Dr. L. Ramakrishnan
Moderator
Recently I was asked to prepare some points for a key note speech on a conference entitled "Green Wave Sweeping India". I thought I would share the write-up that I made for this speech with the Forum members, even though it is India specific, it may have some interest to members from other countries...please bear with me if it is not relevant to you. This is the "speech" I wrote; I would welcome your comments and views as a concerned citizen of the world.
Quote:
"Green Wave Sweeping India" is an interesting theme for this conference. As researchers we will naturally ask "Is it so ?" or "Is it otherwise".
To me it is another case of MAFA (mistaking Articulation for Action)
Government of India has been articulating from 1974 onwards to prevent pollution; the first pollution act, the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1974; the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in 1986. Have our water bodies improved ? What is the status of our rivers and lakes ? Has the air quality in our cities and towns improved ? We have more and more pollution related ailments like asthma and water borne diseases. Our land has been contaminated beyond repair in some places. Our environment has not improved even after laws on forests, wastes, chemicals etc., have been enacted and apparently everyone is following the laws as the number of prosecutions by pollution control boards shows. There is, therefore, something missing between the written word (Law) and the action at the Ground Level.
Government of India has announced many green missions, including the greening of India mission, with a goal of improving the forest cover of our country. What does it mean ? The existing forest Act, even though elegant, has not been effective in controlling the deforestation. Now that funds are available from international donors we have a new Greening of India mission !!!
WE have now a lot of noise on Climate change; everyone is jumping into the bandwagon. Many companies have already announced their Climate change strategies; some have CDM projects which can give them large carbon credits and dollars. Bureau of Energy Efficiency has come out with star rating of products; now refrigerators, air-conditioners, light bulbs etc., carry stars to indicate their efficiency; how many of us make our purchase decisions based on this star rating ?
There are many initiatives in India with green theme, viz., green buildings, green cars, green energy, organic food, zero discharge, zero waste, zero emission, etc., We are proud to announce to the world that we have been green for ages - like revering rivers, trees, animals etc., from time immemorial. See the rivers now; see our forest cover; see the tiger, rhino, lion population....they are indications of saying one thing and doing something else. Green Building for example has become a fad; every builder claims that he is building a green building; hotels claim that they are green hotels. What determines that they are green ? Even though codes are there, it is more of commercial communication. They see green in dollars rather than in efficiencies and waste reduction.
It is not that nothing has been done in our country; the point is nothing significant has been done. What has been done did not improve the lives of people. People suffer while those destroying environment flourish. Take the case of the Nagarjuna Power Plant; the consultant changes the nature of land in his submission to the Government; in this case he had been caught and the project has been dropped. Politicians come together to "bargain" on environmental issues, as in the case of Navi Mumbai airport. We are not sure if we can leave this planet (and our country) liveable for our future generations.
Mrs. Gandhi said at the First Conference on Human Environment: "Poverty is the worst Pollution". Have we removed poverty with all our actions extracting the resources from the mother earth ? We have only contaminated the mother earth, especially in India, without eradicating Poverty. Greenwave can not sweep India unless Poverty is removed from India; what you see therefore is like a mirage...it is not real. I would tend to call it real only when everyone in this country enjoys mother nature and lives a decent life.Quote Ends.
Quote:
"Green Wave Sweeping India" is an interesting theme for this conference. As researchers we will naturally ask "Is it so ?" or "Is it otherwise".
To me it is another case of MAFA (mistaking Articulation for Action)
Government of India has been articulating from 1974 onwards to prevent pollution; the first pollution act, the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1974; the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in 1986. Have our water bodies improved ? What is the status of our rivers and lakes ? Has the air quality in our cities and towns improved ? We have more and more pollution related ailments like asthma and water borne diseases. Our land has been contaminated beyond repair in some places. Our environment has not improved even after laws on forests, wastes, chemicals etc., have been enacted and apparently everyone is following the laws as the number of prosecutions by pollution control boards shows. There is, therefore, something missing between the written word (Law) and the action at the Ground Level.
Government of India has announced many green missions, including the greening of India mission, with a goal of improving the forest cover of our country. What does it mean ? The existing forest Act, even though elegant, has not been effective in controlling the deforestation. Now that funds are available from international donors we have a new Greening of India mission !!!
WE have now a lot of noise on Climate change; everyone is jumping into the bandwagon. Many companies have already announced their Climate change strategies; some have CDM projects which can give them large carbon credits and dollars. Bureau of Energy Efficiency has come out with star rating of products; now refrigerators, air-conditioners, light bulbs etc., carry stars to indicate their efficiency; how many of us make our purchase decisions based on this star rating ?
There are many initiatives in India with green theme, viz., green buildings, green cars, green energy, organic food, zero discharge, zero waste, zero emission, etc., We are proud to announce to the world that we have been green for ages - like revering rivers, trees, animals etc., from time immemorial. See the rivers now; see our forest cover; see the tiger, rhino, lion population....they are indications of saying one thing and doing something else. Green Building for example has become a fad; every builder claims that he is building a green building; hotels claim that they are green hotels. What determines that they are green ? Even though codes are there, it is more of commercial communication. They see green in dollars rather than in efficiencies and waste reduction.
It is not that nothing has been done in our country; the point is nothing significant has been done. What has been done did not improve the lives of people. People suffer while those destroying environment flourish. Take the case of the Nagarjuna Power Plant; the consultant changes the nature of land in his submission to the Government; in this case he had been caught and the project has been dropped. Politicians come together to "bargain" on environmental issues, as in the case of Navi Mumbai airport. We are not sure if we can leave this planet (and our country) liveable for our future generations.
Mrs. Gandhi said at the First Conference on Human Environment: "Poverty is the worst Pollution". Have we removed poverty with all our actions extracting the resources from the mother earth ? We have only contaminated the mother earth, especially in India, without eradicating Poverty. Greenwave can not sweep India unless Poverty is removed from India; what you see therefore is like a mirage...it is not real. I would tend to call it real only when everyone in this country enjoys mother nature and lives a decent life.Quote Ends.
