“A city the earth needs” (The Hindu- 15 Sep 2012)

Rana Siddiqui Zaman Auroville is an experiment that works, says Mark Tully As the Capital hosts the first ever Auroville Festival, Sir Mark Tully, well known writer and Chairman, International Advisory Council, Auroville Foundation speaks to The Hindu about the unique character of the city near Pondicherry and its importance. Excerpts: What is the reason for holding the Auroville festival in New Delhi? Delhi is a hub for international diplomats and audiences. The Auroville Festival is aimed at showcasing the city’s achievements so far. We want to draw people’s attention to Auroville’s role in the world, so our first step is a series of talks on the city: its experiments in urban design and architecture, afforestation and environmental concerns. Auroville’s approach to the economy is unique. The seminar we are holding will throw light on the city’s education, art, literature and crafts as well as collaboration with the local bio-region. We have also brought several artists from Auroville and abroad, their products that include paintings, sculptures, pottery and photographs will reflect their lifestyles, skills, and innovations in different fields. You are projecting Auroville as a model city, especially in terms of urban development and environment. How is it different from other cities? Yes. Innovative architecture and environment-friendly building technology are two hallmarks of Auroville. We are developing the city in seven steps. When Auroville was founded 40 years ago, it was barren land… Now it is green with over two million trees and shrubs. The people there make and use half-baked bricks for buildings. These are compressed earth blocks, made with soil mixed with a small amount of cement. These are cured and baked in the sun reducing the use of large amount of fired wood, thereby saving forests… The citizens have developed a hand-operated machine to make these bricks. These are used to construct buildings faster and create local employment too. Auroville houses are uniquely shaped. They play with space and serene designs beautifully. Now our focus is on the building of the city itself. India’s foremost architect B. V Doshi is involved in the infrastructure of Auroville. To be more environment-friendly, the city is also experimenting with solar pumps, and solar energy. It’s a home to the largest concentration of renewable energy technologies in India. Remarkable contribution from Auroville is a solar boat – one of the biggest in the world. Auroville’s lifestyle is idealistic. Could you elaborate a bit on the philosophy of the people who live there? Idealistic, yet it is working fine. The reason is that the city is habitated with just 2,300 people. And it has 50 different nationalities, including a large number of Indians. So, there is no domination of any one religion or country. We aim at making it 50,000 inhabitants’ city for now. The USP of the city is that it is a bridge between rationality and superamental consciousness. The mother coined this term and Aurobindo was a bridge between Mother’s thought of superamental consciousness and his own teachings. Auroville aims at becoming a model city of the future. The Matra Mandir is our biggest divine centre. It can be a great tourist attraction. At Matru Mandir, soil of 124 nations and all the states of India was put in an urn in the centre of the planned township four decades ago. It marked a beginning of the collective adventure in human unity. With such idealistic living, what role does money play? It may be interesting to note that Auroville believes in a cashless economy. This is another experiment based on the city’s spiritual aspirations. Auroville collects together the resources produced by the community and makes them available to all as per their need without any exchange of money. So far it seems to be working, but visitors/tourists in the city need to open an account. I see people fighting for landed property across the world, but in Auroville the land has no private ownership. The entire land belongs to the Auroville Foundation which holds it in trust with humanity as a whole. One can build a house but ownership will remain with the Foundation. You say Auroville is self sustainable…. Largely yes. Auroville has the only Indian made mud-brick press which sells bricks all over India and exports to Africa, Sri Lanka, USA and Europe as well. Auroville also boasts of several farms and 150 commercial units ranging from architectural services to handicrafts, handmade stationery, incense candles, essential oils, food processing, garment manufacturing, metal working etc. It employs some 5000 people. These units contribute to the economy of Auroville.But the best part is that members of the community are supposed to contribute one-third of their earnings in running the economy, which they religiously do.

The Hindu : Life & Style / Leisure : “A city the earth needs”

The Hindu : Life & Style / Leisure : “A city the earth needs”

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : Look what they’ve done to our rivers

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : Look what they’ve done to our rivers

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : The loss of Loktak

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : The loss of Loktak

Wetland wonderland (The Hindu- 23 Sep 2012)

N. SHIVA KUMAR

Marine wealth: A colourful sea anemone. Photos: N. Shiva Kumar Aerial roots: Helps mangrove trees to breathe despite high tides. Crustaceans' delight: A wide variety of crabs are found in mangrove forests. Tourist potential: Mangrove saplings planted on Gujarat coast. Subjected to plunder and deforestation for years, people are finally waking up to the role mangrove forests play in containing erosion, de-polluting air and maintaining a healthy marine ecology Just as the Olympics are conducted once in four years, environmentalists across the globe also hold their mega meeting once in four years. While the more dramatic Olympics grab headlines, the ‘green guys’ do not get any publicity on that scale, even though the proceedings on natural science directly impacts all living creatures, including mankind. This year, the World Conservation Congress was held in Korea in the quest to use nature for resolving the growing list of economic and social issues. Conducted by IUCN — International Union for Conservation of Nature, from September 1 to 15, its agenda was to find pragmatic solutions to environmental and developmental challenges in the world. One of the major decisions taken in the congress was to prepare the Red List of Ecosystems that will harmonise the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and other IUCN knowledge products. When used together, ecosystem and species red lists will provide the most informative indicator of the status of biological diversity at national and global levels. Also in focus are the sensitive mangrove ecosystems which are unique but underrated and one of the least considered of all the ecologically niches until the world shattering tsunamis of 2004 and 2011 happened. Thankfully, mangroves are now credited for taming the tides against tempests and safeguarding valuable wildlife and sensitive shorelines. Mangroves are unique jungles and one of the most productive wetlands on earth. Yet, these coastal tropical forests are among the most threatened habitats. They may be disappearing faster than tropical rainforests, and so far, with little public notice. Lavishly growing in the inter-tidal areas and river mouths between land and sea, mangroves provide critical habitat for a diverse marine and terrestrial flora and fauna. Healthy mangrove forests are key to a healthy marine ecology and wildlife that thrives in this breathtaking wonderland. Endowed with 7517 km long coastline, the Indian subcontinent is rich in mangrove forests, but it is being ruthlessly plundered. However, management of mangroves in India is also slowly picking up, especially in the west coast, on the east coast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to the government in 1987, India lost 40 per cent of its mangrove area in the last century. Rapid industrialisation, pollution and increasing population has resulted in degradation of mangroves. Even though legal protection exists to protect this ecosystem under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, are the people actually aware of this? Very few citizens are responsive to mangrove forests and even fewer have ever seen them. Even those who have seen them will not appreciate their splendour at face value, until the nuances are explained. On a visit to Andaman Islands, just before the 2004 tsunami, mangroves skirted the islands but nobody spoke of the greenery. We were only told of the beautiful beaches and blue lagoons. Nevertheless, on my more recent visit to Sundarbans in West Bengal, the forest that lies snugly in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal, there seems to be more respect for this remarkable jungle of undergrowth. Formed by the confluence of many rivers, the Sundarbans is often flooded with a mixture of freshwater and seawater. The interplay of low tide and high tide is one of the miracles of mangroves where tiny islands are created everyday and vanish the next day. It is rated as the most dynamic and dramatic landscape on earth. The Sundarbans mangrove covers 10,000 sq km of which about 6,000 sq km is in Bangladesh and rest in India. Due to its vital wealth and statistics, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. This exceptional water world is an amalgamation of creeks, canals and serpentine rivers of varying width from a few meters to several km. Travelling in a watercraft for two full days from sun up to sundown and gazing at the amazing maze of jungles made me dizzy. The wealth of vegetation was so astounding, that even my two decades of nature watching did not help me recognise even a single species of plant. I was merrily shooting to capture flora and fauna specially adapted to this unique landscape as visual documentary. Hemant Karkhanis of Godrej Marine Ecology Centre from Bombay says that mangroves not only act as buffer zones between the land and sea but also protect the golden sands from constant erosion. They are perfect breeding and nursery grounds for a variety of marine animals, good source of timber, fuel and fodder. They also purify the water by absorbing impurities and help us to breathe cleaner air by absorbing the pollutants in the air. In the future, they are a potential source for recreation and tourism.

जानलेवा हो सकता है अदरक जागरण संवाददाता, बाहरी दिल्ली : स्वास्थ्य के लिए लाभकारी अदरक खरीदने से पहले सचेत हो जाइए। राजधानी में धड़ल्ले से अदरक की तेजाब से धुलाई हो रही है। ऐसा अदरक की चमक बरकरार रखने के लिए किया जा रहा है, लेकिन यह लोगों के लिए मौत की वजह बन सकती है। स्वास्थ्य विशेषज्ञ का मानना है कि तेजाब से अदरक को धोने से न केवल उसका औषधीय गुण कम होता है, बल्कि इसका लंबे समय तक सेवन से कई जानलेवा बीमारियां होने का भी खतरा रहता है। इस मुद्दे को लेकर 17 सितंबर को नगर निगम उत्तरी सदन में हुई बैठक में उठाए गए सवाल पर निगम आयुक्त पी के गुप्ता ने जांच के आदेश भी दिए थे, लेकिन राजधानी में यह कार्य बदस्तूर जारी है। अधिकारी की नाक के नीचे चल रहा है अवैध धंधा : आजादपुर मंडी के आसपास केइलाके में अदरक में चमक पैदा करने के लिए तेजाब से धोने का धंधा तो सालों से चल ही रहा है, इसके अलावा यह खेल आजादपुर मंडी कृषि उत्पाद विपणन कमेटी (एपीएमसी) परिसर में भी चल रहा है, लेकिन इसके आला अधिकारी को इसकी भनक तक नहीं है। एपीएमसी के चेयरमैन राजेंद्र शर्मा ने बताया कि उन्हें इस बात की जानकारी नहीं है, लेकिन उन्होंने भरोसा दिलाया कि अगर ऐसा है तो तत्काल इसपर रोक लगाई जाएगी और फलों व सब्जियों की धुलाई की निगरानी के लिए अधिकारियों को नियुक्त किया जाएगा। जागरण टीम ने भी लिया जायजा : दैनिक जागरण टीम ने बृहस्पतिवार को सराय पीपल थला, भड़ौला गांव व यहां की झुग्गियों में चल रहे इस गैर कानूनी धंधे का जायजा लिया और इसे अपने कैमरे में कैद किया। इन इलाकों की तंग गलियों में दो से ढ़ाई हजार रुपये में झुग्गियों व मकानों को किराए पर लेकर इस धंधे को अंजाम दिया जा रहा है। अप्रवासी मजदूरों द्वारा पानी में तेजाब मिलाकर अदरक धोते पाया गया। इन जगहों पर तेजाब की भरी व खाली बोतलें भी पाई गई। अदरक को मंडी से ढेले व टैंपों से ले जाया जाता है। कहीं-कहीं तो बडे़ पैमाने पर यह काम चल रहा है और चालीस से पचास बोरियां धुलाई के लिए रखीं गई हैं। कई मकान व झुग्गियां अंदर से बंद थी। काफी कोशिश के बाद भी उसके अंदर मौजूद व्यक्ति दरवाजा खोलने को राजी नहीं हुआ। दिल्ली में भारी खपत है अदरक की : आजादपुर मंडी में पश्चिम बंगाल व दक्षिण भारत से रोजाना औसतन 12 से 15 टन अदरक की आवक है। किसान मिट्टी युक्त अदरक को लेकर मंडी में पहुंचते हैं, जहां थोक कारोबारियों को बेच दिया जाता है। अब यहां के कारोबारियों द्वारा अदरक की धुलाई के बाद इसे खुदरा दुकानदारों को बेचा जाता है, लेकिन कम समय में धुलाई होने व चमक पैदा करने के लिए तेजाब का प्रयोग किया जाता है। दिल्ली खाद्य सुरक्षा आयुक्त के. जे. वर्मन ने कहा कि उनका विभाग इस मामले की जांच कराएगा। यदि इस प्रकार की गतिविधि हो रही है, तो निश्चित तौर पर इसमें शामिल लोगों के खिलाफ कड़ी कार्रवाई की जाएगी। उन्होंने कहा कि वे मंडियों से जुड़े अधिकारियों से भी कहेंगे कि इस मामले को गंभीरता से लें और ऐसे किसी भी धंधे को रोकने के लिए तत्काल कदम उठाएं।

The Hindu : Today's Paper / MISCELLANEOUS : Wetland wonderland

The Hindu : Today's Paper / MISCELLANEOUS : Wetland wonderland