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Dongria Kondhs continue to fight bauxite mining in Odisha’s Niyamgiri forests

by Satyasunder Barik

At the first international indigenous film festival in Bhubaneswar last month, two young women who lived an ocean apart and barely knew each other euphorically embraced, much to the amusement of the audience. Emmanuela Shinta, 26, an independent filmmaker from Indonesia’s Kalimantan rainforest, and Dinja Jakasika, a 30-year-old village sarpanch from the foothills of Odisha’s picturesque Niyamgiri Hills, had nothing in common — nationality, attire or language. What united them were their indigenous roots and a long history of struggle.

Shinta, who belongs to Indonesia’s Dayak community, which is being rapidly marginalised by the local government’s policy on transmigration and by expansive oil companies, could instantly relate to Jakasika’s struggle. Jakasika belongs to the Dongria Kondh community, one of Odisha’s few remaining tribal groups. Ever since the community turned down a proposal from Vedanta Aluminium to mine the Niyamgiri hills for bauxite in 2013, it has found itself in the cross hairs of the State government.

Finding connections

Shinta first met Jakasika two years ago, at an indigenous film festival in Kalimantan. “When I met Dinja and got to know about their struggle, I was stunned. Wherever I go, I meet indigenous people and find connections even though we don’t know each other or each other’s language. It is very important for us to assert our rights and to be strong. We should stay connected. We will fight together,” said Shinta. Jakasika agreed.

The film festival, which travelled from Bhubaneswar to Puri and ended in Kurli, a Dongria Kondh village in Rayagada district, showcased the anguish and struggle of indigenous communities in India and around the world. A small group of indigenous filmmakers and tribal communities exchanged notes and drew inspiration from each other at the festival.

For the Dongria Kondhs, the film festival was an important occasion to recount the community’s travails over the last decade, and debate what the ‘correct’ model of development could be.

Till the early 2000s, Dongria Kondhs lived peacefully in quiet and inaccessible hamlets on the slopes of the Niyamgiri range, in the Bissam Cuttack, Muniguda and Kalyansingpur blocks of Rayagada district and in the Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district. Trouble began to brew when in 2004 Vedanta set up a pit-head alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, a nondescript village on the foothills of Niyamgiri.

Tribal elder Dadhi Pushika, in a traditional Dongria shawl |

Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

Bauxite is the raw material for alumina and aluminum, and Odisha has 700 million tonnes of known bauxite reserves, of which 88 million tonnes are estimated to be found in Niyamgiri. In the rush to acquire mining rights, stringent environmental laws were violated, and the Dongria’s consent was not sought. Court cases and local opposition did not deter the company. Then, on April 18, 2013, the Supreme Court gave a clear direction that mining clearance can only be given if gram sabhas, comprising Dongrias, agreed to the project. In what is perhaps India’s first environmental referendum, all 12 villages selected by the government voted against the project.

Activists say the Dongria’s opposition to mining has led to them being perceived as a ‘roadblock’ to development in a region known for grinding poverty and starvation deaths. “The government has not forgotten its defeat by a tribal group. It wants to dominate the discourse of development in the region and muzzle local voices,” said Lingaraj Azad, convenor of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS), which has been spearheading agitation against mining in Niyamgiri.

Today a huge gulf in trust has emerged between the government and the Dongria Kondhs.

Nobody exemplifies this deep divide better than Lada Sikaka, NSS president and once an important voice of the Dongrias. Today, he is distraught. Sikaka’s call for 5 ft roads to the villages rather than the government-prescribed 30 ft roads, primary schools that teach in the Dongria tongue rather than large residential schools, and Indira Awas Yojana houses that incorporate tribal traditions have either been laughed off or ignored by government officials.

Dongria women in traditional attire in Lanjigarh | Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

On the sidelines of the annual Niyamraja Festival held recently on the hills, 5,000 ft above sea level, Sikaka vented his anguish. “The government is offering us a 30 ft road under the pretext that it will be useful during a health emergency. But we don’t want forests razed to the ground for a wide road. The government insists on concrete houses. This for the Dongrias means that all building material will have to be laboriously transported to the hilltops.”

Why care?

The Dongrias say that the process of selecting beneficiaries for old age, widow and disability pensions is a farce. “How many government officials have ever visited our villages? How do they identify the beneficiaries? They have no idea how many of our people live in the forest,” said Dadhi Pushika, a Dongria elder.

Sikaka said: “Once we convened a meeting at Trilochanpur in the foothills of Niyamgiri. Members of each village gathered and a charter of demands was finalised. But no government official turned up. When the government is not ready to listen to us, why should we care for them?”

The State government’s first attempt at development in this region was in the 80s when it came up with three micro-projects: two Dongria Kondh Development Agencies, in Chatikona and Parsali, and the Kutia Kondh Development Agency.

But, like all well-meaning projects that find little resonance on ground, they could not lift the literacy rate, an abysmal 33% among a population of 11,551. The community said there are barely any schools or anganwadis in the 100-odd hamlets scattered across the Niyamgiri slopes, though the government claims otherwise.

“Crèches were opened in partnership with non-government organisations. Efforts were made to propagate the Kui language in 30 centres. The topography of the area made it impossible to reach each village. Committees from each village were roped in to carry supplementary food to the children. I hope the programme continues,” said Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar, until recently the collector of Rayagada.

A group of women on their way to the Niyamraja festival | Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

There are four government health centres in Trilochanpur, Muniguda and Bissamcuttack, to reach which the Dongrias have to trek three hours. Apart from this, Vedanta Alumina Refinery runs a private hospital as CSR activity. Several deaths have taken place, although there is no mention of this in any government records.

Dongria Kondhs also feel persecuted by security forces. They are suspected of being ‘sympathetic’ to Maoists in the area. “I was abruptly bundled into a police jeep last October and beaten up in custody. I was asked a volley of questions on my alleged links with left-wing extremists. When their egos were satisfied, I was let go,” said Sikaka. In the same month, Dadhi Pushika was subjected to physical assault after Rayagada police picked him up from the village. There was no concrete allegation against him. Jamu Gauda, another villager, faced similar police action.

“Allegations of police intimidation and ill-treatment of the community are deeply disturbing. Innocent tribals are being branded as Maoists,” said Manohar Chauhan, a forest rights activist and former campaigner of Amnesty International.

The Dongria’s simmering anger against the government was stoked further this month when the Supreme Court directed all State governments to evict from the forests all those whose applications for regularisation of occupation had been rejected. As per official records on regularisation of titles under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, only 252 applications were not approved in Kutia Kondh Development Agency, Lanjigarh jurisdiction. Though the administration has promised to review all applications, confusion prevails in the community. Not all members of the tribe even know what the FRA is.

“Forest dwellers across the country got temporary relief when the Supreme Court stayed its eviction order. But the community continues to feel threatened,” said Chauhan.

The NSS sees a larger conspiracy. “What we are hearing from other activists is that the Supreme Court order has presented a golden opportunity for the government to reject applications regarding individual forest rights, community forest rights and habitat rights and wrest control of Niyamgiri. It will open the doors for bauxite mining in the hills,” said Azad, who was recently arrested for leading protests against Vedanta and later released on bail.

A woman painting a traditional house ahead of a national fair in Bhubaneswar. | Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

At the annual festival, Dongria Kondhs resolved not to yield an inch if the government resorts to forced eviction. “No force on earth can drive us from Niyamgiri. Where will we go? Where will we grow pineapples, banana, oranges, turmeric, cereals and pulses? We would rather die than think of leading a life outside the hills,” raged Kunuji Kutruga, 60, from Khambesi village.

Red, gold and greenA woman in traditional attire | Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

The Dongrias have largely stayed secluded. Their distinctive Kapadaganda shawl, however, has captured the attention of art lovers worldwide. The embroidery involves some very intricate needlework, and the shawl has a special place in Dongria tradition.

The fabric for the shawl is a handwoven cloth made by Dalit families. The traditional green, yellow and red embroidery threads are bought from the market. “Green symbolises the endless chain of mountains and fields. Yellow invokes turmeric and peace, a smile, togetherness, health and happiness of the community. And red is the colour of blood, energy, power, revenge, aggression,” said Purusottam Pattanaik, a researcher with SC & ST Research and Training Institute. The embroidery on a shawl can take months to complete.

Dongria women love ornaments, hair accessories and flowers. “But the shawl gives us prestige when we go to fairs or social events,” said Lakmi Sikaka, a Dongria woman. The Rayagada district administration has tried to improve the quality of the base fabric and the embroidery threads, and also to get a GI tag for the unique garment.

March 16, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

U.N. meet dilutes Indian plan to phase out single-use plastic

An ambitious resolution piloted by India to phase out single-use plastics by 2025, was watered down at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) that concluded on Friday in Nairobi.

At the World Environment Day summit on June 5, 2018 here, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had pledged to eliminate single-use plastics from India by 2022. This was lauded by then UN Environment Chief, Erik Solheim.

This pushed several States — notably Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh — to enforce previous commitments to ban plastic bags and similar disposables.

Ahead of the UNEA, the UN secretariat had invited inputs from member states to forge a common declaration regarding addressing a host of environmental challenges. India’s inputs on the February 16 read:

“…We will decisively address the damage to our ecosystems caused by the unsustainable use and disposal of single-use plastic products, including by phasing-out most problematic single-use plastic products as early as 2025, and we encourage the private sector to find affordable and eco-friendly alternatives…”

Deadline pushed back

However, the final declaration on March 15 removed the firm timelines and edited out the “decisively” and only committed to a “reduction by 2030.”

“…We will address the damage to our ecosystems caused by the unsustainable use and disposal of plastic products, including by significantly reducing single-use plastic products by 2030, and we will work with the private sector to find affordable and environment friendly alternatives…” says the document available on the UNEA website.

The UNEA, however, lauded India for playing a key role in advocating a time-bound ban on single use plastic. A person privy to negotiations told media that India didn’t work enough to garner international support to carry it all the way through. “We didn’t have enough subject experts at Nairobi,” he added.

Nitrogen pollution

Along with plastic, India also piloted a resolution on curbing nitrogen pollution.

“..The global nitrogen-use efficiency is low, resulting in pollution by reactive nitrogen which threatens human health, ecosystem services, contributes to climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion. Only a small proportion of the plastics produced globally are recycled, with most of it damaging the environment and aquatic bio-diversity. Both these are global challenges and the resolutions piloted by India at the UNEA are vital first steps towards addressing these issues and attracting focus of the global community,” said a press statement by the Union Environment Ministry.

A top official in the Ministry told mediathat India’s commitment to phase out plastic would continue irrespective of the global resolution. “It’s a significant step that such a resolution was accepted at the UN. Timelines per se are matters of further negotiation and debate,” Secretary, Union Environment Ministry C.K. Mishra said. “However, our commitments and efforts to reduce plastic use will continue at our pace.”

A Central Pollution Control Board estimate in 2015 says that Indian cities generate 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily and about 70% of the plastic produced in the country ends up as waste. Seventeen States have plastic bans, on paper. Experts have rued the inadequacy of collection and recycling systems to address the burgeoning plastic waste problem.

Source : The Hindu

March 16, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Maneka Gandhi tells Army to act against elephant deaths in Assam, remove ‘dreadful spikes’

New Delhi: Days after a bed of six-inch long metal spikes installed by the Indian Army in Assam allegedly claimed the life of a male elephant, union minister Maneka Gandhi took up the issue with Army Chief Bipin Rawat and asked him to immediately remove the deadly spikes.
The spikes, laid down by the Army to prevent elephants around the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in Guwahati from entering the military installation adjacent to it, have allegedly caused at least two elephant deaths, and left several injured.
Taking strong exception to the Army’s installation of what she called “the dreadful spikes”, Maneka said, “Whoever in the Army has done this needs to be pulled up…The Army has no business of putting these lethal spikes in the middle of a forest.
“I have spoken to the commander-in-chief, and he told me he has no knowledge of this, and will take immediate action,” she told ThePrint Friday.
“We have less than 15,000 elephants left in this country, are we going to kill them all?” she said.
According to the 2017 census of elephants, there are 27,312 elephants in the country, which account for 55 per cent of the total elephant population in the world.
Gandhi not the only one to outrage
A month before the male elephant was found dead on 4 March — it reportedly succumbed to septicaemia caused by a wound in the leg — the forest department had warned the Army against the “cruel” measure, asking it to remove the spikes, which would endanger the lives of the “innocent animals”.
In a letter written on 28 December — a day after another elephant was injured — District Forest Officer (DFO), Pradipta Baruah said, “This type of cruel effort to keep the elephants at bay is definitely going to defeat the very spirit of wildlife protection and preservation.
“You are, therefore, requested to do away with this type of detrimental measures… and evolve to take recourse to a more compassionate method in tandem with the wildlife division in the true spirits of protecting the wildlife.”
According to the post-mortem report of the elephant, it had punctured wounds on its right hind leg and foreleg which officials in the forest department believe were caused due to the spikes.
“Several elephants have been injured in this area due to these spikes, and we have constantly maintained that the Army should remove them, but nothing has been done till now,” an official in the Guwahati wildlife division told ThePrint.
“The way to deal with man-animal conflict is not to put the lives of animals in jeopardy,” the official said.
Long-drawn problem in Assam
While man-animal conflict is a raging issue across several parts of the country, it is particularly stark in Assam, where 249 elephants and 761 people have died since 2010 owing to the problem.
Poaching, train-related accidents, poisoning and electrocution have all contributed to the dwindling elephant population in the region.
Additionally, the shrinking natural habitat of elephants compels them to stray into human habitation, thereby increasing the incidents of conflict.
According to environment ministry data, in the last five years, nearly 500 elephants have died in the country due to unnatural factors.
Out of the 490 deaths recorded since 2013, more than half the deaths — 267 — have occurred due to electrocution, followed by poaching (92), rail accidents (72), revenge killings (36) and poisoning (23).

March 16, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

‘Ganga pollution rise claim unscientific’

TNN
NEW DELHI: Strongly rebutting claims of a substantial increase in level of
pollutants in Ganga in a report by Varanasi-based Sankat Mochan
Foundation, the National Mission for Clean Ganga said such high levels of
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) have never been reported for the
river.
Questioning the capacity of the Foundation to carry out such tests, the
NMCG – a central agency which has been implementing the government’s
ambitious Ganga rejuvenation programme – said the high level of BOD
claimed were not “scientific at all” as such a scenario could lead to sudden
depletion of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level severely impacting aquatic life.
Only the Central Pollution Control Board had the wherewithal to monitor
pollution along the length of the river.

Referring to CPCB data of the last six years, the Mission said the DO level has, in fact, been found to be within “acceptable limits” of notified primary water quality criteria for bathing. The BOD level should be less than 3 mg/L, DO should be 5 mg/L or more and desirable faecal coliform should be 500 MPN (most probable number)/100 ml with maximum permissible level being 2,500 MPN/100ml.

The Foundation has gone by data collected by its laboratory at Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi and claimed that the BOD level has increased from 46.8-54 mg/L to 66-78 mg/L during January 2016 to February 2019. Similarly, the NGO claimed faecal coliform in the river at Varanasi have increased from 4.5 lakh (upstream at Nagwa) and 5.2 crore (downstream at Varuna) in January,2016 to 3.8 crore (upstream) and 14.4 crore (downstream) in February, 2019. Calling these claims “incorrect”, the NMCG flagged
the scientific data of the CPCB which carried out continuous water quality monitoring at two locations in Varanasi.

It said, “Analysis of water quality monitoring data of CPCB for these two stations located on main stem of Ganga in Varanasi for the month of January for period 2016-19 indicates that minimum value of DO varied between 6.7 to 7.6 mg/L and indicated healthy state of river.” Source : TNN

According to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), only one out of 39 locations through which the Ganga river flows had clean water in the post-monsoon period this year.

As many as 37 of the 41 locations through which the Ganga river flows reported moderate to severe water pollution in the pre-monsoon period this year, according to the ‘Biological Water Quality Assessment of the River Ganga (2017-18)’ report that was recently made public by the CPCB in compliance with a Supreme Court direction.

The water quality of the river was either clean or slightly polluted at only four out of 41 locations during the pre-monsoon period and at only one out of 39 locations post-monsoon, it said, adding that Haridwar is the only location where the river was ‘clean’ in the post-monsoon period.

In the report, qualitative analysis of samples that were taken during pre- and post-monsoon period were analysed and put under five water quality classes — clean (A), slight pollution (B), moderate pollution (C), heavy pollution (D) and severe pollution (E).

According to the report, 34 areas showed moderate pollution in the river while three areas recorded severe pollution in the pre-monsoon period in 2017-18.

The report also said in Uttar Pradesh, two major tributaries, River Pandu and River Varuna, are increasing pollution load of the Ganga.

“On mainstream of River Ganga, although none of the locations were found to be severely polluted but most are in moderate pollution range,” the study said.

As many as 37 of the 41 locations through which the river flows, reported moderate to severe pollution in the pre-monsoon period this year, it said.

In another study titled Comparison of Biological Water Quality of River Ganga (2014-18), it was found that Ramganga and Garra river water was in heavy pollution range in post-monsoon season during 2017-18.

It showed hardly any improvement at most of the locations in the past four years. Water quality at some locations (Jagjeetpur in Uttarakhand and Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh) had deteriorated in 2017-18 as compared to 2014-15, the study said.

In 2017-18, water quality at Haridwar Barrage was cleanest during both pre-and post-monsoon period while it was reported to be severely polluted at different monitoring locations in Kanpur and Varanasi during the pre-monsoon phase, it said.

“Efforts must be made to control the pollution so that all locations may comply with at least ‘B’ class water quality,” the study said. Class B water quality means the river must be rejuvenated to support aquatic life.

(PTI)

March 16, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Wildflower suggests to build up bio fencing and water source near Army Cantonment

Wildflower Assam, a conservation and livelihood group of CCER, welcomes Army initiative to remove spike used as jumbo barrier in the Narengi Cantonment in Narengi, Guwahati . According to a report published in the Assam Tribune, the Army authorities are in the process of removing the spiked barrier erected inside the Narangi cantonment to “keep away elephants” and the process is likely to be completed within a week’s time.

This was informed by top Army officers today during a meeting with forest officials. wildflower suggests to build up bio fencing and dig pond in the edge area of the cantonment. Wild elephant will use water sources and lessen elephant entry into the cantonment as well as depredation in the area.

The forest team was led by the DFO of Guwahati Wildlife Division, while the Army side was headed by its station commander.

“The Army authorities conceded that the structure was not right and regretted its construction. They claimed that an earlier request by the forest authorities to remove it was also considered, but due to some communication gap it was delayed,” a forest official said.

“Now, they said they are in the process of removing it, and given the type of structure, it would take about a week’s time to remove it. After it is completed, the Army authorities agreed to take a team of forest officials to the site for verification,” the sources said.

Army sources said several other measures, most of which were suggested by the forest department, were being taken to keep away elephants from the cantonment. “We are planting trees and digging trenches as deterrents. The trenches are being built in such a manner that even if an elephant is trapped, it can be taken out easily,” the sources said.

The spiked barrier which had claimed lives of at least two elephants in the past one year and injured another had drawn sharp criticism. The barrier was basically aimed at securing the Army’s supply depot which is often raided by elephants in search of food.

At least three to four elephants virtually live permanently in and around the cantonment located in the vicinity of the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary. Herds also keep frequenting the cantonment.

March 16, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Green India Mission grossly underfunded: Parliament panel

The panel also points out that green cover is being increased just to meet targets and without considering soil, weather conditions

Ishan Kukreti

The Green India Mission, aimed at “protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change”, is grossly underfunded, according to a Parliamentary committee report.

“The scheme is proposed for 10 years with an outlay of Rs 60,000 crore. During 2017-18, Rs 47.8 crore has been allocated for the scheme which is grossly insufficient as the committed liability for 2015-16 and 2016-17 is Rs 89.53 crore which is much more than the budget allocated,” says the report titled ‘Performance of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) pertaining to Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change’.

The panel also raises concerns about the targets set by GIM, one of the eight missions launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), on India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

According to the NDC, India has a target to sequester 2.523 billion tonnes of carbon by 2020-30. “Our current forest cover is 75 million hectare and to meet our target of carbon sequestration, 30 million hectares of additional land would be required for forests.

The mission document does not mention from where will this land be arranged. As noted before, till 2016-17, afforestation programme was targeted to cover only 51,387 hectare, which is a tiny proportion of what is needed,” the report says.

GIM’s launch was supposed to coincide with the starting of the 12^th five-year plan in 2012. But, owing to financial delays the mission was finally launched in 2015.

The objective of the mission is to increase green cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve quality of existing green cover on another 5 mha, improve eco-system services like carbon sequestration, hydrological services and biodiversity and provisioning services like fuel, fodder, and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs). It also has to increase forest-based livelihood income for about 3 million households.

The report also found that in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the GIM missed its targets by 34 per cent. Instead of the targeted 67,956 hectares, only 44,749 hectares of land got green cover.

The committee also points out that the afforestation done under the mission was only aimed at increasing tree count without considering the soil and weather conditions. “Trees like eucalyptus were planted which make environmental problems worse rather than solving it. Planting of unsuitable trees may cause drought, and prevent biodiversity in the regions,” the report says.

The report also makes a distinction between plantations and forests and how the former cannot replace the latter. “Though plantation activity is aimed at increasing green cover, they cannot replace actual forest cover. Forest has plants and trees of numerous varieties and sizes and shapes. Forests grow naturally and according to climate conditions existing in the area,” it says.

“Plantations only have value in terms of timber, the other ecological services provided by a forest like prevention of soil erosion, promoting biodiversity, providing livelihood etc are not there at all. In fact, we have observed here in Jharkhand that in plantations there is no resident wildlife, they are practically like vacant plots when it comes to wildlife and biodiversity,” says Raza Kazmi, a Jharkhand-based conservationist.

India Eco Watch: Major ecological happenings of the week

India, as a nation, is on the cusp of change. A demographic dividend that will stay in place till at least 2040 means that the country will need to find employment as well as grow food for its huge population. What that means for India’s forests and the wildlife that inhabits them will be a matter of great concern. In fact, such an impact is already being felt.

Through this weekly feature, Down To Earth hopes to offer its readers a window to study this very impact. We will give our readers the latest news from the world of forests/botany and wildlife/zoology emanating from the 29 states and 7 union territories.

Golden Jackals increase in Delhi’s Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

A survey that has been going on in the Asola Bhatti Sanctuary in Delhi since 2014, has revealed that the population of golden jackals (Canis aureus) has nearly doubled, according to media reports. The census was started by the Bombay Natural History Society as well as the authorities to see which parts of the sanctuary could be improved. In the nearly five years since then, the population of golden jackals has increased from 8 to 19. Species like the Striped Hyena and the Common Leopard have also been sighted. The surveyors say the rise in jackal number could mean an improvement in habitat in the sanctuary.

New snake species discovered in Arunachal

A new species of snake has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh, a newspaper report says. The Crying Keelback (Hebius lacrima) was found in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lepa Rada by Guwahati-based reptile expert Jayaditya Purkayastha and Patrick David of the Paris-based National Museum of Natural History. Their research has been recently published in the scientific journal Zootaxa. The Crying Keelback is named for the mark below its eyes, that gives the illusion that it is crying. There are 3,709 species of snakes globally. The genus Hebius is represented by 44 species worldwide out of which six species are from Northeast India.

India and Nepal to sign transboundary agreement for conserving tigers, rhinos and elephants

Before India’s general elections start in the summer, the country is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its neighbour Nepal for cooperation on conserving species like tigers, rhinos and elephants, says a report on an environmental website. The Indo-Nepalese border stretches over 1,850 kilometres and touches the states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. People and animals move freely across the border. For instance, the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar lies adjacent to the Chitwan National Park in Nepal while the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh shares space with the Shukla Phanta National Park in Nepal.

New frog species discovered in Kerala

Researchers from the University of Delhi have discovered a new frog species in a roadside puddle in Kerala as per media reports. The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. The new species belongs to the family of narrow-mouthed frogs (Microhylidae) and was found to be under an entirely new genus, called Mysticellus. The genus was named after the Latin word mysticus meaning ‘mysterious’, owing to their secretive lifestyle, and ellus meaning ‘tiny’ referring to the small size of these frogs, which are only 2.3-2.9 cm long. The researchers named the frog Mysticellus franki after evolutionary biologist Prof Franky Bossuyt from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, for his contributions to the study of Indian amphibians. The new frog is currently known from a single locality in Wayanad district in Kerala.

Wild Buffalo population increases in Gadchiroli

The number of wild Asiatic Water Buffaloes (Bubalus arnee) has increased in the district of Gadchiroli in eastern Maharashtra, which borders Chhattisgarh, says a report in a daily newspaper. The animals are found in the Kolamarka Conservation Reserve located in Gadchiroli’s Aheri taluka. The reserve, with an area of 180.72 sq km, was declared a Protected Area in 2013. A media report has quoted senior forest department officials as saying that the numbers of wild buffaloes and calves in Kolamarka had increased from around 16 and 22 in 2015 and 2016 respectively to 30 in 2017. In 2018, the area had around 35 of these animals. A fresh count will be undertaken later this year. The officials attributed the increase to better protection measures, habitat development strategies and involvement of local communities.

March 9, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Fossil leaves shed light on formation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Undated file photo shows the fossilized palm leaves discovered at the layer of Lunpola Basin in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. The discovery of fossilized palm leaves on the cold and high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has led scientists to make new conclusions on when the plateau reached its current height. Su Tao, a leading scientist of the study from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, said the central part of the plateau did not reach its current altitude of about 4,500 meters until 23 million years ago. The conclusion challenges the prevailing view that the process happened about 35 million years ago, Su said. He said the judgment was based on the discovery of well-preserved palm fossils at the Lunpola Basin in central Tibet. By simulating a variety of topographic scenarios, the research team conjectured that about 25 million years ago, palm trees grew at a west-to-east valley flanked by high mountains in the central part of the plateau. (Xinhua/Su Tao)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) — The discovery of fossilized palm leaves on the cold and high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has led scientists to make new conclusions on when the plateau reached its current height.

Su Tao, a leading scientist of the study from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, said the central part of the plateau did not reach its current altitude of about 4,500 meters until 23 million years ago.

The conclusion challenges the prevailing view that the process happened about 35 million years ago, Su said.

He said the judgment was based on the discovery of well-preserved palm fossils at the Lunpola Basin in central Tibet.

Researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology collected the fossil specimen during field tours as part of the second expedition on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The expedition started in 2017 and is expected to last for 5 to 10 years.

“It is very rare to find fossil palms on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau because the plants are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and can hardly survive in high-altitude areas,” Su said.

By simulating a variety of topographic scenarios, the research team conjectured that about 25 million years ago, palm trees grew at a west-to-east valley flanked by high mountains in the central part of the plateau.

“Then the plateau’s central area gradually rose, reaching above 4,500 meters above sea level 23 million years ago and causing the valley to disappear,” Su said.

The findings were published in Science Advances on Thursday.

March 9, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Brahmaputra: A new dimension to environmental impact assessment

Dr (Cdr) Arnab Das

The Government of India has embarked upon an ambitious river-linking project to shore up the broad economic development plan it has formulated under its strategic vision for the nation. The national waterways project has multiple aspects like managing floods and drought, providing cheaper and alternative modes of transportation for the massive logistic network needed to support growth and so on. The government has already announced massive multi-dimensional investment plans for National Waterway No 1 – the Ganga from Banaras to Haldia. It also has similar plans for National Waterway No 2 – the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri. These two projects are being pushed on priority with significant policy support and capital infusion, both from the government and the private sector. Such massive investments and ambitious projects are, however, not without their share of flipsides and long-term sustainability concerns.

The Brahmaputra is intrinsic to the socio-economic and cultural evolution of Assam and has an overwhelming influence on the spirit of the people. It has also been a cause of regular devastating floods and calamities, causing immense losses to the people as well as to the economy. It is in this context that reviving the discourse and initiatives to tap the potential of the river for safe, secure and sustainable growth of the entire region becomes critical.

A structured approach is needed to bring together all the forces and resources for a cogent way forward. The geo-politics, socio-economics, cultural heritage, geophysical aspects and more will have its impact on any new initiative and the environment gets defined based on all these factors. The historical perspective of the north-eastern region along the river basin and beyond gives multiple inputs that shape the broader definition of the environment that we refer to. The high flow and recurring floods with devastating consequences has ensured the socio-economic status to remain in an underdeveloped stage for long. The geo-politics has ensured insurgency to remain active, while the cultural heritage gives a lot of complacency to the local population to be anywhere close to being called go-getters.

Geophysical conditions make the region seismic-prone, and decades of neglect have only ensured poor infrastructure and slow economic progress. The unique environmental defined here needs to be handled with significant strategic planning to bring real progress to the region in reasonable time frames.

The river festival did indicate significant thinking through, to include the elements of diplomacy to tackle the geo-politics of the region, given the list of VVIP invitees. The Swachh Bharat aspects do indicate to the cultural shift that we now want to see in our discourse, while the art and culture was to remind the people of the glorious past. The presence of eminent dignitaries and the scale of the event, attempted to erase decades of neglect of the region. The changing face of governance in India and more specifically the outlook towards the Northeast by administrators and policy-makers need to recognize one more aspect in 21st century India. The ambitious river-linking project across north India, particularly in the Northeast, needs to recognize the importance of environmental impact assessment and its dynamics.

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) as defined by the International Association of Impact Assessment is “the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.” It first came into being in the United States with the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act, 1969. Many countries have adopted the EIA concept for measuring the environmental sustainability of a project with varying degrees of success. Funding agencies like World Bank have made EIA mandatory for approvals. It got formalized into the legal framework with punitive action for non-compliance, as also public participation through documentation and judicial review.

In India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been striving to bring EIA into a reasonable level of effectiveness through multiple archaic Acts i.e. the Water Act (1974), Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972), Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1981), Environment (Protection) Act (1986), and Biological Diversity Act (2002), to name a few. The Central Pollution Control Board being the nodal agency finds itself constrained to even reasonably articulate the broad nature of environmental impacts, given the complex dynamics of infrastructure requirement and technical knowhow. The major limitation is non-availability of continuous primary and secondary environmental data over a reasonable period and also the understanding of parameters required to define the broad environment. Digital India possibly can provide the broad infrastructure backbone for data collection and effective assessment to bring more clarity; this in turn may help counter the development vs environment binary in a fundamentally developing socio-political reality.

While India is emerging as a mature nation to handle complex dynamics of nation building, one must point at a new dimension of EIA that has escaped public attention and needs serious consideration. The river-linking project is also associated with major industrial activities in the water bodies that support underwater animal life that perceives the environment around them through sound. These creatures use acoustic signals for numerous biologically critical functions like foraging, communications, navigation, breeding, etc., and thus increasing noise in their habitat translates to serious acoustic habitat degradation. The most significant species in the Brahmaputra is the fresh-water dolphin locally called “shihu”. Though critically endangered, these dolphins are recognized as the symbol of pride, and declared as Assam’s ‘state aquatic animal’ as also ‘City Animal’. River dolphins are known to be blind and perceive their surrounding through what acoustics experts call Acoustic Vision. The basic reason is that these animals live in muddy waters and have progressively developed their acoustic capabilities to better manage in their habitat.

The river-linking project with its massive infrastructure investment will also bring in significant amount of anthropogenic noise into the acoustic habitat of these dolphins, thereby manifesting as severe acoustic habitat degradation. This fact is yet to be recognized by conservation experts and activists largely lead by biologists. Whatever scant mention is seen in certain literature is largely motivated by foreign literature, but no serious effort is seen on the ground. The numbers continue to degrade and even the population survey is being undertaken using above-water visual surveys that are grossly inadequate given that dolphins mostly remain underwater. Thus, acoustics becomes the primary tool for environmental impact assessment that needs to be recognized and adopted on an urgent basis.

The second aspect is safety of the infrastructure being created with such high investments. The safety is with respect to natural calamities that may not be prevented, but early and automated warning could minimize the damage substantially. Such systems will be effective particularly in such known quake-prone areas. The security pertains to subversive activities and interventions by insurgent groups. Here again one needs to look at acoustic infrastructure that can generate underwater domain awareness to detect developments that may lead to an event. Thus, when one wants to ensure a safe, secure and sustainable growth based on the massive river-linking project, acoustic capacity-building for effective underwater domain awareness stands out as a critical requirement.

Environmental impact assessment will have to be generated with primary and secondary environmental data over a long period using this acoustic infrastructure. The original EIA that was defined only addressed ecological aspects and its impact on socio-economic issues. However, here one needs to propose a more comprehensive environmental definition that encompasses the safety and security aspects as well, along with sustainable ecology to facilitate growth in the real sense. EIA is mandatory for any World Bank-funded project. However, in the absence of a strong legal framework along with lack of understanding of the broad environmental parameters, these critical aspects get lost in the pre-modern governance structure.

Dr (Cdr) Arnab Das is Director, Maritime Research Centre, Pune. He can be reached at director.mrcpune01@gmail.com. The article published in the Sentinel

March 9, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

Environment

Despite Landmark Judgment, Issues of Regulation Remain in India’s Biodiversity Regime

by Shalini Bhutani and Kanchi Kohli

The issue of regulating access to genetic resources and biological materials (GBMR) and associated people’s knowledge by user/accessor companies from the de facto biodiversity keepers on the ground continues to challenge administrators in India. Under the Biological Diversity (BD) Act, 2002, the government agencies tasked to do so are the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs).

For access by foreign entities, the power to approve/reject applications rests with the NBA. Additionally, the NBA vets all access applications for intellectual property rights (IPRs), whether they are by an Indian entity or a foreign body. SBBs have been set up in all the 29 states of the country.

As per Section 7 of the BD Act, no Indian person is allowed to obtain any Indian biological resource for commercial utilisation without prior intimation to the SBB concerned. This interpretation has never been challenged.

However, the role of the SBBs with respect to determining the terms of access and benefit sharing (ABS) has been contested. While SBBs argue that they are legally empowered to set terms for access by Indian entities, user/accessor Indian companies have challenged the same.

This has been the main contention of a recent judgment of the Uttarakhand high court that eventually interprets the BD Act in favour of enhancing powers the SBBs. With this, the long-standing debate on the powers of an SBB to regulate access stand clarified.

It is important, however, to engage with both the merits and limitations of this judgment and contextualise it within the old, unresolved discourse on ABS.

Chronology

1994: India became a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
2002: Biological Diversity (BD) Act passed by Parliament of India
2003: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) set up in Chennai
2004: Biological Diversity Rules issued by MOEFCC
2014: India becomes a party to CBD’s Nagoya Protocol on Access & Benefit Sharing (ABS)
2014: Guidelines on Access to Biological Resources and Associated Knowledge and Benefits Sharing Regulations notified by NBA

What does the recent judgment clarify?

The December 21, 2018 judgment by the Uttarakhand HC clarifies that SBBs are not limited to merely receiving prior intimations of access from Indian entities using biological resources. This was the dominant interpretation of the law until 2013, when SBBs began demanding access fees from Indian companies.

The SBBs got more legal backing after the ABS Guidelines were issued by the NBA in 2014, pursuant to the coming into force of the Nagoya Protocol (the international regime on ABS) which India is a party to. The judgment clarifies that the board has a core function of regulation, which also includes asking for benefit sharing and determining the terms and conditions to be imposed on the user/accessor against access to GBMR/TK.

Also Read: How Laws to Protect Biodiversity Backfired on Scientists Trying to Save It

The Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board (UBB) sent a notice to Divya Pharmacy in early 2016 stating that the company was in violation of the BD Act for using biological resources from the state for its Ayurveda products, without duly intimating the Board and that it was liable to pay an ABS fee. Divya Pharmacy is the commercial arm of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth, which manufactures ayurvedic products from its units based in Uttarakhand.

Challenging the board’s notice, the company filed a writ petition before the Uttarakhand HC in December 2016. It sought the court’s interpretation of the provisions of the BD Act, particularly Section 7, which requires Indian entities to give prior intimation to the SBB before obtaining bioresources for commercial utilisation.

The four respondents in the case were Union of India, i.e. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the UBB, the NBA and the state of Uttarakhand. The petition challenged the powers of the SBBs to regulate access and determine benefit sharing upon access by Indian entities. Two years later, in the final judgment the court decided in favour of the UBB.

The judgment is an important milestone in clarifying the ABS powers of the SBBs. However, many other basic issues, both in the design and the implementation of this regime remain unclear. While some of these have been central to the debates since the time the Biodiversity Convention (CBD) was signed, others are practical questions that need to be sorted out to even operationalise such pro-ABS judgments.

Access when?

One of the most fundamental aspects to be established for enforcing ABS obligations is the point of access, i.e. when the access can be said to have taken place. The BD Act does not offer guidance on this. Neither is there case law in India on this precise issue, even though a previous study of legal cases by the authors showed that between 2004-16, ABS matters were the maximum in number being litigated under the BD Act.

Is it when merely the physical raw material is obtained, or when a commercial utilisation occurs with the development into drugs or industrial products and their subsequent sale? This is important to trigger the legal duty of the user/accessor to share the benefits with the source country/community. In the present case, the benefit claimers would be the local communities in the state and the UBB, through which the benefit-sharing agreements would have to be routed.

Accessing GMBR/TK for commercial utilisation would imply benefit-sharing obligations on Divya Pharmacy since the Act came into force in 2003. Therefore, the exact point in time when the Divya Pharmacy accessed the bioresources in Uttarakhand and began manufacturing products would be important to determine the “end use”. But it was a decision of the SBB to use 2014 as the start date. Neither the existing law nor the judgment offers any guidance on this front.

Which date?

A critical question that the SBBs are confronted with is of the start date of calculation of the ABS fees. The ABS Guidelines were issued on November 21, 2014. In line with that, the UBB put out a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for commercial users of biological resources (Access and Benefit Sharing); therein it states that this procedure will be followed for every financial year starting 2014-15. In the Divya Pharmacy case too the SBB calculated the fees payable from 2014-15 onwards.

But the court does not get into the question of date, for example, what about fees for access prior to 2014? After all, the BD Act came into force in 2003. To make things more complex, what about cases in which the GBMR or TK is obtained in the raw form prior to introduction of Nagoya Protocol/ABS Guidelines in 2014, but commercially utilised after these came into force?

The Nagoya Protocol (NP), also cited in the judgment, is silent on this aspect. The domestic ABS guidelines also, as of now, do not offer any guidance on that front. Therefore, in view of the broad objectives of the CBD and the BD Act, it might be useful for the NBA/MoEFCC to take a clear position on this in India. This will offer a blueprint to the SBBs and also aid the discussions on this at the international level.

Baba Ramdev. Credit: Facebook/Patanjali Products

The Divya Pharmacy petition challenged the powers of the SBBs to regulate access and determine benefit sharing upon access by Indian entities. Baba Ramdev. Credit: Facebook/Patanjali Products

What benefit?

The benefit sharing demanded by the SBB in the present matter of Divya Pharmacy is monetary in nature. The NBA and SBBs while keen to ensure ABS, also have to be mindful that it is not reduced to a fee collection initiative. This aspect is critical and requires serious scrutiny from within and outside the government.

As per GoI/NBA guidelines, SBBs may retain a share not exceeding 5% of the benefits realised towards administrative charges, while the remaining 95% share of the benefits shall be passed on to the concerned Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) or to the benefit claimers, once identified. However, where benefit claimers are not identified, any monetary benefit shall be deposited in the State Biodiversity Fund.

Quantification of benefits is in itself a poser. The SBBs genuinely seek guidance from NBA/MOEFCC for situations when against a demand for monetary benefit sharing by the SBB, the defaulting company agrees to do non-monetary sharing for a lesser monetary value.

For instance, if the boards raise a demand for ABS fee of an amount of 10 crore, but the user/accessor company offers a school building valued at Rs 10 lakh. ABS agreements are negotiated on mutually agreed terms (MATs); yet SBBs need some operational guidance in line with state policy. India does not have a clearly stated ABS policy per se.

It is 16 years since the BD Act came into force and over four years since the Nagoya Protocol became effective. There is a need for tools and techniques to determine what could be non-monetary benefits. A comprehensive assessment capturing all working models and possible options needs to be undertaken.

What next?

The Indian industry has been resisting being brought under an ABS regime; this is something that the NBA and SBBs will have to continue to contend with. Meanwhile, the Ministry is trying to streamline the procedures for the industry in the hope that they can be brought into the ABS net. In March 2017, the then environment minister launched the e-filing of ABS applications.

In September 2018, the Ministry issued an office memorandum directing the NBA to decide all ABS cases that require prior approval of the NBA, on merits and within a period of 100 days from the date of issuance of the OM. However, the dilemma remains as to whether the NBA should be mild (and ask for benefit sharing only for 2017-18) or insist on strict compliance for all previous years of access.

While in the Divya Pharmacy matter, the court addressed the legal questions that arose in the case; the uncertainty on practicalities of enforcing such a favourable order still remains. This is the core issue i.e. how to actually operationalise the benefit sharing with local communities and harness any resources generated for local conservation. Although the NBA has issued Operational Guidelines for SBBs on how to deal with ABS under Section 7 cases, the real-time experiences will continue to test the system. And each matter will have to be dealt with on a case-to-case basis.

Finally, the BD Act’s implementation is still heavily dependent on the integrity and honesty of users/accessors who forward applications for access. The regulatory agencies step in for determining benefit sharing based on the ABS guidelines only after that. In some cases, the SBBs have proactively issued notices on non-compliance with the law.

However, there is need for more to be done to act as deterrence against avoidance of fair and equal benefit sharing (FEBS). Non-centralising this further could be one step and creating community-government partnerships another.

While a legal judgment clarifying that SBBs are empowered to demand FEBS is welcomed, but there are several pending issues still to be resolved before actual benefits to local communities can be realised. Meanwhile, the access continues.

Shalini Bhutani and Kanchi Kohli are independent legal researchers and jointly coordinate BioDWatch, a list serve with updates on the implementation of India’s biodiversity law.

First published in the Wire

March 5, 2019 by BrahmaFeed

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