Subscriber’s copy Cover story IndiaIndiaIndiaIndia shiningshiningshiningshining Darryl D’Monte on the crumbling infrastructure in Mumbai Pankaj Sekhsaria’s Take on the river Yamuna R K Pachauri on the stupendous growth of TERI and the way ahead 04 INR 50 USD 9.99 CAD 10.99 0762825 27834 LookingLooking BackBack toto changechange tracktrack Ever wondered, What is the extent of environmental damage in India since Independence? How many billions has the damage cost us? What are the causes and what can be done to reverse the degradation? More questions than answers! Looking back to change track renews the assessment of India’s management of the country’s key natural resources. The title explains that while in some cases irreparable loss to the environment has occurred, in others, there still remains time to halt, reverse, and minimize the damage. Released by Prof Amartya Sen in Bangalore, the book was presented to Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, at the launch of India Council of Sustainable Development in January 2007. p The title assesses the damage and offers remedial Year: 2007 action on the following sectors: 20.5 x 25 cm; 147p Hardback Air ISBN: 81-7993-104-8 Water Cover price: Rs 650.00 / US $50.00 Solid Waste Management Forests Biodiversity A must have for all policy-makers and policy changers alike, the set of three publications also articulates the urgency to initiate change before it is too late to change track. GREEN (Growth with Resource Enhancement of Environment and Energy) India 2047 is one of TERI’s most ambitious projects. Initiated to address India’s energy and environmental issues, it seeks to conceptualize a green and sustainable future in the next fifty years, after studying the policies and programmes that shaped its first fifty years of independence. All orders and enquiries to TERI Press The Energy and Resources Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 Institute Fax 2468 2144 or 2468 2145 Darbari Seth Block India +91 • Delhi (0) 11 IHC Complex, Lodhi Road E-mail [email protected] New Delhi – 110 003 http://bookstore.teriin.org From the editor’s desk A number of incidents have been reported in recent months, which provide a strong indication of the damage that human beings are inflicting on the ecosystems that make up the earth. Just towards the end of December 2006, a news report described the vanishing of the Lohachara Island in the Sundarbans in India. The same report reminded its readers that eight years ago an uninhabited island in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati vanished beneath the waves. On 30 December 2006, another report highlighted the findings of a prominent scientist’s study of the Arctic region in Canada about the sliding of a large sheet of ice from the northern part of that country as a result of climate change. While scientific evidence is growing on the multiple impacts of climate change round the world, it is heartening that awareness on this subject has grown substantially in recent times, as a result of which the media finds it relevant to report on these incidents, since they address the concerns of readers worldwide. Perhaps these trends provide hope that the human race might actually bring about significant changes to create solutions that could solve the growing and critical problems of this planet created by past patterns of growth and development. Climate change is only one aspect of the deviation that our past patterns of development have been from what would constitute a sustainable approach. While leaders of several faiths have throughout history highlighted the importance of human beings living in harmony with nature, the drive towards greater and greater material consumption has blinded human society to the impacts our actions could have on the very basic life-support systems that have served all life forms for thousands of years. Now that science and the spread of knowledge reveals in precise detail and with high level of certainty the various problems that we have created for the earth’s ecosystems, it is time for us to bring about shifts that would restore as early as possible, at least to a reasonable extent, the balance that we have destroyed in the past. There would, of course, be several voices of opposition and interest groups that would fight any such shift in development paradigms, but if we are to ensure the sustenance of all forms of life, our choices are very limited. These choices do not necessarily mean a retreat to living in caves or a return to a pastoral form of existence, but they essentially call for development and use of new technologies and changes in our behavioural patterns so as to utilize our natural resources efficiently and act towards their regeneration by purposeful action. The world today has enough intellectual and technological capital to bring about such shifts, but a prerequisite would be the articulation of such goals as part of national and international actions. As TERI celebrates 25 years of its existence in Delhi as a research institute, these issues appear stronger, larger, and more relevant to our endeavours. Hence, the year 2007 provides a unique opportunity for this institution to re-dedicate itself to the larger goal of devising means and initiating action for human society to attain a path of sustainable development. R K Pachauri Director-General, TER I MailboxMailbox Managing Editor R K Pachauri Editorial Board I am a grateful subscriber to TerraGreen, Leena Srivastava R K Batra the work of which is crucial to human Rajiv Seth survival. Keep up the good work! Editorial Team Roshni Sengupta Sucharita Sengupta Subrat Kumar Sahu Jeff Knaebel Design/Illustration Social activist Tamal Basu Pune Production T Radhakrishnan R Ajith Kumar The cover story comes at a very Marketing & Distribution pertinent hour. Even in international Aarti Khosla Sandeep Sood politics, war is not only about power Prema Mahadevan tilts, but also development and ...................................................... Distributors Domestic environment costs. From damage to the CNA, New Delhi environment, there will soon be a shift International News Service Mumbai Overseas of trend to wars over the environment. For North America and Canada Disticor Magazine Distribution Services Water riots are already occurring right 695 Westney Road South Suite 14 here in Delhi on a fairly regular basis. Ajax,Ontario Yet, people and the government are not Canada L1S 6M9 Head Office viewing them as something deeper than TERI a law and order situation. Its high time TERI Press Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex magazines such as yours bring these Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 I find TerraGreen very informative. Tel. +91 (11) 2468 2100 or 2468 2111 matters to the larger public in the right Fax +91 (11) 2468 2144 or 2468 2145 perspective. However, I would like to see some stories Regional Centres on the water issue. Southern Regional Centre TERI,CASiteNo.2 Arun Vishwanathan 4th Main, 2nd Stage Domlur Shaju Peter Bangalore – 560 071 Research scholar E-mail [email protected] Panchkula North-Eastern Regional Centre Jawaharlal Nehru University TERI, 503 Orion Towers Christian Basti,GSRoad New Delhi Guwahati – 781 005 TerraGreen has been an eye-opener of sorts. Western Regional Centre Hope you can keep it up for more time to TERI Radio empowering people! Hope floats. F-9, La Marvel Colony come! Dona Paula Please accept my congratulations on Panaji – 403 004 (Goa) publishing the story. In future, I would E-mail [email protected] Manzoor Ali Affiliate Institutes really like to see several such stories Research Scholar TERI NorthAmerica appear in TerraGreen. 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All rights reserved. http://www.teriin.org/terragreen CONTENTS News ................................... 4 Features.............................. 9 • Eyeing the fish • Cleaning up the waste • Solving India’s energy, water, and environmental challenges • Pushing the applecart In Conversation...............20 COVER STORY Debate.................................36 India shining • Should business have social responsibility? India shining • Does business walk the CSR talk in India? Special Reports..................40 • The sea is rushing in: will the Sundarbans survive? • After the deluge Comments...........................45 >> page 24 • Emissions trading: taking giant steps • Go organic! • Regrowing the forest People Power................... 54 • Making sense of nature, Finger prints the Sanskriti way >> page34 Book Reviews........................58 • Catastrophe awaits • The big fat conservation crisis Breakthroughs...................60 COVER PHOTO : BHASKAR HAZARIKA NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NE China cracks down on Kite festival fatally United to prevent herb species, and only 600 are polluting power injures birds extinction left in India.