वहीं से शुरू कर रहा हूँ जहां से छोड़ा था। मेरे सवाल का जवाब अभी तक नहीं मिला, खैर कहते है न देर है अंधेर नहीं। मुझे एक और घनिष्ट ऋषिदेव साथी के साथ वक़्त बिताने का मौका मिला और बात करते-करते मैंने बात दिना-भदरी के तरफ मोड़ दी तो इन्होने कुछ गोल-मोल सा बताया। इन साहब ने जिनकी उम्र लगभग 50 से 55 की होगी, ने बताया कि, “दिना भदरी की पूजा यहाँ तो हर कोई करता है, चाहे वो हिन्दू हो, सिख हो या मुसलमान ही क्यों न हो। सब के भगवान हैं, दिना-भदरी और सब का भला करते हैं। गरीब को जमींदार से बचाते थे और उनके लिए लड़ते थे, अरे उनको तो छल से मार दिया साहब, नहीं तो इनका तो कोई बाल भी बांका नहीं कर सकता, इतने बलवान थे की क्या बतायें।” मैंने हिम्मत करके आखिर पूछ ही लिया कि ये दोनों कौन थे और क्या करते थे? उन्होंने एक बात कही कि, “देखिये ऐसे पता नहीं चलेगा इनके बारे में, आप हमारे सम्मलेन में आइये जो तीन महीने तक चलता है। सब कुछ सुनियेगा और देखियेगा तो ज़्यादा अच्छा रहेगा न।”

यहाँ भी निराशा ही मिली, मुझे यहाँ आये 20 दिन हुए हैं, शायद गाँव में लोग अभी भी मुझे जांच रहे है कि आखिर मैं हूँ कौन? अब मैंने सोचा क्यों न अपने सीनियर से पूछूँ जिनका मैं सहायक बन कर आया हूँ। शायद वो कुछ मार्गदर्शन कर सकें। मेरे सीनियर ने मुझे बताया कि जब वो कुछ साल पहले इस गाँव में आए थे तो उन्होंने प्लास्टर और ईंट वाली संरचना देखी थी जिसमें दो बांस गड़े हुए थे। मैंने उन्हें बीच में टोका, जैसे आप मुझे टोकना चाहते है, कि तीन बांस थे दो कैसे हो गए। मैंने उनसे बोला कि सरजी यहाँ दो नहीं तीन बांस है, तो उन्होंने चौंकते हुए कहा, “तीसरा कौन है? ज़रा पता लगाओ। मैं ये जानता हूँ की ये दोनों भाई जात से राजपूत थे और दोनों जमींदारों के खिलाफ गरीबो के लिए लड़ा करते थे, और कहा जाता है कि इनकों छल से मारा गया था। नेपाल के करीब एक गाँव में इन्हें किसी यादव के द्वारा दफनाया गया था।” मेरे सीनियर ने मुझे सलाह दी कि मुझे इस के बारे में और पता करना चाहिए और जानने की कोशिश करनी चाहिए। साथ ही मुझे इसका भी ख़याल रखना चाहिए कि किसी को मेरी किसी बात से दुःख नही होना चाहिए, क्योंकि ये आस्था का मसला है।

दिना भदरी की पूजा, क्यूँ ?

अब इस बार मैंने दूसरे टोले में जाना शुरू किया और पता नहीं कैसे इनसे मेरे रिश्ते बहुत जल्दी ऋषिदेव दोस्तों के मुकाबले और भी ज़्यादा मधुर और घनिष्ट हो गए। एक दिन बात करते-करते मैंने पूछा कि भैया ज़रा बताइए न दिना भदरी के बारे में, बहुत सुना है। वो बिना हिचकिचाए बोलने लगे, उन्होंने पहले वही सब बात दोहराई जो पहले लोग बता चुके थे।

इन्होंने बताया कि आखिर दिना भदरी की मान्यता क्यों बढ़ी वो बोले, “देखिये भैया हम लोग ठहरे गरीब लोग, हमारी मदद कौन करता है। लेकिन करीब 100 से 200 साल पहले की बात है एक बड़ा जमींदार था,  बड़ा जमींदार था तो ज़्यादा लोग काम करते थे। इनमें से ज़्यादातर गरीब और गरीब भी ऐसे जिनके पास खाने को पैसा नहीं था, पहनने को कपड़ा नहीं था। एक बार क्या हुआ कि कुछ लोग जिनको काफी दिनों से पैसा नहीं मिला था, उनमे से कुछ लोगों ने काफी हिम्मत करने के बाद जमींदार के खेत से कुछ फसल काट ली। जमींदार के कुछ लोगो ने यह देख लिया और उनको पकड़ लिया गया। जमींदार इन पर चिल्ला रहा था और इनसे कह रहा था कि जो फसल तुम लोग यहाँ से ले गए हो उसका जुर्माना भरना पड़ेगा नहीं तो अभी तुम लोग को हम पुलिस के हवाले करते है। मजदूर सब के सामने विनती करते हुए, माफ़ी की गुहार लगाने लगे। लेकिन जमींदार टस से मस होने को तैयार नहीं था। उसी वक़्त दिना और भदरी दोनों भाई वहाँ गुज़र रहे थे।”

आप सोच रहे होंगे इतनी अच्छी कथा चल रही थी, पूर्ण विराम क्यूँ लगा दिया। लेकिन आगे बढ़ने से पहले आप लोगों का इन दो राजपूत भाइयों के बारे में जानना ज़रूरी है। जैसा कि लोग बताते हैं कि दिना बड़ा भाई था और भदरी छोटा था। इसके साथ एक और बात भी बताते है कि इन दोनों भाइयों में से दिना शांत स्वभाव का था और भदरी थोड़ा गुस्से वाला था। आगे उन्होनें बताया कि ये दोनों, जमींदार के पास पहुंचे लेकिन वहाँ पहुचने से पहले इन दोनों ने साधू का भेष धारण कर लिया था। जमींदार के पास पहुँच कर दिना ने घटना के बारे में पूर्ण जानकारी ली और जमींदार को समझाने की कोशिश की। जमींदार के खेत से थोड़ा फसल लेने को भूल कर माफ़ी की बात को जमींदार मानने को तैयार नहीं था। भदरी को गुस्सा आया तो दिना ने शांत रहने को कहा लेकिन काफी कोशिशों के बाद भी जब जमींदार नहीं माना तो भदरी ने उसकी गर्दन पकड़ कर मरोड़ दी। जमींदार की उसी क्षण मृत्यु हो गयी।

जमींदार की राजनैतिक पहुँच मजबूत थी, उसकी मृत्यु से गाँव में हाहाकार मच गया और मजदूरों पर जमींदार के बेटे ने केस दर्ज कर दिया। इन लोगों को वकील ने बताया कि कोर्ट में अगर एक लाख रुपया जमा करोगे तो केस रद्द हो सकता है। इन मजदूरों को कुछ समझ नहीं आया कि आखिर इतना पैसा कहाँ से लाया जाए। चंदे और घर के सामान बेचने के बाद भी 20 से 25 हज़ार रुपया ही जमा हो पाया। इन लोगों ने तय किया कि कोर्ट ही चलते हैं जो होगा देखा जायेगा। जब ये लोग कोर्ट पहुंचे तो इनके वकील ने कहा की तुम लोग यहाँ क्या कर रहे हो? उन्होंने बताया कि जितना पैसा जमा हुआ है वही जमा करने आये हैं। वकील ने बताया कि तुम लोग घर जाओ, अभी दो साधू आये थे और एक लाख रुपया दे कर के चले गए। ये लोग अचंभित हो गए कि ये बाबा कौन है? पीछा करने की कोशिश की गयी तो वो लोग अचानक गायब हो गए। वो ऐसे ही कभी साधू के भेष में तो कभी तपस्वी के भेष में नज़र आते थे।

वो आगे कहते हैं, “जैसे आपके लिए (यहाँ उन्होंने स्पष्ट नहीं किया की आपके लिए से उनका सन्दर्भ क्या है?) राम-लखन हैं वैसे हमारे लिए दिना-भदरी हैं। आगे बोलते हुए उन्होंने बताया कि भैया ऐसी कई सारी कथाएं और घटनाएँ है। आप आइयेगा न जनवरी में तब न अच्छे से खान-पान होगा।” पूछने पर उन्होंने बताया कि ‘अच्छा खान-पान’ से मतलब है कि दिना-भदरी सम्मलेन के वक़्त मांस मछली बनेगा। रहते तो खाते। हम बोले आप खबर कर दीजयेगा हम ज़रूर आयेंगे। यहाँ पर यह अंश खत्म कर रहा हूँ। अगले अंश में आपको बताऊंगा कि कैसे, कहाँ और क्या होता है सम्मलेन और क्या मतलब है तीसरे बांस का!                           (जारी है…)

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अब तक हमने जाना कि दिना भदरी इसलिए मशहूर हुए क्यूंकि गरीब इनको मसीहा के रूप में देखते थे और ये जमींदार से उन्हें बचाते और उनके अत्याचारों के खिलाफ लड़ते थे। इनकी पूजा खास तौर से इस गाँव के ऋषिदेव करते हैं और यहाँ बिताये समय में मैंने किसी और को उनकी पूजा करते हुए नहीं देखा।

अगर आपने दूसरे भाग को पढ़ा है तो मैंने उसमें एक साहब का वर्णन किया था, जिन्होंने दिना भदरी के सम्मलेन में आने को कहा था ताकि उनके बारे में मैं ज़्यादा जान सकूँ। कुछ दिन बीतने के बाद मैं उनके पास गया और वचन को निभाते हुए वो मुझे  एक और टोला में ले गए जिसमे ऋषिदेव भाइयों की संख्या आधिक थी या ये कहूँ कि उस टोले में सिर्फ ऋषिदेव भाई ही थे तो गलत न होगा। शाम के 6 बज रहे थे और उस वक़्त ये तय हुआ कि हम दिना भदरी के दर्शन के लिए जायेंगे।

शाम 6 बजे जब हम दिना भदरी के दर्शन के रास्ते में थे, तो मेरे दोस्त ने बताना शुरू किया कि दिना भदरी सम्मलेन में होता क्या है। दिना भदरी का सम्मलेन तीन महीने चलता है और कलाकारों का एक समूह गाँव के हर टोले में घूम-घूम कर सम्मलेन में नाटक, भजन और तरह-तरह के कहानी पाठ करता है। ये समूह गाने, नाटक के द्वारा लोगों को दिना भदरी के बारे में बताता है।

ये बात ख़तम हुई तो हम उस घर के करीब पहुंचे जो दिना भदरी के स्थान के पास है। धीरे-धीरे मुझे समझ में आया कि उन्होंनेआखिर शाम का समय ही क्यूँ तय किया, खैर वो बात यहाँ बताना ज़रूरी नहीं। जिनके घर गए वो अपने दरवाजे से टॉर्च लेकर आए और एक फूस से बने हुए घर में हमे दिना और भदरी बाबा का दर्शन प्राप्त हुआ।

तीसरा बांस!

सबसे पहले मैंने दिना और भदरी को ठीक से देखा, जिसे लोग दिना कहते हैं वो कद में भदरी से बड़े है और दिना अपना दायाँ हाथ ऐसे कर के खड़े हैं जैसे वो अपने भक्त को कुछ दे रहे हों। इसके पीछे हमारे दोस्त ने कारण बताया, “अगर आप कुछ मांगेंगे तो वो ज़रूर पूरा होगा, इसलिए ये हमेशा इसी मुद्रा में रहते है देने के स्तिथि में।”

मेरी नज़र बाएँ ओर जैसे ही गयी, मुझे ऐसा लगा ये माँ दुर्गा दिना भदरी के स्थल पर? थोड़ी देर सोचने के बाद मैंने अपने साथी से पूछा कि ये कौन तो इन्होने बताया की ये दिना भदरी की माँ हैं, ‘निरसो’! अच्छा तो यह निरसो हैं, जैसा कि आप तस्वीर में देख सकते हैं, इनके चरण के नीचे एक शेर जैसा जानवर है जिसके बदन में कुछ ऐसी चीज़ है जिससे उसका वध किया गया हो, लेकिन माँ निरसो के हाथ में लाठी नहीं है। उनका दायाँ हाथ तो आशीर्वाद के लिए उठा हुआ है। वो आगे बताते हैं कि दिना भदरी के स्थल पर तीसरा बांस जो हमारे टोला में देखा था, यही तो हैं, माँ निरसो।

अब मैं आपको थोड़ा सा याद दिला दूं कि पहले भाग में जब मेरे सीनियर ने मुझे बताया था कि वो यहाँ आए थे तब केवल दो बांस थे और ये बात उस समय मैंने नहीं बताई थी कि उन्होंने सम्मलेन भी देखा था। गौर करने की बात ये है कि वो 2012 में यहाँ आये थे और मैं 2015 में गया। ये बदलाव सिर्फ दो साल पुराना है।

दिना भदरी से सम्बंधित कुछ मतभेद

इस दौरान मैं कई टोला घूमा और हर टोला में कुछ कहानियां, दिना और भदरी के बारे में अलग-अलग हैं। उनके प्रचलन से लेकर उनकी पूजा तक सब में कुछ न कुछ अंतर है।

एक मित्र कहते हैं कि दिना और भदरी 100 से 200 साल पुराने हैं, जिसका वर्णन मैंने दुसरे भाग में किया था। एक मित्र जिन्होंने मुझे दर्शन कराया, उनका कहना है की वो 50 से 100 साल पुराने है और कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि वो 20 से 30 साल पुराने हैं। जिस तरह आपको आश्चर्य हो रहा है, उसी तरह मुझे भी हुआ। खैर आदमी आपने हिसाब से तय करे कि उसे क्या सही लगता है तो वो बेहतर होता है, मैं अपनी कोई राय यहाँ नहीं रखूँगा, मेरी निजी राय मेरे साथ है।

एक मित्र बताते हैं कि दूसरा मतभेद ऋषिदेव साथियों में ये है कि, कहा जाता है कि इनका विवाह तो हुआ था लेकिन ये ब्रह्मचार्य का पालन करते थे और कोई महिला इनके चेहरे के समक्ष खड़ी नही हो सकती। उनकी पूजा सिर्फ पुरुष कर सकते हैं, जबकि एक अन्य मित्र कहते हैं कि नहीं ऐसा कुछ नहीं है, दिना भदरी की पूजा महिला-पुरुष सब कर सकते हैं। यहाँ तक कि हर धर्म के लोग कर सकते हैं।

ज़ाहिर है ये कहानी यहीं ख़त्म नहीं की जा सकती, अभी भी बहुत कुछ जानना बाकी है और दिना और भदरी के बारे और जानकारी मिलते ही आपसे ज़रूर साझा करूँगा।

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On December 12, 2016, Tamil Nadu authorities cut down the power supply as early as six in the morning as a precautionary step. Schools and colleges were declared closed. Private companies were issued an advisory notice by the Government to stay shut. The morning was calm with slight windy drizzling. ‘Vardah’, a cyclonic depression formed over the Bay of Bengal was arriving (like a boss). The wind started to pick the speed of 140kmph during landfall, almost tearing the city apart, taking down trees, hoardings and almost every object that came its way. Communication channels turned bereft. Slowly residencies started running out of water.

But surprisingly, no amount of rains or gusty winds could stop the crowd from piling up in front of TASMAC stores (for non-Chennaiites: TASMAC is run by Govt. Of Tamil Nadu, which has a monopoly over wholesale and retail vending of alcoholic beverages in the state). Despite nature’s fury, we were amused to capture ‘Vardah’ in action and even clicked ‘storm’-fies. Our flat had generator power supply, but there was just one power point plug working.

Our flat had generator power supply, but there was just one power point plug working. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so we connected our lifeline plug to an extension board and that board to another extension board.

I was most interested in getting my Nokia 1200 charged, because when every battery runs out of juices, the set comes as a great saviour. This continued for the next three days. Every time the generator supply started, we ran like headless chickens to put our phones on charging. That day around 9:30 p.m., ‘Vardah’ crossed Chennai. Wind speed dropped to 15kmph but the rain continued. A huge sigh of relief, or maybe not.

December 13, 2016, feeble rays of sun calmed the city, but could not hide the trail of destruction ‘Vardah’ left behind, transportation resumed. Mostly the buses were empty as people stayed back at home. On my way to work, I couldn’t believe the destruction that a day of nature’s rage was capable of bringing. Uprooted trees and electric poles, smashed window panes and cracked walls of hotel buildings, crooked hoardings and poles of bus stops. Kids oblivious to the destruction were swinging playfully on broken branches while their elders spread out their clothes footpath for drying. But nothing was heart-warming than the sight of two kids trying to dry their school notebooks under the sun. Cash crunch took its toll too, as card machines stopped working owing to grave network issues, people struggled to buy basic necessities.

Sans electricity and cash, Chennai was literally ‘Power’- less.

December 15, 2016, power was restored almost everywhere but unfortunately in some places restoration took a little more time. People could not afford to even take a bath. Network coverage remained flawed as people struggled to reach out to their kin.

Chennai is not new to all this. Cyclones are a regular occurrence, especially during this time of the year. The positive thing is that Chennai now puts its best foot forward to recover fast. Kudos to our conservancy workers, who put such tireless efforts working overtime to heal the city.

One not-so-good thing is Chennai’s drainage system. With mere eleven months stay in the city, it’ll be very early on my part to comment on why Chennai’s drainage system fails to handle even a couple of hours of harsh rains? Some say it’s the topology, to some its due to the haphazard encroachment of wetlands and some boldly say, lack of administrative measures to have proper drainage systems and cleaning the existing ones which are occasionally blocked due to garbage.

Last but never the least, I would like to close by saying: It doesn’t rain cats and dogs in Chennai, it rains cows and buffaloes.

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Cigarette trash is the worst kind of rubbish. You find it everywhere – lining sidewalks, clogging gutters and messing up homes and offices. But we seem to know little about what do with it, either binning it into ashtrays or junking it into dustbins.

Still fewer people actually know that cigarette waste – especially the cigarette filter or butt – is a huge environmental hazard. Cigarette butts are the most littered item around the world, and it is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette filters become waste every year. Made up of a polymer called cellulose acetate, it can take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to fully decompose. A study, in fact, revealed that a single smoked butt put in a litre of water is sufficient to kill both marine and freshwater fish in that water.

Now, a Noida-based company has found a way to recycle these unwelcome discards, in an environment-friendly manner, even paying people to hand over their smoked cigarettes. The endeavour called Code is the brainchild of Naman Gupta and Vishal Kant – friends who first got the idea at a party where there were too many cigarette stubs strewn all over the place, making them wonder what could be done about it.

Soon, the duo was doing chemistry experiments at home, trying to figure out the ‘right formula’ for a chemical that would treat cigarette waste. “We had our share of mishaps figuring it out. There were a few mini explosions, and episodes of pressure cookers that burst,” Gupta says. The duo, however, hit jackpot in July this year.

Now, they regularly collect cigarette waste from their customers and recycle every component of what they receive, from the paper to the ash. The filter is first treated with the chemical made by them, and the treated polymer is sent to Bureau of Indian Standards, before being shipped off to make things like cushions, stuffed toys and bean bags. The paper and leftover tobacco are converted into compost. The ash collected, will be used to make fly ash bricks, once Gupta says, they have enough of it (They have only 300 gm currently and therefore unable to do much with it).

In the last two months, the company has got around 35 kg of cigarette waste, receiving 15 kilograms in the last 20 days alone.

The process of collecting the waste too is simple. Once a request for selling waste is known, the company provides the users a steel bin to collect cigarette trash, in exchange for a deposit of 99 rupees for a 3 month period. Their customers include both homes and offices, as well as panwadis. The company pays Rs ₹800 rupees for every kilogram of waste, and ₹80 for every 100 grams. At the end of the 3 month period, the company also refunds the ₹99 amount collected from the users.

Having already set up a facility in Noida, the two friends are now planning to expand their reach. “We are already collecting waste from Noida and Gurgaon area, and the response has been tremendous. Initially, people were sceptical about the whole idea, wondering why we were asking them for cigarette stubs of all things. But now they see what we are trying to do. That they are receiving payments on time has also helped establish trust,” Gupta says.

The endeavour by no means endorses people to smoke or take up smoking. “In India, we keep talking about cleaning the environment or curbing air pollution, but we haven’t even initiated a conversation around cigarette waste. We just want to address this issue through our company, and do something good for the environment in return,” Gupta adds.

The post Smokers Alert: These Entrepreneurs Are Looking For You! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

The Chambal river flowing through Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, is endowed with rich and diverse flora and fauna. It is also home to a critically endangered species of crocodile – the gharial. Apart from this, the Chambal basin is also endowed with superior quality sand. Sand mining in the region has been banned by the government for the protection of Gharial and preservation of ecological diversity.

This is not the story of Chambal region only. Mafia network is also active in NCR region that digs deep into the river beds of Yamuna and Hindon river in Gautam Budh Nagar. They evade royalties and heedlessly flout whatever norms exist. There are no licensed miners and there are areas where there is a blanket ban on sand mining. Yet, almost all of NOIDA’s construction projects depend on stolen sand. Large scale construction resulted by industrialisation and housing has led to gradually rising demand of sand. According to sources, 9 lakh tonnes of sand is extracted in a year and monthly turnover is estimated to be around 100 crores.

If I talk about Madhya Pradesh, illegal sand mining is openly taking place in Narmada, Tapti, Betwa, Ken, Navej and many more rivers. Dhar, Barwani, Alirajpur, Morena, Khandwa and Hoshangabad are districts where cases of criminal activities by the Mafia network are registered on a daily basis.

It is needless to say that sand mining is detrimental to the environment. Large-scale extraction of streambed materials, mining and dredging below the existing streambed, and the alteration of channel bed form and shape, leads to bank erosion, channel slope increase and change in channel morphology. It might also lead to the weakening of nearby land structures, bridges etc. Mining and dredging activities and uncontrolled dumping of will cause deteriorated water quality for downstream users. It is equally harmful to aquatic life. Removal of channel substrate, clearance of vegetation and stockpiling on the streambed negatively affect the habitats of aquatic species.

Having said that, I agree that a blanket ban on sand mining can’t be done. The construction sector is one of the largest employer in the country. A blanket ban will not only slow down the employment generation but will hamper the economic growth as well. States where sand mining is legalised receive a good amount of revenues.

In this whole picture, government and police administration has completely failed to deal with the issue and tackle the menace of mafia network. Unfortunately, bureaucracy becomes the victim in the trinity of Mafia-Government-Police.

A three-member panel headed by Morena’s District Collector has recently legalised sand mining in Sabalgarh, Jaura and Porsa region. However, legalising sand mining might not be a sustainable and long term solution. There is a dire need of central government intervention in this issue existing across-the-board in order to preserve the ecological diversity and achieve the goal of sustainable development.

The post The Curse Of Illegal Sand Mining appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

“When we urge others to live a healthy living we forget our responsibility to live one too!”

If you are from a city and if you have better facilities for toilets, you use them. But as a villager what would you do if you don’t have toilets around you?

Build a new one? But what about those who have no financial capability? They end up walking into farms or secluded places.

India has one of the highest rates of open defecation. According to the latest census data, 636 million Indians lack toilets, leading to disease, loss of economic output, childhood malnutrition, and even rape cases.

Deshpande Foundation’s Leaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) Program highlights the achievements of Deepika, an ordinary girl from the women’s college in Chikodi, Karnataka. She created an amazing movement towards a healthy India.

One day when she was passing by a village called, Jainapur, she saw many people walking with a bucket of water to the farms for urination. When she asked a villager, his embarrassed reply was, “It’s not that we aren’t bothered about nature and surrounding, but we are helpless because we don’t have toilets at home nor do we have the finance to build one.”

Deepika was speechless and had no instant solution for it.

The villager’s reply made her think more and made her restless enough that she came up with an idea. Without much delay, she approached the government officials and let them know that in spite of all the major initiatives by the government, the village still lacked basic sanitation and toilets.

She studied the conditions and approximated the number of toilets needed. With the co-operation of government officials, she set up for a “Swacch Bharat” motive in the village focusing on building toilets in every house in the village.

Deepika with her colleagues and friends visited all the houses in the village and personally explained to them how important it is to have toilets and how this would help the villagers improve their lives. She felt pain at the tears of an old man as he expressed that they were not financially stable and so they faced latrine problems every day. She stepped up with a solution for providing them loans for building toilets.

A villager was quoted as saying, “If such young buds can teach the experienced villagers this much-needed knowledge of building good toilets, basic sanitation at the village level, then our respected PM’s motto of “Swacch Bharat” will have the best progress ever”. He added, “We have got freedom from the British, but it’s time we also gain freedom from the unhygienic life we all lead here.”

Blessed with the good wishes and motivation, Deepika became the superwoman of the village by building almost 250 toilets in the village. She received unconditional gratitude from the villagers for this great venture.

She was given an award by Malathi Holla, an internationally- renowned Indian para-athlete, at Yuva Summit 2016 for her enthusiasm and spirit for the betterment of society.

The post One Girl, One Voice Brings Change To Jainapur appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

“The Taj Mahal rises above the banks of the river like a solitary tear suspended on the cheek of time.”

This was what Rabindranath Tagore had to say about the Taj, way back in his time. Things have changed since then and drastically, too. ‘The Symbol of Love’ , ‘The Pride of India’ and one of the Seven Wonders of the World isn’t really in that good a condition as it is made out to be. I was at the Taj on Independence Day this past year and I still don’t quite know if I was impressed or disappointed because what I’ve heard and what I saw don’t have much in common.

All of us who studied in India have studied about the yellowing of the Taj due to the release of toxic gases from the Mathura Refinery located 50 km away from the  Taj, in Mathura. I have never been to the Taj before, but the discoloration is very obvious. Even from behind and afar, as spotted from the Mehtab Bagh. It looked beautiful from that distance, with hundreds of people walking around it, giving it a Mecca-like look.  We had to overcome various obstacles to actually reach Agra – it was almost like a very intense video game, except the only thing we won was a glimpse of the Taj.

Poor management

Owing to poor planning, we didn’t carry enough cash while driving from Delhi to Agra. We took the Yamuna Expressway, which is famous for the way it’s built and the greenery along the roads and the impeccable roads. One thing nobody mentions is that there is not ONE ATM along the road once you hit the expressway. Not at the big fancy restaurants, not at the petrol pumps. I, for one, found this to be absolutely RIDICULOUS.

I obviously tweeted about it, (yes, obviously) and a friend said she went through the same thing 3 years ago. Her situation was worse – she didn’t have cash, she was running out of fuel and the petrol pumps didn’t accept cards. This time, we heard “Madam network hi nahin hain, hum kya karein?” (Madam, we don’t have access to telecom networks, what can we do?). Compared to that, our situation seemed manageable, we just didn’t have money to pay the 2,000 toll nakas waiting for our money.

We had to take a detour to Mathura, which we never reached because of the traffic jam that stretched out for kilometres on end. We found a couple of ATMs there, which were either closed or out of service. We turned around, took the Delhi-Agra road and boy, were we surprised by how the city welcomed us!

Hit hard by reality

A throwback to when my mom visited Agra in 2008 without me and I threw a temper tantrum because I wanted to see the famous Taj Mahal, too. I wish I’d gone then because when I saw what I saw that day, more than 8 years later, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see more. You enter Agra and the traffic and heat hit you and they hit you hard.

Hundreds of trucks loaded with goods lined up with no sign of movement. The streets are lined with small stalls and hawkers and filth, basically. Nobody is obeying the traffic signals, I didn’t even notice whether there any signals to obey. The roads are in terrible condition. “It’s okay, it’s the main road to Agra”, I thought to myself. The Taj Mahal is just 10 km from this polluted main road. We entered the area of the Agra Fort, which is in the vicinity of the Taj. Potholes. More potholes. Small roads, cars stuck, cars parked on the road, hogging half the space. The Taj is just 3 km away. THIS is the road to the Taj Mahal.

I was almost traumatized, a mix of surprise and disappointment. THIS is what foreign tourists pass through to visit the monument? This is terrible. Ankit rightly expressed,” The visit to the Taj Mahal should be a flawless experience, right from entering the city to visiting the monument to leaving the city. India = Taj Mahal for most foreigners. Is THIS what we want them to see?” I couldn’t agree more. I had heard that the vehicles are banned from entering the pollution free zone around the Taj. That’s in the front. What goes on behind is a different story.

That photo is taken from a Telegraph UK article. The photo I took from Mehtab Bagh is from quite a distance and I didn’t get to take a photo like this, but hey, that’s definitely not Photoshop.

The Tourist Experience

The whole experience of visiting the Taj is a whole different story. The whole process from the moment you step out of your car till the moment you come back is a money-making one. The parking is ₹80, the ride in the horse drawn rickshaw or the electric rickshaw will cost you anything between ₹20-100, depending on your bargaining skills and time of the day. One the way, people will try to sell you the protective mitten sort of thing you’ve to put on your shoes when you enter the main tomb. The entry will cost you ₹40 or between ₹500 – 1,000 if you’re a foreigner. I still haven’t understood the logic for this, too. We don’t get charged differently when we visit other countries, and even if we do, it’s not such an outrageous difference. In fact, I’ve gotten student discounts in Germany, without them even asking for a school identity card, even when I was a student in India.

The outside of the main tomb has walls turned almost brown due to the number of dirty hands that have touched it. The carving is so intricate and beautiful and the number of man hours gone into this cannot be fathomed. Every single petal, every flower (which the guides there describe as having a secret ‘Om’ symbol hidden in them). The monument in itself is extremely overwhelming with its grand design and architecture and the minute, delicate carvings. Just the realization of the fact that in those days, they didn’t have trucks to transport all that marble and machines to cut through it or computers to design the monument and its surroundings and still achieving perfect symmetry is beyond impressive. It’s sad what it’s starting to look like now. There are also reports of insects turning some carvings green. 

There was colour restoration work going on on one of the minarets, and I managed to capture the clear difference in colour. By the way, the Mathura Refinery  I mentioned earlier, the one that CAUSED the yellowing, is currently asking the government for an EXPANSION, raising its refining capacity from 8 to 11 million tonnes. Yeah, that. Why not, we want more of THIS.

As soon as you leave the premises, there will be stalls selling petha and other sweets, magnets, those dome things which have snowflake-like things floating around (snow globes), those ‘Aankhon Mein Teri’ things, yeah, those and other souvenirs. Then the ride back to the parking, which also isn’t smooth because of internal traffic jams. The amount of effort and time and money that has gone into building this monument is huge. What are we doing with it? People travel from all over the world to see this beauty in all its glory. People travel from all over the country to see the monument of love, to see what it is capable of. Maybe we should love it a little, too?

The river Tagore was referring to, our very own Yamuna, is full of filth and the Taj Mahal now rises above it like a solitary yellow teardrop.

The post The Beauty and the Filth: The Reality of the Taj Mahal and Agra appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

By Antara Sengupta for Youth Ki Awaaz: 

For the last year and a half, Mamta Warkade, a tribal girl from the Gondia district of Maharashtra, has been living a fun yet unusual life. On most afternoons, the 21-year-old can be found engaged in various forms of adventure activities like rappelling, rock climbing and ziplining in her village in Nawatola.

The activities aren’t just her source of fun, but also her means of income, thanks to an initiative of Deputy Conservator of Forest, Gondia Jitender Ramgaonka who decided to preserve Hazra falls, a dying waterfall by involving the youth in the area and training them in adventure sports.

As a part of the initiative, an entry fee is charged from visitors and the village youth performing various adventure activities for them. From collecting entry fee at the counter to taking part in the adventure activities, everything is done by the youth in the village.

“I observed that because of underdevelopment and large scale unemployment, people were destroying the forest to earn money,” told Ramgaonka to Youth Ki Awaaz. “So I thought of gathering support from the local tribes to save the forest and the waterfall.”

“This ensured income from the forest to the young population of the village,” adds Ramgaonka.

As part of the initiative, a contingent of 24 girls was sent to the Atal Bihari National Institute of Mountaineering, Manali, and the National Institute of Watersports, Goa, to learn adventure sports.

Warkade was one of them. She says her life has been transformed since she joined the initiative. She wakes up at 5 am, finishes her household chores and is out on the Hazra Falls trail by nine. It is a 3 km walk, but she has no complaints.

“Once there, we first clear the litter left behind by tourists and monkeys. Then we divide activities to be undertaken between girls and boys and proceed to our respective areas,” says Warkade.

The participants earn anywhere between ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 a month, depending on the season. August, say, villagers, is the best time of the year with the area receiving a huge influx of tourists.

Says 20-year-old Jyoti Wike, another participant. “It was like a dream-come-true when I was called to train in Manali in 2015. I had never been so far from my village,” “I trained in Manali with English-speaking people. I had a complex initially, but the tension eased when we realised that we were picking up the sport faster than them. I feel very confident now when interacting with outsiders, some of whom are foreigners. Seeing my rappelling skills, one of them even called me ‘Jhansi ki Rani!’,” says Wike.

Wike’s family says that their lives have changed since Jyoti started working.

“I run a small hotel in the village. That is our only source of income. Now that Jyoti is learning such activities and getting paid for it, we are living a much better life,” says her mother, Jhulan Bai.

According to Census 2011, of the 2,65,214 households in Gondia, 2,20,816 (83.26%) households have a monthly income of less than ₹5,000, making Gondia one of the poorest districts in the area.

The project was started with an initial investment of about ₹50 lakh approved by the District Tourist Committee. “Last year we collected ₹11 lakh from these activities, and it has risen to almost ₹20 lakh this year,” says Ramgaonka.

The income generated is deposited to the village development account. While a part of the money goes in paying the girls’ salaries, the rest is used for forest development.

Ramgaonka maintains that the primary aim of the initiative is not tourism. “It is to provide an alternative livelihood to the village youth and to reduce rampant illegal felling of trees.”

“It is good to see that someone is taking interest. My only hope is that the initiative remains self-sustaining. If the IFS officer is transferred, the tribal people should still be able to continue with it,” says Pravin Mote, Secretary, All India Forum of Forest Movements, Maharashtra.

“I am very proud of my daughter. She is studying as well as contributing to saving our home, which is our forest. It helps that she brings extra money home.” says Anil Dhurve, father of Roshini Dhurve, who is another participant. “I’m glad our children can now earn by living in the village itself. It is hard to let them go out to work.”

The initiative is already starting to bear fruit with the forest department registering a fall in tree felling. Incidents of crime have also reduced.

“Before the Hazra Fall initiative, at least 23 people used to die annually in the area. No one has died in the area so far,” says Ramgaonka.

The project has also had a positive impact on saving the forests.In 2012-13 (when the initiative began), the area lost ₹30,86,790 due to illegal tree cutting. This has come down to ₹23,75,282 and ₹11,30,582 in 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectively.

According to data provided by the Hazra Falls Ecotourism JFM Committee, Navatola, the number of tourists has also increased from 15,416 in 2015 to 22,102 in August 2016 in the meantime. The money collected from adventure sports has also only risen.

“Under the Hazra Falls initiative, not only tribal youth but others too have found a livelihood,” says Suresh Rahangdale, 27, forest guard and secretary of the Joint Forest Management Committee, who assists Ramgaonka. “Some people have put up food and handicraft stalls around the area to earn money. This effort can help ease poverty in the area.”

“This is a Naxal-affected area, so I wanted tribals to take charge and protect their own forest. I am glad to see that it’s working. I now plan to take the initiative to other villages,” says Ramgaonkar.

Mamta Warkade is equally upbeat. “Earlier, people my age used to go out of the village to earn money. Now, we can stay right here, in our own forests, to earn a livelihood,” she says. “I feel empowered that I am able to do what generally boys are supposed to do – earn money in a respectable way and support the family.”

(Antara Sengupta is a Mumbai-based independent journalist. A research fellow with ORF Mumbai and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)

The post Through Adventure Sports, This Officer Is Helping Save A Dying Waterfall appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

When India committed to reforestation at the Paris Climate Talks, one northern state took it quite literally. In just a 24-hour period in July, volunteers planted 50 million trees in Uttar Pradesh.

Mobilising 800,000 volunteers is impressive, but likely a one-time, feat. Achieving the government’s mandate of increasing forest cover to one-third of India’s total land will require the sustained efforts of many millions of individuals.

“Most of the world we live in today was forest,” explained Shubhendu Sharma, the founder/director of Afforestt. “Then we developed our cities on those forests. Every patch of land has some potential natural vegetation.”

Sharma is a social entrepreneur who is on a mission to bring back forests. He plants ultra-dense forests with all native trees in spaces as small as that needed to park six cars. The trees are packed tightly so that no sunshine reaches the forest floor and every inch of vertical space is filled with greenery. Sharma said this type of forest creates 30 times more green surface area compared to a garden, lawn or monoculture.

Tree planting is not just good for aesthetics or the environment; it could be critical to public health. New research from The Nature Conservancy found that planting trees in cities can save human lives by reducing air pollution and cooling temperatures. The study said the biggest effect would be seen in densely populated and highly polluted cities, which describe many of the developing world’s urban areas.

“Everyone can be a changemaker if everyone is willing to be a part of a bigger mission,” said Sharma. “Social forestry, especially in urban spaces, has to become really big. So when you see a public park full of lawns, when you see sprinklers just working in your office building, those are the places where we have to get those lands converted into a forest.”

Sharma and his team have planted forests on small parcels of privately owned land to large-scale public works projects, from India to Iran to the United States. The trees grow quickly, on average ten times faster than a natural forest. On 500 square meters in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, 42 different species obscure the adjacent home. It only took 20 months for these towering trees to form a dense forest.

To ensure optimum growth, Sharma carefully follows a process that includes studying the soil composition, identifying only native species and planting according to a multilayer system (shrub, subtree, tree and canopy).

It doesn’t take a specialist or tree genius to plant a forest. Sharma is an automotive engineer with no prior knowledge of botany. A Japanese scientist, Dr Akira Miyawaki, visited the Toyota factory where he worked and sparked his interest in forests. Sharma joined the volunteer team to plant 30,000 trees on the premises.

“I saw this forest growing for the next one and a half years,” recalled Sharma. “When it became large enough, I pretty much decided I have to take this methodology out of our factory premises because it has the potential to be replicated anywhere and everywhere. But nobody was doing it.”

Sharma successfully tested the “Miyawaki Method” in his own backyard in Uttarakhand. Since then he has shared the findings – soil analysis, tree species, etc. – for every project so that anyone in the same area can plant a forest. Sharma believes that open-source methodology kickstarts a much larger afforestation movement.

“Earth doesn’t look at the land in a way where it categorises, it’s India, it’s Pakistan, it’s urban, it’s rural,” said Sharma. “So any land with a possibility of bringing back a natural forest on it is our area of focus. In the long-term, nobody owns any parcel of land at all. It was already there before we came and it will be still there after we are gone.”

(This article originally appeared on Thomson Reuters Foundation.)

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Image source: Christopher Kray, Magiceye/Flickr

The post Why You Don’t Have To Be A Genius To Bring Back Our Forests appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

बीना एक छोटा सा क़स्बा मध्यप्रदेश के बुंदेलखंड इलाके का एक पिछड़ा क्षेत्र जो विकास के नाम पर आज भी बेरोज़गार और ग़रीब है। मुझे आज ये शहर और भी बेचारा नज़र आता है जब मैं देखता हूं कि किस तरह यहां के लोग खुद को ठगा हुआ महसूस करते हैं। ऐसा लगता है जैसे उनके सपने चकनाचूर हो गए हैं। बीना के 78% लोग किसानी करते हैं, जिनमे उनके पास ज़मीन का रकबा इतना कम है कि वो साथ में मज़दूरी भी करते हैं। बावजूद इसके किसी समय यहां देश का सबसे बेहतरीन गेहूं पैदा होता था।

1990 के दशक में भूमंडलीकरण के साथ देश में नए उद्योगों के विस्तार की रफ़्तार तेज़ हुई और बीना की किस्मत बदलने की शुरुवात भी! उस वक़्त के विधायक ने जो एक युवा किसान ही थे, बीना में भारत-ओमान रिफ़ाइनरीस का प्लांट लगवाने को अड़ गए। उस वक़्त के कलेक्टर श्री बिजय किशोर रे बताते हैं, “ये एक कोशिश थी बुंदेलखंड के लोगों को सौगात देने की, हमने किसानों से बात की और वो ख़ुशी-ख़ुशी मान गए और उन्होंने अपनी ज़मीन आसानी से सरकार को दे दी। तब मुझे भी विश्वास था कि भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज लोगो को रोज़गार ज़रूर देगी और उस वक़्त के मुख्यमंत्री दिग्विजय सिंह खुद इस बात पर आश्वस्त थे। हम सबको लग रहा था कि सबकुछ बदलेगा और बुंदेलखंड के विकास के लिए हमे एक रास्ता मिलेगा।“

उस वक़्त के विधायक श्री प्रभुसिंह ठाकुर बताते हैं, “मैं खुद एक गांव के पिछड़े इलाके से हूं, पढ़ने के लिए उस वक़्त हम सागर यूनिवर्सिटी का रुख करते थे। मुझे लगा कि रिफाइनरी प्रोजेक्ट से यहां विकास होगा, रोज़गार मिलेगा और बीना को एक अंतरराष्ट्रीय पहचान मिलेगी पर आज मैं खुद को ठगा हुआ महसूस करता हूं।”

भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज 2006 में शुरू हुई और 2011 में विधिवत स्थापित हो गयी पर जब रोज़गार की बात आई तो उन किसानों को नौकरी देने की बात से रिफाइनरी मुकर गयी जबकि वादे के इतर बाहरी लोगों को रखा गया। जो लोग किसानों -मज़दूरों के रहनुमा बन कर आंदोलन कर रहे थे रिफाइनरी ने उन्हें या तो कोई ठेका दे दिया या कोई नौकरी। आज अधिकांश लोग जो रिफाइनरी में नौकरी कर रहे हैं, किसी नेता या अधिकारी के रिश्तेदार हैं।

भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरी ने बीना का तापमान तो गर्म किया ही साथ ही जिस तादाद में पेड़ काटे गए उस तादाद में लगाए नही गए। रिफाइनरी की उड़ती राख से आसपास के किसानों की ज़मीनें ख़राब हो गयी तो गांव के गांव बीमार भी हो गए। अस्पताल के नाम पर यहां सिर्फ एक दवाखाना सरीखा अस्पताल है, जो किसी भी तरह विश्वशनीय नही बन पाया है। बीना में पानी की कमी है पर स्थानीय नदियों में भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज ने खुद का एक स्टॉप डैम बना के रखा है ,जब लोग प्यासे होते हैं तब रिफाइनरीज का स्विमिंग पूल भरा होता है। भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज का परिसर किसी स्वर्ग से कम नही है, हर सुविधा है पर वहीं आस-पास के गांवों में आज भी पिछड़ेपन का अंधेरा पसरा है। जिन किसानों की ज़मीन गयी वो मज़दूर हो गए।

चलते-चलते पास के किरोद गांव के एक पढ़े-लिखे लड़के से बात हुई तो उसने बताया, “भैया ये भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज में दलितों के लिए कोई रिजर्वेशन नही है, यहां दलित सिर्फ सफाई करते हैं। बाकि बड़ी जात के लोग साहबी करते हैं इसलिए हम तो इसको भारत-ओमान रिफाइनरीज नही बल्कि ‘ब्राह्मण ओनली रिफाइनरीज लिमिटेड’ कहते हैं।” और वो हँस पड़ा पर उसकी हँसी में एक सवाल था, जो मखौल उड़ा रहा था विकास के सूट-बूट वाली साहबी व्यवस्था का।

आज न तो इनकी सुनने वाली सरकार है, न अधिकारी। लोग मरते भी हैं तो कोई खबर नही… सब बेखबर हैं जैसे रिफाइनरी की धुंध में सब छुप गया हो। ये विकास का कोहरा है जहां लोग कुचले जाते हैं, झोपड़िया मिटाई जाती हैं, सपने दिखाए जाते हैं पर फिर भी इस सन्नाटे में कोई विरोध नही। बस एक संस्कृति है बेरोज़गारी की, अन्याय की, मरने की और बिना गरीबों के मिटे विकास कैसे होगा??

यह फोटो प्रतीकात्मक है।
फोटो आभार: गेटी इमेजेस

The post बुंदेलखंड के बीना में विकास के नाम पर पसरा है सन्नाटा appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

I am visiting two nearby houses, to meet children with disability, supposedly by nuclear radiation pollution. I have read about it online, but am curious to see for myself. I’m in the Bango village of East Singhbhum district near Jadugoda, to see the evidence of radiation pollution on people’s lives.

Sanjay Gope

The first house is that of Sanjay Gope, who is 12 years old and developed severe muscular dystrophy at the age of 4. This condition meant that his movement was severely restrained and so was his speech. I notice how most houses in the village have short doorways that force you to bend while entering. When I entered, I saw that sitting cross-legged on a charpai on the right was Sanjay, a smile beaming from his face. “He has been like this for the past 8 years, restricted to this cot. One of us has to be here constantly, we cannot leave him by himself,” says his grandfather. I try to converse with Sanjay, but all he manages are muffled sounds. I show him some of the pictures that I have taken of him and he laughs with joy. Photographs, I think, connect people across languages, age groups and cultures. His grandfather shows us some medical reports and prescriptions.

Parvati Gope

Across the muddy street was the house of Parvati Gope, a 17-year-old girl who suffered from Lumbar Scoliosis, an S curve formation of her vertebral column. Parvati’s photos have been widely used by the anti-radiation poisoning movement, and I recognise her from the handouts I had seen earlier. Her father is rather annoyed as he mentions that a month ago, a news channel from the south of India had come and filmed a documentary on his daughter, but nothing came of it. “Everyone comes and shoots her pictures and videos, but no one ever does anything about her condition. She needs to be treated and we need money for medicines. I cannot afford her medicines forever.” Both these children display conditions that often occur in cities too and I am not fully convinced of the connection to nuclear poisoning.

Earlier that morning I was drenched in rain as I reached Jadugoda’s main chowk on cycle. The chowk is distinctly marked by the statues of Seedu and Kanu. This tribal revolutionary duo fought against the British for the rights of their Santhal community and against Zamindari in 1855.

Ashish Birulee, a young twenty-something boy who has been documenting radiation pollution through photographs, takes me to his house. His house has superhero figurines beside posters of radiation pollution.

“Where did you get all these posters from, Ashish?” I ask. “I attended these radiation poisoning conferences and events. I am the youngest, and quite possibly the only photojournalist from Jadugoda. Most photographs that you see on the internet about Jadugoda have been clicked by me, and I have taken the reporters and journalists to visit the community. I was invited to display these photographs in Brazil, Canada and Japan by the anti-radiation poisoning activists there.”

“How did you come to take these pictures, and why are you highlighting the issue of tribals affected by radiation poisoning?” my curiosity was growing by the minute. “Wait,” he said. “First let’s go to the villages, then we’ll sit and talk. The villagers are busy in paddy transplanting and you’ll get them only during lunch time, don’t miss the opportunity.”

I am introduced to Anupam Kar, who is in the 12th standard and has been closely working with Ashish for a couple of years. He hails from one of the villages, Bango, which we are about to visit. I hop on the bike, as this frail kid barely manages to keep the bike steady and we head to the villages a few kilometres away. We first visit the Government school in Bango and meet the headmaster to enquire if there are any children with physical deformities, to which he promptly replies in the negative. Last year, some doctors from Calcutta had conducted a medical camp in the Bango Govt. (Zilla Parishad) school, during which these cases were identified by them and have since undergone several tests and treatments. The principal’s outright denial of their presence was a little odd, but not entirely unexpected. We then decided to head to the village Bango directly, since Anupam knew the homes of some of the physically deformed children.

Rakesh Gope

The next house is that of Rakesh Gope, a school-going 13-year-old boy suffering from muscular dystrophy too. Only, in this case, he is extremely active and walks, albeit with severely arched feet and soles that are arched upwards, he also cannot talk normally. He has a brother and sister, who are both normal. The saving grace is that he goes to the same school as his siblings and that normalises his life to some extent. “How long can we provide for his medicine? We don’t even know how long he will live,” his father opens up to the miseries of providing for this medicines with a meagre farming income. He makes Rakesh walk and run for us, parading his condition for me to shoot. As bad as I felt to watch, it was necessary to document this. By now, I am beginning to feel that something is wrong with the fact that too many similar cases are being detected in a very small area.

Kartik Gope

3-year-old Kartik Gope’s home is next. This sweet child has been having seizures since birth and is developing muscular dystrophy too. The mother and grandmother are quite hapless as I speak with them. The mother keeps dabbing her child’s face as I take pictures. She brings out the reports of CT scans and doctor visits. Incidentally, all the families with these symptoms have visited just one particular clinic in Jadugoda, which is in the UCIL (Uranium Corporation of India Ltd.) complex of Jadugoda. Further tests are done mostly at the Chaibasa hospital, while those who can afford it, go to Jamshedpur.

Word of my visit to the families with physical deformities spread in the village and a lot more families came to Kartik’s home. A girl whose right leg was substantially shorter than the left one, a lady and another man, unrelated, who are deaf since birth, mothers who have faced miscarriages or suffer from sterility. All of them wanted me to document their stories, each with a hope that at least I will relay their story to the government and help them avail some benefiting scheme.

I could feel myself slowly sinking, to see so many cases of physical deformities in such a small population of about 2400 people, all in one village. The curiosity of seeing first hand, the effects of exposure to radiation poisoning had caused my stomach to churn, as I helplessly documented one case after another.

We see rain clouds taking over the sky and speed away to Anupam’s house from there. The downpour begins just as we make it to the house. We see hens flutter towards a shelter, women and girls washing clothes at the hand pump run to take cover. A shepherd makes a makeshift umbrella from the leaves and twigs that he was carrying back, while his goats walk, surprised at the sudden action in this lazy village. Anupam’s mother came from inside the house offering me a glass of water, as I stood under the overhang of his tiled roof, marvelling at the village that had assumed a sense of urgency after the rush of rain. I thought for a moment, debated in my head whether I wanted to drink the radioactively polluted water of Bango village, and then took large gulps of it. I even amused myself by shooting a video about it, but not for one second did the gravity of the situation leave me. Here I was, thinking twice about drinking the polluted water once, whereas these villagers have spent the last 4 decades drinking, washing, bathing and farming in this polluted water and soil and air.

Haradhan Gope

Standing across from me, under an umbrella, his red checked shirt a stark contrast to the grey sky, was a boy with a disproportionate and slightly odd body. I remembered his face from the article in Hindustan Times by Chinky Shukla. I had a brief conversation with Haradhan Gope who was going to the farms to get his cattle back. By now, I had begun to preempt the answer when I asked the people why these conditions had occurred. Few of them attributed it to radiation exposure, but mostly claimed it was their ill fate.

Anamika Uraon

Our last visit was to Dungridih village, Anupam prompted in my ear that no one from the outside had actually visited that village before me. It took us some asking around to find the house of Anamika Uraon, and when we finally reached her house, it was locked. I was disappointed that we had come this far and would not have a chance to meet the ‘girl with the scary face’ as she was called. The tribal villagers nearby started gossipping among themselves while we tried to see if someone could relay a message to her. In some time, a girl in her blue and white school dress came running towards us, while we sat on the ledge of her house.

Her hair tied at the back bounced as she came running towards us upon receiving word. It was only as she came closer that her full face and its features became clear. The right side of Anamika’s face was like any other girl of her school-going age, intent eyes filled with curiosity, a shy smile for strangers quickly turning to a chuckle as a neighbour passed a remark. However, the left side of her face had bulged into a cancerous outgrowth of cells and tissue. The flesh on this side was so enlarged and weighty that it was drooping down. I remember feeling stunned as I stood there, talking to this girl, for whom, it was inexplicable what was happening to her. Just last year, when she was seen in the school medical camp for the first time by Ashish and Anupam, her condition was not as bad. In one year, it had severely deteriorated. I shuddered at the thought of the pain she faces.

I tried making small talk, but failed miserably. I, the perpetual talker, was silenced at the sight of suffering of a cheerful school going child, who bears the irreversible marks of radiation pollution, and the government and company’s denial of the existence of radiation pollution.

The cancer of denial, apathy and evading responsibility of the radiation pollution reflected on the face of this innocent girl. She was clueless about what she had done to deserve such a rude shock. Her tumorous face was getting etched in my memory, in the deepest chambers of my brain where all that I fear about the world resides. I had no idea then, that this face would come to haunt me for the longest time, making me question my own privileged life, how we take our consumeristic life and its impacts for granted and what it meant to be a responsible, accountability seeking citizen of our country.

The dark rain clouds were beginning to reappear on the horizon as we left from Dungridih for Ashish’s home. The shadows in my mind and heart had grown to its darkest, mirroring the weather outside. My question to Ashish earlier in the day, on why he decided to take up the fight for radiation pollution had found its answer.

The post For 40 Years, Nuclear Poisoning Has Ravaged Lives In This Jharkhand Village appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

उत्तर प्रदेश में चुनावी सरगर्मी शुरू हो चुकी है। राज्य से लेकर राष्ट्रीय नेता और राजनीतिक दल ताबड़तोड़ घोषणाएँ कर रहे हैं, लोगों को लुभाने वाले वायदे किये जा रहे हैं, लेकिन इन सबके बीच जो सबसे ज़रुरी चीज़ छूट रही है, वह है पर्यावरण की बिगड़ती हालत और चुनावी राजनीति में इस महत्वपूर्ण विषय का गायब होना।

एक बात तो साफ हो गई है कि पर्यावरण पर बहुत सारे सेमिनारों और एवं गोष्ठी के आयोजन भर से जलवायु परिवर्तन और पर्यावरण संकट से निपटारा नहीं हो सकता। खासकर, भारत जैसे लोकतांत्रिक देश में जब तक पर्यावरण संकट के मुद्दे को अकादमिक बहसों से निकाल कर सड़कों पर, संसद में और चुनावी राजनीति में लाने की जरुरत है।

जब पूरी दुनिया और देश में जलवायु परिवर्तन की वजह से संकट आन पड़ा है, ऐसे में उत्तर प्रदेश चुनाव एक बेहतरीन समय साबित हो सकता है जब राजनीतिक दल इस मुद्दे को अपने एजेंडे में शामिल करें। वैसे भी पर्यावरण के खराब होने की जड़ में जाये बिना इस संकट से निपटना संभव तो नहीं दिखता। जनसंख्या में लगातार बढ़ोत्तरी, अंधाधुंध औद्योगकि विकास, जंगलों की कटाई और जीवाश्म ईंधन के इस्तेमाल में बेतहाशा वृद्धि जैसे पर्यावरण के खराब होने के मुख्य कारण को राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्ति के बिना सुलझाया जाना मुश्किल है।

जनसंख्या बढ़ने से हमारे संसाधन पर लगातार भार बढ़ता जा रहा है, इस भार को कम करने के लिए हम औद्योगिक विकास को जन्म दे रहे हैं, जो कि सबसे ज़्यादा खरनाक साबित हो रहा है। विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन (डब्लूएचओ) की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार दुनिया में 10 में से नौ लोग प्रदुषित हवा में सांस लेने को मजबूर हैं। दुनिया भर में हर साल लगभग 60 लाख से ज़्यादा लोगों की मौत वायु प्रदूषण की वजह से हो जाती है।

इस सिलसिले में उत्तर प्रदेश के बाराबंकी की एक किसान महिला सुशिला देवी सही ही सकती हैं, कि सबसे ज़्यादा हम गरीब ही पर्यावरण से जुड़ी समस्या को झेल रहे है, अमीरों का क्या है? उनके लिये तो हर बिमारी का इलाज मौजूद है। सच में डब्लूएचओ के आंकड़ों पर गौर करे तो हम पाते हैं कि वायु प्रदूषण से होने वाली मौतों में 90 फीसदी गरीब देश में सबसे ज़्यादा मौतें होती हैं।

उत्तर प्रदेश के चुनाव में पर्यावरण को एक गंभीर मुद्दा इसलिए भी बनाना जरुरी है क्योंकि तेजी से बढ़ते हुए शहरीकरण और विकास ने यूपी में कई दिक्कतें खड़ी की हैं। इसमें सबसे महत्वपूर्ण है कि राज्य के हर हिस्से में प्रदूषण का स्तर बढ़ गया है। विश्व बैंक की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक देश के सबसे 20 प्रदूषित शहरों में से चार यूपी के हैं। 2005 की एक रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक पूरे देश में यूपी से सबसे ज़्यादा ग्रीन हाउस गैस उत्सर्जित होती है, जो देश के कुल उत्सर्जन का 14% है। ग्रामीण इलाकों के आठ करोड़ लोग और शहरी इलाकों के 50लाख लोग अब भी बिना आधुनिक  बिजली के रह रहे हैं। सॉलिड वेस्ट का ठीक तरह से निस्तारण नहीं होने की वजह से जमीन, हवाऔर पानी की भी गुणवत्ता खराब हुई है।

ऐसे हालात में जरुरी है कि उत्तर प्रदेश में आने वाली सरकार को इस संकट से निपटने के लिये कुछ कदम उठाने होंगे। वहां स्वच्छ हवा के लिए एक निश्चित समयावधि में बेहतर हवा की गुणवत्ता के लक्ष्यों को पूरा करने के उद्देश्य से एक नीतिगत ढांचे के साथ कार्य योजना बनानी होगी। इसके लिये राज्य सरकार को क्षेत्रीय सहयोग के लिए गंगा के मैदानी इलाकों में आने वाले राज्यों के साथ मिल कर काम करना होगा। देश की जनता को हवा की गुणवत्ता का डाटा और उससे निपटने के लिये एहतियाती स्वास्थ्यपरामर्श देने की व्यवस्था करनी होगी।

वहीं 2022 तक 13,000 मेगावाट सौर ऊर्जा उत्पादन के लक्ष्य के साथ 100 प्रतिशत  अक्षय ऊर्जा की योजना बनाना भी कारगर रास्ता साबित होगा।  एक बेहतर पब्लिक ट्रांसपोर्ट सिस्टम को विकसित करना और उसे लागू करने के साथ ही डीजल से चलने वाली बसों और रिक्शे में इलेक्ट्रिक टेक्नॉलजी का इस्तेमाल को बढ़ावा देना होगा। पहले से चल रही गाड़ियों, फैक्ट्रियों और उद्योगों के लिये सख्त उत्सर्जन मानक बनाने होंगे। यूपी के शहरों में ग्रीन एरिया को बढ़ाने के लिये एक कार्ययोजना को तैयार करना होगा, वहीं वेस्ट मैनेजमेंट (कचरा प्रबंधन) के लिये न सिर्फ बड़े शहरों में बल्कि सभी कस्बों में सॉलिड और लिक्विड वेस्ट मैनेजमेंट सिस्टम को विकसित करना होगा।

सीधी सी बात है अगर हम अपना जीवन बचाना चाहते हैं, अपने बच्चों को सुरक्षित भविष्य सौंपना चाहते हैं तो इसके लिये हमें अभी से ज़मीनी, नीतिगत स्तर पर लड़ाई लड़नी होगी। हमें यह समझना होगा कि पर्यावरण बचाने की लड़ाई का मतलब है हमारे अपने अस्तित्व को बचाने का संघर्ष। पहले ये प्रदूषण शहरों तक सिमटा था, अब हमारे गाँव की हवा औऱ पानी भी जहरीली होती जा रही है। एक अनुमान के मुताबिक खेती योग्य भूमि का 60 प्रतिशत भूमि कटाव, जलभराव और लवणता से ग्रस्त है। कल्पना कीजिए जब हमारे पास खेती की जमीन नहीं होगी, हमारे गाँव भी प्रदूषित हो चुके होंगे, फिर हमारी पूरी सभ्यता किस तरफ जायेगी?

The post जा रे पर्यावरण तुम तो चुनावी मुद्दा भी नहीं हो appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

कोडइकनाल, तमिलनाडु में स्थित, पहाड़ियों से घिरा हुआ एक खूबसूरत हिल-स्टेशन। लेकिन पिछले कुछ वर्षों में कोडइकनाल एक और मामले की वजह से सुर्खियों में रहा। मामला यहाँ स्थित हिंदुस्तान यूनिलीवर लिमिटेड के प्लांट द्वारा किये गये प्रदूषण से जुड़ा है।

1983 में अमेरिका मे मर्करी उत्सर्जन से पर्यावरण पर होने वाले गंभीर असर को देखते हुए वहां की सरकार द्वारा पर्यावरण से जुड़े नियमों को कड़ा कर दिया गया। परिणाम ये हुआ कि वहां काम कर रही कई कंपनियां दूसरे देशों का रुख करने लगी। इसी कड़ी में Chesebrough Pond’s Inc ने थर्मामीटर व्यापार के लिये अपनी एक फैक्ट्री कोडइकनाल में लगाई। इस फैक्ट्री को वर्ष 1986 में इसी की सहायक कंपनी हिंदुस्तान यूनिलीवर लिमिटेड ने अपने अधीन ले लिया। 2001 में पता चला कि कंपनी ने सरकार द्वारा निर्धारित आवश्यक सुरक्षा के नियमों का खुले रूप से उल्लंघन किया था तथा साथ ही पूरी निर्माण प्रक्रिया के दौरान पैदा हुए औद्योगिक कचरे के निस्तारण के लिये किसी तरह का प्रबंध नहीं किया गया था |

2001 में पूरा मामला सामने आने से पहले कंपनी ने इस फैक्ट्री में 165 मिलियन थर्मामीटरों का निर्माण किया जिसमें लगभग 900 किलोग्राम मर्करी का इस्तेमाल किया गया। उस समय इस फैक्ट्री में लगभग 1200 कर्मचारी काम कर रहे थे। जिस समय यह मामला खुला उस समय यहां की मिट्टी के नमूनों में मर्करी की मात्रा सामन्य से 50,000 गुना अधिक तक पायी गयी थी जो कि पूरी स्तिथि की भयावहता को बताने के लिये काफी हैं।

इन सब परिस्तिथियों के कारण यहां लोगों को कई बीमारियों का सामना करना पड़ा हैं और कंपनी में कचरे के प्रबंध के लिये किसी भी तरह कि व्यवस्था ना होने से इसे कंपनी के आस-पास स्थित जंगलो में खुले में फेंका गया जिस से पर्यावरण पर इसका बुरा असर पड़ा और ज़मीन की उर्वरकता भी कम हुई।

इस घटना के बाद प्रशासन ने तत्काल प्रभाव से फैक्ट्री को बंद करवा दिया। कर्मचारियों के मुआवजे़, उनके पुनर्वास तथा पर्यावरण को हुए नुकसान को कम करने की मांग उठी। इन सभी मांगों पर यहाँ अलग-अलग संगठनों द्वारा लगातार आवाज़ उठाई जाती रही।  इन प्रदर्शनों के दबाव के चलते पिछले वर्ष कंपनी ने इन संगठनों के साथ एक समझौता किया। कंपनी ने कर्मचारियों के मुआवज़े तथा फैक्ट्री द्वारा फैलाये गये औद्योगिक कचरे के कारण हुई पर्यावरण की क्षति की जिम्मेदारी ली। कंपनी ने कोडइकनाल झील तथा यहां के जगलों में डाले गए कचरे को साफ करने की मांगों को स्वीकार कर लिया।

लेकिन इस समझौते के एक वर्ष बाद जब हमने यहां इस मुद्दे पर काम कर रहे संगठनों से बात की तथा वर्तमान स्तिथि का ब्यौरा लिया तो उन्होंने कंपनी द्वारा इस दिशा में उठाये गए क़दमों की आलोचना करते हुए इस पूरे मामले के प्रति कंपनी प्रबंधन की गंभीरता पर सवाल खड़े किये।

इस आन्दोलन में HUL के पूर्व मजदूरों की आवाज़ उठाने वाले संगठन EX-Employee Welfare Association के सचिव प्रभु ने Youth Ki Awaaz से बात करते हुए बताया कि “ इस समझौते के अनुसार कंपनी ने सिर्फ 519 लोगों के मुआवज़े तथा पुनर्वास का प्रबंध किया हैं जबकि इस घटना के समय कंपनी में करीबन 1200 कर्मचारी काम कर रहे थे और वे इस पूरे कुप्रबंधन का शिकार हुए हैं।” लेकिन कंपनी ने अब इस पूरे मामले से पल्ला झाड़ लिया हैं।

इस मुद्दे पर काम कर रहे संगठन TAAM (Tamilnadu Alliance Against Mercury) के अध्यक्ष राज मोहन ने Youth Ki Awaaz को इस मामले के समाधान के तहत कंपनी द्वारा कचरे की सफाई के प्रबंधन को ख़ारिज करते हुए कहा कि जिस तरह से झील तथा आस-पास के इलाकों की सफाई की जा रही हैं वो अन्तराष्ट्रीय मानकों के अनुसार नहीं हैं। “उन्होंने कहा कि जिस तरह से यह काम किया जा रहा है वो सिर्फ यहां की जनता की आँखों में धूल झोकने जैसा है।”

उन्होंने कहा कि “उनके संगठन की मांग है कि सफाई प्रबंधन के लिये बनायीं गयी समीति में यहां के स्थानीय लोगों को भी जगह मिलनी चाहिये जिस से कि उन्हें सही स्थिति का पता चल सके और कंपनी की जिम्मेदारी को सुनिश्चित किया जा सके।”

राजनीतिक नेतृत्व से मदद मांगने के सवाल पर राज मोहन ने बताया कि उन्हें उनसे कोई उम्मीद नज़र नहीं आती क्योंकि इस पूरे मामले पर आज तक उनके द्वारा किसी तरह का सहयोग नहीं मिला है।

यहां अधिकतर लोग अभी भी इस समझौते से नाखुश हैं और अभी भी लगातार अपनी मांगों के लिये लड़ रहे हैं। इस मुद्दे पर प्रशासन तथा राजनीतिक नेतृत्व की चुप्पी भी लगातार यहां के लोगों को खल रही है।

इस मुद्दे को कई तरह से अलग-अलग मंचों पर लगातार उठाया जाता रहा हैं। चेन्नई की कार्यकर्ता/रैपर सोफ़िया अशरफ ने इस मुद्दे परलोगों की समझ में इजाफा करने के लिये Kodaikanal Won’t  नाम से एक विडियो भी बनाया गया हैं।

इस पूरे मामले को हम इस तरह से ही समझ सकते हैं कि उद्योगों का होना आवश्यक है लेकिन सरकार तथा प्रशासन को सुनिश्चित करना चाहिये कि किसी भी तरह के नियमों का उल्लंघन ना हो क्योंकि इस तरह की लापरवाहियां कई तरह से आम जन का ही नुकसान करती है।

(ये रिपोर्ट  Youth Ki Awaaz के इंटर्न हितेश मोटवानी, बैच-फरवरी-मार्च 2017, ने तैयार की है)

The post कोडइकनाल: हिंदुस्तान यूनिलीवर के केमिकल और कचरे का दंश झेलता शहर appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

This is not the first time when fire broke out at Bellandur lake. In May 2015, the foam covering the water surface caught fire and burned for hours. But this time, the massiveness of the incident made residents and passers-by astounded and fearful. While residents blame reckless garbage burning, officials believe it was sparked by “chemically active sludge”.

The lake was a prominent catchment area with a good green cover and home to various indigenous species including kingfishers, parrots, wood pigeons etc. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have made the lake severy polluted. Wildlife has almost disappeared.

The post Bangalore’s Bellandur Lake Catches Fire Again: Are We Ever Going To Learn? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

Cleaning the Ganga was a major election plank for the victorious Narendra Modi-led NDA. The same Ganga where 80% of untreated waste is dumped in from 138 open drains. So when I decided to take a journey down the river, I did what no traveller does. Instead of the ghats, I decided to travel down the nalas (drains) that have become the new-age tributaries to the holiest of the Indian holy rivers. I chose Kanpur and Varanasi, based on a 2013 report of the Central Pollution Control Board which called the stretch between these two cities as the most polluted part of Ganga’s course.

Kanpur has 400 leather units spouting cocktails of dangerous chemicals and heavy metals into the river. My first stop was Sisamau Nala, one of the largest open drains in Kanpur. The dense slummy settlements of Bakarmandi caps around the head of Sisamau. Every day 197 million litres of dark sewage water is flushed out of the city through this nala into the Ganga. The residents of Bakarmandi are horrified by some of the contents that pass down the drain. Rotting cadavers, complains one of the residents. Carcases of animals, complains another resident when we met the slum dwellers at seven o’clock in the morning.

Every monsoon, the nala overflows, flooding their homes with excreta and the filth that it carries. The safai karmacharis (cleaning staff) wade through this bemired drain to scoop out anything solid that may obstruct the flow of the black water. I saw 20 karamcharis who work for about half an hour and are paid daily wages by a contractor. They collect mounds of plastic, polyethene, cloth and other sundries right next to the drain which are pushed back into the drain in the afternoon again. This has become a daily cycle.

As I continue downstream, I come across a municipal dump yard in Khalasi Line. This is perhaps one the cleanest dump yards I had ever seen. “The waste collected from our homes is seldom taken to the dump. The small hand carts that collect waste are emptied in the nala on its way to the dump,” says Ram Kumar Maurya, a resident of Gualtoli. The locality has a thriving vegetable and meat market along the nala, and all the waste from the market and the homes in the area is dumped right in, which ultimately reaches the Ganga.

A Waterfall Of Filth

The mouth of the Sisamau Nala can be easily confused for a natural waterfall, except there are two concrete bulwarks that guide the water into the river. There was also a nostril-numbing stench that gave away the drain’s dirty credentials. The bank of the river near the outfall was covered with plastic, decaying clothes and animal carcasses. On the banks, boatmen sit with fishing-lines trying to catch the hybrid Tilapia, an invasive species of fish which they sell in the local markets. This is the only fish that can survive in these heavily polluted waters.

I wanted to go close to the mouth of the nala and approached the fishing boatmen, but none of them wanted to take me near. They were scared of their oars getting caught in the plastic and the clothes dumped down the drain. There was also a large volume of water that was being deposited at this confluence, which created strong currents making it harder for boatmen to steer their boats. But after 15 minutes of cajoling and coaxing, Rajesh Kumar Kashyap decided to hazard the trip. He set a condition though: I would have to accompany the boatman to his farm, opposite the nala on the other side of the river.

As I clicked the photographs, I could feel a mist originating from the waterfall leaving a dark oily film on my hair, skin and clothes that stayed with me for the rest of my working day.

I kept my promise and accompanied the boatman to his farm – a small patch of land on which they grow gourds and melons. Every season, that is, every six months, Rs 5,000 is all they profit from the melon plantation.

“If we use water from the river, all the plants die,” says Rajesh. Rajan, his uncle, also told me how he lost his reti or land that he used to cultivate on after the construction of a barrage nearby. He wasn’t alone. Just like him, about a 100 more people lost their reti.

Rotting River Banks

About 400 million litres of waste flows every day into the river in Kanpur. Waste water pipes from buildings jut out like turrets discharging kitchen and toilet slurry. I travel up the river, the sights around the various nalas look all the same. I wondered how people live here? Was it that the residents on the banks have lost their olfactory abilities, the stench may have cauterised their receptors.

I saw the Parmat, Kalighatiya, Baba, Police line, and the Bhagwat Das Ghat nalas. And there was also the Peruniya Nala which releases 186 million litres a day of sewage into the river. “More than ghats, it’s the nalas of Kanpur that are like landmarks to the people living near the banks of the Ganga,” says Rajesh, my boatman.

I decided to call it a day after our boatman refused to go beyond Golaghat Nala. The riverbed was shallow here because of heavy sedimentation and hard for boats to ply. The sun too was on its last lap, and the stench and muck had made our brains go a little dizzy.

Cauldron Of Chemicals

I started at 5 a.m. the next day. Today, I had planned to visit Jajmau, known for its tannery clusters that produce leather good for export. Jajmau is located close to the Lucknow-Kanpur highway about 30 minutes drive from the city. It has 400 units that make leather and industrial glue.

Once again, the stench welcomes us in Jajmau. I am warned that people working in these units do not like journalists clicking photographs, so I had to be cautious. My task at hand was to find the Wazidpore Nala that releases 54 million litres of industrial wastewater every day into the Ganga.

The people living around the tannery cluster in Jajmau are of slight build. This is not because of hard manual labour but because eating a meal becomes difficult. People, most of them tannery workers and their families we talked to complained that they had lost appetite. A drive along Wajidpore Nala is enough to make one dizzy. Thirty-years-old Amina Bibi, the wife of a tannery worker, says her eight-year-old son Anwar, always complains of stomach ache. “The doctor keeps telling us to live in a clean and hygienic place. We have nowhere to go. Being sick is our fate which we have to accept,” says Amina Bibi.

Ganga looks quite different at the outfall of the nala. The water is black and foamy. The chemicals in the effluents discharged by the nala flow down into the river. Ganga is turbid and thick here, oxygen bubbling out of it. For over a stretch of about 10 km of the river between Jajmau and Fatehpur, the Ganga stays this way.

Cursed Village Of Jana

Very close to the outfall is the Jana village. This village with about 120 families is said to be cursed. People seldom visit their relatives who stay in Jana. Those who do visit Jana, ensure that they do not eat or drink anything unless it is packaged.

Water and the soil of this village are poisoned, says Anil Kumar, a resident of the village. “Women give birth to sick children. Every child or man or woman in this village is sickly. The chemicals eat away the fingers and toes of those who work in the fields,” says Kumar.

Kumar’s mother, 82-year-old Ishwari Devi, has no finger left. It looks as if she has leprosy, but her son insists that it was because of the water laden with poisonous chemicals that the tanneries released on their fields, which crippled her and others in the village. Ishwari Devi, who had lost her husband early, used to work in the fields to earn a living.

Shiv Charan Nishad, another elderly resident of the village, has a hearing problem. He too has deformed fingers and toes. Initially, he thought it was symptomatic of leprosy but the doctor he was consulting told him that it was the handiwork of the chemicals.

The animals in this village have also stopped giving milk. There is only one hand-pump in the village, which is free of contamination, so animals are given water from this hand-pump. None of the traders at the Ramadevi Vegetable Market a few kilometres away will buy the greens if they come to know that it has come from Jana village, says Kumar.

Tubewell water turns yellow once exposed to air. The iron poles and gates at people’s houses have started corroding. “Even the air has something in it. It eats away metals,” says 45-year-old Rama devi who shows her anklets and her silver rings which have turned black. And, I too got a tiny dose of this wretched place. While walking, I stepped into a ditch. My toes started to itch a feeling similar to touching diluted acid used to clean toilets in homes.

Gautam Kashyap, a resident of Jana, says that about 10 years ago, the villagers contributed money and approached a member of a non-profit organisation to help them to take the tanneries to court. The representative of the non-profit filed a case in Allahabad High Court but later fled with the money and documents that were entrusted to him. “He was being paid off by the industry owners,” Gautam said.

Is It A Drain Or A River?

I was confused. Dabka Nala, which came after Wajidpore Nala, is a drain. Why would anybody build a temple beside it? But there it was! On the banks of the nala was a worn down signboard with Dabkeswar Mahadev Mandir written on it. My driver had a very simple answer. “Even Assi and Varuna were rivers, but now they are known as nalas.” I called up a senior official of Jal Nigam to ask him whether Dabka was ever a small tributary of Ganga and urbanisation had turned it into a nala. But he said he did not have any information or records on it. The officials in Kanpur and Varanasi are truly ignorant of the resources present in the ministry. The urban planning of cities like Kanpur is so haphazard because of the lack of information and records.

And with this, my journey across the nalas of Kanpur came to an end. It was extremely disheartening to see the criminal wastage of money on cleaning the river. The government keeps organising seminars and conferences and consultations. The court keeps ordering status checks and regulation of factories. But, the helplessness of the situation in Kanpur is appalling. While on one side, the municipal corporation has failed miserably to control illegal encroachment of drainage channels and treatment of domestic wastewater, Samajwadi Party’s heavyweight Irfan Solanki has made sure that leather industries remain out of the purview of law. Caught between the administrative inefficiency and vote bank politics, Ganga dies a quiet death in Kanpur.

All photos by Soma Basu

The post I Took A Journey Down Ganga’s ‘Tributaries’, And What I Saw Was Horrifying appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

‘Water is life’. We all say it a million times, but do we really mean it? Water is a resource due to which we are alive and breathing.

You can live about a month without food, but only over a week without water.

Water plays an important, integral, and intrinsic part of our lives. We are fortunate enough to get water through natural resources such as surface water, ground water reserve, frozen water in our ice caps, and water through desalination.

But do we really give water as much importance as required? Do we really bother about future? Global water scarcity is anticipated to become a primary cause of political conflict in the near future.

Take 5

1. Out of the total water present on Earth’s surface, only 1 percent of it is drinkable. And water wastage is an issue in every household. Why go far and discuss about political issues? Let’s start with our homes. While we brush our teeth, the tap is left open without even thinking if we really need the water.
2. In this modern era, we don’t bathe, but take a shower. It may sound cool, but do we realize the litres of water that gets wasted when we take a shower? We could have done the same job with just a bucket of water. Try and avoid Jacuzzis or usage of bath tubs, simply because they consume gallons of water.
3. The ‘flush’ in our toilets uses 20 litres of water during a single flush. Add to this the fact that we use gallons of water just to wash our car or bike. A single bucket of water would serve the same purpose. Individuals, who have gardening as their hobby, should buy faucets with a narrow opening rather than a wide opening. This will instead save water and also serve the purpose of watering the plants. Just think about people in drought-affected areas who do not get a single drop of water for their basic daily activities.
4. ‘By 2030, we could face 40 percent shortfall between water supply and demand’. Over the years, we have polluted the environment to a very large extent. In small towns, women wash vessels and wash clothes at the banks of the river, thereby contaminating the river. Various industries release their harmful chemical wastes, without treating it, in the water bodies nearby. These water bodies such as lakes, rivers meet bigger water bodies such as the sea and ocean, thereby leading to widespread water pollution.
5. Global warming is one of the most pressing global issues facing humanity. We are already seeing and feeling its repercussions. Due to the sudden temperature rise, and fluctuations, rainfall patterns across the country have become erratic. Each year, as a result we are receiving less rainfall.

In 15 years, the demand for water will surpass its supply by 40 percent. We will need water and should hence try our best to preserve it. There are many government water conservation projects that are attempting to prevent or reverse water pollution. Get involved!

The post 5 Reasons Why Drinking Water May Soon Be A Luxury appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

It is around 40° Celsius in Varanasi. Just climbing a few weathered stairs of the ghats is enough to make one wonder whether the heart is beating or the head. The slow, monotonous drum beating inside one’s body drowns all the noise of the busy chaotic ghats. Even as the sun singes the skin, Uma Shankar, 40-year-old boatman, continues to row his boat against the flow of Ganga. Sweat rains down his body and his mouth is shut tight. Just slow steady breath and the sound of the water hitting his rows say he is still there. Normally, Uma Shankar, a – Nishad (caste) – who according to various mythological stories are known to be children of water, would pause for a break; wash his face and mouth in the river and take tourists around, narrating them stories of Ganga and the 84 ghats. But now, things have changed.

Union water resources minister, Uma Bharti, declared that people found spitting in Ganga could be fined Rs 10,000 or three days imprisonment. Uma Shankar steals glances at me carrying my camera and is scared that a single snap of him washing in Ganga may cost him his boat. So, he sits quietly trying not to spill the betel juice from his mouth and doesn’t take the risk of touching the water that, according to ancient scriptures, he was born in.

At the same time when Uma Shankar is trying hard to not pollute the river by spitting or washing in it, the cities along the river are dumping 7,322 million litres of untreated sewage into Ganga every day.

Ganga was declared National River on February 20, 2009. All of us have heard big names like Ganga Action Plan Phase I, Phase II, Phase infinity… Even after so many years of budgetary allocations and international tie-ups, domestic sewage remains the major cause of pollution in Ganga. Studies by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicate that 2,723 million litres a day (MLD) of sewage is generated by 50 cities located along the river, which adds up to over 85% of the river’s pollution load. In Varanasi, the sewage ends up in Ganga through the 31 open drains between Varuna and Assi river.

A History Of Failures

According to CPCB, the amount of domestic sewage generated is much more than the treatment capacity of the various Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) installed in cities along Ganga. In 2013, CPCB estimated that generation of domestic sewage is to the tune of 2,723.30 MLD. However, the treatment capacity of various STPs was merely 1,208.80 MLD.

In 2013, the CPCB ran a check on 51 of the 64 STPs and found that less than 60% of the installed capacity was being utilised, and 30% of the plants were not even in operation. A year later, CPCB collected data again, and it was found that the actual measured discharge of wastewater into Ganga is 6,087 MLD – which is 123% higher than the estimated discharge of wastewater.

A briefing paper on Ganga by Centre for Science and Environment breaks these numbers down and makes it simpler for us to understand – the gap between treated and untreated waste is not 55%, but 80%!

This is the gap that remained even after spending crores of rupees in various phases, under different names. Clearly, the Sewage Treatment Plants which the government perhaps sees as a magic-wand formula for cleaning the holy river is not so foolproof after all.

Think about it. First of all, several old cities in the country still rely on very, very old drainage pipelines which were built to dispose sewage into the river. When these channels were made, the population was not as much as it is now and so, nobody could even imagine that decades later, domestic sewage would be something of concern. Or maybe, they were short-sighted!

The modern pipelines built to supply sewage to the treatment plants are often made without any planning. On top of that, about 80-85% of Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur, does not have underground sewage channels. The ones that exist, require a good pumping system to carry sewage or wastewater to the STPs. Anybody who lives in Uttar Pradesh knows the how irregular electricity supply is. So, these pumping stations need diesel to operate. But, the diesel gets stolen! Yes, you read that right. Diesel theft is a matter of grave concern, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh. So half of the time, neither the pumping stations nor the STPs are working. The sewage keeps flowing into the Ganga through open drains and drainage channels. Every STP needs a certain amount of sewage to operate. When it doesn’t get enough sewage (in absence of drainage channels and pumping facility), it sits as pretty as an expensive, huge vase in your drawing room in which you can’t even keep flowers because you simply don’t have those many flowers.

So, that pretty much sums up what the UPA government did for our holiest of holy rivers, Ganga. Wait a minute! NDA is not to be celebrated so soon.

The NDA government used an even fancier name – Namami Gange Project. Wow! What happened on the ground in the name of Ganga cleaning was the concretization of ghats, installation of fancy dustbins here and there, and surface cleaning drives. Concerned about the wastage of public funds, the National Green Tribunal has recently warned the government that the entire case would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

To make matters worse, the government announced Jal Marg Vikas Project – a 1620-km inland waterway from Varanasi to Haldia – to ship industrial goods. The ₹4,200 crore project was flagged off by road transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari in August 2016. Our PM, former CM of Gujarat, evidently sees a business opportunity in everything (I am going to be trolled now).

River Morphology vs Red Tapism

“Funny but yes, waterways! So that whatever Gangetic dolphins are left in the river die because of the big ships and fuel leaks,” says BD Tripathi, a member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Interestingly, NGRBA is a body made of reputed river scientists in the country, and three of its members were so sick of government inaction that they resigned. Rest of the members haven’t met in ages. Visibly peeved Tripathi says that every government ignores the real issues when it comes to Ganga and the word pollution and penalising the poor become a tactic to divert people’s attention from what concerns the river today.

Prof. UK Choudhary, of Ganga Research Centre, Banaras Hindu University, says Ganga can never be rejuvenated if it does not have enough water. Rivers have a self-cleaning ability, which allows for assimilation and treatment of biological waste. But in the current context, where withdrawal from the river is much higher than the discharge of waste, pollution is inevitable, says both Choudhary and Tripathi.

Choudhary explains that Ganga’s originality is threatened. Of the 10,600 cubic ft/sec water at Narora and Bhimgoda barrage, 10,300 cubic feet/sec is diverted. This leaves Ganga starving at a large stretch downstream. The dynamics of the river is destroyed. With the decrease in velocity, its oxygen content is also reduced.

This has increased the sedimentation process, and since the storage potential of the river is destroyed, it is an open invitation to floods, explains Choudhary. Because of change in meandering of the river, the erosion has also increased at the ghats of Panchganga, Ramganga, Manikarnika and Dashashwamedh in Varanasi. The velocity of the river has increased near the ghats with strong currents cutting into the base of the city. Depth of the river has risen from 15 ft to about 20 ft. “If this continues, by 2025-2030, the crescent shape of Varanasi would be lost. It is a great risk to the city, but hardly anybody is looking into the problem,” he says.

Travelling from nalla to nalla, I come across the water pumping station near Tulsi ghat. An activist told us that during floods, the pumps are submerged into the river. Since Assi River or Nagwa Nala is just upstream the water works, what the whole of Varanasi drinks that time could be water with much higher contamination. Well, let me spell it out for you, Varanasi drinks its own sewage!

Ganga Dies A Painful Death

Varanasi gets its name from two rivers Varuna and Assi. Both of them have now turned into drains.

On a Sunday morning, I decided to walk through the old part of the city, a labyrinth of tattered tenements, connected by narrow cobbled paths. Pilgrims come to Varanasi for spiritual reasons. But here, as I saw, there was nothing spiritual about the open garbage dumps and cobbled paths smeared with animal and human faeces. A large area of Varanasi, especially the banks of the river, is an open defecation ground. Just like the old and dilapidated building, this city of 3.7 million people and a huge floating population of tourists and pilgrims, the garbage and sewerage infrastructure is also on the verge of collapse.

Early morning, near Varuna, I spotted as many as three dead bodies floating in the water. Near Scindia Ghat, I see animal carcasses; and on the adjacent ghat, pilgrims taking a dip in the river.

The Ramnagar Ghat is a new destination for bathers. Since the water near the prominent ghats is dirty, people cross the river to bathe at the Ramnagar Ghat which is the river’s sand bank just opposite Dashashwamedh Ghat. I saw a bunch of youths go wild pulling at each other’s clothes. Much of this (torn clothes, sarees, gamchhas) ends up on the ghat. A stretch of the ghat visible even from the other side of the wide river is a mini dump yard coming up with plastic waste, clothes and garbage left behind by the pilgrims.

This is exactly the reason why I was very surprised to learn that this very crowded, dirty ghat, had been declared a turtle sanctuary by the Uttar Pradesh government a couple of years ago. I came to know of it from a run-down board lying as far as Narad Ghat! At Narad Ghat, I asked a man sitting near the board about the turtle sanctuary. “Sarkar chhore the 400-500 kacchue. Kuchh kacchue to tairte hue doosre shahar pohoch gaye honge. Baaki ko logo ne pakar pakar ke kha liya…(Government released 400-500 turtles in the sanctuary. Some swam to other cities while others were eaten by people)” No wonder, that turtles are nowhere to be seen in this sanctuary. However, since the area has been declared a turtle sanctuary, dredging of sand has been banned. And, since the level of sand is increasing with every passing day, river currents are pushed towards the ghats, eroding them eventually.

So, in Narendra Modi’s constituency, I find very little action on cleaning or preserving the river. What is seen on the ground is panic. When Uma Shankar finally spit the betel juice out into the river and managed to speak, he said: “But it is only the poor who are always taxed in the name of pollution. We cannot wash or bath or catch fish in Ganga. But, the large drains that are pouring the entire city’s filth into Ganga Maiyya are never plugged.”

All photos by Soma Basu

The post A Walk Through PM Modi’s Constituency Will Tell You Why The Ganga Won’t Survive appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

प्रदूषण की समस्या से इस समय पूरा देश परेशान है, जो आने वाले समय में आत्मघाती साबित हो सकता है। पर्यावण को बचाने के लिए जम्मू कश्मीर में बुजुर्ग केसरी शशि कुमार ने वृक्ष लगाने की मुहिम की शुरुआत की। किन्तु प्रशासन व पुलिस द्वारा उन पर अत्याचार किया गया। विरोध करने पर उनको देशद्रोही करार दे दिया गया और पुत्र द्वारा विरोध करने पर उसकी हत्या कर दी गई।

केसरी शशि कुमार जम्मू-कश्मीर राज्य के डोडा जिले के रहने वाले हैं और पेशे से किसान हैं। शशि जी ने बताया कि उनके द्वारा लगाए गए लगभग 15000 पेड़ पौधे ऑक्सीजन दे रहे हैं व प्रदूषण से लड़ने का काम कर रहे हैं। इससे भविष्य में सभी को फायदा मिलेगा। शशि जी ने 1985 में इंडो-इटालियन प्रोजेक्ट के दम पर पथरीली ज़मीन पर जैतून व अखरोट के पेड़ व पौधे लगाए थे। पौधे तैयार करके स्कूल व कॉलेजों में देते थे और स्कूलों में कृषि व पर्यवरण पर कभी-कभी लेक्चर भी लिया करते थे।

शशि से 1994 से 1996 के बीच इंडियन आर्मी ने 175 पौधे लिए थे जिसके पैसा न देकर एक थैंक्यू लेटर दे दिया गया। ठीक इसी तरह डोडा के ही गुरुनानक अकादमी ने उनसे 10000 पौधे लिए जिसके पैसे न देकर उन्होंने भी थैंक्यू लेटर भेज दिया। वृक्ष लगाने के सम्बन्ध में गवर्नर ने उनको 2009 में आउटस्टैंडिंग एनवायरमेंटलिस्ट का सम्मान दिया था। डोडा के पूर्व डीसी बशारत अहमद ने उन्हें राज्य से गोल्ड मैडल देने की सिफारिश की थी।

शशि जी बताते हैं कि उनकी 1970 में फ़ूड इंस्पेक्टर की नौकरी लगी थी। लेकिन प्रधानमंत्री इंदिरा गाँधी की रैली में उन्हें संधिग्द मानकर गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया। महीनो बाद जब वो जेल से छूटकर आये तो उनकी नौकरी उनसे छीन ली गई थी। इसके बाद उनके परिवार ने उन्हें घर से अलग कर दिया था।

सबसे पहले 1980 में शशि जी को 200 किसानों के हक़ के लिए सरकार से पानी मांगने पर और पुलिस का विरोध करने पर, प्रशासन के कहने पर गिरफ्तार कर लिए गया और उन्हें बहुत मारा गया। जिसमे उनका हाथ टूट गया था। निचली अदालत में उनके खिलाफ कोई सबूत न होने पर उन्हें बरी कर दिया गया और फ़ालतू में शशि जी को मारने पर पुलिस व प्रशासन को फटकार लगाई व 15 दिनों तक जवाब देने को कहा। पुलिस को ये सब बर्दाश्त नहीं हुआ तो उनको झूठे चोरी व देशद्रोह के केस में फिर से गिरफ्तार कर लिया और पुत्र राजन केसरी द्वारा विरोध करने पर उसे आतंकवादी बताकर फ़र्ज़ी मुठभेड़ में मार दिया गया।

यहीं से इस प्रकृति प्रेमी का बुरा दौर चालू हुआ जो आज तक चल रहा है। शशि जी से जब उनके परिवार के बारे में पूछा गया तो उन्होंने बताया कि मेरे परिवार में मेरी पत्नी और मेरा एक बेटा है। उनसे मैंने बोल दिया है कि “मुझे भूल जाओ। जब तक मैं अपना व अपने बेटे का इन्साफ नहीं ले लेता तब तक वापस नहीं आऊंगा।”

चोरी व देशद्रोह के झूठे मुकदमे के खिलाफ शशि जी ने हाई कोर्ट में केस किया। हाई कोर्ट ने पुलिस को 3 बार जांच के आदेश दिए। लेकिन पुलिस ने कोर्ट को कोई जवाब नहीं दिया। इसके सम्बन्ध में शशि जी ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट में भी याचिका डाली। लेकिन कहीं से भी सीबीआई जांच के आदेश नहीं मिले। इस पर शशि जी कहते हैं कि, “20 साल मेरा समय अदालत और पुलिस स्टेशन के चक्कर लागाने में गुजर गया जिसके कारण मेरी खेती ख़राब हो गई है।” शशि जी ने कहा कि, “जब जब मुझे हथकड़ी लगी तो उससे कानून को जूते पड़े हैं।” गोरखा जिले के 25 किसानों को शशि जी ने आत्महत्या करने से बचाया और खेती में मदद की।

शशि जी ने प्रधानमंत्री को खत लिखा कि उनके केस की सीबीआई जांच कराई जाए। लेकिन वहां से किसी भी प्रकार के जांच से  मना कर दिया गया। शशि जी से जब पूछा गया कि सरकार अगर अब कोई कॉम्प्रोमाइज़ करना चाहे तो क्या वो कॉम्प्रोमाइज़ करेंगे? उन्होंने जवाब दिया कि “मैंने अपना बेटा खोया है और अब मैं कोई कॉम्प्रोमाइज़ नहीं करूँगा।” हालांकि शशि जी द्वारा लगाए गये सभी पेड़ सरकारी ज़मीन पर हैं लेकिन यूथ की आवाज़ को उन्होंने बताया कि एक आरटीआइ के जवाब में उन्हें बताया गया कि उनके लगाए सभी पेड़ों में से 85% पेड़ बिलकुल सही स्थिति में हैं।

शशि जी की मांग है कि या तो सरकार उनके अदालत व पुलिस थानों  के चक्कर लगाने में जो 25 से 30 साल का समय गया है व उनके द्वारा लगाए गए 15000 पेड़ों का उन्हें मुआवज़ा दे और उनके बेटे की हत्या की सीबीआई जांच कराई जाए या फिर देशद्रोही के तौर पर उन्हें गोली मार दी जाए। शशि जी ने आजीवन जंतर-मंतर पर धरना देने का निश्चय किया है। इससे पहले इन्होंने सात महीने जम्मू-कश्मीर के डोडा जिले में भी धरना दिया था।

किसानों की हालत इस समय बहुत ही खराब चल रही है। बहुत कम ही किसान अपने हक़ के लिए शशि जी की तरह हिम्मत से काम लेते हैं और प्रसाशन व सरकार से लड़ते हैं। देश में विकास की बात होती है, मेट्रो चलती है, अंतरिक्ष में सफलता प्राप्त होती है लेकिन किसान की परिस्थिति को देखते हुए कोई ठोस कदम नहीं उठाया जा रहा है। हमारा देश कृषि प्रधान देश है लेकिन किसानों की ये स्थिति समाज व सरकार को अवश्य कठघरे में खड़ा करती है।

रोहित Youth Ki Awaaz हिंदी के फरवरी-मार्च 2017 बैच के इंटर्न हैं।

The post जम्मू का किसान पी.एम. मोदी से मांग रहा है अपना हक़ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

As many as 565 violations of environmental laws have been reported from Gurgaon and Mewat areas of Aravalli hills from April 1992 to March 2015 but no action has been taken in even one case, an RTI reply has revealed.

“As many as 565 violations have been noticed till March 2015 since the implementation of Aravalli notification. But no action has been taken against any official yet under the provisions of Environment Act,” the RTI reply says. Of these 565 violations, 524 were even reported in the National Green Tribunal, the court that hears complaints on environmental norms violations, but no one has been penalised so far. A total of 41 complaints are pending with various departments because the required land ownership documents are not available.

An MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) notification in May 1992 had prohibited a range of activities on four categories of land, including those areas notified as forests in the state government’s land records in Gurgaon and Alwar districts. The activities prohibited or requiring prior permission included setting up new industries or their expansion, mining operations, cutting of trees, electrification, construction, etc. The restrictions were put in place because the area is a wildlife corridor between two wildlife sanctuaries. Tampering with the forests can adversely impact the ecologically sensitive area.

According to the RTI reply, the violations reported included several activities prohibited by this notification. Construction of boundary walls, cutting of trees, construction of shops and gate pillars, installation of tube wells and submersible pumps are some activities reported from the area.

Activists, however, believe that statistics provided in the RTI under-reports the actual number of violations. “Activists report violations almost on a daily basis. It shows that most cases go unreported as authorities are hand in glove with offenders,” Vivek Kamboj, a Gurgaon-based environmentalist, told The Times of India.

The post 23 Years, 565 Complaints, 0 Guilty: How We Are Destroying The Aravalli Range appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

The majestic Bengal tiger sits on a raised platform of wooden planks, basking in the warm sun as passengers of a bus that has halted a few feet away crane through a small square window cut-out to indulge in ‘wildlife photography’. Despite appearing well-fed, its listless expression feels disturbingly out of place.

“Everyday, he is fed 20 kilos of food. 10 kilos beef, seven kilos chicken and three kilos mutton,” the bus driver informs me. “It is like a five-star hotel for them,” he adds with a laugh. Elephants with chained forelegs, sleeping bears and lions, tigers that strut about, uncaringly, past people hooting in a passing bus – these are the sights I witnessed on a safari ride at the Bannerghatta Biological Park, in Bengaluru two weeks back.

The Park was formed in 2002, as a cordoned-off portion of the already established Bannerghatta National Park, which has four components – a zoo, safari park, butterfly park and a rehabilitation centre for rescued animals. What began as an intended ‘picnic corner’ for nature-lovers, has expanded into a 731.88-hectare ‘reserve’, today.

The main objectives, outlined by Bannerghatta Biological Park in its mission statement, are to strengthen national efforts in “ex-situ conservation” ie preserving a species outside its natural habitat and two, to inspire empathy for wildlife, and generate awareness about the need for conservation of natural resources.

Let’s look at how exactly the Park is realising its second objective – visitor “education”, which is mostly done through the BBP safari. You purchase a ticket and then sit in a 30-seater bus, private car or jeep. A driver takes you on an hour’s drive. He stops at specific junctures for you to take pictures of deer, elephants, bears, lions and tigers, then drops you back.

With 26 operating buses that each make, up to seven trips between 9 am and 5 pm, seven days a week, these animals do not get any form of respite from human observation. In the evenings, the lions and tigers are lured back into cells with food.

Miseducation Around Wildlife

Without the presence of even a single wildlife education officer or guide, how does the park expect to convey the message of ‘conservation’? In fact, officials remain silent even when animals are taunted. There have been several instances of the animals attempting attacks on the safari vehicles, one that occurred as recently as January this year where a lion attacked a hired vehicle by trying to mount it and bite through the glass. Coincidentally, the same vehicle was attacked in September 2016. Recent investigations reveal that the driver provoked the animals to create ideal photo opportunities for his passengers and secure generous tips.

Although the park uses the concept of ‘bar-less moated enclosures’, the actual space allocated is depressingly low. As of 2013, the numbers were – 20 hectares for bears, 14 hectares for white and Bengal tigers, and a mere 6 hectares for lions.

Who Is To Blame?

In a 20-year expansion master plan submitted in 2014 to the Central Zoo Authority in New Delhi, BBP officials blatantly state, “The display of animals in the present day context in Bannerghatta Zoo is neither for an education nor for conservation values. The display is more for recreation to attract the visitors for eco-recreation value.” The report goes on to list constraints such as cramped spaces in enclosures, contamination risks due to inadequate drainage systems, sub-standard clinical facilities and lack of readily available expertise.

Another important aspect to note is that the staff overseeing crucial activities such as visitors’ management, animal feeding and clinical care, are outsourced. The lack of consistency and understanding of behavioural patterns surely has a definitive impact on the quality of lives of the animals. But is the problem really as simple as blaming the park authorities?

Bannerghatta Biological Park is self-financed with income collected for entry fees for the zoo, safari and butterfly park, and donations. They claim that almost 70% of collected revenue goes towards covering daily expenses of feed and fodder, employee wages and other administrative expenses, the park struggles to have enough funds for development, thereby existing merely to attract visitors to bring in enough revenue to keep it running. In the year 2014-2015, BBP’s total revenue was 24.5 crores. However, most of the projects undertaken in the same year were related to the construction of new enclosures in the zoo and other renovations to the park. The annual report for 2014-2015 mentions a vague plan to launch a ‘School connect’ programme without any specific objectives.

A Missed Opportunity

What could have been a fantastic opportunity to educate people on the importance of understanding and respecting wildlife, has been transformed into the novelty of seeing such regal creatures up close in protected vehicles. The safari is merely an extension of the zoo and gives naïve visitors the illusion of witnessing a piece of true wildlife when in fact the animals have been stripped off all natural instincts and are sedated with over-feedingThey are also obviously frustrated with being used as showpieces.

Increasing human-wildlife conflict, poaching, and climate change are adversely impacting India’s biodiversity. The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was passed by the parliament to provide a comprehensive framework for protection of wildlife. Despite our legislative efforts, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed 132 species of plants and animals in India as critically endangered, including the Asiatic lion and Bengal tiger.

If we do not draw bold lines between conservation, education and entertainment, we are pushing these species on a path of accelerated extinction. Parks like Bannerghatta Biological Park play a crucial role in transforming society’s attitude towards wildlife. Taking steps such as correcting visitors when they jeer at animals, engaging children to foster compassion and prioritising the essence of sustainability over tourism, can serve the long-term mission of translating education into real results.

(Data taken from the master plan document submitted to Central Zoo Authority, and the 2014-2015 annual report)

Sangeetha Bhaskaran is an intern with Youth Ki Awaaz for the batch of February-March 2017.

The post Why This “Biological Park” Is Really Just Another (Exploitative) Zoo In Disguise appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.