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J&K Eco-Developmental Movement: An Undertaking in Limbo || By Bhushan Parimoo || LIVE IMAGE |
Child is the father of the Nation quoted
often whenever need arises ,aptly said. Overheard, my granddaughter from
the class 4 th, was conducting a mock tuition
classes over the net the other day. Children these days are confined to four
walls in absence of schooling thus dabbling in such like activities. Expressing
on cell to someone not to scold for mistake it shall discourage, one learns
from mistakes. It was pleasing to hear how wise of a child. These words remind
me of an entry penned in the daily diary by this writer
during tenth class .To err is human, no doubt but one who commits the same
mistake repeatedly, refuses to learn from it, doesn’t deserve Divine
Forgiveness. How relevant it became when a few mores skeletons
tumbled out from the one of the cupboards of the Forests
department.
Which makes the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote
Sensing, JK to fall in this category .Who takes for
granted these misadventures at the cost of the exchequer,
hence should have been made to pay .But that is not to be so , the spirit
of camaraderie save one and another at the cost of
ruining the Environment to the hilt. After 73 years of the post independence, a
simple demand has come up with fire and fury , that enough is
enough ,no more fooling, leave improvement aside, just return in
the shame shape and condition the Forest which were entrusted to
it to preserve, protect and improve but failed. Fiddling with the Forests
got laid bare, in December 1996, when the Supreme Court, went through the
status of Indian Forests, by the three judges bench headed by late chief
justice J.S. Verma.
Until then the Forest Department kept the country in the
rosy picture on the deceit. Forest policy enunciates that the hills
in the country should have forest cover 66% and plains 45%, but it was not so,
as the status report prepared by the Environment Awareness Forum, NGO,on the
direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in the Civil Writ Petition ,No 171/96
title Environment Awareness Forum V/S J&K & others, which is
still on , rather one of the longest Writ petitions about the Environment
under review in the country or elsewhere . just 12 % of the forest
cover that too of very poor quality. Till then all those years before this shocking revelation, the Ministry of Forests were hiding the facts with
impunity. When asked by the Apex court about it, fumbling with words was the
meek response. Earth, a gift to the mankind to cherish, calls for to protect it and pass it on
to our children in as pristine a state as possible. Our children need the earth
too! This is not a new concept as Environmentalists make it to believe. Several
hundred years ago, poets in Indian Subcontinent had paid tributes to the Earth
they cherished. They sang “The ocean in your griddle, your bosom the mountains,
Goddess Earth. My obeisance to you, Forgive me for daring to touch you, with my
feet.”This remarkable reverence for the Earth is what all of all need to
imbibe. With this quintessence background Greening India was
initiated soon after Independence under the movement the Van Mahotsav.
Inaugurated by planting 108 saplings at
Rajghat, Delhi in 1950. Thereafter keeping in view the overall day to day needs
of the teeming millions, living in far flung rural areas called soul of India.
Matter was incorporated in the 4th Five Year Plan (1969-75)
as “harmonious development on the basis of a comprehensive
appraisal of environmental issues.” by Prime Minister Smt Indra Gandhi .
To provide teeth to act Article 48A was
incorporated in the constitution in 1977 stating that:
“The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to
safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.”Thereafter in 1980
Department of Environment was established, turned into
the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985 and in 2014
the ministry was renamed to the current title of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. , Dr Triloki Nath
Khoshoo a world renowned Environment Scientist was appointed Secretary with
the responsibility of developing a proactive environmental policy for the
country in the newly created Department of Environment
1982.
After analysing the overall scenario observed that the
ecological system in India is under great stress due to growing pressure of
human and livestock population- forests are being destroyed, marginal lands are
being cultivated and grasslands have disappeared. The very base of the country
is threatened. The situation leads to soil erosion in the uplands and excessive
sedimentation and floods in the downstream areas. He took a number of
initiatives, to contain and improve biodiversity through people’s mass moment
from grass root level with Government support.
One of the
measures he introduced, taking cue from Professor Swaiminathan, ,
while addressing the Indian Science Congress at Varanasi, 1981 then
Member secretary Planning Commission called upon youth of the country to
mobilise themselves to improve and enrich the environment and play a leading
role in creating ecological consciousness and educate masses on the
significance of enriching the environs for a better and fuller life. Under this
background Eco-Development Camps programme was launched 1984, the guidelines
were prepared, on the basis of feedback received from universities and
voluntary agencies by Dr Indra.K.Kamoj and Dr . S.Mudgal Department of
Environment.
It has been one of the perfect measures suggested to protect the
environment. Emphasis was given to create awareness in the students,
non-students youth and the society about the basic ecological principles and
environment measures. Next to identify and analyze the root cause of the
ecological problems, particularly related to human activities and the
biosphere. Further create awareness about the seriousness of the problem of the
environment in the community and an atmosphere of acceptance of measures being
undertaken to meet the situation. An area of activities was defined.
Water
Resources:-removal of noxious aquatic weeds from water bodies, water sampling
with a potable testing Kits , disinfection of public utility water resources.,
Tree Plantation and Soil Conservation:- plantation of trees on steep hills,
community places, preparation on nurseries development of grasses. Under
health care heath surrey, construction of soak pits, compost pits and sanitary
latrines. The State of Jammu and Kashmir got executive the programme through
the Forest, Ecology and Environment as it was known then.
What was archived,
where and when? These guidelines had been tailored under the
requirement and best suited one. To re-lay the shaky foundation
with incorporation such like activities are not known. Another nasty story of
adventurism cropped the National Green Corp, Young in Green Action,
under the Environment Education Programme which was launched
by the Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India in the
year 2001in all the states. Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control board was
appointed as the Nodal Agency along with the World Wide Fund for Nature
India as the resource Agency for the state .
The Goal and Objectives of
the Programme was old wine in new bottle word for word, rather taken per
verbatim from Eco Camps. Aimed to trigger chain reaction to start from school
children, called early adopters , move on to include society .Eco
members to take greening activities, growing and maintaining
vegetables and gardens, herbal gardens, tree plantations, field trips to
forests, wetlands, Wildlife Parks, and mining areas, to construct rain water
harvesting structures for water harvesting for water conservation
maintain public places clean, through waste management, waste recycling, making
soaking pits and vermin composting, etc. As per report released in 2009 with a
forward Written by Dr.C.M.Seth IFS Chairman / Nodal Officer NGC (
J&k) with a message from the Dr Mohit Gera IFS, Member Secretary
J&K SPCB. Data reveal that the total 5486 ? Eco-Clubs were registered
from 2001to 2009 in all the 22 Districts , each District had 250 Eco
clubs except Kargil 249.J k Pollution Control Board has nothing on record
to share the latest status .
Again question arises why both the Programmes
,Eco-Camps and Clubs which would have strength the base for the
environment protection not taken up as a recurring programme under
one of the schemes to save Biodiversity. Which could have definitely helped
to contain, abnormal slide in biodiversity, reverse it and retrieve
what has been allowed to lose. There appears no apparent reason to
abandoned half way these programmes tantamount to sabotaging the movement .
People near the Forests ask for Foresters of yester years
not preachers and seminar oriented officers. Those were the days
were well versed with every inch of the area under, daily touring kept them
abreact with the scenario, It has been well established the soil prefer and
react to the one who take care with his own hands which starts with a commoner,
like labours, gardeners, Forest Guards, beyond that those who talk and vanish
has harmed the Biodiversity.
Bushan Parimoo
(The writer is a Jammu based environmentalist and a regular contributor to this Website.)
(Feedback at: blparimoo@gmail.com)
