Paddy cultivation on the way out in Punjab, Haryana? (The Hindu 28 August 2012)

Centre mulling alternative crops

The Union Government is looking at the possibility of replacing rice crop in Punjab and Haryana with alternative crops such as pulses, fodder and oilseeds that help in nitrogen fixation. The water-intensive rice cultivation over the years has become unsustainable in these two States and the water table has fallen to precarious levels.

Giving this information to members of Parliament’s Consultative Committee for his Ministry, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said a meeting had been planned with the two Chief Ministers in September to consider various aspects related to the proposed crop substitution. This will include suitability of alternate crops, their impact on water production, and cost of production, marketing and processing.

Commenting on the proposal, Planning Commission Member (Agriculture) Abhijit Sen told The Hindu that this would succeed only if the Punjab farmers got a profitable alternative crop because they were used to a Minimum Support Price for kharif paddy.

At the same time, the quantum of rice production that would go down with substitution had to be assured from the Second Green Revolution States in eastern India.

Asked if this was linked to climate change and the pressure on India to reduce rice cultivation, he said: “No, this is not linked to climate change. It was recommended by a panel. There was an attempt by the former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to implement it some seven years ago.”

The implication for the States’ farm economy too would have to be studied considering the high stakes for rice millers, another expert pointed out, adding that wheat cultivation would have to be continued so that food security would not be impacted.

Punjab, the third largest producer of kharif rice, contributes about 10 million tonnes to the country after West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Plan to restore Pachnada health (Time of India 27 August 2012)

KANPUR: Yamuna, the largest tributary of the Ganga river, is all set to get an "eco health" revamp in the region, courtesy UK-based Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT) and a number of local organizations working in the field of eco-restoration of waterbodies.

Spearheading the idea is a Delhi-based organization, the Peace Institute Charitable Trust (PICT), that has launched an extensive restoration programme at Pachnada, the confluence of five rivers -- Yamuna, Chambal, Kunwari, Pahuj and Sindh -- in Bhareh town of Etawah to develop community river restoration techniques with support from local groups, especially the 'Nadi Mitra Mandali' (Friends of the River).

"The project, known as 'river twinning', covers 10 grids (group of villages located on either side of the river), including the Panchnada Yamuna Nadi Mitra Mandali near Bhareh, on a 1,400-km-long stretch of the Yamuna in regions falling in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh," said PICT director Manoj Mishra.

The other grids across Yamuna are Kharadi, Katapathar, Kanalsi, Ramra, Ovah, Gadaya, Batesar, Hamirpur and Ekdara, he added.

The project has been supported by the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), winner of the Theiss International Riverprize fund, on behalf of a number of organisations involved in restoration work on the Thames in the UK. The TRRT has committed to using the Riverprize funds to develop new and better techniques for river restoration which could be used by local community groups on rivers all around the world.

"The activities include plantation, promotion of natural farming, eco-sanitation, river health and village health monitoring and proper management of solid waste," said Sita Ram Taigor, who is working with PICT and presently handling five grids of the Yamuna, from Mathura to Fatehpur, and monitoring and providing technical support to the 'Nadi Mitra Mandali' of the grids.

The project has support and participation of many government and non-government organizations, including the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). WWF India has also been working to help restore the lower Yamuna to benefit the people and wildlife as part of the "Thames and Ganges Twinning Partnership". "The project will benefit some of the world's most endangered freshwater wildlife, including gharial, crocodile, Ganges river dolphin and Ganges river turtle," Taigor added."Pachnada presents an extensive view of sylvan beauty during the rainy season and also in the winters. The region is a home to a number of exotic species of flora and fauna that need to be protected," he added.

"An outcome of PICT's partnership with local groups at 14 sites has been the development and testing of a People's River Health Index that has not only determined the state of the river at different sites, but also identified the actions needed for river restoration," Taigor elaborated.

Elaborating on the activities, Taigor said: "The actions include training local people in basic river and catchment monitoring techniques, environmental education of school children and providing sustainable energy use techniques at the local level."

"A massive plantation drive is underway at Pachnada Yamuna Nadi Mitra Mandali grid these days and we are getting a very good response from the local community, besides schoolchildren who are actively assisting us in fulfilling our mission of restoring the Yamuna," Taigor told TOI.

Showcase: A wake-up call (The Hindu 26 August 2012)

A film that documents why the world is losing fresh water supplies and the politics behind its ownership and distribution.

History has hidden within it umpteen episodes when scarcity of a particular thing has led to bloodbaths of the most gruesome kind. After waging battles over land, food, oil and other essentials for life, mankind is now on the verge of a global war thanks to the scarcity of fresh water. Blue Gold: World Water Wars, a documentary by Sam Bozzo, seeks to wake us up to the horrific reality staring us in the face.

The documentary looks at how the source of all life — fresh water — is being polluted, wasted and abused by the exponentially growing population. This is leading to available resources being depleted at a rapid pace, thus allowing corporate giants and corrupt governments to take control of the remaining water and hold people to ransom for every drop.

This paucity is set to cause major shifts in the power structure as military control of water occurs and etches out a new geo-political map.

India is already facing the brunt of this paucity, with wastage and pollution being widespread. Oblivious to us, the situation is worsening by the day. It won’t be long before fresh water — that we take for granted today — comes with a huge price tag. Even if we can afford it, we may probably not get enough for even the most basic needs.

It is to make people aware of this grim future that Prithvi Theatre and Vikalp: Films for Freedom are screening Blue Gold as part of the ‘Vikalp@Prithvi’ initiative.

Kunal Kapoor of Prithvi says of this initiative, “We partner with several groups/people to promote the performing arts and get more people excited about our art. Vikalp is one group that curates documentaries from around the world. We provide the space and equipment to showcase this art to the general public. We screen a selection of documentaries and short films on the last Monday of every month at Prithvi House. Entry to all screenings is free and on a first-come-first-seated basis.”

Vikalp: Films for Freedom believes that an assault on freedom of expression is an assault on democracy itself. The organisation was conceived as a response to the censorship borne by several documentary makers in 2004. Over the years, Vikalp has transformed from a parallel festival into a movement that holds regular screenings at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Yamuna may reach red mark tomorrow (The Hindu 26 August 2012)

The water in the Yamuna in Delhi is expected to reach the warning level of 204 metres on Monday morning as about 47,000 cusecs of water was released upstream at Hathnikund on Saturday.

Irrigation and Flood Control Department Chief Engineer V.P.S. Tomar said all through on Saturday the level of the river at the Old Railway Bridge remained in the 203.50 to 203.56 metres range. “We are still about a metre and quarter below the danger level of 204.83 metres,” he added.

But the department is keeping a keen eye on the discharge of water upstream. “The warning level is 204 metres and that is expected to be breached on Monday morning. We will see how things pan out from there,” he said.

Rain lashes Delhi

PTI adds: Heavy rain lashed the city on Saturday, leading to water-logging and traffic jams and inconvenience to office goers and commuters.

Between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. the city received 24.6 mm of rain, bringing down the temperature below normal level, the weatherman said.

Water-logging slowed down traffic near Indraprastha College, Chandgi Ram Akhara, Kela Ghat, Mori Gate, Tirth Ram Hospital, Defence Colony flyover, Pulpahladpur, Nizamuddin Khatta, Ashram flyover to Maharani Bagh and Ashram to Hari Nagar route.

Also, traffic was affected from Defence Colony to Lajpat Nagar metro station, Ring Road, Andrews Ganj Chowk, Moolchand flyover, near Rajouri Garden flyover on service road, NH-8, from Dabri bus stand towards Palam, Hanuman Mandir Chhatta Rail, Bawana Chowk to Narela, Puth Khurd, Adhchini.

The maximum temperature dipped five notches below normal to 29 degrees Celsius while the minimum was a degree below normal at 25.5. Humidity was recorded between 92 and 98 per cent.

The weatherman has forecast a generally cloudy sky on Sunday with few spells of rain or thundershowers.

Water bodies disappearing fast in rural areas (The Hindu 26 August 2012)

In Panipat’s Dadlana village in Haryana, a water body has shrunk to half its size as the other half has been converted into a 50-bed hospital. In nearby Sonepat district, Khewra village has converted an existing water body into a toilet block that incidentally remains unused.

Even as the focus is on fast disappearance of water bodies from the urban landscapes, water conservationists have sounded an alarm about the vanishing water bodies in the rural areas. What was considered an urban phenomenon -- grabbing water body land for other uses -- is now being reported from rural areas where activists allege the violations are being carried out by government agencies as well.

“During our surveys in the villages of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh we found a lot of water bodies that were manmade have been encroached upon by the Government itself. They have drained out the water and converted the land into a plot for schools, dispensaries, and other construction activities,” says Manoj Misra of non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.

Pollution, neglect and indifference, alleges Mr. Misra, are the reason why no attempts have been made to restore the water bodies that are not just a source of water, but also sustain bio-diversity and help in ground water recharge. In some villages surveyed by the YJA, some of the water bodies that have not been encroached are filled to the brim with refuse, plastics and construction debris.

“In 2011, a Supreme Court Bench of Justice Makandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra in what is commonly known as the Jagpal Singh Case, given a very clear direction to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal, unauthorised occupants of Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat, Poramboke, Shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat for the common use of the village, but we are yet to see an effective laws being framed or steps taken to implement the judgment,” Mr. Misra says.

The YJA has already shot off a letter to Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to issue directions for protection, preservation and restoration of water bodies in the rural areas. “We are aware that to find effective statutory solution, it is the Rural Development Ministry that can step in and ensure the implementation of the Supreme Court directions. The Wetland Rules from 2010 of the Ministry of Environment & Forests are of little help to such water bodies, therefore, to prevent such deleterious tendencies on the part of local vested interests, it is for the Rural Development Ministry to take action and monitor the implementation status of this judgment in the interest of the security of village common lands including village water bodies,” says Mr. Misra.

“Under MNREGA scheme large a number of new water bodies are being encouraged but what is happening to the earlier water bodies seems to be of little concern to most,” Mr. Misra adds.