React

Gates closing on Sita Mata

Holy contamination 55Green oilfields 88

Recycling? 1177

IT MIGHT NOT LOOK CLEAN,

Fertilizer

To build homes

Energy

Insecticide

No Bullshit!

React

To cook food

BUT IT IS VIABLE

Reclaiming power 1155

April 01, 20080 NOK

EDITOR

Zlata Turkanovic

WRITERS

Thale Henrikke Eddie, Kristin DypedokkJohnsen, Lucie Swinnerton, Ida SoegnenTveit, Julie Ness, Magnus Flacké, RunarMyrnes Balto, Nicolai Steineger, BirigitKvernflaten, Hanne Castberg Tresselt, MalinLenita Vik, Martine Kvaerner Roberts,Gjertrud Egge Wennevik, Henrik Bering

COPY EDITOR

Lucie Swinnerton

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Andreas Doppelmayr, Junn Bjartung, JulieNess, Camilla Andreassen

WEB

Magnhild Sofie Bruun (editor), AndreasDoppelmayr, Marte Von Krogh, CharlotteBache Mathiesen

CAMPAIGN

Silje Helene Meum (leader), MarianneBruusgaard, Kaja Ebbing, Alp Pir, Ole GauteBoe, Lars Hvalby, Anne Blaasvaer, JennyHolmsen, Ida Thomassen

THANK YOU

Aditya Batra, Pratap Pandey, Sharmila Sinha,D.S Bains, Pradip Saha, Hal Wilhite, GrySolstad, Jinoy Jose

Layout Surya Sen, Shyamal, Allan LyndohNeha Joshi, Vinita Venugopal

In Rajasthan, the dusty and dry landscape awaits the monsoons. The wheatis being harvested by women in colorful saris, children in school uniformsand men in flowing cotton pants. The grain must be taken in before therains. The precious rain comes only for a few days a year, and if the groundis correctly handled it will absorb and retain the rainwater. If not, it will evap-orate or flow away, leaving the fields dry, the people without food, andthreaten India’s economy with recession.

India is a rich and a poor country. Rich on resources, but poor in the man-agement of them. India has the fourth-largest economy in the world, but atthe same time 301 million of its citizens are poor, subsisting on less than adollar a day. The paradox is that the poorest people live on the country’srichest lands. Forests and minerals are of great interest to both state andindustry, craving the resources to fuel the country’s rapid economic growth.

But the urge to conserve forests and wildlife is equally strong. In Sita Matawildlife sanctuary, the people of Mogiamba village are being forced out oftheir homes. In the government’s eyes, they are illegal occupiers who pose athreat to the forest environment. The villagers cannot understand why theyare being ordered to leave when they see themselves as the custodians ofthe forests.

During our stay in Delhi and visit to Pratapgarh, a tribal district in Rajasthan,we met with many people, and asked what they understood by the term‘clean environment’. More often than not, our question was met with bewil-derment. ‘Clean’ did not fit with environment, but viable certainly did. In theWest, the word ‘clean’ is often associated with something ‘pristine’,untouched by people. But to have a viable environment, people must beallowed to reconnect to their own, immediate environment.

Urban India represents the country’s urge to grow. The urban India of lit-tered streets and dirty rivers, desperately battling the challenges of becom-ing clean. We understood that high consumption societies also invest heav-ily to remain clean. Was this viable for a country like India?

Our goal was not only to witness, but also to participate in the environmen-tal debate. Our campaign is aimed at Norwegian students who will be futuredevelopment experts, scientists and decision makers. We need to rethinkdevelopment. Techniques and structural fixes that work in Norway may notbe viable in India. As the magazine articles, posters and web features willshow, often the solutions lie in the traditional techniques and these com-bined with local participation ensure viability.

Zlata TurkanovicSilje Helene Meum

Magnhild Sofie Bruun

E D I T O R I A L

With India being one of thefastest growing economies,the demand for faster and

more comfortable ways of travel hasgrown. Though a majority of peopleliving in Delhi still use public trans-port, cars are increasing alarmingly.The city adds a thousand cars everyday. Vehicles are the dominant sourceof air pollution. They also chew up anenormous share of city's space. Carsare squeezing out the bus from thepublic sphere. It is a crisis of mobility.

Favouring the car? —Personal vehicles are being pam-pered, says head of Centre for Scienceand Environment (CSE) SunitaNarain. She also states the city plan-ning in India is not made for mobility.An estimate by CSE shows there werefour million vehicles in Delhi in 2006.This has an enormous environmentalimpact on the urban landscape.Emissions from vehicles are the mostlethal form of air pollution since theyare so high in exposure.

—Vehicles contribute 72 percent of Delhi’s air pollution, saysAnumita Roychowdury, leader ofCSE’s clean air campaign. Buses inDelhi are a cleaner alternative as theyall run on Compressed Natural Gas(CNG). The paradox is that the author-ities are taxing buses 43 times morethan the cars. When you buy a privatecar you pay a small amount as lifetimetax, but the buses are being charged amuch higher annual fee.

Sustainable urban transportInitiatives are being done to increasethe equity of mobility. The most pro-gressive and comprehensive initiativeis the Bus Rapid Transit System

(BRTS). The system is currently beingconstructed as a holistic approach tomobility. The entire stretch will cover100 km of Delhi and is set to be fin-ished in time with the CommonwealthGames the city is hosting in 2010. ByApril 2008, four km of the stretch havebeen completed.

The BRTS has two basic princi-ples; to segregate and include all indi-viduals travelling. The road will havefour lanes; the bus lane as the central,and lanes for pedestrians, cyclists andcars. This will remove the currentchaotic friction among vehicles inDelhi. The BRTS has its roots in coun-tries in the south, with Brazil as thefirst country to implement it.

Transfer of technologyThis is one of the few technologiesthat are being transferred from thedeveloping world into the developedworld. Cities such as Leeds in the UK,Miami in the US and Vancouver inCanada have implemented the system.The BRTS will independently respectall roadusers with its democraticapproach. However, economic de-

incentives are also essential to mini-mize the increase of cars. —The cur-rent economics favouring cars func-tions as a hidden subsidy for cars,adds Roychowdury. The private carnot only decreases the level of travelefficiency, but is also taking up a vastamount of public space in terms ofparking lots. Buses carry more thanhalf of the travel needs of the city,

occupying only five percent of theroad, whereas cars occupy as much as90 per cent of the road. Cars only carry20 per cent of travellers.

The infrastructure as it is todayis hostile.—The urban landscape sce-nario makes marginalised groups aspedestrians, street vendors andcyclists vulnerable to accidents, saysRoychowdury. Who should and is thecity “shaped” for? Roychowdurystresses that — the city should bedesigned for the majority of peoplenot for a minority.

Cleaner prioritiesWithin the last ten years, initiativeshave been taken to make the urbanatmosphere “cleaner” with the intro-duction of CNG, improved technologyand by removing old vehicles from theroad. This has decreased air pollution,but not as much as it could have.Traffic jams in Delhi make vehiclesstand still and lose fuel, leading tosevere pollution. Standing cars alsotake away the road availability.

Roychowdury says:—The posi-tive gains from CNG, the removal of

old vehicles and general improvementin car technology will be lost if we donot deal with the increasing popula-tion of cars. The BRTS has the poten-tial to be a leading initiative to servethe majority of the global urban popu-lation. Cities worldwide face the prob-lem of undemocratic car use, but theinclusiveness of the BRTS could be aninspiration, even to Norway. ■

Mobility or immobility?Thale Henrikke Eddie

Cars are so comfortable; one caneven enjoy a traffic jam.

T R A N S P O R T

3April 01, 2008 React

4 React April 01, 2008

For centuries, India has copedwith rainwater falling for only100 hours annually. Not now.

This ancient knowledge of rainwaterharvesting became old fashioned withmodernization. Water supply is one ofIndia’s major problems. But the realchallenge before the country, howev-er, is not lack of water.

India receives a good rainfall,but for a short period of time and mostof it is unevenly spread. Still, peasantshave created fertile agricultural soci-eties through recharging groundwater.At the mighty Chittor Fort, located inthe dusty state of Rajasthan, the maxi-mized utilization of water could sus-tain 50,000 people through years ofsiege, using its 84 water sources.Today, only 22 of them remain; andpeople now live outside the fort,where they get pipe-water.

The key to the ancient water suc-cess was the understanding of ground-water.— Groundwater meets morethan 70 per cent of the rural and 50per cent of the urban water demand inIndia, says Salahuddin Saiphy at therainwater unit of the Centre forScience and Environment (CSE),

Delhi. Without recharging groundwa-ter levels, the pressure on groundwa-ter becomes unsustainable.

Rainwater harvestingThe methods differ, based on the localecology in which they are being uti-lized. But they are locally adaptable,made of accessible, inexpensive mate-rials, and based on community coop-eration. They are united by the keyprinciple: to capture water when and

where it falls. This is done by buildingstructures, such as contour trenchesand small walls, on hill slopes, slow-ing down water flow and preventingsoil erosion. Re-directing rainwaterinto soil recharges groundwater andprevents water loss through evapora-tion. This ancient knowledge madethe British describe India as a‘hydraulic’ society. Since then, theapproach to water management hasdrastically changed. The ideas of

water engineering of the colonialregime and, more recently, the Indiangovernment show that the state is thesole provider of water. In modernengineering, surface water is distrib-uted by pipes over long distances. But,in addition to increased pressure onsurface and ground water, there isconsiderable loss through leakages.

Despite the government spend-ing huge sums on water systems suchas dams and pipelines, these initia-

tives have to a large extent failed toprovide enough water. The pressureon water sources is not sustainable, asthe mainstream water approach failsin recharging groundwater.

—The modern approach has bro-ken the relationship between waterand local communities, adds Saiphy.The new, centralized approach towater has impoverished local people.Villagers have lost the sense ofresponsibility they had over their

W A T E R

What Lies BeneathKristin Dypedokk Johnsen

Rainwater harvesting: To catch waterwhen and where it falls

Chittor Fort, Rajasthan

community-specific water supplymethods. The key to successful watermanagement is this connection to theenvironment.

The Foundation for EcologicalSecurity (FES) is an organizationworking to reinitiate local solutions torural water stress. In Kerwas village,Rajasthan, FES has enabled successfulcommunity management of water andsoil. Better utilization of water andimproved irrigation, maintained byvillagers, boosted crop yield, improv-ing food security and giving more eco-nomic freedom to the villagers.

Urban challengesAbout 400 million people in the coun-try live in cities. Rapidly expandingcities put massive pressure on groundand surface water. —Protecting watersources from pollution, initiatingurban rainwater harvesting methodsand controlling the water demand arethe biggest urban challenges, saysSuresh Babu, deputy coordinator ofthe river pollution unit at CSE. Poorquality drinking water poses healthrisks. This affects the poor more, whocannot afford water purifiers or bot-tled water. Thy have to buy water athigher prices.

A new paradigm is neededRainwater harvesting can relieve pres-sure on groundwater. Rainwater fromonly 1-2 per cent of India’s land canprovide the entire 1 billion peoplewith 100 litres of water per personannually. The problem is not shortageof water, but how the water sourcesare treated, and a lack of equitable dis-tribution of water.

It’s time India parted with theconventional approach to water man-agement. Community governance ofnatural resources and increased use ofrainwater form an important alterna-tive approach. Solving water stressneeds a deepening of democracy, mak-ing water again everybody’s business.—This needs a will to spend moneyon water, adds Suresh Babu. ■

W A T E R

5April 01, 2008 React

Why is the Yamuna, a vener-ated, holy river, burdenedwith Delhi’s filth and still a

drinking water source for the city’s 14million residents?

Rivers were always venerated inIndia. Temples were located on theirbanks, and cities were establishedaround them. Today, however, urbanrealities have turned freshwaterstreams into sewage drains.

On an average, only 13 per centof the domestic wastewater is treatedbefore the waste is drained directlyinto India’s rivers. The Yamunabegins in the Himalayas and reachesDelhi, before flowing downstream toAgra. In Delhi, the river is completely

choked with sewage and waste. Eachday 3,267 million litres of wastewateris dumped into the river, most of it ishuman sewage from the city’s 14 mil-lion inhabitants.

The river receives freshwater

only during the monsoons. This limitsthe ability of the river to dilute thehuge amount of waste. As a result, theriver is now black, thick and dead.Still, this water is used to irrigate thevegetable patches on its banks. Thepoor living on the banks also use theriver’s water to bathe and wash theirclothes.

Saving measuresThe government have so far spent mil-lions of rupees to clean up the holyriver. They have set up 19 sewagetreatment plants near the river.Clearly, money alone does not make aclean river.

Sewage treatment plants (STPs)

are built on available land, not neces-sarily close to sources of sewage. Mostof these swanky STPs do not run atfull capacity. Government and urbanplanners refuse to recognize ‘illegal’sources of sewage, from unauthorized

The HolyContaminated RiverKristin Dypedokk Johnsen

Holy waste: The venerated Yamuna is now a source of pollution

colonies springing up all over Delhi,and whose inhabitants use the stormwater drains to channel their sewageinto the river. The same dirty water isalso an important source of drinkingwater for the city.

Clearly, the city spends massive-ly to clean and supply the river’swater, that too for a huge subsidy tocity residents. In a vicious pollutioncycle, this precious, heavily subsi-dized clean water is used to flushhuman excreta back into the river,where it is again cleaned and suppliedto the urban rich. Laws are in place,but implementing them is difficult.

The river’s fate is now evenmurkier, with different interests

working at cross purposes. Delhi hasambitious plans to build the infra-structure for the 2010 CommonwealthGames, on the Yamuna’s banks. Realestate developers need the lands forshopping malls. A determined gov-ernment has made the first move.‘Illegal’ slum dwellers settled on thebanks were kicked out, blamed of pol-luting the river, as a step in the gov-ernments ‘beautification’ drive.

It has now reached a pointwhere efforts to clean up the riverdemand huge investments. It is ineverybody’s interests to clean up theriver, but it is easier to pinpoint thosepeople further upstream.

Pressure from civil societygroups to clean up the river is increas-ing. They demand that action mustconsist of making viable livelihoods,rather than pursuing profit interests.A crucial start is to tackle the prob-lems of sewage, thinking in an alterna-tive path regarding how to treat andreuse urban domestic wastewater. ■

Lakes, kundhis and bavdis (bothtypes of step wells), groundwa-ter wells, tanks have historical-

ly stored water for all needs. They col-lected surface water during the annu-al monsoon which were naturally fil-tered through a process of overflowand seepage, then distributed via anetwork of canals and streams. By thetime rainwater reached wells it wasmostly groundwater, passed throughlayers of sand and gravel, and purifiedalong the way.

In many instances, such as thatof Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, drinkingwater sources were declared sacred,prohibiting any form of human pollu-tion. No individual would taint thesupply. Furthermore, the ancient phi-losophy in India was to never mix theclean water with the unclean.Accordingly, completely separate sys-tems existed for fresh water and forsullied water.

Today, over 3,500 industriesexist in the Udaipur basin, the watersupply to Chittorgarh. They use waterand discharge sullied water back intothe environment. The infrastructurefor treating sewage before their releasedoes not exist and the people areincreasingly having toxins dumpedinto their fresh water stores.

Pesticide, cement, fertilizer andmineral industries release waste mat-ter directly into Udaipur’s lakes.Municipalities unable to keep up withtheir growing urban population dis-pose of sewage. Similarly, in manyregions litter collection systems eitherdo not exist or have failed, resulting in

piles of garbage being deposited nearlakes, and washed into them duringmonsoon. This has gone unnoticed inIndia, as lakes do not receive the samelevel of attention as drinkable sources,because they come in the early stageof a water supply chain, used predom-inantly for irrigation purposes. Whenseveral lakes are connected to oneanother, pollution becomes wide-spread, and industrial effluents andtoxins are now being found in ground-water sources used for drinking.

This contamination has affectedthe health of the people. Neurologicaldisorders, retardation of growth inchildren, abortion, disruption of theendocrine system and weakening ofthe immune system have been report-ed in increasing numbers over thepast decade, and are said to be linkedto high mercury levels in India’swater. –High levels of mercury indrinking water can severely impairthe nervous system, reports S KWangnoo, senior consultant andendocrinologist at the Apollo hospitalin Delhi.

The outbreak of Minamata dis-ease that afflicted over 2,200 people inJapan in the 1950s was the conse-quence of mercury poisoning.Sufferers of this debilitating diseaseexperience progressive weakening ofthe muscles, loss of vision, impair-ment of brain functions, eventualparalysis, and in some cases, comaand death within weeks of the onset.Time will surely reveal more on thethe effects of the pollutants beingexcreted into India’s water. ■

What goes downmust come upIndian urbanization is threatening its own life-support system

Lucie Surinnerton

Today, efforts toclean up the

Yamuna demandhuge investments

6 React February 15, 2008

W A T E R

A G R I C U L T U R E

7April 01, 2008 React

–It is the rainfed parts ofIndian agriculture that havebeen the weakest; they are

also the ones that contain the greatestunutilized potential for growth, andneed to be developed if food securitydemands of the year 2020 are to havea realistic chance of being met, says SParthasarathy, leader of the technicalcommittee on watershed programmesin India, when talking to Down toEarth magazine.

In order to feed its growing pop-ulation, India needs to raise produc-tion to over 300 million tonnes of foodgrain annually, by 2020. This requiresa 100 million tonne increase ontoday’s output level. Chemicals andhybrid seeds are extensively beingused to increase agricultural produc-tion. When these techniques areapplied to rainfed areas however, theeffects can be disastrous. The soil inone third of rainfed areas is alreadydegraded. Traditional water manage-ment structures may be a solution, torestore soil quality and ensure a sup-ply for irrigation.

In Sanoti, south Rajasthan, vil-lagers have improved the traditionalwater management structures.Kushye, a village, explains: —Beforethe water management scheme, weonly had one harvest season, in thesummer. We could grow only maize.Now, we can grow two crops a year;maize in the summer and wheat in thewinter. Wheat demands more water.Lakshmie, a neighbour, adds:

—During the monsoon in the summer,the area is rainfed, and during thewinter it is irrigated. Kushye explainsthat she does not use artificial fertiliz-ers, but she knows that some of thefarmers in the village do. Fertilizers

require more water, which is nowavailable through the new irrigationsystem. They too use artificial fertiliz-ers. But farming in villages like Sanotiis less harmful to the environmentbecause natural methods are stillincorporated. A number of villagesfunctioning under Green Revolutionmethods are employing almost onlyartificial inputs. In the long run,places such as Sanoti that have thepotential to be more productive thanthe areas have been impacted by theGreen Revolution because their meth-ods do not exhaust the soil in thesame manner. Improvement of infra-structure and use of natural solutionsand local knowledge has worked forSanoti. It might be the solution for therest of India as well. ■

India’s AgriculturalChallengeDuring 1990s, output levels from farming in India reached itsthreshold, despite Green Revolution technology. Now India is onthe quest for alternative solutions to save its agriculture

Ida Søgnen Tveit

New act to employ rural poorJulie NessOne of India’s most pressing problems is the seasonal unemployment of the rural

population. The latest programme to provide employment was passed in August

2005 and by April 1, 2008 it will be implemented in all the 604 districts in India.

Through the new National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) the state is

legally bound to provide 100 days of unskilled jobs per rural household within 15

days when it is demanded. If they fail to do so, the state must pay unemployment

allowance. These aspects distinguish NREGA from the unemployment programmes

of the past thirty years.

NREGA’s aim is also to create sustainable livelihoods, protected from food

insecurity. It involves providing productive assets to the community, which further

helps prevent migration from villages. Villagers are employed to build water and soil

management structures. NREGA also offers a solution to the problem of soil degra-

dation. —About a million structures have been built since 2005, and about 80 per

cent of those were related to water, says Richard Mahapatra, coordinator of the

Natural Resource Management and Poverty Unit, at the Center for Science and

Environment (CSE) in Delhi.

The structures that are built are not maintained. —The responsibility is

with the panchayats, the village councils, but they do not have the money for main-

tenance, says Mahapatra, adding —However, NREGA has huge potential and has

been successful in creating employment and productive assets in villages thus far. ■

8 React April 01, 2008

Will the western quest forclean environment com-promise clean develop-

ment? The discovery of the plant jat-ropha as biofuel has sent Europeansinto a frenzy.

Jatropha is a drought-resistantplant that grows on wasteland and,therefore, for its proponents, the ques-tion of food versus fuel is irrelevant.This attitude has also been adopted bythe Indian government. The Indianvision is to grow 7.5 million tonnes ofjatropha-based biofuel a year, whichwill generate employment for 5 mil-lion people. Who will benefit? Is therereally such a thing as wasteland?

Land mattersFood-insecurity chronically affects350 million people in India. Today,the population is fast growing, beatingagricultural production. 52 per cent ofIndia’s population relies solely onagriculture and many of these farmersdo not have any land to spare. InIndia, a country which is trying toregain its self-sufficiency on food, allland is valuable.

Jatropha trees are a commonsight in the dry north-western state ofRajasthan, often used as fence to keepgrazing cattle away and to makehousehold products. Four jatrophatrees are scattered around the house ofGutham Lal Meena and his wifeThavri Bai Meena in the village ofDevgarh. Their family of eight keepstwo cows and four oxen and grows

food crops on a patch of arid land.Devgarh receives less than 100 hoursof rain a year, and to an outsider culti-vation seems like an impossible taskthree months prior to the monsoon.Mr. Meena uses his four jatropha treesto make household products.

—I use it to make soap. The treeis not edible, not even the cows willtouch it and it is no good for fire fueleither, says Mr. Meena. Each jatrophatree gives him and his family enoughseeds to produce five kilos of soap.Most of it is for personal use, but theyearn about Rs 8-10 per kilo when theysell the surplus on the market. This isa little more than one Norwegiankrone. Mr. Meena knows jatropha canalso be used as biofuel and it is a fre-quent topic among his neighbours inthe village. —It is a buzz going on, butwe don’t really know much about it.

There aren’t any factories in the areato process the oil into biofuel, so wewould have to transport it a long way.When asked whether he would con-sider growing jatropha for biofuel ifthe infrastructure was in place, he isreluctant. —Yes, maybe, but my landis small, and I would not make muchprofit. If it was possible for small scalefarmers to join together and formcooperatives, maybe I would start togrow jatropha for biofuel. But it’s a lotof uncertainties and many farmers arewaiting for the state government’sfinal offer.

Wonder plant, really?The main reason why jatropha hascreated such a buzz is that it can begrown on poor soils and will thereforenot be competing with food produc-tion. EU has the objective that 20 percent of fuel consumption in Europewill be biofuel by the year 2020. Inorder for EU to achieve this goal, landarea the size of Belgium is needed.Jatropha fulfills the EU norm for bio-fuel quality. It can also beat othertypes of biofuels in terms of price.

According to official Indian esti-mates, 40 million hectares of total landarea is categorized as wasteland.However, what the Indian governmenttoday considers to be wasteland is inreality used as pasture land, and insome cases cultivated for agriculture.

A little less than a hectare ofMeena’s land is considered waste-land. The state of Rajasthan has

Jatropha is the new plant for biofuel and can be grown on wasteland, but does that make it the newwonder medicine?

Green oil fields of IndiaIda Søgnen Tveit and Magnus Flacké

B I O F U E L

Gutham Lal Meena demonstates use ofJatropha seeds. Photo: Magnus Flacke

E N E R G Y

9

approached him and asked if he willuse his wasteland to grow jatropha forbiofuel. —But if I use that land to growbiofuel, then what will my family eat?Meena definitely does not considerhis wasteland as wasted land. —It isnot great land, but we get some foodout of it.

Rich waste landThe Indian government is well awareof the economic potential of theirwasteland. In Rajasthan there are stilla lot of uncertainties regarding biofuelproduction. Other states have moreestablished structures in place inregards to the biofuel productionindustry. The state of Chhattisgarh isin the forefront when it comes to pro-moting jatropha biofuel and manyincentives are dangled in front of larg-er companies to encourage participa-tion. One such sweetener is allowing

private companies to lease govern-ment wasteland, for a trivial amountof money. The state government alsoprovides the infrastructure required tokeep the value adding process withinstate borders.

The Foundation for EcologicalSecurity (FES) is a non-profit organi-zation working to restore degradedlands in ecologically fragile areas.They are not opposed to cultivatingwasteland for jatropha plantations. —The main concern is that marginal-ized communities change their landuse to cash crop production alone.This may harm small scale farmersand could lead to food insecurity, saysB.K Sharma, the team leader of FES inthe city of Pratapgarh, Rajasthan.Families that were once self-sufficientin food supply will have to buy theirfood on the market. ■

Acyclone hit South Gujarat inJune 1998, destroying every-thing on its path—a month

before Vestas had begun wind energyprojects in India. The wind that killedthousands also hit its temporaryoffice, recounts B V Rathod, an AreaService manager at Vestas’ farm inDevgarh. He and four others fled intothe widmill tower, which could notstand up to the eye of the storm, andfell, fracturing into two pieces. Vestas’brand new investment was complete-ly destroyed by the violent storm. Allfive of its staff survived with minorinjuries.

The Danish company was notdeterred by this and continued theirinvolvement in India. It currently hasten machines spread over the country.Plans for five thousand more mills areunderway.

Status quoEighteen thousand wind mills exist inIndia and the number is growing. Thisrenewable energy source is spreadingglobally. Overall, nine per cent of thetotal amount of energy produced inIndia today, comes from WindTurbine Generators (WTGs). India isnow on par with nations such asDenmark and Germany, in terms of itsratio of renewable energy to non-renewable sources.

The majority of the WTGs inIndia are owned by thirty to fortyinternational actors. Unlike the UKand Denmark , India does not havestrict regulations on installing wind-mills. Wind farms +have been builtwithout proper consideration, result-ing in problems.

The future of windWind energy represents a benign fuel

alternative. Farms produce no wateror noise pollution, and no CO2 emis-sions. Nevertheless, if WTGs are tosatisfy global energy consumption, amyriad of machines is necessary.While 10,000 kilowatt hours of energyper day is sufficient to supply theentire city of Pratapgargh, India, esti-mates are that this would only sustainapproximately one averageNorwegian household’s electricityconsumption for three weeks.

If wind is to continue to grow asa global energy source, an impact onwildlife cannot be avoided. Theblades of WTGs pose a threat to migra-tory birds, and the vibrations interferewith burrowing animals’ natural habi-tat. Moreover, land otherwise used foralternative purposes will have to begiven up. —The three machines onthe Devgarh wind farm take up threehundred square metres of land, with a150 metre safety zone between eachtower, tells Rathod.

In addition, the landscape is aes-thetically disrupted and for this rea-son, opposition to WTGs has added tothe complex issue of where to placefarms. ■

Generation WindThale Henrikke Eddie and Lucie Swinnerton

–If I plant jatrophaon my land, whatwill we eat?

P O S T E R

10 React April 01, 2008

One man’s waste isanother man’s livelihood

40%of

wastepickers

in Delhi

have migratedfrom

West Bengal.

Sikander (70)

moved from Kolkata

15years ago to

make a livingon

theYamunariver, the sewage

drain of

Delhi.Photograph: Andreas Doppelmayr

P O S T E R

10 React April 01, 2008

One man’s waste isanother man’s livelihood

40%of

wastepickers

in Delhi

have migratedfrom

West Bengal.

Sikander (70)

moved from Kolkata

15years ago to

make a livingon

theYamunariver, the sewage

drain of

Delhi.Photograph: Andreas Doppelmayr

12 React April 01, 2008

The iron gates of Sita Mata closebehind us. We are inside thecore area of a wildlife sanctu-

ary, where no human beings areallowed to live. Our jeep makes itsway through the rough terrain andmonkeys are occasionally watching usfrom the treetops. But soon we catch aglimpse of cultivated fields throughthe trees. Children are waving fromthe side of the bumpy road and an old

man is working the earth. Who arethey, and why do they live inside theprotected forest?

Rumor has it that this area hassome of the most diverse wildlife inIndia, and several travel agenciesarrange eco-tourism trips to the sanc-tuary. The Rajasthan ForestDepartment claims the area has a myr-iad of endangered species, includingjackals, hyenas, wolves and panthers.

The sanctuary seems like a conserva-tionists dream. But this dream may befar from the reality.

The villagersWe stop in the village of Mogiamba,and are led to a big tree on the out-skirts of the fields. It is the warmesttime of the day and the shadow of theMahua tree provides a natural meetingground for the villagers. Fresh

remains from a big bonfire in the mid-dle of the clearing give the impressionthat it is used frequently when thecommunity comes together to discusscommon issues and problems. It is thedry season and the landscape is dis-tinctly different from the lush, greenscenery one would have imagined.

Mogiamba is one of the 24 vil-lages inside the core area of Sita Mata.Mogiamba literally means the place of

mango groves. The village comprises118 families, with approximately 700people, dispersed over a large landarea. The villagers grow maize, riceand two varieties of lentils. They sellthe surplus in the market.

Sita Mata lies at the heart of theconflict between the tribal people liv-ing inside protected areas and theForest Department. —The RajasthanForest Department is on the warpath,

trying to empty the sanctuary’s corearea of people, explains JawaharSingh Dagur of Prayas, a local NGO. Ifit happens, that will be the secondtime this community will be forced topack up and leave. The first people tosettle in Sita Mata were those dis-placed by two dams, among them thelarge Mahi River Dam. The village ofMogiamba was established in 1966, 13years before the area was declared a

Parked in Sita Mata?Wildlife conservation, a relocated village and a Tendu leaf contractor. They’re all part of the strugglefor Sita Mata’s future. The level of tension in the wildlife sanctuary in Rajasthan is rising.

Runar Myrnes Balto and Nicolai Steineger

The villagers have an uncertain future in Sita Mata. In front: Ramesh Chandra (left ) and Mohan (right). Photo: Julie Ness

C O N S E R V A T I O N

13April 01, 2008 React

wildlife sanctuary. Mohan, a villageelder, describes how this affectedthem: —We had fields then and wehave fields now. But the timber tradewe used to profit from is now illegaland the area has become more lawless.You can now see cattle grazing the for-est without shepherds. Outsiders sendtheir cattle into Sita Mata, withoutsanctions from the Forest Department.

Mogiamba’s inhabitants do nothave access to electricity or motorizedvehicles. Ramesh Chandra, our localguide, explains that it is illegal toinstall electricity poles within thewildlife sanctuary. —We are notallowed to make proper roads to ourhouseholds and villages either. Thechildren in Mogiamba go to school,but because building is prohibited,they haven’t got any school facilities.

The Wildlife Protection Act,1972, entitles the Forest Departmentto declare any forestland a wildlifesanctuary for the purpose of ‘protect-ing’ or developing wildlife. The lawprohibits people living in the sanctu-ary, with the result that those settled

inside cannot claim their rights. —Theproblem is that we don’t have pattasfor this land, Chandra explains.

A patta, or land deed, is proof ofownership over land, which in theeyes of the forest department, these‘illegal encroachers’ simply cannothave. Ironically, there are eight ‘rev-enue villages’ inside the wildlife sanc-tuary, and at least some of the inhabi-tants do indeed have pattas. A pattacan dramatically change destinies,reduce constant harassment, andlegalize a community or family’s exis-tence inside forest areas.

Because the people of Mogiambawere earlier displaced in 1966, andbecause they chose to settle inside asimilar landscape, they remain illegal

in the eyes of the all-powerful forestbureaucracy. They cannot get pattasfor the land they inhabit now.

If the village had at least eightpattas, they could have formed a forestprotection committee, making thempartners with the forest department inmanaging forests and conservingwildlife.

Meanwhile, across India, the for-est bureaucracy is in a hurry to relo-cate forest-based communities livinginside wildlife reserves and nationalparks — before the Forest Rights Act(see page 14) is implemented.

The people in Mogiamba havebeen offered five alternative sites forrelocation, together with one millionrupees per family. Still, no villagershave relocated yet; the group we metseems determined to stay. —Wherewill we go? I’m an old man and havelived half of my life here. I don’t wantto start all over again, says Mohan.

The villagers consider the offersinadequate. They see three of thelands as unsuitable for agriculture. Atthe other two places, the local people

are not willing to receive theMogiamba villagers. But why is theForest Department so determined torelocate the people? Mohan replieswithout a second thought: —Thedepartment prefers animals to people.

Tendu leaf contractorSita Mata sanctuary closely supportsthe area’s local economy. Tenduleaves, for instance, are a crucialsource of income for the villagerswithin the forest.

Gopal Paliwal is an importantperson in the Pratapgarh area. Paliwalis a second-generation Tendu leaftrader and his family has made bigmoney from the business. He has acontract with the Forest Department

to work the entire Sita Mata area.Paliwal is thus an important source ofincome to many Sita Mata inhabitants.

The Tendu trees are in highdemand for various sorts of carpentry,and their leaves are used for makingbeedies. Beedies are small cigarettesconsisting of tobacco rolled in Tenduleaves. About 850 billion are smokedannually only in India, and the indus-try employs about 4.4 million people.The majority of the workers belong toscheduled tribes and castes.

His fingers are decorated withexpensive rings and play with a priceycellphone. It rings at least six timesduring our ten-minute interview.Gopal owns 20 jeeps, a warehouse,and a petrol pump, as well as his ownbeedi brand. —I bought the ex-king’s

Fact box:Notified as a wildlife sanctuary in

1979.Location: Rajasthan, 45 km fromChittorgarh.Area: 422.94 sq.kmCore area: 18%Rainfall: 800 mm annuallyPopulation: 4,000-5,000 inside thepark

Sita Mata bears a conflict betweentribals and the Forest Department

Gopal Paliwal is a Tendu leaf contractor,working the entire Sita Mata area. Photo: Nicolai Steineger

C O N S E R V A T I O N

14 React February 15, 2008

palace and rebuilt it into what is nowmy house, he boasts, lighting up anAmerican brand cigarette.

Another phone call is hastilyrejected. —I employ 6,000-7,000 peo-ple for Tendu leaf extraction. They allget about 70 rupees for a days´ work,he continues. Most of the peoplePaliwal employs are local people, buthe also brings in people from outsidewhen needed.

The future of Sita MataIndia has a total of 441 wildlife sanc-tuaries and 80 national parks, whichconstitutes five percent of its landarea. Almost all of these areas areprone to conflicts. Sita Mata providesample proof that wildlife is more thanpretty trees and tigers. The sanctuaryis both the home of people and animportant source of income.

However, the future of the vil-lagers and the Tendu leaf contractor isuncertain. There has been talk aboutupgrading the sanctuary to a nationalpark, which would outlaw all eco-nomic activity and human interfer-ence in the park. Adding to the pres-sure on the villagers are the recurrentrumors of a plan to move a populationof the endangered Asiatic Lion intothe sanctuary.

Paliwal downplays his depen-dence on the protected forest, andseems to have little concern about thefuture. —Sita Mata constitutes a frac-ture of my income. But for the vil-lagers the forest is everything.Although fear of moving is not a pop-ular subject with the villagers, theyare determined to uphold their livesin the park.

An old man in the back of thegroup raises his voice for the first andonly time: —We wish to stay, and willfight if necessary. ■

The western approach to conser-vation entails wilderness withno human interference. This

may go wrong in countries such asIndia, with a heavy population densi-ty where around 600 million surviveon agriculture and depend on forest.This shows a different way of preser-vation where man has an active role.

The adoption of a preservation-scheme in India has had huge implica-tions for many people, as India simplydoes not have large land areas free ofpeople. Wilderness is not just aboutanimals and plants, it is just as muchabout humans. The greatest conflictsover conservation and relocation inIndia are about wildlife preservationand development programs, particu-larly on dams. Such construction hasled to the displacement of millions,mostly tribal people, known asScheduled Tribes or Adivasis. Theymake up about 8 per cent of the totalpopulation, but represent 55 percentof displaced people.

A report published by the WorldCommission on Dams has calculatedthat according to the 3,300 large damsthat India has built in the last 50 years,the number of people displaced bydams is likely to range from 21 to 33million. This does not include dis-placement caused by other projectssuch as wildlife protection. In total itis estimated that the number of dis-placed people in India is over 70 bil-lion. Conflicting actsThere are now four major forest andwildlife management acts in India,which only amplify the confusion in

the small details and in their imple-mentation. Most provisions of thecolonial-era Indian Forest Act, 1927,are still in force, while the WildlifeProtection Act of 1972 ‘criminalizes’the forest people, because legislativelyspeaking, they are not allowed to livethere or use forest-based resources forsubsistence. The 1980 ForestConservation Act put restrictions ondiverting forestland for non-forestpurposes. The Forest Rights Act of2006 is in conflict with both of theseacts because it focuses on giving forestdwelling people rights to their land.For forest people to claim their land,they need a patta, which is a proof ofownership. In order to obtain a patta,they have to prove that three genera-tions have been living on the land.This can be difficult to prove, as thecase in Sita Mata shows.

About five per cent of India’s ter-ritory is notified as National Parks orSanctuaries. Delhi-based Centre forEquity Studies (CES) says about 4 mil-lion people live inside India’s protect-ed areas. Many of them lived in theareas before they were notified pro-tected and are now in danger of beingrelocated. In many cases people havebeen removed from their land withoutsufficient compensation. All forestareas, accounting for about 23 percentof India’s land, is physically ´owned´by the Forest Department. In India,lands can be acquired from individu-als needed for any public purpose.This principle is often invoked whenestablishing nature parks, oftenthrowing out communities living inthese areas for generations. ■

1872: Yellowstone, first National Park created in the US. Other countriesin the world gradually follow the concept1894: Land Acquisition Act passed in India. Conveys full right to theGovernment of India to acquire any land needed for public usage. In theprocess of displacement, a person is entitled to cash compensation1927: Forest Act passed in India. Declaring of areas to be reserved or pro-tected forest1940s: New dimension on global preservation; Britain leaves Africa

1947: India gains independence from Britain1964: The Wilderness Act passed in the US with the concept of protect-ing wilderness without human interference1972: The Wildlife Protection Act in India passed. Created protectedareas and conservation of wildlife1980: Forest Conservation Act passed in India. Restrictions on forest landfor non-forest purposes2006: Forest Right Act passed in India. Focus on rights of forest people

Conservation, conflicts and displacementBirgit Kvernflaten and Hanne Castberg Tresselt

P O L I T I C S

15April 01, 2008 React

It’s midday, the sun is burning hotin the dry and arid landscape ofsouth Rajasthan, which opens up

into the lush Hamarkhora valley.Between the green foliage and thegolden stems of the wheat fields, isKerwas village, home to the Meenatribe with it’s 18 households and 72people.

We reach the valley and meetmembers of the local watershed com-mittee and representatives from FES,Foundation for Ecological Security, anNGO working for ecological restora-tion in rural India. The committeeconsists of people from the age of 18from the village and the panchayat.The panchayat is the lowest level ofgovernance structure and normallyhas authority over two or three vil-lages. The council meets regularly toaddress matters of common concern.

In the middle of the courtyard ahand-drawn ecological map of thehabitat is rolled out on the ground.The village is situated in what is botha dry and high rainfall zone. There areshort and heavy monsoons and a dryclimate the rest of the year. It’s crucialto save water where it falls and to con-sume the goods from nature in a sustainable way.

The leader of the communitygroup points to the map, showing ushow the natural resources in the areaare managed. The map also illustrateshow the natural resources have beendistributed since a working plan wasimplemented.

—We came into contact with thepeople of Hamakhora habitation in2005 after conducting a survey of thePratapgarh district, says Nadini Singh,project officer of the Pratapgarh FESoffice. —After initial trust-buildingbetween FES and the local communi-

ty, the process of identifying chal-lenges and solutions for naturalresource management began. A work-ing plan was developed on the basis oflocal knowledge and preferences,with FES as a facilitator providingfinancial resources and technicalassistance, says Singh.

The outcome of the planningprocess was a construction of water-shed developments, which means therainfall is channelled into severalwater bodies at the lowest point in thevalley. The water is harvested and thewater bodies provide for direct irriga-tion, as well as indirect irrigationthrough the recharging of groundwa-ter wells. The community council reg-ulates the usage of the harvested

water, so that no direct irrigation usesthe two water bodies in the upperridges because they are needed toincrease the water flow in the lowerstreams and recharge the wells.

India’s decentralization experimentIndia has over 600,000 villages withalmost 4 million elected local repre-sentatives. It is the world’s largestexperiment in decentralization. Theunion government is giving the powerback to the people by giving the localgovernment the special role of imple-menting development projects. This isall true on paper, but in real life com-munities are struggling every day toreclaim their right to control their ownland and resources. Even though thestate has political control, they cannotcontrol nature. Rain falls where itfalls, and is therefore completelydecentralized: rain needs no politicalprogramme.

Attempts to bring governmenteven closer to the people have beenmade, as is the case with the PISA Act

Reclaiming the power Malin Lenita Vik and Martine Kværner Roberts

FES and president of the community council show how rain water is channeled into the fournalas (streams) in the valley. Photograph: Junn Bjartung

The governmentis giving powerback to people.But how fruitful?

16 React February 15, 2008

of 1996, through which there areautonomous structures all the waydown to the village level. The problemis that the actual implementation ofthe act still seems a million milesaway. The vast number of Indian leg-islations is to some extent contradicto-ry, as one law cannot replace another.This allows for strong, local commu-nities to find innovative ways ofreclaiming village power.

Local voices FES believes watershed managementis more than just a technical fix; it is also a social and cultural phe-nomenon entirely dependent on orga-nization and the involvement of localpeople. There have been previous attempts made by govern-ment institutions to introduce waterharvesting structures in theHamakhora habitation.

However, since the local peoplewere kept out of the process, the struc-tures became futile within a couple ofyears. During the FES program thegovernment’s water harvesting struc-tures have been repaired and are now

being used as a part of the watersheddevelopments. Tamilbai, one of theelderly women living in the valley, isan active participant in the Kerwasvillage council. The small lady is shy,hiding half of her face behind hergreen sari while talking.

Tamilbai explains that the vil-lage council will come together when-ever they have important issues ofcommon concern to discuss. Most ofthe time these meetings will entaildiscussions about where and howphysical infrastructure should bedeveloped or maintained, and howthe work burden will be shared amongthe households.

Tamilbai goes on further, talkingabout the importance of taking part indecision-making concerning herlivelihood. —Before, the women usedto voluntarily keep away from deci-sion-making processes, but today 33percent of the seats in the council arereserved for women. Since the deci-sions made in the council also affectsour workdays, the women here haveunderstood the importance of partici-pating in the council, says Tamilbai.

In Indian rural areas, it is com-mon that there is an indirect discrimi-

nation against the female sex, wherethe workload is heavier on females.This village is no exception; thewomen have the responsibility of thehousehold in addition to having totake part in common work and attend-ing to the fields.

—To participate in decision-making processes gives us an opportu-nity to influence the natural environ-ment in our valley and it also gives usa feeling of ownership of our commonresources, Tamilbai proudly says.

—What are the effects of the FESprogramme in your village? —Oh, the

effects are many. The soil is muchricher now that we have a proper irri-gation system, and for the first timewe are able to grow two crops a year,instead of only one. This means thatwe can sell some of the surplus ofwhat we grow on the market. Beforewe used to have a problem with ero-sion, but that is not a problem any-more, after we built check dams andtrenches on the hillsides. We havealso started to grow soybeans, whichwe mainly sell on the local market,says Tamilbai.

Creating sustainability —We are advising the village to growmostly for self-consumption and tokeep on prioritizing the traditionalcrops such as maize and pulses,wheat, mustard and gram, eventhough they have started to grow soy-beans for commercial purpose, ShipraCupta, another project officer fromFES explains.

— In order to keep this programsustainable, it has been decided thatdirect irrigation from these wellsshould have a monetary charged, saysNadini Singh. The income from thecommunal water project is deposited

with the panchayat. The funds arereleased when the community councilneeds to do repairs or maintenance ofthe water structure. This creates amanagement system that is self-suffi-cient, says Singh.

The Meena tribe, and manyother tribes in India, is directly depen-dent on natural resources for their sur-vival. In order to have water and foodthroughout all seasons they have tothink and act strategically. The water-shed program they use today is a cleanand viable way of managing nature asit is highly energy and cost efficient. ■

Tamilbai, from Kerwas village, talks abouther participation in the community council. Photograph: Junn Bjartung

In rural India, discrimination againstfemales is strong. They are forced towork more than the males do.

17April 01, 2008 React

Private companies are taking over waste-managementin major parts of Delhi. This could prove to be cata-strophic, both for the unofficial recyclers and the

city’s environment.

There are about 300,000 wastepickers in Delhi. Together,they are doing one of the city’s most important jobs, recy-cling up to 20 per cent of its daily waste accumulation.Still, the state government does not recognize the impor-tance of their hazardous work. Rather than cooperate withthe wastepickers, they have started a privatization of thewaste removal.

— Private companies are forcing us away from the dustbinswhere we used to segregate waste, says Siraj. He is in hismid-fifties and has been working as a wastepicker in Delhiall his life. In the last six months, a private waste-manage-ment company has been granted control over the area TakaiKeli Khen, where he works. This is making his life difficult.

—They are demanding up to 2,000 Rs per month in ‘rent’from us for letting us use the dustbins. Most of us are notable to pay them, and have to pick waste from the streetsinstead.

Before the privatization, Siraj and the other wastepickersused to earn about 170 Rs per day. Now they only makebetween 100 and 125 Rs a day. The money they earn is usedto provide for their children's education. —I am working sothat my children won’t have to live the same life that I live,Siraj says.

In addition to making life harder for wastepickers, this pri-vatization also increases pressure on the environment. —The private companies do not recycle the waste, they justtransport it directly to the dumpsites, says Yogesh Kumarfrom Chintan, an NGO fighting for the recognition ofwastepickers. As the dumpsites in Delhi are already put tothe limit, many feel this can hardly be argued as being aviable practice. ■

What aboutrecycling?Henrik Bering and Gjertrud Egge WennevikPhotos: Andreas Doppelmayr

The wastepickers daily recycle 75% of the 1,800 tonnes of glass bottles. They earn from collecting and selling recyclable waste

Wastepickers are not recognized by the authorities and have no socialor medical securities. They face harassment from police and locals.

The work the wastepickers of Delhi are doing saves the government600,000 rupees daily.

—I am working so that my children won’t have to live the same lifethat I lived, says Siraj, one of the wastepickers. He has a son and adaughter currently in school. He has to work every day from 5 am to 7 pm to make a living.

25 individuals control

60 per cent of India’s GDP?

The urban poverty line in India is

Rs 18 (about 2 NOK); the rural is

Rs 12 (1.50 NOK) and a bottle of

water costs Rs 12?

301,7 million people live in

poverty in India, approximately

60 times of Norway´s popula-

tion?

In 2003 India declared itself a

developed country?

22 Indians consume the same

amount of energy as one

Norwegian per year?

India has the fastest growing

economy in the world?

Delhi has the third most expen-

cive real estate in the world?

92% of India’s output is provided

by the informal sector?

All buses and motorized rick-

shaws in Delhi run on com-

pressed natural gas?

As Indian people eat with their

hands, it is considered impolite

for one to have dirt below the

knuckles?

The number of cars in Delhi

increases by 1000 every day?

Cows in India are also used as

security for loans and dowry?

React April 01, 200818

Rajasthani Daal Recipe

Ingredients : 250 gr of Mung Daal250 gr of Urad Daal2 large onions1 whole garlic2 green chillis2 tomatoesHalf a ginger root3 soup spoons of ground nut oil1 tea spoon of cumin1 tea spoon of fennel1 tea spoon of coriander1 tea spoon of mustard seed1 tea spoon of black pepper4 tea spoon of salt2 bayleafs

Boil Mung and Urad Daal togetheruntil cooked. In a separate pot, choponions in small squares, add salt,cumin, fennel and coriander and fryin heated ground nut oil for 5 minutes.Add mashed garlic, ginger, chillis andtomatoes and cook content for another5 minutes in high heat; Add mustard

seed, black pepper and bay leaf andcook for another 5 minutes. Addboiled Daal into the cooking sauce,stir well and cook for another 5 min-utes; liquify with water if needed.

Bati RecipeIngredients :250 gr of whole wheat flour250 gr of whole corn flour10 gr of salt50 gr of melted butter

Mix whole wheat and whole cornflour, add salt and melted butter, stirfirmly until a stiff dough is formed.Add water if needed. Form palm size

balls. Traditionally the prepareddough balls are baked by being cov-ered in cow dung coals. If cow dung isnot available, bake in your preheatedoven for 25 minutes at 200°C.

Enjoy your Daal with crumbed Batispread or separately.

Did you know that…

F A C T S & F O O DPh

oto

: Cam

illa An

dreassen

?Want to know more

www.cseindia.org/react.htm

React

Gates closing on Sita Mata

Holy contamination 55Green oilfields 88

Recycling? 1177

IT MIGHT NOT LOOK CLEAN,

Fertilizer

To build homes

Energy

Insecticide

No Bullshit!

React

To cook food

BUT IT IS VIABLE

Reclaiming power 1155

April 01, 20080 NOK