Towards a clean Yamuna (The Hindu 23 December 2011)

Chief Minister opens work on interceptor sewers in Nangloi
Delhi's dream of a clean Yamuna got a step closer to realisation on Thursday when work for laying interceptor sewers was inaugurated in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at Nihal Vihar under the Nangloi segment of the Delhi Assembly.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Dikshit described it “as a historic moment” which will go a long way in reviving the glory of the Yamuna. Referring to the interceptor sewer proposal, she said the work has been finalised in consultation with the Planning Commission and Engineers India Limited has been appointed as project management consultant for implementation of the project which will cost Rs.1,978 crore.
The cost includes 11 years operations and maintenance of the entire system of interceptor sewer apart from the capital cost.
Work on the sewers will begin on Friday and is expected to be complete by 2014. Ms. Diskhit, who is also the chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board that has been mandated to carry out the work, said with the interceptors in place, the river will become pollution-free within the next couple of years and its quality will improve from 41 ppm to 12 ppm.
She said the quality will further improve downstream and the treated effluent will be utilised for non potable purposes, and sewage from areas with no sewer connections will be trapped and prevented form entering the Yamuna.
Pointing out that dumping solid waste and garbage, entry of untreated waste water, addition of industrial effluent, litter, plastic and polythene add to the pollution in the river, Ms. Dikshit exhorted all stake-holders to work in tandem and ensure completion of their responsibilities assigned under the interceptor sewer project.
The MCD is supposed to prevent dumping of garbage in drains and the river besides desilting and fencing of drains, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department has been assigned to de-silt and channelise drains, the DDA has also been asked to ensure that the riverbank is free of squatters and the DSIIDC will have to ensure the treatment of all industrial effluent through its CETPs before discharge, while the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is supposed to monitor various water quality parameters in the river, the Chief Minister pointed out.
She said the new sewer treatment plants will be put up after the existing capacity of STPs is fully utilised. The work has been awarded to three different agencies for completing it in a time-bound manner.
Sewers of 59 km length, 20 to 60 feet depth and sizes ranging from 24 mm to 600 mm diameter will be laid along the three major drains to intercept sewage flowing from subsidiary small drains and convey it to the nearest STP to ensure that only treated sewage is discharged.

पालम ड्रेन की सफाई करेगा बैक्टीरिया (Navbharat Times 22 December 2011)

पूनम पाण्डे॥ नई दिल्ली: पालम ड्रेन की सफाई अब बैक्टीरिया करेंगे। इससे ड्रेन का पानी इस हद तक साफ हो जाएगा कि उसे सिंचाई के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। पालम ड्रेन आगे जाकर नजफगढ़ ड्रेन में गिरती है और नजफगढ़ ड्रेन यमुना में। डीडीए ने इसके लिए टेंडर निकाले हैं। इंटैक की निगरानी में यह काम होगा।
बायो रेमिडिएशन टेक्निक के जरिए पालम ड्रेन की सफाई होगी। इंटैक के अधिकारी ने बताया कि इसमें पानी में धीरे-धीरे बैक्टीरिया छोड़े जाते हैं। यह बैक्टीरिया पानी की सफाई करते हैं। एक सोर्स से बैक्टीरिया लगातार पानी में मिलते हैं और नाले के साथ ही आगे बढ़ते जाते हैं। इस तरह बैक्टीरिया की संख्या भी बढ़ती जाती है और पानी साफ होता है। इंटैक इस तरह का पायलट प्रोजेक्ट कुशक नाला पर कर चुका है, जो काफी सफल रहा। इंटैक ने पहले बायो रेमिडिएशन के जरिए नालों की सफाई करने का प्रपोजल दिल्ली जल बोर्ड को दिया था। लेकिन इस पर कुछ हुआ नहीं। अब डीडीए ने पालम ड्रेन साफ करने के लिए इस तरीके को अपनाया है।
इंटैक अधिकारी ने बताया कि यह 3 से 5 साल तक का प्रोजेक्ट होगा। बैक्टीरिया के जरिए ड्रेन का पानी साफ होगा और चाहें तो इसे सिंचाई के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। इस तरीके से नाले की सफाई करना पारंपरिक तरीके से काफी सस्ता बैठता है। जैसे पालम ड्रेन की सफाई बायो रेमिडिएशन से करने और पारंपरिक तरीके से करने में लागत में करीब 6 गुना का अंतर आएगा। बायो रेमिडिएशन तरीका 6 गुना सस्ता पड़ेगा। जैसे इस तरीके में कैपिटल कॉस्ट करीब 12 करोड़ रुपये आएगी। इसमें नालों के किनारे सुधारे जाएंगे और आसपास की गंदगी साफ की जाएगी। ऑपरेशंस और मेंटिनेंस का खर्च करीब 3 करोड़ रुपये आएगा। अगर पारंपरिक तरीके से नाला साफ करना चाहे तो कैपिटल कॉस्ट 75 करोड़ रुपये आएगी और जमीन की लागत अलग से। जिस जमीन पर ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट बनाया जाएगा। ऑपरेशंस और मेंटेनेंस का खर्च करीब 9 करोड़ रुपये होगा साथ ही बहुत ज्यादा बिजली भी खर्च होगी। साल में कम से कम 10 मिलियन किलोवॉट बिजली इस्तेमाल होगी। पारंपरिक तरीके में नाले को ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट में ले जाकर साफ किया जाता है और फिर ट्रीटेड पानी बाहर आ जाता है।
दिल्ली जल बोर्ड यमुना को साफ करने के लिए पारंपरिक तरीका ही इस्तेमाल कर रहा है। वह इंटरसेप्टर प्रोजेक्ट पर काम कर रहा है। इसके तहत यमुना में गिरने वाले नालों को रोककर उन्हें सीवेज ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट ले जाया जाएगा। यहां ट्रीट होने के बाद इन नालों को फिर बड़े नालों में छोड़ा जाएगा और तब नालों से जो पानी यमुना में गिरता है वह ट्रीटेड होगा। अगर नालों की सफाई बायो रेेमिडिएशन तरीके से की जाती तो यह काफी सस्ता पड़ता। पानी दोनों तरीके से लगभग बराबर ही साफ होगा। जल बोर्ड मान रहा है कि इंटरसेप्टर प्रोजेक्ट से यमुना पूरी तरह साफ नहीं होगी और यमुना का पानी नहाने लायक नहीं होगा। यह बस सिंचाई के लायक ही होगा। इंटैक के मुताबिक बैक्टीरिया से पालम ड्रेन को साफ करने के बाद उसका पानी भी सिंचाई के लायक हो जाए गा।

Clean environment empowers society: Kalam (Hindu New paper 21 December 2011)

Keeping in mind that the hospitality and tourism industry requires convergence of efforts for achieving targeted delivery, the Union Tourism Ministry organised an all-India workshop on “Campaign Clean India” here on Tuesday.
Inaugurating the workshop, former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam said clean environment empowers society. He suggested that the cleanliness drive should be extended to places of worship as a large number of people gather there.
Referring to the Maldives model of tourism, the former President said India can study this model and evolve a total package of turnkey tourist systems to be developed by tourist system partners. These should include maintenance and upkeep of tourist destinations. He also suggested involvement of village panchayats and local self bodies in the campaign.
Presiding over the workshop, Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said cleanliness and proper hygiene were universally regarded as indispensable existential norms that must inform and permeate all our actions.
“However, a consciousness in terms of education, demonstration and training is required to be created to ensure that these norms become part of a national psyche, at home and outside it. Conversely, lack of or inadequate personal and environmental cleanliness will have a pull-down impact on the image of the county, the worst hit being the tourism sector where the first impression of a visitor is often his last.”
Noting that the Ministry of Tourism visualises an India that impacts a visitor for its cleanliness and hygiene, Mr. Sahai said the workshop brought together individuals and institutions representing varied interests but their quest was common -- to see the country clean.
Admitting that the cleanliness task will be an onerous one, the Union Tourism Minister said an independent study conducted at five tourist destinations has categorised hygiene and sanitation conditions, solid waste management and provision of hygienically maintained public amenities high in importance but low in satisfaction.
“The campaign will be expected to correct these weaknesses. The success of campaign may decide if the targeted growth specific to tourism would be achieved. This ultimately gets connected to job creations. The campaign is taken as a poverty alleviation strategy too.”
Mr. Sahai said his Ministry will finalise and plan the campaign strategy, incorporating the workshop recommendations by March 31, 2012. The implementation will start from April 1.
Former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha and star of South Indian films Chiranjeevi offered their whole-hearted support to the campaign.
The “Campaign Clean India” seeks to ensure action at field level to bring our country's tourism destinations and their surroundings to an acceptable level of cleanliness and hygiene.
The campaign will be part of Government's strategy of the 12 {+t} {+h} Plan for improving the quality of services and environs in and around tourist destinations across India

Walk at Okhla Barrage Bird Sanctuary today (Hindu 18 December 2011)

To create awareness about the need to save the city's bird species, avid bird watcher and Wildlife Preservation Society trustee Bikram Grewal will conduct a walk at the Okhla Barrage Bird Sanctuary at 7.30 a.m. on Sunday.
The walk seeks to encourage people from different walks of life to be more responsible when it comes to preserving the bird sanctuaries.
Boasting of a significant area of wetland, the Okhla Barrage Bird Sanctuary has been classified as an Important Bird Area and is home to over 20,000 water birds during winters.
Besides providing a breeding place to a variety of birds, the Okhla Barrage Bird Sanctuary also has extensive open water, reed beds and sandbanks.
Ecological degradation
Unfortunately, the variable flow of the Yamuna river means the number of birds is not always predictable. Another cause of concern is dumping of garbage that leads to ecological degradation.
A proficient author, Mr. Grewal's first book on Indian birds sold over 2,50,000 copies. He is also credited with writing several articles and papers on birds as well as on Indian wildlife.
He serves as a trustee of several wildlife-based institutions and is also acting as a consultant on eco-tourism.

गंगा सफाई में यूपी ने खड़े किए हाथ (Dainik Jagran 22 December 2011)

लखनऊ, जागरण ब्यूरो: गंगा को वर्ष 2020 तक निर्मल करने का लक्ष्य फिलहाल पूरा होता नहीं दिख रहा है। उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार के पास गंगा नदी की सफाई के लिए पर्याप्त धन नहीं है, इसलिए सरकार नदी सफाई से जुड़ी तमाम योजनाओं पर वह केवल दस फीसदी अंशदान ही दे पाएगी। नदी सफाई योजनाओं पर शेष 90 फीसद खर्च केंद्र सरकार को वहन करना पड़ेगा। नए पेंच के बाद गंगा सफाई से जुड़ी योजनाओं पर विराम लगता दिख रहा है। यह फैसला बुधवार को राज्य गंगा नदी संरक्षण प्राधिकरण की बैठक में लिया गया। लोक निर्माण मंत्री नसीमुद्दीन सिद्दीकी की अध्यक्षता में हुई बैठक में तय हुआ कि केंद्र सरकार के पर्यावरण एवं वन मंत्रालय को फैसले से अवगत करा दिया जाए। राष्ट्रीय नदी गंगा को प्रदूषण मुक्त करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री की अध्यक्षता में गठित राष्ट्रीय गंगा नदी संरक्षण प्राधिकरण में यह तय किया गया था कि राज्य सरकार विभिन्न योजनाओं पर आने वाले खर्च का 30 फीसदी नदी सफाई पर वहन करेगी, जबकि 70 फीसदी अंश केंद्र का होगा। इसके तहत सात परियोजनाएं स्वीकृत भी की जा चुकी हैं जिन पर काम भी शुरू किया जा चुका है। इनमें मुरादाबाद, कन्नौज, गढ़मुक्तेश्वर व इलाहाबाद सहित वाराणसी की दो योजनाएं शामिल हैं। अब राज्य सरकार को यह कदम महंगा पड़ रहा है। कदम पीछे खींचते हुए उसने 30 फीसदी के स्थान पर दस फीसदी योगदान की हामी भरी है और गेंद केंद्र के पाले में डाल दी है। इसे देखते हुए गंगा को निर्मल करने की कोशिशों को फिलहाल झटका लग सकता है। पॉलीथीन प्रदूषण पर अंकुश न लगाने पर नसीमुद्दीन ने अधिकारियों को फटकार लगाई। उन्होंने नगर आयुक्त व जिलाधिकारियों को जिम्मेदारी याद दिलाते हुए कानून को प्रभावी तरीके से लागू कराने के निर्देश दिए।

यमुना किनारे सुनाई देगा पक्षियों का कलरव (Dainik Jagran 22 December 2011)

नई दिल्ली वह दिन दूर नहीं जब दिल्ली अपने पुराने समय में लौटेगी। यमुना के किनारे पक्षियों का कलरव गूंजेगा, भंवरों और मधु मक्खियों की गुंजन सुनाई देगी और इधर-उधर रंग-बिरंगी तितलियों का मंडराना देख सकेंगे। इसे यमुना बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क में दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के वैज्ञानिक अंजाम देने जा रहे हैं। प्रयोग के तौर पर पहले फेज में बाहरी दिल्ली में 157 एकड़ में जिस बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क को विकसित किया गया है वह प्रयोग सफल रहा है। इससे प्रभावित होकर उपराज्यपाल तेजेंद्र खन्ना ने इस योजना के दूसरे फेज में 300 एकड़ में शीघ्रता से काम करने के डीडीए और डीयू के अधिकारियों को निर्देश दिए हैं। यमुना डायवर्सिटी पार्क की योजना पर 2003 से काम शुरू किया गया था। यह कार्य डीडीए व दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के सेंटर फार इन्वायरमेंटल मैनेजमेंट आफ डिगरेटेड इको सिस्टम्स एक साथ मिल कर रहे हैं। इसके हेड डीयू के प्रोफेसर व देश के जाने माने इकोलोजिस्ट प्रो.सी आर बाबू हैं। उनके नेतृत्व में 7 वैज्ञानिकों की टीम व डीडीए अधिकारी योजना पर काम कर रहे हैं। योजना के तहत 457 एकड़ क्षेत्र में वैज्ञानिक आधार पर हरियाली विकसित की जानी है। इसमें पशु पक्षियों, जीव जंतुओं को जीवन भी मिल सके। पहले चरण में 157 एकड़ में बाहरी दिल्ली में कोरेनेशन पार्क के पास बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क विकसित किया गया। इसमें 1.8 किमी में कृत्रिम झील विकसित की है। इसे भी पेड़-पौधे व मछलियों से सज्जित किया गया। इस पर काम कर रहे डीयू के कीट वैज्ञानिक मोहम्मद फैसल कहते हैं कि झील में अब प्रति वर्ष यहां पर 3 हजार से लेकर 5 हजार साइबेरियन पक्षी पहुंचते हैं। पूरे एनसीआर में यह ऐसी झील है जहां पर यूरोप से प्रति वर्ष 30 से लेकर 40 तक रेड क्रिस्टल आती हैं। अब हैं यहां 190 प्रजाति के पक्षी हैं। पहले यहां मात्र 2 प्रजाति की तितलियां थीं और अब 55 प्रजाति की तितलियां व इल्ली हैं।

यमुना नहर को साफ रखने के लिए जुड़ता गया कारवां (Dainik Bhaskar Yamunanagar 19 December 2011)

यह था यमुना एक्शन प्लान
कोल इंडिया से सेवा निवृत्त आदित्य ने उठाया यमुना नहर को साफ करने का बीड़ा
यमुना एक्शन प्लान के तहत 17.1 बिलियन यान खर्च कर भी जो काम अधूरा रहा, जिस काम को सरकार और कोई एनजीओ नहीं कर पाई। उस काम को अकेला आदमी पूरा करने में लगा है।
यमुना नहर में अंगद की पांव तरह जमीं गंदगी को साफ करने का बीड़ा उठाया है कोल इंडिया से डीजीएस पद से सेवानिवृत्त आदित्य ने और काफी हद तक वो इसे साफ करने में सफल भी हो रहे हैं। उन्होंने इस दिशा में ध्यान देना शुरू किया। यमुना की सफाई के लिए वे किसी संगठन, सरकार या एनजीओ के पास नहीं गए। बस खुद ही जुट गए। जितना कर सकते थे, किया। शुरुआत में दिक्कत आई। हर रोज दो सेशन में यमुना नहर के घाट की सफाई शुरू की। गंदगी जमा कराना। उसे सुखना फिर जलाना। अब उनकी दिनचर्या का हिस्सा बना हुआ है।
लोग भी हो रहे जागरूक : आदित्य यहां की सफाई तो करते हैं, इसके साथ ही गंदगी डालने वालों से बातचीत भी करते हैं। उन्हें बताते हैं कि यहां श्रद्धालु स्नान करने आते हैं। पूजा करते हैं। ऐसे में यहां गंदगी होगी तो कैसा लगेगा।

बस यह चंद शब्द ही लोगों को यहां गंदगी न डालने के प्रति प्रेरित करने के लिए काफी है। आदित्य ने बताया कि वास्तव में यहां लोग बड़ी मात्रा में पूजा सामग्री डालते हैं। स्नान के बाद कपड़े भी यहां छोड़ जाते हैं। इस वजह से यहां गंदगी भरा माहौल हो जाता है। यह पानी दिल्ली और दक्षिण हरियाणा में पीने के लिए प्रयोग किया जाता है। उनका मानना है कि लोग अब जागरूक होने लगे हैं।
नहर है आस्था की प्रतीक: उल्लेखनीय है कि हथनीकुंड बैराज पर यमुना नदी का पानी पश्चिमी यमुना नहर में डाल दिया जाता है। ऐसे में यमुना नदी यमुनानगर में सूखी है। लोग अपने धार्मिक अनुष्ठान भी नहर किनारे ही करने लगे हैं। इसलिए यह नहर ही आस्था की प्रतीक है।
आदित्य के अनुसार शुरूआत में तो लोग उनकी बात सुनने के लिए तैयार नहीं थे। लेकिन जब वे लगातार इस सफाई के काम में लगे रहे तो लोगों ने भी इसमें रूचि लेने लगे। अब उनकी योजना है कि स्कूली बच्चों व प्रशासन को साथ जोड़ा जाए। आदित्य के मुताबिक यदि यमुना किनारे कुछ डस्टबिन रख दिए जाए तो यह समस्या काफी हद तक दूर हो सकती है। अब लोग मानने लगे कि यमुना में सामग्री डालना सही नहीं हैं।
आदित्य मूलत : इंदौर से हैं। यमुनानगर उनका ससुराल है। इस वजह से उनका नगर में आना जाना लगा रहता था। यमुना की खूबसूरती ने उन्हें इंदौर छोड़ विवश कर दिया। लेकिन जब नहर के हालात देखे तो वे काफी दुखित हुए। यहीं से उन्होंने इसके जीर्णोद्धार के लिए काम करना शुरू किया। शुरुआत में इधर उधर हाथ पांव मारने के बावजूद भी कोई बात नहीं बनी। फिर खुद ही ठान लिया। सुबह साढ़े छह बजे से नौ बजे तक और शाम को साढ़े छह से आठ बजे तक दोनों पहर वे घाट पर जाते हैं। जितनी भी गंदगी मिलती है। साफ करते हैं।
निदेशालय राष्ट्रीय नदी सरंक्षण, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय भारत सरकार ने जापान के सहयोग से यमुना एक्शन प्लान चलाया था। जापान बैंक और इंटरनेशनल ने 17.7 बिलियन येन की मदद दी थी। यमुना एक्शन प्लान का उद्देश्य था कि नहर व नदी को प्रदूषण मुक्त किया जाए। यह काम 2000 तक पूरा हो जाना था। समय पर काम पूरा न होने की वजह से यह काम फरवरी 2003 तक पूरा हुआ। काम पूरा हो गया, लेकिन गंदगी अभी भी बरकरार है। इसकी वजह यह है कि लोगों में अभी इसके प्रति जागरुकता का अभाव बना हुआ है। फिलहाल लोगों में ण्क शुरूआत हुई है जो हर लिहाज से बेहतर माना जा रहा है।

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagran 14 December 2011)

TRRT Workshio Yamuna Nagar (Punjab Kesari 30 November 2011)

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagran 08 December 2011)

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagran 14 December 2011)

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagar 13 December 2011)

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Punjab Kesari 11 December 2011)

कुदरती खेती यानी तिनके से क्रांति की कवायद (Dainik Bhaskar 12 December 2011)

बिजाई, खाद और कीटनाशक का सारा खर्च खत्म, मध्य प्रदेश के किसान कुदरती खेती के जरिए खेती कर कमा रहे हैं मुनाफा भास्कर न्यूज त्न यमुनानगर
खेती का यह तरीका जड़ की ओर लौटने जैसा तो है। पर इसमें किसान की समृद्धि का राज छुपा है। कम से कम वह कुदरती खेती कर कर्ज से जंजाल से तो निजात पा ही सकता है। हरित क्रांति के नाम पर जमीन को जो जख्म मिले। कुदरती खेती इन जख्मों पर मरहम की तरह है। विशेषज्ञ इसे वक्त की जरू तर बता रहे हैं। क्योंकि इनका मानना है तभी किसान कर्ज के जंजाल से निजात पा सकता है। इसी विषय को लेकर पीस इंस्टीट्यूट चेरिटेबल ट्रस्ट की ओर से कनालसी गांव में दो दिवसीय कुदरती खेती पर सेमिनार आयोजित किया। शनिवार को इस कार्यक्रम का शुभारंभ किया गया। कार्यक्रम में पीस के निदेशक मनोज मिश्रा ने बताया कि कुदरती खेती वास्तव में हमारी विरासत है। यह अलग बात है कि वक्त के साथ हम इसे भूल गए। इसी तरीके से जापान के जीव वैज्ञानिक मासानोबू फुकुओका ने कृषि की। जो बेहद सफल रही।
मध्य प्रदेश के किसान कर रहे सफलतापूर्वक खेती : मध्य प्रदेश के ओसंगाबाद के किसान राजू टाइट्स कुदरती खेती कई साल से कर रहे हैं। कार्यक्रम में उन्होंने जब अपनी प्रस्तुति दी तो यहां के लोगो को एक बार तो उनकी बात पर यकीन ही नहीं हुआ। किसान पूछ बैठे। क्या यह संभव है। बिलकुल। मैं आपके सामने उदाहरण हूं। उन्होंने अपनी प्रस्तुति में फोटो और अन्य दस्तावेज लेकर आए।
क्या है कुदरती खेती : इसमें खेत की बुहाई नहीं होती। पेड़ पौधे व फसल को उसकी प्राकृतिक अवस्था में रहने दिया जाता है। यहां तक की पेड़ की शाखा की कटाई भी नहीं की जाती। बस सब कुछ वैसा ही रखा रहने दिया जाता है। जैसा वह होता है। बीज हाथ से रोपे जाते हैं। कई बार जमीन में हल्का खड्ढा खोद कर इसमें बीज लगा दिया जाता है।
कैसे काम होता है : मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार जब हम बुहाई करते हैं तो बहुत से जीवाणु बरसात के पानी के साथ बह जाते हैं। यहीं वास्तव में खेत की जान है। जब हम कुदरती खेती करते हैं तो जीवाणु स्वयं सक्रिय हो जाते हैं। वे ही सारा काम प्राकृतिक तरीके से करते हैं। बस यहीं इस खेती की सफलता का राज है।
संभव है : विशेषज्ञों के अनुसार यह संभव है। कुछ आदिवासी कबीले भी इसी तरह से खेती कर रहे हैं। मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार ट्रैक्टर से जब खेत की बुहाई होती है तो जमीन की प्राकृतिक संरचना टूटती है। वास्तव में जमीन का अपना एक चक्र है। जो जीवाणु, हरीखाद व केंचुओं पर निर्भर है। यह सब कुछ स्वयं ही होता रहता है।
80 प्रतिशत तक खर्च कम : किसान फसल की कुल लागत का चालीस प्रतिशत तक तो बुहाई पर लगा देता है। इसके बाद खाद और कीटनाशक बचते हैं। राजू टाइट्स के अनुसार किसान का काफी पैसा तो खरपतवार को खत्म करने में ही लग जाता है। कुदरती खेती में खरपतवार के साथ किसान की दोस्ती की बात करते है। खरपतवार ही फसल बढ़ाने में मदद करता है। क्योंकि इसकी छाया में जीवाणु खूब पनपते हैं।
उत्पादन पर अधिक असर नहीं : मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार एक दो साल हो सकता है कुछ उत्पादन पर असर पड़े। लेकिन कुछ समय के बाद उत्पादन ठीक हो जाता है। इतना ही नहीं इस तरीके से तैयार फसल की गुणवत्ता भी कुदरती होती है। जो सेहत व स्वास्थ्य के लिए बहुत ही लाभदायक साबित होती है।
कुदरती खेती के सेमिनार को संबोधित करते विशेषज्ञ राजू टाइटस
एक तिनके से आई क्रांति ने लाया बदलाव
राजू टाइट्स ने अपनी बातचीत में बताया कि वास्तव में उनके हाथ मासानोबू फुकुओका की किताब का हिंदी वर्जन हाथ लग गया। एक तिनके से आई क्रांति पढ़ कर वे कुदरती खेती में लग गए। इस वक्त वे सफलतापूर्वक खेती कर रहे है। उनका कहना है कि यह खेती हर किसान को करनी चाहिए। इससे कृषि का 70 से 80 प्रतिशत तक खर्च बचाया जा सकता है।

विधि

There's need and also greed (Times of India 29 November 2011)

According to Gautama Buddha tanha or desire and craving is the cause of human suffering. Once we are free of desire for worldly objects, we are free from suffering and we attain the state of nirvana. Hence it is greed, not need, that we have to do away with. The more we have, the more we want. Greed is a never-ending cycle.
How to make the distinction between need and greed? Economists explain the distinction between the two in terms of 'needs' and 'preferences' or 'desire satisfaction'. The distinction between 'preference' and 'need' is that the former is intentional and the latter is extensional. The need, for example, is to quench our thirst; the preference is whether we use bottled water or drink straight from the tap.
The need of a person is something which depends on his factual material, mental, physical and social condition. It also depends upon the available objects which are perceived as possessing the capacities to contribute to his survival and well-being. Whether a person prefers one object to another depends upon the nature of the person's beliefs about the objects.
While the concept of need is a threshold concept, the concept of preference is not. Need is a threshold concept because having more or less than one's needs would harm one's survival. Need is that without which the individual cannot survive. For example, a person needs a certain amount of water, food or shelter to lead his life and maintain social relations.
Moreover, while the objects required for 'preference' or 'desire satisfaction' may have several alternative substitutes, needs are objective and specific and do not admit any substitute. For example, it is admitted by everyone that there is no substitute for good health, good friends and good environment. They are specific to the needs for the well-being of all individuals.
Desires and preferences can be artificial or superfluous. For example, the desires for accessories are artificial. They are market-governed and even market-determined. Desires can be natural or non-natural. It would be instructive here to listen to a conversation between Alexander and an Indian thinker, Dandamis.
Alexander was greatly struck by the austerity of life and majesty of the Indian thinker. The Indian told Alexander that natural desires are quenched easily: thirst by water, hunger by food. But the craving for possession is an artificial one; it goes on unceasingly and is never fully satisfied.
The sage explained the criterion for making a distinction between a natural or real and a non-natural or contrived desire. A natural desire is fulfilled the moment you get what you sought. For example "If you drink the water you thirst for, your desire ceases. Similarly, if you are feeling hungry, you receive the food you seek, your hunger comes to an end. If, then, man's appetite for gold were on the same natural level, no doubt his cupidity would cease as soon as he obtained what he wished for. But this is not the case. On the contrary, it always comes back, a passion is never satiated, and the craving remains because it does not proceed from an inclination implanted by nature."
The criterion of distinction between need and greed is: Natural desires are our needs, therefore they are those which come to an end or are satiated when one fulfils them. Artificial desires are greed, as they are those which can never be satiated.
The writer teaches philosophy at Delhi University.

S Delhi water project on PPP model (Times of India 29 November 2011)

NEW DELHI: In its first step towards partial privatization of water management, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received clearance for starting a pilot project on public-private partnership model for water distribution in Malviya Nagar, Vasant Kunj and Nangloi.
Officials said the project would entail appointment of private companies through a bidding process. This, they hope, would improve efficiency of the water distribution network and reduce non-revenue water. The companies would also be responsible for operation and maintenance of the underground reservoirs in the areas and collect revenue for the board.
In a board meeting held on Monday, approval was also given to water supply upgrade and improvement project at Mehrauli at an estimated cost of Rs 145 crore. Approval was also granted for setting up of the SCADA system at the Bhagirathi water treatment plant and its major booster pumping stations and UGRs.
To improve water distribution through tankers, the Board also decided to replace around 250 water tankers that are more than 13 years old. The Board gave approval to the estimate for operation and maintenance of the 11 MGD recycling plant at Wazirabad and the 16 MGD recycling water treatment plant at Haiderpur Water Works for a period of five years at a cost of over Rs 37 crore.
Approval was also accorded to a revision in a proposal worth Rs 364.5 crore for supply, installation and a seven-year maintenance contract of eight lakh domestic water meters. A project to replace water mains was also passed in the meeting. These would include the 1,100 mm dia PSC west Delhi water main by MS pipe from Wazirpur depot to Shakkurpur Village along the Ring Road and Shakurpur Pushta to PWD office in Punjabi Bagh; 1,000 mm and 1,500 mm dia PSC water pipelines emanating from Haiderpur in stretches near Prashant Vihar, Delhi Cantt Booster Pumping Station, Mongolpuri, Meera Bagh and Cariappa Marg .

Widespread protests over Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

Hartal demanding decommissioning of reservoir total in Idukki district
Kerala saw widespread protests over the Mullaperiyar dam issue on Monday, with people agitating for its decommissioning in five districts and the State capital.
In places like Karinkulam Chappathu in Idukki district, the protests almost took the form of a grass-root level movement with people from different parts of the district joining the stir.
Roads were clogged, though the organisers of the protest — the Mullaperiyar Action Council — did not plan a blockade. CPI leader E.S. Bijimol continued her hunger strike for the second day while P. C. George, MLA, joined the fast on Tuesday.
Traffic held up: The hartal called by the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front was total in most parts of the district. Protesters blocked vehicles at Kumili on the border with Tamil Nadu, resulting in the traffic being held up for hours. However, the protesters allowed vehicles of Sabarimala pilgrims and emergency services to pass through, though pilgrims were often forced to wait for some time.
At Vallakadavu, just eight kilometres downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam, children of the locality joined the fast. Children in this area are a scared lot, with every noise being mistaken for rushing waters.
In Thodupuzha, advocates boycotted the courts. Schools and colleges remained closed. Students took out a protest march at Cheruthoni over the twin demands for decommissioning the existing Mullaperiyar dam and lowering the water level in the dam to 120 feet pending the decommissioning. The protesters demanded urgent Central intervention.
Union Ministers from the State A. K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and E. Ahamed drew flak from the protesters for their inaction. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha took out a march to the residence of the Defence Minister A.K. Antony here.
The Kerala Congress (Mani) group organised dharnas in Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Alappuzha. The party's Idukki member of the Assembly Roshy Augustine sat on a hunger strike before the Accountant General's Office here.
Water level rises Meanwhile, water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir crossed the 136 feet stipulated by Kerala. Water is flowing down through all the open spillways. The district administration opened control rooms to monitor the situation and assist people in case of an emergency.

Kerala to Centre: same quantum of water to Tamil Nadu, new dam with our own funds (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

The Kerala government on Monday gave an undertaking to the Centre that it would continue to provide the same quantum of water to Tamil Nadu, as is being given now, if a new dam was constructed in the place of the existing 116-year old Mullai Periyar dam in the Idukki district. Besides, the State would construct the dam from its own funds.
This assurance in writing, as sought by Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal from Kerala a few days ago, was jointly given by State Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan here, as authorised by the Oomen Chandy's cabinet.
Mr. Bansal had earlier clearly told Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy that the Centre would try to mediate and convene a bilateral meeting between the governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, if Kerala gave such a written assurance.
Meanwhile, talking to The Hindu, Mr. Joseph said Mr. Bansal had promised to discuss with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the fresh development and see what could be done next. The Minister said the team also met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and discussed the issue. The two Ministers would meet Dr. Singh on Tuesday and take up the issue again, he said.
Earlier in the day, MPs from Kerala, cutting across party lines, took up the issue in both Houses of Parliament and stalled the proceedings seeking the Centre's immediate intervention.

Nod for Jal Board project to outsource water distribution (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

The Delhi Jal Board's ambitious plan to outsource water distribution and revenue collection on a pilot basis in three areas based on a public-private partnership basis has been accorded administrative approval. At a Jal Board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday the pilot project was given the go-ahead.
The project has a twin purpose: to reduce revenue losses and to improve distribution of water. “Taking a cue from privatisation of power and the subsequent improvement in supply and services, we have decided to carry out an exercise in three areas of the city where operations and management will be outsourced. The aim is to bring in improvement in the city's water supply and raise the bar vis-à-vis services offered by the Jal Board. The project is also expected to plug the leaks in the system and help us reduce losses on account of non-revenue water,” said DJB Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Negi.
The project, which faced opposition on the grounds that it would pave the way for “privatisation of the water sector”, has the approval of the Planning Commission as well.
The pilot project will take off at Malviya Nagar Underground Reservoir command area, Nangloi Water Treatment Plant and Vasant Vihar with their adjoining areas. “We will extensively study the outcome of these projects, and on the basis of the feedback decide if it can be replicated to other areas,” said Mr. Negi.
The Board also approved the proposal of upgrading and improving water supply system in Mehrauli Township at an estimated cost of Rs.145 crore which includes operation and maintenance for a 12-year period.
Approval was also granted for modernisation of the plant and setting up of SCADA system at Bhagirathi Water Treatment Plant and its major booster pumping stations and underground reservoirs at an estimated cost of Rs.271.80 crore with a maintenance period of 10 years.
To improve the water distribution system through tankers, the Jal Board has accorded approval to replace around 250 water tankers, which are around 13 years old, at an estimated cost of Rs.87,48,58,100 with a maintenance period of 10 years. The DJB currently supplies drinking water to areas with no piped connections through 1,000 water tankers.
The Jal Board also gave administrative approval to the estimate for operation and maintenance of the 11-MGD recycling plant at Wazirabad and the 16-MGD recycling WTP at Haiderpur Water Works for a period of 5 years at a cost of approximately Rs.37,63,37,855.
With the objective of replacing defective meters and metering of un-metered connections, the Jal Board has given administrative approval to the revised estimate of Rs.364.50 crore for supply, installation and a 7-year maintenance of 8 lakh domestic water meters.
The Jal Board also approved the replacement of the water mains and reviewed several welfare schemes for its employees.
• Pilot project to take off at Malviya Nagar, Nangloi Water Treatment Plant and Vasant Vihar
• Will be based on public-private partnership; project also has Planning Commission approval

यमुना की दुर्दशा पर सरकार को अवमानना नोटिस (Amar Ujala 28 November 2011)

नई दिल्ली। हाईकोर्ट ने दिल्ली सरकार को अवमानना नोटिस जारी कर पूछा है कि यमुना की साफ-सफाई को लेकर पांच वर्ष पहले दिए गए आदेश का अभी तक क्रियान्वयन क्यों नहीं किया गया। अभी भी यमुना में शहर का कूड़ा फेंका जा रहा है। हाईकोर्ट ने सरकार से पूछा है कि आखिर इस मुद्दे पर कोर्ट की अवमानना की कार्रवाई क्यों नहीं शुरू की जाए। मामला हाईकोर्ट के न्यायमूर्ति विपिन सांघी की अदालत का है।
अदालत ने दिल्ली सरकार के पर्यावरण मंत्रालय, एमसीडी और डीडीए के खिलाफ अवमानना की याचिका पर नोटिस जारी किया है। संबंधित विभागों को सात फरवरी तक जवाब देना है। पर्यावरणविद विनोद जैन की अवमानना याचिका पर कोर्ट ने यह नोटिस जारी किया है। जैन ने अदालत का ध्यान इस संबंध में वर्ष २००६ में आकर्षित कराया था। कहा गया था कि यमुना में किसी तरह का कूड़ा या प्लास्टिक नहीं फेंका जाए। रोकथाम संशोधन कानून प्रभावी ढंग से लागू करने के निर्देश भी जारी किए गए थे। पांच वर्ष पूर्व अदालत ने सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय को कानून के प्रावधानों को लागू करने और मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए घेरा बनाने की बात की थी, लेकिन इस फैसले पर दिल्ली सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय ने ध्यान नहीं दिया। पर्यावरणविद् ने याचिका में कहा है कि २००६ में अदालत ने यमुना की सफाई को लेकर सरकार को निर्देश जारी कर कोर्ट ने कानून के तहत कचरा, पूजा सामग्री नदी के तल, नालों और पानी में बहाए जाने पर रोक लगाए और उचित कदम उठाये जाएं। याचिकाकर्ता ने कोर्ट से यह भी कहा है कि दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति ने मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए एक विशेष प्रांगण बनाए जाने का सुझाव दिया था।

Thames trust to help conserve Ganga, Yamuna (The Hindu 27 November 2011)

The initiative to be launched in New Delhi on December 15
JAIPUR: If the Ganga cannot go to Britain for its own “holy” reasons, it is the Thames now poised to join India's most revered river for the sake of conservation.
The Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), winner of the Theis International River Prize for 2010, has tied up with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Peace Institute Charitable Trust (PICT) to work for restoration of a 300-km stretch of the Ganga and the Yamuna on both sides of the banks. The United Kingdom's Environment Agency Thames Region (EA) will provide guidance in the endeavour.
Decks have been cleared for the initiative and the formal launch will take place at the WWF premises in New Delhi on December 15. Robert Oates, Director of the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), will pilot the project. Peter Spillett, President of the Institute of Fisheries Management, UK, will give the keynote presentation on ‘Restoring fish population around the world to benefit people and wildlife' on the occasion.
It all started with TRRT winning the Theiss International River Prize. The prize money, more than Rs.1-crore, was to be put to use in a developing country. India came up as the eventual decision following Mr. Oates' visit to a few river-sites up north of New Delhi. It will be a one-and-a-half-year-long work on restoring portions of the Ganges and its tributary, Yamuna.
About 100 km along the upper Ganga and about 200 km along the Yamuna, including its nearly 35 km stretch from the Chambal river confluence to Dibholi Ghat which forms the National Chambal Sanctuary, would be taken up, informs conservationist Harsh Vardhan who had invited Mr. Oates sometime back to the Mansagar Birding Fair here to speak on Thames restoration and the possibility of replication of the success story on India's polluted rivers.
“ I had met Rob several years ago at the British Bird Watching Fair. The river-twinning idea was floated when Rob led the Birding Fair in Jaipur two years ago when he was expecting the Theiss Prize from Australia,” Mr. Vardhan notes. In fact when this correspondent met Mr. Oates in Jaipur that time he was not pessimistic over state of India's rivers as he felt it was part of the industrialisation process, faced in Britain a century ago, now being faced by India.
The WWF on its part will carry forward its existing project on the Ganga conservation, through the new inputs now available, at Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh to reintroduce the endangered gharial and other wildlife. It will also help people to improve their agricultural policies, says Parikshit Gautam, Director, WWF's Freshwater Division.
The long-term plan is to ensure a viable population of gharial with favourable habitat through increased capacity support from local people. It will also benefit fish population, fresh water turtles, Ganges river dolphins and other riverine species like otters and water birds in the lower Yamuna.
‘River-twinning'
The PICT will join in for developing community river restoration techniques in association with local groups and develop sustainable livelihoods. Its activities will be carried out in different 10 grids located along the Yamuna, in regions falling in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Gautam, Director, along with Manoj Mishra, Director of PICT, will overview the novel “river-twinning” project. Both will give and take river restoration related technical expertise and experiences with TRRT in Britain.
• 100 km along the Ganga, 200 km along the Yamuna would be taken up for restoration
• Long-term benefits include a viable population of gharial, fish population, turtles

Delhi pays Rs. 50 crore more, asks Haryana to complete canal (The Hindu 25 November 2011)

Delhi has sent yet another reminder to Haryana asking it to complete work on the long-pending Munak Canal. A simmering issue between the two States, the canal has been delayed for a long time for various reasons, mostly to do with money.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has shot off another letter to the Haryana Administration to resume work for completion of the canal.
“A few days ago, Delhi released Rs.50 crore for the project. Following this, the Chief Minister, who is also Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, has now pressed for the timely completion of the pending work,” said a Delhi Jal Board official.

To break the logjam over the Munak issue, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had in July arbitrated a meeting and ordered Delhi to release an additional Rs.50 crore to Haryana for the construction of the canal, which is expected to mitigate the city's water problems.
“After the GoM's intervention, Haryana agreed to complete the pending work saying it would do so in the next two months. It also agreed to supply 610 cusecs of water through the canal, as was agreed to initially,” said the official.
Delhi had baulked at Haryana's demand for an additional Rs.150 crore, citing cost overruns.
“In keeping with the orders, Delhi has released the money and said that whatever else needs to be paid for will be done as well. The GoM had suggested that Haryana's claims for an additional Rs.150 crore for meeting new expenses will be reviewed by the Central Water Commission. Delhi has assured that whatever the Commission announces in is report will be complied with and if there is an order to pay more, it will do so,” the official explained.
Haryana had also opposed the construction of two water treatment plants, one each at Okhla and Dwarka, and that issue too has been referred by the GoM to the Upper Yamuna River Board to review and report on. Haryana had to construct the 102-km canal that Delhi is paying for. About 200 to 300 metres of the total canal length remains to be completed. The canal was supposed to be ready in 2009.
While Delhi has been banking on the canal to carry water without wastage, a Central Pollution Control Board study had indicated the canal could be a solution to the high pollution levels in Delhi's raw water supply. Delhi expects to save around 80 million gallons per day once the canal becomes operational.
• Work delayed for various reasons, mostly monetary
• Canal is expected to mitigate Delhi's water problems

Contempt of court notices over enclosures along the Yamuna (The Hindu 25 November 2011)

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued contempt of court notices to the Delhi Government, the Delhi Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for their failure to build enclosures along the Yamuna in the Capital for immersion of idols and religious material to control pollution.
The Government had in an affidavit in 2007 informed the Court that it had chalked out a plan in association with the DDA and the civic body to build 13 enclosures along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into the river at festival times and thereafter release the water into the river after treating it and collecting un-degradable material likes clothes and plastic bags.
The Government had filed the affidavit in response to two orders passed by the Court asking it to build confined ponds or bunds along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into it to prevent pollution under the Delhi Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage Control Act, 2004.
‘Control pollution'
The Court had passed the orders on a public interest litigation by social activist Vinod Jain seeking implementation of the Act to control pollution in the river as the legislation prevents dumping of garbage in river, ponds and at public places.
In the contempt petition, Mr. Jain alleged that the Government instead of constructing the enclosures as promised to the Court had been promoting immersion of idols and religious material into the river at the festival time by providing access to vehicles carrying idols for immersion into the river by various religious organisations.
According to the plan drawn up in 2007, the DDA has to provide finances and the civic body to build the enclosures. At one time, the Government had informed the petitioner that it had launched a pilot project to test the success of the enclosure to control pollution in the river, and if successful, it would be implemented along its whole stretch in the Capital but nothing had been done so far, the contempt petition said.
Issuing the notices, Justice V.K. Shali asked the respondents to file replies by February 7 next year, the next date of hearing

Court raps govt for failing to curb Yamuna pollution (Times of India 25 November 2011)

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday demanded an explanation from the state government why contempt of court proceedings shouldn’t be initiated against it for failing to construct enclosures along the Yamuna so that garbage could not be dumped into the river, especially during the festival season. HC issued the enclosure order five years ago. Justice Vipin Sanghi also issued similar showcause notices to the Delhi government’s environment department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), seeking their replies by February 7 on the contempt plea.
The plea was filed by Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, on whose PIL in 2006 the court had asked the Delhi government to create 13 enclosures along the Yamuna where idol immersions and disposal of pooja samagri could take place. The work was to have been undertaken under the Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage (Control) Act, 2000, under which MCD also had the power to fine those who threw in anything into the river directly.
The court had directed the government in September 2006 to take measures to ensure that no garbage and worship material was thrown into the river, drains and sewers. The agencies concerned were to have constructed the 13 permanent enclosures for which land had also been identified. DDA was supposed to finance the project while MCD was in charge of constructing and maintenance. “The environment department has sent several reminders to them but to no avail. Till 2010 only one enclosure had been built at Kudsiya Ghat and that too was dismantled and stolen within a year. DDA has released funds but concerned agencies do not seem to be bothered,” said Jain. Jain added that HC had in its order also directed authorities to give wide publicity to make the general public aware of this ban. Even the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had suggested making specific enclosures for immersion of idols, following which the civic agency had assured the court for the development of such enclosures within three months, the petitioner stated.
CROSSING DEADLINE: HC asked authorities to build 13 enclosures

2 rivers captured in public art to prick conscience (Times of India) 10 Nov 11

NEW DELHI: People in the city are getting the whiff of two different worlds: one that lives along the Yamuna; the other, which is enlivened by the Elbe.

Visitors to 'The Yamuna-Elbe - Public.Art.Outreach Project' on Wednesday were actually offered two bowls that had water from both these rivers. They were asked to smell the water and then share their feelings with a German artist, who later put them down on the canvas.


The location of the exhibition - the Yamuna bank - has created an impact. It's happening in the area that will be developed into the Golden Jubilee Park. The entire span of the Old Yamuna Bridge is visible from the banks; the soft, uneven ground has patches of tall grass, and an attenuated form of the Yamuna (replete with filth) flows by. "This is a historic setting. The bridge was built in 1866. It's a complete span and it is still there. You should see it at night. It is itself art," says curator Ravi Aggarwal.

An initiative of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (New Delhi), the City of Hamburg and the Delhi government, the project will include an art exhibition with the two rivers as theme, and a range of activities, including walks, music shows and discussions.

Artists Sheba Chhachhi and Asim Waqif placed their works on the river itself. Chhachhi places a 'form' - "It can be anything, a seed or a human body" - made of thermocol and iron wrapped in bandages. "The idea is of a wounded organic form," says Chhachhi, "A metaphor for wounded river." In the dark, flames (created with the help of a projector on the bank), engulf it.

"Water that has a lot of toxins can catch fire," she adds. Her work is best viewed from atop a staircase put together with bags of sand with excerpts from the Yamuna Ashtakam, a 14-century hymn to the Himalayas. Waqif's work included a row of plastic bottles tied to a rope that was dragged through the river by a motor-boat.

Bottles also featured in the work of Atul Bhalla, who has also participated in the Hamburg part of the Yamuna-Elbe project. Giant bottles were embedded in the ground and had questions from the 54 questions Yaksha asked Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata. It invites viewers to contemplate their treatment of the river, the attempts to "control the river", the waste, and the "ecological catastrophe" it could all lead to. Gigi Scaria's "Fountain of Purification" - a 24-foot tower representing an apartment complex - draws water from the Yamuna, runs it through a few levels of purification, and dispenses clean water from the top.

There's also a lot for the visitors to do at the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will be asked to sniff the water of the Yamuna and the Elbe and express what they feel for "research for an Elbe-Yamuna perfume" that Berlin-based artist, Ines Lechleitner, is developing with the help of Vienna-based Indian perfumer, Yogesh Kumar. "I've brought Elbe in a bottle," says Lechleitner. She conducted the same exercise in Hamburg and recorded the reactions of those who'd tried it. "I'm working on a perfume that combines my associations with the two rivers," she says.

Lechleitner is one of the five German artists featured at the exhibition; Jochen Lempert, Michael Clegg, Martin Guttmann and Nana Petzet are the others. Petzet has created a biodiversity patch using an existing patch of grass and planting photographs of birds, insects and flowers in them. "A patch is not just a patch, it's full of life," says Aggarwal. The event in Hamburg, says curator Nina Kalenbach, was different in that it included artists from countries other than India and Germany. "There are a lot of artists in Europe, who are working on research-art," says Kalenbach.

Golden Jubilee Park was chosen by Aggarwal. Toxics Link is his day job and this is his first shot at being a curator. There are bamboo benches and light poles and an amphitheatre made of piles of gunny bags with soil from the riverbank. "This place is a cusp between Old Delhi and New Delhi. New things are coming up here. It's like the city is seeking a new proposition," he says. The exhibition will continue till November 20.

NGO for demolition of Games Village (The Asian Age) 5 Nov 11

As various Commonwealth Games projects are already under the scrutiny of different probe agencies, a new front was sought to be opened on Tuesday in the Supreme Court with an NGO seeking demolition of the Games Village as it is allegedly built on Yamuna bed in violation of “wetland” norms.

A public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Foundation of Indian Wetland, came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar with its counsel highlighting the “violations” of wetland norms in the construction of CWG village.
“Wetlands are nature’s bounty. They help maintain the delicate ecological balance and need to be protected for that reason. Flood plains of Yamuna are such wetlands,” the PIL said.

“Wetlands are regulators of water flow. Many a rivers remain a reliable source of water throughout the year because their flow is impeded by swamp lands so that seasonal downpours drain away slowly and water continues to flow during the dry seasons. Wetland also protect many of our sources of drinking water,” the NGO stated.
Claiming that it had opposed all types of constructions on Yamuna bed, the NGO said since the CWG complex has served its purpose, all the buildings constructed there “illegally” should be demolished to restore the flood plains to its original form.

In support of its demand, the NGO cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hinchlal Tiwari case of 2001, in which it had ordered demolition of all structures raised on a wetland in Sant Ravidas Nagar, UP.

However, during the hearing, the CJI reminded its counsel Krishnan Venugopal about another order of the apex court related to the Yamuna bed construction with regard to Akashdham Temple case.

The top court reminded that in that case, the government had placed on record the findings of experts that the construction in the area did not violate any environment norms.
In view of this, the NGO’s counsel sought two weeks’ time to study the order related to the Akshardham case and prepare his case accordingly.

Irreversible climate change in five years, says energy agency (The Hindu) 11 Nov 11

Fiona Harvey

The world is likely to build so many new fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be “lost for ever,” according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.

Anything built from now on that which produces carbon will continue to do so for decades to come, and this “lock-in” effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this infrastructure is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.

“The door is closing,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “I am very worried — if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.” Every month now counts: if the world is to stay below 2°C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80 per cent of that “carbon budget”, according to a new analysis by the IEA, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.

If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90 per cent of the available “carbon budget” will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all — the whole of the “carbon budget” will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.

Forthcoming talks in Durban

Birol's warning comes at a crucial moment in international negotiations on climate change, as governments gear up for the next fortnight of talks in Durban, South Africa, from late November. “If we do not have an international agreement, whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door to [holding temperatures to 2°C of warming] will be closed forever,” said Birol.

But governments around the world are preparing to postpone yet again a speedy conclusion to the negotiations. Originally, the aim was to agree a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the only binding international agreement on emissions, after its current provisions expire in 2012. But after years of setbacks, an increasing number of countries — including the U.K., Japan and Russia — now favour postponing the talks for several years.

Both Russia and Japan have spoken in recent weeks of aiming for an agreement in 2018 or 2020, and the U.K. has supported this move. Greg Barker, the U.K.'s Climate Change Minister, told a meeting: “We need China, the U.S. especially, the rest of the Basic countries [Brazil, South Africa, India and China] to agree. If we can get this by 2015 we could have an agreement ready to click in by 2020.”

Birol said this would clearly be too late. Nor is this a problem of the developing world, as some commentators have sought to frame it. In the U.K., Europe and the U.S., there are multiple plans for new fossil-fuelled power stations that would contribute significantly to global emissions over the coming decades.

Emissions have risen

It was revealed in May that an IEA analysis found emissions had risen by a record amount in 2010 despite the worst recession for 80 years. Last year, a record 30.6 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuel, a rise of 1.6Gt on the previous year. At the time, Birol said that constraining global warming to moderate levels would be “only a nice utopia” unless drastic action was taken.

The November 9 research adds to that finding, by showing in detail how current choices on building new energy and industrial infrastructure are likely to commit the world to much higher emissions for the next few decades, blowing apart hopes of containing the problem to manageable levels. The IEA's data is regarded as the gold standard in emissions and energy, and it is widely regarded as one of the most conservative in outlook — making today's warning all the more stark.

The central problem is that most of the industrial infrastructure already in existence around the world — the fossil-fuelled power stations, the emissions-spewing factories, the inefficient transport and buildings — are already contributing to the current high level of emissions, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, stays there and continues to have a warming effect for about a century, and industrial infrastructure is built to have a useful life of several decades at least.

Yet, despite intensifying warnings from scientists over the past two decades, the new infrastructure even now being built is constructed along the same lines as the old, which means that there is a “lock-in” effect — high-carbon infrastructure built today or in the next five years will contribute as much to the stock of emissions in the atmosphere as previous generations.

This “lock-in” effect is the single most important factor increasing the danger of runaway climate change, according to the IEA in its annual World Energy Outlook, published on Wednesday.

Fukushima effect

Climate scientists estimate that global warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels marks the limit of safety, beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible. Though such estimates are necessarily imprecise — warming of as little as 1.5°C could cause dangerous sea level rises and an increased risk of extreme weather — the limit of 2°C is now inscribed in international accords, including the partial agreement signed at Copenhagen in 2009, by which the biggest developed and developing countries for the first time agreed to curb their greenhouse gas output.

Another factor likely to increase emissions is the decision by some governments to abandon nuclear energy, following the Fukushima incident in Japan early this year. “The shift away from nuclear worsens the situation,” said Birol. If countries turn away from nuclear energy, the result could be an increase in emissions equivalent to the current emissions of Germany and France combined. Much more investment in renewable energy will be required to make up the gap, but how that would come about is unclear at present.

Birol also warned that China — the world's biggest emitter — would have to take on a much greater role in combating climate change.

In addition, by 2035 at the latest, China's cumulative emissions since 1900 are likely to exceed those of the EU, which will further weaken Beijing's argument that developed countries should take on more of the burden of emissions reduction as they carry more of the responsibility for past emissions.

In a recent interview, China's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, called on developing countries to take a greater part in the talks, while insisting that developed countries must sign up to a continuation of the Kyoto protocol — something only the European Union is willing to do. His words were greeted cautiously by other participants in the talks.

The IEA's World Energy Outlook, published annually, provides the touchstone for global energy trends. This year's outlook is unusually gloomy, following one of the deepest recessions on record for the developed world.

The IEA said: “There are few signs that the urgently needed change in direction in global energy trends is under way. Although the recovery in the world economy since 2009 has been uneven, and future economic prospects remain uncertain, global primary energy demand rebounded by a remarkable five per cent in 2010, pushing CO{-2} emissions to a new high. Subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption of fossil fuels jumped to over $400bn.” Meanwhile, an “unacceptably high” number of people — about 1.3bn — still lack access to electricity. If people are to be lifted out of poverty, this must be solved — but providing people with renewable forms of energy generation is still expensive. (Fiona Harvey is the environment correspondent.) — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011

Brick by brick, the litany of a river (The Sunday Standard) 6 Nov 11)

Last Updated : 06 Nov 2011 09:13:16 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Yamuna is dying a slow death in Delhi. At least 40 per cent of the Yamuna floodplain has already been claimed by ‘development’ activity, and though the Delhi government appears to be doing its best to save the remainder, encroachment along the riverbed continues unabated.


Despite a moratorium on construction on the riverbed, imposed by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Tejendra Khanna in 2007, two controversial projects still managed to get clearance to be located on it. They are the Millennium Bus Depot (MBD) near the CWG Village, and the DMRC flats being constructed at the Yamuna Bank metro station. Neither project has, however, been cleared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC), set up by Parliament in 1973 to maintain the aesthetics of Delhi’s urban space. “No riverbed project, including the MBD, has got clearance from the DUAC since 2007,” said K T Ravindran, former Chairman of the commission.

The MBD was originally permitted on the Yamuna floodplain with the assurance that it would be a temporary structure for the duration of the 2010 CWG. Subsequently, the DTC has refused to budge from the 60 acre area. Their argument: as a heavy investment of `60 crore of public money has already been made, it ought to be used to park the thousands of buses required for the city’s public transport system. A PIL, seeking demolition of the depot has been filed, and the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court. When contacted, the LG’s office refused to comment, stating that the matter was sub-judice.

At Yamuna Bank metro station, mean-while, DMRC is building around 90 flats to house its maintenance staff. This is also on the floodplain, and has been opposed by DUAC, which earlier said it was misled by DMRC about the project. DUAC maintains that DMRC had not informed it about the staff quarters when it sought clearance from it for the project.

According to the zonal development plan for the river, the stretch of the river from Burari in the north, to Jaitpur in the south, falls in the ‘O’ Zone. No construction activity is permitted in this area, as the 22 km stretch includes the entire floodplain of the river, and is its water recharge zone. “Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s no legal protection for the river. It is being viewed as a waterbody, rather than a complete ecosystem that needs to be preserved,” said Suresh Babu, Director, Water Policy and River Basins, WWF.

Over the past 10 years, the floodplain has witnessed large scale construction, with housing colonies coming up in east Delhi. The Shastri Park metro station and the Akshardham temple were among the first structures on the riverbed. “The CWG Village, bus depot and several new roads and flyovers, like the Ring Road Bypass, are all located on the floodplain. Over the years, development along both its banks has led to gradual narrowing of the river. During the monsoons, these areas get flooded, as the additional water has no place to go,” says Manoj Mishra, convenor of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, involved in its restoration.

The risks arising from Asia's water stress (The Hindu 29 October 2011)

Brahma Chellaney
The Hindu STATECRAFT: The Asian economies must make do with their own water resources, a significant share of which is in transnational watercourses. This fact only serves as a strong incentive for some nations to try and commandeer internationally shared waters before they leave their national borders. Pictured here is the Brahmaputra flowing through Morigaon district of Assam. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar
The fastest-growing economies in the region are all in or near water-stressed conditions, with huge implications for economic growth and inter-riparian relations.
Water, the most vital of all resources, has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. After all, the driest continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater is not even half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic metres per inhabitant.
When the estimated reserves of rivers, lakes, and aquifers are added up, Asia has less than one-tenth of the waters of South America, Australia and New Zealand, not even one-fourth of North America, almost one-third of Europe, and moderately less than Africa per inhabitant. Yet the world's fastest-growing demand for water for food and industrial production and for municipal supply is in Asia, which now serves as the locomotive of the world economy.
Today, the fastest-growing Asian economies are all at or near water-stressed conditions, including China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. But just three or four decades ago, these economies were relatively free of water stress. Now if we look three or four decades ahead, it is clear that the water situation will only exacerbate, carrying major implications for rapid economic growth and inter-riparian relations.
Water, the new arena of conflict : Yet Asia continues to draw on tomorrow's water to meet today's needs. Worse still, Asia has one of the lowest levels of water efficiency and productivity in the world. Against this background, it is no exaggeration to say that the water crisis threatens Asia's economic and political rise and its environmental sustainability. For investors, it carries risks that potentially are as damaging as non-performing loans, real estate bubbles, and political corruption. Water has also emerged as a source of increasing competition and discord within and between nations, spurring new tensions over shared basin resources and local resistance to governmental or corporate decisions to set up water-intensive industries.
These developments raise the question whether the risks of water conflict are higher in Asia than elsewhere in the world. With Asia becoming the scene of increasingly fierce intrastate and interstate water competition, the answer clearly is yes. Water is a new arena in the Asian Great Game.
In fact, water wars — in a political, diplomatic, or economic sense — are already being waged between riparian neighbours in several Asian regions, fuelling a cycle of bitter recrimination and fostering mistrust that impedes broader regional cooperation and integration. Without any shots being fired, rising costs continue to be exacted. The resources of transnational rivers, aquifers, and lakes have become the target of rival appropriation plans.
Grand projects; crisis factors : With a river or groundwater basin often becoming tied with a nation's identity, ownership and control over its resources is considered crucial to national interests. That has helped give rise to grand but environmentally questionable ideas — from China's Great Western Route to divert river waters from the Tibetan Plateau to its parched north and South Korea's politically divisive four-rivers project, to India's now-stalled proposal to link up its important rivers and Jordan's plan to save the dying Dead Sea by bringing water from the Red Sea through a 178-kilometre-long canal, which is also to serve as a source for desalinated drinking water.
Several factors have contributed to the Asian water crisis, which is leading to river and aquifer degradation. One key factor responsible for the water crisis is that Asia is not only the largest and most-populous continent but also the fastest-developing continent. How the swift economic rise of Asia has brought water resources under increasing pressure can be seen from the fact that most Asian economies now are water-stressed. The exceptions are few: Bhutan, Burma, Papua New Guinea, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and Malaysia.
Unlike fossils fuels, mineral ores, and timber that they import even from distant lands, the Asian economies must make do with their own water resources, a significant share of which is in transnational watercourses.
This fact only serves as a strong incentive for some nations to try and commandeer internationally shared waters before they leave their national borders. Given the critical role of water in economic modernisation, this continent has emerged at the centre of the global water challenges.
Another factor is consumption growth, as a consequence of rising prosperity. The plain fact is that the average Asian is consuming more resources, including water, food, oil, and energy. The consumption growth is best illustrated by the changing diets, especially the greater intake of meat, whose production is notoriously water-intensive.
A third factor is the role of irrigation in accentuating the Asian water stress. Asia more than doubled its total irrigated cropland just between 1960 and 2000. Once a continent of serious food shortages and recurrent famines, Asia opened the path to its dramatic economic rise by emerging as a net food exporter on the back of this unparalleled irrigation expansion.
Asia now boasts the leonine proportion of the world's surface land under irrigation. About 70 per cent of the world's 301 million hectares of land equipped for irrigation is in Asia alone, making it the global irrigation hub. Just three sub-regions of Asia—South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia — by themselves account for about 50 per cent of the world's total irrigated land.
It is thus hardly a surprise that Asia leads the world in the total volume of freshwater withdrawn for agriculture. Indeed, almost 74 per cent of the total global freshwater withdrawals for agriculture by volume are made in Asia alone.
Water literally is food in Asia. Yet the growth of rice and wheat output in Asia, after the dramatic increases of the previous quarter century, has actually slowed since the late 1990s, raising concerns that Asian countries will become major food importers, roiling the international market. The international food market is not large enough to meet major import demands from Asia.
A fourth factor is that the fastest increase in water demand in Asia is now coming not from agriculture but from the industrial sector and urban households, in keeping with the fact that this continent has become the seat of the world's fastest industrialisation and urbanisation.
A final factor linked to Asia's water stress is the large-scale impoundment of water resources through dams, barrages, reservoirs, and other human-made structures without factoring in long-term environmental considerations. Dams, to be sure, bring important benefits. But upstream dams on rivers shared by two or more nations or provinces in an era of growing water stress often carry broader political and social implications, especially because they can affect water quality and quantity downstream. Dams can also alter fluvial ecosystems, damage biodiversity, and promote coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.
Most number of dams : Asia is not just the global irrigation hub; it is also the world's most dam-dotted continent. China, the world's biggest dam builder, alone has slightly more than half of the approximately 50,000 large dams on the planet. Most of the best dam sites in Asia already have been taken. Yet the numerous new dam projects in Asia show that the damming of rivers is still an important priority for policymakers. Such a focus on dam building has only intensified intrastate and interstate water disputes and tensions in Asia, with implications for regional security and stability.
The countries likely to bear the brunt of upstream diversion of waters are those located farthest downstream on rivers like the Brahmaputra, Mekong, and Tigris-Euphrates: Bangladesh, whose very future is threatened by climate and environmental change; Vietnam, a rice bowl of Asia; and Iraq, still internally torn. Cross-border water appropriations from the Illy River threaten to turn Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash into another Aral Sea, which is dying.
A way out : So, the big question is: How can Asian nations prevent the sharpening struggle for water resources from becoming a tipping point for overt conflict? To contain the security risks, Asian states must invest more in institutionalised cooperation on transboundary basin resources in order to underpin strategic stability, protect continued economic growth, and promote environmental sustainability.
The harsh truth is that only four of the 57 transnational river basins in Asia have a treaty covering water sharing or other institutionalised cooperation. These are the Mekong, Ganges, Indus and Jordan river basins. The absence of a cooperative arrangement in most Asian transnational basins is making inter-country water competition a major security risk, increasing the likelihood of geopolitical tensions and instabilities.
With its multitude of inter-country basins, Asia cannot continue to prosper without building political and technological partnerships to help stabilise inter-riparian relations, encourage greater water efficiency, promote environmental sustainability, take on practicable conservation strategies, and invest in clean-water technologies. If Asian states are to address their water challenges, they will need to embrace good practices on the strategic planning and management of water resources.
(Brahma Chellaney is Professor of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Policy Research. The article is adapted from the author's newly released book, Water: Asia's New Battleground, Georgetown University Press and HarperCollins.)

As the Yamuna ebbs away, water-birds give Delhi a miss (The Hindi 21 October 2011)

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
The Hindu Spot billed ducks seen at the Okhla Bird Sanctury in Delhi. Photo: S. Subramanium
While the fish are dying, chances are many migratory water-birds may not make it to the Okhla Bird Sanctuary this year
The depleting water levels of the Yamuna, brought about by the twin impact of less water flow into Delhi and a mechanical fault with the Okhla barrage, have had a tragic effect on the fish in the river and on the arrival of migratory birds at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.
According to avid bird-watchers, this year could prove to be particularly bad for the arrival of migratory birds at the sanctuary since the river has almost dried up at the point where it leaves Delhi. Also the fish, which are now confined to the small pools, are quickly dying.
“The water levels at Okhla Bird Sanctuary have never been this low. The reason is that very little water is entering Delhi. Also, due to the repairs being carried out at the barrage the gates remained open and the water which should have been retained in the sanctuary flowed out,” says Asian Waterbird Census coordinator Tarun K. Roy who has been following the situation closely.
He adds that while some local migratory water-birds like brahminy ducks, northern shovelers, pied avocets, whiskered terns, green sandpipers, wood sandpipers and ruffs had been spotted at the sanctuary in the first week of October, they are quickly vanishing from there due to the sharp fall in availability of water.
The sanctuary on the Delhi side of the Yamuna is almost non-existent now due to rampant encroachment by illegal colonies. It is on the other side of the Yamuna that the sanctuary supports some bird life. Incidentally, this area is located barely a couple of kilometres from the Dalit Prerna Sthal, which was inaugurated recently by U. P. Chief Minister Mayawati.
“On this side too, the small fish are almost dead and only a few large ones remain in the small pools that now exist. The birds are fast exiting the area,” says Mr. Roy.
Having carried out the bird census on behalf of Wetlands International's South Asia Division for many years, he is concerned that the arrival of the migratory birds from abroad this winter may be affected by the water crisis.
“Already about a dozen resident water-bird species like the Indian moorhen, purple swamphen, little greeb and march harrier, have given Delhi a go-by. And it now seems that birds like the Eurasian wigeon, tufted pochard, comb duck, bar-headed geese and grey leg geese which come in from abroad may also give the Okhla sanctuary in Delhi a pass on not finding water here,” Mr. Roy warns, demanding a minimum water level in the sanctuary that could support fish and bird life.

A new tragedy of the commons (Hindu 20 October 2011)

The mega-city's unquenchable thirst for land is the backstory of the recent communal clash in Gopalgarh.
As the dust settles on the Gopalgarh firing in Bharatpur, in which nine Meos were killed, State and community versions have begun to unravel. Recent conversations with Gujars highlight the shocking role of the administration. This had already been pointed out by the Citizen's Report coordinated by the PUCL to which I was signatory. It would seem that the order to fire was given under pressure from right-wing leaders and an aggressive section of Gujars. Two, it was signed purportedly on the basis of false information that the Meos, who had collected in the local mosque, were about to commit martyrdom, were armed and had already killed five persons. Whatever the flaws of the draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, its strength is that it clearly puts the onus of inter-communal peace on the administration. In sum, Gopalgarh only proves what we already know about ethnic conflict: that in most cases it can be prevented given administrative and political will.
‘Not communal'
Further, the dispute between the Meos and Gujars of Gopalgarh was not “communal” to begin with, contrary to media and administrative versions. Instead, it approximated a feud, an essential aspect of the subcontinent's intercommunal and intracommunal life. The conflict was over their respective claims to a piece of land that both sides saw as their respective common property resource, the Meos as a graveyard, the Gujars as a pond (jauhar). The land was levelled in order to dig graves after the administration declared that in the Revenue Settlement it had been acknowledged as Meo “commons.”
Tension heightened and the Imam was assaulted by a few Gujars on September 13 having been proactive in the legal dispute. Crowds collected on both sides the following morning from surrounding villages, again typical of the numerous feuds that Meo/Gujar/Jat/Ahir clans have fought. The term “riot” is equally questionable as eventually both the police and an aggressive segment of the Gujars seem to have turned on the Meos in Gopalgarh's mosque, leaving nine dead and 22 injured after some 219 rounds of firing. That only 3 died of bullets and the rest of knife and other injuries is indicative of the nefarious collusion of the State and a segment of the local community and the tragic deployment of the ‘riot control' armoured vehicle that could have been used to disperse crowds on both sides instead of being used eventually as a death van. Indeed, the judicial commission must also look into why Gopalgarh was not instead brought under Section 144 or curfew by noon of September 14.'
Disrupting the communal fabric
The greater tragedy is the rupturing of the region's inter-communal fabric. Gujars and Meos have lived together in intimacy in villages for centuries, addressing each other by kinship terms, sharing languages and mythologies, practices and pilgrimages including to the Siva temple at Jhir. They have even intermarried in the past, as their common clan names suggest. The friendship between a Meo and a Gujar chief is described by the metaphor of “dant kati roti,” i.e. sharing the same bread! If the Meos were recognised as “marginally Muslim,” the Gujars have been “marginally Hindu” in the period preceding Partition. In a folk epic from the Meo oral tradition dating to the late 19th century, a Gujar woman weeps in the hills for the tiger has eaten her only cow. The Meo brothers, Ghurchari and Meo Khan, the “good” bandits, rescue her cow and dare to kill the tiger “protected” for the kingly kill, an act of supreme defiance against the Rajput-ruled kingdom.
In the rural areas of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, Gujar and Meos live in mixed or adjacent villages. An everyday cosmopolitanism marks local cultures, impossible to capture in the theory of high cosmopolitanism. Without it, one cannot understand peasant-pastoral lifeworlds of bare sustenance that many Gujars and Meos share. The upward mobility of other OBC peasant castes bypassed both groups in the previous two centuries until recently, when we witness the phenomenon of “city as imperium.”
Changing land regime
The background of a land dispute culminating in firing, vandalism and scorched bodies in Gopalgarh's mosque is constituted by Delhi's changing land regime and its fallout which seems to be escaping economists, urbanists, and planners. The entrepreneurial governance and spider-like agility of the “global city” has been highlighted by David Harvey and Aihwa Ong. But they fail to recognise how the mega-city in both China and India depeasantises and depastoralises. The urban corridor from Mehrauli to Mumbai — termed a “megalopolis” — gobbles land at a frenzied pace. Between Delhi and Ajmer, the industrial areas of Bhiwadi, Neemrana and Bagru thrive and are fast dissolving the cultural regions known for centuries as Gujarvati and Mewat. Gujars and Meos are both communities whose primary identity derives from land. And that land is now being sought by others willing to pay vast sums.
The genocide of 1947 against the Meos was a traumatic event and Gopalgarh suggests at its continuing reverberations. The new phenomenon is a politico-cultural ethnocide as Meo and Gujar landholders increasingly join the race to make quick money from land sales. Gurgaon was built on a few Gujars and others exchanging their land for thousands of crores.
The mega-city covets agricultural land, “wastelands” and the commons including its water bodies and waqf-owned land. Stone from the Aravallis is being mined at a furious pace. Six thousand truckloads from one village alone daily feed Delhi's limitless appetite for construction despite a Supreme Court stay order. The Aravallis are the oldest mountains in the world and responsible for the region's rainfall, fertility and the ways in which the scarce resource of water has been maximised by communities for a millennia.
Bhiwadi is one of the utopias that have mushroomed in this new landscape: Sunshine City, malls, real estate agent offices, gated apartment buildings and billboards provide incessant temptation to the capital's middle classes. Ranajit Guha described colonialism as dominance without hegemony. In this new mode of imperialism, hegemony is absolute, based on the total consent of the governed, urban and rural. Delhi's rise and Gopalgarh's descent are intrinsically connected. Indeed, the very conceptions of “urban” and “rural” are being transformed. Empire and nation have been older and established modes of imperialism. The 21st century is witness to the city as imperium.
(Shail Mayaram is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies Delhi)

NCR population shot up by 40% in 10 years (Times of India 20 October 2011)

Rukmini Shrinivasan & Hemali Chhapia, TNN Oct 20, 2011, 05.52AM IST
DELHI/MUMBAI: The urban agglomeration of Delhi has for the first time overtaken that of Mumbai, whose UA's population in 2011 stood at 18.4 million according to the latest census data, but if Vasai-Virar municipal corporation is added to Mumbai UA, it still stands shy of 20 million.
If the same satellites are added to 2001 data, Delhi UA was still smaller than Mumbai a decade ago - 15.5 million to Mumbai's 16.6 million - showing that the relative change has taken place in the past 10 years. Overall, Delhi-NCR's population has shot up 40% to 21.7 million in the last decade.
Kolkata was listed by the census in 2001 to be the second biggest Indian UA with 13.2 million people; it remains the third biggest UA with 14.1 million people now. The big three - known as "megacities" since they have populations of more than 10 million - remain far ahead of the other big cities. About 15% of India's total urban population lives in these three cities. Along with the rest of the country, population growth is slowing down in these cities too, more so for Kolkata and Mumbai. Delhi is also slowing down, but it still added more than five million people - a third of its 2001 size - in 10 years. Chennai, which remains the fourth biggest, is less than half the size of Mumbai or Delhi.
Bangalore has knocked Hyderabad off the fifth position and is now almost as large as Chennai; 8.5 million to Chennai's 8.7 million, closing a gap of almost a million that existed in the last census. S Parasuraman, director of the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, attributed this to the "economic activities in these centres. They have improved significantly." Comparing the cost of living in Mumbai and Bangalore, he said: "The cost of a house in the heart of Bangalore is the same as the cost of a similar-sized house in Dombivli, in the outskirts of Mumbai."
Overall, there are now 53 million-plus cities as compared to 35 in 2001 and 43% of India's urban population lives in them. Among the new cities on this list is Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's first million-plus city. Rapidly urbanizing Kerala has added six new million-plus cities to Kochi, its only such city in 2001, and Jharkhand now has three where it had none. Orissa, on the other hand, does not have a single million-plus city; nor does the entire north-east. More than a quarter of a billion people live in just 468 Indian cities known as Class I cities, each having a population greater than one lakh.

Sanjay Van a bird sanctuary in the making (Hindu 20 October 2011)

Lieutenant-Governor launches International Year of Forests celebration by planting a sapling
Amid a growing demand from nature lovers that Sanjay Van, a city forest spread over 783 acres near Neela Hauz, be made a bird sanctuary, the 2011 International Year of Forests celebration was launched by Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna on Wednesday by planting a sapling in the forest.
The Sanjay Van, which is presently undergoing restoration through a unique collaborative effort between the Delhi Development Authority and a citizen's group, could become a model that will be replicated to restore other ridges in the Capital.
The forest, which is part of the Mehrauli South Central Ridge, has undergone severe degradation in recent times with the proliferation of the Prosopsis Juliflora tree which is non-endemic to the Aravalli ranges and has caused depletion of the ground water level, killing native flora and changing the natural soil characteristics of the Aravallis. Sewage water and effluent discharge into Sanjay Van has also affected this green belt in the Capital.
Following the intervention and active petitioning of a group of citizens under the banner of Working With Nature Group (WWN) to the L-G, the DDA invited Air Vice-Marshal (retd.) Vinod Rawat of the group, to implement a scientific approach towards reviving the Sanjay Van. AVM Rawat organised a team which included two ecologists, Professors P. S. Ramakrishnan and K. S. Rao besides avid bird-watcher Dr. Surya Prakash, and in the last one year over 40,000 native Aravalli trees were planted – many of these by enthusiastic schoolchildren from neighbouring schools who volunteered to help.
Water management
Among the trees planted were those on the verge of disappearing from Sanjay Van like the dhak, khair, khejri, kumattha, desi keekar, hingot, ronjh, bistendu, and siris . The WWN also managed to revive, through better water management, 5,000 “ ber” bushes which had once flourished in Sanjay Van.
Though handicapped by the authorities not giving permission to remove the rapidly spreading Prosopsis Juliflora , the WWN team has worked around this problem by eradicating its seed pods, uprooting young saplings, and filling of open areas with native plants.
Another area where the team under AVM Rawat has made significant progress is water management. A detailed topographic map of Sanjay Van has been completed, and a DDA team is working with the WWN group to create water-harvesting structures, and cleaning of the discharged sewage water and effluents. AVM Rawat said the recharging of ground water would in a few years help create a large water body which will also help recharge the adjacent Neela Hauz lake.
Their results are already bearing fruit and Dr. Surya Prakash has testified to the presence of many rare birds like golden oriole, Asian paradise flycatcher, Eurasian sparrow hawk besides the pied-crested cuckoo which flies in from South Africa to breed in this forest. With Delhi being on the Central Asian Flyway, AVM Rawat said the development of rich greenery and water-bodies will help Sanjay Van attract a variety of migratory birds.
Besides the migratory ones, the forest is also a natural habitat for blue bulls, golden jackals, a large variety of butterflies, snakes, and birds like heron and peacock. The DDA has also promised to secure the forest through construction of a compound wall and appointing security staff.

Nod for new water scheme (Hindu 20 October 2011)

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday approved the bid documents of a new canal-based water supply scheme for Panipat town on a turnkey basis.
He said approval had also been given for procurement of all material including ductile iron (DI) pipes by the contractor on through rate basis.
The State Irrigation Department has also been directed to issue sanction for raw water outlet connection of 49 cusecs from Parallel Delhi Branch or Carrier Lined Channel.

Japanese financial assistance for Rajasthan canal project soon (Hindi 20 October 2011)

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will shortly provide financial assistance worth Rs.1,774 crore for the second phase of a lift canal project in Nagaur district of Rajasthan to provide drinking water to 978 villages and seven towns. The water will be brought from the Indira Gandhi Canal Project.
A six-member fact-finding team of JICA met Nagaur Collector S. S. Bissa on Wednesday to discuss the modalities of the project. Mr. Bissa told the Japanese delegation that land for the project would be allotted without delay and the procedure would be simplified to facilitate early initiation of work.
He said the paucity of drinking water in the desert district could be resolved only through the Indira Gandhi Canal Project. “The ground water [in Nagaur] has high fluoride contents causing fluorosis and other diseases of bones and teeth. The availability of fresh drinking water is going to provide much-needed succour to the people here,” he told the JICA team.
The JICA team, which studied environmental and geographical conditions at the grassroots, found that Nagaur district has a rich mineral wealth that has not been exploited because of paucity of water. Besides, the district has superior breeds of the livestock, but animal husbandry remains a neglected area for want of water.
Second phase
According to an official release here, the Japanese group was told that it was mostly government land which was available for the project's second phase. The members of the team included Koichi Kitamura, Toyoda Mariko, Mino Sato and Itaya.
The seven towns in Nagaur district which would get drinking water from the project are Kuchaman, Nawa, Makrana, Parbatsar, Deedwana, Ladnu and Degana. The project's Superintending Engineer, G. S. Bhati, and Superintending Engineer (Water Resources) G. R. Bhakar were also present during the JICA team's interaction with Mr. Bissa.
The JICA, established in 1974, is the primary Japanese Government agency implementing the country's programme for assisting Asian countries in their socio-economic development. Japan's official development assistance commitment has increased annually and expanded to more countries with Japan remaining the world's top donor since 1991.

Manmohan urged to save the Taj (Hindu 12 October 2011)

Smriti Kak Ramachandran
Alarmed over the threat to the historic Taj Mahal because of the drying of the Yamuna, a group of concerned citizens have asked for a White Paper on the river and its current state.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, they have said that a White Paper on the Yamuna will not only prove helpful in saving the river and the eco-system and heritage that it sustains but also help in framing policies in the future for river conservation.
“It is alarming that the Taj Mahal might just collapse or tilt because the river is drying up. If we don't take immediate steps, we might lose the heritage as well as the eco-systems along the river. There is a dire need to prepare a document on what has gone wrong with the river and what urgent steps should be taken to make amends,” said Manoj Misra, convenor of the non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, which is also a signatory to the letter.
Mr. Misra said the river has begun to run dry in the summer months over the past ten years, and attributed it to the construction of the Hathnikund barrage. “When Tajewala barrage was in use there was still enough water in the river to maintain the necessary flow. However, ever since the Hathnikund barrage has become functional, it has given Haryana a means to divert most of the water and left the river with no minimum flow.”
In the letter to the PM, the group said: “It is no secret that the rivers in the country are today in a highly-threatened state, with the Yamuna -- passing through the historic and holy cities of Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Agra and hundreds of villages -- being the worst of them all.” So, they said, it did not come as a surprise when a question mark was raised recently on the future of the Taj Mahal which stands on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra.
Among the letter's signatories are Prakash Singh, former DGP (UP); Himanshu Thakkar of the NGO South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People; Madhu Bhaduri, former diplomat and ambassador; Anand Arya, environmentalist; Sureswar Sinha; and Yamuna Sewa Samiti, Haryana.

MCD to govt: Help stop encroachment on Yamuna riverbed (Hindustan Times 11 October 2011)

New Delhi, The chairman of the Works Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Jagdish Mamgain on Monday said that illegal constructions are mushrooming on the Yamuna riverbed and that the Delhi government should direct its departments to stop them instead of blaming MCD.
While
providing pictorial evidence, Mamgain said it was a matter of concern that illegal encroachments and constructions were continuing on the Yamuna riverbed and that the government seems least bothered. "Whenever any incident happens due to illegal construction, the Delhi CM and her colleagues pass the buck on to MCD. Preventive measures and strong action against the law violators is better than trading changes later. Flood department should conduct a survey about the status of river Yamuna and its bed," said Mamgain.
He added that no construction should be allowed at least up to the danger area. The DND road may be taken on priority as maximum illegal activities are undergoing on it.
Alleging that it shows the insensitivity towards protection of natural resources, which may cause environmental hazard, Mamgain said, "Starting from Noida to Delhi and onwards, a number of buildings including pucca buildings are being raised and all these structures are going to be completed soon. I am surprised how builders managed to build without attracting any one's attention," he said.

A unique initiative for community empowerment (Time of India 10 October 2011)

The youth of Nagla Banjara village in Bharatpur, Rajasthan have taken up street vending with help from the Lupin Foundation. –Photo: Rohit Jain Paras
Jaipur: Through utilisation of existing resources, a large number of street vendors at Nagla Banjara village in Nadbai teshil of Bharatpur district have been helped out to expand their business, construct houses and send their children to school.
The residents of the small Nagla Banjara village, situated near Antara on the Agra-Bikaner National Highway, are traditionally known in eastern Rajasthan as “Pheri Wallas” (street vendors). They travel to far-off villages and sell items of daily use mostly on bicycles and handcarts.
The village has about 100 households mostly of the people belonging to the Banjara (nomad) clan. They were earlier engaged in buying and selling of the cattle used in agricultural farms, but their utility ended after the advent of mechanisation in the agriculture sector. For several years now, they have taken up street vending as their principal vocation.
The Banjaras travel to the rural areas not just in Rajasthan but also in the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana, where they have been earning good profits by selling different kinds of commodities.
For street vending, they bring the goods such as utensils, wooden and metal items and cosmetic products from the cities and sell them in the villages. In the absence of adequate capital, they had to travel earlier to the cities over and over again for buying the merchandise.
Sixty per cent of the villagers are engaged in street vending, while the rest work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood, as they do not own any agricultural land. Women rear the cattle to supplement the family income. On any given day, one can only find old people, women and children in the village during the day, while the youths venture out for vending.
On the development front, 80 per cent of the families in Nagla Banjara did not have a brick house till about a year ago and most of them were staying in the huts with thatched roof and sheds erected on pasture land. Barely 20 to 30 persons were literate, even though there is a primary school in the village.
The Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation – the corporate social responsibility wing of pharmaceutical major Lupin – adopted Nagla Banjara about a year ago with the intention of launching all-round development works for benefiting the local population.
The first task it took up was getting loans of Rs.25,000 each to 53 persons from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for construction of brick houses to replace the huts and sheds. Ten other households were helped out in getting financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Below Poverty Line Housing Scheme.
According to Lupin Foundation Executive Director Sita Ram Gupta here, brick houses are being constructed at a fast pace in the village and many of the dusty pathways have been converted into regular roads by utilising the MP's Local Area Development Fund.
The Lupin Foundation laid emphasis on revamping of street vending as an existing resource for livelihood. It gave loans of Rs.20,000 each on easy terms to 78 youths for purchasing items for selling and gave training for fabrication of metal chains to 10 women in the village. Three others were provided with the buffaloes of the improved ‘Murra' breed.
Mr. Gupta points out that the people in the village have now understood the significance of education, as it helps and provides expertise even in a work like street vending. Attempts are underway to bring the out-of-school children to new education centres.
The State Government has since joined the efforts of Lupin Foundation to ensure the village's development and installed separate drinking water tanks for human and cattle consumption. Besides, the youths belonging to BPL families are being trained under the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana for working as security guards.
Having got information about the Government's welfare schemes, the villagers now approach the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions for getting their benefits. The sustained year-long efforts have seemingly ensured the nondescript village's march on the road to progress and prosperity.
The villagers' empowerment along with the creation of new livelihood opportunities has generated a model for others for taking similar initiatives, he says.