Open letter to the Prime MinisterBittu SahgalThis is an appeal for reason. for many years people who have asked for the protection of our natural heritage have been written off as ‚Ëœobstacles to development‚. Under your charge it is my hope that a national consensus can be reached on what constitutes real development for India. And if this sounds too far fetched, let us at least agree on what does not constitute development.I put it to you that no nation on earth can contemplate long-term survival without clean air, water and fertile soil. Nevertheless, the nation‚s natural infrastructure is being sacrificed by government design to usher in short term economic development. I hasten to add that it is not my case that economics be given short shrift; rather that the founding principle of good economics, protection and enhancement of capital, also be applied to natural capital ‚ soils, rivers, lakes, forests and coastlines. When your government took charge we were more than a little disappointed to see that protection of rivers, lakes, forests, coasts and mountains found no mention either in the Common Minimum Programme, or in your address to the nation. As the leader of a coalition government, perhaps it is too much to ask of you. However, history will not forgive us if at this point in the destiny of India, we continue to condone the destruction of our natural heritage, which more than any other single factor, has been responsible for our culture, civilisation and past glory.At the heart of my appeal to you to prioritise the protection of our natural wealth is my belief that Indians cannot possibly be better off if our water sources are threatened, our forests are on the verge of depletion and our soils are rendered sterile. The truth is that more people are directly dependent on nature for their food and sustenance, than on government. You need merely to contemplate the fact that rivers, lakes and coasts feed our people with wild fish, to understand this powerful, yet elusive reality. To this add wild fruit, fuel and fodder obtained from nature‚s larder and this truth becomes still sharper. Mr. Prime Minister, should the government be working so hard to exhaust this natural larder that sustains more than half a billion people? Your advisors may point to an expanding middle class and to the exponential increase in foreign reserves as signs of India‚s development nirvana. I urge you to accept that all such gains will be ephemeral, if the true assets of our nation ‚ water, soil and forests ‚ are lost.Either way, I believe it makes sense to arrive at some sort of national consensus. And to illustrate the points made above, I enclose herewith three representative examples of what in my view does not constitute development. The Sanctuary team has cataloged over 50 such examples. We request you to give us an opportunity to present these to you in person as we believe the issues we have examined are not only vital to the development of India, but that ignoring them will threaten our water, food and internal security. The three representative examples of non-development are:Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Years of timber felling, coupled with indiscriminate road building through Jarawa and other tribal lands and resettlement of refugees on rain forest soils have taken a heavy toll of the islands‚ ecosystem. Instead of seeking to reverse this trend, a wholly unviable proposal to usher in tourism of a type and on a scale that the ecology of the islands will never be able to support has been mooted. It was only at the behest of the Supreme Court of India that the government was forced to stop further felling. However, steps to restore the damage done to rainforests and corals have not even been articulated by the government, let alone implemented. The fish-rich seas around these fabled isles hold the key to the food security of India. I submit that destroying the long-term ecology of forests, corals and coasts in exchange for short-term profit from tourism does not constitute development. I ask that the Supreme Court‚s orders in respect of the islands be implemented in letter and spirit. And that the development blueprint of these islands no longer be dictated by mainland notions of development, which will serve to destroy the islands‚ water sources.Arunachal Pradesh, Lower Subansari Dam. Here in one of the world‚s most ecologically fragile zones, which is earthquake prone to boot, the government is determined to build a large and destructive dam that will adversely affect some of the most threatened wildlife in India. This is one of over 200 hydroelectric projects being planned in the north-east. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, the water resources ministry has been unable to identify even 20 out of the nearly 2,000 large dams built since independence which have fulfilled all the promises that builders had made to justify spending huge tax receipts. Timber will be felled; huge loans will be taken. The downstream impact of building this dam on Assam will be very destructive and the financial viability of this project is very suspect. I submit that pushing ahead with construction of more large dams instead of repairing the catchment areas of existing dams, retrofitting turbines, re-lining canals and investing in improving the efficiency of old dams, does not constitute development.Bihar, Hazaribagh National Park. Here a vital forest corridor has been christened the ‚Ëœ1,000 Tigers Ecosystem‚ because it links populations of tigers and elephants between the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. But coalmines operated by Coal India Ltd threaten to disconnect these vital corridors. I submit that investing in hundreds of new open-pit coal mines does not constitute development in an era when India is lobbying with western countries to take steps to halt the impact of global warming. If instead we increase our investments in renewable energy, it would protect the environment and safeguard future generations from dependency on fossil fuels.(Bittu Sahgal is the editor of Sanctuary magazine)
Environment Education
EducationWorld September 04 | EducationWorld