Tragedies have a hierarchy too

The four digits 26 11 are no longer digits in Indian current affairs lingo.

They are an identity. They speak of a tragedy that got its brand name for its scale, the kind of people who got killed, the iconic hotspots of a big Indian city that got affected, and also the industrial big name associated with it.

On December 3 last year, thousands went on the first of its kind unorganised marches, to the Gateway, after the terror attack. The figure of deaths: 172. Compensation track record: dismal, pathetic. Conviction: lone terrorist Kasab is under trial in the super publicised event that we love to want to remember.

Interesting that the same industrial house that runs the Taj Palace would not mind influencing a government's `going easy' on Union Carbide plant that killed 10,000 people.

Compensation track record: the biggest joke.

The year it happened: 1984. Twenty five years.

The two events had a primary difference. One was about blatantly criminal negligence by a chemical plant. Another was about terrorists from an enemy country going on rampage in the heart of Mumbai.

Twenty five years. Not a long time. For millions born after the tragedy, life is everyday death.

Yet, our public consciousness has wiped the Bhopal Gas tragedy away, while we make every effort to preserve the terror-victim identity through branding, diplomatic hob-nobbing and political dialogue.

Read this piece by Sunil Jain:

One only wonders if we deserve the governments that rule us:

Carbide refuses to accept any kind of responsibility or show any remorse, other than: “The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal was a terrible tragedy that understandably continues to evoke strong emotions even 25 years later.”

He continues his argument against the blatant human rights violation in his piece further.

Various government reports, however, have given Carbide a clean chit. A report by the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) at Gwalior said the site’s waste had less toxicity than table salt. Another, by the Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, acknowledged a four times higher rate of sickness among residents of areas closer to the Bhopal factory, even in those born after the accident, but said “there was no evidence to suggest that any toxic substance present in the Union Carbide factory so far has reached the ground water and then to the human body”.

So Kasab is the all important hero who we need to nail to balm our bruised national consciousness, while Union Carbide, the foreign plant that refuses responsibility, gets bailed out blatantly over the years, in spite of an entire new generation born with deformities.

We have our favourites with terrorism, tragedy and numbers don't we?

An eco example

Typing the words Chennai and `eco' in Google, or Google news fetches far few results than for cities such as Bangalore and Mumbai.

It's heartening then, to note that there are green stories out there too after all. This one appeared in The Times of India some days back. But am pasting it along anyways, because we as humans need such green examples to lead us. In every city. Every village. And every sphere.

Indra Kumar is a machine operator turned green activist.

He didn't have to read rocket science to turn his residence into an "green" home. He is inspired by the simple, age-old chemical process that every housewife in India is familiar with. "If you leave a bowl of milk behind for five days, how will it smell when you come back? Rotten, right? But if you put a drop of buttermilk into it before you leave, you'll find fresh curd!" beams Indra Kumar (59), whose 1986-built house has now become a pilgrimage for those wanting to do their bit for the environment — be it farmers from Arakkonam or school students from Chennai.

Bishwanath Ghosh who has penned the piece goes on further to add:

"Here, smell it," says Indra Kumar, as he opens the lid of the septic tank in his garden. One instinctively recoils, but its contents look as harmless as accumulated rain water. "Is there smell?" No. "Do you see any mosquitoes?" No. "That's because I treat sewage with a certain bacteria," he declares. The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, neutralise the sewage to turn waste into manure for plants in his garden.

Then, the earthworm takes care of the liquid waste from the kitchen. Under the drainage pipe, Kumar has buried some worms which not only digest the organic matter but also feed on mosquito eggs. And at the spot where water from the bathroom drains out, he grows cama plant, whose roots treat the soap water.

Solid waste from kitchen is collected in an earthen pot and dried cowdung sprinkled on it periodically. "Any smell?" Indra Kumar asks. No. "Any fly?" No. "In 60 days this will turn into beautiful compost," he exclaims. He treats leaves from the garden similarly: collects them in drums and sprinkles dried cowdung on them till they turn into compost. "This way, you give back to nature what it gives you. People often burn dry leaves, which only causes pollution." 

Wish Chennai had 100 such people who set the ball rolling and turned the city green. It's an uneasy feeling when one notices a daytime oven turn into a cool haven at this time of the year. Global Climate Change's little symptoms!

Time for something `official'

Cutting emissions to curb global climate change has become something of a world level political hobnobbing.

Irrespective of what the other countries say or use what they say against India, is it not time we committed to something official in terms of carbon emission cuts?

A newspaper report talks of how China's `voluntary' commitment to going green has put India in a tight spot ahead of the Copenhagen Summit.

On June 30, 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released India’s first National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining existing and future policies and programs addressing climate mitigation and adaptation.  The plan identifies eight core “national missions” running through 2017 and directs ministries to submit detailed implementation plans to the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change by December 2008.

India can start with declaring its own loopholes in arresting the large scale razing of forests, for a start. India can be honest about how the Ministry of Environment's Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) exercises end up in a sham for most part, how it serves the iron ore needs of other countries at the cost of its own green cover, its people's health. And how states like Chattisgarh and Karnataka have become clearance agents for mine diggers in the name of infrastructure.

Time to talk of its real time commitment to the world besides thwarting those pressure tactics by US and China.

Please define `eco'

It's overdone. The precarious one-third of a word - `eco', that has come to define character these days.

In reality it has to do with anything that brings about balance and harmony in nature. In market reality it has become a victim of greed by companies out there to outsell their products and brands.

Let's consider three examples.

Eco-housing for instance. What exactly does an eco-house mean? How exactly do you define a Green home? Should we as suckers for image politics get stuck up with that self placating tag and become convinced that the label will somehow thwart off disastrous global climate change?

What is an eco-friendly house? One that minimises energy alone? Global market forces are trying hard to bury under the carpet, effects of mortar and chemical material in construction by merely focussing on energy efficiency.

Ideally, an eco-friendly house should use only local material for its construction, be it bricks, sand, tiles, flooring, or even plastering. If the soil dug up to lay foundation is re-usable as bricks, there should be every effort made to do so, by making cement-and-soil bricks. Solar lighting (the unfortunate poorer word) or home windmills should be made compulsory just as solar water heating is mandatory. Rain-water harvesting should be the norm, not an option. I am not talking of individual homes alone here. The need is urgent, to incorporate mass housing that is eco-friendly.

The unfortunate thing: Builders try to pass off any and every project as `Green' by introducing a token environmental-friendly feature, but sticking to those lawn-scaping structures that do not have even rainwater harvesting to speak of. Not able to believe? Just look out for those glossy Sunday realty ads in the newspaper.

As for products, we have `energy saver' refrigerators, energy `efficient' lighting, washing machines that `conserve' water and what not. Why are we forgetting the the plastic that still goes into making these products? A refrigerator is made of plastic, and so is a washing machine. Hardly any talk is focussed on completely alternative ideas.

We still advertise bath-tubs and showers in the name of luxury and status. Isn't it about time we spoofed at them and reverted to changing the language there. Using a bucket and mug to bathe, or even having a sponge bath instead of a shower should be clamped down as a value, not a choice with that `I am doing you a favour' attitude.

Finally, let's talk of recycling. What exactly is recycling? Does picking up a plastic cover from the supermarket every month and looking at ways and means to reuse it really mean recycling? Why do large scale super bazaars insist on thrusting their branded plastic covers on customers? It may cost them a little more, but they can always give the option between cloth bags and plastic bags! In cities like Mumbai, it is a breather that reselling furniture is a rage even if out of necessity. But to what extent can you reuse a material, specially if its quality is pathetic? And in a largely conservative society, is there any effort at all to introduce recycling as a religious value?

Computer vendors tell me that the flatscreen monitors selling these days have a life of hardly three years as against box monitors of 10 years ago that would last about five years. Where does a refrigerator go after it has outlived its use?

Our problem is chronic. We as humans settle for anything below a certain quality, forgetting that it also means more burden on resources. We believe in the standard business attitude of profiting from a sale with reduction in product quality, rather than selling a product that lasts longer.

You only have to look around at all the cheap material products around to understand.

The starkest bit of such image exploitation is of course those realty ads with magic words like `eco', green and ultra poetic words such as heaven in the hills.

Panacea to Home Pollution

All the hoopla on global climate change is turning more into a diplomatic battle between superpowers of the world and poorer countries.

In the melee, something as serious as pollution and temperature rise outside of homes - indoor pollution, is not talked about. Save for those `how to' manuals online and reams of newsprint that insist on clean homes, there is hardly any material available on how to keep dirt in the air away at home. Or to keep pollution at bay. And air fresheners do not suffice in cleaning up such atmospheric grime.

New research has thrown up something really interesting. It is true research must be looked at with some suspicion in this age of market driven and at times company sponsored research. Something published in the telegraph today however hardly needs any authentication. It's something the back of our heads know, but are not willing to acknowledge.

UK's Telegraph reports about findings of a research that goes thus:

New research shows that ornamental plants can drastically reduce levels of stress and ill health and boost performance levels at work because they soak up harmful indoor air pollution.

Researchers have now identified five "super ornamental plants" which every workplace should have to clean up indoor air.

They include English ivy, waxy leaved plants and ferns.

According to a World Health Organisation report in 2002, harmful indoor pollutants represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths each year.

Tens of thousands of such plants are available in India too. Hardly any research goes into them however. If research gets done at all, the world outside of those labs does not know it. It's about time we looked at the value of such plants around home to save ourselves. In times when even terraces have become out of bounds for apartment residents, indoor flora becomes the last resort. And for good reason.

BT Brinjal: Disaster is here, on our plates

No surprises that the GEAC committee approved GM foods. It takes only commonsense to guess the game that the Central government is upto.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has so categorically said he will `study' before the Centre takes a decision. That GM foods are another name of destruction is not a new issue.

Experts and those concerned with sustainable agriculture have long maintained that in the absence of any concrete study on the long term consequences of GM foods, it is disastrous to approve their commercial use.

Why is it that most GM crops are grown in China and India? Can one not guess it? The US of A and other developed countries want their populations to be safer!

Why is the government so keen on approving GM foods? Because it has to show submission to the diktats of world powers like US and European countries.

Why have countries like India been chosen for such mass destruction? Come on, it's so easy to mess up with the procedures and the system here in the name of development! That those who were testing the GM crop BT Brinjal were part of this 32 member GEAC that approved it, proves the whole point.

The Environment Minister has said he condemns the way Greenpeace handled this issue. Mr Minister, I as a citizen don't need a Greenpeace to make me understand what is globally stressed about repeatedly. GM foods are poison on the plate.

For citizens like me, it is about time we discarded the once indigenous and ancient vegetable from our plates. Or still better, started growing food on our window-sills!

Read these post: When every mouthful is a health risk, Sustainable Agriculture