"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." - Forest Gump

Monday 10 February 2014

What’s wrong about our Environment?

Monday, February 10, 2014 Posted by Unknown , , , , , No comments

Recently I read a gloomy news about India’s environment & I had to write about it. I came across 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a report by Yale University of United States, which says India ranks 155th out of 176 countries, in its efforts to address environmental challenges. India performs the worst among other emerging economies including, China, which ranks 118th, Brazil, at 77th, Russia, at 73rd, and South Africa at 72nd. A bottom performer on nearly every policy issue included in the 2014 EPI, with the exception of forests, fisheries, and water resources, India’s performance lags most notably in the protection of human health from environmental harm. In particular, India’s air quality is among the worst in the world, tying China in terms of the proportion of the population exposed to average air pollution levels exceeding World Health Organization thresholds.



India's Performance in 2014 EPI 




This is disturbing not only because we did worst in EPI but also because the government, Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), doesn’t seem to care much about our Environment. It seems like Environment is the last thing on their mind.



The Bad:

Environmental Clearances:

Recently Speaking to Frontline, a magazine by The Hindu, Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development, pointed out that, he does not “buy this argument that delayed environmental clearances of mega projects are responsible for the economic slowdown.” 

But Mr. Jairam Ramesh is not the minister of Environment & Forest anymore, Mr. M. Veerappa Moily is and he recently cleared 73 projects worth Rs.1.8 lakh crore within three weeks of assuming charge at the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Some major projects which Mr. Moily recently cleared include POSCO steel plant in Odisha, 520 megawatt Teesta project in Sikkim and Stage I in-principle forest clearance to the 800 MW Tawang II project in Arunachal Pradesh. Also, according to a note issued by the MoEF on January 22, 2014, the final clearance for the Lakhwar multipurpose hydroelectric power project on the Yamuna in Uttarakhand is also on the anvil.


And you know what, all this is to make a point to the corporate sector that UPA is “investor-friendly”, possibly more than Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.



Air Quality:


Recently released Global Burden of Disease 2013, which tracks deaths and illnesses from all causes every 10 years, says outdoor air pollution caused 6.2 premature deaths in India in 2010, which is a six-fold jump from the 1 lakh deaths in 2000. This makes polluted outdoor air the largest killer in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution (mainly from smoking chullahs), tobacco use, and poor nutrition. What is even more disturbing is that of the 180 cities monitored by India’s Central Pollution Control Board in 2012, only two -- Malapuram and Pathanamthitta in Kerala -- meet the criteria of low air pollution (50% below the standard).



Courtesy of Hindustantimes.com



According to 2014 EPI, India has the worst quality of Air in the world. Delhi, the heart and soul of India, has the highest particulate matter 2.5 pollution levels followed by Beijing. Take pride my fellow Indians, we have finally beaten the Chinese!

Iron Ore Mining clearances:

According to report given by Shah Commission, 94 of the 192 iron ore in mining leases in Odisha do not have the mandatory environmental clearances and of the 96 that have them, 75 have mined far beyond their permitted levels over the past several years. The Shah Commission also held that both the Central government authorities and the Odisha government is responsible for the wide-ranging illegal mining that has continued unchecked for years.

The Good:

The Supreme Court recently issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and 19 other state governments on the situation of critical conditions of polluted clusters which continue to remain polluted despite pollution control norms.


What we can do about it?


To be very honest, nothing. No, seriously, you can't do anything. It’s the GOI which is supposed to take care of our environment right? It’s their job not ours right? It’s the policy makers’ job right? And even if we had anything to say, the government won't listen to us right?

WRONG.

In an article on Nature, An international weekly journal on science, Qiang Wang says,


“Solutions must come from ordinary citizens, who can take responsibility for their environment and express it daily in choices such as riding bicycles or taking public transportation instead of driving.”

I couldn't agree more. The fundamental truth is, we, as citizens of India, are as much responsible for pollution of our environment as the GOI and industries. We Indians can't point fingers at our government for not doing anything until we stop -- throwing trash in the rivers, the streets, public parks, out of the windows ourselves. We need to stop defecating on the sidewalks, the railroads. Our environment is not gonna get any better if we choose to ignore our duties as citizens. It’s time we take responsibility as citizens of India. It's time we start building toilets if we don't have any. It's time we throw trash in trash cans. When we ourselves, are fighting to protect our environment, only then we can expect our government to do the same. Ok, now suppose we have done our part, what's next? Should we start asking questions to our government? I say, yes. Should we start protesting on the streets? I say, why the hell not.

But what if our government doesn't listen to our concerns?
Don't forget what Abraham Lincoln had to say about Democracy,

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.”

We, as citizens of a Democracy, have the right to amend government policies or to overthrow the government and establish the one which fights for our environment. Remember that the government works for us and not the other way around.




Finally, I have a photo to share with you all which tells a different story if we change the bigger fish -- the government or its citizens. The bigger fish can be our government or it can be normal citizens. The choice is yours.


The individually small citizens can combine to fight back the big repressive government!

Further reading:


This topic is wide and I had to read for an entire day to gather the data mentioned in the above article. But since it’s a major issue, I decided to post some of the quality readings for readers who want to know more about the concerned issue.





    Written By Rishikesh Pande

    Wednesday 5 February 2014

    The name's 'Pande' not 'Pandey'

    Wednesday, February 05, 2014 Posted by Unknown , , , , , , , , 1 comment

    Recently a student named Nido Tania (19 years old) from Arunachal Pradesh died in the heart & soul of India, at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi. And why? - because he had different hair colour than everybody else did. And I'm just getting started.


    Nido Tania, 19

    It's shame that India and its citizens, even after 65 years of independence, have not accepted Northeastern people as a part of this country. Those same Northeasterners who have fought the mighty China & Pakistan shrugging shoulders along with the rest of the Indians. It's a shame that India and its citizens call Northeasterners a 'Chinese'. Let me make it clear here that there is nothing wrong with being a 'Chinese'. But calling our very own people 'Chinese' -- meaning not Indians, hurts. It hurts to all those who live in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh & other Northeastern states. And it hurts me. I know I'm not Northeasterner & I can't possibly imagine what it must feel like being discriminated against.

    But wait a minute -- I do know how does it feels to be discriminated against in your own country.

    I was in Mumbai or so called the 'city of dreams' for a while. And let me be honest, it was best time & the worst time of my life. Best because I was enjoying the freedom that was bestowed upon me by this great city. And worst because at every step, I felt discriminated. Now you must be wondering why? Read the title again. Yes, I think you got it. At every step, I was being asked whether I was 'Pandey' as in 'Chulbul Pandey' and whether i'm from Bihar or UP. Every time I replied with these questions -- why? Why does it matter if it's Pandey or Pande? What's going to happen to me if I say 'Yes', I'm from Bihar or UP? What's going to happen if I say 'No'? How does my being Pandey or Pande change our relationship? Am I going to get any special treatment if I am from Bihar or UP?

    Hate crimes, xenophobia or racism - you can give any name to it you want, but the basic fact is people are being discriminated against only because they belong from different part of the country. But the real question is why?

    There are many reasons for people being discriminated against because of their - looks, gender, origin, language, but the basic reason behind it is -- fear of 'Unknown'. By 'Unknown' I mean -- lack of knowledge of something or someone. People are discriminated against  just because society does not know them or simply not aware about them. May be because many people migrate from other parts of the country we never have been to. Now here, it's important to understand why people migrate in the first place.


    People migrate for two reasons. Firstly, they may wish to get away from the things that they do not like. These are called push factors and include:-


    • not enough and poorly paid jobs
    • old and poor quality houses
    • natural disasters - earthquakes, volcanoes, wars
    • few opportunities - shopping centers, cinema, food, schools, hospitals
    • poor transport


    Secondly, people are attracted to the things that they do like. These are called pull factors and include:-


    • more and better paid jobs
    • new and good quality houses
    • better education - more opportunities
    • improved medical care
    • better transport

    Now here, it's important to note that in the constitution of India, India is referred to as 'Union of states' rather than 'federation of states'. This is because Indian constitution is a mixture of both -- Federal and Unitary government. The reason why I'm mentioning this is that the Indian constitution follows the principle of 'Single citizenship'. It means India doesn't have a separate constitution for center and state governments. In other words, It means our constitution is supreme and every Indian has a right to move around the entire country without any problem.

    Now the same benign migration, which by the way is nothing new, but you know that by now, has been given a heinous turn. Over the past few years, some politicians including -- the one who was too cool to stay in 'Sena' & went on to form his own 'Sena' -- have been vocally against such migration. It's such a shame that a fellow Indian has turned against another fellow Indian because of such politicians. Remember when we were all kids and we used to pledge something like this,

    “India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage. I shall strive to be worthy of it. I shall respect my parents, teachers and all elders and treat everyone with courtesy. To my country and all my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.”


    Remember we used to call our fellow Indians as 'brothers' and 'sisters' and not 'Bhaiya'?
    Look at us. What happened? What's changed?


    What happened was some politicians turned us against our very own just because they were 'different' for their own purposes. It's such a shame that we couldn't even realize when it happened. It's such a shame that not a single person walked out on these demagogues & greedy politicians. Not a single person stood for what was the right thing to do. And because of what we didn't do we have lost a young boy,Nindo, who could have done a great service to our country. As I always say,

    "We are responsible for happening or not happening of something and everything."


    Just because we failed to understand these 'Unknown' people, today, we have lost Nido. And it's such a shame that a bright student had to die to make us realize our mistake. What mistake you ask? Let’s look it up in our Constitution.


    In our constitution, we have a preamble, 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. Our preamble contains brief summary of our entire written constitution. Preamble reads,


    "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:JUSTICE, social, economic and political;LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;and to promote among them allFRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."
     


    See? Our very own preamble clearly says that 'We' have a right to equality of opportunity (articles 14-18). It says that we are supposed to treat each other as brothers & sisters & assure the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation. So what if Nindo went to Delhi for further education. So what if I went to Mumbai for employment opportunities. So what if 'Bhaiyas' of Bihar or UP came to Mumbai or Delhi for employment or education.  Where did I go wrong? Where did 'Bhaiyas' went wrong? And where did Nindo went wrong? What was Nido's fault that he had to be beaten up so bad that he died?


    It's times like these that we have to step back & see what we have given to our society. It's times like these that we have to look in the mirror & identify the 'devil'. It's times like these that we end the fear of 'Unknown' by simply educating the masses about our culture. It's times like these we should arrange cross-cultural programs throughout the country on a larger scale. It’s times like these we have to come to terms that India’s political and constitutional structure is pluralistic. Its citizens must internalise the idea that we are a nation of diverse groups of people who need not necessarily resemble one another. Come on, we can do this. It's India we are talking about. The Same country which was supposed to fail because of religious and cultural diversity. But we didn't fail. We succeeded. We succeeded against Polio which killed my 15 year old sister. And we can do it one more time. We can end Racism if we want to. But it's true what they say,


    "First step in solving any problem, is recognizing there is one."


    Let's accept that we have a problem and start working on solving it. We can & we will end Racism.


    Jai Hind
    Jai Bharat


    Written by Rishikesh Pande