more thanhalf of the loss-making RRBs were in fourstates—Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maha -rashtra and Odisha. These states neitherprovided proper infrastructure normanagerial skills to RRBs, Misra says.

Besides, sponsor banks often openbranches in areas where RRBs operate.“This creates conflict of interest,” saysKhan. As sponsor banks approach thesame set of customers which RRBs have

been serving since inception, they act ascompetitors. Sponsor banks also do notshare the profit generated through loaninterest, which affects RRBs’ financialconditions, he adds. Khan demands thatRRBs be placed under an independentbody like National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD) wherethey do not have to face competition.

In 1998, M Narsimhan, former gov-ernor of RBI, had pointed out that RRBshad not been able to earn much profitbecause of limited operation area andtarget groups. “The salary structure ofRRB staff is not motivating enough,”points out B K Swain, head of theCentre for Rural Credit and Develop -ment Banking at the National Instituteof Rural Develop ment in Hyderabad.The long list of defaulters shows lack ofcommercial orientation of RRBs, headds. Swain, however, favours privateinvestment. Even after consolidations,there are 40 RRBs which are consideredweak, he says.

N K Thingalaya, economist and for-mer managing director of SyndicateBank, says RRBs can be made viablewithout private investment. SyndicateBank is a prominent sponsor bank ofRRBs. “Instead of raising finance fromprivate sources, the staff of RRBs shouldbe encouraged to become shareholdersof their respective banks,” he suggests.

Y C Nanda, former chairperson ofNABARD, says consolidation of RRBs hasaffected its local feel and role. Privateshareholding would lead to furtherexclusion of rural beneficiaries. “I amaware of the poor performance of RRBs.But the point is we are going away fromthe objectives for which RRBs were estab-lished,” he adds. ■


F R O N T P A G E

IGNORED FOR LONG

1981 : Committee to ReviewArrangements for Institutional Creditfor Agriculture and Rural Developm -ent is set up to address financial via-bility of regional rural banks (RRBs). Itrecommends that shareholdersshould pay back the loss incurred byRRBs annually in proportion to theirshareholdings. It is not accepted

1984 : Working Group on RRBs recommends merger of small anduneconomic RRBs. It is not accepted

1989 : Agricultural Credit ReviewCommittee recommends merger ofRRBs with sponsor banks. It is notaccepted

1994 : Committee on Restructuringof RRBs identifies 49 RRBs as loss-making; recommends devolution ofdecision-making power to theBoards of RRBs. It is not accepted

1996 : Committee under K Basurecommends liquidation of RRBs. It isnot accepted

1997 : The Experts Group on RRBsrecommends merger of uneconomicRRBs with neighbouring viable RRBs.It is not accepted

2001 : Expert Committee on RuralCredit recommends sponsor banksshould ensure autonomy of RRBs incredit management system

2003 : Committee under Chalapa -thy Rao recommends to merge allRRBs into a single institution whileretaining the regional character ofthese institutions. It is not accepted

2004 : Group of Chief ManagingDirectors of Select Public SectorBanks recommends amalgamation ofRRBs on regional basis. It is notaccepted

2005 : A V Sardesai committee rec-ommends restructuring and mergerof RRBs. Government initiates theprocess of amalgamation of RRBs

2009 : A panel under K CChakrabarty, deputy governor of RBI,recommends the Centre, state gov-ernments and sponsor banks torelease `2,200 crore to bail out 40loss-making RRBs

2013 : The number of RRBs comesdown to 82 from 196 in 2004

MERGER FOR REVIVAL

Years No. of No. of No. of

RRBs Branches districts

1975 6 - -

1980 85 - 130

1985 188 - -

1990 196 13,920 -

March, 2004 196 14,449 518

March, 2006 133 14,526 525

March, 2012 82 17,007 620

January, 2013 67 - -

April, 2013 62 - -

Banks, not branches, consolidated...

States No. RRBs No. of RRBs before afterconsolidation consolidation (in 2004) (in 2013)

Andhra Pradesh 16 5

Bihar 16 4

Madhya Pradesh 19 8

West Bengal 9 2

Uttar Pradesh 36 10

...States with high rural population nowhave less number of regional rural banks

Source: Reserve Bank of India


Tribals play hardball on land rightsDissatisfied with RTI answers on traditional land rights, tribals of Thane file appeals

� N E W S

AKSHAY DESHMANE Jawhar, Thane

THE revenue office of Jawhar inMaharashtra’s Thane district witnessedan unusual sight on June 18. About 30tribals from Anantpur village of Jawharhad congregated at the office for thehearing of their first RTI appeals. Theyare part of a group of 456 tribals whohave filed first RTI appeals followingunsatisfactory answers to their queries.

Under the RTI Act, applicants canfile the first appeal if the authorities failto provide them the required informa-tion within 30 days or if they are not sat-isfied with the information. The hear-ing, which is being held in batches, islikely to continue for a month.

The tribals from 14 villages inJawhar and Vikramgad talukas had filedRTI queries related to claims under theForest Rights Act (FRA) on April 9. FRA

recognises traditional rights of thescheduled tribes and forest dwellers onforest land and resources. Some hadresorted to RTI to find out the status ofapproval of their FRA claims. Severaltribals had filed RTI queries despitereceiving land titles. Their main allega-tion is that the authorities allotted themlesser land than what they had claimedwithout taking into account the evi-dence presented by the forest rightscommittee (FRC) of the gram sabha.Consider the case of Jana HadkyaKutade from Hateri village. He hasreceived land titles for 1.5 hectares (ha)while the Hateri FRC had cleared his

claim over 9 ha. Ganpat Janu Pawar,chief of Hateri FRC, says, “The authori-ties should have approved the claimbecause our recommendation was basedon the survey conducted by the revenuedepartment itself.” Kutade had filed RTI

queries to know why he was allottedsuch a small parcel of land. Under theFRA amendment rules of 2012, theauthority must disclose why it has par-

tially or entirely rejected the claim of anapplicant.

Kutade and other applicants startedreceiving answers to their RTI queries inthe last week of April. But the answerwas the same for all: “Sub-divisionaland district-level committees havecleared all land claims made. Appealsagainst the decision are filed with thedistrict-level committee. However, yourapplication for an (FRA) appeal was notfound in our records.”

Milind Thatte, founder of Vayam, anon-profit working with the tribals, says

the authority’s response is ambiguous.“People had specific queries aboutinformation regarding pending claimsor incompletely processed claims. Whatis the point of saying that no appealunder FRA is found when an FRA appealhas never been made for a single claim?”

Datta Bhadakawad, additional resi-dent collector (revenue) of Jawhar, whois hearing the first RTI appeals at the

taluka level, told Down To Earth that“some people feel their claims have notbeen cleared adequately. So, we arehearing them out.”

The tribals are, however, not happywith the way the hearing is being con-ducted. They allege that Bhadakawadrefused to provide minutes of the hear-ing and intimidated the unletteredapplicants by asking them to choosebetween land titles and informationunder RTI. They plan to the make a sec-ond RTI appeal—the third step underthe RTI Act to get the informationrequested—with the state informationcommission. In their appeal, which willbe submitted in the first week of July,they have also sought penal actionagainst Bhadakawad.

Shailesh Gandhi, former chief infor-mation commissioner and prominentRTI activist, who was present at one of thehearings says, “I have seen people filing100 RTIs about the same query, but nevercome across a campaign of such a magni-tude. I feel proud to see the most disem-powered people assert their rights.”Gandhi says the tribals will find a positivefeedback from the state commission. ■

Residents of Anantpur village wait for their turn for the hearing of their first RTI appeal at the Jawhar taluka headquarters

While people had specific queries about theirclaims, the authority’s response was same for all

AK

SHA

Y D

ESH

MA

NE

/ CSE


N E W S

WHO nod for new TB drugIssues guidelines for use of bedaquiline that can treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

KUNDAN PANDEY

WHO has released guidelines for use of anew medicine to treat multi-drug resis-tant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) (see box).Issued on June 13, the interim policyguidance provides advice on includingbedaquiline in combination therapy forthe dreaded from of tuberculosis in acc -ordance with existing WHO guidelines.

Bedaquiline is the first MDR-TB drugfor adults to be approved in 50 years. Alldrugs get registered only after Phase-IIItrials carried out on humans. Butbedaquiline was granted acceleratedapproval by the US Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) in December 2012only after two Phase-II trials owing to anurgent need for a treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis. Waiting forPhase-III trial could have kept the drugfrom being released in the market until2022, says a document by the Global TBCommunity Advisory Board of NewYork-based Treatment Action Group.

The FDA approval allows for Janssenpharmaceuticals (a subsidiary ofJohnson and Johnson) to market thedrug in the US while carrying out Phase-III trials to confirm its efficacy and safe-ty. WHO strongly recommends accelera-tion of the trials to generate a morecomprehensive evidence to informfuture policy on bedaquiline.

The newly issued guidelines high-light an urgent need for the medicine ina country like India. Every year,1,800,000 Indians develop the diseaseand until recently 1,000 people died ofTB every day, according to TBC India, theofficial website of Directorate General ofHealth Services. Over 3 per cent of newcases and 20 per cent patients previouslytreated for TB develop multi-drug resis-tant tuberculosis. MDR-TB refers to tuber-culosis resistant to isoniazid and rifam -picin, the most powerful first-line drugsfor the disease. India, China, Russia andSouth Africa have almost 60 per cent ofthe world’s total MDR-TB cases.

Despite the dismal statistics,bedaquiline is yet to be registered inIndia. Johnson and Johnson spokesper-

son informs the firm has already made aregulatory submission for bedaquilineto Drug Controller General of India inMay. But no initiative in this regard hasbeen taken as yet by the policy makers.

Resistance riskAt present, the government followsDirect Observed Therapy (DOT) to treatTB. However, the medicines are avail-able over the counter too. The treatmentrelies on antibiotics developed long timeback. Several of these drugs have severeside effects like nausea, deafness and psy-

chosis. Patients receive painful injectionsfor six months and have to take up to 17pills a day for two years. Health expertsdemand bedaquiline be brought to thecountry urgently and a proper mecha-nism be developed for its distribution toavoid indiscriminate antibiotic use,which fuels drug resistance.

While applying for WHO guidelines,Johnson and Johnson has also requestedthe medicine be distributed only throu -gh DOT to ensure close monitoring.

Blessina Kumar, vice-chairperson ofStop TB partnership, a group of 1,000organisations across the world engagedin advocacy to eliminate TB, says she hadwritten to health officials last monthdemanding a strong mechanism forbedaquiline distribution. “My fear is thatlack of planning and strategy will land usin a situation that we all dread—of resis-tance to bedaquiline. We have beenrequesting for a programme to developguidelines for new drugs, specificallybedaquiline,” reads the letter. She wroteit after reading media reports about howa few doctors have already started pre-scribing bedaquiline to patients.

Soumya Swaminathan, director ofthe Chennai-based National Institutefor Research in Tuberculosis, says Indiaalso needs to develop its own protocolto identify patients who really need thenew medicine. “We need to identify thecentres from where the medicine will bedistributed and tightly monitor this sys-tem,” she says.

Leena Menghaney, India campaignmanager of Médecins Sans Frontières’(MSF) Access Campaign, agrees. “Thegovernment must ensure MDR-TB

patients can access new TB drugs, likeBedaquiline, free of charge. Simul -taneously, other formalities should becompleted like registration and Phase-IIItrial in India,” says Menghaney.

MSF, in a statement, says it is equallyworried about indiscriminate use of TBdrugs in the private sector and poormanagement of TB treatment. This inthe past has fuelled drug resistance inthe country and is making MDR-TB aserious public health challenge. ■

Rules of treatmentFive conditions that must be in place

for bedaquiline use

● Treatment to be closely monitored for effectiveness andsafety, using protocols approvedby relevant national authorities

● Proper patient inclusion; cautionwhen used in elderly and HIV-infected people. Not to be givento pregnant women and children

● Patients to be made aware ofpotential benefits and harm; togive documented consent

● Adherence to WHO recommen-dations, particularly inclusion offour effective second-line drugs

● Active pharmaco-vigilance todetect and manage side-effects

VA

IBH

AV

RA

GH

UN

AN

DA

N /

CSE

N E W S

Kandy gets beauty treatmentSri Lanka employs aquatic plants to clean up its heritage lake

SUSHMITA SENGUPTA Kandy

THE highly polluted Kandy lake of SriLanka is in news again, and this time forgood reasons. The government hasjoined hands with University ofPeradeniya in Kandy city and is creatingartificial floating wetlands to clean upthe historic water body.

Built in 1800 AD by the last king ofKandy, the lake used to be a majorsource of irrigation, and drinking waterand recreation centre for the hilly city.However, all activities other than cruis-ing have been prohibited in the lakesince the 1960s after studies showed thatthe lake water has high levels of faecalcontamination and carcinogenic heavymetals. It is also loaded with phospho-rus and nitrogen compounds that leadto dense bloom of toxic cyano bacteriacausing eutrophication, or depletion ofoxygen in lake water, and killing ofaquatic organisms. Several fish killswere reported in 2009. Pollution in thelake has already contaminated the near-by Mid Canal and wells around it.

L L A Peiris, deputy general manag-er of the National Water Supply andDrainage Board (NWSDB), blames suchsevere pollution on the absence of asewerage plan for the hilly city. Barring a

few patches of forest, the lake is sur-rounded by densely populated housingcolonies and hotels, which releasewastewater directly into the lake ordump the solid waste in open, whicheventually drains into the lake.

Wastewater should be treated beforeit is released into the lake. But it is diffi-cult to set up sewage treatmentplants in the highly urbanisedcatchment area around theKandy, says S K Weragoda,chief engineer of NWSDB. Thefloating treatment wetland isan appropriate technology for theKandy, he adds.

Efficient scrubberThe floating treatment wetland mimicsan artificial wetland ecosystem. It is cre-ated by using a perforated floating matfor supporting the vegetation, a frameconstructed by PVC pipes, coconut coirpith for growing the vegetation andanchors to keep the wetland in tact.University of Peradeniya researcherschose two native aquatic plants—Typhaangustifolia and Canna iridiflora for thepurpose. They first allowed the plants togrow in potable water for a week so thatthey develop roots, and then placed thewetland units in the lake next to the out-

let of a storm water drain. In case of afloating wetland, the aquatic plantsgrow on the water surface rather thanbeing rooted in sediments. The plantroots hanging beneath the floating matsprovide an extensive surface area fortrapping suspended particulate matter.Since the plants are not rooted in the

soil, they are forced to acquirenutrition directly from thewater, which enhances theremoval of contaminants,notes the study paper pub-lished online in Society of

Wetland Scientists on August 29, 2012.Weragoda says the floating wetlandsremoved the biological oxygen demandof the lake water, nitrogen and phspho-rus by 90 per cent within 50 days of set-ting up the wetland units. “One-third ofthe lake should have such floating wet-lands for cleaning up the entire lake,”says Weragoda, co-author of the study.

The irrigation department nowmanages the wetlands by harvesting thevegetation once a year to allow regro -wth. Weragoda says the colourful flow-ers of the aquatic plants have added tothe beauty of the lake. The lake, whichused to emanate foul smell, now attractstourists who come to visit the nearbyfamous Buddha temple. ■

SOUTHASIA

(Top) Floating treatmentwetland that cleans upKandy lake while enhancingits beauty; (Left) The lakesurrounded by housingcolonies, hotels


RON

ALD

SA

UN

DER

S

SUJITHRA K WERAGODA


� S P E C I A L R E P O R T

Foreign food invasionLATHA JISHNU and JYOTIKA SOOD

The colours, flavours and aroma ofwhat India is eating these dayshave changed—and dramatically

in some ways. Imported food items,both fresh and processed, are fillingshopping bags in cities and towns as theglobal food trade zeroes in on India as aprime market. Many items of regular, ifnot daily, consumption, fromWashington apples to the Vietnamesebasa fish, have insinuated themselvesinto the palate of Indians, most ofwhom appear to be unaware of theirgrowing dependence on foreign food.

Almost unnoticed, imported foodshave been proliferating and growing in

volume, their rising graph reflectinggrowth of the Indian economy andemergence of a new consuming class.The class that the trade likes to describeas the “modern Indian consumer”: atrendy, health conscious eater aware ofglobal consumption patterns and readyto splurge that extra bit on foods seen asnutritious and of better quality.

While shops in affluent enclavesmight have a profusion of importedfoodstuffs from specialty cheeses tocanned meats, the neighbourhood kiranastore, too, is giving increasing shelf spaceto a number of imported items such asalmonds and confectionery. In fact, themost substantive food imports are itemsof mass consumption: pulses and edible

oils. Imports of these items are vital tokeep Indian kitchens running as demandfar outstrips domestic production. Incase of edible oils, import dependencehas soared from just about 3 per cent in1992-93 to 50 per cent now, althoughIndia is one of the largest oilseeds pro-ducers in the world.

Massive inflows of cooking oils,mostly crude palm oil and palm oleinfrom Malaysia and Indonesia, havehelped raise their per capita availabilityfrom 5.8 kg in 1992-93 to 14.5 kg in2010-11. But this has come at a hugecost. The tab for imports of over 10 mil-lion tonnes was `46,255 crore during2011-12, but is set to cross `60,000 crorefor 2012-13, an escalating figure that is

A growing taste for foods from across the globe is adding hugely to India’s import bill for groceriesand raising health concerns

far from sustainable, according to econ-omists. Pulses are the other item thatpunches a big hole in foreign exchangeoutflows with imports for 11 months of2012-13 being 3.53 million tonnesagainst the previous year’s 3.19 milliontonnes. The bill so far: `11,758 crore.

All this is a huge source of concernfor several reasons, warns Jayati Ghosh,professor of economics at Delhi’s Jawa -harlal Nehru University. “India is poten-tially a ‘big country’ in world trade for allof its food import items, that is to say, itaffects global prices by its entry/exit. Weare already far too affected by globalprices that have been extremely volatile,often for reasons unrelated to actualdemand and supply but because offinancial speculation, etc. To expose thecountry to import vulnerability is, there-fore, insane and even criminal.”

But is any country self-sufficient in


S P E C I A L R E P O R T

SHORT-staffed and plagued by restric-tions on its functioning, the Food Safetyand Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)may be finding it difficult to keep tabs onconstantly increasing quantities of foodbeing shipped to the country. TillSeptember, 2010, such imp orts werebeing monitored by Customs, but sincethen FSSAI, the nodal agency for ensur-ing food safety in the country, has beengiven the assignment. However, its juris-diction is limited to four major ports ofChennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi; forthe rest, it is still the customsauthorities who scrutinisefood shipment.

FSSAI, which is under theMinistry of Health, is autho-rised to send samples of im -ported articles for analysis tocentral food laboratories inKolkata, Ghazia bad, Pune and Mysore.Of these, the first two were directlyunder its control but in May this year theGhaziabad laboratory was shifted to theHealth Ministry. A senior FSSAI officialsays this would not have much of animpact on its functioning since therewere 62 accredited private laboratories itcould use as referral centres.

Vinod Kotwal, director, CODEX,admitted though that the rising graph ofimports—8.42 million tonnes during2012-13—was posing challenges. Accord -ing to her, there was need for a risk

framework to switch over to a food insp -e ction and sampling process to handleincreasing volumes effectively. The otherchallenge is to ensure food safety at loca-tions where FSSAI is not operating as Cus -tom staff are ill-equipped for this task.

But it is apparent that FSSAI is findingit tough to cope with the mounting pres-sure of imports. Among other problems,consumer organisations ha ve been com-plaining about incomplete or misleadingla belling on a host of products. Quiteoften the information on the contents

are in a foreign language suchas Arabic since many consign-ments destined for the Gulfstates are diverted or re-export-ed to India. At other times,products carry only the “bestbefore date” and not the dateof manufacture although the

Food Safety and Standards (Packag ingand Labelling) Regulations of 2011 requ -ire complete information on the label.

The biggest lacuna, points out RajKumar Bhatia, member-secretary ofAzadpur Mandi, the giant wholesalemarket in Delhi, is the lack of standardslike the European Union’s EUROGAPS forfresh produce coming into the country.As a consequence, the imported fruitscould be substandard. The problem, hesays, is that our focus is on exports forwhich we have strict norms governed byAPEDA but none for imports.

WHO IS MANNING THE GATES?

2005-06 2012-13

`11,758.31CRORE

PULSES

Source: DGCIS, Ministry of Commerce

`2,476.25CRORE

1.69MillionTonnes

3.53MillionTonnes

2005-06 2011-12

`10,051.33CRORE

FRUITS

Source: Export Import Data Bank, Ministry of Commerce

`3,484.68CRORE

0.92MillionTonnes

1.54MillionTonnes

PHOTOGRAPHS: SOUMIK MUKHARJEE / CSE

food or does it need to be, asks SumitSaran, director of SCS Group, an agri busi-ness consulting firm that represents sev-eral US crop associations, such as thePear Bureau Northwest and the USApple Export Council, in the Indiansubcontinent. “We should be looking attwo distinct categories, that of supple-mentary and complementary foods. Inthe first category are those that Indianeeds to import to meet the demands ofits one billion plus population. Productslike cereals, pulses, edible oil and sugarfall in this category. Complementaryfoods are those that are imported to caterto the demands of a burgeoning Indianmiddle class and its aspirations to be apart of the global consuming family.”

And what is this class eating? Tons of

pasta, exotic fruits from a diverse rangeof countries, some fancy vegetables, pre-mium cheeses and dairy products,among others. According to varioustrade reports, the market for importedcomplementary foods is estimated to beclose to $1.5 billion. Fresh fruits, dryfruits and nuts, olive oil and processedfoods, like confectionery items, bever-ages and pasta products, etc., are thefastest growing items in this category.

There appears to be a certaininevitability to food imports, given thesize of the Indian market and its project-ed growth. Its $330 billion food market isexpected to expand to $900 billion by2020 while the current market for proc -essed foods of $40 billion will increase to$300 billion in the next seven years.These are the figures that have left theglobal food industry salivating. The pro-jection is that India, which is now theworld’s 12th largest food market, willzoom ahead to the fifth place by 2025.

In the nineties, when India wasforced to lift its quantitative restrictionson imports of most food items, theseproducts were mostly for the well-heeledelite class with high incomes. Retailers ofthese products were few and availabilitywas erratic. Now, with more widespreadaffluence and a sizable chunk of profes-sionals boasting disposable income in acomparatively young consuming popu-lation, the market dynamics havechanged dramatically. Today’s con-sumers are demanding similar diets andproducts that are available in London,Toronto or Sydney—and getting thoseas the suppliers, the medium and themarket make it so much easier.

While imports of spices, dried fruitsand nuts are skyrocketing, products likeginger and garlic are making a dramaticappearance on the import charts. Nuts,in particular, are big ticket item sinceIndia produces insignificant quantitiesof pistachios, almonds and cashews tomeet the burgeoning demand. Rawcashew imports between April 2012 andFebruary 2013 accounted for a steepoutgo of `5,085 crore.

The trick of the trade is to look for ahealth angle and make it the selling poi -nt. One reason imported fruits havebecome popular in a price-consciousmarket like India is that these are reput-ed to be more wholesome, whereas Ind -ian vegetables and fruits are known to besprayed heavily with pesticides that lead

to health problems. Tarun Arora ofMumbai-based IG International, a lead-ing importer of fruits and vegetables,says, “The niche is an entire set of peoplewho are health conscious and it cutsacross class and other barriers. It has hel -ped our company turnover to increase by20 per cent annually in the last five years.”

For instance, Kiwi, which was anunknown fruit to most Indians, is nowselling well even at `200/kg merelybecause it is reputed to fight dengue. Thenutritional pitch has been most success-ful with imported apples, which havebroken the seasonality barrier. Apples,imported from China, Chile, US, NewZealand, Italy and Germany are availableall the year round on practically everystreet of Indian metros and bigger cities.Thanks to the health benefits it is sup-posed to confer, consumers across the



2005-06 2012-13Source: Export Import Data Bank, Ministry of Commerce

`783.88Crore

706.7 Million Tonnes

Is any country self-sufficient in foodor does it need to be? We should belooking at two distinct categories:supplementary foods that are essential and complementary foodscatering for the needs of a burgeoning middle class

SUMIT SARANDIRECTOR, SCS GROUP

2005-06 2011-12

12,126.63Tonnes

`99.06CRORE

27,502.34Tonnes

`490.93CRORE


SEA FOOD

2005-06 2012-13

`182.52CRORE

DAIRY PRODUCTS*

*include bird’s eggs & honeySource: Export Import Data Bank, Ministry of Commerce

`41.08CRORE

4.3MillionTonnes

8.86MillionTonnes

`3,466.70Crore

1,160.2 MillionTonnes

SUGAR & SUGAR CONFECTIONERY

country are happily paying `10-20 moreper kg for the imported fruit.

But although the import trade andconsultants are pushing the health andnutrition angle, there are questionsabout the quality of foodstuffs that comeinto the country. For one, many of theprocessed foods and items carry labelsshowing date of packaging and expiryaffixed by the importing agency and notthat set by the manufacturer. For many aconsumer this undermines the credibili-ty and quality of the product, and retail-ers admit there is customer reluctanceand suspicion about such labelling.

Who monitors the quality ofimported foodstuff? All such importscome under the scrutiny of the FoodSafety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI). Its rules and regulations underthe Food Safety and Standards Act of2006 are detailed and, according to tradesources, onerous. But, oddly, sinceSeptember 2010, FSSAI is regulatingimports made only through Delhi,Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. Prior tothis, foodstuff required a certificationfrom the port health authorities that theproduct conformed to the standards andregulations of the Prevention of FoodAdulteration Act (PFA) of 1954 and itsrules of 1955, which were designed tokeep out impure, unsafe and fraudulent-ly-labelled foods. However, as the tradeitself concedes, certification is, eventoday, based mostly on visual inspectionand records of past imports as mostports have very limited testing facilities.This leaves a loophole for the food trade.

FSSAI’s Vinod Kotwal, directorCODEX, told Down To Earth that with the

quantity and value of food importsincreasing over the years, the authority isfacing some tough challenges as its func-tioning gets more and more circum-scribed (see ‘Who is manning the gates’).The other shortcoming is that no stan-dards have been prescribed for freshfruits and vegetables. With exports hav-ing been seen for long as the priority forthe economy, the focus has been onmeeting the standards abroad and notvice versa. As a result, imports appear tohave found the entry barriers not insur-mountable, specially since the averageconsumer typically assumes that all thatcomes from abroad is of superior quality.

Several factors make it appear that



Although India is one of the largest pro-ducers of oilseeds in the world, it still needsto meet half its requirement of cooking oilthrough imports. Herein lies a fundamentalparadox: imports of cheaper edible oilshave helped raise the per capita availabilityfrom 5.8 kg in 1992-93 to a substantial 14.5kg in 2010-11 but this has also incre asedimport dependency from just about 3 percent in 1992-93 to 50 per cent at present.

What do we import? The bulk of it iscrude palm oil and RBD palm (77 per cent)and a bit of soybean oil (12 per cent)apart from crude sunflower oil (12 per-cent) and a minuscule amount of crudecoconut oil. Over the past 20 decades theimport lobby has been carrying on a cam-paign against coconut oil which was saidto be high in cholesterol but is now mak-ing a comeback as discerning customersopt for the extra virgin quality which isenjoying a revival, specially abroad, for itsmany health benefits.

Uneasiness about the health implica-tions of eating palm olein has been grow-ing after the publication of a Danishresearch study in November 2011 show-ing that the vegetable fat could behavemore like lard in the body. Palm olein, aliquid form of palm oil used in cookingand baking, had so far been consideredneutral in its effects on cholesterol but aresearch team at Copenhagen Universityfound that men who ate palm olein hadhigher levels of LDL or the bad cholesteroland total cholesterol than those who hada olive oil diet. The rise in cholesterol seenin this study could increase the risk ofheart disease by at least five per cent,according to some experts.

In any case, olive oil whose nutritionalbenefits are accepted universally, hasbeen the front runner in the league ofhealthy oils. In India, its presence hasgrown sharply over the past five yearswith imports, from Spain and Italy, grow-ing at a smart clip of 30 per cent annually.

The growth rate is expected to doublein the wake of a focused campaign by the inter-governmental InternationalOlive Oil Council (IOOC) on a series ofevents involving the media, the hospitali-ty industry and schools. The three-year,€1 million (`7.9 crore) campaign byMadrid-based IOOC is also promoting anumber of food festivals across the coun-try along with an awareness campaign onthe health benefits of olive oil. Imports in2010-11 touched 42,000 tonnes valued at`110 crore with extra virgin olive oil accounting for nearly 90 per cent ofthe value.

Sumit Saran’s agribusiness consultancySCS Group has been involved in the pro-motion and he believes the high growthrates “reflect a structural change in theway the affluent middle class is changingits cooking and eating patterns”.

OIL WARS AND THEIR HEALTH IMPACT

2005-06 2012-13

`5,084.97CRORE

CASHEW NUTS


`2,089CRORE

2005-06 2011-12

0.91MillionTonnes

`5.11CRORE

2.23MillionTonnes

`14.10CRORE

PASTA


0.54 Million Tonnes

0.85Million Tonnes

food revolution will be irreversible. Rig -ht now it involves just the creamy layerof society, the 250 million affluent India -ns, who make up the global consumingclass. However, the remaining 900 mil-lion will be added soon, declares an opti-mistic food consultant. For one, there isthe accelerated urbanisation and theresulting demand for processed, pack-aged, branded and value-added food andbeverage products; more cosmopolitantastes and a new breed of workingwomen and young mothers who haveneither the time nor inclination to cook.

“Most high-value imported foodsare sold in metros and Tier-I cities,” poi -nts out Saran. “But some products likeapples that are comparatively less tem-perature-sensitive and are able to main-tain crispness even in ambient tempera-tures for five to seven days are making itto Tier-II and Tier-III cities.” His con-tention is that there are no rich or poorcities. “Each city, each area, has its shareof rich and poor. So there always are dis-cerning Indian consumers, who canafford imported produce and are willingto pay a higher price for better quality.”

The rule of thumb with fruit con-sumption across the globe is that “fruitsare produced seasonally but consumedall the year round” and India is no lon -ger an exception. The irony is that evenMother Dairy, a fully owned subsidiaryof the National Dairy Developm entBoard, is offering imported fruits at itsSafal outlets. Mother Dairy Fruit &Vegetable (MDFV) was set up to provide amarket for Indian farmers through thecooperative framework and help themget the right price for their produce.

But Pradipta Sahoo, horticulturebusiness head at MDFV, sees no conflict ofinterest in Safal hawking importedapples, pears, kiwi and other such exoti-ca. “Please note that we are in a modernretail business running 400 booths/sto -res. Therefore, we need to provide con-sumers the choice of assortment offruits.” Such compulsions mean import-ed fruits, mostly apples, are on sale totake advantage of the seasonal windowadvantage, which products from the US,New Zealand, China and Chile offer.Besides, MDFV does not have enoughstorage facility for home-grown apples.

But there can be serious repercus-sions on domestic growers as India beco -mes one of the top 20 fruit importe rs inthe world. Take for instance what hap-

pened to apples in 2012. While dom esticproduction was 2.2 million tonnes, con-sumption was 1.9 million tonnes inclu-sive of imports of 188,071 tonnes. With aretail market size of $4.9 billion, it is lit-tle wonder that agri-marketing compa-nies representing foreign corporationsare stepping up their promotions.

While Ghosh disagrees with the viewthat pasta, confectionery and such areelitist in nature “unless we subscribe tothe view that masses of the country do notdeserve to have a diversified or balanceddiet”, she says there are other worries.“Sugar and fruit imports reflect not justfree trade agreements and other tra deliberalisation measures that are makingimports cheaper but also increasing cor-porate control over food distribution.”India will soon find itself in a cleft stickover the increasing tide of food imports. ■


THE American Granny Smith, a brightgreen apple for which some are willing topay a huge premium, travels 12,000 kmbefore it reaches consumers in Delhi. Thatis a lot of food miles the fruit totes up inits transcontinental journey and the resul-tant carbon impact on the environment.Should consumers feel guil ty as they biteinto the sour crunchiness of the fruit?Would it be more environment-friendly tosettle for the home-grown apple?

More people are stopping to considerthe impact that everyday goods—includ-ing food—have on the environment.

Food miles is the distance food travelsfrom field to plate and a measure of theenvironmental impact of the food we eat.In some countries, like the UK, half thevegetables and 95 per cent of the fruit

comes from abro ad. And a sizablequantity arr ives by plane, leav-

ing a higher carbon imprintbe cause air travel gives off

more CO2 than any otherform of transport.

In India, however,much of the fresh pro-duce and all the proces -sed food come by ship,which is the most envi-

ronment-frie ndly modeof transport. But as vol-

umes of imported freshfruit and vegetables

increase, trade might opt forair cargoes for this segment. But

reducing carbon footprint of food is notas simple as choosing not to buy importedproduce. Consider the carbon footprint offood that is trucked, say, all the way fromHimachal Pradesh to Chennai.

There is another school of thoughtthat the way crops are produced—organicand putting less stress on resources—should count more than food miles. Amore compelling reason is the argumentin favour of localised food systems, whichbring farmers closer to the consumer andallow the latter to keep an eye on howfood is grown and problems related to it.

And nothing beats the traditional wis-dom of eating seasonal. Despite the tra -de’s high-power promotion of a global su -pply system that obliterates seasonal barri-ers, food and sustainable agriculture expe -rts say it makes more sense to eat fruitsand vegetables in season and available loc -ally. It leaves a minimal carbon footprint.

QUESTION OF FOOD MILES

We are already far too affected byextremely volatile global prices,often for reasons unrelated to actualdemand and supply. To expose thecountry to import vulnerability is,therefore, insane

JAYATI GHOSHPROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS,JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

2005-06 2012-13

`56,519.95Crore

EDIBLE OILS


`8,961Crore

4.28 Million Tonnes

10.06Million Tonnes




Gujarat’s plan to increase institutional deliveries among expecting mothers has fallen flat

Premature scheme

2009

833

2010

824

2011

646

2013

475

Downward trend

Number of accredited doctors

Poor show

Deliveries under the scheme

Normal

760,226 (88.5%)

Caesarian

54,953 (6.3%)

Complicated

43,718 (5%)

Total

858,897

JYOTSNA SINGH Valsad

Twenty-four-year-old UshaBen, a tribal living inSantrampur tehsil of

Panchmahal district, delivered ababy at a private clinic in theabsence of a doctor. The baby wasdelivered by a nurse in the clinic.The doctor stopped attending to heras soon as she was told that UshaBen was a beneficiary of the Gujaratgovernment’s Chiranjeevi Yojana.Soon after the delivery she was senthome without the essential post-delivery checkup.

The state government’s financ-ing scheme that aims to reducematernal and infant mortality rateamong tribal and below poverty line(BPL) women by promoting institu-tional deliveries is in a shambles.The scheme was launched inNovember 2005, a few months afterthe Central government launchedthe Janani Suraksha Yojana underthe National Rural Health Mission,which, too, aims to improve mater-nal and child health.

Problems in Chiranjeevi Yojanaabound as women restrain fromavailing benefits of the scheme.Four months ago, Geeta Rathwa, aslumdweller in Vadodara, choseJamnabai Civil Hospital, a govern-ment tertiary care hospital, overprivate hospitals for her delivery.

Chiranjeevi Yojana aims to reduce maternaland infant mortality rate among the poor by promoting institutional deliveries

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare


20 Down To Earth • July 1-15, 2013

“Doctors ask for too many documents ifwe want to avail the scheme’s benefits,”she says. “Worse, they discriminatebetween us and those who pay for theservices. Initially, I had gone for myante-natal checkup to a private hospital,but the doctor there made me wait tillthe end,” she says.

The scheme was launched inNovember 2005 as a one-year pilot pro-ject in five most vulnerable districts—Banaskantha, Dahod, Kuchchh,Panchmahal and Sabarkantha. Later, itwas extended to the entire state. Non-income tax paying women belonging toabove poverty line group were alsoincorporated in the scheme. As per thescheme, the government signs agree-ments with private hospitals and paysthem a fixed amount of `2,80,000 for apackage of 100 deliveries, be they nor-mal, caesarean or complicated. Toarrive at a uniform 100 deliveries feepackage, the state government had con-sulted experts, SEWA Rural (a non-profitproviding health services in southGujarat) and representatives ofFederation of Obstetric andGynaecological Societies of India.

Eight years down the line, doctorsavoid the scheme as much as the benefi-ciaries. The number of doctors affiliatedwith the scheme has dropped from 833in 2009 to 475, health ministry’s latestdata shows (see infograph on p21).

Sore over remuneration“We get `2,800 per delivery. This ismuch lower than what we charge frompatients otherwise,” says a doctor of anaccredited private hospital in Vadodaraon condition of anonymity. In 2009, thestate health department held a meetingwith doctors of all the accredited privatehospitals in Valsad district. Here, doc-tors argued that the remuneration wastoo less. In Vadodara, normal delivery ata private clinic costs at least `7,000,while caesarean costs up to `40,000. InValsad, normal delivery costs between`4,000 and `5,000, and caesarean costsbetween `15,000 and `25,000.

Doctors also complain of a tediousverification process. Earlier, they had tofill a simple two-page form. The firstpage was a checklist of services providedby the private hospital and the secondpage needed information to prove thatthe patient was BPL or tribal. But now,the government has made the process

stringent. “We do not have the expertiseto verify documents from anganwadisor district officials which can prove thatthe patient, indeed, is BPL or a tribal,”says the doctor in Vadodara.

The state government made theprocess of documentation stringentafter cases of financial fraud by doctorsstarted pouring in. An auxiliary nurseand midwife (ANM) at Umargaon villagein Valsad got a pregnant woman regis-tered under the scheme at a private hos-pital. But when the woman went to thehospital for delivery, the doctor askedher to pay `10,000. The hospital staffwas angry and misbehaved with herwhen she refused, says the ANM, request-ing anonymity. “The hospital wantedmoney from the government as well asthe patient,” she adds. The Valsadhealth department has ordered closureof three such private clinics.

A 2012 study on the impact of thescheme indicates that doctors do avoidtreating the beneficiaries. The IndianInstitute of Public Health (IIPH),Gandhinagar, compared the number ofcaesarean deliveries among beneficiariesand non-beneficiaries in private hospi-tals in Sabarkantha. The researchersinterviewed 224 mothers from 23Chiranjeevi Yojana-accredited hospitalsand 372 from 43 other facilities. Theyfound the rate of caesarean deliveriesamong the scheme’s beneficiaries was 6per cent compared to 18 per cent amongnon-beneficiaries.

“Introduction of the scheme, whichgives a fixed amount for all deliveries,

has brought the number of caesariandeliveries down,” says DileepMavalankar, director of IIPH and leadauthor of the study. However, it is alsopossible that the doctors chose onlythose patients who needed normaldelivery, he says.

The way aheadDoctors have ample arguments foravoiding the scheme, but none givesthem the right to give patients substan-dard treatment, says Sunanda Ben ofGujarat-based non-profit Sahaj, whichworks among the urban poor to reduceinfant and maternal mortality rates.“They can pull out of the agreement ifthey like, but they cannot discriminate,”she says. To emerge from the situation,the government plans to increase theincentives, says A S Sanghvi, chief dis-trict health officer, Valsad. “We arethinking of increasing the rate to `4,000per delivery,” he says.

The need of the hour is strict moni-toring and grievance redressal, saysMavalankar. “To strengthen thescheme, human resource and infra-structure must be developed,” he says.“We need to train Accredited SocialHealth Activists and ANMs to keep acheck on malpractices. This apart, morehealth clinics should be opened withineveryone’s reach,” he says.

Indu Kapoor, director of non-profitCenter for Health Education, Trainingand Nutrition Awareness, Ahmedabad,says stress should be on safe deliveryrather than on institutional delivery.“There are places in tribal or rural areaswhere no ambulance can reach.Traditional birth attendants should beencouraged at such places,” she says.The design of the scheme limits itsreach. Sparsely populated tribal areasare sure to have less gynaecologists. Tocater to remote areas, Gujarat govern-ment signed an agreement with the gov-ernment of Daman and Diu. That toodid not materialise.

“It is also wrong to assume that pri-vate hospitals per se are good and wouldprovide acceptable services. A schemelike this requires regular monitoring. Itseems that the government has shunnedits responsibility by signing agreementswith private hospitals, and all that theycare about is profit. The loser in the endare expecting mothers who requireutmost attention.” ■

“Doctors complain thatremuneration under the scheme is too littleand the verification procedure tedious

Advertisements

CATCH RAINWATERSolve your water problems

Technical advice for planning and designing rainwater harvesting

Every Friday between 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

provides detailed technical guidance to interested individuals, RWAs and institutions to

implement rainwater harvesting. The technical assistance will be provided at CSE’s office - 41,

Tughlakabad Institutional Area. If you are interested in setting up a water harvesting system at

your place, please get a prior appointment.

Water Programme Unit

Centre for Science and Environment

41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area

New Delhi - 110062

Phone: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394, Fax: 29955879

Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Mobile: +91 9013900696


HEAVEN’SRAGE

SURVIVORS OF THE UTTARAKHAND

FLASH FLOODS SHARE HAIR-RAISING

TALES OF THEIR ORDEAL AND YET-TO-

BE-EXPLAINED FREAK WALLS OF WATER

GUSHING DOWN HILL SLOPES.

SOMA BASU REPORTS FROM GROUND

ZERO HOW THE TRAGEDY UNFOLDED

BEFORE AFTER

2,052houses wiped

out

147bridges

collapsed

1,307 roads

destroyed

C O V E R S T O R Y

KEDARNATHTEMPLE

KEDARNATHTEMPLE

SANJAY SEMWAL

OFFICIAL FIGURES OF THE DEVASTATION IN UTTARAKHAND


At 7.18 pm on June 16, RamSingh heard the loudest crackin 45 years of his life. It wasthe deafening roar of a disas-ter. “I felt as if the sky hadbeen torn asunder. Within

seconds, a massive wall of water gushedtowards Kedarnath Temple. Huge boul-ders flung into the sky like an explosion.In less than 15 minutes, thousands ofpeople were swept away,” he recallslying at the Rudraprayag district hospi-tal. Singh was on the Char Dham yatrawith 17 people from his hometownUjjain in Madhya Pradesh. He is return-ing with only five. The rest are missing.The group had gone to see aarti at thetemple. Singh says his daughter, broth-er, sister-in-law and 70-year-old unclemust have been ambling around themarket after the aarti when disaster

struck. “My son wanted to see the hills,so I took him along. My wife followedus,” he says. “That is how we survived. Ihave no clue where the rest are.”

Six kilometres below, Rambara vil-lage is a resting point for devotees goingto Kedarnath Temple. Its 43-year-oldresident Sankar Gosai shudders torecount the sight of the enormousamount of water gushing down themountain. In no time, long stretches ofa road and houses were swept away. “Ithad been raining nonstop since June 14.Fearing flood, we had climbed up thehill. But we never imagined that such ahuge amount of water could swoopdown all so suddenly,” he says. Gosaiwalked down the precarious mountainfor two full days till he reachedRudraprayag town.

Rakesh Singh, 36, had a miraculous

escape because he clim bed the templeroof. He came to Kedarnath with 12family members. He does not knowwhere the others are.

It all started at Chorabari glacier, saypeople who have managed to return.The glacier lies on the slope of the 6,940-metre Kedarnath peak of the Himalaya.The glacier is 7 km in length, its basinarea is 38 sq km and the ice cover is 5.9sq km. It has two snouts—one is thesource of the Mandakini (at 3,865metres) and the other becomes theChorabari Lake (at 3,835 metres).People recall that on June 16 the lakeexploded when clouds burst over it. Thelake is 6 km from the temple upstreamthe Alaknanda. Ensuing rains cut off thehilly districts of Uttar kashi,Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Pith oragarhfrom the mainland and battered the

Only broken houses, bodies and boulders can be seen in Kedarnath ROHIT DIMRI

land till it crumbled.Pithoragarh faced the disaster

twice—on June 16 and on June 22, saysNaresh Ram, resident of Kholi village.There, the lake of Miliam glacier burstwhen clouds burst over it leading tooverflow of two rivers which emergefrom the glacier—the Goriganga andthe Kaliganga. The lake still holds a lotof water, so the district may witness asimilar disaster soon, he warns.

“I have never seen anything like this.It was as if someone was throwing waterfrom under the ground,” says VivekRawat, 27, who worked at a hotel inGaurikund, about 15 km fromKedarnath. Almost everything inGaurikund is demolished, he says.Eyewitnesses have similar stories fromKedarnath Temple and Hemkunt Sahib.Nobody is yet sure of the reason.

On June 18, Sushil Singh, resident ofMirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, ran downfrom Gaurikund to Gaurigaon to savehis life. There is no trace of the 14 peo-ple he came with, he says. Around 5,000people like him reached the village. Butmost were ill. They had swallowed mudthat had flowed with the water. Manydied of it at Gaurigaon. The rest waitedbeside the bodies, to be rescued.

On June 19, as the army was battlingagainst time to rescue people, there wasutter chaos in the administration.Bureaucrats, sitting inside expensivehotels, were screaming on their mobilephones. At the Rudraprayag police con-trol room, no one knew what action totake. It took Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde to come down toUttarakhand to admit that there was nocoordination among government agen-

cies, which was hampering rescue oper-ations. The only piece of informationthat seemed to make sense was an 11-page report that the district informa-tion officer was quoting to journalists.The report, prepared by the StateDisaster Management Control Room inDehradun, gave an assessment of thescale of the disaster.

At 5 pm, Rudraprayag town wel-comed the first batch of people fromBadrinath, Govindghat, Pandukeshwarand Gaurikund who came in 11 vehi-cles. The Army and the state govern-

ment had managed to link the upperhills to the town. As the buses and pri-vate taxis stopped, people ran towardswater, food stalls and the medical deskwhere the Rudraprayag Vyapar Mandalhad organised free service for victims.

Akhilesh Srivastava of Jhansi wepton seeing food. His family was strandedat Hemkunt Sahib near the Valley ofFlowers. Army personnel helped themwalk down to Govindghat in Chamolidistrict, from where they were taken toJoshimath. They trekked tillRudraprayag because they had run outof money. “Private taxis were chargingdouble the fare and the private heli-copters were demanding `50,000 perperson to reach us to safety,” he says.During the trek, they sucked their wetclothes when thirsty. His six-year-oldson chewed grass in the night when hecould not withstand hunger pangs.

On June 20, when Down To Earthreached Kedarnath, it was clear that theState Disaster Management ControlRoom had presented only 10 per cent ofthe real picture. The temple town wasstinking of rotting bodies. The groundlevel had risen by about two metres andbodies could be seen stuck in the debrisat about every 10 metres. The lanes werestrewn with crumbled tin sheets andbroken pieces of wood. “Kedarnath isnow haunted,” says Rakesh Singh, wait-ing at Rudraprayag to be airlifted by anArmy sortie.

Colossal lossEvery year, Uttarakhand’s Garhwal regi -on receives pilgrims in thousands forChhota Char Dham yatra—Gangotri,Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.It also receives heavy rains and suffersfloods. But the loss the region has suf-fered this time is horrifying.

According to the Char Dham con-trol room records, there were 26,000people in Kedar Valley on June 16. Thisis where the temple is located. Recordsalso show that 39,000 people had left thevalley that day for Badrinath, Gangotri,Yamunotri and Hemkunt Sahib. Thegovernment’s figure of about 800 totaldeaths is too conservative. The number,clearly, is in many thousands.

The raging Bhagirathi, Alaknandaand Mandakini have swollen like neverbefore and swept away whatever camein their way. As many as 2,052 houseshave been wiped out, 147 bridges have

C O V E R S T O R Y

I have never seen anything like this. It was as if someone

was throwing water from under the ground

VIVEK RAWATRETURNED FROM GAURIKUND

Trekking from Joshimath toRudraprayag, we sucked wet

clothes when thirsty. My six-year-old son chewed grass when he

could not withstand hunger

AKHILESH SRIVASTAVARESCUED FROM HEMKUNT SAHIB

Around 5,000 people had reachedGaurigaon to be rescued. Some had

so much mud inside their body that they died there itself

SUSHIL SINGHRESCUED FROM GAURIGAON

Landslide in lower Rudraprayag destroyed a road, making relief work difficult

SOU

MIK

MU

KH

ERJEE / CSE

25July 1-15, 2013 • Down To Earth

collapsed and 1,307 roads destroyed,says Rakesh Sharma, state infrastructuredevelopment commissioner. The upperreaches of Uttarakhand look as if theregion has travelled a hundred yearsback in time.

The Gangotri and Yamunotri high-ways are damaged at several places. Therivers have damaged the 36-km stretchfrom Uttarkashi to Bhatwari at sixplaces. Higher up, roads are damageddue to landslides. “The stretch of roadbetween Matli to Maneri in Uttarkashiis so badly damaged that one cannot tellwhen it can be repaired,” says Sharma.Three drinking water projects have gotwashed away in Garur block, while 71streams and 40 canals have been dam-aged. As per preliminary estimates, saysSharma, the disaster has costUttarakhand `50,000 crore in infra-structural loss. Uttarakhand Jal VidyutNigam Limited has suffered loss of `77 crore apart from the `50 crore lostin power generation.

Who’s the culprit?Residents now wonder how it all happened. “The river has come down tocleanse Uttarakhand of its greed,” saysRam Chandra, a driver at Dehradunwhose family is in Pauri. Thousandspaid with their lives for the ablution.The 62-year-old, once a panchayatpradhan, maneuvers his vehicle throughthe hydropower projects and mutters,“These are the real culprits. Look atthem. They ruined us all.”

The mountain was never so fragile,

says Harish Rawat, a BSc student inBhatwari region. Heavy machines ply-ing every day on kuchcha roads haveweakened it, he says. “Now we sufferlandslides more often.” Rawat lost hishome to a landslide in 2010, whichwiped out 25 houses and 28 shops.

Ram Prasad Tomar, a driver atUttarkashi, agrees. “Contractors comefrom urban areas and do not under-stand the mountain. They cut it open,which causes landslides. Then, they gobankrupt clearing the debris.”

Near Silli village, 17 km fromRudraprayag, the Mandakini has shiftedcourse and washed away all the struc-tures along its banks, says PrakashThapliyal, who lost his house. “The rivershifted course because of Larsen andToubro’s Singholi-Bhatwari hydropow-er project. All the debris was dumped onthe riverbed,” he says.

In Srinagar, the training centre ofSashastra Seema Bal was damaged apartfrom several houses in low-lying areas.“The deluge was the result of the dam atSrinagar. Its floodgates were openedwithout warning. The water carried allthe debris at the dam site and brought ithere,” says resident Arun Negi.

In August 2012, when flash floodsoccurred in Uttarkashi, theUttarakhand Disaster Mitigation andManagement Centre had recommendedstrict regulation of developmental ini-tiatives near streams and rivers. No heedwas paid to it.

In Rudraprayag, no structure isallowed within 100 metres from the

river’s banks. The flood widened theriver’s course by 15 metres and causeddamage worth crores of rupees.

“What else does one expect from the mountain if there is heavy touristrush at vulnerable areas. The Himalayais a young mountain and you dynamiteit to build roads. Landslides are boundto happen,” says Anand Sharma, execu-tive director of DehradunMeteorological Centre.

In the wake of the disaster, JayanthiNatarajan, minister of environment andforests, issued a statement that theNational Ganga River Basin Authorityhad notified 130 km stretch fromGaumukh to Uttarkashi as an ecosensi-tive zone on December 18, 2012. Thenotification, thus, prohibits activitiessuch as setting up of hydroelectricpower plants of more than 25 MW,extraction of river water for new indus-trial purposes, mining except fordomestic needs, stone quarrying, defor-estation, burning of solid waste.Natarajan, however, did not mentionthat the area near the Alaknanda and theMandakini has not been notified. This iswhere stone quarrying is done most.

“Tell me one place in the Himalayathat is not ecosensitive,” says AnilPrakash Joshi, former teacher andfounder of non-profit HimalayanEnvironmental Studies andConservation Organisation. “Till whenwill we play with nature?”

With inputs from photographer SoumikMukherjee

Kedarnath is now haunted, say people. A picture of the temple’s doorstep shows why

ROH

IT DIM

RI


JYOTSNA SINGH and

KUMAR SAMBHAV SHRIVASTAVA

Who is to be blamed for the bur-geoning number of deaths inUttarakhand? Ten days after

gargantuan amount of water rolleddown the Himalayas, weather scientistsare still trying to understand what wentwrong. The prognosis may still takesome time, but as the tragedy unfolded,it was clear that different state govern-ment agencies have a lot of blood ontheir cuffs.

Despite warnings from the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD), thestate machinery could not crank itselfup to meet the challenge. On June 13,IMD’s Delhi centre, which serves weather-related needs of seven northIndian states, issued a warning that thestate would receive “rather heavy rainfall”. The term denotes precipita-tion between 35.6 millimetres (mm)and 65.4 mm within 24 hours. The fore-cast was elevated to “heavy rainfall”(64.5 mm to 124.4 mm) on June 15. OnJune 16 and 17, IMD warned of

“extremely heavy rainfall” (244.5 mmand above). But the state governmentfound its feet stuck in the mud evenbefore the rains had arrived.

At 9 a.m. on June 15, IMD’sDehradun centre issued a bulletin to thestate government that five places in thestate—Joshimath, Badrinath,Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri—would receive “rather heavy” to“extremely heavy rainfall” in the next 72hours. The forecast was sent to execu-tive director of the state managementand mitigation centre, inspector general

C O V E R S T O R Y

POOR COORDINATION BETWEEN DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AMPLIFIED THE IMPACT

Army creates a bridge on the Pindar to rescue people

Caught unprepared


of police (intelligence), inspector gener-al of Indo-Tibetan Border Police,Doordarshan and local media. IMD

advised pilgrims to cancel their travel up

the hills. The State DisasterManagement Authority (SDMA) was alsointimated but did not know what to do.

The state is among five in the coun-

try to have Disaster Mitigation andManagement Centre (DMMC), anautonomous body for disaster manage-ment. Once SDMA and DMMC receive the

Many reasons for one calamityCloudburst in Uttarakhand is nothing unusual for weathermen.Moisture-laden clouds imploding and dropping large volumes ofwater over a few villages is a common peril in the hill state. But theevents of June 16 were unprecedented; it was not a cloudburst buta vicious natural event akin to a gigantic watery bulldozer rumblingdown and flattening everything. The cause of the calamity is still notclear.

Cloudburst was ruled out within the first few days of the disaster. The few Kedarnath pilgrims who survived called theonslaught Himalayan tsunami. The rocks and boulders that camedown made geologists and glaciologist wonder whether it wasGlacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), a phenomenon the Himalayasare becoming prone to because of global warming. But the theory isslowly losing steam.

What has puzzled scientists is that the region did not receive anextraordinary amount of rainfall to have caused such a huge flood.India Meteorological Department (IMD) does not have a rain gaugenear Kedarnath Temple, so it cannot say how much rain fell there.But it does know that heavy rains are not unexpected there.Between June 14 and 18 most places, including the ones that wit-nessed maximum damage, received what IMD calls “heavy rain-fall”—64.5 millimetre (mm) to 124.4 mm in 24 hours, a categorybelow “extremely heavy rainfall” (124.5 mm to 244.4 mm). Tharaliin Chamoli district received 173 mm rainfall on June 17. That day, inUttarkashi, Dunda received 185 mm rainfall and Purola 165 mm.Only Dehradun received “extremely heavy rainfall” on June 17 with370.2 mm.

Meteorologists are considering whether the timing of the rain-fall could have created the problem. Monsoon hits the Himalayanstate in July. Satellite images of National Remote Sensing Agencyshow substantial increase in the amount of snow in the area aboveKedarnath Temple on June 21, an indication that the area aroundChorabari Lake, the snout of the Mandakini received heavy rainfall.Heavy precipitation, both in the form of snow and rain led to largeamount of water flowing down the slope. This brought down debrislying on the path to the Kedarnath settlement. The satellite imagesalso show that this precipitation led to release of a lot of water, somuch so that a new stream was formed in the area. It is uncertainwhether the Chorabari Lake also breached leading to huge gushes,although many survivors on pilgrimage to Kedarnath say it did.Nevertheless, the quantum and force of water was enough to wreak havoc.

J Srinivasan, professor at the Centre for Atmospheric andOceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, says,“Heavy and prolonged showers occur in July or August. Heavy rain-fall in June has its own significance. It snows heavily in theHimalayas in March, April and May. In June the snow melts, increas-

ing the water levels in rivers and streams. Snow melts faster when itcomes in contact with water than air. Thus, heavy precipitation,which happened this time for days together, led to faster rate ofsnow melting. All these factors came together to produce such alarge amount of water within two to three days.”

Glaciologist Anil Kulkarni, who is a visiting scientist at theIndian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, adds a bit more. Kedarnathreceived 120 mm rainfall in 24 hours before the flash flood on June16. There is evidence that a small lake was formed during theserains above the Kedarnath town (see satellite image). The 1-hectarelake contained 10 million litre water. The lake must have lasted asmall duration and its water must have come down along with thewater from the glacier. The lake burst due to a breach in the block-ade. Coupled with heavy rains in the area, this caused flash floods.Because of the lake there was excessive stream run-off and a thirdchannel emerged.

Gopal Singh Rawat, senior scientist at the International Centrefor Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, compares satel-lite images of Kedarnath taken before and after the event. It showsa rightward shift of the extreme left water channel. The stream,along with other streams, flowed towards the main habitation,leading to the disaster. —JS

Satellite explanation

Glaciologists say a small, temporary lake breached andadded to the storm water, which caused the deluge

KEDARNATH

SMALL LAKE ANDBLOCKADE

NEW CHANNEL

CHORABARIGLACIER

Representative image


C O V E R S T O R Y

warning, they should relay it to districtmagistrates. Every district should have adistrict disaster management authority(DDMA), which should comprise peoplewho can interpret IMD data.

On June 16, state government offi-cials did nothing more than issue anadvisory about open and blocked roads.Soon, heavy downpour caused floodsand landslides. Mud and debris fromhill slopes cut off vital road linkageswithin the state. Twelve bridges crum-bled. On June 17, the state governmentfinally shook off its inertia. The chiefsecretary held a meeting with the statedisaster management team and issuedan alert that rescue operations shouldbegin on June 18. But by this time mostof the damage had been done.

Paper tigersThe shoddy relief and rescue work wasbecause the authorities have nothing toguide them. The Disaster ManagementAct of 2005, under which the NationalDisaster Management Authority(NDMA) and the SDMAs were set up, givesbroad guidelines for disaster manage-ment. Every state has to frame its owndisaster management Act keeping localconditions and dangers in mind. TheUttarakhand government failed to doso. Since there is no such Act, districtmagistrates do not know the standardoperating procedure, say senior SDMA officials.

“There are limited number of roadsthat connect villages in Uttarkashi andChamoli,” says NDMA member JyotiKumar Sinha. “We had suggested to thestate authorities that they identify loca-tions on roads where food stock andsupplies could be stored for trekkers. Atleast the food shortage that many pil-grims faced in disconnected areas couldhave been averted to an extent,” he says.

SDMA was formed in 2007. But fiveyears later, it is yet to frame a disastermanagement plan, the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) of India, whichaudited SDMA, stated in its report. CAG

also pointed out that only 66 of the 117sanctioned posts in the state authorityhave been filled up.

In May and June 2011, NDMA hadconducted mock drills in Dehradun,Haridwar and Tehri Garhwal to test dis-aster preparedness in Uttarakhand. Theresult of the drill was not made public,but it was clear that there were commu-

nication gaps between governmentagencies. It also noted that coordinationbetween agencies at state and districtlevels was better than at the local level.This, in effect, meant that practicalimplementation of disaster manage-ment would have gaping holes.

NDMA indictedNDMA was constituted in 2006 to laydown policies and guidelines for effec-tive management, risk mitigation andprevention of disasters in the country. Itis headed by the prime minister. Its per-formance in the last seven years hasbeen anything but sterling.

The authority is accused of taking upprojects and leaving them incomplete.In 2008, NDMA initiated a nationwideproject on floods and landslide mitiga-tion. These projects have either beenjunked or have gone back to the drawingboard midway. Similarly, a project toprepare a vulnerability atlas of land-slides, floods and earthquakes startedfive years ago. It is still incomplete.

In April 2013, CAG placed a report inParliament pointing out that NDMA isnot properly informed about the disaster management work in states.Projects that were initiated for disaster

preparedness and mitigation have not been properly implemented, itstates. Worse, since 2010 the authorityhas been functioning without a coreadvisory committee of experts thatadvises it on different aspects of disastermanagement.

According to the DisasterManagement Act of 2004, NDMA shouldhave an advisory committee of expertsfor disaster management at the national, state and district levels. In2007, it constituted its first advisorycommittee for two years. The committee’s term was extended for ayear. After its end, setting up of a newcommittee was delayed because manyministries failed to nominate experts,say NDMA officials. At present, thenames are being reviewed by the PrimeMinister’s Office, they say.

The CAG report states that NDMA hasnot performed the functions as pre-scribed in the Disaster ManagementAct. These include recommending pro-vision of funds for the purpose of miti-gation and recommending relief inrepayment of loans or for grant of freshloans. Besides, several critical posts inNDMA are vacant and consultants wereused for day-to-day working.

EVERY STATE HAS TO FRAME A DISASTER MANAGEMENTACT KEEPING IN MIND ITS LOCAL CONDITIONS AND DANGERS. UTTARAKHAND FAILED TO DO SO

Pilgrims being ferried to safety near Sonprayag

ANUPAM CHAKRAVARTTY and

ANKUR PALIWAL

Ever since Uttarakhand was createdin 2000, the state government, be itof the Congress or the BJP, has been

working with one agenda—exploit nat-ural resources of water, forests and min-erals to develop infrastructure, withoutcaring for its consequences on nature.

The development is triggered most-ly by the deluge of pilgrims who visit theholy places in the state annually. In thepast decade, the number of tourists hasrisen by 155 per cent, the state’s tourismdepartment data shows. Last year, 28.4 million tourists visited the statebetween May and November. Thestate’s population is 14 million. There ishardly any place to accommodate thevisitors. A survey done by the IndianCouncil for Research on Inter nationalEconomic Relations in 2006 states thatthere are an average of 102.5 hotels permillion tourists in the state. Shortage ofdwelling units has led to mushroomingof illegal structures, some right on the

riverbanks. The state government’s2000 notification to prohibit construc-tion within 200 metres from the river-banks was not adhered to. In 2011,Dinesh Bhardwaj, a resident of Roorkee,filed a public interest petition in theUttarakhand High Court and identifiedseveral illegal structures along the banksof the Ganga, Song, Bhagirathi, Alak -nanda and the Mandakini. The Benchcomprising Chief Justice Barin Ghoseand Justice Alok Singh ordered the stategovernment to demolish all structuresalong the banks. But the state govern-ment did not act, says Bhardwaj. Floodshave brought down hundreds of smallhotels on the riverbanks.

The main indicator of a thriving realestate business are the Himalaya itself,hollowed down for boulders, pebbles,sand and gravel. Statistics of the forestdepartment show that between 2000and 2010, as many as 3,903.24 hectares(ha) forestland was diverted for miningprojects (see infograph on p30, 31).

To protest indiscriminate miningon the Ganga by a local quarrying and

sand mining company, SwamiNigamanand fasted for 68 days andfinally died on June 13, 2011. The thenenvironment minister Jairam Rameshwrote to the then chief minister RameshPokhriyal demanding an end to illegalmining. No action was taken.

What the state government did wasform a new mining policy which facili-tates auctioning of sites identified by thedepartment of mining and geology.Forest officials favoured passage of thepolicy and stated that it would help thestate government realise a profit of`300-`350 crore. When Vijay Bahug unabecame the chief minister in 2012, ten-ders were floated for mining, divertingadditional 1,608 ha for mining.

Unscientific mining helped riversincrease their width and change coursethis time. As per mining guidelines, notmore than 0.9 metre should be dug, butprivate mining companies go as fardown as 9 metres. Y P Sundriyal, profes-sor of geology at Hemwati NandanBahuguna Garhwal University inSrinagar, Uttarakhand, explains the

C O V E R S T O R Y


RAMPANT MINING ON THE RIVERBANKS AND INDISCRIMINATE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROPOWERPROJECTS FOREBODE DISASTER IN UTTARAKHAND

Abused and wounded

Floodgates ofthe 330-MWSrinagar Damin Pauri wereopened onthe night ofJune 16,which inundatedmany areas

SOUMIK MUKHERJEE / CSE


C O V E R S T O R Y

HIMALAYAN FOOTPRINTYAMUNOTRI

240% increase of tourists from

2001 to 2012

209,753pilgrims in 2013

till June 20

Haridwar

Rishikesh

Dehradun

YamunaGanga

Srinagar

Barkot

Worst-affected areas

Silla

Bhatwari

GuptkashiGaurikund

RambaraSonprayag

Hemkunt SahibJoshimath

Vishnuprayag

Govindghat

Rudraprayag

Gauchar

N

Map not to scale

1

7

8

9

1011

12

13

2

3

4

5

6

GANGOTRI


2001 to 2012


till June 20

KEDARNATH


2001 to 2012


till June 20

BADRINATH


2001 to 2012


till June 20

ANIRBAN BORA / CSE

Alaknanda

Ramganga

Goriganga

Kaliganga


C O V E R S T O R Y

DEVELOPMENT IN UTTARAKHAND IS MUCH MORE THAN THEECOLOGICALLY FRAGILE REGION CAN HANDLE, SHOWS DATA

DAMS, MINING, REAL ESTATE TAKE OVER

aftermath. Duringmonsoon, when the river

swells, it tilts towards the dug uparea, not only changing its course butalso putting roads and houses along theriverbank at a high risk, he says.

In the last decade, the state govern-ment has diverted 15,072 ha forestlandfor roads, irrigation, power transmis-sion and hydel projects.

Destruction by dams The website of Uttarakhand Jal VidyutNigam Limited (UJVNL) shows that 45hydropower projects with a total capac-

ity of 3,164 MW are operational inUttarakhand. The state plans to build199 big and small projects. In theAlaknanda-Bhagirathi basin alone, 69hydropower projects are built or pro-posed, states a report prepared in April2013 by the environment ministry’sInter-Ministerial Group (IMG) formedto consider environmental flows andhydropower projects on the Ganga andits tributaries.

Dams, no doubt, are essential formeeting energy requirements. But it isequally essential that the state government assesses how muchhydropower it actually needs. Dam con-struction involves blasting, excavation,debris dumping, movement of heavymachinery, diversion of forests andrivers. This has a huge cumulativeimpact on Himalayan ecology. The needis to make sustainable use of resources

with minimal disturbance to ecology.“The way projects are being executed isdisastrous,” says Vimal Bhai ofHaridwar-based non-profit Matu JanSangathan.

The 69 projects, when implemented,would affect 81 per cent of theBhagirathi and 65 per cent of theAlaknanda. Most of these are small pro-jects which would reroute rivers’ waterthrough tunnels cut through the moun-tain, leaving long stretches of the riversdry. Worse, the project proponents donot leave enough space between twoprojects for the river to regenerate. Twoprojects should be at least 3-5 km fromeach other, Delhi non-profit Centre forScience and Environment (CSE) has sub-mitted in the IMG report.

The problem aggravates becausesmall projects do not require environ-ment impact assessment (EIA). The

PAURI

HYDEL PROJECTS

13RIVERBED MINING

67.91 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

610.7 ha

8

PITHORAGARH

HYDEL PROJECTS

62RIVERBED MINING

34.08 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

1,281.6 ha

9

RUDRAPRAYAG

HYDEL PROJECTS

19RIVERBED MINING

51.38 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

299 ha

10

TEHRI GARHWAL

HYDEL PROJECTS

23RIVERBED MINING

29.56 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

1,522 ha

11

UTTARKASHI

HYDEL PROJECTS

42RIVERBED MINING

141.84 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

577.5 ha

12

UDHAM SINGH

NAGAR

HYDEL PROJECTS

1RIVERBED MINING

724.69 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

145.1 ha

TOTALHYDEL PROJECTS

244RIVERBED MINING

1,608.9 ha

FOREST DIVERTED15,072 ha

13

Note: 1. The number of hydropower projects includes operational and proposed projects 2. Data for forest diversions is from 2000 to 2010 Sources: Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, Uttarakhand government

ALMORA

HYDEL PROJECTS

1RIVERBED MINING

59.6 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

598.4 ha

1

BAGESHWAR

HYDEL PROJECTS

13RIVERBED MINING

13.87 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

478.3 ha

2

CHAMPAWAT

HYDEL PROJECTS

2RIVERBED MINING

182.8 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

308.5 ha

3

CHAMOLI

HYDEL PROJECTS

51RIVERBED MINING

115.8 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

1,766.7 ha

4

DEHRADUN

HYDEL PROJECTS

11RIVERBED MINING

63.51 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

1,203.1 ha

5

HARIDWAR

HYDEL PROJECTS

2RIVERBED MINING

-FOREST DIVERTED

5,176 ha

6

NAINITAL

HYDEL PROJECTS

4RIVERBED MINING

123.83 ha

FOREST DIVERTED

1,104.7 ha

7

C O V E R S T O R Y

Floods destroyed many illegal houses constructed on the riverbanks in Uttarkashi


cumulative impact of so many dams ona river can be horrendous. But there isno legal requirement to cumulativelyassess the impact of a series of dams on ariver during the EIA process.

In view of a Central WaterCommission report that reservoirs onsome rivers like the Ramganga are over-flowing with water 440 per cent abovethe normal mark, scientists say there is aneed to review dam building conceptssuch as Design Flood. This ensures thatthe dam can hold enough water to averteven a disastrous flood that may occuronce in a hundred years. But the Indianstandard for fixing criteria for designflood for safety of dams does not direct-ly incorporate the concept of hazard,states a study by N K Mathur andBhopal Singh of Central WaterCommission in 2012.

G P Patel, managing director ofUJVNL, believes there is no link betweendams and the recent floods. “Had damslike Tehri not been there, devastationwould have been manifold. The entirewestern Uttar Pradesh would have beenwashed out,” he says. On June 16, whenthe Bha girathi was swelling, the waterlevel in the Tehri reservoir reached 775

metres from 750 metres. The reservoircan accommodate water up to 830metres from the mean sea level. Anengineer at Tehri Hydropower Devel -opme nt Corpor ation, who did not wishto be named, says the dam was able toavert the disaster because rains came inJune, when the water level was low. Hada similar situation occurred in Oct ober,devastation would have been greater, hesays. Officials fear if there is more rain-fall in the coming days, Tehri’s flood-gates may have to be opened.

The situation aggravated this timebecause of indiscriminate dumping ofdebris and muck along the riverbanks.“This increases the erosive capacity ofthe river, which increases the river’swater level,” says Sundriyal. “This caus-es extensive destruction in the down-stream,” he adds. Environment min-istry’s guidelines say sites to dispose ofdebris should be identified in advance.

Unplanned construction ofhydropower projects also affects river’secological flow, or the minimum water ariver requires for its ecosystem andhuman needs. IMG recommended thatbetween November and April, at least30 per cent water of the river’s flow

should be maintained. Between Mayand October, the monsoon season, theecological flow should be 20 per cent.

As many environmentalists submit-ted a dissent note to this, CSE gave analternative after studying hydrologicaldata of 24 hydropower projects. Itfound that in winters, river’s flow wasless than 10 per cent of the high mon-soon flow in almost all 24 projects. Ifless than 50 per cent water is left in theriver, it will be reduced to a trickle inthese months. CSE suggested 50 per centflow for six months during winters and30 per cent flow in the remaining sixmonths. Based on this analysis, it statedthat it is possible to build hydropowerprojects on a river and still allow ecolog-ical flow.

The Himalayas are the world’syoungest mountain range. They areprone to erosion and landslides. Seismicactivity and rainstorms lash the region.Mindless development on this ecologi-cally fragile mountain is one of thebiggest reasons the floods have been sodevastating in Uttarakhand this time.“Nature has spoken, and more loudlythis time,” says Joshi. “We cannot affordnot to listen to it any longer.” ■

PUSH

KA

R RAW

AT

Global partnerships. Over 25 years in the business. Cutting-edge technology. Multi-industry experience. Well

respected client base. Innovative, customised solutions. If there's anyone in the country who thoroughly

understands the dynamics of water treatment: from purification to recycling and management to

economics—it's Triveni. The Water Engineers.

THE WATER ENGINEERS

ENGINEERING WATER TO PERFECTION

WATER PURIFICATION WATER RECYCLING WATER MANAGEMENT WATER ECONOMICS

TRIVENI ENGINEERING & INDUSTRIES LTD.

WATER BUSINESS GROUP

A-44, Hosiery Complex, Phase-II Extension, Noida - 201305,

National Capital Region (NCR), India.

Phone: +(91)-(120)-4748000. FAX: +(91)-(120)-4243049

Email: [email protected]

www.trivenigroup.com

aw ttes e a r TrW e a& tm r ee nt taW

Indu srst or ti ca el S& laM iu pnic

Des si tgn n ean md pM iua qnu E f foa t ec ur

hliso niP e gt a Ss yn ste ed mno

C

r uP th ig y i SH y& sn toi et manilase

D

Advertisement

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) seemsto be in a rush to give clearances to development projects.Since January this year, MoEF has given green signal for forest-land diversion at an unprecedented rate. It has even diluted some provisions of the law to clear proposals that wereearlier denied clearance.

As per an analysis by Delhi NGO Centre for Science andEnvironment (CSE), the rate of granting clearances hasincreased by 42 per cent compared to last year. Since the startof this year to April, MoEF has allowed diversion of 12,571hectares (ha) of forestland. It had cleared 26,595 ha of forestland in the entire last year (see ‘Forests cleared’). Of theforest area diverted in 2013, 42 per cent was for mining, 22 percent for irrigation projects, 10.5 per cent for roads, 8 per centfor drinking water schemes, 6.5 per cent for hydro power projects and the rest for defence, transmission lines, pipelines,wind power and railways.

In addition to the fast pace of granting clearances, the rateof rejecting projects has nosedived—a mere 3.5 per cent forthe period (January 2013 to April), almost half the rejection rate for forest clearance since 1981, according to CSE.MoEF’s forest advisory committee (FAC), which decides on theclearances, has kept pending one-fourth of the proposalsowing to the need for additional information from the statesor proponents (see ‘Project tally’).

Making wrong rightSuch seems to be the urgency that MoEF has given a go-aheadto proposals that were earlier held in abeyance. In doing so, theministry has overlooked gross violations of the provisions ofthe Forest Conservation Act by the project proponents, findsCSE. The violations were noted by FAC and, hence, the projects

were denied clearance earlier. For instance, in Chhattisgarh’sHasdeo-Arand Coalfield 1,988 ha has been considered fordiversion in favour of the Gujarat Mineral DevelopmentCorporation Limited. FAC had rejected this diversion in 2010,saying the area falls in the “no-go” zone. In another contro-versial decision this year, FAC approved diversion of 1,000 ha inMaharashtra’s Raigad forest division following a request bythe chief minister. The diversion will pave the way for a drink-ing water supply project on the Kalu river proposed by theKonkan Irrigation Development Corporation.

The project was rejected in 2012 on grounds that the pro-ponent had neither furnished an environmental assessmentreport nor a rehabilitation plan; the project lay within sevenkilometres from a wildlife sanctuary and ecologically sensitiveareas of the Western Ghats and; breach of contract by the stateof not taking any new project in the area. While granting theclearance in January, FAC expressed concern over the overallimpact of the project but also justified it using Maharashtra’sstand: given the rapid urbanisation and subsequent increase indemand for drinking water, the Kalu river project is necessary.

Such decisions by FAC of overlooking the cumulativeimpact of projects owing to the pressure from the Central andstate authorities is fast becoming a trend.

Take the Tawang Hydropower Project Stage II inArunachal Pradesh that involves 117 ha of forestland. Duringits earlier meetings last year, FAC had set aside the project forwant of a comprehensive study to assess its cumulative impactin the Tawang basin. Later FAC was informed that in a meetingbetween the Ministry of Power and MoEF it was suggested thatthe “forests ministry may not insist on cumulative impactassessment while considering the proposal of very first projectin the Tawang River Basin”. FAC in its January 2013 meetingcleared the project noting that demand from the Centre andstates was mounting.

Clearance rushEnvironment ministry clears projects, even those rejected earlier, at an unprecedented rate



ANIRBAN BORA / CSE

SRESTHA BANERJEE

It is not just ecology that has been ignored. Wildlife too hastaken a backseat at instances of granting clearances. InDecember last year, clearance was granted for 778 ha to RohneCoal Company for mining in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. A reportby a FAC subcommittee in September 2012 noted the westernpart of the mining area, between Hazaribagh Sanctuary andPalamau Tiger Reserve, is a significant wildlife corridor, espe-cially for elephants. Following the observation, FAC said themining project will be considered further only after submis-sion of a wildlife management plan by the state. But inDecember when the project was considered for clearance, noplan was prepared or produced.

Another instance where wildlife has been undermined is inJharkhand’s Saranda forest division. In its January meetingthis year, FAC allowed diversion of 1,000 ha for mining activi-ties in favour of JSW Steel Limited. During the same meeting,512 ha was also granted in the same division for iron ore mining by Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. Saranda forest is animportant habitat for elephants. Diversion of forestland andsubsequent mining activities in the area will lead to fragmen-tation of the forest, a fact highlighted in a site inspection reportof the chief conservator of forests.

Besides dilution of clauses, violation of regulations are alsobeing played down while granting of clearances. FAC hadallowed Mahanadi Coalfields Limited to mine in 1,300 ha inOdisha despite knowing the company was violating the ForestConservation Act.

FAC itself noted the company had undertaken miningactivities in 586 ha without obtaining an approval. It has alsoillegally allowed Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and

Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited to use part ofits mine lease area for non-forest activities. What’s more, thecompany did not provide any evidence on settlement of rightsof forest dwellers. Still in December last year FAC granted clear-ance to the company, saying it is a public service unit.

From the way MoEF is granting approvals, it seems it isunder dual pressure from the Cabinet Committee onInvestment (CCI) and industry. CCI, headed by the prime minister, is envisaged as a way to deal with bureaucratic redtape that may harm growth of the economy. It has the authority to approve any project, which no other ministry orgovernment department can contradict or overrule. Since itsinception in December 2012, CCI has been instrumental inputting pressure on MoEF for giving clearance to big ticket projects. And this trend is clear from the number of clearancesgranted since January 2013. ■



Projectscleared

Area diverted (ha)

Monthly diversion (ha)

Projectscleared

Area diverted (ha)

Monthly diversion (ha)

Projectscleared

Area diverted (ha)

Monthlydiversion (ha)

1,714 27,189.76 2,266 859 26,594.5 2,216 63 12,571.4 3,143

2011 2012 2013 (till April)

Forests cleared

Project tally

FACmeeting

Total proposals

Projectscleared Rejected

To be considered

later

Jan-13 31 23 1 7

Feb-13 31 24 2 5

Apr-13 26 16 - 10

Total 88 63 3 22

Source: CSE analysis based on Union Ministry of Environment and Forests’ recordsNote: no meeting was held in March 2013


APARNA PALLAVI GADCHIROLI

Diwakar Bodda Telandi is tremu-lous as he poses for photographsfor Down To Earth (DTE). “This

won’t get us into trouble, would it?” heasks. “We have no one to protect us, sowe have to keep both the sides happy.”The two sides Telandi is referring to arethe state forest department and theNaxals who live in the Kamlapur forestrange adjoining his village Chitveli. Theforest range is in the southern part ofMaharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.

About 180 square kilometres in andaround the forest, which include sevenvillages, is home to about 15 geneticallypure Asian wild buffaloes. The area iscontiguous with the Indravati TigerReserve in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh,and is considered the most Naxal-infest-ed in the state. The forest department

has notified it as KolamarkaConservation Reserve as per its plan toprotect the highly endangered buffaloeswith participation of Madia tribals.

All, it would appear, is well. But forthe Madia tribals, safety is at stake. “Theforest department cannot save us fromthe Naxals if something goes wrong,”says Bandu Sidam of Chitveli. “Theycome in the night, slit throats and crossthe river to Chhattisgarh.” The forestdepartment denies there could be safetyissues, though its own patrolling staffdoes not stay in the quarters providedfor the purpose in the forest range, leavealone venturing into the forest.

Whither people’s consent?A conservation reserve was proposed bythe people, claim forest departmentofficials. Vinay Sinha, assistant principalchief conservator of forests, ecotourism

and wildlife administration, told DTE theKamlapur gat (group) gram panchayathad passed a resolution in favour ofconservation reserve in Dece mber 2011.The group consent is meaningless con-sidering that the Panchayats Extensionto the Scheduled Areas (PESA) Actdemands consent from each individualin the gram sabha.

As Sinha admits, the resolution doesnot mention names of the villages whichcomprise the gat gram panchayat, ques-tioning the authenticity of the docu-ment. Despite repeated requests, DTE

was not given a copy of the resolution.People say they were never a part of

any consent-taking process. Chitveliwas first told about the conservationreserve in Septe mber 2012, says Telandi.Tonder village, among the seven villagesidentified for conservation work,received only verbal intimation. Noconsent was taken, says village headmanMalu Kusram. In fact, people are noteven aware that their consent is requiredfor the endeavour.

This apart, the conservation plan isbeing prepared by a committee thatcomprises senior forest officials, conservationists and four tribals.Madias, the poorest and the most isolated tribals in the state, have literacyrate of two per cent. Obviously, they areonly show pieces in the committee, saysAjay Dolke of non-profit Srujan, which

Pawns in conservationMaharashtra forest department’s conservation model puts Madiatribals in Naxals’ line of fire

Diwakar Bodda Telandi shows the wayto the wild buffaloes’ habitat

� S P E C I A L R E P O R TPH

OTO

GRA

PHS : A

PARN

A PA

LLAV

I / CSE

works with Madia tribals in Naxal-affec -ted Bhamragadh tehsil in Gadchiroli.

Despite the participatory label, themodus operandi of conservation workdoes not have space for community par-ticipation or decision-making. Theactual conservation work, saysMahendra Chouhan, honorary wildlifewarden in Gadchiroli, will not be doneby the community as a whole, but byabout 50 tribals chosen by the depart-ment. They will be kept in camps andtrained to track and record movementof the buffaloes, prevent influx of cattle,poaching and felling, he says. Thoseemployed as guards would be paidremuneration of `6,700 and supervisorswould get `8,000 per month.

Such a system is patently wrong anddangerous, say observers. “PESA and theBiodiversity Act provide for communityparticipation and employment of peo-ple’s traditional systems of managementin participatory conservation,” saysDolke. Hand-picking individuals willsplit the community into artificial cate-gories like government supporters andNaxal supporters, he says. Bande Kusr -am’s son was not recruited at the forestand says jobs should be given to all.

Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, forest rightsactivist at Mendha Lekha village inGadchiroli, agrees, “Cash compensationto a few individuals will create discon-tent and rift within the highly impover-ished community. This is not participa-tory but proxy conservation; using trib-al youths to do the work that forest staffare unwilling to do.” If participatoryconservation is, in fact, the aim, the for-est department should first settle com-munity’s rights under Forest Rights Act(FRA) and give decision-making powersto community as a whole, say activists.

Pitting people against peoplePeople are aware that the forest depart-ment has placed them in a precarioussituation. “The department officials willbe angry if something happens to thebuffaloes, and the Naxals will be angry ifthe department does something they donot like,” says Telandi. “But we have nopower to ensure that nothing will gowrong. We cannot take responsibility ineither case.”

The forest department officials andconservationists say playing safe is suffi-cient to ensure safety. Chouhan, whoclaims to have taken the Naxals’ consentfor the conservation reserve, says, “Thearrangement is that no information

regarding Naxals will be passed to thepolice by either the people or the offi-cials doing conservation work.” Sinhaconcurs with the strategy. “If people tellus that Naxals want us to stop work for aday we will stop work,” he says.

But this is not enough, say people.Lalsu Nogoti, the first Madia law gradu-ate and a forest rights activist withSrujan, who lives in naxal-affectedBhamragadh, says, “The arrangementsmacks of Salwa Judum, pitting com-munity members against each other.The forest department is expecting peo-ple to act as go-betweens. They will be indanger of incurring Naxals’ wrath asthey will be doing the actual conserva-tion work.” Kanna Madawi, the firstMadia medical practitioner based inAheri tehsil, says, “Too much trust isbeing placed on word-of-moutharrangement. This makes the entire sit-uation unviable.”

No rights, only discontentSo why have people accepted the deal?The answer is simple and stark—theyhave no alternative. They cannot affordto antagonise the forest department andforego the employment opportunity.Or, for the matter, refuse the little legit-imacy that has come their way. “This isthe first time the forest officials havespoken to us,” says Kusram.

The forest department has a list ofbenefits people would get—solar lamps,fertiliser, seeds, irrigation tanks and theright to collect minor forest produce.What is missing on the list is settlementof rights under FRA, a must before anyprotected area can be notified.

In Chitveli, only one out of 14 fami-lies has received individual land underFRA, while the remaining claims havebeen rejected. In Tonder, most claimshave been rejected, though the exact fig-ure is not with the people. No village inthe vicinity of the reserve has applied forcommunity rights. “We would like tohave individual and community rights,”says Telandi, “We would like to con-serve our forests so that our incomefrom minor forest produce is secured,but the forest depa rtment officials donot talk about these.”

For the time being, people have theirfingers crossed. “We are happy that theforest department has taken us into con-fidence, but we are not really sure if wewill benefit from it,” says Telandi. ■



Department’s staff does not live in thehouses provided in the forest becauseof safety issues; (right) Bande Kusram,a Madia tribal of Chitveli village

38

HEALTH SCIENCES

Hidden layer

A new part has been discovered in the eye. Till now it wasthought that cornea, the transparent, circular part

at the front of the eye, has five layers. But it hasnow been found that a sixth one, named Dua’slayer after the scientist who found it, exists atthe back of the cornea. The new-found bodypart is a skinny but tough structure of 15

microns. Researchers believe that a tear in thislayer is the cause of keratoconus, an eye disease

where the cornea bulges and becomes cone-shaped.The finding would help advance understanding of a num-ber of diseases of the cornea. Ophthalmology, May 28 (online)


MATERIAL SCIENCES

Scabby bandageCommonly used bandages control bleeding and reduceinfection risk but are of no help in healing the wound.Taking inspiration from human scab a new type of bandagematerial has now been developed that can speed up heal-ing. It consists of flexible nano-scale membrane ofpolyurethane plastic woven into a pattern that mimics theunderside of scabs, which have tiny fibers arranged in thesame direction like velvet. These fibres help repair openwounds by attracting new cells from the bloodstream thatspeed up the natural healing process. ACS Applied Materials &

Interfaces, June 12

CLIMATE SCIENCES

Flood alertBy 2100 global warming will boost the frequency ofextreme flood events in 42 per cent of the earth’s land,including humid areas of India, Southeast Asia and Africa.Flood incidence is, however, projected to decrease in mostof Europe except the UK and northern France. This is theconclusion of a comparative analysis of 11 models for theimpacts of greenhouse gas emissions on 29 river basinsacross the globe. The analysis shows that if warming pro-gresses without effective countermeasures, many of theworld’s 29 major rivers would see massive floods, whichcurrently occur once a century, at an increased frequencyof every 10 to 50 years. Nature Climate Change, June 9 (online)

TECHNOLOGY

Battery booster

A new electrode material can make batteries run for longer.Negative electrodes of present day batteries are made ofgraphite, whose layers can store one lithium ion per carbonatom. The new material, lithium borosilicide, consists ofboron and silicon atoms connected tetrahedrally, like car-bon atoms in graphite. But unlike graphite it has channelswithin the tetrahedral structure. These channels provide 10-times more sites for lithium ion storage than conventionalgraphite layer does and, thus, highly increase the charge-storing capacityof lithium ionbatteries. Thiscould pave theway for laptopsand mobilephones that runfor days on a sin-gle charge.Angewandte Chemie, June 3

EVOLUTION

Tiny ancestor

Palaeontologists have discovered what they believe is theworld’s oldest known fossil of a primate in an ancient lake bedin China. The new species, named Archicebus achilles, livedabout 55 million years ago and was even smaller than today’ssmallest primate, the pygmy mouse lemur. It appears to havebeen a tree-dweller that used a leap-and-grasp motion. Theskeleton is about 7 million years older than the oldest fossilprimate skeletons known till date. It belongs to an entirely sep-arate branch of the primate evolutionary tree from those speci-

mens, lying much closer to the lineage leadingto modern monkeys, apes and humans.

The discovery provides insight intothe earliest phases of primate

evolution and bolsters a theorythat early primates first devel-

oped in Asia. Nature, June 5 (online)

ANIRBAN BORA / CSE

CAS / XIJUN NI

� S C I E N C E & T E C H N O L O G Y

Flood frequencyIncrease Decrease


S C I E N C E & T E C H N O L O G Y

ZOOLOGY

Sniff geneMosquitoes that spread deadlyhuman diseases like malaria, dengueand chikungunya generally distin-guish humans from other animalsusing body odour. Thus altering agene that helps mosquitoes sniff outhumans can help keep the peskyinsect off. Experiments on a geneti-cally modified mosquito have shownthat a specific gene called orco makesthe insects prefer humans over othermammals. While a mutant mosquitowith orco gene shut off might landon a human it flies off without bitingjust as it would do with a guinea pig.Given the ubiquity of orca gene inthe insect world, it can be of signifi-cant help in development of life-sav-ing repellants. Nature, May 29

BIOLOGY

Quack codeThe genome of wild duckhas been mapped. The birdis the principal natural hostof bird flu viruses but is a“silent carrier” and seldomdevelops flu symptoms. Thegenome analysis providesinsights into how duck’simmune system responds tobird flu infections. It revealsgenetic factors that protectwild ducks from harmfuleffects of bird flu. An under-standing of these factors canhelp develop treatments forbird flu in humans, whichhas become a major healthconcern in the past decade.Nature Genetics, June 9 (online)

EARTH SCIENCES

Sound alert

Sounds from undersea earthquakescan predict if a massive tsunami is onits way. When earthquakes shake theocean floor, they can trigger big killerwaves and produce sound waves thatmove 10 times faster than oceanwaves. Through computer modellingof acoustic data from the 2011 Japantsunami, scientists have found thatthese sound waves are very sensitiveto vertical sea floor uplift associatedwith a tsunami. The sonic signature,if captured in real time, could givescientists an idea about the height ofthe waves and provide 15 to 20 minutes of advance notice before atsunami hits. The Bulletin of the Seismological Society

of America, May 3

ASTROPHYSICS

Cradle of dustDiscovery of a “dust trap” around adistant star has given clues to solvethe long-standing mystery of howplanets form. Computer modelsshow that clumps of dust orbiting astar would either become largeenough to smash into other clumpsor drift too close to their parent star,breaking apart in both cases. They,thus, cannot survive long enough toform anything as large as a planet.New image of a region around ayoung star in Ophiuchus constella-tion has now shown a cashew-shaped dust cloud rather than theexpected dust ring. This unusualstructure could possibly work as aprotective cocoon, which traps largedust grains and keeps them safeduring the critical early steps ofplanet, asteroid and comet forma-tion. Science, June 7

HEALTH SCIENCES

Pricey drag

Your smoke break costs youremployer `537,208 a year. A first ofits kind study has shown that anemployee who smokes costs compa-nies more than one who has neversmoked. On average the employerloses `1,82,681 due to smoke breaks,`30,694 due to absenteeism, `27,428due to lose of productivity related tonicotine addiction and `1,22,064 inextra health care costs. But pensioncosts are slightly less for smokers—`18,000 less per year compared tonon-smokers—as they tend to dieyounger. The finding may helpemployers formulate better-informedtobacco-related policies. Tobacco Control,

June 3 (online)

DER

EK K

EATS

HU

GO

QU

INTE

RO

ESC

HIP

UL


MANUPRIYA

WE HAVE all heard about food chainsand food webs. In school they tell ushow an ecosystem is as simple as “whoeats who”. Grass is eaten by grasshop-per, which in turn is eaten by frogs. Afrog is then consumed by a snake, whichbecomes food for an eagle. Grass is alsoeaten by large herbivores like rabbitsand deer that are consumed by top car-nivores like cats, lions and humans. Butthis simple explanation misses out on avery important component of the web:parasites. These are organisms that liveon or in plant and animal hosts anddepend on them for food. But it’s onlyin the last decade that scientists havebegun to bother about how parasites fitinto the average food chain.

Some studies aiming to rid parasitesof this under-representation haveshown that including them can alter theexisting structure of food webs. Aninternational team of scientists hasnow, in a first, tried to examine if thesealterations are due to unique rolesplayed by parasites or simply due to anenhanced complexity owing to an addi-tion of more members (parasites in thiscase) in a food web. The study showsthat including parasites alters the struc-


ECOLOGY: food web

Caught in the webA study shows how inclusion of parasites alters food webs

Including parasites andtheir links in food webs hasa similar effect on the weborganisation as adding anyother new species

for linkages that theymay have with organisms

other than its host. Second,included parasites and all

possible linkages, direct andindirect, that it may have with all

organisms in a food web, like itslinkage with predators of its host

organism that inadvertently feeds onthe parasite while feeding on its prey.The third and the last version of foodweb did not include parasites at all.

“Our findings are significant becausethere was conventional wisdom emerg-ing that if you include parasites in foodwebs, they must alter food web structurein a way that upsets the last decade offood web theory,” says one of theauthors, Jennifer Dunne, who is a pro-fessor and chair of faculty for Science atSanta Fe Institute in the US. “Our studyshows that this is not accurate, instead inmost cases adding parasites and theirlinks has the same effects of food weborganization as adding any types ofspecies and links,” adds Dunne.

Maria Thaker, assistant professor atthe Centre for Environmental Studies ofIndian Institute of Science, inBengaluru, says this is the first study tovery clearly test the common assertionthat parasites alter food web structure.“While the authors find that parasiteschange food web structure in ways thatany other species would, they also findthat because parasites are small, closelylinked to their hosts and have complexlife cycles, they strengthen certainspecies connections,” says Thaker. “Wedon’t need to throw out everything weknow about food webs, we’ve just addedmore to our understanding of why somefood chains are tighter than others.Parasites link them.”

Dunne and her team members sayall of their comprehensive food webdata on parasites is currently fromaquatic systems and they are now look-ing to extend their analysis to terrestrialsystems with parasites. ■

ture of food webs but most of thechanges are due to increase in diversityand complexity and not due to uniquecharacteristics of parasites.

Apart from the generic changes, theresearchers also noticed that parasiteswere altering the food web in twounique ways: first by inadvertentlybecoming food to the predators whenthey eat the hosts the parasites live in oron and secondly in their role as con-sumers. In their complex life cycles,parasites often depend on several kindsof hosts for food and sustenance. Itscommon to see parasites hop from onespecies to another unlike the free-livingspecies who tend to feed on prey thatare more similar to each other.

For their study, published in PLoSBiology on June 11, the scientists exam-ined seven highly resolved marine foodwebs, including estuaries, salt marshes,tidal basins and mudflats. Three ver-sions of each web were analysed. Firstincluded parasites but did not consider



MEGHA PRAKASH

RADIO COLLARS, fire crackers, drum beats,powerful spotlights and electric fencingare commonly deployed to track themovement of elephants in villages and tochase them away. Still elephant-humanconflict is on the rise and nearly 500,000families get affected every year.

Researchers from CoimbatoreInstitute of Technology and SSN Collegeof Engineering in Chennai have nowdeveloped an elephant alert system thatuses SMS and General Packet RadioService (GPRS) technology to warn vil-lagers of approaching jumbos. Theirstudy was published in Current Science onJune 10. The researchers have taken inspi-ration for their work from a paper pub-lished in 2011 in International Journal ofConservation that described use of mobilephones to control human-elephant con-flict in Laikipia County, Kenya.

“The study is unique. Elephant move-ment is unpredictable and often villagersare too scared to come out of their housesto urinate,” says Surendra Varma, wildlifebiologist and conservationist at AsianNature Conservation Foundation, Benga -luru. Use of SMS may help alert officials andvillagers and could help mitigate human-

elephant conflicts, says Varma. The device design and function is sim-

ple. Geophones convert vibrations fromelephant footfall into an electrical signal,which generates a digital analogue code—zero or one. One indicates presence of anelephant. This information then gets for-warded to forest officials as an SMS, explai -ns S J Sugumar, lead author of the study.To deploy the new system, resear chersanalysed 20 years (1990-2010) of elephantmigratory data to understand the pachy-derm’s behaviour in three areas of highelephant-human conflict in Tamil Nadu—Nanjundapuram, Periya Thagad am andAnaikatti. This helped identify from wherethe elephants entered human settlements.

To distinguish elephant footfall fromothers, the researchers classified footfalloutputs for humans, lion and gemsbok aswell. Each geophone covers a range of 120square metre and five are enough to trackthe study area. However, Andre Pittet,chief project advisor to the department ofelectronics systems engineering at IndianInstitute of Science, Bengaluru, suggests itwould be interesting to find out if soundof cars and trucks may affect the systemand how the system would behave withwater content variation in soil as this mayaffect sound transmission. ■

TECHNOLOGY: elephant movement

Jumbo alertSMS-based alert system can drastically cut human-elephant conflicts

PHOTO : ARRANET

LEAFCUTTER ants are fungus farmers.They collect leaves, chew them and storethe pulp to grow a garden of fungi andbacteria. The fungi act as their food andenergy source. A study has now foundthat enzymes present in these gardenscould be refined for biofuel applications.

For the study, published in Appliedand Environmental Microbiology on June15, scientists used genome sequencing to

identify the enzymes present in the antgardens that convert plant biomass intoenergy and understand how they do it.They found that certain bacterial

enzymes break down leaf polymers andhelp release leaf cellulose. One symbioticfungus, Leucoagaricus gongylophorous,produces enzymes that break this cellu-lose into glucose subunits. These glucosesubunits are consumed by the fungus togrow and produce fruiting bodies rich infat and nutrients. It is these fruiting bod-ies that leafcutter ants feed on.

Genome sequencing showed thatthe enzymes identified by theresearchers are similar to known enzy -mes but are completely new and hadnever been characterised till date. Theresearchers believe a better understand-ing of these enzymes could help developcomparable methods for processing rawmaterials, such as corn stalks and grass-es, for bioenergy production. ■

BIOLOGY: biofuels

Tiny inspirationEnzymes from leafcutter antcolonies to aid biofuel research C

LINTO

N &

CH

ARLES RO

BERTSON



INDU M S

DESPITE an abundance of water filters inthe market, access to safe drinking waterremains a challenge for India and otherdeveloping countries. According to WHO,“Every year there are 2 million diarrhoealdeaths related to unsafe water, sanitation,and hygiene. The vast majority of them

are children under five.” IIT Chennairesearchers have invented a cheap waterfilter, which they claim could be helpfulin achieving the United Nati ons millen-nium development goal of sustainableaccess to safe drinking water.

The filter, described in PNAS on May6, uses nanomaterial to remove disease-causing microorganisms and toxic

heavy metals from water. It works byconstantly releasing silver ions, whichare an effective disinfectant, into thewater. Several silver-based anti-micro-bial devices have been designed in thepast but have not been viable. One ofthe reasons being presence of organicand inorganic impurities in water thatcling onto nanoparticle surface andhamper sustained release of silver, saythe researchers.

To find a way around this technicalconstraint, the researchers formulated acage-like nano-composite of aluminiumoxyhydroxide–chitosan with silver par-ticles embedded in it. This compositeensures sustained release of silver ions

TECHNOLOGY: water purification

Arsenic trapSilver nanoparticles caged in aluminium can rid water of arsenic

KUNDAN PANDEY

SABA and Farah, 17-year-old conjoinedtwins from Patna, can never be separatedsurgically. The reason: presence of justone kidney between their two bodiesjoint at the head. Even if an operation toseparate them is performed, one of thegirls will not survive due to the subse-quent absence of a kidney in her body.

Thousands others in India and

worldwide die of renal failure. This isbecause kidney transplants require anatural kidney obtained from a livingdonor or a dead body immediately afterdeath. Finding a person willing to partwith one of his two kidneys is difficult.Now bioengineered rat kidneys devel-oped by Massachusetts General Hosp -ital (MGH) have given fresh hope forthose suffering from kidney disorders.

The researchers developed the

replacement kidneys by stripping livingcells from donor kidneys and allowinganother rat’s own skin cells to regeneratekidney tissue onto them. The cell-strip -ped kidney provides a natural scaffold ofcollagen and extracellular matrix for sk -in cells to grow into a new kidney andhelps retain natural shape and structureof the organ. Bio-artificial hearts, lungsand livers have previously been devel-oped by employing a similar approach.

“What is unique about thisapproach is that the native organ’s arch -itecture is preserved, so that the result-ing graft can be transplanted just like adonor kidney and connected to recipi-ent’s vascular and urinary systems,” saysHarald Ott, senior author of the articleand principal investigator at the Centerfor Regenerative Medicine of MGH. Theartificial kidneys were able to produceurine in a laboratory apparatus as wellas after being transplanted into live rats.

The study was published online inNature Medicine on April 14. Bioengine -ered kidneys can someday eliminate theneed for human donors by paving theway for developing kidneys for humansusing animal kidneys stripped of cells,says Ott. The cell-free kidneys would actas a frame on which human kidneys canbe grown using patient’s own skin cells.

Sanjay Agrawal, head of thenephrology department at AIIMS, says itis good information and could provehelpful for many people suffering fromkidney disorders but if such a kidneywould be accepted by the body or notremains a concern. “It is not so simple.There are many more issues associatedwith kidney problems,” says Agrawal. ■

HEALTH SCIENCES: renal disorders

As good as realBioengineered kidneys can eliminate need for human donors

The kidney was able to produce urine in lab as well as when transplanted in rats

OTT LA

B, MA

SSAC

HU

SETTS GEN

ERAL H

OSPITA

L



AVIMUKTESH BHARDWAJ

IT IS common knowledge that breastmilk is the best diet for newborns.Several studies have even linked infantformula with chronic diseases such asobesity and type II diabetes in adult-hood. The basis of this link has, howev-

er, been unclear. Researchers fromUniversity of California, Davis andFonterra Ingredients Innovation, NewZealand, have found that feeding formu-la causes metabolic stress in infants andthis causes complications later in life.

The researchers used rhesus mon-key infants as human stand-ins for the

study published inJournal of ProteomeResearch on June 5.Two groups of fivemonkeys each weregiven two differentdietary treatments. Onegroup was fed standardinfant formula andother breast milk sincebirth. All the monkeyshad same weight atbirth but after threemonths it was foundthat formula-fed

infants had grown faster than the onesfed with breast milk. The study explainsthat a higher rate of growth at this stageleads to adult obesity.

Formula feeding may lead to othercomplications as well. The study notesthat higher growth rate in infants hasalso been linked with insulin resistancein adults. The results confirmed higherinsulin levels in serum of formula-fedindividuals, which could set stage forinsulin resistance. Formula-fed infantsalso showed pro-inflammatory respons-es that are immune system’s reaction toinjury or pathogens. This supports thehypothesis that formula feeding affectsthe immune system of infants, too.

Lactose level in excreta of formula-fed infants was also found to be higherthan that of breast-fed ones. This, thestudy explains, could be indicative ofdamage to the intestinal lining.

Arun Gupta, national coordinatorof Delhi-based Breastfeeding Promot -ion Network of India believes suchstudies should influence policies, thusextending support to women. “Com -mon belief is breastfeeding happensnaturally but in reality women needsupport at each level for it,” he says. ■

HEALTH SCIENCES: obesity

Fatal formulaHow infant formula leads to obesity in adulthood

into the water in an amount significant-ly less than the permissible limit set bythe US Environment Protection Agency(EPA). This eliminates a need for sec-ondary filtrations to remove excess sil-ver ions, say the researchers. Silvernanoparticles remain intact as the alu-minium cage reduces their contact withchemicals that might anchor on them.“What we have is a complete purifier.This takes care of all contaminants inwater—microbial, heavy metal, organ-ics. All of this is done with advancedmaterials. There is no solution of thiskind anywhere,” says T Pradeep, corre-sponding author of the study. “Thedevice is efficient in the sense that it pro-vides clean water as per EPA standards. Itcosts just 6-7 paise/litre for microbiallyas well as chemically safe water.”

However, Ashok Gadgil, divisiondirector and faculty senior scientist atEnvironmental Energy TechnologiesDivision of Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory in the US says, “The arsenicremoval in the PNAS paper was reported-ly tested in arsenic-spiked tap-water. Inour experience, Indian tap water has

pretty low phosphate ion concentration.However, these ions appear in high con-centrations in groundwater and com-pete for the same sites that are intendedto capture and remove arsenic.” So, theperformance and affordability of thesystem for removing arsenic from real

groundwater would be different fromthat with spiked tap-water, and thoseresults are not presented in the paper.

Another issue left unexplored in thestudy is the fate of the arsenic-ladensludge formed after rem oving arsenicfrom water, adds Gadgil. ■

ETANSIVAD

IIT Chennai researchers show a prototype of the new filter they have developed

CO

URTESY

: IIT CH

ENN

AI

SHALINI DHYANI

Many people in the Garhwalregion of Uttarakhand, particularly in remote valleys,

depend on a variety of wild plants forfood. While some pick them fromforests and alpine meadows, others cultivate them in kitchen gardens. Onesuch leafy plant favourite among theresidents is puyanu or Himalayan Peony(Paeonia emodi).

Endemic to the Indian Himalayanregion, puyanu grows in alpine pasturesand moist areas of forests. This perenni-al herb with its white flowers grows luxuriously under the canopy of walnut,maple and chestnut. Women collect itsleaves and tender shoots while fetchingfuelwood and fodder. February-April isthe best season to collect puyanu; leavesare not collected once flowering starts.

The leaves and shoots of puyanumake for a healthy vegetable but tastebitter. “Bitter taste accounts for most ofthe medicinal property of the plant,”says Surma Butola of Suraithota village

in Niti valleywhere puyanu iscalled chandra. InKedarnath valley, peoplesell pickle prepared frompuyanu or dhandru (localname) twigs during the reli-gious Kedarnath yatra seasonfrom May to October. “Tourists reallylike the taste and buy bottles for theirhomes,” says a resident. The puyanuproves to be a saviour during winterswhen snowfall disrupts daily life. Itsleaves are chopped, boiled, sundriedand stored in the form of leaf cakes,locally called suksu, for those chillingdays. In some villages of Garhwal, people enjoy dried fermented suksu veg-eatble with hot finger millet chapattis,fried red chillies and dollops of butter.

The list of medicinal benefits ofpuyanu does not end here. According toWealth of India, a publication on India’splant resources by the Council ofScientific and Industrial Research, therhizomes of puyanu are used as a tonicto cure backbone ache, dropsy, epilepsy,

eye disease, vomiting, while its seeds are purgative.

Locally, extract of fresh puyanuleaves and shoots is given to childrensuffering from stomach ache. “Everyhousehold has a bottle filled with theextract of puyanu leaves and shoots,”says Asha Semwal of Shersi village inKedarnath valley. People use roots ofthe plant for curing headache, dizziness,vomiting and uterine disease. An infusion of dried flowers of puyanu isconsidered useful for curing diarrhoea.

Small wonder, people of Garhwalrelish puyanu despite its bitter taste. ■

Shalini Dhyani is project scientist at theGujarat Institute of Desert Ecology

STIR FRIEDIngredients:Fresh puyanu leaves with twigs - 500 gmJakhiya (cleome) seeds or mustard andcumin seeds - half teaspoonChopped onion (optional) - oneDry red chillies - twoCrushed garlic clove - two to threeMustard oil - one tablespoonSalt to taste

MethodHeat oil in a wok and splutter cleome seeds.Add red chillies and fry for a minute. Thenadd onion and garlic; fry till brown. Add theleaves and mix well. Cover and cook on alow flame, stir occasionally. Remove fromflame when moisture has dried. Serve hot.

STIR FRIED MIXED LEAVESIngredients:Fresh puyanu leaves - 100 gmFresh spinach leaves - 100 gmFresh mustard leaves - 100 gmFresh potato leaves - 100 gmFresh cabbage leaves - four to fiveJakhiya (cleome) seeds or mustard andcumin seeds- half teaspoonChopped onion - one Dry red chillies - twoCrushed garlic clove - two to threeMustard oil - one tablespoonSalt to taste

MethodFollow same steps as in stir fried; add all theleaves along with puyanu. Serve hot.

� F O O D

R E C I P E


Stir fried puyanu leaves

On the wild sideResidents of Garhwal swear by the taste and

health benefits of a lesser known vegetable

Puyanu orHimalayan Peony

PHOTOGRAPHS: SHALINI DHYANI

BIODIVERSITY

FOREST

CLIMATE

INDUSTRY

WATER

DESERTIFICATION

AIR POLLUTION

HEALTH

TOXIC WASTEGOVERNANCE

} S C I E N C E A N D E N V I R O N M E N T F O R T N I G H T L Y

DownToEarth

Fill in the form overleaf. For online subscription paym

ent, login at ww

w.dow

ntoearth.org.in

subscribe to knowledge

(Please write in BLOCK LETTERS)

For myself To gift to a friend For my institution

Subscriber’s Name: Mr/Ms________________________________________________________Institution__________________________________________________________

Address: ■■ Off ■■ Res__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________State:__________________________________ Pin Code ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■

Phone: Off ■■ Res ■■ ____________________________________Fax: ______________________________________E-mail: _______________________________________

I wish to pay Rs ______________________ by ■■ Cash / MO ■■ Cheque / Demand draft (add Rs 15 for outstation / non-Delhi cheque) DD / Cheque No ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■

Dated ____________________________ payable to Society for Environmental Communications, New Delhi.

Buy online at http://csestore.cse.org.inAllow 2-4 weeks for delivery

A A N N U A L P U B L I C A T I O N

Avail your free gift offer + Access to Down To Earth Website with archives +

gobartimes Environment for beginners, A Down To Earth Supplement.

Colleges/Universities, Schools, NGOs & Govt/Private Sector etc. Individuals Only

Option @ Rs 45 You You You You cover price Save Pay Only Save Pay Only

❑ 3 Years (72 Issues) Rs 4,590 Rs 1,900 Rs 2,690 Rs 2,550 Rs 2,040+ 3 Annual Issues

❑ 3 Years Sub. only Rs 3,240 Rs 970 Rs 2,270 Rs 1,620 Rs 1,620

❑ 2 Years (48 Issues) Rs 3,060 Rs 1,160 Rs 1,900 Rs 1,590 Rs 1,470+ 2 Annual Issues

❑ 2 Years Sub. only Rs 2,160 Rs 540 Rs 1,620 Rs 970 Rs 1,190

❑ 1 year (24 Issues) Rs 1,530 Rs 530 Rs 1,000 Rs 740 Rs 790+ 1 Annual Issue

❑ 1 year Sub. only Rs 1,080 Rs 220 Rs 860 Rs 430 Rs 650

DTE Tariff — w.e.f. July 1, 2013

DownToEarth

TAKE A SIP OF THE YEAR’ S COLLECTED WISDOM ON WATER.

ANNUAL STATE OF INDIA'S

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2014

BESIDES WATER, IT WILL BRING YOU FACE TO FACE WITH ISSUES LIKE

LAND, POLLUTION, HEALTH, INDUSTRY AND MUCH MORE…


DownToEarthSales & Despatch Department, Society for Environmental Communications, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062 Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6394 Fax: 91-11-2995 5879 Email: [email protected]

THIS IS OUR INAUGURAL EDITION


When did you meet Laurie Baker?It was in 1984 when I was doing fieldwork for my final yearthesis. Baker was visting one of the sites. I walked up to himand started a discussion at the end of which I asked, “Can Iwork with you for two or three months?” He said, “I do nottake assistants. Why should I waste an assistant’s time to do adraft?” He wasn’t sure if he could pay me because that wouldadd to the construction cost. I said I was not interested in payment and would simply like to learn.

How did the experience of working with him impact yourarchitectural sense and general perception? I was able to learn by just watching him work. He was openand explained whatever he knew in simple language. Nobodydoes that now.

Baker once said that not everyone in India had “access toarchitecture”. What were his reasons?He strongly believed that the profession had a responsibility of

making architecture accessible to the common man and wasupset that it was not fulfilled. He showed another side of archi-tecture wherein he used the same standards in building for therich as for the poor.

When I met him in 1984, there were more than 20 millionfamilies without a house and many more were living in structures without the benefits of architecture. Today thenumber of families without a house is more than 45 million.Baker, who was referred to as “daddy” by his colleagues andworkers, once said, “I would rather see a million mud housesthat are 200 sq ft than one more high-rise building.” ForBaker, “small was beautiful”.

Baker was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. How did he imbibeGandhian ideals in his work?In 1943 while waiting for a boat in Bombay (now Mumbai) toreturn home in England, Baker met Gandhiji. During theirmeeting, Gandhiji said, “You are bringing knowledge andqualifications from the West, but they will be useless unlessyou try to understand our needs here.” It is because ofGandhiji that Baker made India his home.

Another aspect which Baker brought into his work was theuse of indigenous materials like mud and bamboo. He carriedGandhiji’s values of honesty and sincerity to the buildings hedesigned. He never covered a brickwall with plaster. He said,“Beauty is related to truth. A stone house should look like it ismade of stone and the same goes for a brick building.”

What role did Baker accord to an architect? For Baker an architect had to turn his design into reality. Bakerthought it would be wrong to delegate work to an assistantbecause the client approached him for a “Baker house”. Hetook over the responsibility of the entire construction process,including accounts. His buildings were constructed at a muchlower cost. Baker directly paid masons, carpenters, electri-cians, plumbers and other people involved in the construc-tion. He used to say, “I see nothing wrong or unethical aboutan architect taking part in the construction of a building.Wouldn’t it have been silly if Picasso was only allowed to giveworking drawings for a painting and not paint them?”

How did Baker conceptualise a building? Each design had to be different. It had to take care of a client’spersonality and local needs. The most important aspect forBaker was the building cost; it had to be minimal. Once whena journalist asked him how he was able to design differenthouse shapes, Baker replied, “There is a tree here, there is onethere and a third one there. I do not want to cut any trees andthis principle has much to do with the shape of a house.”

‘My mentor Laurie Baker’

� I N T E R V I E W

BENNY KURIAKOSE began his architecture career in 1984. He was one of the privileged few who worked

under the tutelage of Laurie Baker which involved both learning and unlearning. In an e-mail

conversation with DISHA SINGH, Kuriakose, Chennai-based specialist in low-cost housing, describes the

pioneer architect’s methods. Excerpts

How did he handle all aspects of design and construction? Baker had a thorough knowledge and was very committed.Neither did he seek publicity nor did he care about critics.Some critics said his buildings would not last for more than10 years but they are still standing. There is a belief that if anarchitect supervises construction of buildings, he or she cando only a small number of structures. But Baker haddesigned and constructed more than 1,000 buildings in andaround Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, by 1985. This was inaddition to the large number of buildings he designed outside the state.

What was his take on making appropriate choices forbuilding materials? Since most of his buildings were in Thiruvananthapuram,the walls were made of country burnt bricks. For roofs, hemostly used filler slab which had rejected mangalore tiles asthe filler. In places where stone was available in plenty, heused stone. He also made a lot of buildings in Gujarat.There, he used clay pots as a filler material.

You completed DakshinaChitra in Chennai which Bakerhad designed. Do you think your additions keep Baker’svision intact?He had made a master plan for DakshinaChitra, a centre forthe living traditions of art, craft and architecture of southIndia. After his demise, I was entrusted with the task of com-pleting the project. At that time changes had to be made tothe site plan because the transplanted vernacular houseswere different from those in the master plan. For the site’spublic buildings like the main building, restaurant, libraryand guesthouse which were designed by me, I tried toremain true to Baker’s principles.

Are Baker’s ethics and principles relevant today? It is important for the present generation to ensure that theprinciples Baker stood for are taken further. As Baker oncesaid, “We should be thinking and designing as Indians forIndians in India.” ■

1917 Born in Birmingham

1937 Studied architecture atBirmingham Institute of Art and Design

1938 Associate of the RoyalInstitute of British Architects

1943 Deeply inspired aftermeeting with Mahatma Gandhiin Bombay (now Mumbai)

1945 Returned to India as a missionary and travelled all overthe country

1945-48 Was chief architectwith the Leprosy Mission anddesigned and oversaw construction of leprosy homesfor the mission across India

1948 Married Elizabeth Jacob, adoctor from Kerala. Moved toPithoragarh, Uttarakhand

1948-63 While in Pithoragarh,helped his wife run a hospital,and made schools

1949 Experimented with vernacular architecture and localmaterials like laterite, mudwalls, and problems like termitesand monsoons

1950s Designed and built theLucknow Psychiatric Centre atNoor Manzil

1956 Designed SaksharataNiketan in Lucknow forWelthy Fisher, founder ofWorld Education

1963 Moved toVakamon, Kerala

1967 Approached todesign Centre forResearch in AppliedEconomics in Ulloor,

Thiruvananthapuram, which hecompleted by early 1970s

1970 Became a fellow of theIndian Institute of Architects

1970 Moved toThiruvananthapuram

1971 Designed the Centre forDevelopment Studies,Thiruvananthapuram, and theLoyola Chapel and Auditorium,Sreekaryam

1983 Awarded Order of theBritish Empire, MBE

1988 Became Indian citizen

1989 Received Indian Instituteof Architects’ OutstandingArchitect of the Year award

1990 Awarded Padma Shri

1992 Given UN Habitat Awardand UN Roll of Honour

2006 Nominated for Pritzker Prize

2007 Died inThiruvananthapuram at the age of 90

LIFE OF LAURIE BAKER

Baker’s signature brick work; (Below) Kerala’s Thiruvallachurch designed by him


PHO

TOG

RAPH

S C

OU

RTES

Y :

BEN

NY

KU

RIA

KO

SE

Advertisement


RICHARD MAHAPATRA Lalitpur

This is a school where both students and teachers are adults.Books and regular classes are not

part of the curriculum and the pupilsare practising farmers. Welcome toClimate Field School in Chhampi villageof Nepal’s Lalitpur district which im p -arts practical lessons on climate change.

As one descends into Chhampiusing a mountain road, a small fencedstructure in the middle of farmlandemerges. “This is the place from wherethe village fights erratic weather,”informs Uttam Bhandari, a teacher atthe school where lessons are given justbefore the students take the mostimportant decision of their lives: whento start or harvest their life-saving crop.Of the 1,000 residents, 80 per centdepend on agriculture.

The fenced land hosts three vitalinstruments: a thermometer, a raingauge instrument and a meter to mea-sure the moisture and pH levels of thesoil. Bhandari records temperature andrainfall twice a day. Once in a while inthe middle of a crop cycle, he takes thedevice to record moisture and pH topeople’s farms. “These recordings arestored in a data card which is sent foranalysis to the meteorological depart-ment in Kathmandu,” he informs. The

analysis and the field recording helpfarmers decide the time for irrigatingand protecting crops. Before and duringa crop cycle, students attend the schoolto learn about weather and soil condi-tions. Bhandari has a cell phone thatreceives daily alerts of national forecastwhich he shares with his students.

Thanks to the efforts of the school,the village has mapped its own weatherconditions. “Now we know when acalamity will strike. We are preparedwell in advance to save our crops,” saysKrishna Bahadur Ghimire, the only seedfarmer in Chhampi where people loseup to 30 per cent of their crops becauseof hazards like hailstorms and erraticrains. That’s not all. “Moisture readinghas prepared people to manage waterwell. The village’s only stream is nolonger perennial,” says Ghimire.

The birthThe Climate Field School is a responseto the village’s long drawn fight againsterratic weather. After months-long dis-

cussions, the village development coun-cil, Nepal’s local government, zeroed inon two things that could save the crops:a mechanism that alerts people ofimpen ding hazards and assessment ofsoil and water. Since the local cropsneed specific inputs, the national fore-cast was of no use and the local forecast-ing system had vanished by then. “Therewas no way we could prepare ourselvesto protect our crops,” says Bhandari.

It was then that The LutheranWorld Federation-Nepal, an interna-tional charity organisation, floated theidea of a climate field school that wasalready being explored in Indonesiawith some success. In October 2011, theidea was discussed during a villagemeeting. Those with big landholdingswere the first to become members of theschool since they had suffered the most,says Subhadra Thapa, president of alocal self-help group. After a series ofmeetings, 16 residents, of whom 12 werewomen, stepped forward to enroll asstudents. They agreed to give a patch oftheir land to host the weather laborato-ry and convinced a local school to sparea classroom when needed.

To start the process, the LutheranWorld Federation agreed to pay for theinstruments and one year salary of thelocal youth who would work as the facil-itator. After one year, students wouldhave to pay. A manual on changing cli-mate and its impacts on local crops wascreated after a year of consultations withfarmers, scientists and meteorologists inKathm andu. “We sought the help of alocal science teacher to train a youthselected by the village on basic knowl-edge of instruments and the science ofclimate,” says Gopal Dahal, managerwith the feder ation. This youth was Bhandari.

It has been eight months since theschool was inaugurated and residentsare already raving about it. This year itstarted raining early due to the cyclonethat hit Bangladesh in May, says Thapa.“Due to advance warning and bettermonitoring, we covered our standingcrops with twigs and saved our crops,”says Thapa while measuring moisture inthe soil with Bhandari. “Does early rainmean early paddy? Without the instru-ments in our village I wouldn’t havetaken the risk of early transplantation,”she says. Arguably, this is what theschool is meant for. ■

Time for climate lessonA Nepal school that imparts practical knowledge to farmers

� I N I T I A T I V E

Lalitpur Nepal

Uttam Bhandari teaches how tomeasure soil moisture, temperature

RIC

HA

RD M

AH

APA

TRA

/ C

SE


There are “good Taliban” and “bad Taliban”, accordingto the current US administration. It’s willing to do busi-ness with the “good Taliban” because that is the only

way Washington can deal with complexities of Afghanistan’srealpolitik. How it defines the good and separates them fromtheir bad ideological brethren is a tough one to crack but the US might have a strategic explanation for this. Likewise,there are good gene patents and bad gene patents, according tothe US Supreme Court, based on some curious logic.

In its much-awaited decision in the Myriad Genetics case,the court held that a naturally occurring DNA segment is aproduct of nature and cannot be eligible for patenting merelybecause it has been isolated. However,cDNA, which does not have the non-coding regions found in genomic DNA,is patent-eligible. Their lordships’explanation: cDNA is synthesised and,therefore, patentable because it is aninvention and not a naturally occur-ring product. In short, patenting fullsequences of the DNA is out, butpatenting the abridged bits is kosher.

The lawsuit filed against Myriad bythe Public Patent Foundation and theAmerican Civil Liberties relates to thecompany’s patents on BRCA1 andBRCA2 genes—naturally occurringgenes which, when mutated, can sig-nificantly increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.Myriad’s principal contribution, says the Supreme Court, wasuncovering the precise location and genetic sequence of theBRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. “Myriad did not create or alter eitherthe genetic information encoded in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genesor the genetic structure of the DNA. It found an important anduseful gene, but groundbreaking, innovative, or even brilliantdiscovery does not by itself satisfy the (Section) 101 inquiry.”

It is difficult to understand how the work of the lab tech-nician who detached the genes from the rest is different fromthe work of the technician who eliminates part of the DNA tocreate the cDNA since the sequence of chemicals of both theDNA and the cDNA are determined by nature. Although thepetitioners contended that cDNA is not patent eligible because“the nucleotide sequence of cDNA is dictated by nature, not bythe lab technician”, the court disagreed. “That may be so,”conceded the Supreme Court judges. “But the lab technicianunquestionably creates something new when cDNA is made.cDNA retains the naturally occurring exons of DNA, but it is dis-

tinct from the DNA from which it was derived. As a result, cDNA

is not a ‘product of nature’ and is patent-eligible under Section101, except insofar as very short series of DNA may have nointervening introns to remove when creating cDNA. In that sit-uation, a short strand of cDNA may be indistinguishable fromnatural DNA.”

In other words, the judges were saying that not all of cDNA

is patentable either. Given the overdose of scientific hair-split-ting involved in the judgement, there is a refreshing confessionfrom one of the judges. Antonin Scalia declared that he couldnot personally stand behind the “fine details of moleculartechnology” cited by his colleagues because “I am unable to

affirm those details on my own knowl-edge or even my own belief!”

There have been regular twists andturns in the litigation over Myriad’spatents. Earlier, the US Court ofAppeals for the Federal Circuit hadheld exactly the opposite view bydecla ring that isolated DNA could bepatented. This in turn was a reversal ofthe district court’s verdict which hadstated: “DNA’s existence in an ‘isolated’form alters neither this fundamentalquality of DNA as it exists in the bodynor the information it encodes.Therefore, the patents at issue directedto ‘isolated DNA’ containing sequences

found in nature are unsustainable as a matter of law and aredeemed unpatentable under 35 USC 101.” In other words, onecourt’s view on gene patenting is diametrically opposed toanother’s. As for the US Patent Office, it has been generouslydoling out patents, about 40,000 of them which cover close to25 per cent of our genes.

Adding to the confusion for the rest of the world is the factthat both Myriad and the Association for Molecular Pathology(AMP) that had filed the lawsuit are claiming the SupremeCourt verdict is a victory for them. While the company’s sharevalues shot up 10 per cent in the aftermath of the June 13 ver-dict, AMP looked forward “to future advancements in clinicaldiagnostics and therapeutics”. Analysts say the explanationlies in the rationale offered by Judge Clarence Thomas for thecourt’s decision. “As we have recognized before, patent pro-tection strikes a delicate balance between creating ‘incentivesthat lead to creation, invention, and discovery’ and ‘impedethe flow of information that might permit, indeed spur, inven-tion.” That’s the realpolitik of biotechnology. ■

PATENTLY ABSURD / LATHA JISHNU

�C O L U M N

GENE PATENT VERDICT ISAS GOOD AS IT GETS

The US Supreme Court’s verdict in the Myriad case keeps everyone happy

ANIRBAN BORA / CSE

� C R O S S C U R R E N T S

Good catch,bad catchWhat do efficient fishing gears meanto traditional fisherfolk?

DIVYA KARNAD

Prabhanand Dabholkar’s daily routineinvolves weighing the fish being lifted fromhis boat. His immediate concern is quickly

sorting the fish into piles that will end up at dif-ferent places and be sold to different people fordistinct uses. “I make a good living from this,” hesays while swatting away flies. “Will you come andsee my new house? It is not far from here.”

As Dabholkar plies us with a nutritious break-fast of upma, he tells us more about his rise in for-tune. “Much of what I have now is thanks to theuse of a new range of fishing technology, includ-ing SONAR fish finders and GPS. My father was afisher too, but we only used a wooden rowingboat then. We also had to depend on knowledge-able people to predict where the fish would be.Adept fish finders were like a bumper catch,” hesays, “few and far between.”

Dabholkar uses the technologies to catch anovel suite of marine species. No longer are kingfish, mackerels and pomfrets his staple, althoughthey form the bulk of his catch. Species like rib-bonfish grab most of his attention now.

PHOTOGRAPHS: AGNIMIRH BASU / CSE

The catch from his fishing boatsgoes to Dapoli town in Maharashtra’sRatnagiri district. They also travel toMumbai and southward to feed sun-kissed tourists in Goa. Significantly, alarge part of what he catches ends up inFujian Province in China, selling for`100 to `250 per kilogram. When askedif there is a difference between feedingconsumers in Dapoli, near his village,and those in China, Dabholkar repliesthat it is simply a matter of getting betterprice: sending fish to China meanssending his children to better schools. “Ido not want my children to fish,” hesays. “The life of a fisherfolk is too hard,too variable and too risky.” This is anoft-repeated sentiment among the fish-ers who have made it big, be it inMaharashtra or Tamil Nadu.

I wonder if people like Dabholkarever feel any cultural legacy for an occu-pation that has sustained them for gen-erations. Or, could it be that fishing wasjust a job to them?

A conversation with Paul, a workeron a trawl boat in Kerala, begins to clar-ify the issue. “I used to be the personstanding at the helm of the kattumaram(traditional catamaran), telling peoplewhere to go, where they could find thefish,” he says. “Now I work on a trawlboat like anyone else.” Paul’s nephew

and cousin vouch for his expertise andsay they still come to him sometimes foradvice on where to steer the boat. ButPaul brushes their praise aside, saying,“They have the new-fangled devicesthese days. What is the use of all myhard-earned knowledge?”

Paul’s disillusionment in the wholeenterprise of fishing seems to stem notfrom his earnings, which have risen, butfrom a lack of respect for his knowledgein fishery. There is a growing disconnectbetween fisherfolk and what they catch.Knowing the breeding cycles, move-ment patterns and other biologicalrhythms of different species of fish areno longer essential for making bigcatches. While such knowledge mightstill be important, what is more impor-tant today is the capacity of the net, itsability to withstand force as it is draggedthrough the water to catch whatevercomes in its path, and the boatman’sability to read SONAR map. A fisher’sidentity no longer lies in the skills devel-oped over a lifetime. Paul chose a lack ofrespect over an entirely new profession.“What respect could I earn in a new lineof work with no experience at my age,anyway?” he asks.

Far from romantic ideals about tra-ditional livelihoods and identities, fish-erfolk today are infused with a strong

sense of practicality. “The way we fishthese days, lets painters and politicianscall themselves fishermen,” complainsArumugam, a fisherman from TamilNadu. “The whole profession is chang-ing, right from the way we fish to peopleinvolved in the profession. How can wepossibly conceive of a future in this lineof work, if we do not know whether wecan keep up?”

Both the people benefitting fromfishing and those making losses feel thesame way and are looking for alternativecareer paths for their children. This per-haps indicates that the economic “trick-le-down” of alternative occupations isactually happening in rural India.Perhaps the fisherfolk were simplylocked into their professions for lack ofanything better to do.

But this seemingly simplistic explanation also has something to sayabout interference in fishery by policy-makers, sitting in a room faraway, neverhaving gotten their fingers wet. Howwell do agricultural economists reallyknow the system that they are trying tostreamline?

An alternative explanation is thatthe occupation is just becoming too mechanical—and as a consequence,easy. There is an increase in fishingboats which means newcomers—whodo not require traditional skills—can now make a living from fishing. Butthis also means competition for tradi-tional fisherfolk who are reportingdeclining catches.

The trend of moving away fromfishing as a livelihood option coincideswith advances in fishing technologies,and might have come at a good time.Global concerns about overexploitationof fish are echoing among fishing com-munities in India. Joel Salatin, a famousorganic and eco-friendly farmer in theUS, said, “We are wasting too muchtime working out how to do things(more economically efficiently). Nobo -dy is stepping back to ask why (are wedoing these things)?” The answer maybe obvious to the economists in theroom but economic efficiency alwayscomes at a price that is ignored.

Is the new blood in the fishingindustry equipped to develop a sense ofresponsibility and ownership of the fish-ery and its fish? Only time will tell. ■

Divya Karnad is a conservation scientist

C R O S S C U R R E N T S


A fisher’s identity no longer lies in the skills developed over a lifetime, but in his ability to readSONAR map and in the capacity of the net

ALLWIN JESUDASAN &RAJKAMAL GOSWAMI

It is difficult to comprehend themotivation that drives hundreds ofthousands of people to travel to the

Western Ghats and camp deep insidethe Kalakad Mundanthurai TigerReserve (KMTR) for 11 days during Adi-amavasya. The festival is celebrated atthe Lord Sorimuthu Iyyanar templeevery year in the Tamil month of Adi(mid-July to mid-August).

For many, a deep religious senti-ment brings them here, year after year.Some pilgrims walk for more than 50kilometres to the temple carrying ahereditary spear to seek blessings ofLord Sorim uthu Iyyanar. After the festi-val, they keep the spear, called Valayam,in their village temple until the visit nextyear. Another event is a ritualistic per-formance by descendents of warriors infront of the former zamindar in a cus-tomary durbar. One of the performerstold us that once he did not take part inthe festival, and he lost someone in thefamily that year. Since then he has notmissed performing at the festival.

But we found it difficult to fathomthat faith can be the sole driving forcebehind such a large congregation insidea tiger reserve. Being part of a team ofmostly biologists, we were trying tounderstand the adverse impact of such agathering on the fragile dry evergreenforest ecosystem as well as on people liv-ing downstream.

Although popular for the Hindudeity, we observed that people fromother religions were also attending thefestival. Over 76 per cent of the peoplewe interviewed said they took part inother recreational activities like cruisingin the dam reservoir during their camp-ing days. We realised that for many low-

income families from the hot, drylandvillages bordering KMTR, a visit to thefestival was a cheap and viable alterna-tive to expensive hill stations such asUdhagamandalam or Kodaikanal. Forothers, the festival was an occasion toescape from the mundane chores ofeveryday life. It also provided an excit-ing freedom for young girls and boys.During an interview, one young girl toldus that there was no family restriction totalk and mingle with boys during thefestival. Unsurprisingly, many matchesand weddings are formalised andfinalised during the festival.

Notwithstanding the colourfuldetails and sentiments associated withthe festival, we took an unambiguousmoral high-ground when we started ourengagement with the festival. This led usto assume that although religious, thefallout of such a gathering should beopposed since the temple was situatedinside a sanctuary reserved for tigersand their habitat.

Spread over 895 sq km, KMTR is thesouthernmost habitat of Bengal tigerand is home to several endangeredspecies. Several streams originate inKMTR, for which the protected area ispopularly known as the water sanctuary.The temple premises spread over 21.3hectares by the banks of the Karayar, atributary of the Tamirabarani river,which is a critical source of water for thedensely populated downstream districtsof Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi.

As pilgrims camp around the templefor 11 long days, a large area of the for-est gets invaded by thousands of tarpau-lin tents. A huge slum-like atmospherereplaces the otherwise clean and greenforest. Over the years, the size of thecongregation has increased steadily, andso has its impacts. Given the inadequacyof temporary toilets most pilgrims pre-fer relieving themselves in the forest andon sloping rocks not far away from thecamping area where bleaching powderis repeatedly sprinkled to negate thesmell and prevent disease. But subse-quent rains wash away the human exc-reta into the Karayar, eventually pollut-

Invasion of tiger reserve Are religious pilgrimages only about faith and religion?

� C R O S S C U R R E N T S


Impacts of Sorimuthu Iyyanartemple festival on KalakadMundanthurai Tiger Reserve

• 400 per cent increase in traffic compared to a regular weekend • About 5,000 cars and buses enterthe forest on festival days• 600 per cent increase in the numberof roadkills• Fewer mammals encountered inforests as far as 10 km from the site ofthe pilgrimage• 76 per cent of camping pilgrims usefuel wood for cooking; 42 per cent ofthem admitted to have collected thefuel wood from the forest• The most probable number ofmicrobes in river is 1,100 during thefestival period, a 500-fold increasefrom normal days

The figures presented in the article are ofAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and theEnvironment, Bengaluru

ALL

WIN

JES

UD

ASA

N

ing the Tamirabarani. Chemicals insoaps and detergents used by the pil-grims, polythene, garbage and slaughterwaste resulting from the sacrifice ofthousands of animals, ranging fromsheep to goats to hens, add to the pollu-tion. Not to mention the animal hazardscaused by the movement of such a largenumber of visitors (see ‘Impacts of...’).

“Ivenge oru vaaram sondosamaathangittu povaange. Naange aarumaasam kashte paduvvom (They stayhere happy for a week and we strugglefor six months),” rues Ramesh, a Kanitribal who lives in the AgasthymalaiKani Kudiirruppu, a small tribal villagefew metres downstream the temple. TheKanis originally lived deep inside theforest and were resettled to their currentsettlement. Their tolerance to pollutionis low. Every year, soon after the festivalthe Kanis struggle for survival formonths. In the absence of any othersource of clean water, they depend onthe polluted Tamirabarani, whichresults in outbreaks of dysentery, skinrashes and food poisoning. The rivertakes months to heal. Most Kanis areunhappy with the way the festival is cel-ebrated. For some, however, the festivalis an opportunity to earn some cash,otherwise hard to come by, through set-ting up small shops. Numerous petty

traders from the plains join the Kanisand sell articles like bangles, snacks andtoys while others sell services such assoothsaying and tattoos. Rights to set upbig shops, however, remain with bigbusinessmen from towns. To get a per-spective on the economic turnover, weestimated that the camping pilgrimsalone spent more than `1 crore in 2010.The figure would double or triple if weinclude the number of visitors whoreturned without camping.

Like most festivities, Adi-amavasyatoo has its share of booze and waste. In2009, the police confiscated over 350 kgof polythene and 450 litres of liquorfrom the visitors in two days of frisking.Collections from our post-festivalclean-up drives suggest that many timesmore of what is confiscated gets smug-gled inside despite the gargantuan mea-sures of the local police, the forestdepartment and local NGOs.

A heartening fact is that some NGOshave joined hands to address the con-cerns. In 2010, the Madurai Bench ofthe Madras High Court passed an orderasking the forest department to ensurethat no one camps beyond the templepremises. Despite the order, the camp-ing and clearing of forest continued,perhaps because it was an issue too sen-sitive and sentimental to be tackled by

the department alone. Any action thushas to be taken up jointly by all stake-holders such as the temple authorities,forest department, district administra-tion, pilgrims and civil society.

The environmental damage causeddue to large pilgrimages is a seriousissue and our empirical evidence of theannual environmental and ecologicaldamage caused due to the pilgrimage ofthe Sorimuthu Iyyanar temple at KMTR

represents just the tip of the iceberg.Examples abound at Sabarimala inPeriyar Tiger Reserve, Belladukuppai inBandipur Tiger Reserve and Ganeshtemple inside Ranthambore. However,our KMTR experience shows it might bepresumptuous to view “religious pil-grimages” in or beyond forest areas assolely “religious” and “pilgrimage”. Atsuch a large scale, it represents a fardeeper and complicated fabric thanwhat has been popularly perceived andportrayed. Since our responses to prob-lems tend to be devised by our percep-tions of them, we urgently need to refineand enrich our engagement with notonly our last remaining abodes of biodi-versity but also the sacred ones. ■

Allwin Jesudasan & Rajkamal Goswamiare with Ashoka Trust for Research inEcology and the Environment, Bengaluru


Camp sites along the Karayar river; (Left) Pilgrims carry religious spears to Sorimuthu Iyyanar temple to seek the Lord’s blessings

RAJK

AM

AL G

OSW

AM

I

It is a device designed forAfricans by Africans.BRCK, a modem devel-

oped to deal with unreliablepower supply in Africa, was

recently unveiled at theTEDGlobal conference inEdinburgh. Brain child ofKenyan tech firm Ushahidi,the device can connect up to

20 devices at a time andseamlessly switch betweenWi-Fi, 3G, 4G and Ethernetconnections automatically, depending on what signalsare available. Users can alsoplug in a SIM card to offer anetwork anywhere withinthe reach of a mobile tower.

Boasting an eight-hourbattery life, BRCK also hascloud-based software whichmeans that it can be accessedfrom anywhere to see howWi-Fi and electricity are performing. For remote villages where mobile signalsare hard to find, there is anantenna to boost signalstrength.

BRCK will go on sale inNovember with a price tagof US $199. ■

An award-winningOklahoma television

meteorologist has beendeemed “irresponsible” fortelling viewers to get in theircars and flee approachingtornadoes. The advice givenby Mike Morgan, chiefmeteorologist for OklahomaCity TV station KFOR and11-time winner of weatherbroadcast award in the state,was in stark contrast to thecommon advice given in theevent of a twister which isto seek refuge in cellars and

other underground facilities. Viewers blamed Morgan

for putting people in dangeron clogged roads on June 7.Some people said they fol-lowed his advice and endedup stuck in traffic jams onhighways as a storm boredown on the Oklah oma Cityarea. Oklahoma Governorcalled the traffic situation onJune 7 a “nightmare” after itwas confirmed that some ofthe 20 deceased were founddead after being sucked outof cars by the storm. ■


P H O N E A P P > > BIRDS

• The UK

Enough of noise

Asmartphone application,or app, that can

measure the impact of construction work on water-birds in protected areas hasbeen developed.

A product by researchersat the UK’s University ofHull, the software providesprofiles of bird species andtheir susceptibility to noisedisturbances. It also offersadvice on how developmentprojects can affect behaviourof birds.

The software uses on-phone noise and global

positioning system (GPS)facilities to allow real-timecharacterisation of likelynoise effects. It also allowscontractors to measurenoise levels on the site andoffer advice on the degree ofdisturbance from theirwork. “There is relativley little information on theimpacts from disturbanceevents on waterbirds, in par-ticular from noise,” saidNick Cutts, deputy directorof the university’s Instituteof Estuarine and CoastalStudies. ■

� M E D I A

M O D E M > > INTERNET ACCESSIBILITY • Africa

African connection

>> A New York-basedproduction company hasfiled a lawsuit againstWarner Music Groupover its ownership rightson the song “HappyBirthday”. Good Morningto You, which is filming adocu on the song’s origins, claims Warner is“unlawfully” claimingthe copyright. Itdemanded the song bemade freely available tothe public and Warnerreturn the licensing feesit has received so far.Warner gets $2 million inroyalties every year.

>> India’s state-ownedtelecom company BharatSanchar Nigam Limited is discontinuing its 160-year-old telegram servicebecause of falling business. The service, thelast large-scale telegram service operating in theworld, will cease on July 15, 2013.

�NEW

SS N I P P E T S

USH

AH

IDI

DVIDSHUB

KEV

IN C

OLE

The modem’s rugged design suits the continent’s climate

The June 7 tornado killed 20 people in Oklahoma

The app provides profile ofbirds like oystercatchers

T V > > WEATHER REPORT • USA

Twister jam

Acomic book about thetrial of Bradley

Manning, the US Army private facing 22 charges forproviding classified materialto WikiLeaks, is being creat-ed from the courtroom.

The United States vs PFCBradley Manning: A GraphicAccount from Inside theCourtroom by ClarkStoeckley, a WikiLeaksactivist, combines illustra-tions of the topics being discussed with actual trialtranscripts. Since the trial ofthe US soldier for leakinghundreds of thousands ofclassified digital files beganon June 3, Stoeckley has

already drawn images ofManning at the defencetable, and of Adrian Lamo,the former computer hackerwho turned Manning in.

The comic is scheduledfor release in October. ■

M E D I A


�ONLINE

T V > > MONSANTO • India

Breaking ties

In the wake of growingprotests against its collab-

oration with US agri-biotechgiant Monsanto, NDTV hasstopped its campaignImproving Lives.

The protests saw peoplecriticising the campaign’sFacebook page launched on May 1. Two of the com-ments were “Monsanto isknown for its agenda to con-trol food and farming as inthe case of Bt cotton inIndia” and; “NDTV shouldchoose a non-controversial,

ethical partner.” The channel, however,

said the series was meant tohighlight the state of infra-structure and developmentopportunities in India andhad nothing to do with agri-culture, seeds or genetically-modified food—somethingfor which Monsanto is often criticised.

Greenpeace India, whichset off a signature campaignagainst the partnershipmuch before the Facebookpage was launched, chargedMonsanto of crime againstnature, rights of farmers andconsumers. “Now it is tryingto clean up its publicimage,” said AnanthaSayanan of Greenpeace.More than 2,600 people hadsigned for Greenpeace’scampaign till April. ■

In a drastic move to meetits debt bailout obliga-

tions, Greece has shut downpublic broadcaster ERT, leaving nearly 2,700 peoplejobless. According to thegovernment, HellenicBroadcasting Corp o r a t i -on, or ERT, was a hugedrain on public res -ources. It said the cor-poration will reopen “assoon as possible” with a

new, smaller workforce. Themove has angered many.“This is a blow to democra-cy,” said an ERT newsreaderat the end of the main TV

station’s final broadcast. ERT,which began broadcasting in1938, was funded by a directpayment of 4.30 euros addedmonthly to electricity bills. Itran three domestic TV channels, four national radiostations, regional radio sta-tions and an external service.

Athens has pledged tocut thousands of pub-lic-sector jobs as partof agreements underwhich it receives bil-lions of euros in rescueloans from the EU andInternationalMonetary Fund. ■

T V > > ECONOMIC CRISIS • Greece

Greek tragedy

C O M I C > > BRADLEY MANNING

• USA

Trial becomescomic

FOR all those who love books, science fiction andfantasy, their search endsat Locus Online.

The website focuses onnews of the science fiction publishing field withreviews of books and magazines. Locus Onlinealso offers weekly tomonthly listings of newbooks and magazines; sto-ries of publishers and

authors and; and a weeklycompilation of genre booksthat appear on generalbestseller lists. Interviewswith well-known and up-and-coming writers arealso part of the website.Besides books, essays andcommentary on new devel-opments also feauture onthe website which is pro-duced from southernCalifornia in the US.

www.locusmag.com

WHERE SCIENCE MEETS FANTASY

REU

TERS

BradleyManning(right) ischargedwith thenation’sbiggestleak ofclassifiedfiles

The campaign was stoppedbefore it went on air


G8 AND TRAGEDY OF AFRICARich nations are forcing African states to change laws to facilitate private investment in

agriculture in a replay of colonial adventurism

RIGHT TO DISSENT / LATHA JISHNU

� L A S T W O R D

The white man’s burden never eases. Long after thesun set on colonial empires, the rich nations of theworld who make the G8, the smallest and most pow-erful club of their group, are preparing for yet anoth-

er onerous task. After redrawing regional boundaries, creatinga host of new nations and bringing democracy to dark cornersof the world in the last century in return for their treasury ofnatural resources, the new powers have launched a new cru-sade. This is to lift 50 million Africans out of poverty in thenext decade, primarily by setting right their agriculture.

Virtuously called The New Alliance for Food Security andNutrition, this neo-colonial enterprise is apparently all aboutG8’s commitment “to expand Africa’s potential for rapid andsustainable agricultural growth”. Governments of these coun-tries—the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan andRussia—will provide funding of sorts to those African nationswilling to join up but the true saviours will be private compa-nies, many of them the multinationals who dominate theglobal seed and pesticides business or control the trade.

Private companies are expected to pour in about $3.5 bil-lion into countries where poverty and hunger are endemic.And among the line-up of companies that have signed thePrivate Sector Declaration of Support for African AgriculturalDevelopment are the usual suspects: Archer Daniel Midlands,Bayer CropScience, Cargill, DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta andYara of Norway. Close to four dozen companies are involvedin this project—admittedly not all are multinationals butinclude small companies from the developing world——andclearly they are looking for rich pickings. The New Alliancewas set in motion in May 2012 at the last summit of G8 inCamp David, and its cheerleadersare Barack Obama and acolyteDavid Cameron of the UK who isseeking to cover himself with glorywith his campaign to end hunger atthe just-concluded G8 summit inLough Erne, Northern Ireland.

How different are the LoughErne and the 2012 Camp David sum-mits from the Berlin conference of1884-5 when the great powers of thatera thought up a similar project.Under the cloak of liberating theDark Continent from slavery, theEuropean empires (with the USgoing along) were in effect decidingthe carve-up of Africa among them-selves. It is a toss-up as to which ofthese is the more cynical exercise. Inthe 19th century, the big powersrushed to grab the resources and ter-ritory of Africa for their territorial

ambitions; in today’s scramble for Africa it is about ensuringcorporate control over land and resources in those very nations.

The emphasis on private investment is the most troublingfactor. African, European and US non-profits working towa -rds sustainable agriculture systems have warned that hundredsof millions of hectares of arable African land will pass into thecontrol of the food and agri-biotech giants. The partnershipagreements that the alliance countries have signed do nothingto dispel these fears. The Institute for Agriculture and TradePolicy, an international advocacy for sustainable food, farmand trade policies, points out that “corporations are not par-ties to the human rights covenants that oblige most govern-ments to realize the universal human right to food.” Anotherinfluential non-profit Oxfam says the New Alliance “focusestoo heavily on the role of the private sector to tackle the com-plex challenges of food insecurity in the developing world.”

And yet, there is a desperate readiness by African countriesto sign up for the promised benefits. So far, nine countries,Nigeria, Benin, Malawi, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast,Ethiopia, Mozambique and Tanzania, have joined the alliancewith a simple price for entry. This is a commitment that theywill ensure major changes in policy to facilitate investmentopportunities and trade. Ivory Coast and Mozambique, forexample, have agreed to pass legislation to promote partner-ships that will “facilitate access to land for smallholder farmersand private enterprises”. Vast numbers of farmers inMozambique have lost their land and in Ivory Coast, a hugedisplacement is expected with French, Swiss, Singaporean andAlgerian companies signing deals for over 600,000 hectares.The most egregious example is Ethiopia which has already

leased around 4 million hectares toforeign companies. The lives ofhundreds of thousands of smallfarmers are at stake.

But land alone is not the issue;these countries will also have tochange their seed and food traderegulations. Mozambique hasagreed to “systematically cease distribution of free and unim-proved seeds”, paving the way forprivate companies to bring in theirpatented varieties once these coun-try pass legislation granting intel-lectual property rights on seeds. Inshort, the conquering armies of thepast have been replaced by subtlerforms of appropriation—throughlegislation and contracts signed bycompliant regimes.

That is the tragedy of Africa.History repeats itself. ■

CIAT INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE

CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110 062Ph: 91-11 29955124/6110/6394/6399; Fax: 91-11-29955879Website: www.cseindia.org; E-mail: [email protected]

FIRST FOOD:A TASTE OF INDIA'SBIODIVERSITYThis collection of more than 100 recipes invites the reader tosavour the magic that takes placewhen biodiversity comes togetherwith culinary skills. This lip smackingplatter of herbs, spices, fruits andleaves from different parts of thecountry reminds us that biodiversity isbest protected when it is celebrated inour kitchens.

(PAGES 168) PB: `950/US $60.

Buy online at http://csestore.cse.org.in

Name: Mr/Ms_______________________________________________________________________ Designation_________________________________________________________

Institution_______________________________________________________Address: ■■ Office ■■ Residence_________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________State:_______________________________ Country: ____________________________________

Pin Code ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ Phone: Off ■■ Res ■■ __________________________Fax: ____________________________E-mail: ____________________________________

I wish to pay by ■■ Cash / MO ■■ Cheque/Demand draft (add Rs 15 for outstation/non-Delhi cheque) DD/Cheque No ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ Dated ____________________________

payable to Centre for Science and Environment.

Please fill this form and mail or fax to: Sales & Despatch Department,, Centre for Science and Environment,

41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062

Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6394 Fax: 91-11-2995 5879 Email: [email protected]

Price No of copies Total Cost

✄Y E S ! I W A N T T O G E T ‘ F I R S T F O O D : A T A S T E O F I N D I A ’ S B I O D I V E R S I T Y ’

`950

ORDER NOW…

COURSE FEESRs 9,900

(For industry, environment consultantsand regulators) 25% discounts forNGOs, academicians and students

COURSE DURATION22-26 July, 2013

TIMING10.00 am to 5.30 pm

COURSE VENUECSE, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area,

New Delhi – 62

LAST DATE FOR APPLYINGJuly 15, 2013

OPEN FOR ALLNGOs, Regulatory Institutions (such as

SPCB, state environment impact assessment authority, Environment

Consultants, Students, decision makersand Industries

For details contact: Swati Singh Sambyal, Industry & Environment UnitCentre for Science and Environment 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6110 (Ext. 251); Fax: 91-11-2995 5879 Mobile: 9910496283 Website: www.cseindia.org

CSE’s short-term EIA

training programme

UNDERSTANDING EIA:

FROM SCREENING TO

DECISION MAKING

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an important tool to inform deci-sion-makers, regulators and stakeholders, about the possible environmen-

tal, social and economic costs of the proposed project. To be effective, it requiresthe active involvement of all concerned stakeholders.

There is a genuine need to develop the capacity of the state-level regulatorsand state level expert appraisal Committee (SEAC) to screen and scope the EIAprocess, to conduct transparent public consultations and to evaluate the EIAreports, especially after the new EIA notification. At the same time, there is aneed among CBO, NGOs, academicians, and environment managers to reviewand interpret EIA report, as they are technical in nature.

Centre for Science and Environment recognises this need and has developeda hands-on five-day training programme aimed at giving practical exposure toparticipants on EIA with specific reference to coal based power plant,cement, pharmaceutical, mining and others. After the programme,the participants shall have:

1. Exposure to all aspects of EIA, from its theory to the practical – such as bet-ter understanding regarding

● What data is required, how this data should be collected and interpreted,and significance of the data

● Effectiveness of the assessment methods● What issues should be addressed in the Terms of Reference (TOR)● Tools and thumb rules available to evaluate the environmental impact of

projects2. Better understanding of the EIA process – from screening, scoping, data

collection to impact assessment as well as the role of public consultation3. Better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of the indus-

trial and developmental projects4. Better ability to review EIA reports and identify its strengths and weak-

nesses5. Increased ability to play active role in post-EIA monitoring.

F o r r e g i s t r a t i o n : K i n d l y e m a i l a t : s w a t i @ c s e i n d i a . o r g

Selection will be done on first

come first basis

R.N.I. NO. 53588/92 POSTAL REGN. NO. DL(S)-01/3109/2012-2014 ISSN 0971-8079. Licensed to Post without Pre-payment U(SE)-44/2012-14 at PSO Kotla Road, New Delhi-110002. Published on 1st of every month. POSTED ON: 2-3 of the same fortnight.

Documents

Down to Earth - 1 July 2013