Published in Dwarka Express on 30.9.23

The architects of Indian Constitution deserve kudos. Even when there was no sufficient scientific thrust to environmental science, as is available today, it is simply great that our forefathers had included environmental concerns as part of fundamental rights. May be, had this much environmental information available during 1940’s, the draft would have added environment as one of the fundamental rights. Nevertheless, Article 21 gains importance since it has a direct bearing on environment. No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law as per Article 21 of the Constitution. Keeping in mind, this fundamental right to life, the Constitution goes further to say under the Directive Principle, (Article 48A) that the State should endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Does the Constitution only mention about the fundamental rights? Interestingly the Constitution also underlines the obligations of the citizens under Article 51A. It is the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. In addition to the Constitutional provisions, various acts such as Environmental Protection Act, Wildlife conservation act, Acts and rules for Pollution control, waste management, water quality etc had come handy for pleaders to safeguard the interests of common man.

Given the constitutional provisions stated above, the question arises, ‘is the common man happy about the status of environment?’ The answer is obvious and needs no emphasis. The blame game politics continues while a huge number of disputes lingers on in courts for years. Article 21 i.e., the right to life, read with Article 32, i.e., the right to seek constitutional remedy from the Supreme Court if they have been deprived of their fundamental rights are often cited by learned counsels to place their firm argument in innumerable litigations all over the country. Nevertheless, we have also come across petitions that have failed in courts against the voluble civic anxieties, may it be infra construction or unmindful deforestation.

From time to time, the time-tested legal provisions are warped to ensemble the powers that be, grounding the logical and scientifically proved ideals of the environmental tenets, only to culminate in disasters and loss of lives as well as properties. The recent plummeting of Joshimath is a clear consequence of one such Himalayan blunders. Constitution will come handy only when the enforcement is in letter and spirit 

Published in Dwarka Express on 23.9.23

Come September, our traditional festivals start with a bang. As the autumn sets, it is quite natural for us to celebrate and thank God for all the prosperity. Ganesh Puja is the one festival that units India with every region celebrating it with fervor. The Supreme Court on Monday (September 18) refused to interfere with an order passed by the Madras High Court which disallowed the sale of Ganesh idol made of Plaster of Paris. This decision gathers importance in the wake of the ongoing debate about the usage of ecofriendly idols during festivals. Bangalore is always playing the lead role in bringing changes in perceptions. In fact long since, Bangalore has been identifying common immersion centres for immersion of clay made Ganesh Idols. Most of the homes in Bangalore use clay made idols. Once upon a time, whether it is Tamil Nadu or Karnataka, the households used to buy clay made idols only. Just like plastic invaded the country, POP materials replaced our rich tradition. Time has come to reconsider the new menace.

A study about the impact of immersion made by CPCB in Bangalore lakes revealed that the acid contents in the water increased enormously. Total dissolved solids (TDS) have increased by 100%. The heavy metal content sampling showed an increase in metals such as iron which increased nearly 10 times and the content of copper in the sediments increased by 200 to 300 %. CPCB has issued a set of guidelines for State and Central Governments to follow not only during immersion but also for using plastic free materials during the Puja. It is very essential that everyone raises to the occasion, cutting across every diversity and exhibit responsibility to save Mother Earth. Last year from July 1^st onwards, our honorable Prime Minister has initiated steps to ban the Single use Plastic. Though plastic per se may take quite a long time to disappear from market, at lease some efforts must be taken to stop polluting our waterbodies and atmosphere. Everyone has to play his part to shun away the non-biodegradable items in our day today life.

Published in Dwarka Express on 16.9.23

In the last issue we said that we do not have the right to blame plastic, since it appears that we cannot literally live without plastics. In our life before 70s, we had least of plastics in our day today life, but now it is difficult to imagine a life without plastics.

How plastics came to us?

Plastics are petroleum products and about 4% of the oil extracted in the world is only used for producing plastic and is being used in everyday life. In fact, the wide range of utilities and the ease at they could be produced have forced us to think of plastics as part of life. Plastic production begins by heating the hydrocarbons in the presence of a catalyst. The conversion of the crude oil ends in forming monomers like ethylene, propylene, butane and styrene. Such monomers are chemically bonded into polymers. Some most common types of polymers, or plastics are PVC, LDPE, HDPE and PET. Mineral water bottles and plastic glasses are the major items in our day today consumeristic style of living. When it entered the market in last few decades, we never anticipated the havoc that was in store.

Is Recycling plastics a solution?

Plastic industry always defends its side by saying that the plastics could be easily recycled. But reality shows that the plastics are not fully recycled as claimed. Moreover, the research shows that the plastics cannot be recycled more than 3 to 4 times. After that, it becomes trash simply. Even if the recycling industry does its part, in actual terms, the workers who handle the recycling work have to compromise their health, as the process is toxic, besides contaminating ground water.

Recycling or rejecting?

Complete Recycling appears impossible at least for now and more so, complete elimination of plastic from the planet Earth also appears difficult. It is therefore essential to find out ways to effectively reducing the usage of plastics. Finding alternatives may be a challenging job but not formidable. Already soft remedies are visible. Biodegradable, eco-friendly products are being advocated in almost all spheres of life. What the world needs is a wholistic and all-pervasive effort to address the issue.

Single Use Plastics

In July 2022, Prime Minister of India came up with a plan to ban single use plastic (SUP). But after a year, our apprehensions have come true. The SUPs are yet to go. About 26,000 tons of plastic waste is reportedly generated across India every day, of which more than 10,000 tons stay uncollected, leave alone recycling. Of course, there are punitive actions also in force, like, spot fine on waste generators Rs.500/- and spot fine on institutional waste generators Rs.5000/-. If we take stringent measures, the SUPs which dominate 50% of world plastics may go soon. But more effective actions must be envisaged with severe financial penalties and criminal punishments to phase out SUPs at least

Published in Dwarka Express on 9.9.23

The courier boy delivered by cheque book and I was delighted to receive as mine was a long wait. But my momentary pleasure vanished when I found the plastic cover which brought the same. Earlier an email came that the cheque book will be delivered in 15 days. Below the signature line of the Bank, it was written, “Use email, do not waste paper and be instrumental in cutting millions of trees”. The same bank has now sent the cheque book in a plastic cover. Interesting thing is that the plastic cover is not reusable. It had to be torn open for the obvious security purpose. Amazon or flip cart delivers any item in a well packed material. Thermokol inner liners are again covered by plastic glass covers, then card board and again plastic upper cover. Next day morning all packing materials go to dry waste chambers from where they are lifted by segregating agencies. We are all party to these. About 2 decades back, we did not have such a huge generation of plastic.

The question arises whether we can completely shun away the plastic. There is no answer indeed because the world has not evolved any alternate to the changed lifestyle. PLASTIC HAS BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR LIFE. First let us admit that. I therefore confidently say, “Plastic per se is not our alien”. If we say like this, many will be surprised! But let us admit this bitter truth. But obviously it is a threat to mankind. Landfills are losing their carrying capacity. With the ever-growing population, our land use and living space become narrower, resulting in less space for garbage dumping. The Corporations, Municipalities, town and village panchayats are becoming handicapped to handle the garbage generated. On the one side corruption plays a major role, but on the other hand the genuine officials also struggle to show effective results. There is rarely a city without plastic dumping in unauthorized dumpling spots. 

For instance, make a mini travel inside your house, and start with your bathroom, to take stock of plastic there. Right from a tooth paste and brush, everything is plastic. Your comb, cosmetic wrappers, perfume bottle, sanitizer, napkins, Handwash bottle, shampoo bottle, razor handle, Shaving cream tube, Soap box, bucket, mug, stool, toilet cleaner, closet lid, exhaust fan and the items are endless. You all use it. When I say YOU, I include myself also.  And we come out and cry loud, “Say NO to plastic”. Is it not hypocrisy? Don’t just stop at bathroom. You make a travel around your house. I recently listed about 100 plus items in my entire flat. Besides, use and throw refills, plastic from toilet to dining table pose a big question mark whether we can throw these items forthwith. The answer is a big NO.

Well, our debate will continue in the next issues also. We look for a healthy debate and look for your reactions. And the best suggestions will be published

Published in Dwarka Express on 2.9.23

Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu has become the second-best district in India in water management according to India’s Jal Sakthi Ministry for the year 2022. The district has 5 municipalities, 19 town Panchayats and 322 village Panchayats had geared up to solve the acute water crisis. A holistic approach was followed by the administration involving communities to face the crisis and they adopted rain water harvesting, percolation tanks, check dams across rivers and rivulets, village ponds, trenches and artificial recharge structures and what not. The result was that the district became water surplus. A few STPs were provided as part of Tamil Nadu Govt’s Nadanthai vaazhi Cauvery scheme. Some encroachments were removed simultaneously

Not a big deal, if alone the powers that be, make a comprehensive plan of action and it becomes a reality when people become partners. Today rainwater harvesting has become mandatory in multi storied complexes, though we often come across the concern vociferously expressed by residents that the RWH units are either defunct or defective. Many a time the connecting tubes from terrace are clogged or filled with muck and the RWAs find it difficult to incur additional cost in revamping the system or repairing the filter media as it involves capital cost.

Under this backdrop, it becomes necessary to resort to natural rainwater harvesting systems in the form of tanks, ponds and reservoirs which can cater to the summer needs in addition to recharging the ground water. There is a dire need to save all lakes and water bodies which should be desilted. Allocation of funds for dredging, de-weeding and desilting are essential to save the natural waterbodies. Strom water drains must not be encroached and any violation needs to be firmly dealt with.

Coming to Bangalore, Kempe Gowda, the visionary and architect of Bangalore who lived in 16^th Century envisaged that water is needed in the city if his dreams are to come true, and he built number of tanks and reservoirs during his short span of 59 years. These tanks were slowly destroyed or disappeared from the google maps. We are searching for water in moon and India’s Chandrayan is known to have traced a few evidences of water. But, the day to bring water from Moon or Mars is a remote possibility though, it can’t be ruled out. But it may not be a surprise when we hear a news that some alien, extra-terrestrial or an UFO land in plant Earth in search for water. Perhaps they would report in their planet that there is evidence of water in Earth!

Precisely we are running out of water as well as time!