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Fourteen-year-old
In a
Sahil prays for
the safety of his
family at a relief
camp in Srinagar
TRAGIC
state Kashmir floods make a pleading
case for urban flood management
COURSE DURATION
November 10-14, 2014
TIMING
10.00 am to 5.30 pm
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CSE, 38, Tughlakabad Institutional
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For details contact: Nivit Kumar Yadav, Industry & Environment Unit
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Mobile: 9968023535 Website: www.cseindia.org
THE MYTH OF
GREEN BUILDING
T
HERE IS no question that India and other parts What we discovered is not a convenient truth. My col-
of the still-under-construction world must build leagues have put together a book, Building Sense: Beyond the
green. The building sector is a major contributor Green Faade of Sustainable Habitat, to bust some myths and
to climate change and local environmental de- explore alternative approaches. What they find is as follows.
struction because of construction materials used; First, the general approach is to build wrongly and
energy expended for lighting, heating and cooling; and water then fit in the green features. For instance, glass-envel-
consumption and waste discharge.This is the threat.There is oped buildings are certified green, simply because they in-
an opportunity as well. Most of India is still unbuiltover stall double or triple insulating glass or five-star air-condi-
70 per cent of the building stock is yet to be constructed tioners to cool places that were first heated up deliberately.
so unlike the rest of the already developed world, India can Secondly, rating systems are being pushed through
build anew in efficient and sustainable manner. But how? government and municipal schemes without any evidence
This is an issue that has been troubling us at the Centre that green-certified buildings are actually working. Data
for Science and Environment. Over the past few years the on the performance of the green buildings after they have
idea of green buildings has gained popularityeverybody, it been commissioned was, till very recently, not disclosed.
would seem, has turned a new leaf. Across the country large So, even though rating agencies say that green-certified
and small constructions are advertised as the greenest of buildings save between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the
green.To prove that they are indeed energy and reduce water consumption
environment-friendly, the business by 20-30 per cent, they have no corrob-
of certification has also grown.There orating data.
are agencies that now rate and award Thirdly, all these so-called green
stars to individual buildings based technologies end up hiking costs to
on certain parameters. Many state the extent that buildings become
governments are making these same unaffordable to most. What India
standards of greenness mandatory. needs are building standards that are
Some are even providing incentives, appropriate and cost-effective. Green
like exemptions on property tax, to architecture should not be a barrier to
those buildings that qualify as envi- inclusive growth.
ronment-friendly. This is where old knowledge has a
All this is important but do we know what green means? role to play. Traditional architecture is based on the princi-
When we began asking this question, what surprised us ple of localising buildings so that they can optimise nat-
was the hostility with which it was received. Nobody wanted ural elements and be efficient in resource use. This science
the new God to be questioned. Nobody wanted to be asked and art of engineers for nature needs to be infused with the
something as simple as what the post-commissioning per- new material knowledge of modern architecture.
formance of a green building was. We realised that the in- Many architects, engineers and builders are innovating
terestsof architects, builders, auditors and certifiersin with this old-new science. Thats how the knowledge and
this new industry were already entrenched. It was a cozy club practice of affordable and sustainable buildings will evolve.
and nobody was keen to give us entry. But big builders will adopt it only if and when the faade of
We dug in our heels. Buildings are the key to a green buildings is lifted. This is what we hope to do.
cleaner and greener future.The building sector uses, already,
some 40 per cent of the countrys electricity generation. So,
every effort made to reduce energy intensity of buildings
will go a long way. We wanted to know what was happen-
ing and what more could be done to reduce the material-use
footprint and emissions of every construction.
http://www.facebook.com/down2earthindia
India is up for sale to the highest unsustainable interests of industry. The
polluters. By the time we wake up from move to amend green laws is no surprise.
our ignorance it will be too late. What this Cleaning the Ganga alone is not going to
government is doing will create concrete restore the irreparable damages to the
cities without food, water or clean air. ecosystem resulting from such decisions.
NDA government sets up SHANKARY KRISHNAMOORTHY VARAD SHENDE
high-level panel to The government's aim is not to amend but We need to strike a balance between
amend green laws. Do we to destroy. Why not formulate a policy on development and environment. Otherwise
population control instead? no living being will be able to enjoy the
need to worry? ANIL KAPUR fruits of development. In the development
debate, we also need to ask "development
Since it came to power, this government for whom".
has made clear its intention of fuelling the SUBHENDU BHAT TACHARJEE
undernourished
people
24
Caught unawares
The Jammu and Kashmir
disaster shows why India needs
to worry about its urban flood
management
Risky
promotion
The Bangladesh
government is set to
expand cultivation of
controversial
GM brinjal 22
Bihari migrants
16 come home
Migration trends in Bihar are changing,
causing labour shortage elsewhere
18
Where lies
Krishna
consciousness?
ISKCON's planned Chandrodaya temple
may further deplete Vrindavan's
On the wrong side of rights groundwater and harm its environment
Tribal affairs ministry objects to Maharashtra's Village
Forest Rules that violate the Forest Rights Act. Other
ministries pressure it to backtrack
14
50
56
gobartimes
59-78
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www.downtoearth.org.in
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THE FORTNIGHT
CROSS HAIRS
Algae floods
Arabian Sea
Government nod to AYUSH mission
THE UNION Cabinet has approved AYUSH education systems, increasing
A green algae growing a National AYUSH Mission to revive the number of AYUSH hospitals and
in the Arabian Sea is the country's traditional systems of dispensaries, and ensuring availability of
medicine. AYUSH stands for ayurveda, raw material for drugs. The announcement
threatening fisheries in yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and comes at a time when 11 Southeast Asian
the region. A report by homoeopathy. The mission aims to countries are looking at ways to integrate
provide healthcare services to vulnerable traditional medicines into national
Columbia University's
and far-flung areas of the country by healthcare systems for ensuring universal
Lamont-Doherty Earth allocating more resources, promoting health coverage.
Observatory says green
Noctiluca scintillans has
been spreading over Standing protest for land V E R B AT I M
A new roadblock
Tribal affairs ministry objects to Maharashtra's Village Forest Rules
that violate FRA. Other ministeries pressure it to backtrack
KUMAR SAMBHAV SHRIVASTAVA | delhi
T
HE FOREST Rights Act, which em-
Brinjal blues
Amid countrywide protests against Bt brinjal, Bangladesh government
announces plan to expand cultivation of the genetically modified crop
REAZ AHMED | dhaka
COURTESY: LVCSOUTHASIA.BLOGSPOT.IN
T
HE DEBATE over South Asias first The two camps earlier came face to face
commercially released genetically at a press meet organised by the Bangladesh
modified (GM) crop is unlikely to Environmental Lawyers Association (bela)
die down any time soon. in Dhaka on August 31, where bela and oth-
A week after anti-GM groups in er anti-GM groups, including ubinig and
Bangladesh demanded a ban on the farming Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan, denounced
and marketing of Bt brinjal citing inadequate the introduction of Bt brinjal. They claimed
research on its impact on the environment that hardly five to six farmers who grew the
and human health, the Bangladesh crop had a good harvest.To counter this, bari
Agricultural Research Institute (bari), on brought in as many as 16 farmers from across
September 7, declared plans to expand the the country who grew Bt brinjal. It claimed
cultivation of Bt brinjal. that 11 of them got good yields, while
Bhakti divide
Rudra Kund, which once served as a perennial source
of freshwater. Braj Foundation has revived the pond
and is currently beautifying its ghats
in Brajbhoomi
Disagreement is brewing Neither the cities, the cultured lands nor the villages or their houses are ours. We are
among Krishna's devotees the forest people, dear father, and will always live in the forests and the hills
Sri Krishna (Srimad Bhagvatam, Chapter 10, Canto 24, Verse 24)
in Vrindavan. While some
want to show their love
K
RISHNA, THE god of love in British author Ranchor Prime in his book,
for the god by building Hindu mythology, is said to have
lived a simpletons life. He danced
Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth.
Today, Krishnas devotees are divided in
temples, others serve with peacocks, splashed in the riv- their bhakti. While one camp wants to glori-
ers, played the flute that mesmerised humans fy their master through magnificent temples,
Krishna by restoring and animals alike and spent his time in the the other believes in reviving the very forests
the forests that were forests herding cows. Srivatsa Goswami, a
Vaishnava scholar, considers Krishnas life to
where Krishna grew up, now lost to urbani-
sation. The former thinks erecting monu-
intrinsic to his life be the greatest chapter in environmental ments dedicated to Krishna is the best way to
history. One who is devoted to Krishna can spread his message; the latter says the right
SOMA BASU | vrindavan never be callous towards the environment, way to honour him is following in his foot-
because Krishna himself loves nature, writes steps and caring for the environment. What
emerges from these differences of opinion is iskcon to look after the new temple. Vrindavan, where Krishna spent his child-
polarisation in Krishna worship and a debate On the other hand, Braj Foundation, a hood and adolescence, is called the heart of
on the idea of bhakti. non-profit led by senior journalist Vineet Braj.Today, the town has at least 5,500 tem-
Narain, focuses on rejuvenating the forests ples and hundreds of dharamshalas (shelters)
Does devotion demand temples? associated with Krishnas life. Krishna was a and hotels to cater to more than six million
The International Society for Krishna primordial environmentalist. This is my way tourists who visit the town every year.
Consciousness (iskcon), a global Vaishnava of worshiping him. One who serves Braj
spiritual institution with temples all over the serves Krishna, Narain says. A swanky building for God
world, believes architecture is one of the ways Braj, spread across 5,000 square kilome- iskcons proposed temple will be another ad-
to propagate Krishnas mission. During a lec- tres around Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar dition to Vrindavans concrete jungle. The
ture in Mumbai on February 25, 1974, Srila Pradesh, is Krishnas own body, claim vedic Chandrodaya Mandir is being built on the
Prabhupada, the founder of iskcon, said, texts. Once upon a time, the region had 137 outskirts of the town in collaboration with
Oh, there are so many skyscrapers. Why not forests and 1,000 kunds or water bodies. the Kolkata-based Infinity Group.The glass-
construct a nice skyscraper temple of Today, only three of the 137 groves, associat- and-steel temple, spread over 2.2 hectares, is
Krishna? That is Krishna consciousness. ed with the legend of Radha Krishna, set to be the worlds tallest, measuring 210
Taking inspiration from his words, remain, while the rest have been lost to rapid metres with 70 floors. This is taller than the
iskcon plans to build a large and swanky urbanisation. Most of the kunds have either Qutub Minar in Delhi, which is 70 metres
temple in Vrindavan dedicated to Krishna. silted up, been encroached upon or have be- tall. The foundation stone for the proposed
An imposing temple would proclaim the come garbage dumps. Braj Foundation aims temple was laid in March this year and
status of Vrindavan as one of Indias spiritu- to rejuvenate the water bodies, forest groves construction is expected to be completed in
al capitals and attract global attention and hills in Braj, in what it considers is the five years.
towards Krishna and his message, explains best form of Krishna bhakti. According to the project brief of
Suvyakta Narasimha Dasa, president of the If Braj is abundant in forests and kunds Chandrodaya Mandir, the grand temple will
Vrindavan unit of Akshaya Patra that find mention in vedic texts, it also hous- be surrounded by 12 hectares of forest area to
Foundation, a charitable body set up by es brick monuments dedicated to Krishna. recreate the forests of Braj, including the
12 verdant forests, mentioned in Srimad
Bhagvatam, where Lord Krishna is believed
to perform his raas leelas (love plays). A
Yamuna creek that will be recreated in the
forests will provide boating opportunity to
visitors. The building will also house a heli-
pad, an amphitheatre, a hi-speed lift and a 4D
theatre.The entire project area spreads across
60 hectares, equivalent to the size of six
Akshardham temples in Delhi, and will also
comprise residential villas and apartments
with modern facilities.
In its eagerness to serve Krishna, iskcon
seems to be indifferent to the troubles
Brajwasis (people of Braj) might face from a
grand temple in their vicinity. The water for
the temple, toilets, kunds and the creek would
be extracted from the ground. The Yamuna
is 5 km away from the project site. As it is dif-
ficult to lay a pipeline for such a long distance,
we have identified a groundwater source
3 km away from the temple. Soon, boring will
An artist's
be done and pipelines will be laid, Dasa says.
impression of He claims that the Foundation has already
Chandrodaya
acquired environmental clearance for the
COURTESY: ISKCON
Mandir in
Vrindavan, project from the State Environment Impact
estimated to
be the tallest in
Assessment Authority.
the world Manoj Mishra, convenor of Yamuna Jiye
(Above) The water in Brahma Sarovar, one of the many kunds in Braj, was
reduced to a trickle due to encroachment; (Right) The sarovar was restored by
Braj Foundation and was opened to the public in 2009
Abhiyan, a non-profit in Delhi, says, This is "Krishna was a primordial from private sponsorships. The non-profit
another Akshardham temple in the making. environmentalist. Reviving also focuses on planting trees like kadamba,
In the name of God, natural resources are radha and krishnachura associated with the
the forests is my way of
being plundered. Groundwater is already legend of Radha Krishna. It promotes cow-
scarce in Vrindavan and its overextraction
worshipping him. One who based agriculture and organic farming too.
may further harm the environment. serves Braj serves Krishna" Butchers are stealing cows and killing them
Dasa estimates that the temple will con- Vineet Narain, head, Braj Foundation for meat. Most of the charitable gaushalas
sume 5-6 megawatt (MW) of electricity per (cow shelters) do not have very goods stand-
day, of which 2 MW would be generated buildings and two forests in Braj. The foun- ards of care. We aim to reestablish the eco-
from the solar panels in the temples parking dation has also been campaigning against nomic viability of the desi cow, he adds.
lot, which can hold 2,000 cars, while the rest mining on the hills. It plans to restore all
would be bought from electricity grids. 1,000 kunds in Braj associated with Krishna. What is bhakti ?
In 2006, it took up work to desilt the Several retired engineers and officials have
Reviving Krishna's forests Rudra Kund in Jatipura village in Braj, re- joined the Braj Foundation to show their love
Jagannath Poddar, head of Friends of move encroachments and restore the water for Krishna. To seek God, one needs eyes be-
Vrindavan, an environment non-profit, says body. But it faced opposition from encroach- reft of any worldly attachment. God does not
that urbanisation and prolonged negligence ers, who went to the Allahabad High Court need memorials, says a monk in Chaitanya
have pushed the kunds, also known as and got a stay order against the renovation of Gauriya Mutt in Vrindavan. On Srila
sarovars, in Braj to extinction. These kunds the kund. The order was lifted after five years Prabhupads message to build a skyscraper for
once served as perennial sources of freshwa- of legal battle. In June 2011, the Braj Krishna, he says that Prabhupads words must
ter. It is sad to see the resources of Vrindavan Foundation resumed its work and with the have a deeper meaning. When this reporter
being destroyed by people who are promot- help of the district administration and police, tried to verify the same from Dasa, he said,
ing real estate business here in the name of demolished unauthorised construction Religious texts are interpreted in two ways;
Krishna, he adds. around the kund. Once dry and filled with symbolic and literal. We are literalists.
Braj Foundation has been striving to garbage, Rudra Kund now sparkles Swami Sivananda of Matri Sadan
restore the ecological, architectural and cul- with clean water. After we desilt the kunds Ashram in Haridwar believes people have
tural heritage of Braj, which it says reflects and declog their recharge wells, we start misinterpreted Hinduism. While temples
the intertwined relationship between envi- working on their beautification so that peo- and memorials to mark sacred places are nec-
ronment, people and the Supreme Lord. ple know the religious and historical essary, building a 70-storey temple in a place
Since its formation in 2005, the non-profit significance of the place, Narain says. He where there are a thousand others is showing
has restored 46 water bodies, three heritage adds that the funding for their work comes off, he adds. n
Destination Bihar
Migration trends in Bihar
N
ANDLAL YADAV has no clue Large-scale infrastructure projects in
about his date or year of birth. All Bihar increased job opportunities for skilled
are changing, causing he remembers is that as a child he and unskilled labourers and this was the
used to take a train to Punjab reason behind the decline in migration, the
labour shortage in several along with his father and mother and return government said. The claim is not without
to his village in Madhepura in Bihar during basis. According to the Bihar Development
states. A few studies the festival of Chhatth. Nandlal calculates Report 2013-14, the state has seen a growth
investigate the reasons that he worked in Punjab for nearly 20 years
and then in Delhi for 15 years. It is for the
of 14.15 per cent in infrastructure since 2009.
Infrastructure projects such as construction
and patterns first time that I am working in Patna, he says. of roads, bridges and buildings have
Nandlals case is not isolated. Media contributed to around 50 per cent of the
ALOK GUPTA | patna reports state that migration from Bihar has economic growth in the state, says the states
declined, resulting in acute shortage of Economic Survey 2012-13 (see `Generating
labourers in Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, jobs' on p23).
West Bengal and other states. The issue was Though only 11.3 per cent of the state is
first highlighted in 2012 when the Bihar urbanised, mega bridges and national
governments labour department claimed highways have attracted migrant labourers in
that migration from the state had dropped by large numbers, says Indrajit Roy, research
35-40 per cent between 2008 and 2012. The fellow with the Department of International
Bihar witnessed a growth rate of 14.5 per cent department said that 1.5-2 million labourers Development, University of Oxford.
in infrastructure between 2009 and 2014. This
created jobs for labourers in the state and who would earlier migrate to other states Labourers from Bihar were working in cities
reduced migration every year are now finding jobs in Bihar. like Delhi and Gurgaon. The cost of living is
PHOTOGRAPHS: VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE
W
HEN THE rains began in Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) on the morning of
September 3, it was just another day for Vijay Gadhia. The 50-year-old
employee of Jammus Power Development Department had gone to
Srinagar with his colleagues for official work. He expected the next
day to be bright and sunny. A day of rain in the region is usually followed
by a day of sunshine. But the rain did not stop. Instead, he heard the
news that a bus carrying 70 members of a wedding party was washed
away by flash floods in Rajouri, of which 50 could not be traced.
On the night of September 4, the Doodh Ganga, a tributary of the Jhelum
flowing through Srinagar, breached its embankment following a cloudburst in its catch-
ment area. On September 5, the water level in the Tawi and Chenab rivers in Jammu rose
dramatically. Flood control bunds were washed away, bridges collapsed and agricultural
land got submerged. Rains continued to lash the region in the next few days triggering land-
slides that disrupted highways and snapped power lines.Till the afternoon of September 5,
CHRONOLOGY Srinagar residents were clicking photographs of the gradually swelling Jhelum to post
OF A on social media.
DISASTER On the night of September 5, the Jhelum too breached its embankment at Padshahi Bagh,
August 30 following which there was a half-hearted attempt by the state administration to warn the peo-
A cyclonic circulation ple. Announcements were made from several mosques in the city at 10 pm. Residents were
coupled with a fresh asked to move to the first floor of their houses. But the announcements came late. Most people
Western disturbance had gone to bed. Many of
moves towards J&K those who were awake ig-
nored the words. According
Rainfall in Srinagar for September
September 1-2 crossed its 10-year-high mark of 151.9
Rainfall starts in J&K to Gadhia, it hardly sounded
like a warning.Those who did mm in 1992 within 24 hours. This year,
September 3
Landslides claim 10 lives not have a multi-storey build- the city received 156.7 mm of rainfall
across the state. The ing had no choice. By the time on September 5 alone
Jhelum flows a metre the announcements started,
above the danger mark some parts of Srinagar were already submerged in waist-deep water.
September 4 Gadhia and his colleagues sensed trouble and fled Srinagar, spent four days in the
The Jhelum rises to 5.43 wilderness without food and water before reaching the Shankaracharya hill on
metre above the danger September 12. After that we reached the Governor House from where we were airlifted to
level. Flash floods in Jammu, Gadhia told Down To Earth.
Rajouri claim 50 lives
September 5 A CITY UNDER WATER
Cloudburst in the In September, rainfall in Srinagar crossed its 10-year-high mark151.9 mm of
catchment area of Doodh rainfall in September 1992within 24 hours. This year, the city received 156.7
Ganga. Jhelum breaches mm of rainfall on September 5 alone. The average monthly rainfall for Srinagar
embankment is 56.4 mm. The India Meteorological Department recorded more than 500 mm
September 6 of rainfall in the first week of September. The floodwater started receding from
Water level reaches September 11, but till September 13 more than 70 per cent of Srinagar was still
7-8 metres in parts submerged, with tens of thousands of people stranded.
of Srinagar. Rescue The two distinct water channels flowing through the citythe Jhelum and the
operations start flood channel, an artificial outlet created in 1904 to drain out excess water from the Jhelum
September 7 in case of floodhad merged into a big, brown lake. Some of the worst-affected areas
Prime Minister Narendra include Allochi Bagh, Tulsi Bagh, Wazir Bagh, Rajbagh, Zero Bridge and areas along the
Modi calls the flood a right bank of the Jhelum. Maisuma, Natipora, Lal Chowk and several localities in Civil Lines
`national calamity' remained submerged under two metres of water.
September 9 Murtaza Khan, a former legislator, spent three days on the roof of the mla hostel build-
Death toll stands at 215 ing on M A Road. The pace and level of rescue operation was only five per cent of the
September 11 required scale.The Army or the National Disaster Response Force (ndrf ) hardly knew about
Floodwater Srinagar.They had no idea which area was densely populated with kuccha houses and which
starts receding had high-rises, nor did they know where the water currents were maximum and why,he says.
Baramulla
J&K Anchar
Jhelum Lake
River
Dal Lake
Uri Srinagar
Srinagar's lost
SAVIOURS Flood-affected areas Jhelum River
Srinagar-Ladakh Highway
Sind River
Jhelum River
Anchar
Lake Wetland 13,425.90 hectares (ha)
Built-up land 1,745.73 ha
Open water source 4,000.50 ha
S R I N A G A R Dal Lake Others 50,505.90 ha
Hokarsar 2004
Karan Mar Nalla
Nagar
Flood Channel
Qamarwari Khanyar
Rekh-i-Gandakshah Brar-i-Nambal
Maisuma
Rakh-i-Arat Lal Chowk Regal Chowk
Zero Bridge Sonwar
Bemina Batamaloo
Rajbagh Indranagar
Wazir Bagh
Gogjibagh Shivpura Badamibagh
Batamaloo Tulsi Bagh
wetlands
Rambagh Padshahi Bagh
Mehjoor Nagar
Wetland 6,407.14 ha
Natipora Rakh-i-Khan Built-up land 10,791.60 ha
Beerwah- Doodh Open water source 3,065.88 ha
Budgam Road Ganga Others 49,426.70 ha
Source: Study "Quantification of loss of spatial extent of lakes
GRAPHICS: RAKU Nowgam-Pulwama Road and wetlands in the suburbs of Srinagar city during last
century using geospatial approach"; Authors: Humayun
Rashid and Gowhar Naseem
Gadhia and Khan were lucky to have been saved, unlike the 215 people who lost their
lives in the deluge. The toll is likely to rise as the water recedes. Hectares of ripe crop and
orchards have been lost, and the infrastructural damage is likely to cross `6,000 crore.
Kashmiris have complained about the lack of coordination among the Army, ndrf and
the local administration in rescuing people. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pleaded help-
lessness. I had no government for the first 36 hours as the seat of establishment was wiped
out. My own residence has no power supply, and my cellphones had no connectivity. My cap-
ital city [Srinagar] was taken out. I resumed administrative operations with six officers in a
makeshift mini secretariat, he told journalists at a press meet on September 9. According
to news reports, the six-storey secretariat was submerged up to the second floor.
Abdullah added that his officers could not be located for at least three days after the floods
began. Peoples anger is justified, but we were caught off guard. His minister for irrigation
and flood control, Shyam Lal Sharma, told Down To Earth that his department had given a
warning which was not taken seriously. We issued a warning on September 5. People were
alerted in various parts of the state, Sharma said.
D O W N T O E A R T H G R E E N F I L E S B O O K S F I L M S T- S H I R T S B A G S
csestore
@
http://csestore.cse.org.in
I
n flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, Law. The lake area almost reduced to one-
the streets of the states summer capital, third in the 1980s and has further
Srinagar, resemble surging streams. The reduced to one-sixth of its original size in the
drainage channels of the city have been recent past. It has lost almost 12 metres of
blocked.The links connecting the lakes have depth. Srinagars natural drainage system has
been cut off due to unplanned urbanisation collapsed making it prone to urban floods.
and encroachment. As a result, the lakes have
lost their capacity to absorb water the way HALF OF WATER BODIES LOST
they used to a century ago, scientists say. Last month, continuous rain for two to three
Wetlands and lakes act as sponges during days flooded Srinagar with water from the
floods. Kashmir Valley is dotted with Jhelum.This would not have happened a few
wetlands. Apart from natural ponds and decades ago, say Humayun Rashid and
lakes, the valley has other types of wetlands, Gowhar Naseem of the Directorate of
such as rivers, streams, riverine wetlands, Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing,
human-made ponds and tanks. According to who have studied the loss of lakes and
a report by the Department of Environment wetlands in Srinagar and its effect on the city.
and Remote Sensing, there are 1,230 lakes They explain that deforestation in the
and water bodies in the state150 in Jhelum basin has led to excessive siltation in
Jammu, 415 in Kashmir and 665 in Ladakh. most of the lakes and water bodies of
Dal Lake, Anchar Lake, Manasbal Lake and Srinagar. They compare two maps of the
Wular Lake are some of the larger wetlands cityone of 1911 and another of 2004 (see
in the region which are today threatened by Srinagars lost saviours on p27). Their
urbanisation. Dal Lake in Srinagar, one of analysis shows that wetlands like Batamaloo A resident of
Padshahi Bagh in
the worlds largest natural lakes, covered an Nambal, Rekh-i-Gandakshah, Rakh-i-Arat Srinagar assesses
area of 75 square kilometre in 1,200 AD, says and Rakh-i-Khan and the streams of the the damage to
his house in the
Nadeem Qadri, executive director of the Doodh Ganga and Mar Nalla have been aftermath of
non-profit, Centre for Environment and completely lost to urbanisation, while other the flood
PHOTOGRAPHS: AJIT
REUTERS
A temple stands lakes and wetlands have experienced six basins of streams that criss-crossed Srinagar
amidst the waters of
the overflowing Tawi considerable shrinkage in the past century. the city, meant to carry its monsoon runoff, residents
river during heavy The study involved mapping of nearly had been converted into roads, buildings
rains in Jammu on have
69,677 hectares (ha) in and around Srinagar. and slums, just like Srinagar. Kolkata,
September 6
The analysis of the changes that have taken Guwahati, Hyderabad, Chennai and several
connected
place in the spatial extent of lakes and other cities have been falling prey to frequent
their sewer
wetlands from 1911-2004 reveals that the urban floods due to the degradation of their lines to
city has lost more than 50 per cent of its drainage network. drains
water bodies. that are
LEGAL SAFEGUARDS meant for
WHAT WENT WRONG A few cities like Guwahati and Kolkata draining
When some low-lying areas in Srinagar go have taken steps to preserve their water out storm
under water during heavy rains, people bodies. In Guwahati, the state government water
blame the drainage system. What they dont passed the Guwahati Water Bodies
realise is that they have constructed their (Preservation and Conservation) Act, 2008.
houses in those low-lying areas that The aim was to preserve wetlands and to
were previously used as drainage basins for reacquire land in the periphery of the water
the disposal of storm water, says Mehrajudin bodies. In 2006, the East Kolkata Wetland
Bhat, executive engineer of the J&K Urban Conservation and Management Bill was
Environment Engineering Department. passed to protect 12,000 ha of wetland.
People in the city have connected their The Ministry of Environment and
sewage lines directly to drains that are Forests issued a rule for conservation and
meant for the disposal of storm management of wetlands in December
water. This leads to choking of drains, 2010, under the provisions of the
he explains. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, called
In 1971, Srinagars municipal limits the Wetlands (Management and
covered only 83 square kilometres (sq km). Conservation) Rules, 2010.
In 1981, the area went up to 103.3 sq km. But the law has no teeth until a wetland
At present, urban agglomeration of is notified under it, says leading
Srinagar covers more than 230 sq km. This environmental lawyer Sanjay Upadhyay.
has resulted in the encroachment of He adds that the Town and Country
wetlands and natural drainage channels, Planning Act should take care of the
Bhat says. wetlands, but the municipal bodies that
Just like Srinagar, many urban centres implement this Act do not have the
of India have failed to manage their technical expertise to even identify a
drainage channels and storm water drains. wetland. These loopholes add to the
Mumbai learnt its lesson in July 2005. The problem of floods in urban India.
The peculiarity of
urban floods
What are urban floods and why are we witnessing them?
U
rbanisation affects disasters just as drains which flush out the runoff from the
profoundly as disasters can affect city, unlike in rural settings where the runoff
urbanisation, writes Mark Pelling, is absorbed naturally by farmlands and ponds.
geographer and climate change expert at Urban areas are characterised by
Kings College, London, in his book, impervious surfaces like roads, pavements
The Vulnerability of Cities. and buildings. High rate of development and
In recent times, urban flooding has construction in these areas has resulted in the
emerged as a major concern. As the weather loss of soft landscape. This decreases a citys
gets more erratic and one-time rainfall, like capacity to absorb water, making it
the one recently witnessed in Srinagar, dependent solely on the outflow of surface
increases, large concentrated populations in water runoff. Under such circumstances,
urban areas face increased risk of flood. even moderate rainfall can lead to flash
There are some peculiarities of flooding in floods in low-lying areas. Cities located
urban areas. Its primary reason is surface along a river might face an added problem if
The Army and National water runoff. Surface runoff is the excess the river flows at a higher level within its
Disaster Response
Force were not familiar water from rain or melting snow that flows embankment. Guwahati, a low-lying city on
with the topography of over the earths surface without getting the bank of the Brahmaputra river, faced
Srinagar. This delayed
the scaling up of rescue absorbed. In the urban landscape, it is unprecedented flooding this year.
operations controlled and managed artificially through In the past few years, flooding in Delhi
REUTERS REUTERS
Mumbai was plunged due to overflow of the citys 18 major drains director-general of meteorology (research),
into chaos as the city
received more than
has become a common phenomenon. Heavy Pune, analysed flooding in four megacities of
900 mm of rainfall rain in the Yamunas upstream increases its the countryDelhi, Chennai, Kolkata and
in July 2005;
(Right) Flood in
water level in Delhi, due to which the drains Mumbai.The paper demonstrated how rapid
Chennai the same in the city experience reverse flow. and uncontrolled urbanisation is at the root
year affected more
than 500,000 people
As more and more farmlands and green of floods and flood-related damages in these
areas are being urbanised, the amount of cities. It noted that the mechanism for
surface area for water percolation is getting urban flooding is complex and location-
reduced. As a result, all the runoff flows on specific. Hence, each city needs its own flood
the land, without being absorbed. This management practices.
increases the chance of floods. Encroachment is another fallout of
Another reason for urban flooding is the urbanisation. The paper mentions that the
lack of drainage system in an urban area. As number of water bodies in Delhi has been
there is little open soil to absorb water, nearly reduced to 600 from the original 800 due to
all the excess rainwater needs to be encroachment. It notes that the floodplains
transported to the drainage system. High- of the Yamunahome to thousands of
intensity rainfall can cause floods when a illegal coloniesare the most populated
citys drainage network does not have the parts of Delhi. High population density
capacity to drain away excess water in demands more infrastructure, leading to
adequate time. environmental degradation. By 2025, the
A 2003 study by C P Konard, published population of tropical Asia is estimated to High-
in the US Geological Survey, shows that the rise to 2.4 billion. Many of the most intensity
streams in the urban areas of the US rise populated cities of the worldTokyo, rainfall
more quickly than those in rural areas during Mumbai, Shanghai, Kolkata, Jakarta, Delhi, can cause
storms and have higher discharge. Thus, Seoul, Manila and Dhakaare located in floods
urban spaces flood more rapidly. It also shows Asia, three of which are in India. when
that debris from broken bridges and other Kolkata has been built on wetlands. a city's
construction that the streams collect further Chennai, too, has seen massive construction
drainage
restrict the waters flow from the city, in recent decades, reducing soil cover and
increasing its level and causing floods. vegetation. While other cities can expand in
network
adjoining areas, Mumbai cannot due to its
loses
URBANISATION THE ROOT CAUSE long coastline.The city was built by merging capacity
The risk of infrastructural damage increases seven islands and hilly areas. Nearly 60 per to drain
with increasing urbanisation. A 2013 cent of Mumbais population lives in poorly precipi-
research paper by U S De, former additional built temporary settlements. Only three tation
Are we prepared?
How do we manage urban floods? Is there a protocol?
D
espite warnings from the Indian Management of Urban Flooding. The
Meteorological Department and the guidelines were released in 2010.
state Irrigation and Flood Control
Department, Jammu and Kashmir went under WHAT THE GUIDELINES SAY
water because it did not have a contingency ndma acknowledges the increasing
plan, nor did it have a well-equipped state frequency of urban flooding. It says that the
emergency operation centre (seoc). causes of urban flooding are different for
One might argue that when Mumbai was each city, which is why flood management
hit by flood in 2005, Surat in 2006 and strategies need to be customised. Policies for
Kolkata in 2007, each city had functional a coastal city, for example, would have to be
seocs, yet they failed to prevent the disaster. different from a city located on the hills.
This is because the floods they faced in those ndma proposed an Urban Flooding Cell
particular years were quite different from the with a technical umbrella for forecasting and
floods they had faced earlier. warning at the state level. It mooted a local
Urban floods are a new challenge. Census network of automatic rainfall gauges for real-
2011 showed that for the first time since time monitoring. Local authorities were
1921, the urban population in India was asked to go in for contour mapping, put the
much more than the rural population. A 2008 existing storm water drainage network on
study by the National Institute of Disaster geographic information system (gis) and
Management showed that the annual desilt all drains by March end every year. It
economic losses from urban flooding are also suggested that lakes should be freed from
much higher than those incurred from encroachment so that the natural drainage
other disasters. system of a city could be maintained.
The National Disaster Management
Authority (ndma) decided to deal with GUIDELINES NOT BINDING A road in Srinagar
urban flooding separately. In 2008, it formed Most of the state governments have not been caves in under
the pressure of
a committee on urban floods which sincere in implementing ndmas guidelines. floodwater from an
formulated the National Guidelines for But are the guidelines binding? asks overflowing Jhelum
ASTRONOMY
PHOTOGRAPHS: ALEXIS LICHT
NASA
Water ice found in exosolar body
EVIDENCE OF water ice clouds outside
our solar system has been found for the
first time. The clouds have been found on a
brown dwarf named W0855. Brown dwarfs
are objects much bigger than giant planets
and much smaller than tiny stars. The clouds
were detected by combining images taken
through a telescope over three nights. Ice
clouds are a great tool in understanding a
planet's atmosphere. In our solar system, such
clouds are present in planets such as Jupiter
and Saturn. The Astrophysical Journal Letters,
September 8
A researcher examines skull of an anthracothere, a
hippopotamus-like mammal that lived 40 million years
ago, and (left) 35-million-year-old snail fossils in Myanmar ECOLOGY
A
SIAN MONSOON system is much older than thought. Scientists believed Sharks thrive in healthy corals
that the system took form 22-25 million years ago due to the uplift SHARKS BECOME abundant in a coral
of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. But research has shown zone when the reefs are healthy. In a decade-
that it came into existence 35-40 million years ago when carbon dioxide long study conducted in the Great Barrier
(CO2) levels were three-four times more than what they are now. The Reef, researchers used thousands of remote
pattern became weak 34 million years ago when the CO2 levels declined by underwater video stations to count the
50 per cent. For the study, 40-million-year-old snail and mammal fossils number of sharks. The results showed that
in Myanmar were analysed to find the types of oxygen they contained. The the health of coral reef had a huge affect on
ratio of oxygen-18 and oxygen-16 (two different forms of oxygen) showed abundance of shark, especially the grey reef
that the animal lived in monsoonal conditions. Another study in China shark which is found on coral reefs. The study
corroborated the results. Monsoon climate generates winter winds that underlines the importance of coral reefs in
bring dust from Central Asia to China. Such dust, dating 41 million years protecting sharks. PLoS One, September 10
ago, was found in Xining basin in central China. Linking the results with CO2
levels present at the time showed the correlation. Nature, September 14
Silent threat
C
OOKING TAKES place every day in
Studies show modern kitchen is not as safe as homes across the world. Whether it is
believed. Use of exhausts, effective ventilation done on traditional mud stoves or on
sophisticated burners, gases released
can reduce household pollution during the process endanger the health and
lives of people in the house. Experts say it
INDU MATHI S is a misconception that kitchen exhaust and
VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE
ventilation are not a necessity.
Harmful gases and chemicals are
released during combustion of both kinds
of fuelsolid (wood, coal, kerosene) and
gas (natural, bio, lpg). The list of pollutants
includes nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide,
particulate matter and formaldehyde.
According to a study published in
Environmental Health Perspective in August
2014, around 3 billion people in the world
face household air pollution. Though most
of these live in poor countries, the problem
is not limited to poor countries. The study
estimated that 500,000 to 600,000 people
with low incomes in the US are exposed
to indoor pollution because their primary
source of heating is solid fuel. As per the
World Health Organization estimates, 4.3
million people across the world die every year
due to illnesses attributable to household
air pollution. In comparison, outdoor air
pollution kills 3.7 million a year.
Herbs to
heal cattle
In the absence of
veterinary services,
traditional medical
practices for treating
livestock remain popular
in tribal villages
APARNA PALLAVI | nagpur
COMMON WORMWOOD
(Artemisia vulgaris) is used
to fumigate cattle sheds
A
LL VETERINARY doctors will
unanimously agree that treating
ruminal tympany disease (bloated
rumen or paunch of the cattle) is
difficult. After all, it is responsible for 20 per
cent of cattle mortality in the country.
But a study on the use ethno-veteri-
nary medicines-traditional practices of
veterinary medicine using local plants and
herbs-claims local cattle herders cure the DHOTRA (Datura metel)
lethal cattle disease with good old tamarind. leaves and fruits are used
to heal wounds
The paper, Use of Ethno-Veterinary Medicines
(evm) from Vidarbha Region, India, pub-
lished in Bioscience Discovery, in July 2014
SANDALWOOD
found that the use of plants to heal cattle (Santalum album L.) leaves
diseases is a common practice in the tribal are used to heal eye injury
parts of Nagpur, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli
districts of Maharashtra.
It has identified 46 plants used to cure
different diseases in livestock used by 60
herbalists and cattle herders experienced in
administering such plant-based medicines.
The paper found evm to be highly effective
in curing 20 conditions, ranging from seri-
ous ailments such as foot and mouth disease,
fractures and abortions to common condi-
NEEM (Azadirachta indica) is tions such as reduced lactation, eye or teeth
used to fumigate cattle sheds problems and snake or scorpion bites.
What is the relation between land metre drop in groundwater level, the mean and there is a high probability that land
subsidence and groundwater extraction? subsidence is 3.28 cm. Another study, subsidence will take place in north India due
Land subsidence generally occurs when published in 2013, analysed land subsidence to unmindful mining of groundwater.
groundwater is mined in an unplanned way. between 1956 and 2000 at Ultadanga, a Extraction of groundwater from areas
The impact is more evident in rocks made of locality in east Kolkata, and found that the prone to land subsidence may also cause
fine-grained sediments. Decline of area showed a subsidence rate of 18.23 mm/ adverse environmental impact on the regions
groundwater table causes a vertical year due to a decline of 9 m of groundwater ecosystem.There may be a loss of wetlands. It
compression of sediments bearing the water. level.The studies suggested that extraction of is imperative to estimate the possible rate of
Sometimes, lateral compression may also groundwater should be carried out based on land subsidence and chalk out a sustainable
take place along with this vertical the groundwater potential and the perceived groundwater management plan based on
compression. Lowering of the pore water threat of subsidence in the area. groundwater potential and estimated rate of
pressure in a layer results in an increase of the land subsidence of different areas, especially
effective stress in the soil, resulting in The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing in a fragile wetland to minimise the adverse
consolidation of the soil which manifests as recently signed an MoU with the Central environmental impacts of groundwater
land subsidence. Groundwater Board to study the effect development. The cities of north India may
of land subsidence in northern India. have lost their wetlands due to urbanisation,
What are the effects of land subsidence? Why is this study needed? but the Gangetic plains are dotted with
The effects can be settlement of upper clay Northern India comprises plains and hilly ponds, marshes and swamps (occurring in
layer leading to damage of infrastructure areas. Major rivers like the Ganga and its the peri-urban and rural areas) which may be
(roads, bridges) and flooding due to tributaries criss-cross the area and deposit affected by land subsidence.
ineffective drainage systems of the city. Lines fresh alluvium on the northern plains.
of weakness in the layers can also be activated How is land subsidence studied?
and this may cause earthquake in the area. For the Kolkata study, we collected data
There can be indirect effects such as a change Land subsidence can on groundwater from published journals,
in gradient of streams or drains. activate fault lines and cgwb and water level data measured by
cause earthquake in the myself and my students in wells in Kolkata
Is land subsidence a serious issue? area. There can also be and adjoining East Kolkata Wetland. The
Land subsidence is an irreversible process. It indirect effects, such as subsidence of land was then calculated using
can be very serious. In China the average total different mathematical models. But land
a change in gradient of
economic loss due to subsidence is estimated subsidence can be studied more accurately
at around US $1.5 billion per year, of which
streams or drains using remote sensing.
80-90 per cent are indirect losses. In Bangkok
many private and public buildings, and Urbanisation and industrialisation in these How will the study in northern India help
underground infrastructure are severely areas are causing a rapid decline in the people?
damaged by subsidence. In 2006, the total groundwater. Unplanned extraction of The study will help cgwb to prepare a
cost of subsidence-related damage, especially groundwater from soft, fresh alluvium groundwater management policy. Stringent
in subsidence-prone areas, in the underlying the northern plains can lead to laws can also be imposed by the state
Netherlands was estimated at over 3.5 land subsidence. This means cities like groundwater boards on the industries which
billion per year (`276 billion at current rate). Lucknow, Agra, Mathura, Kanpur, are the water guzzlers.
The US Geological Survey also recently Allahabad, Varanasi, which are on the In Bangkok, extreme land subsidence
released a report showing that extensive Gangetic plain, are prone to land subsidence. by groundwater extraction was successfully
groundwater pumping is causing land A study done in 2009 in Lucknow had reduced by regulations and restrictions.
subsidence in California. suggested that if the city continued A specific law (Groundwater Act) was
groundwater extraction at present rate, there enacted in 1977. Most severely affected
You were part of a study done in Kolkata will be land subsidence in 2026. The study areas were designated as critical zones,
on subsidence. What did the study show? was conducted by a retired scientist from the with more control over private and public
The area between Kasba, Gariahat and Central Ground Water Board (cgwb). groundwater activities. Groundwater use
Dhakuria in south Kolkata has shown land Till date there has been no major charges were first implemented in 1985 and
subsidence. The estimated mean subsidence incident of land subsidence in north India. gradually increased. Currently, Bangkok
rate in the city, according to a recent study, is Land subsidence cannot always be noticed as uses a very small amount of groundwater.
13.53 mm/year. There were few incidents of mostly the impact is spread over a large area. Only 10 per cent of water is sourced from the
tilting of buildings.This subsidence occurred But groundwater extraction from a similar ground. The rate of subsidence has gone
due to a decline of groundwater. For every soil in Kolkata has shown land subsidence drastically down.
Stewarding the
Earth, Rethinking
Property and the
Emergence of
Biocultural Rights
by Sanjay Kabir Bavikatte
Oxford University Press / `775
Romancing
of biocultural rights as a sub-set of
environmental law. It relies on economic,
anthropological, political and legal
Development
Failure and
JUNGLE TREES OF CENTRAL INDIA , A FIELD Identity Politics in
GUIDE FOR TREE SPOTTERS Pradip Krishen Uttar Pradesh
Penguin | `1,499 Edited by Roger Jeffery,
Craig Jeffery and Jens
Lerche
A
Sage / `995
T ONE PLACE in this book under review, author Pradip Krishen
writes, I could think of no way depicting the subtle shades of ma- THE BOOK investigates neoliberal
huas new foliage in the compass of a single spread. Here is a sample changes and political transformation in
spread of the russet tonnes of the most beautiful of trees.What fol- Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and,
lows is a spread resplendent with breathtaking images of the mahua tree that by some measures, the poorest state.
are also remarkable for the detail they offer. That is one of the strengths of It examines the connection between
Krishens Jungle Trees of Central India, A Field Guide for Tree Spotters. Krishen transition in its economy and links it to the
is a master with words. But he also knows when to let the photographer take transformations in its politics. The book
over. It helps that he is also a brilliant photographer. demonstrates how an understanding of
Central India, the subject of Krishens enquiry, might seem a rather vague dynamics in Uttar Pradesh might provide
entity. One will not find it in a political map of the country. Krishen is careful new perspective on issues such as the
to qualify his choice quite early. My version of Central India encompasses state, the civil society, caste, democracy
most but not all of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It also accommodates a sliver and social impact of economic reforms
of (northern) Maharashtra, a slice of Chhattisgarh, tiny outliers of (southern) issues that are the subject of vigorous
Uttar Pradesh and a longitudinal wedge of (eastern) Rajasthan...Central India debate in India as a whole.
makes a lot of ecological sense but is not an exclusive domain and there are
Children's swaraj
Karnataka turns governance into child's play with kids' assemblies
JITENDRA | chikmagalur
F
OURTEEN-YEAR-old Kavyasri M Y 10-year-old Rachin C V, a baal sabhas. It started the
is known as chief minister in her resident of another village exercise through a gov-
village of Chittemakki in Karnatakas in the same panchayat. ernment circular in
Koppa block in Chikmagalur district. The reasona small 2007.International or-
KARNATAKA
Two years ago, when she was in Class VII, stream that falls on the ganisations like Unicef
Kavyasri was elected as the representative of way would always over- and other non-profits
the baal sabhaa childrens assembly on the flow during the harsh Udupi Chikmagalur were suggesting a mech-
lines of gram sabha where all kids below the rainy season at the anism to include children
age of 18 meet to discuss issues that are often Western Ghats village. But in the decision process to
overlooked by adults. that is a thing of the past, says check child trafficking, child la-
As chief minister, it was Kavyasris duty Rachin, adding proudly, because of bour, child marriage, dropout rates in
to bring issues raised during the baal sabha to us. He and his friends participated in the baal schools and other problems that children face.
the notice of the panchayat, which organises sabha in November 2012 and passed a resolu- So the state government decided to start baal
the gathering once every year. The initiative tion in front of the panchayat members to sabha,says Ninge Gowda, former under sec-
has brought relief in many ways to children construct two culverts (enclosed drains) and retary to the state government, who issued the
in villages, as well as elders. a soak pit on the stream.They were construct- 2007 circular.Though implemented across the
For instance, travelling to school during ed a year later. state, the circular does not make baal sabhas
the monsoons was always a difficult task for Karnataka is the only state to organise mandatory. As a result, only a few panchayats
A sip of earthy
flavour
Anantamool tea is more than a refresher for the
farmers of Vidarbha
APARNA PALLAVI | nagpur
VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE
Nazi's
concentration camp complex
industrial jackal
Bayer, Hoechst and BASF participated in Nazi crimes
KAUSHIK DASGUPTA
D
URING THE Nuremberg War Crimes Trial in 1946, Chief Farben was the single largest donor to the election campaign of
Prosecutor Telford Taylor made a scathing accusation Adolph Hitler in the late 1920s. A year before Hitler seized power,
against a German cartel. These companies, not the luna- IG Farben donated 400,000 reichsmarks (German currency between
tic Nazi fanatics, are the main war criminals. If the guilt of 1924 and June 1948) to Hitler and his Nazi party.
these criminals is not brought to daylight and if they are not pun- After Hitler came to power, IG Farben worked in close collabo-
ished, they will pose a much greater threat to the future peace of ration with the Nazis. Farben produced chemical weapons for the
the world than Hitler if he were still alive, he had said. The cartel German military and looted chemical industries of the
in question was Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farben or Association of countries Germany occupied during the war. The Nuremberg trials
Common Interests, IG Farben in short. The cartel was formed in described the conglomerate as Nazis industrial jackal.
1925 after German pharma and chemical majors, Bayer, basf and The trials revealed that during the war, IG Farben used slave
Hoechst, joined hands. labour in many of its factories and mines. A part of the infamous
During the trials to indict Nazis for culpability in World War II, concentration camp in Auschwitz in Nazi-occupied Germany was
Taylor and his colleagues went on to provide a huge body of evidence dedicated to supplying slave labour for the nearby IG Farben plant,
that incriminated the German cartel. The trials revealed that IG Buna-Werke, also known as IG Auschwitz. By 1944 over 80,000
COURTESY: DIGITALCOMMONS.LAW.LSU.EDU
IG Auschwitzthe synthetic rubber and fuel plant where Farben
had invested 600 million reichsmarks, the Nuremberg trials revealed.
Writer Primo Levi, who was incarcerated at IG Auschwitz, wrote
later, There was chronic hungerunknown to free men. On the back
of my feet I already had those numb sores that will not heal. I pushed
wagons, I worked with a shovel, I turned rotten in the rain, I shivered
in the wind.The inhuman conditions claimed several thousands
this despite Farben ensuring that the fittest of the Aushwitz inmates
came to the plant. It paid the German 10,000 reichsmarks each year
for the purpose.
Our association with the Nazi party worked to our benefit, a
Farben employee testified at the trials. The company manufactured
and supplied Zyklon B to the Nazis. This poisonous cyanide-based
pesticide, on which IG Farben held the patent, was used during the
Holocaust to annihilate more than a million people at German
concentration camps. Farben also supplied the Nazis the methanol
used to burn the corpses.
The pharmaceutical departments of the IG Farben cartel used
the inmates of the concentration camp for human experiments, such
as the testing of new and unknown vaccines. For example, corre-
spondence between the commander of the concentration camp and
IG Farben representatives which came to light during the Nuremberg Fritz ter Meer (right), defendant of the IG Farben trial at Nurnberg, chats
trials shed light on the sale of 150 female prisoners for experiments with his counsel during a court intermission
on a sleep-inducing drug. Another missive notes, The experiments
were performed. All test persons died. We will contact you shortly stances. The historians note that Farben footed the bill for the
about a new shipment. research of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz-Birkenaus infamous Angel
A former Auschwitz prisoner testified: There was a large ward of Death, and some of his experiments utilised germs and pharma-
of tuberculars on block 20. The Bayer Company sent medications in ceuticals provided by Bayer.
unmarked and unnamed ampoules. The tuberculars were injected Nazi physician Hoven testified at the Nuremberg Tribunal: The
with this.These unfortunate people were never killed in the gas cham- SS (Nazis) did not have notable scientists at its disposal. The exper-
bers. One only had to wait for them to die, which did not take long. iments in the concentration camps only took place in the interests of
The serologic-bacteriological department of IG Farben experi- the IG Farben, which strived by all means to determine the effective-
mented on Auschwitz prisoners with their new typhus fever prepa- ness of these preparations.They let the SS deal with theshall I say
ration, 3582. The first series of tests produced results that were far dirty work in the concentration camps.
from satisfactory. Of the 50 test persons 15 died; the typhus fever drug The Nuremberg Tribunal indicted 24 IG Farben board members
led to vomiting and exhaustion. Part of the Auschwitz concentration and executives on charges of crimes against humanity. But only
camp was quarantined, which led to an extension of the tests to the 13 received prison sentences. Taylor described the sentences they
nearby concentration camp at Buchenwald. received as light enough to please a chicken thief . By the early
In their book, I.G. Farben, from Anilin to forced labor, the histori- 1950s, a number of those convicted of slavery, looting and mass mur-
ans Jrg Hunger and Paul Sander note, there was no scientific value der were back at the helm of Bayer, Hoechst and basf.
to these experiments.The test persons were in bad physical condition, One of them was Bayer executive Fritz ter Meer. A senior scien-
caused by forced labour, insufficient and wrong nutrition and diseas- tist at IG for many years, ter Meer had become a Nazi party member
es in the concentration camp. In addition to this there were general- in 1937 and rose to become the chairperson of IGs technical com-
ly bad sanitary circumstances in the laboratories. The test results in mittee. He was also the executive responsible for the construction of
the concentration camps, as the IG laboratory specialists should have the IG Farbens Auschwitz factory.The Nurember trials revealed that
known, could not be compared to results made under normal circum- ter Meer had a clear picture of what was occurring. He was found
guilty of plunder, slavery and mass murder. But ter Meer was out of
jail by 1952. By 1956 he had become the chairperson of the supervi-
Cyanide-based pesticide Zyklon B, on which sory board of Bayer, a post he held until 1964. Even today Bayer con-
IG Farben held the patent, was used during tinues to honour this convicted mass murderer. On All Saints Day
the Holocaust to annihilate a million people 2006, for instance, the corporation is known to have laid a wreath on
at German concentration camps ter Meers grave in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany.
,
Flush nt
o
When we flush the toilet
but dget
our shit comes into this
pipeline, known as
for
sewer line.
It's scary!
And what do
the rest of the
people do?
Form trunk sewer
line it goes to sewage
treatment plants.
PAT E N T LY A B S U R D L AT H A J I S H N U
I
T WAS an unexpected announcement that con- India is perhaps the only developing country with a
veyed a strong message. We are very strong in ipr long history of patent lawmaking starting with the colo-
(intellectual property rights) and we want to protect nial times.The turning point came in 1957 when the gov-
our national interest.That does not mean we are going ernment appointed the Justice N Rajagopala Ayyangar
to be regressive or restrictive, but it is the duty and right of Committee to provide a road map for revising the pat-
the government to protect the ipr of our country. That ent system. In September 1959, the Ayyangar Committee
was Union minister for commerce and industry Nirmala submitted its well argued 397-page report which recom-
Sitharaman at a recent meeting where she outlined the mended the retention of the patent system despite its
objectives her ministry had set for itself. When we are shortcomings. However, there was a significant caveat in
going for arbitration on ipr, others are picking holes be- the national interest: there would be no product patents in
cause we dont have an ipr pol- two key sectorspharmaceuticals and agricultural chem-
icy. The lack of policy has really icals.This report formed the basis of the Patents Act, 1970,
curbed us from establishing our which was passed after much deliberations outside and
rights in a forceful way. inside Parliament.
It was a statement that also Critics have termed this a defensive patent policy but
left many bemused. Surely, India it helped to foster the development of a pharma industry
had debated its policy on ipr that provided inexpensive generic versions of high-cost
thoroughly before amending its medicines developed by the innovator drug companies in
laws thrice since 1999? And had the developed world. Indian companies became adept at
the country not brought about developing new production processes and novel formu-
the biggest change to its 1970 lations that brought about the generics revolution that
Patent Act by allowing prod- was admiredand reviledacross the world. The pro-
uct patents almost 15 years ago? cess-only law passed in 1970 served the country well until
Sitharaman was clearly allud- it signed the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
ing to the persistent attacks on Agreement or trips mandated by wto rules.
Indias patent regulations by US What will a new ipr policy look like? Indias stated
business lobbies and their sup- position at several international forums is that it favours
porters in the Congress. But the open source innovation. It is also strong on protecting its
statement failed to clarify why a traditional knowledge in a more focused way. This is all
TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE
policy however sharply enunci- to the good since the current patent system of granting
ated by the new nda government would mollify the US monopolies to the innovatorusually for a 20-year peri-
industry, in particular the big pharma companies. odignores the social cost of providing public goods in a
These companies are miffed with sections 3d and variety of sectors.
3e of the patent law which bars them from extending or The problem, however, is not with the policy or the
evergreening patents on their original discovery by laws. India has enough laws and more to protect its ipr-
seeking fresh ipr on incremental innovations. The lob- even in biodiversity and traditional knowledge. Its the im-
bies are seeking a repeal of these troublesome sections plementation that is wanting with regulators such as the
through a propaganda war rather than taking the coun- National Biodiversity Authority and the National Bureau
try to the disputes settlement body of the World Trade of Plant Genetic Resources failing to safeguard our
Organization (wto) as they should if the law is not com- natural resources and the ipr on these. Will a policy fill the
pliant with its requirements. shortcomings of the system?
POLLUTION MONITORING
TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION
November 1721, 2014
N
TIO
I NA M Training on Pollution Monitoring Techniques and Instrumentation
M R
NO FO November 17-21, 2014
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57 OCT15 2014
57lab ad.indd 57 22/09/14 2:41 PM
LAST WORD
R I G H T TO D I S S E N T L AT H A J I S H N U
T
HIS IS the age of leaks. And thank goodness for addressed the issue of secrecy. The star turn was Jeffrey
that. Not just by WikiLeaks, the bte noire of Sachs, Columbia University professor of sustainable
secretive governments, but by bands of public- development who also directs the Earth Institute.
spirited individuals and organisations who have THe main points that emerged from Sachss talk
been instrumental in laying bare the machinations of are that these treaties are primarily aimed at protecting
corporate lobbies in shaping major trade agreements. investors and giving them unrestricted powers vis--vis
If not for the leaks, few of us would have known the state. He points out, what is forgotten in the rah-rah
how governments are conceding policy space to of free trade rhetoric is that simply open trade or open
powerful foreign governments and even more powerful investment by itself has no guarantee of meeting the
multinational corporations. In the case of the EU- criterion of raising wellbeing broadly, much less across
India Free Trade Agreement (fta), the board.
protests against the negotiations THe hungrier wolf waiting in
over suspected tightening of the wings is the Trade in Services
regulations on intellectual property Agreement, a completely opaque
rights (iprs) were confirmed in agreement that is being negotiated
March last year when non-profit in secret by mostly members of the
Knowledge Ecology International club of the rich or the Organisation
(kei) published the draft text of for Economic Co-operation and
the IP chapter under negotiation. Development. A small number of de-
kei is an organisation that seeks veloping nations such as Costa Rica,
to provide new ways of managing Pakistan, Panama and Paraguay, the
knowledge resources in more fair and usual members of the co-opted, are
efficient ways. The most worrying also taking part in these negotiations.
aspect of these proposed pacts is So where is democracy in all
the provision that allows foreign these agreements that are being
TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE
investors to sue host governments. pushed by the so-called liberal
So all that we have are leaks, some bits of information democracies of the West? The dichotomy is stark
that are accessed from informed sources, but for the between their professed aims and the policies they pursue
overwhelming part most of the mega trade agreements- in the area of global trade and economies. But it is sheer
Trans Pacific Partnership and Trans-Atlantic Trade and naivete to be surprised by the lack of democracy in the
Investment Partnership are among the most lethal-are US and Europe. Anyone familiar with recent history
highly secret and aimed at sidestepping the global system knows that US and European governments were
of the World Trade Organization. Not even the lawmakers comfortable with the military dictator Augusto Pinochet
in the US are privy to what goes on in these negotiations. rather than the democratically elected socialist Salvador
But then, thank goodness again for US members of Allende of Chile.
Congress who, deeply concerned about the economic THe best pointer comes from Slovenian thinker
impact of such deals across the world, are fighting for Slavoj iek who says the answer can be found in the
transparency in trade negotiations. 1998 statement of Hans Tietmeyer, then governor of the
On September 10, Representatives Rosa DeLauro Bundesbank, who held the permanent plebiscite of global
and George Miller organised a Capitol Hill forum where markets as superior to the plebiscite of the ballot box.
leading economists and experts from a range of fields The bomb inside these trade pacts is ticking.
TOOLS
Lectures by experts, site visits to existing projects,
practical group exercises, presentations by participants,
reference materials and film screening.
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FIRST FOOD:
A TASTE OF INDIA'S
BIODIVERSITY
This collection of more than
100 recipes invites the reader to
savour the magic that takes place
when biodiversity comes together
with culinary skills. This lip smacking
platter of herbs, spices, fruits and
leaves from different parts of the
country reminds us that biodiversity is
best protected when it is celebrated in
our kitchens.
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