Panel proposes Yamuna authority to save river (Times of Inida-Oct 20, 2010)
Abantika Ghosh,
NEW DELHI: A high-powered committee has recommended that a Yamuna River Development Authority should be constituted along the lines of the Ganga authority that will be responsible for the entire stretch of the river from Yamunotri — where it starts from the glacier — to Allahabad where it finally meets the Ganga.
The authority will have jurisdiction over inter-state water wars and will see to the implementation of all other recommendations of the committee, including conservation of monsoon water to be released throughout the year, dredging of the river and implementation of the moratorium on construction on the riverbed. The recommendations have already been sent to the PMO. The committee had been formed in 2007, with the lieutenant-governor of Delhi as its chairman and the chief minister as vice-chairman.
The structure of the authority — details like who will head it and how many members it will comprise — have not been laid down in the recommendations. ''That has been left to the PMO, but one way of doing it could be of having one overarching head and then making the respective state chief ministers responsible for it in their states,'' said a source.
The committee has recommended a slew of measures for rejuvenating Yamuna in Delhi and the authority, initially will be responsible for their implementation. The recommendations are primarily based on the fact that a river which has no water is dead. So all of them are geared towards getting a year round reasonable amount of water flowing in the Yamuna. That itself will cleanse it a lot, but there is also a need for physical removal of pollutants.
The committee has recommended that there should be arrangements for storing the four lakh million cusecs water that are piped out every year during monsoon, to be released daily so that Yamuna does not become a drain like it is now, when it enters Delhi.
बुधवार, 20 अक्टूबर 2010
शुक्रवार, 15 अक्टूबर 2010
Deep waters, slowly drying up (The Indian Express 15 Oct., 2010)
Clement weather and plentiful water mean that Punjab produces an eighth of India’s total food grains. But the water table has dropped by ten metres since 1973 and the rate of decline is accelerating on both the Indian and the Pakistani sides of the region. It is a similar story for the north-western Sahara aquifer system (NWSAS), shared by Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Withdrawals increased ninefold between 1950 and 2008. Springs are drying up and soil salinity has increased.
Such depletion of aquifers is a classic tragedy of the commons. Farmers pump, oblivious of others’ actions or the impact of their own. Scarcity stokes this rather than braking it. Worse, much abstracted water is used in inefficient irrigation; compounding that, underpricing means it is often used for watering low-value crops. Powerful farming lobbies have little interest in changing the status quo.
Aquifers, like fish stocks, are most at risk when they cross national borders, making property rights weaker. Groundwater provides about a fifth of the planet’s water needs and half its drinking water. In arid countries such as Libya or Saudi Arabia, that figure is close to 100 per cent. Almost 96 per cent of the planet’s freshwater resources are stored as groundwater, half of which straddles borders. UNESCO, a United Nations body, estimates that 273 aquifers are shared by two or more countries.
The signing this summer of a treaty between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to protect the Guarani aquifer, after a six-year study of the region’s underwater resources, has thus come as a nice surprise. It may even be a trend. Mali, Niger and Nigeria are due to sign a provisional deal early next year to set up a body to run the Iullemeden aquifer, where withdrawals have exceeded recharge ever since 1995, endangering the Niger river in the dry season.
The two deals follow a UN resolution in 2008 on creating a legal regime for aquifers (it may become a full convention next year). Lifting sanctions on Libya has had an effect, too. The Libyans say they may stop growing wheat using water from the NWSAS and the Nubian sandstone aquifer system, the world’s largest fossil aquifer, which they share with Egypt, Chad and Sudan. An agreement in 1992 set up a body to run this but it has stayed largely dormant. Now sampling and monitoring have resumed, under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (which has a sideline in environmental monitoring).
Such scientific work is crucial because aquifers are still poorly understood. Until a UNESCO inventory in 2008, nobody knew even how many transboundary aquifers existed. Experts are still refining the count: the American-Mexico border may include 8, 10, 18 or 20 aquifers, depending on how you measure them. Defining sustainability vexes hydrologists too, particularly with ancient fossil aquifers that will inevitably run dry eventually. Estimates for the life of the Nubian sandstone aquifer range from a century to a millennium.
© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2010
Such depletion of aquifers is a classic tragedy of the commons. Farmers pump, oblivious of others’ actions or the impact of their own. Scarcity stokes this rather than braking it. Worse, much abstracted water is used in inefficient irrigation; compounding that, underpricing means it is often used for watering low-value crops. Powerful farming lobbies have little interest in changing the status quo.
Aquifers, like fish stocks, are most at risk when they cross national borders, making property rights weaker. Groundwater provides about a fifth of the planet’s water needs and half its drinking water. In arid countries such as Libya or Saudi Arabia, that figure is close to 100 per cent. Almost 96 per cent of the planet’s freshwater resources are stored as groundwater, half of which straddles borders. UNESCO, a United Nations body, estimates that 273 aquifers are shared by two or more countries.
The signing this summer of a treaty between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to protect the Guarani aquifer, after a six-year study of the region’s underwater resources, has thus come as a nice surprise. It may even be a trend. Mali, Niger and Nigeria are due to sign a provisional deal early next year to set up a body to run the Iullemeden aquifer, where withdrawals have exceeded recharge ever since 1995, endangering the Niger river in the dry season.
The two deals follow a UN resolution in 2008 on creating a legal regime for aquifers (it may become a full convention next year). Lifting sanctions on Libya has had an effect, too. The Libyans say they may stop growing wheat using water from the NWSAS and the Nubian sandstone aquifer system, the world’s largest fossil aquifer, which they share with Egypt, Chad and Sudan. An agreement in 1992 set up a body to run this but it has stayed largely dormant. Now sampling and monitoring have resumed, under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (which has a sideline in environmental monitoring).
Such scientific work is crucial because aquifers are still poorly understood. Until a UNESCO inventory in 2008, nobody knew even how many transboundary aquifers existed. Experts are still refining the count: the American-Mexico border may include 8, 10, 18 or 20 aquifers, depending on how you measure them. Defining sustainability vexes hydrologists too, particularly with ancient fossil aquifers that will inevitably run dry eventually. Estimates for the life of the Nubian sandstone aquifer range from a century to a millennium.
© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2010
Environment Ministry blocks Renuka Dam project (The Hindu- 14 Oct. 2010)
Priscilla Jebraj and Smriti Kak Ramachandran
No clearance for the 3,600-crore project in view of threat to 17 lakh trees
A huge setback for Delhi as it was banking on the project to mitigate its water woes
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will take up the issue with the Centre once Games are over
NEW DELHI: The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has decided not to give its approval for the Renuka Dam project in Himachal Pradesh on the ground that it would involves cutting down of a large number of trees.
The Ministry's decision not to give the mandatory clearance to the project has come as a “setback” to the Delhi Government and the Delhi Jal Board as they have been banking on the Renuka Dam project to alleviate the Capital's water worries.
Wednesday's announcement was far from what the water utility and the Delhi Government were expecting. A senior Delhi Government official said the project had been hanging fire for a long time and the Union Ministry's decision has further heightened concerns about the Capital's water woes.
“This (dam) was the only identified and assured supply of water for Delhi. Each year with the increase in population the demand for water is progressively growing. While the Delhi Jal Board can only manage water, cut down on distribution losses and reinforce water conservation, it needs more water from sources apart from its own ground water reserves to meet the growing demand.”
The Ministry on the other hand has declined to give the go-ahead to the Rs. 3,600-crore project even though land acquisition work is almost over and the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is in the final stage of inviting global tenders to implement the project.
‘Can't be a parasite'
While the forest clearance was actually recommended by the Forest Advisory Committee, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh overrode their advice and decided to reject the clearance. “As much as 775 hectares of good quality forest land is a very steep price to pay,” he said. “Delhi must learn to use the tougher options that are available.” Mr. Ramesh pointed out that Delhi's water system has distribution losses of over 45 per cent and added that under-pricing of water also contributed to wasteful habits. “Delhi simply cannot be a parasite on the rest of the country,” he said.
The proposed Renuka Dam planned on the Giri river with a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed capacity of 40 MW of power was expected to supply Delhi with an additional 275 MGD (million gallons a day) of water.
Hoping for a reprieve, the Jal Board is now waiting for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to take up the issue with the Centre and also with the Himachal Government. A senior Jal Board official said the Jal Board is yet to receive “formal communication from the Ministry on the issue”.
“The Delhi Jal Board has been working to erase all concerns that have been put before it in the past. It has also released over Rs.215 crore for land acquisition for the project. Once the Commonwealth Games are over, the issue will be taken up for review and we are hopeful that whatever the concerns of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, there will be a resolution,” the official said.
In December 2008 the Environment Appraisals Committee of MoEF had agreed in principle to construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. It was then expected that with the clearance, the work on the dam would begin soon and get over in the next six years.
As per the agreement signed earlier, Delhi was committed to pay Rs.3,000 crore for the entire project, wherein water from the Dam would be brought into the Yamuna through the Giri river; it would then be released at the Hathni Kund barrage and from there passed into the Munak Channel and supplied to the city.
Construction of the dam was initially stalled after Haryana and Rajasthan refused to sign the agreement. According to the agreement signed in November 1994, Delhi would get the full supply of water from the Renuka dam till the Kishau Dam and Lakhawar-Vyasi Dam projects become functional, while Himachal Pradesh would retain the full power generated.
The project was also disapproved of by locals, apprehending displacement. A large number of local groups and villagers have been protesting against the project in Himachal Pradesh. “About 17 lakh trees would have been destroyed by the dam project,” said Puran Chand of Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti, sounding relieved by the refusal of clearance. “History is witness to the fact that rehabilitations never take place.”
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
No clearance for the 3,600-crore project in view of threat to 17 lakh trees
A huge setback for Delhi as it was banking on the project to mitigate its water woes
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will take up the issue with the Centre once Games are over
NEW DELHI: The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has decided not to give its approval for the Renuka Dam project in Himachal Pradesh on the ground that it would involves cutting down of a large number of trees.
The Ministry's decision not to give the mandatory clearance to the project has come as a “setback” to the Delhi Government and the Delhi Jal Board as they have been banking on the Renuka Dam project to alleviate the Capital's water worries.
Wednesday's announcement was far from what the water utility and the Delhi Government were expecting. A senior Delhi Government official said the project had been hanging fire for a long time and the Union Ministry's decision has further heightened concerns about the Capital's water woes.
“This (dam) was the only identified and assured supply of water for Delhi. Each year with the increase in population the demand for water is progressively growing. While the Delhi Jal Board can only manage water, cut down on distribution losses and reinforce water conservation, it needs more water from sources apart from its own ground water reserves to meet the growing demand.”
The Ministry on the other hand has declined to give the go-ahead to the Rs. 3,600-crore project even though land acquisition work is almost over and the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is in the final stage of inviting global tenders to implement the project.
‘Can't be a parasite'
While the forest clearance was actually recommended by the Forest Advisory Committee, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh overrode their advice and decided to reject the clearance. “As much as 775 hectares of good quality forest land is a very steep price to pay,” he said. “Delhi must learn to use the tougher options that are available.” Mr. Ramesh pointed out that Delhi's water system has distribution losses of over 45 per cent and added that under-pricing of water also contributed to wasteful habits. “Delhi simply cannot be a parasite on the rest of the country,” he said.
The proposed Renuka Dam planned on the Giri river with a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed capacity of 40 MW of power was expected to supply Delhi with an additional 275 MGD (million gallons a day) of water.
Hoping for a reprieve, the Jal Board is now waiting for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to take up the issue with the Centre and also with the Himachal Government. A senior Jal Board official said the Jal Board is yet to receive “formal communication from the Ministry on the issue”.
“The Delhi Jal Board has been working to erase all concerns that have been put before it in the past. It has also released over Rs.215 crore for land acquisition for the project. Once the Commonwealth Games are over, the issue will be taken up for review and we are hopeful that whatever the concerns of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, there will be a resolution,” the official said.
In December 2008 the Environment Appraisals Committee of MoEF had agreed in principle to construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. It was then expected that with the clearance, the work on the dam would begin soon and get over in the next six years.
As per the agreement signed earlier, Delhi was committed to pay Rs.3,000 crore for the entire project, wherein water from the Dam would be brought into the Yamuna through the Giri river; it would then be released at the Hathni Kund barrage and from there passed into the Munak Channel and supplied to the city.
Construction of the dam was initially stalled after Haryana and Rajasthan refused to sign the agreement. According to the agreement signed in November 1994, Delhi would get the full supply of water from the Renuka dam till the Kishau Dam and Lakhawar-Vyasi Dam projects become functional, while Himachal Pradesh would retain the full power generated.
The project was also disapproved of by locals, apprehending displacement. A large number of local groups and villagers have been protesting against the project in Himachal Pradesh. “About 17 lakh trees would have been destroyed by the dam project,” said Puran Chand of Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti, sounding relieved by the refusal of clearance. “History is witness to the fact that rehabilitations never take place.”
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
बुधवार, 8 सितंबर 2010
THE BALANCING ACT (Times of India- 01Sep.2010)
Global warming meet from Sept 9
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Thiruvananthapuram:
Delegates from 20 countries would participate in the three-day international conference on global warming, climate change, sustainable development and secular spirituality organized by the Santhigiri Research Foundation (SRF) at Santhigiri Ashram from September 9-11 in collaboration with Unesco, the American Center and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi.
The meet, to be attended by more than 400 delegates, will be inaugurated by the President of East Timor and 1996 Nobel Peace laureate, Jose Ramos Manuel-Horta, on September 9.
Being held as part of the parnasala dedication celebrations at Santhigiri Ashram, the conference will underscore the vital role of spirituality in promoting a life vision and lifestyle compatible with both nature and development. It will facilitate administrators, policy makers, scientists, social scientists and activists to gather and devise programmes to promote a sustainable way of life and development.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Thiruvananthapuram:
Delegates from 20 countries would participate in the three-day international conference on global warming, climate change, sustainable development and secular spirituality organized by the Santhigiri Research Foundation (SRF) at Santhigiri Ashram from September 9-11 in collaboration with Unesco, the American Center and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi.
The meet, to be attended by more than 400 delegates, will be inaugurated by the President of East Timor and 1996 Nobel Peace laureate, Jose Ramos Manuel-Horta, on September 9.
Being held as part of the parnasala dedication celebrations at Santhigiri Ashram, the conference will underscore the vital role of spirituality in promoting a life vision and lifestyle compatible with both nature and development. It will facilitate administrators, policy makers, scientists, social scientists and activists to gather and devise programmes to promote a sustainable way of life and development.
Jumbo to be national heritage animal (Times of India-01/09/2010)
Conservation Body To Be Set Up For Elephants On Line Of Big Cats: Ramesh
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday accepted the Elephant Task Force report and decided to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) along the lines of the one for endangered tigers.
The task force, led by Mahesh Rangarajan, submitted its report to the environment and forests ministry and recommended that land corridors used by elephants in the wild while moving through forest patches should be secured as community and conservation reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act. The 12-member panel also recommended declaring existing elephant reserves as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) under Environment Protection Act. Declaring an area as ESA ensures that the land-use pattern of the patch gets locked in and cannot be altered without prior permission of authorities. The committee warned that government should not try to buy out these important corridors or turn them into national parks and sanctuaries. Elephant reserves are usually much larger in size than tiger reserves and do not get the same level of protection. The elephant populations (herds and individuals) roam over large distances, unlike the tiger, and often move through populated areas.
Unlike in the case of the tiger, the elephant population has not declined. However, increased human-elephant conflicts leading to crop depredation and increasing injuries and deaths along with skewed sex ratios of the pachyderms due to poaching of males for the tusks are a case for worry.
Accepting the report, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, “We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as it has been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give the same degree of importance to the elephant as is given to the tiger in order to protect the big animal.”
An amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act would be made to set up the recommended NECA. “We will introduce it (amendment) in the winter session of Parliament,” Ramesh said.
TRUNK CALL
Key recommendations
of the government’s
Elephant Task Force
National Elephant Bring corridors under Conservation community reserves or Authority to be set up conservation reserves
Consortium of Rs 600cr budget in Elephant Research and the 12th Plan, Rs 200cr Estimation to do for securing corridors studies on the Rs 100 crore to be pachyderm spent on reducing
Declare elephant man-elephant conflicts reserves ‘ecologically Full-time conflict sensitive areas’ and management task lock land use forces in regions
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday accepted the Elephant Task Force report and decided to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) along the lines of the one for endangered tigers.
The task force, led by Mahesh Rangarajan, submitted its report to the environment and forests ministry and recommended that land corridors used by elephants in the wild while moving through forest patches should be secured as community and conservation reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act. The 12-member panel also recommended declaring existing elephant reserves as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) under Environment Protection Act. Declaring an area as ESA ensures that the land-use pattern of the patch gets locked in and cannot be altered without prior permission of authorities. The committee warned that government should not try to buy out these important corridors or turn them into national parks and sanctuaries. Elephant reserves are usually much larger in size than tiger reserves and do not get the same level of protection. The elephant populations (herds and individuals) roam over large distances, unlike the tiger, and often move through populated areas.
Unlike in the case of the tiger, the elephant population has not declined. However, increased human-elephant conflicts leading to crop depredation and increasing injuries and deaths along with skewed sex ratios of the pachyderms due to poaching of males for the tusks are a case for worry.
Accepting the report, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, “We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as it has been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give the same degree of importance to the elephant as is given to the tiger in order to protect the big animal.”
An amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act would be made to set up the recommended NECA. “We will introduce it (amendment) in the winter session of Parliament,” Ramesh said.
TRUNK CALL
Key recommendations
of the government’s
Elephant Task Force
National Elephant Bring corridors under Conservation community reserves or Authority to be set up conservation reserves
Consortium of Rs 600cr budget in Elephant Research and the 12th Plan, Rs 200cr Estimation to do for securing corridors studies on the Rs 100 crore to be pachyderm spent on reducing
Declare elephant man-elephant conflicts reserves ‘ecologically Full-time conflict sensitive areas’ and management task lock land use forces in regions
सोमवार, 19 जुलाई 2010
150 people fined in Mumbai for throwing plastic bags in drains
Source: DNA, Date: June , 2010
Mumbai: Cracking the whip on all those throwing plastic bags in drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined nearly 150 people and collected a fine of Rs1.32 lakh in a fortnight.
After having learnt lessons from July 26 deluge, when plastic bags had blocked drains and led to flooding in the metropolis, the civic body has formed two 'plastic ban' squads consisting of six people.
"We have collected a fine of Rs1.32 lakh from 146 people who were caught throwing plastic in drains in the last 12-13 days. These people are largely hawkers and shopkeepers," deputy municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosale told PTI here.
On June 11, municipal commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya had announced that anyone caught throwing plastic, thermocol and other items during monsoon will have to pay fine ranging from Rs100-5,000.
"These cases are mostly from eastern suburbs like Kurla, Mulund, Chembur, Govandi and others followed by western suburbs and the island city," Bhosale said.
Drain clogging had led to massive flooding on July 26, 2005 forcing the state government to contemplate banning polythene bags.
As per the Maharashtra Non-biodegradable Garbage Control Act, the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags must be 50 micron and their size should be no less than 8x12 inches.
Mumbai: Cracking the whip on all those throwing plastic bags in drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined nearly 150 people and collected a fine of Rs1.32 lakh in a fortnight.
After having learnt lessons from July 26 deluge, when plastic bags had blocked drains and led to flooding in the metropolis, the civic body has formed two 'plastic ban' squads consisting of six people.
"We have collected a fine of Rs1.32 lakh from 146 people who were caught throwing plastic in drains in the last 12-13 days. These people are largely hawkers and shopkeepers," deputy municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosale told PTI here.
On June 11, municipal commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya had announced that anyone caught throwing plastic, thermocol and other items during monsoon will have to pay fine ranging from Rs100-5,000.
"These cases are mostly from eastern suburbs like Kurla, Mulund, Chembur, Govandi and others followed by western suburbs and the island city," Bhosale said.
Drain clogging had led to massive flooding on July 26, 2005 forcing the state government to contemplate banning polythene bags.
As per the Maharashtra Non-biodegradable Garbage Control Act, the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags must be 50 micron and their size should be no less than 8x12 inches.
शनिवार, 17 जुलाई 2010
'Shining India' makes its poor pay price of hosting Commonwealth Games
The games have yet to start but they already have many losers: the slum dwellers whose communities are being destroyed
Jason Burke, Delhi
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 July 2010 16.39 BST
A girl works on a building project in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in the Indian capital, where the games will be held. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
The government bulldozers came to the school at 11am, after yoga and before English and Hindi lessons. The children and their teachers had three hours to clear the classrooms. By mid-afternoon, the Yamuna Riverbank school was rubble.
"They told us we were a security risk, so we had to go," the headteacher, Parminder Khaur Somal, said. "All my children were crying. I don't know how we can be a threat to anyone."
Somal founded the school five years ago for 180 slum children living on the banks of the Yamuna river on the outskirts of Delhi. In recent months, she and her pupils have watched a vast new complex of luxury apartments rise 500 metres away: the athletes' village for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. "We never thought it could be a problem," Somal said.
The games, to be held in October, have triggered demolitions across the Indian capital. The competition is the biggest such international sporting event held in India for decades and is seen as an opportunity for the nation to show off its new economic might.
Sheila Dikshit, the chief minister of Delhi, has repeatedly said she wants to the city to be "world class". There is even talk of trying to host the Olympics.
A particular target of the authorities is anything that could tarnish the "shining India" image.
Organisers of the games are acutely aware that the din and filth of the Indian capital could shock visitors. So, along with the construction of new sporting facilities, roads, flyovers, metro lines and an airport, dozens of long-standing slum communities built on public land, vacant lots, by railways or along rubbish-strewn stream beds have been destroyed; hoardings conceal others.
The children at Somal's school came from a community of workers on nearby vegetable farms. The nearest alternative was three miles away, across busy dual carriageways. As the bulldozers destroyed the school, police also moved through the workers' shacks, scattering possessions, breaking down walls and ordering residents to leave.
"The police just started beating me." Said Dharam Pal, a shopkeeper. "They dragged me 50 metres on the ground and then told me: 'If you don't leave here on your own, we'll throw out.' " Pal, 40, said the community was established 15 years ago and that he had nowhere else to go.
Other residents complained of being assaulted. "Not only did they break the school, but they beat us too," said Harpyari Devi, 24, a mother of three children at the school.
Police at the scene refused to comment. Officials from the Delhi municipal authorities were unavailable.
Somal said she had been told the school, which is run by volunteer teachers and funded by donations, was a "security risk" for athletes in the village, which is ringed by high concrete walls and heavily patrolled. Equipped with its own water filtration plant and helipad, the complex will cost more than £150m, according to local campaigners.
"If we were a security threat, we could have just stopped classes until after the games. But the law here is just 'might is right,' " Somal said.
Children at the school, still wearing their free uniforms, said they were sad. "I wanted to be a doctor," Ranjeet Shakya, eight, said.
The parents of almost all the pupils are illiterate. Many eke out a living as vegetable vendors in Delhi. None knew what the flats overlooking their fields and the ruined school were for.
"I've never heard of the Commonwealth Games," said Danveer Karan, a 35-year-old farmer who supports his family of four on a daily wage of 100 rupees (£1.30). "I don't know why the buildings have been made. I don't know why the government destroyed our school either."
ends
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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