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Ownership blip in the Swachh Bharat dream: Martyred without glory

Posted by Sulagna Chattopadhyay on June 5, 2017 at 9:11am

June 5: World Environment Day Vs the Swachh Bharat dream

This World Environment Day, let us applaud Ravinder Kumar’s matrydom and seek the strongest of punishment for the prime accused and his misguided aides.
I wonder how we are different, really. Ravinder Kumar in one unfortunate moment believed. Believed he could ‘be the change’, the change that can better, the nation he perhaps loved. So often we, the better educated have cringed, scrunched up our collective noses, and walked on. When the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was stamped upon the nation on October 2, 2014, leaders jostled each other for headline space – outshining each other to show how committed they were. In addition, everyone, from the media to myriad bigwigs aired their pledge to the cause with élan. It had the commoners believe that by 2019 India indeed would suddenly turn open-defecation free. Yes, Ravinder Kumar believed.

Ravinder Kumar did not belong to the army, he was not a politician, nor was he a bureaucrat. He was a nobody. The incident took place at 8:30 pm on May 27, 2017, when the 32 year old e-rickshaw driver objected to two persons urinating publicly near the GTB Metro Station, New Delhi, indicating that they use the nearby public toilet – just a stone’s throw away. The request soon turned into an argument with the infuriated men threatening him with dire consequences. Soon they came back with 15-20 men, beat up Ravinder Kumar, fled, leaving the young victim to succumb to his injuries. End of story.   

Newspapers printed the incident, social media reacted about the lack of human empathy in its sporadic way, and stalwart politicians at the helm from Prime Minister Modi to Venkaiah Naidu routinely condemned the incident and threw in promises to book the criminals and offered a few lakhs in compensation to soften the blow for his pregnant wife. 
But, the projected cost of INR 1.96 lakh crore for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may just as well be a waste if civil society stops believing in it. 12 million toilets or otherwise, we still would be a stinking nation full of brats who think it is fine to beat up and kill a poor man who stood up to do something for his nation.

While I congratulate Aasheesh Sharma, Deputy Editor, Hindustan Times for taking up the cause, I urge civil society to demand for a greater visibility of Ravinder Kumar’s sacrifice. A life dedicated to the nation should not be dismissed so easily.

We are celebrating World Environment Day on June 5 – faceless and nameless festivities from various quarters are going to mark the event.
Is there no relationship between caring for the environment and the Swachh Bharat dream? Isn’t cleanliness intrinsic to nature? I believe that Ravinder Kumar should become the face of a movement that seeks public participation at the core. The outrage should be fuelled and propelled by all of us by demanding the fastest and most public punishment for those accused – to make sure that no one comes in the way of a common man and his nation.
geographyandyou.com
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International Day of Yoga - 21st June, 2016

Posted by Surojit Gupta on June 20, 2016 at 5:51am

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21st June has been declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Yoga. We know that the regular practice of Yoga can help cure several ailments and sustain physical and mental well-being ! But, apart from improving health,Yoga can also help in conserving the Environment! Because, the practise of Yoga "awaken" people to their interdependence with Nature - and their desire to preserve it becomes expectedly spontaneous. Check out : http://greeniesglobe.com/green-living-natural-fitness.html

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World Environment Day - June 5th, 2016

Posted by Surojit Gupta on June 4, 2016 at 2:38pm

3839120846?profile=originalJune 5th, 2016 is "World Environment Day" ! The theme this year is "fighting against the illegal trade in wildlife"  that is driving several species to the brink of extinction - upsetting ecosystems and economies! The environment is everyone's concern - so much so that no one can afford to say "it's not my business"!

Read through this report :http://greeniesglobe.com/world-environment-day.html

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Calling for beauty with brains: India’s reformed environment programme

Posted by Sulagna Chattopadhyay on June 5, 2014 at 2:47am
Today we wake, deliberate, hang our heads in shame and then stick it back into the metaphoric sand for the next call, a year hence. We, the feather buddies with an environmental itch, brace ourselves for a lifetime of exasperation. We are convinced that policy makers do not believe in environment protection, for themselves or for the masses. But, this one time, my hopes soar that despite being relegated under a dual charge, deigned as undermining of the importance of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, acche din ayenge.
I believe that the Ministry of Environment should be disassociated from the Forests (presently MoEF). Both domains are vast areas of work. Forests have issues that relate to livelihoods and are better placed as a subject of rural development. The ‘Union Forests’ outfit can act as an international agency or a regulatory body and establish norms and rewards to be meted out, such as mandating a minimum 33 per cent green cover in every state. The Ministry of Environment could then evolve as a scientific body from its present semi-scientific avatar and build its core around research related to air, water and soil pollution to provide policy directions, holding states responsible for faulty execution. Today, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is nothing but a rudderless organization. Not only is it unable to crack down on defaulting units, it can barely throw up data, even several years old, on easily measurable parameters such as air quality status of cities around the nation. The Delhi-Beijing air quality comparison unfolded this winter, with Indian scientists tumbling over themselves, in an effort to prove that Delhi’s air quality is ‘bad’ or ‘not-so-bad’ or ‘better than so-and-so country’ and so - till the media decided to end it all by withdrawing printing space. But, is real-time online data, 24x7 on every city of India not a possibility? For all we know, Kanpur could be 20 times worse than Delhi! I can hope that once a powerful Union Environment Ministry is created, with CPCB being in sole charge of measuring and making real-time data available to the nation, a true clean-up act will commence. And once the CPCB enables data transparency at macro and micro-level, the ‘knowledge is power’ portal will be a veritable Mecca for the concerned masses. With a new government that mandates the cleaning of the rivers, surely cleaning of the soil and the groundwater of the nation also holds resonance.
Then again are the duplicating efforts of each scientific Ministry.  Climate change concerns are tackled by the Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Earth Sciences and MoEF with cells performing at varied levels in all these fund-rich bastions. Currently, air quality measurements, with ‘my-daddy-strongest’ undertones is doing its inter-ministerial rounds. I hold the Prime Minister's words very close to my heart when he says that he would always be there for all of us – the 125 crore Indians. I am sure he will find it within himself to include the Godavari, the Ganga of the south; the Cauvery;the dying Adyar and many other rivers in his agenda of river cleaning, rechristening ‘Water Resource and Ganga Cleaning’ as ‘Ministry for Surface Water’. The ground water and all its complexities can be dealt with by a Groundwater Ministry with the database and research being thrown up by the present Central Ground Water Board. For a nation that is desperately trying to control inflation, dubious spending on similar subjects seems to be, mildly put, superfluous. 
Speaking of scientific ministries, one may encounter especially talented individuals, wilting within the conundrum of administrative charge. What astounds me is why scientific ministries, which include environment, should see India’s scarce and far between scientists being wasted at the altar of administration, 'processing' files. Surely able officers that spend many formative years in preparing for competitive examinations (a well-defined industry in this country) to serve administratively can be assigned scientific responsibilities – with scientific consultations of course, if and when required.  Scientists should do science – period.
 
And yes, the effects of pollution are insidious, difficult to quantify and debatable. From mere lethargy to serious ailment, man-hours lost are barely comprehended let alone computed. The World Health Organization and many allied international agencies point towards a high number of respiratory and heart related ailments in India that are directly ascribable to pollution – which together reportedly kills the highest number of Indians. The Prime Minister, I am sure would understand that it is no fun ruling over a disintegrating lot of sicklings who would be ever-absent from duty.
In sum, strengthening a new and improved Ministry of Environment; singling out three or four foremost areas for environmental battle ground within an ascribed time period; bringing in transparency in basic air-water-soil quality data; and, enlisting the help of science in problem solving may lead to the salvation of our health-compromised masses.
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Join us for a Tweet Chat on World Environment Day

Posted by Jayashree Rukhaiyar on June 4, 2013 at 6:04am

Social innovation has been hard at work, devising and applying creative ideas to solve development issues.

 

Enterprises like Businesses like Claro Energy are using solar panels to power tube wells. Similarly, businesses like Barefoot Power are lighting up huts with solar lamps and enabling children to complete their homework while the likes of Avani Bio Energy are creating energy out of pine needles.

 

In this elite company are also other inspired Indian startups that cater to low-income communities like Indian Wildlife Club, Drishti Eyecare, Daily Dump and Grow Trees - all a part of the growing Ennovent Network.

 

This world environment day, let’s all get together and discuss this:

 

How can private enterprise promote renewable energy practices?

Ennovent and Sankalp Forum come together to host a tweetchat. Discussions will collaboratively discover:

-Innovative renewable practices that participants have encountered

-The customer-side challenges that are holding innovative social enterprises from reaching scale

-What we can all do at an individual level to introduce renewable practices in our day to day lives

 

Details of the TweetChat:

When: June 5, 2013, 2PM – 3PM IST

Where: http://tweetchat.com/room/1earth

How a Twitter chat works:

You can join the Twitter chat anytime using your Twitter account. If you aren’t on Twitter yet, visit twitter.com to sign up. Registration is quick and free.

 

Here are a few simple steps to join the conversation:

-  Visit TweetChat at www.tweetchat.com

-  Click on “sign in,” and enter your Twitter account name and password. Authorize TweetChat by clicking on “authorize app” when prompted

-  In the box marked “enter hashtag to follow,” type #1earth

-  Click “Go” and join the conversation!

 

We look forward to seeing you at the Twitter Chat! Once the chat is over, you can also consider joining the Ennovent Network – a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and experts that collaboratively aim to accelerate innovations for sustainability in low-income markets.

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