August 2012
CUSP OF CHANGE Stories of lives, lessons, legends from Mewar
Manual cross pollination of Bt cotton ABOUT THE COURSE
Challenge of the Balance: a course on Policies, Politics & Practices of Environmental Management in the Developing World
Objective This inter – disciplinary month long structured course on environment / development issues is for about 25 participants from various international institutions of learning. For this summer school, CSE has collaborated with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) United Kingdom, and EWB chapters in South Asia.
Programme design Challenge of the Balance is an orientation programme to give international participants a first-hand experience of Southern perspectives concerning the environment-development debate.
It includes classroom lectures, seminars, local field excursions, together with challenging individual and/or group project work. Participants will be given an intense briefing on issues that are of concern to India and other developing countries. Field trips will serve to illustrate innovations and eco-restoration efforts that communities make to enable them to face the challenges of managing their natural resources base.
Challenge of the Balance August 2012: Participants from the UK, Scotland, Italy, Japan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh and India
Centre for Science and Environment 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110062
TRAINING VENUE COURSE CONTACTS Anil Agarwal Green College Aditya Batra Sharmila Sinha 38, Tughlakabad Institutional Area Prog Director, Education & Prog Officer, Education & Training New Delhi–110062 Training & South Asia Programme Email: [email protected]; Email:[email protected] [email protected] Mobile: +91-9810825775 Mobile: +91-9818482018 Office Tel: +91 (011) 29955124 +91 (011) 29955124/125 Fax: +91 (011) 29955879
2 thread August 2012 EDITORIAL
thread from the editors’ desktop
Editors Hello, please make yourselves at home. Anjali Nambissan Yash Maniar This the thread where we post accounts of the state of the environment as we see it. A network of complex, interconnected issues does not begin Copy-Editors to describe it. Threading together stories of lives, livelihoods, water, waste Benjamin McIntosh-Michaelis meant endless hours of brain racking and lots of coffee and conversations. Enrico Prunotto This is our thread, where we post interactions with the people we met and Rory Richardson how we’re all just trying to wrap our minds around it all. Pravnav Pokhrel Yousof Khan I don’t know how many of us were surprised by what we saw. Water brings communities together, while easy money tears them apart. The polluters never end up paying, while the people who live with the pollution are left Design Editors without options. Livelihoods, or the lack thereof, take people on surreal Sarah Livingstone journeys. Farmers make choices they shouldn’t have to for reasons they Waiman Tsang don’t know themselves. Grassroots organisations fill in the gaping abyss left by a lax administrative machinery. It’s inspirational to travel with Reporters grassroots organisations and the enthusiasm of each member is palpable Anjali Nambissan and contagious. Alak Sharma Benjamin McIntosh-Michaelis The environment, to us, does not mean just trees and hills and natural Deney Chu resources, it’s also about how waste becomes a survival tactic for some, Istiak Ahmed or about people in crowded city villages who cannot challenge the change Khimananda Sharma around them. Mahjabeen Pranav Pokhrel It’s not about man versus environment anymore. Built or natural, Rory Richardson manmade or pre-made, forest or cityscape, they are all central to the Radhika Goel existence of the human race. When we say environment we mean this Sarah Livingstone world as an indivisible whole. Sewa Tripathi Stephanie Davies Waiman Tsang Keep it conscious. Anjali Nambissan & Yash Maniar Yash Maniar Yousof Khan Yuki Noritake Sincere thanks to Centre for Science and Environment for publishing this magazine. Special thanks to Aditya Batra, Sharmila Sinha, Surender Singh, Illustrations D S Bains, and the entire DTE Team. Pranav Pokhrel PHOTOS: WAIMAN TSANG Cover photo Yash Maniar
Manual cross pollination of Bt cotton August 2012 thread 3 LETTERS TO EDITOR Point/Counterpoint
Did the field visit to rural India to ‘witness development’ allow us also to join the dots and construct an alternative worldview in this media saturated world?
Enrico Prunotto until a good Facebook photo was table, sowing cash crops becomes acquired. We interacted with the the trend, often leading to debt, e have lost villagers and then we left with alcoholism and suicide among Wour me - smiling faces. All was over; we were farmers. mo ries; the in our safe and comfortable bus, But real life has to be seen to be philosopher back to our lives. Is that all? Is it believed. A month-long experience Umberto Eco just a quick look that the students at Challenge of the Balance in defines us as wanted when they applied to these August 2012 reaffirms that. Not an alien gene- eco-courses? We don’t believe so. only is the field trip a reality check ration, arguing However, this will be the result like no other; through the lectures that we are no if the learning is not managed you come to know and continue to longer used to living in nature. We properly after these visits. The be inspired by people who have only know cities and we live in first reaction could easily seem devoted their lives and used their unreal spaces, trained by the superficial when you don’t really education towards making sense of media, which tells us about know how to behave. However, this this crazy world. problems no longer seen in our is just the surface of the experience A field trip like this teaches you everyday life, such as chronic and only after connecting all the not only about the world around poverty or lack of food and water dots will we get true value. you, but also about your own supply. However, we live in a world From the knowledge obtained limitations. There’s you with your where pressures and tensions of by this course we can now air-conditioned tour of a tribal change require global awareness. understand the backwards value- village, but there's also little To drive this process, a lot of chain and what we are paying for Emiya you meet on that tour. She institutes offer programs on eco- when buying a cotton T-shirt. No has to till the weeds to feed her development issues based in one can force us to change our goats and doesn't get to go to school developing countries for students to lifestyles; however, after these like the rest of the children of her interact with local communities. experiences, making a conscious village. The course Challenge of the choice should become our duty. We You have to get over the fact Balance is a good example, as its need to remember it. that that there are no black and main pillar is a one-week-long field Our generation already lost white solutions in a world full of trip to rural India. The course many memories and we are here to grey human beings. Complex, program officer Sharmila Sinha learn back what was probably the interconnected issues make up this considers this practical learning basis for most of our grand-parents. reality. It's not just the awareness model extremely effective to “inform you have but what you do with it the students, who probably have Benjamin Ruaridh that counts. Virtue is nothing but never been on a farm before, to try McIntosh-Michaelis words till it is acted upon. and see what it is like.” You face up to that challenge When we arrived in village ewspapers, and realise that there's really not Dhingavarikala, villagers stopped Nmagazines one thing you can change about their activities to look at this group and television this world. There are many things of “developed people” with good news relay and there is nothing. It is how you clothes and white faces, an unusual these stories face up to this challenge and alter sight for them. Soon however it was every day. If your life. If you think making our turn to to be surprised: an you’re a reason - conscious choices well within your open-air toilet, a Bt cotton plant ably informed comfort zone is enough, so be it. and grazing goats. For many of us ‘global’ citizen For me, it’s about challenging this was a first-time experience. It you know that of the poorest in limitations to know what I’m made didn’t take much time for us to start India 94 per cent do not have of and alter my sense of virtue.■ grabbing farming tools and toilets and that, as agriculture pretending to be farmers, at least increasingly becomes less profi- The views expressed by the authors are their own
4 thread August 2012 CONTENTS
EDITORS PAGE 3
LETTERS TO EDITOR 4
FEATURE Small Village in the Big City 6
PROFILE Man Behind the Bears 8
SPECIAL REPORT Public trash, Private interests 10
REPORTER’S DIARY In the Shadow of the Taj 12
REPORT Conflict of interests 13
COVER STORIES Slippery Soap 15 Development Conundrum 16 Udaipur’s Lake and PIL 17 A Cut Above 18 A River Reborn 19 Turning Waste into Want 20 Cultivating Controversy 21 Rural Resurgence 22 Mautana – Then & Now 23 The Invisible Workforce 24
PUZZLES 26
PHOTOS: YOUSOF KHAN August 2012 thread 5 FEATURE Small Village in the Big City
Peculiar to Delhi, these urban villages are tiny bits of rural life, seemingly exempt from big city influence
• ANJALI NAMBISSAN
rowded and narrow lanes thread together a cowshed, Csome haveli-style houses, a Panchayat, a baraat ghar and many multi-story apartment buildings leaning on one another. What’s increasingly becoming common in Delhi’s urban pinds, PHOTO: ANJALI NAMBISSAN PHOTO: ANJALI or villages, are high-fashion designer boutiques, multi-cuisine restaurants and exotic patisseries and curio stores by the dozen. Strict land use rules in areas controlled by municipal autho- rities, low rents for commercial properties and practically no licenses required to operate The board welcomes you to Zamrudpur village, but inside is a cosmopolitan businesses explains their world within a world. popularity. “There’s a certain urban osmosis. They absorb the Municipal Corporation of Delhi funds for Delhi’s urban villages. activities that would otherwise not (MCD) took over their admi- Zamrudpur in south Delhi, a be allowed in urban areas,” nistration in 1988. According to village of about 3000 families, has explains KT Ravindran, professor the Economic Survey of Delhi a predominantly Jat population. and head of urban design at 2008-09, DDA and MCD were Chatar Singh, the village pradhan, the School of Planning and allocated a total of Rs 366.09 crore or chief, feigns ignorance about Architecture, New Delhi. from 1980 to 2009 as development these development funds. “Apart Ravindran also served as chair of from the Aadhar (unique the Delhi Urban Art Commission. identification card) people, no one Known variously as lal dora or from the administration has ever shehrikrit gaon, there are 135 come here. Except, of course, villages within the national capital during election campaigns,” he region of Delhi, with a population quips. of 2.9 million. Legends and lineage are kept The Delhi Masterplan, 1961, alive by village folk. In Shahpur declared these villages, about 20 at Jat, a 700-year-old village also in the time, as Urbanised Villages. In south Delhi, villagers claim 1979-80, the Delhi Development descent from Indri in present-day Authority (DDA) was handed the Haryana. “We were all farmers who responsibility to improve civic grew tobacco and cauliflower. The services in urban villages; the tobacco grown here was exported
6 thread August 2012 FEATURE to Arab countries. municipal councillor to bring about since the 1960s. I Some people had and the member of don’t know whether this has cows and even legislative assembly happened anywhere so far,” says horses,” remembers (MLA), but little has Ravindran. 80-year-old Bhim changed on the Some are sceptical about the Singh, former patwari ground.” proposed plans, such as extending (keeper of records) of Delhi’s urban village boundaries. “Where do they Shahpur Jat. Today, villages are vestiges plan to extend the village to? How?,” given its central of rurality enveloped asks 56-year-old Dhan Singh, a location, properties by the growing city. retired postmaster and resident of here command steep “What the residents Zamrudpur. “Thick green forests rents. By rough of the Asiad Games used to surround this village, from estimates, close to Chaudhary Chatar Singh Village use as a Amar Colony on one side to Nehru 80 per cent of playground used to Place on the other. It’s all gone now landowners live off the rental be our burial ground,” Sanjay and there is no space around us. income alone. points out. Some families have gone on to “These villages were once establish another Zamrudpur along Planning deficit surrounded by pastures or grazing the Haryana border.” The Delhi Master Plan 2021, land, agricultural land, ponds, The plan identifies villages of released in April this year, lists streams and other natural historic and tourism significance, bold steps to develop urban resources. These were acquired by and emphasises environmental neighbourhoods. In the draft plan, the state and the villages were left concerns for their development. urban villages are recognised to fend for themselves. The land Likewise, the plan’s proposal for their mixed land use, for was then distributed to different to pool individual properties to commercial, residential and parties under various schemes. make space for common areas industrial purposes. It recognises Some of the land was acquired by does not go down well with many the reality of narrow lanes and private developers through deals Shahpur Jat residents. “How are high-density living areas, and with the villagers,” says Ravindran, you supposed to reorganise your stresses their important economic pointing out the same transpired property when you have very little role. in the case of the upscale colonies space in the first place,” said Bhim These ambitious plans are of Munirka, and Gautam Nagar Singh. only worth the paper they are extension. “Posh ‘New Friend’s written on, says Sanjay Singh, a Colony’ used to be a part of World within a world resident of Shahpur Jat since Khizarabad. It was colonised when Boxed in on all sides by tony 1975. “I have been trying to get an the numberdar (keeper of land colonies, clubs, and apartments, overbridge built on the Ring Road records) sold the land to a private these semi-rural villages signify near Panchsheel Enclave for close builder. The plotted apartments in Delhi’s strange balancing act, to eight years. It’s the only way Nizammudin came up on land sold where the rich jostle for space with to go to the closest market in from the basti (squatter settlement) cowherds and farmers. Multi- Malviya Nagar. Through a Right To around the time of India’s partition crore, planned and systematically Information application, we found in 1947”, he points out. developed properties are juxt- that between 2007-2011, there The 2021 masterplan calls for aposed against haphazard, have been 19 accidents and seven big changes to these villages to unplanned construction and tight, deaths on that road alone. There better integrate them with the city. garbage strewn lanes. This strange are no street lights on the roads in “Integration – physical, social, meeting of two opposite worlds is the village. We’ve brought all these environmental and economic – is not without friction. things up many times with the something that they’ve been trying Within this world there are sometimes integration problems as cheap rent attracts tenants who may not be conducive to community living. We were all farmers who grew tobacco and cauliflower. Plans and masterplans aside, “ the real challenge for Delhi’s admi- The tobacco grown here was exported to Arab countries. nistrators is how to achieve some semblance of a balance between Some people had cows and even horses these rural worlds nested within a ” growing cosmopolitan city. ■
August 2012 thread 7 PROFILE SOURCE: WILDLIFE SOS
Man Behind the Bears The dancing bears are almost entirely off the streets of north India, in large part due to the efforts of KARTICK SATYANARAYAN, co-founder of Wildlife SOS. In a conversation with MAHJABEEN, he points out the importance of roping in traditional hunting and poaching communities in conservation efforts in India and Asia
Was there anyone in your family whose love for historic issue which was backed by environmental law animals had an impact on your personality? and wildlife protection. Affection towards nature has always remained an Dealing with government and legal issues requires innate part of my character. I often emptied my school strategic thinking and immense pressure and it often bags to rescue snakes or injured birds since I was a disturbs the balance between my personal and social kid. However, I credit my parent’s upbringing for what life, but over time you grow a thick skin. I am today because they were always patient despite Since people expect me to solve almost every my eccentricities. problem thrown at me, I am always prepared for bigger Also, I am thankful to all my challenges and believe in going with the friends, including Ravi Kumar, Bhupen flow and moving forward optimistically. Talukdar and Geeta Seshamani, the co- founder of Wildlife SOS, for the I guess I Could you describe one particular inspirational roles they played to help “ experience that has had a deep me achieve my goals. would have impact on you while you were been an utter rescuing bears from the Kalandars? Does being known as ‘The Bear Man’ Once in a village called Eidgah, we were and getting critical acclaim for your failure or even chased with axes and knives when we work put extra pressure on you? tried to point out possibilities to pursue When we started working on bear a social reject alternative livelihoods. We literally rescue with the Kalandar community, it in our society rushed out of the place in top gear! was censored heavily. However, we ” However, we didn’t relent and came astutely pointed out that it was an back stronger after two months and
8 thread August 2012 PROFILE succeeded in convincing the villagers to an extent that greedy commercial businesses who want to maximise they themselves drove away bear poachers bootlegging profits at the cost of the environment. However, if they cubs from Nepal to Uttar Pradesh. make a smaller profit, the overall environmental In another case in Karnataka, a Kalandar boy got damages could be avoided and they could generate the admission to pursue an engineering degree in a state brand value from positive publicity. I am a firm college. He was the first-ever engineer in the village believer that every obstacle can be converted into an and the first in the entire Kalandar community. And opportunity. I believe the development sector should of course, there’s this one time when I was trying to partner with the environment sector and benefit from rescue a leopard in Delhi and it left me physically incredible opportunities from such a coalition. scarred. Companies should partner with environmental advisors and think of how they can minimise the There’s one Kartick who passionately loves damage and maximise profit. animals. What is the other side of him? The other side of me includes my love for music, What is your plan regarding the future of Wildlife dancing, video controlled cars, gadgets, driving and of SOS? course, the outdoors. I guess I am a bit of a human My plan for the future of Wildlife SOS is that it being! shouldn’t end with an individual, and thus have already sorted out a succession strategy within the Seeing the bears slowly returning to their natural employees in the organisation to move forward in case condition, how does it feel? Kartick is killed. Nature is forgiving, adaptive and willing to change and In the long term, Wildlife SOS will try and work in mould. The minute you give them the freedom and give India as much as possible and also in South East Asia, them the option to as we would like to set reduce imprinting; it up an established has a deep impact on connection, a good net - them. Initially, we work with neighbouring didn’t even think that coun tries and continue it would be possible, to work with like- that these bears minded people and could be rehabilitated, organisations. seeing that they were Another project that too deeply scarred is very dear to my heart
and imprinted to SOURCE: WILDLIFE SOS and which is very have them reverse valuable for the future their behaviour. But of wildlife conservation thankfully all bears in Asia is to rope have now been in local hunting rehabilitated to their communities in conser - natural wild beha- vation efforts. There are viour and it is dozens of local hunting incredibly encoura- Under the watchful gaze of Jasmine, a rescued female sloth bear communities across ging and pleasant to Asian countries with see them changing their biological clock, turning into invaluable knowledge of wildlife behaviour and a nocturnal animal, returning to their natural ways. hunting. If we could rehabilitate them and utilise their If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing services in a way that will not be harmful to wildlife, today? but will assist conservation, then I think we would be Maybe an environmental terrorist, killing illegal loggers doing a great service both to wildlife conservation and or even be a mafioso! I cannot actually think of to these communities. anything else other than doing what I am doing. I They would be rehabilitated, their skills guess, I would have been an utter failure or even a harnessed and used in a good way. I’d say that I will social reject in our society. certainly continue fighting till my very last breath to protect Indian wildlife and of course, work with What is your take on the environment vs. communities because I think we can learn so much development debate? from them.■ In developing countries, we need to respect the environment but often have this clash because of For more information, log on to www.wildlifesos.org
August 2012 thread 9 SPECIAL REPORT
very year, droves of people migrate from far-flung Estates of Uttar Pradesh, Public Trash, Orissa, Bengal and Jharkhand to Delhi with a dream to eke out a living by driving rickshaws, doing Private Interests manual labour or collecting recyclable waste from the streets, Delhi’s move to privatise waste management turns messy, landfills and households. People putting the livelihoods of thousands of ragpickers and junk such as Kazim, a 62-year old social worker with Safai Sena residing in dealers at risk. the Ghazipur slums who came down from West Bengal to Delhi in • YASH MANIAR search of work in 1976. Commonly referred to as each year. Most of the city’s air. However this threat is “ragpickers”, Kazim is one among ‘landfills’ – a misnomer, as most increasing. The government seems the roughly half a million ‘cleaning are really dumping grounds for to have finally found a solution in agents’ in Delhi who make rubbish waste – are struggling to cope with 2012 to this menace – burn the disappear from the city streets. They the enormous amounts of waste. waste using incinerators. Originally collect waste from households, No government wants to grapple called the destructor, incinerators segregate the solid waste from the with waste dumped on prime land, have been known to spew recyclable waste, and browse polluting the groundwater and the dangerous dioxins. They may also mounds of trash for recyclable make Delhi’s ragpickers obsolete. waste in toxin-laden landfills. Kazim’s hut in Ghazipur lies at Easing out ragpickers the end of a narrow winding mud For more than a decade now, path, lined on either side by there has been a steady push by tarpaulin and bamboo huts. the Delhi government to privatise Ghazipur, Delhi’s largest landfill, is all aspects of the trash trade – spread over 80 acres, and is from its door-to-door collection surrounded by a huge slum and from households to segregation, dairies. Living less than 60 feet transportation and eventual away from the incineration plant, disposal, including incineration, slum residents are worried about placing the livelihoods of rag- their health and occupation. “It’s a pickers in jeopardy. fight for survival,” said Kazim. For instance, private com- While India is known for panies such as IL&FS and Jindal recycling almost everything, from have cornered lucrative contracts
glass bottles, newspaper, plastic PHOTO: YASHMANIAR to set up incineration plants in and rubber tyres to computer Ghazipur and Okhla respectively. and electronic components, it One direct result has been to has typically undervalued the enforce the ban that restricts the contribution of the people involved entry of waste pickers into in this important unorganised trade. landfills, who have to resort to Delhi alone generates about bribing security guards to access 2.5 million tonnes of solid waste Child sitting on landfill, Ghazipur the waste. In Ghazipur alone, more
10 thread August 2012 SPECIAL REPORT PHOTO: YASHMANIAR
than 400 ragpickers stand to lose close to 70 per cent of the city lives have invested large amounts their only source of income. in illegal settlements. He said in this already – Rs 200 crore for the Okhla Likewise, more than 300,000 context, the focus should instead incineration facility, for instance. ragpickers stand to lose their only be on empowering ragpickers to However, the 62.2 MW combined income source from the Delhi continue to recycle in this resource- capacity of all three plants is only a government’s move to privatise the crunched world. drop in the ocean for Delhi’s door-to-door trash collection. Their Despite filing a number of electricity requirement of 4,800 earnings have already been ‘right to information’ applications MW. reduced to as low as Rs 100 a day regarding waste management in the “The sole objective of the from Rs 250-300 that they used to city, Pandit says he is yet to get company is to earn carbon credits. earn earlier. legitimate answers from govern- Ragpickers deserve the carbon “The young ragpickers ask me ment agencies. He points out the credits more than the companies what will happen next? I keep giving gaps in the system – for instance do,” says Pandit. Analysts say that them hope that all will be good. But how the 3 MW Okhla plant’s this is mostly fuelled by the there are a few who are not ready to ‘environment impact assessment’ incentives offered by the ministry understand that we won’t be was conducted at Saket, some of new and renewable energy, allowed on these landfills anymore,” 16 km away from the site, which is municipal corporations and says Kazim. They aggressively clearly against the rules. “The plant the prospects to access Clean mention “Hum ko ghusne nahin wasn’t able to generate a single MW Development Mechanism funds. denge toh hum jabardasti ghusenge of electricity,” he adds. The waste Some in the administration are (if they don’t allow us, we will force contains too high a value of wet to sympathetic to the plight of Delhi’s our way in). Bache paisa nahi dried waste, which makes the plant ragpickers, says Pandit. Following kamayenge, toh khane ke liye chori less efficient, resulting in low energy his meeting with Delhi’s chief karenge, daka dalenge, khun generation. minister Sheila Dikshit, some karenge (The kids will rob, fight and The government has planned recommendations were forwarded kill others for money)”. three plants – one each in Okhla, to the labour minister, the most At repeated meetings with IL & Ghazipur (construction phase) important being to issue identity FS, officials have promised jobs to and Bawana (planning phase) to cards to ragpickers to protect ragpickers as per their qualifi- promote renewable energy. Compa- their rights. A simple act that has cations. But most ragpickers are nies get subsidies, easy access to the potential to end constant illiterate. At present, the segregation land and other tax policies. Reports harassment by the police and is done manually. Mechanisation suggest subsidies of up to other officials, and lend some will make the manual efforts of Rs 2 crore for each MW. Companies dignity to their efforts.■ ragpickers redundant. Also, incine- ration does not differentiate between what is recyclable and what is not. Shashi Pandit, the secretary of All India Kabadi Mazdoor
Mahasangh, says it is clear the PHOTO: YASHMANIAR government’s policy for privatisation has not taken account of the livelihoods of ragpickers. “Are we citizens responsible for executing the laws”, he asks. He points out 78 per cent people live with less than Rs 20 a day, and in Delhi alone, Segregated plastic bottles
August 2012 thread 11 REPORTERʼS DIARY PHOTO: YOUSOF KHAN
In the Shadow of the Taj An urban renewal project in Kachpura, Agra
• YOUSOF KHAN Meera, being a woman of very few words, however of a precise and calm nature, started to talk to us n the midst of the controversies surrounding about the history of Kachpura as being not too IGhazipur and with Kazim’s life still fresh in our dissimilar to other slums. Poor hygiene and sanitation minds, our next stop was Kachpura, a regenerated due to open-air defecation led to most health village-slum in Agra. Once a small village that faces problems, mostly among pregnant women and the Taj Mahal across the Yamuna River, Kachpura children. comprises 437 homes housing close to 4,000 people. Since the intervention of CURE in 2006 with a As we walked through the monsoon-greened student-led design initiative to implement domestic farmland towards the village led by Radha Mohan, a toilets and a septic tank in the community, health and man working with CURE (Centre for Urban and hygiene have steadily improved. Meera said there are Regional Excellence), we thought to ourselves: can a now 65 homes with toilets in the slum. former slum dwelling, clustered in an area with five The village has a decentralised wastewater other slums change so much six years since the treatment system, which was installed in 2010, installation of household toilets? something that the people are extremely proud of. The We entered the village in search of a woman treated wastewater is used to irrigate the vegetable named Meera Devi, who heads a women’s plots of carrots, onions, potatoes, greens and organisation working on water security for slum mangoes. The village uses groundwater to meet its residents. She was among the first people CURE drinking water needs. Today, Kachpura has become contacted, due to her extensive knowledge about the a tourist attraction for visiting foreigners and Indians. area. As we said our goodbyes, it struck us that the We walked the clean brick-laid streets of the lives of Kazim in Ghazipur (see preceding story) and village, passing excited kids and young men making Meera were not too dissimilar. shoes. As we turned a corner, we saw a petite woman But Kachpura had Meera and the determined standing in the courtyard of her house wearing a blue support of a development organisation to bring sari. It was Meera Devi. in change.
12 thread August 2012 REPORT Conflict of Interests The Mathura IOC refinery uses the lake at a bird sanctuary as a water source for its activities
• ANJALI NAMBISSAN • MAHJABEEN brewing, with the Mathura refinery wildlife warden. of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) The refinery’s water require- he Soor Sarovar Bird drawing out about a foot of water a ments from the lake are more than Sanctuary (SSBS) spanning month from this protected lake. what the lake can provide; the Tan area of 7.97 square Banerjee explains that there refinery authorities in collusion metres is home to over 165 species are associated impacts of this with the irrigation department of birds. The sarovar or lake with operation. “The refinery leaves have constructed an inlet which an area of 2.25 square metres and such a huge ecological footprint, pumps in water into the lake from with a depth ranging from 4 to 8 yet they do not support the nearby sources. metres is dotted with wader bird management of the sanctuary in “It doesn’t matter what kind of nests along the periphery. It any way.” water it is, what time of year or day houses thousands of bird nests The 6 MMTPA refinery was they will pump it in – there’s and roosting sites in the tiny commissioned in 1982, and is absolutely no predictability about islands within it. Located just off located 154 km from Delhi and less that,” says Banerjee. “It has National Highway No. 2, SSBS is than 50 km away from the Taj nothing to do with the amount of listed as an ‘important bird area’. Mahal. Banerjee says the lake was water in the lake.” We meet Sujoy Banerjee, the originally created to supply water The drastic rise in the water deputy conservator of forests. “The to the refinery. However, as more level is detrimental to the birds and area was declared a sanctuary in water birds took to their new other species dependant on the 1991,” he begins. “This is a habitat, the area was declared a lake’s low lying islands. The water peculiarly carved out sanctuary. protected area under the 1972 level can rise up to 3 feet in 10 to There are some private areas Wildlife Protection Act. 12 hours, says Banerjee, which that have been included in Section 28 of the Act disturbs the habitat of the birds the sanctuary, including two specifically prohibits destroying, and turtles. “The nests, eggs and engineering colleges. Where there’s damaging or diverting the habitat young ones – everything gets a natural resource, there are of any wild animal; or diverting, affected,” he says, adding that the conflicts. He recalls the times when stopping or enhancing the flow of water is sometimes polluted or villagers cut trees for firewood. water into or outside the sanctuary carry invasive species, a problem A new conflict may well be except as per a permit by the chief causing further damage. Operating in the fringes of the notorious Chambal region infamous for its dacoits comes with its fair share of risks. Banerjee has survived two attacks and the forest guards and officials are sometimes required to carry weapons. “We’re a very small staff of seven people here. They have to manage the tourists during day time and at night, they have to patrol the lake and the forest areas.” Banerjee is realistic of the PHOTO: YASHMANIAR battles that are still to be won. “There are a lot of issues here. If you sit in the office from morning to evening trying to sort out issues you’d still run out of time.”■
For more information, log on to The Mathura IOC refinery pump house on Soor Sarovar Lake www.soorsarovarbirdsanctuary.in
August 2012 thread 13 COVER STORY
THREAD went looking for, and found complex interconnected issues in the driest state of the country, Rajasthan. Located in the south western part of Udaipur district, Kotra is one of the poorest blocks in the country, where 90% of the population are tribal. Agriculture serves as the primary source of income, though just a small section of the total land is devoted to it due to recurring drought, limited irrigation capacities and lack of labour. Every patch of land has multiple issues – choice of crops, absence of legal system, migration and exploitation. Seva Mandir, a grass root organisation, has been working in Kotra since 1986, supporting ownership for self development at the community level. Udaipur district is a classic example of the development versus conservation debate. Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti (Udaipur Lake Conservation Society) has been working on conservation of lakes in Udaipur suffering under the onslaught of hotels constructed on the embankments, and dumping of industrial and domestic waste. Read on to find out more about the concerns expressed by the resident
PHOTO: WAIMAN TSANG 14 thread August 2012 PHOTO ESSAY
PHOTO: ANJALI NAMBISSAN SlipperySlippery Soap • DENEY CHU • RORY RICHARDSON Pipad village is stuck in a conflict between soapstone miners and local people. Soapstone is valuable to the miners as a carving material and so is the work it provides for some local people. On
PHOTO: YASHMANIAR the other hand mining is ruining the pasture land which acts as the villages watershed.
Seva Mandir’s pastureland in the above photo shows how the landscape used to look on the left, whilst the miners land on the right seems to show utter devastation.
Mining soapstone: No safety equipment whilst drilling the ledge they stand on. PHOTO: YASHMANIAR
Women Perched over the edge of the cliff; overseeing carrying mining operation with next to no safety precautions. mined soapstone to lorries. PHOTO: YASHMANIAR
Dry stone wall seperates mining area and protected pasture land. Still, mining waste is dumped over the other side of the wall.
August 2012 thread 15 COVER STORY
Development Conundrum HZL plays an important economic role, but at the cost of the health of Udai Sagar Lake.
• PRANAV POKHREL is swept by wind to the residents below causing he cost of development is often high, but it is an respiratory problems. Likewise, pollutants from other inevitable process and since the Udaipur industries in the industrial area in Udaipur city pollute Teconomy blossoms under Hindustan Zinc the lake. Recently, Varda Enterprise, a Mumbai based Limited (HZL) stewardship, extraditing HZL from hotel investor, was prevented from continuing Udaipur is beyond speculation. The city of Udaipur now construction of a luxurious hotel in the middle of the flounders in a strange quandary where it benefits from lake. The whole scheme was exposed after 2 years of land and water tax, but pollution and violation of water building and later a petition was filed by the locals rights are damaging the lakes which the people of under flagship of Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti (JSS), an Udaipur have relied on since the founding of the city. organisation working for conservation of lakes of Regarded as one of the largest zinc producers of Udaipur to avert the damage. Despite the government the world, HZL employs 6,742 workers and has annual pouring funds worth Rs 142 crores as an effort to revenue of Rs 10,891 crores, providing the government bulwark the lake administration, the input seems to with a significant amount of tax. Since the company disappear in rat holes existing within the system, started zinc mining in Dariba in 1982 it has always further aggravating the situation. A survey by ministry been searching for cheap water source for zinc refining of water resources in 2010 revealed that 4 surface and has found it in Udai Sagar Lake, one of the major wells, 83 bore wells, 38 dug wells and 1,716 hand sources of water in Udaipur. Constructed between pumps were being used at the time and Udai Sagar 1559-1565, with a capacity of 23.4 contributed a significant amount to million m3 , this lake was built to these water sources: suggesting that ensure adequate water supply to the any activity that threatens the lake people. However, HZL’s activity of HZL has been will not only affect the lake, but also harnessing beyond their allocated illegally“ extracting the water system of Udaipur city. 180 million m3 is diminishing the Brutality of development lake and water availability of 14 million litres coupled with corrupt administration 571,178 residents. HZL claims to has lead to a perplexing situation. A produce 8,79,000 tons of zinc per water every year strange hypothesis could be such year and one tonne of zinc requires ” that the polluter themselves lead to a 60 tonnes of water. According to local solution as hotel investors, marble sources who’ve been involved in conserving the lake businessmen and HZL all require water, but are from pollution, HZL has been illegally extracting 14 mismanaging it. HZL needs cheap water of certain million litres water every year. Also, HZL have been quality and since marble processing units and hotels pumping sulfuric acid rich effluents into the ground are actually reducing the availability and polluting the as part of their waste disposal program, which in water, a mammoth organisation like HZL might future will increase the pollution as the acid corrodes express some resentment against the minnow its way into the lake. adversaries in the future. If groups, such as JSS could A closer look at the elements involved into the capitalise on such contentions, with support of HZL, damaging of Udai Sagar Lake reveals there are more they might be able to fend off the damages from marble culprits involved: Udai Sagar’s grievance is not limited slurry and hotel businesses. In recent years, HZL has to HZL but the lake is also being marred by pollutants also made efforts to rectify its image and claims to from marble processing and hotel businesses. The have influenced 500,000 lives with its Corporate Social marble processing industry deposits its waste slurry Responsibility (CSR) schemes. HZL is concerned over in a small artificial pond, part of Udai Sagar’s Cloud Seeding in Udaipur apparently as a part of their catchment area, which will then feed into to the lake. CSR scheme, but their ulterior motive could be to During the dry seasons, the slurry turns to dust and replenish water in Udaipur for their own use.■
16 thread August 2012 COVER STORY
This is part of the catchment for Udai Sagar Lake. Meant to be a lake according to government plans, the area is covered in slurry from processing raw marble.
PHOTO: ANJALI NAMBISSAN Udaipur’s Lake and PIL Intervention
• ISTIAK AHMED • ALAK SHARMA government lease of land, neighbours priority comes first. In the case of Udaipur it is rare that a piece of land n order to protect the environment, particularly has been leased out by the government to the Iprevent lake water pollution, concerned citizens and neighbours. Therefore, dispute between locals and organisations have taken a number of legal initiatives strangers is a common scenario in Udaipur. However, by way of PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in Rajasthan this leasing procedure of the government has also not High Court. In 1982, Balwant Singh Mehta filed a PIL been challenged by way of PIL. in the High Court of Rajasthan to seek measures to As per the PIL filed in 1982, Rajasthan High Court control lake pollution. In 1997, Praveen Khandelwal, ordered the authority to implement a ‘no-construction representing the Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti (JSS) filed zone’, on Udai Sagar Lake. Court orders have not a PIL in the Supreme Court, seeking urgent judicial been fully implemented. Neither government nor intervention to clean up the lakes in Udaipur, and to business entrepreneurs are willing to fulfill the court check the flow of pollutants into these water bodies. order. "What is the solution if government doesn’t JSS filed another Writ Petition in 1999 to speed up obey the court order?" asks Dr. Anil Mehta of JSS, “we the case. Two more petitions were filed in the High have filed a contempt petition before the court”. But Court. Accordingly judgment came up, which did not illegal construction and pollution analogously see the light of the day. continue in Udaipur’s lakes. Abdul Rahaman vs State of Rajasthan, 2003, was Enforcing decisions, arising out of PIL, should be filed in the Rajasthan High Court emphasising the need the responsibility of all stakeholders concerned. Only a to protect tanks and ponds to enable the people to transparent, accountable government, political parties enjoy a quality life guaranteed under the Constitution and civil society can solve this ambiguity. Accountability of India. Because of these legal efforts Rajasthan High of the state and check and balance between these Court pronounced a land mark judgment for the organs may be the best solution. Pro-people movement prevention of pollution of Udaipur’s water bodies. involvement of political parties and other stakeholders is According to the court order, several measures have of urgent need for a long term solution. Several also been taken, but the situation remains unchanged. environmental groups have been working for Above mentioned PILs have been filed for seeking environment protection in Udaipur but unfortunately it government intervention and appropriate measures. It is not a concern of the local political parties yet. In a is notable that new hotels and private homes are built democratic country, it is theoretically believed that, too close to, and in some cases inside, the lake. These politics is the ultimate solution, because political parties constructions were built on community land and represent the people. Consequently, this issue of government owned land. The legality of the environment and involvement of political parties should constructions have not been challenged. be prioritised. It would become everybody’s concern and How and under what authorities did marble as such, success of PIL depends mostly on that. processing unit owners get permission to process Despite its utility, PIL is sometimes misused, marble in the rain water catchments area? Government abused or overused in some cases. Therefore, and other respective authorities provide licenses to the development process in some cases is disturbed. In marble processing and hotel owners apparently in a many cases sustainable development process for the space where such kinds of constructions and activities interest of the public is also hampered by abuse of are supposed to be illegal as per national and state law. PIL. In these circumstances, there must be a check The legality of these licenses was not challenged. and balance which can prevent the use of PIL to According to the law of the land, in case of a oppose development projects.
August 2012 thread 17 COVER STORY
A Cut Above PHOTO: KHIMANANDA SHARMA Anicuts redefine water management for drought-hit Kotra
• KHIMANANDA SHARMA possible only during the are managed by local people. monsoons, leading to food scarcity The anicuts heralded signi- istorically, it has been for the rest of the year. ficant changes: multiple crops proved that the deve- To improve the water supply could now be cultivated; water Hlopment of the human throughout the year, communties could be used for community civilisation has inherent con- used to construct earthen dams on owned forest and pasture land nections with water management streams, but ironically due to con servation; while the stored and harvesting techniques; our isolated extreme rainfall events, water helped recharge ground- ancestors used trenches and they were soon rendered water aquifers. dug out ponds, while today dysfunctional. In 2000, NGOs such Anicuts also brought in a level dams have become the primary as Seva Mandir got involved in the of awareness and care for natural way of managing lakes and village to bring people together to resource management among watershed. It’s possible to consider help solve their common water communities. water as one of the basic drivers issue. A lot more however remains to for development. Unequal and As discussions within the be accomplished. Of all anicuts in unmanaged consumption of water community members progressed, Kotra block, four to five are in need resources are becoming central people found a singular cause to of urgent repair and maintenance in the environment-development unite behind, water scarcity, and to plug leakages and in need of debate. also discovered a unique solution – catchment maintenance. Efforts Kotra is situated in an area anicuts (small dams). A first step are on to plant trees across the prone to conflicts, social was to create a strong committee, catchment area and creating imbalances between the higher which was followed by raising protected pastures on village castes and tribal communities. It funds and interacting with relevant commonlands. Growing biomass is also marked by high poverty agencies. and construcing trenches to better levels, poor health status, Before 2000, there were channel water flow will only help illiteracy, and in-fighting within the a few water harvesting dams, but improve the catchment. Future community. none were directly managed by plans include desilting the anicut Villagers mainly sustain communities. Today, there are reservoir and extending the water themselves with maize crop more than 20 community- channels, a task that will demand cultivation; however due to constructed anicuts there. Even the joint efforts of the entire environmental constraints this is the ones built by the government community. ■
18 thread August 2012 COVER STORY River Reborn Eco-friendly technologies that brought back to life a highly polluted river PHOTO: ANJALI NAMBISSAN PHOTO: ANJALI • SEWA TRIPATHI Sanrakshan Samiti coordinated with government, urban local ith the lack of effective bodies, community based organi- sewage treatment plan, sations like Maharana Mewar Wenormous amounts of Charitable Foundation, Dr Mohan sewage from the city of Udaipur Sinha Mehta Memorial Trust, and found its way into river Ahar. The Udaipur Chamber of Commerce river runs almost through the and Industry to restore the river centre of Udaipur. A total of 150 under Public Private Partnership. Green bridge: Stones and consortia million liters per day (MLD) sewage The team decides to follow of ecofert water drains into Ahar river every Integrated Water Resource day and foam up to 14 feet high Management (IWRM) and ecofert (coconut fiber), gravel, sand, would rise from the river due to Integrated Lake Base Management rubbles, bacterial culture, plants domestic as well as industrial (ILBM) systems using a technology and shrubs. discharge. The river had become known as Green Bridge Technology In May 2010, river dwelling dead by 2010 with destructive (GBT). GBT is a decentralised organisms started to show up like consequences due to its ground - treatment system that acts as a moina, nitzschia, oscillatoria and water and hydrological connec- catalyst in the natural process of zooplanktons. Fishes, water tions with Udai Sagar Lake. river purification. It has proved to snakes and other aquatic life In 2009, the micro and macro- be superior to conventional Sewage regenerated from the river and organisms present in the water Treatment Plants as it is based on birds started to come around the were tested to underline the state logic of nature, without requiring river. The gases trapped in the river of the water system. The Biological chemicals, machinery, electricity bottom were released and oxygen Oxygen Demand (BOD) was very and hazardous waste generation. took their place. The DO level went high and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Other advantages are the limited up to 8 ppm from 0. was very low. This evidence payback period for the investment The dead river finally came to provides for the pressing need to and the low maintenance which life. Carbon dioxide started coming conserve both Udai Sagar Lake and doesn’t require specialised skills. up instead of methane and the Ganges from the pollution. With the GBT system, the JSS hydrogen sulphide gas which could Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti, a local team tried to reactivate the natural aggravate the climate change NGO in Udaipur headed by former mechanism which was disabled process. The plantations of local Foreign Secretary Padam Bhushan due to excessive tampering with the terrestrial trees done around Ahar Jagat Singh, took the initiative and ecosystem. The locals or the real river also helps in carbon decided to restore Ahar. Jheel stakeholders were brought into the sequestration and take the metals discussion forum from August and other excess nutrients from 2009 and in 63 days the eco- the river. Now, there are organisms technological Green Bridge system present in the river regulating the was developed. The restoration river ecosystem; there is no foul efforts started in January 2010, odor and the foam that used to when the government helped to come from tube wells has lowered. make a road to approach the This successful restoration project site. The local villagers shows how an eco-friendly contributed to the initiative by technology could be used to removing all the invasive water transform a polluted drain into a hyacinth manually. The polythene river. The GBT can be imitated by removed from the river created a other countries or other parts of heap 7 feet tall. An iron sieve was India who have similar problems of laid to trap floating waste, while river pollution as it has no side- PHOTO: ANJALI PHOTO: NAMBISSAN Green Bridges Technology in action loose stone structures of 1 meter effects and imposes no harm on on Ahar river height were made with consortia of the local ecosystem.■
August 2012 thread 19 COVER STORY Turning Waste into Want Compact, hygienic and eco-friendly toilets that generate compost and fertilizer from human waste
• DENEY CHU • RORY RICHARDSON
oilets in Kotra, in one of the poorest blocks in Rajasthan, are basic: a small hole dug in a nearby field and no washing facilities. Open T PHOTO: EVA MANDIR defecation in the close vicinity of houses is vitiating and poses serious health risks. Then there are the risks faced daily by villagers, with snake bites and scorpion stings reportedly common occurances. To help end the scourge of unsafe, unhygenic open defecation, Seva Mandir, a prominent area NGO, has launched initiatives to install eco-sanitation Left - Eco-sanitation toilet shared by family of 11 (eco-san) toilets in several households. Right - Inner chamber of an eco-sanitation toilet Villagers were initially sceptical of having toilets close to living areas. Villagers also had to be taught how incomes of villagers in Kotra. to use and maintain eco-san toilets; for many, it was A basic eco-san toilet costs about Rs 17,500 to the first toilet they had used. A challenge was to help install, of which Rs 5,800 must be paid for by the change behaviour through appropriate communication household. Seva Mandir chips in with a contribution of tools, including posters. Villagers were also worried Rs 5,500 for building materials such as aggregates, about the potential smell from having a toilet so close bricks and concrete, in addition to specialised labour, to home and the cost of eco-san toilets. such as trained masons. Household members chip in An eco-san toilet installed in Patharpadi village (see with unskilled labour to construct the toilets. Funds photo) is being shared by a family of 11. The toilet has are also sourced from the Gram Vikas Kosh (GVK), a three sections each with a specific use. The front tray contributory community village fund in which is used for urine only, which is collected and diverted household contributes Rs 300 each year. to a large container outside. The hole in the centre is for The cost of maintaining the eco-san toilet is fecal matter, while the rear section is to collect the covered by the household in which it has been wastewater generated. installed, which can be a big cost for families. Also, Solid and liquid waste is a good source of safe eco-san toilets cannot be shared between multiple fertiliser. Urine collected and stored for a month is a households, as they would have to share responsibility good source of urea, a fertiliser. The anti-bacterial to maintain the toilet, a potential source of disputes properties of urine-based fertiliser makes it a natural between households. pesticide. Although this toilet with 11 users will never This has happened in Kotra over another fulfil the nutritional needs of the farm, it will at least community asset – the community water well. When reduce the amount of fertiliser that the family would the well needed maintenance, no one came forward to otherwise need to be purchase. take responsibility, and this vital community source Likewise, solid fecal waste is collected for use as remained unusable for a while. manure. Each time solid waste enters the chamber, it Sharing toilets could create additional problems is covered with a thin layer of ash, which helps absorb among households – unequal use of the toilet, any liquid, reduce odour and aerobically decompose maintainence and even fights over where the toilet is to the solid waste. Once the chamber has been filled, be located. charcoal is added, which further helps decompose The introduction of eco-san toilets in Kotra has feces. been a moderate success, which could hopefully This decomposition process takes about six spread to other rural villages. Families that install eco- months, which is why the eco-san toilet has two san toilets benefit from cleaner surroundings, turning chambers; the other chamber is used when one is full. waste into want and improve personal hygiene. A Although subsidised by Seva Mandir, these toilets are family who owns an eco-san toilet said that amongst not free for the villagers. Cost is clearly a main the villagers, they had gained some popularity by consideration when installing the toilet, given the low owning this strange device.■
20 thread August 2012 COVER STORY Cultivating Controversy Easy money moves farmers away from subsistence to cash crops such as genetically modified Bt cotton
• STEPHANIE DAVIES • YUKI NORITAKE them with a profit of Rs 65,000. Previously, he, along with his Simple math shows the Bt cotton family, was forced to migrate armers in Kotra routinely farmer earns about 14 times more across the nearby border into face a dilemma: whether than the traditional subsistence Gujarat to work as unskilled Fto choose genetically engi- farmer. labour, usually for a month or two neered (GM) Bt cotton, a ‘wonder Simple input-output calcula- at a time. Payment of wages was crop’ with high yields and high tions however are misleading. Bt never guaranteed. input costs and high risks, or to cotton tends to be much more There was some chuckling sow the more reliable maize, which labour-intensive than maize amongst the farmers when they guarantees food but little or no cultivation. Many farmers hire spoke of working on Bt cotton income. Many have switched to Bt labour from outside the state. Also, plantations in Gujarat, and cotton from subsistence varieties. in dry Rajasthan, irrigation for bringing the seeds and knowledge The differences – cost of agricultre is overwhelmingly back with them to Rajasthan. In seed, agrochemicals and labour dependant on groundwater – up to many ways, Bt cotton has between the two is startling. Bt 70 per cent, as compared to the empowered them, saving them cotton seeds for instance cost 125 India average of 55 per cent. Bt from having to migrate in search of times the price of corn – the going cotton farmers pay up to Rs 1,000 unskilled manual labour. rate for Bt cotton in Kotra is Rs in electricty charges alone to The switch to Bt cotton has 4,500 per kg, while maize costs a irrigate their land. These costs are given Nandlal and several other palry Rs 20, and is locally set to rise with the plunging area farmers more income. Few available. groundwater table that will however seem to be Likewise, while a increase energy costs for aware of long-term Bt cotton farmer with pumping groundater implications of Bt one bigha of land from greater cotton cultivation. (roughly a quarter of Apart from pote- a hectare) needs ntial health to spend about hazards from pro- Rs 3,850 for agro- longed exposure to chemical inputs such copious amounts of as DAP fertilizer, urea agrochemicals, farmers and pesticides, a are oblivious to how the farmer cultivating crop leeches nutrients maize on the same from the soil. It was amount of land is likely to spend a depths. Maize cultivation on the only after a year’s cultivation of mere Rs 360 on agrochemical other hand is mainly rain-fed, cotton that they attempted to grow inputs. which is also put at risk if the maize on the same land, only for it At point of sale, the difference annual monsoon fails. to fail. of the proceeds between the two is Before Nandlal, a farmer in Nandlal is unfazed by the more marked. Maize farmers Kotra, began cultivating Bt cotton, crop’s high demand for water. He spend approximately Rs 2,500 to he grew only maize. Maize also plans to dig more wells in the 2,600 and earn Rs 5,000 in one ensured food at the table for his surrounding area, but admits that season, netting a profit of Rs 2,400 family. Now, as Bt cotton gives in the stifling summer months the to 2,500. higher returns, he is able to existing wells usually dry up. By contrast, Bt cotton farmers cultivate some small plots of wheat Somewhat aware of the risks, earn handsomely, by some and lentils at the end of the six- Nandlal is willing to take the estimates up to Rs 100,000, while month cotton season, and have plunge. Cash from cotton trumps they spend about Rs 35,000 in enough left over to purchase a subsistence farming, at least one season (6 months), leaving variety of other foodstuffs. for now. ■
August 2012 thread 21 COVER STORY RuralRural ResurgenceResurgence AA schemescheme employsemploys unskilledunskilled labourlabour toto createcreate communitycommunity assetsassets PHOTO:KHAN YOUSOF
• RADHIKA GOEL However, it also faces serious Himanshu Shekhar of Seva challenges. Newspaper reports Mandir, a prominent Udaipur- ike any other typical Indian chronicle the uneven imple- based NGO that is regenerating village, people in Kotra mentation of the scheme. In 2010, five pastureland sites as part of Lsurvive on agricultural land the national daily Indian Express the scheme in Kotra block. Ten and livestock. But the geographical reported MGNREGA workers were other sites are being directly setting of this region aggravates paid Rs 1 a day in Gudlia village developed by the government. the abject condition of people here. in Tonk district in Rajasthan. The Seva Mandir sites in By ensuring 100 days of Following such shocking mal- Dhingawarikala and Thep villages employment ‘on demand’ to every practices, Suchna Evum Rozgar Ka are spread over 33 hectares rural household, the Mahatma Adhikar Abhiyan was launched by of village commonlands; each Gandhi National Rural Emp- social activists Aruna Roy and employs 45 villagers who are paid loyment Guarantee Act Nikhil Dey against this gross wages ranging from Rs 100-140 (MGNREGA), 2005, has an violation of the Minimum Wages daily. Women comprise 66 per cent ambitious ambit – increase rural Act. With the support of several of the workforce. wages, reduce distress migration, Rajasthan villages, including “We first build boundary walls. make tired lands productive, Khaiwara, Kotra and Jhadole in As this is rocky land and soil is and empower marginalised Udaipur district, the activists loosely packed so we build small communities in the bargain. The pressured the government to walls and check-dams to hold the scheme accounts for 46 per cent of look into the scheme’s mis- water. Then we dig pits and the total budget of the ministry of management. trenches to grow grass and plants. rural development. “MGNREGA sites run by After a few months this land turns MGNREGA aims to improve government are very unorganised. green and becomes ready as rural livelihoods on a sustained At government sites, a Gram pastureland,” explains Singha basis creating durable assets, Rojgar Sahayak has to monitor Ram, a 48-year-old village improving water security, soil and manage a group of 5 to 6 committee head and an MGNREGA conservation and increase overall villages, which breeds inefficiency, worker. “We have now dug 5,500 land productivity. It tends to be while the structures built by them pits for growing different plants more socially inclusive by involving are unsound and there is no time like jamun, neem, kanji and women, Scheduled Castes and management so wages earned were shravan which we get from the Scheduled Tribes. around Rs 60 per day,” said forest department, using the
22 thread August 2012 COVER STORY budget approved by panchayat Vikas Kosh (village development home, leaving our children and samiti (council of villages). fund), which is used to build a wives behind. Being employed in Payments are disbursed through community assets. unorganised sector we have no say the post office, and Seva Mandir “We usually go to other – we are often exploited and made helps if we are not paid on time”, villages like Palanpur, Khed- to do dangerous work with no he said. Villagers also deposit 10 burma, Shivganj, or Sirohi that security of life, against which per cent of their wages in a Gram are 50-70 km away from our we couldn’t even protest. As work at MGNREGA sites has become more organised and pays more than what we got in Gujarat, we are able to take better care of our families, animals and fields here,” says Keshav, worker at a MGNREGA site. “Skilled artists still migrate to other villages and are paid Rs 250-300 per day, but unskilled labours prefer working at home under NREGA”. Laxmi, in-charge of ferrying drinking water to the workers at the Thep site, is paid Rs 119 per PHOTO:KHAN YOUSOF day. She told us that she used to only do household work, but now has additional income. Women who used to remain at home or work on their family land now have additional employment - around 66 per cent of workers at The scheme has helped rural women, such as Laxmi in Thep, increase incomes Thep site are women. ■
Mautana – Then & Now Meant for protecting women against exploitation, it’s now reduced to a farce
nce a community-imposed penalty to protect enough to pay the mautana. Owomen from abuse and violence, mautana, a Mautana is mandated, indeed driven by the jati customary form of ‘compensation’ prevalent in the panchayat, or caste council that is locally more tribal Kotra block in Udaipur district in Rajasthan, powerful than the gram sabha (village council) or the has transformed into a tool to extract easy money. officially elected panchayat. Some cases are truly phantasmagorical: A thief The jati panchayat’s customary rules of fairplay is caught and jailed for three years while attempting and liability have dissolved, and today even two or to burgle the home of a villager that was hosting a three people together can appoint themselves as jati police inspector. Upon his release, he demands panchayats to decide on the amount and severity of mautana from his intended victim. The argument? the terms under which mautana is to be paid to the That he was caught by the police inspector being ‘victim’ in any situation. hosted by the villager. The practice is so widespread, and insti- In some cases, the entire village is held liable. In tutionalised, that it has many worried. Of the 2001, two men – one from the groom’s side from mautana payouts, 10 per cent is reserved for jati village Verakatra and the other from the bride’s side panchayat members, up to 15 per cent finds its way from village Saandhmaria – killed each other in a to the local police. Jati panchayat members drunken brawl. It was decided that the host village, reportedly sit around all day scouting for mautana in this case the bride’s village, was liable, and had cases to earn an easy buck. Local police want locals to pay a whopping Rs. 900,000. When they refused to settle cases by themselves. Sewa Mandir, a to pay, their livestock was slaughtered and homes prominent NGO active in the region, has intervened, raided. Villagers fled Saandhmaria, and returned even if gingerly, and was able to negotiate and reach after a decade, and only when they had earned settlement in few cases without mautana.
August 2012 thread 23 COVER STORY The Invisible Workforce Many of us walk or drive pass them every day, but the general population are blind to the mass migrants sleeping on the rails tracks and roadside. This ‘invisible workforce’ contributes to 10% of India’s GDP, yet they are poorly treated and their welfare ignored. Why is there such an influx of migrant workers and what is being done to support them?
over 11 million children under the age of 14 are working in India.
Problems faced by migrants Prospects faced by migrants looking for work are grim with constant competition for unskilled labour. When there is no immediate work, migrants often live in open • WAIMAN TSANG passed in 1979 aimed to regulate fields or near rail tracks and wait and register employment of inter- for job opportunities. With little to ajasthan, the largest state state workers, however a data no education the main jobs open to of India and the driest, of request done by Ajeevika Bureau, them are usually in agriculture, Rwhich the Thar Desert an organisation that supports mining, construction, brick kilns or makes up 40% of land area, mainly struggling migrants, showed that as loaders and porters – all with thrives on forest produce, animal no one in Rajasthan was registered associated health risks. As the husbandry and agriculture. With as a migrant. physical labour takes its toll, the arrival of piped water directly migrants involuntarily retire at an to homes, people have almost Why migrate? early age. forgotten the traditional art of It is common practice for Seen as outsiders, migrants water harvesting. Suffering over 40 agriculture workers to migrate are taken advantage of by droughts in the past 60 years has seasonally during lean periods employers who pay less than increased dependency on (April–June and January–March), promised or late wages. Unlike the groundwater. As the groundwater moving to urban areas either inter- locals, migrants are usually paid depletes to a critical level, or intra-state in search of labour for the actual work done, thereby agricultural workers are forced to work. working harder and much longer. migrate. Kotra, is notorious for being a Once they cross state borders Migration is reported as high dangerous area. In an interview migrants and their families lose as 64% in south Rajasthan. As one with Himanshu Sekhar (member of many entitlements. For Rajasthan, of the least developed states where the Natural Resources Deve- migration is male dominated and tribes dominate, low literacy levels lopment team at Seva Mandir), he the family left behind faces social, and economic development rate highlighted that better job cultural and economic problems. persists, migration is an opportunities and wages as well as In a 2006 study by Ajeevika, established coping mechanism for tribal conflicts and the Mautana women reported loneliness and the rural poor to survive. A well system contribute to migration. lack of emotional and psycho- known saying in Rajasthan is (See story on page 23) logical support. Women also faced “pass kare toh zindabad, pass nahi Child labour migration is also increasing household and farm toh Ahmedabad” (if you pass on the increase; main reasons work, taking care of the children exams, its hurray, if you fail you being poverty, lack of agriculture and face difficulties in securing can always migrate to Ahmedabad facilities and uninteresting school loans, which in turn cause child – largest city in Gujarat – to work). atmosphere with arduous exams. morbidity as families lack funds to The Inter State Workmen Act According to a Seva Mandir study, deal with emergencies, such as
24 thread August 2012 COVER STORY
guarantees 100 days of paid employment each year for rural households, which has both positives and negatives. (See story on page 22) An evaluation of the scheme in 2009 found that in almost all regions migration still took place to a large extent. There were also issues in its implementation such as late payment of wages, work was not allocated within the 15 days stipulated timeframe nor PHOTO: WAIMAN TSANG paid unemployment allowance. A significant proportion also expressed that the “the Gram Panchayat did not take any measures to create sustainable assets to generate wage employment within the village”. Migrants on the streets of Delhi To what end illnesses. sector to improve working Whilst India has focused on its Identity loss is another issue conditions and general welfare. social and economic development, for children that choose to work, However, a recent article by the pouring money and resources or are brought along during Indian Express reported that for investment into cities, rural migration. ID cards are not Gujarat spent only 0.21% of the regions where 80% of the issued to those under 18 and funds collected and is lagging population resides has been consequently face more scrutiny behind other states in registering neglected. Distress migration and penalisation. During the workers. has accelerated the rate of Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2009, In light of all these distress urbanisation, along with the jump countless innocent migrants were factors forcing involuntary in squatters and slums. detained – without ID cards and migration, the National Rural Potential for improving land not registered as workers, they just Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 and livestock-based economic couldn’t prove what they were (NREGA) was passed with the aim activities in rural areas such as doing there. to arrest the out-migration. It Rajasthan remains limited. When agricultural activity is only possible What is being done? Major migration routes for half the year, the logical option In 2001, 30% of India’s population in India, 1991-2001 would be development of the rural were internal migrants – 37% infrastructure to promote economic increase from 1991 figures. prospects. Internal migration in India is now Whilst organisations such as recognised as part of the social Ajeevika advocate an easier and economic reality which has long better migration journey via been practised in different forms various initiatives, the root of by different classes, but little has economic under-development of been done by the government to poor areas needs to be addressed. improve their livelihoods. Policies and regulations started The Indian government is still with good intention need better struggling to provide adequate planning and management, as well social protection schemes to its More than 300 as proper implementation and citizens, least of all to the 200 – 300 enforcement. At a time when India ‘undesirable’ migrant population. 100 – 200 is seen as the next superpower, the The Building and Other government should begin seriously Construction Act 1996 was passed attacking the issues of poverty of to help one of the most vulnerable villages and create sustainable segments of the unorganised Figures in thousands, Source: Ajeevika Bureau employment.■
August 2012 thread 25 PUZZLES
problem A family of six live in a house in New Delhi. Each member of the family requires at least 135 L of water per day. The house is not connected to the mains water supply so the family rely on rain water harvesting. The whole year’s supply is stored in the tank 1. What is the required capacity of this tank in m3? anagrams The average annual rainfall in New Delhi is 714 ml. 50% of the catchment area is rooftop which absorbs 20% of water quiet inlay (10) on it, 40% is grass which absorbs 80% and the remaining 10% is paved which absorbs 30%, nicer ration (11) 2. What is the required total area of the property to provide each camel ting (7,6) sufficient water to the family ? a bad elements vile unstop (11,11) 3. What are the areas of each respective catchment area in the a faecal belch length one (9,2,3,7) property? 4. How much rainfall is absorbed and therefore not collected in the tank? In New Delhi properties over 223 m2 must harvest rain water, 5. Are this family legally obliged to do so?
crossword across 1 Reserve of crop varieties (4, 4) 5 local elected governance system (9) 10 International climate change agreement adopted in 1997 (5) 11 Replenishing ground water in the context of RWH (10)
down 2 Environmentally sustainable poo treatment and disposal (3-10) 3 Catchment area of rivers and lakes (9) 4 Genetically modified cash crop grown throughout India (2, 6) 6 ____water: term used to describe water carrying urine (6) 7 Activity with highest water usage in the countryside (10) 8 ____water: Term used to describe water carrying solid waste (5) 9 Marble waste product being dumped by processors in
Udaipur (6)
: 2 Eco-sanitation, 3 Watershed, 4 Bt Cotton, 6 Yellow, 7 Irrigation, 8 Black, 9 Slurry 9 Black, 8 Irrigation, 7 Yellow, 6 Cotton, Bt 4 Watershed, 3 Eco-sanitation, 2 : Down
1 Seed bank, 5 Panchayat, 10 Kyoto, 11 Recharging Recharging 11 Kyoto, 10 Panchayat, 5 bank, Seed 1 Across: Across:
Crossword
: Inequality, Incinerator, climate change, sustainable development, challenge of the balance the of challenge development, sustainable change, climate Incinerator, Inequality, : Anagrams
over the limit. the over m 589 are They 5. litres, 284118 4. , m 8 = paved , m 325 = lawn , m 406 = Roof 3. , m 812 2. :1. 295.65 m 295.65 :1. Problem
2 2 2 2 2 3 Solutions:
26 thread August 2012 QUOTES
Says Who / Say What
“The unfortunate effect of globalisation is that you surrender your identity and adopt an identity that is one. It kills diversity.” — Richard Mahapatra, Senior Editor, Down To Earth
“We imagine forests to be without governments. There are hardly any forest areas in the world without governments.” — Shankar Gopalakrishnan,Secretary, Campaign for Survival and Dignity
“Somehow the word variability falls out of use in climate change debates. It’s climate variability that affects people’s food security.” — Rajeswari Raina, National Institute of Science & Technology
“Obama came, Obama saw, Obama ****ed off.” — Pratap Pandey, journalist and writer
“If you start to discuss the methodology of how the poverty line came about, you’ll be talking for 3 or 4 days.” — Dr Sidhartha Agarwal, Executive Director, Urban Health Resource Centre
August 2012 thread 27