सोमवार, 15 जुलाई 2013
बुधवार, 10 जुलाई 2013
शनिवार, 29 जून 2013
caughtSNAPPING - The Hindu
caughtSNAPPING - The Hindu
Don’t know whether to laugh at the irony captured in this image or to cry over the exploitation of the meek animal.Bhim Singh Rawat of Sanjay Colony, Safiabad Road, Narela, has sent in this entry.
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रविवार, 23 जून 2013
Human endeavours gone wrong - The Hindu
Human endeavours gone wrong - The Hindu
Human endeavours gone wrong
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The devastating Uttarakhand floods have one again proved that taming natural forces through human interventions is all buta myth
The devastation:The Govindghat area partly submerged in the flooded Alaknanda river in Chamoli district.PHOTO:PTI
A great tragedy has befallen thousands of Char Dham yatris and many others in Uttarakhand, the full enormity of which is still to unfold despite some disturbing vivid footage beaming out of the television screens. But the blame game has begun. And since the easiest and most convenient to blame is ‘nature’, so most have gotten busy lamenting the nature’s fury without even trying to grapple with the root cause, where hopefully measures to prevent such recurrences could be found.
Let me try and explain such extreme natural events.
High and low ambient temperatures in summers and winter months result in heat ( loo ) and cold waves respectively. High to very high rainfall in catchments result in floods in rivers during monsoon time. All very natural and periodic, and yet why is our response to these natural events so very different?
We deal with the heat wave in summer time and cold wave in winters to our best abilities and within means available to us without much murmur. This is because we have taken for granted these two to be natural annual phenomenon that we must learn to live with their concomitant but temporary inconveniences.
But come floods in rivers and we seem to forget the fundamental truth of dealing with such climatic situations and temporary inconveniences. This is because a ‘mistaken’ human technological endeavour in form of structures on the rivers has mainstreamed the thought that since rivers can be tamed ( sic ), thus dealing with floods need no longer be even a short term inconvenience. With such thoughts in ascendance, the time tested and socially respected land use principles and classifications of khadar(flood plain) and bangar (very high flood zones) were thrown out of the window. Construction of dams, barrages and embankments on and along the rivers became the norm. But if we had thus really fixed the flood challenge, then why has the flood prone area in the country seen, over the decades since Independence, a massive increase from five per cent to 12 per cent, rather than a net decrease? Why do tragedies like Uttarakhand in 2013 (Ganga and Yamuna) and Bihar in 2008 (Kosi) still visit us?
The fact is that the dams, barrages and embankments on one hand, magnify the enormity of high floods when they come and on the other, instil a false sense of security in minds of those who come to occupy the erstwhile khadar lands that all is well. The truth is the opposite. Only normal and periodic climatic events have been converted into man-made disasters, with man coming to colonise khadar lands in plains and fragile river valleys and slopes in the hills, with impunity. ‘Nature’ is then often during high floods conveniently blamed for a calamitous situation which is essentially man-induced with subsequent flood relief becoming a money spinner for the clever.
In our vanity, we have also lost track of the irreplaceable benefits resulting from floods in the rivers. But for these very floods, wherefrom would have come the rich soils which form the backbone of the food security of our country? Or the periodic recharge of our aquifers and well being of our wells and ponds? Wherefrom the flushing away of all the muck that we have no qualms in putting into our rivers? Wherefrom would have come our rich deltas, coastline fisheries and mangrove forests and the biodiversity thriving in them?
So where do we go from here?
First of all we must accept that floods in rivers are natural climatic events resulting from high rains and these shall come and go with little or no harm if we treat them as mere natural and inevitable events and let them and our rivers be, just like we have come to accept and deal from time to time with heat and cold waves.
Then the time tested traditional concept and practices relating to Khadar and Bangar lands must be legislatively established. Policies and laws must ensure identification and delimitation of 100-year, 50-year and 10-year flood plains, as well as fragile river valleys in hills, with strict regulations in place on prohibited and permitted land use/s in these flood and fragile zones.
A move was initiated way back in 2002 by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to formulate such a regulatory framework called RRZ (River Zone Regulation) but which, for reasons best known to the powers that be, remain under wraps, must be unveiled in an urgent manner in the interest of both of the people and the river. It is a sad commentary that what the lawmakers and the executives should have done long back, is now left to the National Green Tribunal to rein in the brazen abuse by the land sharks of the Yamuna flood plains in the National Capital Region and beyond.
On hindsight, we believe that at least some of the recent tragedies in Uttarakhand resulting from improper use of fragile hill slopes on the banks of Ganga and Yamuna, would have been prevented if the RRZ had been in place to prohibit and regulate such self-defeating misuse of river banks.
(The writer is the Convener of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan)
शुक्रवार, 21 जून 2013
Uttarakhand must not compromise on its fragile ecology, says Jayanthi Natarajan - The Hindu
Uttarakhand must not compromise on its fragile ecology, says Jayanthi Natarajan - The Hindu
Published: June 20, 2013 16:44 IST | Updated: June 21, 2013 01:09 IST
Uttarakhand must not compromise on its fragile ecology, says Jayanthi Natarajan
PTIAn aerial view of stranded vehicles at a flood-hit area in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. File photo
Environment Minister decries politicisation of issue at a time of crisis
With Uttarakhand struggling to cope with one of the worst ecological disasters in recent memory, Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Thursday said that an ‘eco-sensitive zone plan’ was in place in the State and that the authorities must not compromise on the ‘fragile ecology’ of the region.
“As Minister for Environment, I feel that it is an ‘ecologically fragile zone’ and that the eco-sensitive zone proposal needs to remain in place,” Ms. Natarajan told reporters here.
Ms. Natarajan said the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in 2011 recommended that a 130-km stretch from Gomukh to Uttarkashi be declared an eco-sensitive zone. “The proposal was accepted and a draft notification was put in place in 2011, which was later finalised in December, 2012, and is still in force.”
Mr. Bahuguna, belonging to Ms. Natarajan’s party, however, is opposed to the proposal for he believes the move would rob the local people of much-needed infrastructure development and deal a blow to the State’s tourism industry.While environmental activists maintain that the flood was a man-made disaster waiting to happen, the State has tried to brand the incident as a natural calamity. Mr. Bahuguna has sought to describe the flash floods as an “unprecedented” event caused by a “Himalayan tsunami.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party too had backed Mr. Bahuguna’s opinion on the issue — the then BJP Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ had written to the Environment Minister, expressing his opposition to any such move.
“The Uttarakhand Assembly had earlier passed a resolution opposing the move to notify the Gangotri-Uttarkashi stretch as an eco-sensitive zone. The BJP Chief Minister before him also held the same point of view. They believe that the region’s development will be affected by this proposal,” said Ms. Natarajan.
However, the first priority right now was to ensure relief and rehabilitation for the afflicted, said Ms. Natarajan, decrying the politicisation of the issue at a time of crisis.
“In a democracy, we have to discuss things… but I believe this is not the time to bring those issues to the fore. As of now, all of us must join hands to ensure that all the stricken people are safe,” Ms. Natarajan said
Building blocks of servitude | The Hindu
Building blocks of servitude | The Hindu
Published: June 19, 2013 00:07 IST | Updated: June 19, 2013 00:41 IST
Building blocks of servitude
The real estate boom in India rides on the underpaid labour of brick kiln workers from whom every ounce of effort is mercilessly extracted with no respect for the law
Urban growth has been central to the remarkable growth rates that we have achieved over the last three decades. Especially since the 1990s, when structural adjustment policies were introduced, markets and private capitalist ventures have significantly driven our urban growth process. However, unlike what is taught in economics textbooks, markets have neither been free in a classical sense, nor welfare-enhancing for all. Focussing on any aspect of the urban growth process would bring out these pathologies, not merely in the urban sector but in the larger growth model. Since construction and real estate have been a crucial component of urban growth, an analysis of one of the building blocks (brick kilns) of this sector in and around Hyderabad city throws light on several of these issues.
Seasonal migrants
Open brick kilns are located in and around the outer boundaries of the rapidly growing city of Hyderabad. These kilns employ lakhs of people, mostly seasonal migrants, who travel long distances from across the country, to live and work in extremely trying conditions. In particular, more than two lakh workers travel from western Odisha districts (mainly Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi) to Hyderabad typically in the pre-summer and summer months of the year, in pursuit of a livelihood.
Typically, most of the workers are from the Scheduled Tribe communities or more broadly from Dalit communities, who are landless workers, tenants or cultivators, working on meagre amounts of land back in Odisha. One of the pathologies of the Indian growth process is the widespread and uneven outbreak of agrarian distress across the country wherein the majority of our workforce still depends on agriculture, which is not remunerative and, therefore, does not suffice in providing sustainable livelihoods to all those dependent on it.
This creates the phenomenon of distress-induced out migration that is seasonal or sometimes more long-term. In this case, some of the seasonal kiln-worker migrants from Odisha work in their small plots of land during the rainy season. They usually grow one crop (e.g. paddy) that does not sustain them throughout the year. Given the inadequacy of institutional credit, they live precariously, caught in inter-linked markets (credit-product or land-credit markets). These interlinked markets, as most economists know, do not function like free competitive markets but endow the market intermediaries with a lot of market power. If there are consumption shocks (e.g. marriage or death of a family member) or production shocks (like tubewell investment or crop failure) for these farmers, the situation gets further compounded and the families get locked in long-term relations of indebtedness. The fear of being trapped in debt with all its ramifications then pushes them out to seek work elsewhere, typically in some sector (such as brick kilns) of the rapidly growing urban India.
The kiln workers get a lump-sum payment at the beginning of their migration to the south, of an amount of around Rs. 12,000. They are also supposed to be provided weekly allowances at the destination in Hyderabad as their living stipend. There is a team in Odisha of Sardars or labour contractors, who handle the recruitment and the initial advance payments to workers, and then travel with them to Hyderabad. The Sardars act on behalf of kiln-owners, who largely hail from the Coastal Andhra region. Having taken the advance, and having moved to a foreign location, the workers are largely captive and forced to act as bonded labour during the contract period. The implications are many.
Appalling conditions
First, workers are forced to work extremely long and irregular hours at the kilns (sometimes, 4 a.m. to 11 p.m with a half-hour lunch break). Second, the conditions of work are quite hazardous and affect their long-term health. Third, their living conditions are quite appalling, as they are forced to house themselves right next to the kilns. Fourth, child labour is rampant as the workers bring their families along when they migrate. Fifth, women constantly undergo sexual harassment at the hands of the Sardars and owners. It is a journey from one set of unfree markets at the source to another set of unfree markets that borders on slavery at the destination during the contract period.
In terms of remuneration at the destination, there are major violations in paying the prescribed minimum wages of the Andhra Pradesh state. In several of the kilns, in terms of the consolidated amount that is paid to the brick moulders for the piece-work they perform, the actual wages (about Rs. 150-200 per 1000 bricks) are roughly half of the prescribed minimum wages (Rs. 376 per 1000 bricks). The situation is no different for brick loaders. At the same time, while the actual cost of making bricks is around 50 paise, it is sold in the market for about Rs. 2.50. The profit margins are in the range of 400-500 per cent, making it an extremely lucrative venture for capital. Of course, some of the margin goes into supporting the Sardars, the local police, State officials, so that this highly exploitative process can go on relentlessly. The real estate boom and the rapid urban construction growth in India over the last two or three decades ride on these emaciated workers from whom the last ounce of effort is extracted without mercy or any respect for the law. This also throws light on the rapidly escalating inequalities in the country since the 1990s.
In terms of the impact of the brick kiln industry on local villages, there is a major diversion of agricultural land for the production of bricks. This land cannot be used for cultivation for a few years after that. Local farmers who lease out the land benefit from the rents. Local merchants benefit greatly with the influx of migrant populations for a few months. Otherwise, there is very little employment generated for the local workers of these villages.
The challenges
There has been a spirited effort to organise the migrant kiln workers by some university students, interested academics, NGOs, and some trade unions, who have formed a solidarity committee for them. It is extremely difficult to organise the workers because of the nexus between the state, owners and contractors, the indifference of well-meaning liberal middle classes to the processes that are building their dreams and prosperity, the vulnerability of workers at an unfamiliar workplace in Hyderabad, their vulnerability in the power equations that work in Odisha, the general difficulty of organising workers in the unorganised sector, the language barriers between the organisers and workers, and the dire threats issued to the organisers by owner-sponsored mafias.
However, such mobilisation efforts need support from all quarters (especially all labour unions) to question both the unfreedom that gets promoted in the name of free markets, and the exploitative processes through which a minority becomes prosperous in our society. These efforts have to be undertaken in conjunction with questioning the already crisis-prone neoliberal growth process in India and across the globe that has tended to see a proliferation of urban informal sector jobs with low wages and poor working conditions, while creating very little employment in the organised sector. We have to lay the foundations for a better growth model not by stimulating the ‘animal spirit’ of domestic and foreign investors as our Prime Minister has often said, but by building a better economy for the majority through the creation of equitable institutions, and through the progressive redistribution of gains from growth.
(Vamsi Vakulabharanam teaches at School of Economics, University of Hyderabad)
Another climate change event | The Hindu
Another climate change event | The Hindu
Published: June 21, 2013 00:59 IST | Updated: June 21, 2013 00:59 IST
Another climate change event
APMONSOON FURY: A scene in Uttarkasi.
Rising temperatures are pushing up the frequency of incidents of extreme rainfall and India needs to be prepared for the consequences
The unexpectedly early and powerful rains over Northwest India have killed over 130 people and left 70,000 pilgrims stranded, damaged temple towns, and washed away roads and 21 bridges in Uttarakhand. And we still don’t know the extent of deaths, injuries and damage because of the impaired connectivity.
In climate literature, rainfall more than 150 mm in a day is termed a very heavy rain event. Dehradun “on Monday morning registered a record rainfall of 340 mm. This amount of rain in June is seen almost after five decades,” said the regional director of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) (The Hindu, June 18, 2013). The unfolding disaster raises two questions: is this extreme rainfall due to global warming? And what issues does it flag?
A study by scientists at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Tirupati, showed a six per cent increase in the frequency of very heavy rain events in India over 1901-2004. The more recent period 1951-2004 shows a 14.5 per cent rise per decade. They lay this at global warming’s door: the study talked of a “coherent relationship” between the increasing trend of extreme rainfall events in the last five decades and the increasing trend of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (M. Rajeevan et al, “Analysis of Variability and Trends of Extreme Rainfall Events Over India Using 104 Years of Gridded Daily Rainfall Data,” Geophysical Research Letters, 35, September 2008). Another school of thought emphasises regional rather than global factors. For instance, Subimal Ghosh et al found an increase in the geographical spread of rainfall extremes in India, but emphasised urbanisation, deforestation and other changes in land use more as causal factors (“Lack of Uniform Trends but Increasing Spatial Variability in Observed Indian Rainfall Extremes,” Nature Climate Change, 18 December 2011).
Single events and climate
Neither argument seeks to connect single rainfall events to global warming. It is in the nature of its methodology that it is not possible to ascribe single rainfall events to climate change. Climate change is a trend over time. However, as extreme events become more frequent in the world, some scientists are trying to grapple with this problem. One group tweaked the question a bit. They have argued that certain recent extreme events — the heatwaves and droughts in Moscow in 2010, and Texas, Oklahoma and northern Mexico in 2011 – were a consequence of global warming “because their likelihood in the absence of global warming was exceedingly small” (James Hansen et al, ‘Perception of Climate Change’, PNAS, 6 August 2012, pp. 2415-2423). Hansen et al showed that extreme temperatures exceeding 3-sigma (a measure of variability and volatility), which covered only 0.1-0.2 per cent of the Earth’s land area in the 30-year period 1950-1980, occurred in as much as 10 per cent of the planet’s land mass in recent summers. Would the heatwaves they refer to have happened in the absence of this huge spread of extreme warming? No.
But note that even this study is largely linking specific temperature anomalies to global warming, not rainfall events. I believe that this methodological impossibility in ascribing single rainfall events, however extreme, to climate change, bolsters the already prevalent complacency about climate change in Indian officialdom and even the denial of global warming.
The picture changes when one considers recent trends. Extreme rainfall events are spreading in India. The Uttarakhand State Action Plan on Climate Change admits to a “few high rainfall events in the recent past” (Govt. of Uttarakhand, SAPCC Revised Version, June 2012, p. 24). People consulted did report erratic rains and increased frequency of intense rainfall events (p.27). There’s no doubt in my mind that this increasing variability and intense downpours are a consequence of global warming, due to the capacity of warmer air to hold more water vapour. It happened last year in Uttarkashi, it’s occurred this year again. It’s going to continue to happen, frequently.
This raises three issues. Surely adaptation means not just desperate rescue during and after extreme rains, but preparing for them. Experts suggest prior warning systems are feasible, with reasonable investment. Given there was no warning from the IMD, what technological or administrative improvement do we need to ensure that advance warnings are issued before such future events? Two, that needs not just technology but political will. We need to collectively challenge the callous indifference that most political elites have for the lives and livelihoods of the poor. And three, even assuming a best-case scenario of capacity, efficiency and political will, what impacts and devastation are inescapable in a difficult and mountainous terrain? What we are currently experiencing is in a world 0.9°C warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. Due to the lag between carbon emissions and global warming, a significantly warmer world is inevitable, as are more extreme events. What has happened this year is going to happen, again, often, and more intensely.
(Nagraj Adve, an activist based in Delhi, works on issues connected with global warming. E-mail:nagraj.adve@gmail.com)
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