शिक्षणवेध 

Aataa maI jao iÊhIta Aaho, tao maaJao ivacaar Aahota AaiNa tao kxahIsao svaOr Aahota. tao kxaoNatyaahI saMSaaoQanaavar AaQaairta naahIta, tyaasaazI maI Anaokx ga`qaaMcao pairSaIÊna koxÊo Aaho AsaohI naahI ikMxvaa Anaokx saMdBaa_Mcaa AaQaarhI GaotaÊoÊa naahI.

            tao Aahota maaJyaa svata:cyaa AnauBavaaMvar AaQaairta – ekx ivaÒaqaI_ mhNaUna. tao Aahota maaJyaa tauTpauMjyaa inarIXaNaavar AaQaairta. tao Aahota iSaXakx, iSaXakxta&a yaaMcyaaSaI maaJyaa JaaÊolyaa taaoTWyaa cacao_var AaQaairta. tyaamauLo Aataa jaI vaaWyao maI iÊhIta Aaho, taI jaSaIcyaa taSaI svaIkxar} nayaota ikMxvaa Avhor} nayaota. tyaataIÊ fxWta maitataaqa_ jaaNaavaa, mama_ ÊXaata Gyaavao, [takoxca!

            Aajacyaa iSaXaNaavar, iSaXaNapaÔtaIvar TIkxa JaaÊoÊI BarpaUr eokxayaÊa imaLtao. Aajacao iSaXaNa inar}payaaogaI Aaho, TakxavaU Aaho, tao ivaÒaqyaa_Mnaa tak_xSauÔ ivacaar kxrayaÊa iSakxvaIta naahIta, inarIXaNa kxsao kxravao yaacao QaDo dota naahI ikMxvaa tyaaMcyaamaQyao kxaoNatyaahI kxsabaaMcaa (skills)caa ivakxasa hao[_Ê ho pahata naahI. tao saacaobaMd Aaho, paustakxI Aaho. &aana navho tar fxWta ivaiSaYT pa`kxaracaI maaihtaI paurivaNaaro Aaho, vagaOro. tyaata ÊXaNaIya badla Asaa qaaoDa JaaÊoÊa Aaho. maaJao vaaDvaiDÊ jao iSakxÊo, taoca qaaoDËafxar fxrkxanao maI iSakxtaaoya, jarI pairisqataIta AamauÊaga` badÊ JaaÊoÊa AsaÊa tarI. iSavaaya SahrataIÊ iSaXaNa AaiNa KaoDËataIÊ iSaXaNa yaaMmaQyao fxar maaozI drI Aaho AaiNa taI r}Mdavataoya.

            iSaXaNa mhTÊo kxI DaowËaMsamaaor {BaI rahtao taI SaaLa ikMxvaa mahaivaÒaÊya – tyaaMcyaa tyaa zaokxLobaaja [maartaI, caaOkxaonaI vaga_, tyaataÊI KaDbaDIta AaiNa maukxI baakox, tyaata k aoMbaÊoÊI mauÊo AaiNa mauÊI AaiNa tyaaMcyaasamaaor {Bao rahUna baDbaDNaara iSaXakx ikMxvaa pa`aQyaapakx. ha saacaa kxahIsaa iSaiqaÊ kxrNyaacao pa`yatna kxahI saMsqaaMnaI AaiNa SaaLaMnaI kxoÊo Aahota. naahI Asao naahI. {da. &aanapa`baaoQanaI, ga`amamaMgaÊ, AXarnaMdna vagaOro. maa~a Asao pa`yaaoga kxahIsao ekxakxI Aahota, ivaiSaYT vyaWtaIMvar AvaÊMbaUna Aahota, iSaXaNa paÔtaInao tyaaMcaa AjaUna svaIkxar koxÊoÊa naahI.

            iSaXaNaata, iSaXaNapaÔtaIta AamauÊaga` sauQaarNaa JaaÊI paaihjao, Asao Anaokx Êaokx mhNataata, paNa itacao naomakox svar}pa kxsao AaiNa kxaoNatao, tyaasaazI iSaXakx kxsao GaDvaayacao, tyaasaazI kxaoNataI saMsaaQanao laagataIla, kxaoNatyaa sauivaQaa laagataIla yaaMvar saKaaola, tapaSaIlavaar ivacaar, ivacaar-maMqana Jaalaolao idsata naahIta. SaOXaiNakx sauQaarNaaMcao svar}pa AjaUna pa`ayaaoigakx, vaOyai$a]kx AaiNa sqaainakx Asao Aaho, saava_jainakx, vyaapakx naahI.

            pa`qamata: paahU yaa, Aaja KaoDo AaiNa Sahro ASaI jaI ivaBaagaNaI idsatao, tyaamaQyao jaI ekx drI idsatao, taI kxSaI kxmaI kxrayacaI, imaTvaayacaI. malaa vaaTtao kxI SahrataIla SaaLaMnaI javaLpaasacyaa KaoDËataIla SaaLaMSaI AaMtairkx saMbaMQa jaaoDavaota, caalaU BaaYaota tyaaMnaa d$akx  Gyaavao AaiNa tyaaMcyaata Aadanapa`dana vhavao- ivaÒaqyaa_Mcao, iSaXakxaMcao, saMsaaQanaaMcao, caala-calaNaukxIcao AaiNa ivacaaraMcao!

            mhNajao SahrataIla ivaÒaqyaa_MnaI inayaimatapaNao KaoDËata jaavao, tyaa gaavaat ihMDavao, sarpaMca va [tar pa`itaiYzta, pauZarI laaokxaMSaI baaolaavao, itaqalyaa samasyaa jaaNaUna Gyaavyaata, tyaaMnaa kxaoNatyaa sauQaarNaa hvyaata, svata:laa kxaoNatyaa saucaivataa yaotaata, yaaMcaI cacaa_ kxravaI, itaqalyaa sauivaQaa ikMxvaa sauivaQaaMcaa ABaava jaaNaUna Gyaavyaa, pairsar pahavaa, inasaga_ jaaoKaavaa, inasaga_ saMvaQa_na kxsao kxrtaa yao[_la, sauivaQaa kxSaa sauQaartaa yaotaIla, yaaMcaI cacaa_ kxravaI, tyaasaMbaMQaI yaaojanaa, pa`kxlpa tayaar kxravao AaiNa ekxmaokxaMcyaa sahayyaanao tao kxsao paar paaDtaa yaotaIla, tao pahavao.

            tyaacapa`maaNao KaoDËataIla maulaaMnaI Sahrata yaavao, ihMDavao, itaqalaI gadI_, gajabajaaT, rhdarI AnauBavaavaI. itaqalyaa caaLItaIla, sadinakxataIla, baMgalyaataIla jaIvana pahavao. Sahracyaa samasyaa jaaNaUna Gyaavyaa, {da. paaNaIpaurvaza, pa`dUYaNa, QaavapaL, JaaopaDpa×Ëa vagaOro. KaoDËaMtaUna Sahrata rhayalaa Aalaolyaa tar}Na- tar}NaIMSaI baaolaavao, ekxIkxDo baokxarI tar dusarIkxDo kxamagaaraMcaI TMcaa[_ Asao ica~a kxa Aaho, tao jaaNaUna GaoNyaasaazI ta&aaMSaI gappaa maaravyaa vagaOro. yaaMmauLo parspar paircaya, maO~aI, ekxmaokxaMnaa madta kxrNyaacaI pa`vaR$aI vaaZIlaa laagaola, tyaataUna kxahI naavaInyapaUNa_ pa`kxlpa {Bao rahtaIla ASaI AaSaa kxrayalaa hrkxta naahI.

            dusarI mahtvaacaI gaaoYT mhNajao Aajacaa AByaasak`xma- Saalaoya AaiNa mahaivaÒalayaIna, saamaaijakx- Aaiqa_kx AaiNa taM~a&aanaatmakx. taao saacaobaMd AaiNa paustakxI Aaho ho Karoca paNa mahtvaacaI gaaoYT mhNajao &aana AapaNa inarinaraLo saacao paaDUna tyaata kxaoMbalao Aaho. tyaataUna tyaacaI ekxsaMGataa jaSaI pa`taIta haota naahI tasaa ivaÒaqyaa_Mcyaa manaavarhI pairNaama ekxsaMGa na haotaa tauTkx- tauTkx (Fragmented) Asaa haotaao. ho &aanahI fxar varvarcao vaaTtao, kxaoNatyaahI ivaYayaacyaa gaaByaata na iSarNaaro, inarinarawyaa ivaYayaaMcao inarinaraLo parsparsaMbaMQa, naatao laXaata na GaoNaaro AaiNa mhNaUnaca pairisqataI ivaSlaoYaNaatmakx na vaaTtaa, pairiqataIcaI koxvaL maaihtaI doNaaro Asao zrtao.

            Baartaacaoca {dahrNa yaasaMbaMQaata Gao{] yaa. BaartaataIla BaaOgaaoilakx pairisqataI, paa{]samaana, paavasaacaI Ainayaimatataa, tasaoca inarinarawyaa pa`doSaata AaZLNaaro pa`aNaI-paXaI,, vanaspataI, vaaLvaMTI AaiNa kxaorDo, tasaoca Aitapaavasaacao pa`doSa yaaMcaI vaOiSaYTËo AaiNa tyaata GaDlaolyaa inarinarawyaa maanavaI saMskRxtaI yaaMcao &aana- maaihtaI ivaÒaqyaa_Mnaa idlaI jaatao. paNa yaacaa saakxlyaanao ivacaar koxlaa jaata naahI, mhNajao naomakox kxaya? tar Baarta ha ekx {YNa pa`doSaIya doSa Aaho. {YNapa`doSaIya BaUpa`doSaaMcaI mauKya vaOiSaYTËo kxaoNataI tar paaNyaacaI AtaIva TMcaa[_, taIva` taapamaana va tyaamauLo satata haoNaaro baaYpaIBavana AaiNa tasaoca jaOivakxtaocao satata AaiNa vaogaanao haoNaaro ivaGaTna. hI maUlaBaUta pairisqataI laXaata GaotalaI tar BaartaataIla jaIvanapaÔtaI  vyavasaaya-QaMdo, kxarigarI yaaMcao ekx inaraLoca ica~a DaowyaaMsamaaor {Bao rahIla. Baartaacaa fxar maaoza BaUpa`doSa kxaorDa, pajya_naCayaocaa, AinaiEcata paavasaacaa Aaho; pauYkxLsaa DaoMgaraL Aaho, BaartaataIla bahutaokx naÒa baarmaahI vaahNaa%yaa naahIta, tyaamauLo maataIcao qar(Soil ) paataL, caTkxna jalaaMSa gamaavaNaaro AaiNa Kainajayau$a] (MMineral) Aahota. tao SaotaIlaa fxar qaaoDËa pa`maaNaata AnaukUxla Aahota. tyaamauLo Baartaalaa SaotaIpa`Qaana doSa maanaNao baraobar naahI. Baartaalaa SaotaIpa`Qaana banaivalao iba`iTSa rajavaTInao. iba`iTSaaMnaI BaartaataIla Anaokx {ÒaogaQaMdo, kxaraigarI {dQvasta koxlaI, BaartaIyaaMnaI ivaiSaYT {Òaoga kxrayacaoca naahIta ASaI baMdI GaatalaI, tyaamauLo bahusaMKya janataolaa SaotaIvar AvalaMbaUna rhaNao Apairhaya_ Jaalao. Baarta SaotaIpa`Qaana Jaalaa naahI tar bahusaMKya janataolaa SaotaIiSavaaya payaa_ya {rlaa naahI. taovha Baartaalaa SaotaIpa`Qaana mhNaNao AaiNa tyaasaazI sava_~a SaotaIlaa {$aojana doNao, ho yaaogya haota naahI. tyaamauLo BaUmaISaI inagaDIta payaa_yaI {payaaogaaMcaa- vaaparaMcaa (Land use) ivacaar maagao paDtaao, {da. gavataaL pa`doSa ikMxvaa kuxrNaaMcao vyavasqaapana, inarinarawyaa vanapa`kxaraMcao saMvaQa_na AaiNa vyavasqaapana, yaaMcaa iSaXaNaata fxar AlpaMaSaanao samaavaoSa haotaao. pairNaamaI {Òaoga-vyavasaayaata jaI ivaivaQataa yaayalaa hvaI, taI yaota naahI.

            taIca gaaoYT taM~a&aanaacaI. AajacaI taM~ao hI mauKyata: taola, kxaoLsaa va jalaSa$a]I yaaMpaasaUna imaLNaa%yaa [MQanaaMvar, {]jao_var AaQaarIta Aahota. yaa taInahI gaaoYTIMcaI {palabQataa Baartaata samaaQaanakxarkx naahI. taolaacao BaUgaBaa_taIla saazo javaLpaasa naahIta, kxaoLsaa kxmaI pa`taIcaa bahuSa: imaLtaao AaiNa baarmaahI paa{]sa nasalyaanao jalaSa$a]I imaLivaNyaasaazI mahagaDI QarNao baaMQaavaI laagataata. ASaa pairisqataIta yaa [MQanaaMcaa maaozËa pa`maaNaavar vaapar kxrNaaro {ÒaogaQaMdo Aapalyaa doSaata saur} kxrNao, tyaaMnaa {$aojana doNao, tyaaÓaro laaokxvastaIcao koMxd`IkxrNa kxrNao, maaozËa SahraMnaa sauivaQaa paurivaNyaasaazI AajaUbaajaUcyaa pa`doSaaMnaa vaozIlaa QarNao, itaqalyaa laaokxaMnaa naaokxrIsaazI SahMrata sqalaaMtar kxrNao Baaga paaDNao ho sayaui$a]kx zrtao kxa, yaacaa saKaaola ivacaar Jaalaolaa idsata naahI. tasaoca yaalaa payaa_ya kxaoNatao Aahota, tyaasaazI saava_i~akx iSaXaNaacaI saaoya kxSaI kxrayalaa laagaola, tyaasaazI iSaXakx kxsao GaDvaavao laagataIla yaacaahI ivacaar Jaalaolaa idsata naahI.

            Aaja jao taM~a&aana mahaivaÒalayaataUna iSakxivalao jaatao, tyaacao paNa ekxa baabataIta AaEcaya_ vaaTtao. taI gaaoYT ivaÒaqyaa_Mnaa saaMigatalaI / iSakxivalaI jaata naahI. itacyaakxDo dula_Xa tarI haotao ikMxvaa taI mauÕamahUna ivaÒaqyaa_MpaasaUna lapavaUna zovalaI jaatao. taI gaaoYT ASaI kxI jaovha kxaoLsaa, taola, jalaSa$a]I yaa [MQanaaMcaa vaapar kxr}na KainajaaMcao, d`vyaaMcao ikMxvaa jaOivakx padaqaa_Mcao tayaar padaqaa_ta pairvata_na koxlao jaatao, taovha tayaar vastaUpaoXaa jaasta pa`maaNaata TakxavaU maala – kxcara () tayaar haotaao. yaa TakxavaU maalaacaI ikMxmata, tyaacyaa ivalhovaaTIcaI ikMxmata {tpaadna Kacaa_ta QarlaI tar kxaoNatyaahI {tpaadnaacaa Kaca_ ha tyaacyaa laavalaolyaa ikMxmataIpaoXaa jaasta zrtaao. taao Qar}na tayaar maalaacaI ikMxmata laavalaI, tar kxaoNataoca {tpaadna ga`ahkxalaa parvaDNaar naahI AaiNa ijaqao Asao kxayado kxDkx Asataata itaqao {tpaadkxacaI pa`vaR$aI hI ijaqao kxayado iSaiqala Asataata ASaa izkxaNaI; ASaa doSaata hlaivaNyaakxDo Asatao.

            Saas~aIya BaaYaota {]jaa_ AaiNa Kainajao (d`vya, jaOvaBaar) yaaMcyaataIla yaa naatyaalaa laaV AaVfx enT^paI saMbaaoiQalao jaatao. ha baaOitakx inayama jar SabdSa: vaaparlaa tar sava_ca AaQauinakx {tpaadna paÔtaI ASaWyapa`aya hao[_la. tarIhI taI AaOÒaoigakx k`xaMtaI yaa jaaordar naavaaKaalaI caalaivalaI jaatao, yaacao kxarNa hI k`xaMtaI SaWya haotao payaa_varNaakxDo, janataocyaa AaraogyaakxDo, naOsaiga_kx saMsaaQamaacyaa djaa_kxDo dula_Xa kxr}na mhNajaoca {tpaadna Kacaa_caa fxar maaoza Baaga payaa_varNa, naOsaiga_kx GaTkx AaiNa AiSaiXata va garIba janataa yaaMnaa sahna kxravaa laagataao. AaOÒaoigakx k`xaMtaImauLo, taSaaca pa`kxarcyaa kRxYaIk`xaMtaImauLo BaartaacaI BarBaraT hao[_la ho davao, varIla BaaOitakx inayama Gaotalaa tar ikxtaI fxaola Aahota ho laXaata yao[_la. 1990 saalaapaasaUna Baartaata jao {darIkxrNa, jaagaitakxIkxrNa saur} Jaalao, tyaamauLo yaa pa`kxarcyaa {tpaadna-paÔtaIlaa caalanaaca imaLalaI,AaiNa sava_saamaanyaaMcyaa dRYTInao tyaacaa pairNaama kxaoNataa idsaUna Aalaa tar jaIvanaavaSyakx gaaoYTIMcaI TMcaa[_ va pa`caMD mahagaa[_ AaiNa Ea`ImaMta AaiNa garIba yaaMcyaataIla satata r}MdavaNaarI drI; mhNajaoca Ea`ImaMta AiQakx Ea`ImaMta haotaahota AaiNa garIba rsaataLasa jaata  Aahota. garIbaI hTava hI GaaoYaNaa jar pa`tyaXaata AaNaayacaI JaalaI tar yaa [MQanaavar AaQaarIta taM~a&aanaalaa payaa_ya SaaoQalao paaihjaota, AaiNa doSaataIla garIbaaMcao kxlyaaNa kxsao saaQataa yao[_la ho paaihlao paaihjao. yaacaaca Aqa_ iSaXaNaata maUlaBaUta badla kxravayaasa hvaa.

            yaa [MQanaavar AaQaarIta taM~a&aanaamauLo payaa_varNaacaI pa`caMD hanaI JaalaI Aaho Asao Anaokx Ahvaala daKavaUna dotaata. {dahrNaaqa_, doSaataIla sava_ AaoZo-naÒa kxmaalaIcyaa pa`dUiYata Jaalyaa Aahota, BaUgaBaa_taIla paaNyaaMcyaa saazËaMnaahI  pa`dUYaNaacaI baaQaa JaalaI Aaho. Anaokx izkxaNaI maataIcao qar (Soil) pa`dUiYata Jaalyaanao SaotaI ASaWya JaalaI Aaho. hvaocao pa`dUYaNahI vaaZtao Aaho. tyaamauLo kVxnsarsaarKao AsaaQya raoga, =d\raoga, AataDËaMcao raoga yaaMcao pa`maaNa satata vaaZtao Aaho. janataocyaa Aaraogyaavar yaaMcaa AitaSaya ivaparIta pairNaama haotaao Aaho.

            Aajacyaa iSaXaNapaÔtaIta yaa savaa_Mnaa payaa_yaca {palabQa naahI, Asao ABaaivatapaNao gaRhIta Qarlao jaatao. tyaamauLo sava_ca ivaÒaqaI_, paalakx, Saasanakxtao_ AaiNa sa$aa gaajaivaNaaro rajakxarNaI, ho sava_ca caalaU pairisqataIpauZo Agaitakx Asalyaacao ica~a idsatao. maga yaavar {paaya kxaya? payaa_ya kxaoNatao, ho Aataa paahU yaa. maaJyaa AlpamataInausaar maI ho payaa_ya SaaoQaNyaacaa pa`yatna koxlaa Aaho AaiNa tyaavar AaQaarIta ekx vaYaa_caa pad\vyau$ar AByaasak`xma tayaar koxlaa Aaho. gaolaI 15 vaYao_ taao Aamacyaa [kxaVlaaVijakxla saaosayaTItafo_x caalaivalaa jaata Aaho AaiNa jyaaMnaI taao yaSasvaIpaNao paar paaDlaa tyaaMnaI Aamhalaa kxLivalao Aaho kxI Aamacyaa jaIvanadRYTIta k`xaMtaIkxarkx badla Jaalaa. Aamacyaa AByaasak`xmaalaa yaoNaaro laaokx Asataata [MijainaAr, Aaik_xToWT, DaVWTr, Saasanaacyaa inarinarawyaa ivaBaagaata kxrNaaro, inarinarawyaa {Òaogaata, vyavasayaaMta gauMtalaolao vagaOro. Ho sava_ bahuQaa Aapaapalyaa vyavasaayaata bastaana basaivalaolao Asataata, tyaamaanaanao naukxtaoca padvaIQar Jaalaolao tar}Na-tar}NaI kxmaI Asataata.

            yaa AByaasak`xmaata kxaoNatyaahI SaaKoata – AaT_sa\, kxaVmasa_, saayansa, eMijainaAirMga, maoiDisana- padvaI imaLivalaolyaaMnaa pa`vaoSa imaLtaao. tasaoca AamhI Aamacyaa ivaiSaYT ta%honao AaT_sa, saayansa, kxaVmasa_, laaV vagaOro sava_ca ivaYaya yaa kxaosa_maQyao hataaLlao jaataata. iSaXaNa pauYkxLsao AaMtarSaaKaIya tasaoca inarinarawyaa SaaKaaMmaQaIla AaMtairkx saMbaMQa ivaSad kxrNaaro Aaho. tyaacabaraobar pairisqataIcaa pa`tyaXa AByaasa kxrNyaasaazI caar iSaibaro GaotalaI jaataata. taI vanao, gavataaL va kxaorDo pa`doSa, samaud` ikxnaara AaiNa ihmaalaya yaa pairsaMsqaaMcaa pa`tyaXa paircaya kxr}na doNao yaasaazI Asataata. yaaiSavaaya Kaulyaa cacaa_, pairsaMvaadhI haotaata. yaa AByaasak`xmaalaa parIXaa naahI. tar saMpaUNa_ vaYaa_ta ivaÒaqyaa_MnaI daKaivalaolyaa kxayaa_var tyaaMnaa pa`Saistapa~akx imaLNaar kxI naahI ho zrtao. maaJyaa matao ha ekx navaIna iSaXaNaQaara pa`tyaXaata AaNaNyaacaa pa`yatna Aaho. ivaÒaqyaa_Mcao SaIla, caair~ya GaDivaNyaacaa Aamacaa pa`yatna Asataao AaiNa tyaata Aamhalaa ba%yaapaOkxI yaSa imaLtao, Asaa Aamacaa AnauBava Aaho.

            yaa paazImaagaIla maaJaI manaaoBaUimakxa ASaI: Baarta doSa jagaataIla BaUBaagaacao 2 TWkox  Xao~a vyaapataao paNa yaa pa`doSaata jaagaitakx jaOvaivaivaQataopaOkxI 8 TWkox ivaivaQataa ekxvaTlaolaI Aaho. ho paaihlao tar Baarta inasaga_pa`Qaana doSa Aaho ho laXaata yao[_la. Aapalao iSaXaNa, taM~ao, {Òaoga, vyavasaaya, SaotaI hI yaa gaaoYTIMSaI sausaMgata hvaI. Aajacao taM~a&aana manauYyabaLaeovajaI yaM~aaMnaa pa`aQaanya doNaaro Aaho; tyaasa pa`caMD BaaMDvalaI Kaca_ AaiNa satatacyaa naOsaiga_kx saMsaaQanaaMcaa paurvaza laagataao. yaataUna inasagaa_caI ipaLvaNaUkx haotao. yaa{laT jaOvaivaivaQataocao saMrXaNa, saMvaQa_na, paunar}jjaIvana ho yaM~aaMpaoXaa manauYyabaLalaa Aavaahna kxrtao. mhNajaoca Aajacyaa baokxarIvar yaa pa`ik`xyaa ramabaaNa {paaya zrtaata. ivaSaoYata: inasagaa_cyaa paunar}jjaIvanaacaI jaI taM~ao Aaja ivakxisata haota Aahota, tyaasaazI kuxSala manauYyabaLacaI AavaSyakxtaa Aaho. tyaataUna inamaa_Na haoNaar Aaho inasaga_Qana. tao AsaMKya BaavaI ipaZËaMnaa jaIvanadaiyanaI saarKao zrNaar Aaho. inasagaa_var AaQaarIta iSaXaNaca Aapalaa BaivaYyakxaL {jvala kxrIla Asao malaa AatmaivaEvaasapaUva_kx mhNaavaosao vaaTtao.

            paaEcaatya doSaata ASaa iSaXaNaacaI saur}vaata JaalaolaI Aaho. tyaataUna inamaa_Na haotaahota, vaoTlaVnD maVnaojasa_, ga`asalaVnD maVnaojasa_, naOsaiga_kx sauivaQaaMcaI kxaLjaI GaoNaaro AaiNa tyaa saudRZ zovaNaaro maVnaojasa_. yaa saMrXaNa-saMvaQa_naasa caalanaa doNyaasaazI AaMtarraYT^Iya saMGaTnaa inamaa_Na Jaalyaa Aahota. {da. vaoTlaVnDsa [MTrnaVSanala, valD_ kxaVnJavao_sana yauinaAna vagaOro. Baartaanao yaa saMGaTnaaMcao sadsyatva Gaotalaolao Aaho, paNa tyaa jyaa paÔtaIMcaa paurskxar kxrtaata, tyaaMsa Aapalyaa doSaacaa pa`itasaad fxarca qaMD Aaho.

            taM~a&aanaanao ivad`upa kxolaolaa inasaga_ paUva_vata kxrNyaacyaa kxaya_k`xmaalaa, inasaga_ maaofxta paurvaIta Asalaolyaa sauivaQaa paunar}jjaIivata kxrNyaalaa paaEcaatya doSaata Aataa Aga`k`xma idlaa jaata Aaho. {dahrNaaqa_, Amaoirkoxnao Aapalyaa doSaataIla 9000 QarNao inakxalaata kxaZlaI Aahota. maanavaacyaa bauÔImauLo tyaalaa inasagaa_caa rXaNakxtaa_, paalanakxtaa_ ASaI BaUimakxa pa`apta JaalaI Aaho. tyaasa Anausar}na iSaXaNapaÔtaI Asaola tar Aajacyaa AaiNa BaavaI ASaa daonhI ipaZËaMcao kxlyaaNa saaQalao jaaNaar Aaho. iSaXaNaata AamaUlaaga` badla hvaa Aaho taao Asaa!

pa`kxaSa gaaoLo 

Climate change: An excellent opportunity to overhaul our education system

Abstract

I shall not discuss the reality or otherwise of climate change. I have seen & experienced it in Ladakh in transhimalayas. This change, I feel, offers us an excellent opportunity to completely overhaul our education system, from primary to higher education levels. The present system fails to promote ecological understanding, places unwarranted emphasis on technology and promotes an economic system, which is completely at odds with the physical, biological & cultural identity of our country.

The overhaul of the system should begin with a clear, realistic understanding of what tropical conditions imply & explain inter-relationships between climate, land & water, i.e. physical & biological factors and how they affect livelihoods & culture. The emphasis should be on a holistic approach & not compartmentalization of knowledge. This should begin with primary level. Overall there should be greater emphasis on field-work at all levels, less on memorization and examinations. Students should understand what nature & natural resources are and how these are to be preserved and sustained to generate and maintain a variety of livelihoods & what kind of economic system is needed.

As far as technology is concerned, the clear understanding of the ecology of technology is needed so that the right kind of technology is promoted in India.

The overhaul requires a new genre of personnel and a whole new literature & text-books.

 I shall not discuss the reality or otherwise of climate change. I have seen & experienced the effects of climate change in Ladakh in Transhimalayas. Ladakh is a part of Tibetean plateau beyond the Himalayan range & is almost bereft of rains as rain clouds cannot overreach the mighty Himalayan range. Ladakh is desert, but a cold desert because of its altitude, which is around 4000 meters on an average. Much of this cold desert has been transformed into fresh water wetlands due to rapid melting of glaciers, a result of climate change. Existence of such fresh water has brought about a distinct change in flora & fauna. Xerophytic forms are replaced by mesophytic and breeding populations of mammals and birds have increased markedly, due to abundance of food. But these favourable conditions are predicted to continue only for a short period. Melting glaciers are not being replenished by fresh snowfall and a severe fresh water crunch may develop in not too distant future.

As patterns of temperature and rainfall change, such effects may manifest in other regions also. Predictions of an uncertain and dark future have made scientists and laymen aware of the importance of the environment in our lives. ( Dash S.K. 2003). Environmental research has gained momentum and environmental change is being extensively covered by the media. This is welcome as the current educational system compartmentalizes the environment and the resulting teaching hardly produces a holistic understanding of our environment. The system of education, which was imposed by the British in the 19^th century, essentially remains the same with some and not fundamental changes over the years. The principal aim of this system was to subvert the minds of Indians as Lord Macualay infamously stated in his address to British Parliament on 2^nd February, 1835. He had said, “I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen even one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and therefore, I propose that we replace the old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will loose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”

Since those times principles and practices developed in an alien environment (e.g. that of Europe) continue to dominate our teaching even in such an environment related subject as agriculture. Essentials of tropical environment which basically influence our livelihoods and lives are not imbibed by students. The education system is yet to treat India as biodiversity rich land and it is this factor, which significantly influences the lives of the majority.

What we need to emphasize and teach is the change that modern man has brought about in different biomes. The present system does not bring out the chronic scarcity of water that a tropical environment always implies. The results are fragile soils, transpiration losses and quick ageing of sites, which means mineralization and production of dust. To avoid this we need different cover types (i.e. different plant communities), cooling structures which will protect soil and water losses. The adoption of technology and our need of agriculture, industry, transport etc cannot be decoupled with our need to protect the essentials of different biomes that our country has been endowed with. Education then will have to provide an entirely different set of prescriptions and policies than are being currently proposed.

The technological human being has brought about fundamental changes in the distribution of not only plants and animals but also physical forms and geographical features of the world (Simmons I.G. 1989). The processes of deposition and erosion and consequent distribution of living forms have been changed to the detriment of all except the upper class human beings. The teaching must explain how such actions spurred by modern technology have affected basic ecological services or life support systems, which were an unmixed blessing to all living beings on this planet before the Industrial Revolution (Dorst J. 1971). The necessity of maintaining and improving life support systems such as:

1)                    Maintenance of the quality of atmosphere

2)                    Amelioration of the climate

3)                    Recycling nutrients

4)                     Assimilation of waste

5)                    Generation of soils and maintenance of soil fertility

6)                    Pollination of plants including crops

7)                    Maintenance of the marine eco-system and provision of sea food

8)                    Operation of hydrological cycle

9)                    Maintenance of gene bank (Daily G.C. 1997)

All these eco-services have been affected by high and intensive exploitation of nature and natural resources. Consequently energy flows, nutrients cycling, biological productivity and environmental stability have all been fundamentally modified by human beings leading to death and extinction of many life forms (Simmons ibid).

Our education system must display a conscious awareness of these problems and should be able to catalyze viable solutions. Only an integrated approach will reveal that earth has tolerance limits and cannot sustain continued exploitation and modification.

Understanding of earth tolerance limits to expanded human activity can be promoted at local, regional and national levels. At the local level it should mean sustaining such land forms as hills and vales, slopes and floodplains and natural resources such as soil, forest, surface and underground natural water flows, shrub-land and grassland and agriculture and artisanal raw materials. Students in the age class 7 to 14 years can be taken out of the classroom to asses these and can also be involved in actual conservation work & quality enhancement. Understanding of these at regional and national levels should promote a landscape approach in development planning. Such an approach not only takes into account the conservation and quality enhancement of eco- systems & eco- services inherent in a landscape, but also considers their inter- relationships throughout the region & inter- regionally. For example, as rivers imply a continuum from source region to sea, development of water resources at a place or in a region is likely to adversely affect other places or regions. A landscape approach works to avoid such irregularities and reduce regional disparities (Foreman R.T.T. – 2001).

Nature at local level is at best a resource while at regional and national levels it is treated as a supply depot & a sink. Over exploitation of resources such as forest, freshwater and marine fish and pollution of atmosphere, soil & water may occur at any level and cannot be curbed and managed without understanding the threshold values of different eco- systems and eco- services. Any use beyond threshold will undermine the very existence of these systems and services (Chopra K-2001). We are still far from a real understanding of these thresholds. It is here that traditional practices prove useful as they guard eco- systems against overuse, both as a supply depot and as a sink. Modern education should not belittle the importance of traditional knowledge especially in the field of nature & resource conservation. In fragile environments where a small disturbance may cause an avalanche of degradation, traditional knowledge seems as a beacon of light( Jodha N.S- 1995).

If conservation of nature & natural resources is properly incorporated in the curriculum of primary & secondary schools, it will form the basis of multiple livelihoods operating essentially at local levels. Geography, history & science can be combined into a single subject & their inter- relationships explained with emphasis on local variations. Such interdisciplinary coverage may be called “Livelihood Science”. This can be supplemented by training in artisanal practices & field work wherever necessary. Such a move will stem the tide of dropouts, that vast resource of manpower who had left education after the 10^th or the 12^th standard. As they have little skills either in their hands or brains, they remain unemployed and remain a ready target to be exploited by extremist elements.

Such an overhaul will require fashioning of especial educational tools; this requirement may further promote research in nature & environment in all its forms. What is necessary is not pure environmental research, but one which will probe also social and economic consequences of each & every economic activity. (Gole P. 1996).

Change may not immediately be necessary in the present mode of teaching languages & mathematics, though proper valuation of nature’s services and natural resource systems may have to be included as the economy responds to emerging livelihoods based on nature (Pearce D. 1990).

The real challenge is how to incorporate practical outdoor work and field training in today’s highly class-room oriented curriculum. Probably a complementary role can be assigned to rural & urban schools. Rural schools can offer urban students approach in to eco- systems and natural resources while urban schools can provide rural students gadgets and equipments to carry out science experiments and audio- visual education. The present pressure on students of completing tests and examinations & carryout library based projects can be replaced by an imaginative exchange programmes in which rural & urban students will experience something, which they have not experienced before.

Today science & technology dominate graduate and post-graduate education while languages and social sciences suffer from inadequacy of students. Pure science offers opportunities to only a few brighter students. All others have to satisfy themselves with whatever technological input they can imbibe. Pure sciences attempt to increase our understanding of the working of nature & natural systems while technology tries to find out how these systems can be made to work more or less exclusively for the benefit of human beings. It promises power, dominance over nature and seemingly unlimited increase in material comforts for humans!

But “the modern world, stamped as it is with the image of the machine, must learn to look technology in the face & read its essence soberly & without illusion”  (Juenger F.G. 1956”). The essence of technology is what I call the ecology of technology. Every student must be given to understand the ecology of technology, what in truth technology implies. Essentially it tries to redirect natural flows of energy & materials towards human beings, to the exclusion of all living forms. In human history the earliest and most vivid example of this redirection is agriculture. The farmer decides that the flow of sun’s energy falling on a piece of land, which is normally used by a number of plants & animals, will be used exclusively by a single plant beneficial to human beings. As competition from other plants is eliminated, the selected plant (crop) reacts favourably & offers the farmer abundant yield. But this abundance is also available to the natural enemy of the crop & the crop is attacked by pests. Technology then always produces problems & side effects. (Bayliss- Smith T.P. 1990).

There are other sides of technology, which we tend to ignore & never make them explicit to the student body. It has been well said, “Technical progress covers the earth not alone with its machines & workshops but also with junk & scrap ….. All technical knowledge is marked by an impersonalism that necessarily results from the purely material facts that it deals with.” Morconer, “even the smallest mechanical process consumes more energy than it produces, how could the sum of all these processes create abundance?…… It leads to an economy of deficit which grows the more strikingly obvious, the more triumphantly the perfection of technology progresses” (Juenger F.G. ibid).  The student must understand that the designer of a machine never gets beyond the degree of efficiency described by Carnot’s cycle. This is assured by the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics or the Principle of Entropy (Daly H & Townsend K.N. 1993).

Why are all these facts ignored & never given weight & importance that are their rightful due? It is probably because all technological progress then merely becomes a pretence. Technology to progress needs heavy subsidies from the government, from nature and from sections of human society who are forced to give up their livelihoods! Recently technological progress is possible only through contracting heavy debts!! Yet the bias favouring technology is widespread & pervades especially the politicians, economists & administrators who manage our so- called economic development. The economy of deficit, which is the inevitable result of technological progress is nowhere more evident than in India since 1990. (Alternative Survey Group 2008).

As Prof Bhaduri said in his address to IUCCA, Pune, “Despite near double digit growth for more than a decade and a half, available estimates suggest that more than one third of the Indian population live in sub- human poverty (a recent World Bank estimate puts nearly 42% as absolutely poor by international standards), more than 75% of the population has a daily purchasing power of less than Rs 20, nearly half of the children are under- nourished, and many crippled by under- nourishment; anaemia is on the increase among women, and food deprivation in the countryside has not decreased-----According to Economic Survey of the Government of India (2006-2007) total employment in the organized sector declined from 28.2 million in 1977 to 26.4 million in 2004. One can add to this the declining employment in the agriculture sector, the worsening of agricultural labour, even the increase in the number of self-employed is nothing but discharged industrial workers & those who cannot find any employment, “eking out living by selling tinsel goods which means long hours of work, little earnings, lack of any social security and protection cover of labour laws.” 

Technological progress has thus failed to reach the majority, has failed to put varied skills in their hands and has therefore, failed to generate a variety of livelihoods in Indian Society.

Technological progress has only propelled a deficit economy depriving people of their earnings & work.

What is the alternative? If the technology that is currently taught in colleges & universities is harmful to the environment & the economy & consequently to the people at large, it will have to be phased out and replaced by one that is beneficial to most of our countrymen. Alternatives like soft technology, appropriate technology, bioengineering, restoration technology can be introduced (Chadwick M.J. & Goodman T. 1975).

Students must be given to understand very clearly what the use of energy implies. In any process where energy is used, input is always greater than the output & investment is normally greater than the value of the product obtained. Use of fossil fuels is still the cheapest source of energy, as nature has done most of the work to make this energy readily usable. This is the reason why modern technology is based on fossil fuels. But their known stocks are limited and the cost of discovering new stocks & making them usable is enormous. If alternative sources of energy like solar, wind, tide etc are used, input cost, i.e. investment in making solar cells & panels, their ancillary equipment, installation & maintenance, is always greater than the value of energy produced. For example, the making of a solar cell requires energy (i.e. use of fossil fuels), which is greater than the energy that the cell will produce during its entire life. Alternative energy sources become viable only if the entire operation is heavily subsidized!

The real alternative is to minimize the use of energy, especially minimizing use of fossil fuels, so that this extremely cheap source of energy will last another thousand years! Biomass development again offers the cheapest alternative. We need to develop all types of plant biomass (Urbanska K. et al 1997). Almost half the area of the country is degraded. All this area can be restored by reviving appropriate cover types of indigenous origin. To work this out Restoration Technology is available and is being used extensively in developed countries. It is cheaper in terms of investment and is labour intensive creating enormous opportunities for employment.                For example, European countries have taken up large projects to revert their rivers to their natural conditions (Maurizi S. & Poilon F 1992). The classic example is of the river Thames in England. In fact, U.K takes pride that they have cleaned up all their natural flows. USA has a law, which lays down that there will be no net loss of any water body, especially wetlands. There are representative bodies like the Society for Ecological Restoration, Wetland Managers Inc etc. Similar organizations exist in Europe.

There are unlimited opportunities for creating alternative livelihoods & jobs in the use of such biomass related technology (Ghotge N. 2004). Our educational institutes must make available instruction in these fields. Restoration of Nature is the key concept here (Gole P. 2007). Besides creating more jobs restoration will confer such benefits as conservation of soil, quality enhancement of atmosphere & water & revival of nature’s services. It will also provide biomass to fulfill basic needs of fuel-wood, fibre & timber at moderate prices. Enhancement of the quality of life will lessen the physical & mental stress, which is the inevitable result of promoting technology & a deficit economy!

Do we have the courage & conviction to bring about a radical change in our education system?

Prakash Gole

Let us build Temples

LET US BUILD TEMPLES!

Hats off to the technological man out to conquer the whole planet! Hats off to technology bent upon redirecting energy and material flows towards human beings!! What grander achievement can there be when we command and consume more than 40 p.c. of the total terrestrial biomass of the world? Let us push the proportion to 60 to overcome poverty and hunger! With genetically engineered foods and biotechnology, this is already within our reach. Why? Even creating Superman and Super races is not difficult. Let us enslave every living being on the earth and realize God's dream of giving birth to a Supreme Being that will ultimately rule the Universe! Or is it a Satan's dream?


Those of us who have such visions and confidence in our scientific ability, what do we call them? Scientists? Visionaries? or Doomsayers? They are not scientists for they hardly understand the basic laws of science. They are not visionaries for their over-riding ambition inflicts incalculable harm on non-human beings. They can well be doomsayers because their blind faith in technology is fetching them ever near the abyss of self-destruction!


How? Simply because ecological science tells us that humans can never totally separate themselves from principles and cyclical processes of nature. If they attempt to enslave others in their greed, they will destroy the very web of life and foundations on which their own survival depends. If technology attempts to perform natures' services, the costs will escalate so much that only a lucky few can afford them and that too will be possible only by enslaving fellow human beings.


The supreme triumph of technology forebodes utter disaster, strife and violence among human societies!!


Who is to blame? Technology or the use of technology by human beings? To make a telephone call is perfectly benign. But to tap the call may be sinister and illegal. Technology is power and power is likely to corrupt. With the help of machines and technology, we have produced a system which has forced the people forget all the good things in life. In the last over 300 years our training, culture and civilization have failed to produce a human being, morally sound, socially responsible and materially a conscientious consumer. Liberty, equality and fraternity are corrupted to lack of restraint, disequalising progress, and a disintegrating society.


Let us understand science correctly and not through the sunglasses of technology. Let us find out what science has to tell us about natural evolution: how a weak, diffuse energy source is utilised to create innumerable life-forms fabricating a web of life manifesting distributive justice, no human society has ever been able to match. A simple principle underlies this wonderful biodiversity. Species with high metabolism have large populations but short life cycles while species with low metabolism have small populations but longer life cycles. This has enabled species to look for and cultivate a variety of habitats containing a mind-boggling variety of niches. As habitat is the address and niche the profession of a species, evolution progresses through distribution of energy and resources towards diverse life-forms. Technology however, progresses through uniformity and mass production. It has no formulae to bring about distributive justice. The call of the saints:

"सर्वे s त्र सुखिनः सन्तु| सर्वे सन्तु निरामयः | सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु| मा कश्चित् दु:खमानुयात||”

is muted in the age of technology!

While the march of evolution is ordained by the basic laws of science, technology has marched by perverting these laws. It was able to do this because human beings evolved in tandem an economic system, a perfect hand-maiden to its powerful mistress! The collaboration between technology and economy has produced all the strife and stress that afflict human societies today.


Our economy is based on the assumption that consumer is sovereign and his/her free choice is always right. But the consumer is trained to obey and cultivate a technology bent upon redirecting flows of energy and resources to human beings by denying them to non-human beings and nature. Technology confers power that nurtures greed and avarice among consumers and flaws their choice. To redirect flows of energy and resources, technology has to convert resources by using energy. Each conversion brings about losses of energy and creation of waste matter, the latter increasing entropy in nature. Like evolution technology cannot use sun's diffuse energy at ambient temperature. It has to use energy of fossil fuels. The economy has to invest large sums in exploring, extracting and processing the fossils before energy is produced. Any loss of energy in conversion means a negative return on investment made to facilitate use of fossil fuels. If these losses are internalised in the cost of production, the cost becomes higher than the value of the product. If the social and environmental costs of the entropy are internalized, cost escalates so much as to make all manufacturing impossible to continue! The system is a contradiction in itself!!



In such a scenario profits can never be possible. Then how are colossal profits made by individuals, companies and the corporate sector? In the past developed nations made profits by acquiring political control over raw materials from their colonies and importing cheap labour and even using slave labour. Profits were made by denying adequate wages to labour and prices to raw materials. Costs of entropy were never internalized causing immense pollution. These devices are still used to amass profits today. India cannot have colonies so in the name of development, we are exploiting our own resources keeping down their prices. As labour cannot be exploited easily, industry and commerce have to depend increasingly on government subsidies which take various forms. The amount of subsidies to industry, commerce and modern agriculture runs into thousands of crores. These really are concealed profits sanctioned by the government in the name of employment and economic growth. The expenditure on subsidies also means less expenditure on health, education and denial of support to necessities of life on which the survival of the poor depends. Government support to industry and modern agriculture ultimately results in production of goods needed by the rich while production of necessities of life goes a-begging.



The gap between the rich and the poor becomes wider and wider in such an economy.



Who is to blame? I squarely blame the wrong use of technology by us. Most of us are ecologically illiterate simply because the importance of this subject is utterly unknown to our educational system. No one is aware of the ecology of technology. Priority should be given to technology that strengthens our natural resource base. Natural resources are the foundation of our life, especially of that of the rural population which still forms more than 60 p.c. of our people. City people too must understand that cities are primarily supported by natural resources. If they degrade we have to depend on imports, of food, water, timber and many other products. Total dependence on imports will make the cost of living in the city exhorbitant. Today we are simply directing more and more resources to the cities without providing anything for their maintenance, revival and enhancement of quality and quantity. Restoration of natural resources is today's primary need. Unfortunately very few people are aware of the significance, techniques and how to involve rural India in this vital job. Everyone including rural people is taught to believe that technology is a perfect substitute to nature. Nature can be safely ignored, because it is technology that is going to provide everything to human beings.



This is not only wrong but it is extremely costly too! Ecologically speaking indiscriminate use of technology is destroying many natural linkages that go to make our atmosphere, the quantity and quality of our water, the quality of our soil, the waste assimilating capacity in nature, the work of pollinating insects that enrich our crops and horticulture, and lastly maintenance of biodiversity, a wonderful reservoir for our future needs of food, medicine and raw materials. Moreover, this indiscriminate use is destroying not only the wherewithals of our own life those of our children and grandchildren too!!



These linkages are the arteries of our life support systems. Nature provides us life support free of cost. But when these arteries are harmed technology has no alternative but to try providing these wherewithals of life. Technological services based as they are on costly energy, are expensive and cause pollution too. Technologically produced drinking water is almost as costly as milk. Insecticides is a terribly costly substitute for natural pest control. Biotechnology is many times costlier than biodiversity.



Our experiments in restoration and revival of nature around Pune have demonstrated their cost effectiveness in comparison to technological and engineering solutions. Moreover they tend to establish natural linkages which confer on them the quality of sustainability and obviate the need to spend on repair and care of restored systems. It is the vital need of our country that we start restoring our soil, restore our streams and water-courses, restore vegetation on hill-tops and hill slopes, along stream banks and in-stream habitats, revive wetlands and wastelands and lands that are degraded and industrially made derelict, saline and water-logged lands, deciduous and evergreen forests, savanna and grasslands and littoral and seashore areas. Restoration techniques for all these are available. One only has to understand and practise them. These can be combined with our traditional wisdom to involve villages and communities.



In a former era, Jawaharlal Nehru had called our irrigation and power dams as temples of newly-independent India. That era is long past. The new temples of India, if I may venture to say so, are our Restoration Projects, though they are as yet too few. Let us build these temples all over India to make our lives materially and spiritually richer. Let all the NGOs gathered here build such a temple, start a restoration project in their area to make the foundations of our country strong and bring prosperity to all those millions who have been denied fruits of development so far. Let us unite to restore the glories of Mother India.


Prakash Gole.

THE NEW WATER VISION

THE NEW WATER VISION

The 3 pillars of the water vision for the next century are: Adequacy, Equity and Purity.

These pillars can only be supported if their foundation is Ecology and not Technology.

Sustainability in every aspect of life can only be achieved if basic ecological processes – the life supporting systems – on the earth are kept viable and functioning. Biodiversity is the outward manifestation of basic ecological processes. This has been recognized by all leading scientists of the world and has been enunciated in many international declarations.
The present mindset of the bureaucrats and technocrats only emphasizes preventive actions and not curative ones. It lacks true understanding of ecological processes. It thus piously believes that viability of ecological processes will be ensured if environmental safeguards dictated by the concerned Ministry and by pollution abatement laws are guaranteed . Unfortunately in the present water management system even these minimum things are not carried out. The mindset is you can safely ignore peoples’ health, welfare and quality of life

Let us therefore, see what positive things can be incorporated in the Water Vision to ensure the viability of basic ecological processes and life supporting systems.

Of paramount importance are the Sources of Water: Springs, Streams, Rivers and the Underground Water Table. It is necessary to understand their ecology to keep them functioning. A river basin should be divided into 3 zones 1) The Conservation Zone 2) The Storage Zone and 3) The Utilization Zone.

The first covers the source region where the stream flows through a wild landscape of steep gradient , the second where the stream coalesce to form a large flow and the third where it forms a floodplain and meanders towards the sea .

Measures that can be suggested to protect basic ecological processes and biodiversity are:

The Conservation Zone: The accent here should be on restoration and maintenance natural habitats. At least 10 percent area of each catchment should be reserved for natural regeneration ( no plantation) Forests , bank vegetation, in-stream habitats , shallow pools , rock crevices , rapids , eddy formations etc. should be restored and maintained . These measures will rejuvenate mountain springs, control erosion and ensure adequate flows to the next zone.
Man’s activities should be constant with conservation goals : No shifting cultivation , stall-feeding of domestic animals , nurseries of a variety of indigenous cultivars and seedlings , agroforestry , horticulture that is not energy intensive , tourism that does not indulge in overuse of resources .

Reservoirs which submerge some part of this zone should be well managed through bank protection, protection to tributary streams and their habitats and catchment area development consistent with conservation goals.
These measures will ensure gains in biodiversity as this zone is breeding ground of many wild animals, birds and fish. Viability of indigenous genetic stock will thus be ensured.
Some work in this direction has been carried out in the catchment areas of some dams in Maharashtra.
At present catchment area in hills are mostly neglected. The drinking water needs of hill residents can be met by excavating ponds on rejuvenated streams and keeping them inviolate. Some wise communities have demonstrated this simple measure in the hills of Maharashtra.
The Storage Zone: The goal should be to service the minimum water needs of far-flung areas at low costs.
Many storages have already been built in this zone. The accent in future should be on more equitable distribution of water. The objective of reaching to far-flung areas can be more economically achieved by keeping the area’s streams flowing and their in-stream and bank habitats healthy. If conservation zone is managed well, it will ensure adequate flows in streams which in turn will recharge the hyporheic zone helping the underground water table. This will be far more economical than building fresh storages. Livelihood security is ensured by lowering costs all around, not by enhancing output at high costs.

As agriculture becomes more important from this zone, it is necessary to say something about agriculture that is viable in the tropics. In a tropical country with fragile soils, the Green revolution Technology with high inputs of water, fertilizers and insecticides is not appropriate. It is costly and efforts to maximize output through this method have been successful over a limited land area and that too at great cost. The resulting prices are not affordable to the common man. The method to increase output should be cost effective and resources saving. Our country has thousands of mini-catchments with their own micro-climates. We have cultivars suited to these micro-climates. If we revive them, they will provide for basic necessities of local communities and indeed be free from insecticide poisons! Moreover the low cost will make them affordable. This will also obviate the necessity of keeping centralized stocks and transporting them over great distances.

We need an inexpensive water delivery system for this zone, which can only be provided by flowing streams providing adequate spring flow for wells. Water intensive crops need not be prescribed here. This strategy will conserve our biodiversity of crops and genetic resources directly useful to man. The streams will have to be kept free from sewage and other waste dumping. Keeping land reserved for waste disposal in each village should form an integral part of water management. This disposal should be kept as decentralized as possible so as not to generate large flows.

Dam sites in this zone are ideal sites to conserve biodiversity. Each dam site can be used to restore indigenous forest, indigenous and endemic varieties of medicinal plants and can be a demonstration site where wetland creation, stream bank management can be demonstrated. Such experiments have been carried out at some dam sites in Maharashtra.

The Utilization Zone: This zone will have great concentrations of human population and their activities such as agriculture, business and industry.
Surface flows through canals in this zone are wasteful and harmful to the quality of water. Delivery of water should be through pipes. In this extremely stressed zone, river basins also call for careful, coordinated management. River banks should be kept free of encroachments and lined with buffer zones and greenways. Base flow in rivers has to be ensured by controlling lift irrigation. For disposal of waste, retention and detention basins should be provided to settle heavy and particulate matter and filter many other debris. Bank, in-stream vegetation and habitats should be maintained to avoid excessive eutrophication.

Reservoirs in this zone call for intensive, imaginative and multiple-use management. If properly managed they will greatly contribute to biodiversity conservation and be points of aesthetic interest. Experiments in this direction have been carried out on certain reservoirs in Maharashtra.

All these measures are labor intensive and have great employment potential. Moreover they will strengthen the natural base of economic development, lower the costs of satisfying basic needs and check inflation. The focus should be to restore nature and satisfy basic needs at very low costs from the restored abundance of nature. Once this is achieved, surplus can remain in the hands of many to satisfy intermediate wants for which the market caters. It will ensure adequate demand for manufactured goods. Otherwise even with high growth rate deflation will result due to lack of demand as is happening in China. The high cost water management today has increased prices all around, accentuated income disparities and made necessities costlier. The present mindset needs to be changed to ensure a low cost equitable water management.


PRAKASH GOLE

ENGINEERING, ECONOMICS AND ECOLOGY

ENGINEERING, ECONOMICS AND ECOLOGY

The 3 Es, Engineering, Economics and Ecology should be the basis of human life. But are they really ? Indeed the first 2 Es definitely form the basis of modern life. Without engineering and technology modern life cannot be conceived. Also human beings are taken to be rational, objective. Self interest governs their actions and attitudes. Objectivity, not sentiments, is essential for the advancement of science. Economics therefore, which assumes rational human behaviour based on self-interest, rules human behaviour and social relations.

The third E, Ecology, however, lacks recognition. It seems invisible, is neither immediately felt nor readily identified. The general consensus is, Ecology is something extraneous, can either be totally dispensed with or replaced by technology. Human beings are or can become capable of producing every arrangement that nature has taken millions of years to produce through evolution. In India we already have a role model in sage Vishwamitra who threatened to produce exactly a parallel world.

The first 2 Es are therefore, considered enough for the survival and welfare of people, rational human beings technologically adequately equipped. Let as now analyse what the first 2 Es imply. Human beings started using engineering and technology ever since they used a stick to grab a fruit from a tree or to dig roots and tubers. But the real use of technology began when people started harnessing energy first fire, then fossil fuels like coal and peat, then hydro-electricity, oil and atomic energy. Technology essentially involves transformation of matter by using energy. As everyone knows matter and energy are governed by laws of thermodynamics. The first law states that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Energy is used not consumed. Energy is high grade when it is in a form with high availability to do applied work. All natural and technological physical processes proceed in such a way that the availability of energy involved, decreases. What is consumed when we use energy, then, is not energy itself but its availability to do useful work.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us that it is impossible to recycle energy and that eventually all energy will be converted into waste heat. Also it is impossible to recycle materials with 100% completeness. Some material is irrevocably lost in each cycle. If matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, what does the economic process do? Matter and energy enter the economic process in a state of low entropy and comes out of it in a state of high entropy.

Any living organism fights the entropic degradation of its own material structure. Man’s economic activity may transform a high entropy copper ore into a low entropy copper sheet but this lowering of entropy is more than compensated by increase in the entropy of the surroundings. In entropy terms the cost of any biological or economic enterprise is always greater than the product. In entropy terms any such activity necessarily results in a deficit.


The transformation of matter by energy, which is the essence of technology therefore, involves costs - costs in terms of lost quantities of matter as 100% transformation is impossible and costs in terms of energy passing into a state of unavailability; also these two things involve creation of waste leading to entropy of surroundings - a local cost in terms of pollution and garbage. Now if all these costs are taken into account, the cost of production of any commodity, where energy other than solar energy, is used, is higher than its value. Increase in production means increased costs. This is how the first E is intertwined with the second E.

The economic effort is actually a dual effort. It aims at producing a surplus by keeping down costs. In nature however, surplus is produced without apparent costs by plants using solar energy. The use of solar energy through solar energy apparently considerably slows down the operation of the laws of thermodynamics. In photosynthesis food is synthesised for plants for their survival needs and additional food is produced for the survival needs of other organisms. Very little solar energy is passed out as waste heat and almost no waste is produced to increase the entropy of surroundings.

What evolution has produced is a closed system. Matter is recycled and energy is radiated without producing waste. Entropy in the surroundings is mainly through accidental happenings, sudden, natural events such as exceptional floods, fire, lightning, earthquakes, meteoric hits, droughts or failure of rain. Evolution continues its work of remediation and rehabilitation resulting in reduced entropy.

In such a system as costs are low so is the surplus. In a mature forest the net productivity is zero. Whatever is produced is consumed and/or recycled. Surplus is small and cannot be stored for a long time. All animals living in the forest are tuned to utilise this small surplus whenever it is available. The small amount of this surplus controls their populations and keeps them in balance with food supply. Ecology thus puts limits on the creation and maintenance of this surplus and controls population growth. Human beings can only increase the food supply and consequently human population by negating controls prescribed by ecology.

The relationship between the three Es can be explained as follows: Engineering and technology aim at increasing the amount of the surplus and make it as long lasting as possible; Economics prescribed and regulated the distribution of the surplus in such a way as to facilitate advances in technology and Ecology defines the limits to the creation of this surplus and awakens in human beings a desire to desist from the possible disastrous consequences of man’s actions in increasing the surplus.

Surplus is only produced by negating the influence of ecology. Agriculture is the earliest human effort to produce a surplus. Essentially agriculture means a mono-culture contrary to poly-cultural arrangements existing in nature. The ecological control on agriculture is expressed in terms of pests that try to destroy crops. In promoting agricultural surplus people are still trying to overcome these controls either by using chemical weapons or by following rather than opposing ecological principles, as in organic farming. The gross amount of surplus increased enormously when people started using machines run on various forms of energy such as coal, oil and electricity.

Ecological controls were not immediately apparent as they appeared as social costs. As emissions and effluents were freely discharged in the atmosphere or rivers, the pollution so caused was borne by the society as a whole. Private costs were kept low through monopoly on raw material sources, low wages, child labour and captive markets. Natural wealth of colonies in Asia and Africa was freely exploited and manufactured goods sold in those countries. The scale of production came to be increased enormously through the application of technology realizing the economies of scale. The post Second World War boom resulted in over-exploitation, indeed ruthless exploitation of resources, especially non-renewable resources. The result was rapid depletion of accessible stocks and rise in social costs such as pollution and waste. The industrial society of USA was described by Prof. Galbraith as producing private affluence and public squalor. With the growth in the scale of production, ecological controls came to be felt as waste and pollution increased by leaps and bounds. This was the time (in the seventies of the last century) when environtalism had its birth. It was an attempt by a few to make the majority aware of ecological controls and pay heed to them.

Industrialism which was the result of great advances in technology during the second world war, though global in character, may spawn its own anti-climax. One may even ask will it dig its own grave? At present industrialism, whose social incarnation is capitalism, is basking in its own triumph which resulted from the almost total annihilation of communism. But to make the surplus larger and more permanent, it must constantly search for cheaper and more accessible sources of raw material and energy and improve technology so as to reduce social costs, the so-called externalities, which costs have to be internalised due to pressures from the environmental lobby and legislation. This constant need to reduce costs (as scale is increased) results from the operation of laws of thermodynamics. Large-scale transformation of matter through the use of energy produces large-scale entropy, i.e. waste and pollution.

The need for reduction of costs calls for greater investments in raw materials, energy and improvements in technology. This calls for capital accumulation through savings which are made by concentrating wealth in ever fewer hands and if governments make the investments, by depriving the majority of many necessities of life like good education, health, sanitation, fuel, fodder and shelter. In less developed nations it also involves destruction of natural capital on which the livelihood of many depends. Indeed the number of people in slums is a measure of the destruction of natural capital and the number of people in upper and middle classes is a measure of the population that can be supported by man-made capital! The need to reduce costs deprives people from having adequate purchasing power to make a living possible as creation of man-made capital has increased costs all round. Shrinkage of purchasing power leads to failure of demand which periodically plagues capitalism. One must realize the direct connection between poverty amelioration and existence of natural capital. The greater the amount of natural capital the less will be the poverty and the greater the amount of man-made capital the greater will be the poverty!

Deprivation of adequate purchasing power for the majority and greater inequity in distribution of income make a mockery of all the ideals that a free, capitalistic society is supposed to have!

In reality ecological controls are becoming manifest through these two forces. The so-called developed countries are trying to thwart them through improvements in technology and greater access to available energy and resources. Technology requires great investment which becomes readily available during a war effort. One wonders whether it is in the interests of advanced technological nations to fan the fire of wars so that they can justify to their people greater investments in technology which always come at the expense of peoples’ welfare.

The tragedy is that the less developed countries are trying to follow the same model, i.e. larger scales of production, greater and ruthless exploitation of natural resources, higher entropy of surroundings, greater inequality of incomes and lack of purchasing power for the majority. Higher investments in technology and production are possible by denying a majority of people education, health, sanitation, fuel, fodder, shelter and clothing. The apparent prosperity and wealth that is seen in certain pockets, in rural and urban areas is due to mining and liquidation of stocks of natural resources : air, water, soil, forest and marine wealth. The figures speak for themselves. Almost 50 % of the land area lies in various degrees of degradation; most of the rivers lack fresh water flows and are actually sewers; natural forest cover smaller area each year though plantation monoculture has increased; there are 86 threatened mammals in India as against 76 in China though in land area China is far larger than our country; there are 1236 threatened plant species in India as against only 312 in China. It looks ecological controls are being negated by deliberately destroying ecology, the very foundation of our life. All people are not unaware of the impending crisis. There are efforts and movements to counter centralisation of power, to make the production of surplus more people-oriented, use soft technologies and restore degraded eco-systems. Watershed development, eco-system approaches and restoration are being used to promote environmental awareness and ecological rehabilitation.

All these may prove mere palliatives and not cures. A much more holistic approach is required. Only then will the promotion of greed inherent in the present system because of periodic failure of demand, be replaced by saner and judicious management of resources and markets. There should be a conscious effort to recognise ecological needs and to allocate adequate resources for them. In effect we must recognise the importance of and the necessity to bring back the operation of ecological controls. This is essential to control the greed of a few and satisfy the needs of many. The imperatives to achieve this are:

1. Decentralisation of planning : local resources used to satisfy local needs. Watershed development, the present local developmental effort, should not only aim at increasing the surplus but satisfying the basic needs of all. Basic needs include besides food, clean air, potable water, health and sanitation, adequate education, fuel, fodder, timber and other biomass etc. To provide these it is necessary to keep these resources in good shape ; i.e. restoration and qualitative improvement of atmosphere, water(stream), soil, vegetation etc. in other words to allocate resources for eco-system functioning. Agricultural production should be planned and market at village level. Though land remains individually owned, its utilization, i.e. crop pattern, water use should be planned by the village as a whole.

2. Landscape approach in planning : planning of the use of resources based on geographic and geomorphic features, soil and lie of the land, climate and vegetation. The aim should be welfare individuals in a particular landscape. Thus agriculture need not be taken into account.

3. Avoid settlement and other “brown uses” on agriculturally good soil.

4. Restoration of degraded eco-systems, especially compensatory restoration to be made compulsory to all major and medium projects; the focus has to be on restoration of natural capital.

5. Rejuvenation and revival of local and indigenous varieties of crops, fruit, fibres, domestic animals breeds and their marketing on a village or a group of village basis. The idea is to develop specialities at local level and to that extent free villages from the middlemen. Also to encourage service and processing of produce at the village level.

6. The basic idea is to restrict the scale of production in such a way as to provide minimum resources for the production of intermediate goods. Such abstinence and restriction of ostentatious and orgiastic consumption can be possible with universal, correctly designed, holistic education. It should emphasize inter-relationships between various disciplines and should not erect unbreachable walls between them. Ecological research will have to be the foundation of this system. Technology has to change its direction and content. Soft technology seems to be essential for providing welfare to all sundry. Technology should facilitate rather than obstruct and replace the essential ecological services and processes. Replacement is costly and will have side effects.

The welfare of the individual should be the prime concern and not of the economic system. In all fields and areas, today’s policies seem to favour the market and the economic system and not the individual. Dreams of a strong and powerful India can be realised not by augmenting the GNP or by increasing the growth rate from 3 to 13% but by making individual citizens educated, enlightened, responsible, work conscious, healthy and happy.


Prakash Gole

WHY “NO” TO TECHNOLOGY-BASED DEVELOPMENT?

WHY “NO” TO TECHNOLOGY-BASED DEVELOPMENT?

Many critics accuse environmentalists of opposing economic development wholesale. But this is not so. Environmentalists oppose development which involves large-scale displacement of people, or severe pollution which affects the health of many or large-scale destruction of nature and of traditional livelihoods of thousands!

Unfortunately today’s technology-based development inevitably gives rise to all the above problems. Why is this so? Let me explain.

Science can be divided into pure science and applied science which is basically technology. Research in pure science is mostly restricted to astronomy or space science, quantum physics and ecology ( how life survives on this planet). It is applied science or technology which has made modern life possible on this planet. But what in essence is technology? It is redirecting sun’s energy towards things that benefit Man only. That is why we feel happy when new inventions increase our amenities and comforts. But it creates imbalances or entropy in nature which we generally designate as pollution.

Moreover, it essentially violates basic laws of physics. Technology on large-scale has only become possible since the discovery of fossil fuels, i.e. coal and oil. These are the cheapest sources of energy on this planet simply because Nature has done the work of concentration of energy over millions of years. We only have to extract these from the earth.

When energy is applied to convert matter, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics tells us, entropy increases. This means more energy and matter are wasted than are converted into useful product. More energy comes out as heat and more matter comes out as waste than are incorporated in the product. In economic terms it involves loss. That is why all modern industry is interested in getting energy, labour, raw materials, land etc. as cheaply as possible. In historical times technological advances were possible only when western nations established political control over nations and people and made them provide resources, labour, energy etc. at almost no cost. They also completely ignored technology created imbalances in nature.

Today all this is not possible for a country like India. Today’s technology-based development therefore, is based on grants or subsidies from the govt. Govt. finances research in technology, it makes land and power available at concessional rates, offers tax exemptions, promotes export through subsidies etc. One must clearly understand that technology-based development is impossible without such help.

It creates imbalances in nature and even in our economy. I may recommend everyone to go through two excellent reports prepared by India’s leading economists. Their titles are: Disequalizing Growth and The Decline of the Welfare State. In them the economists have clearly shown that poverty and inequality of income have greatly increased in India since 1990 i.e. when the present prime minister liberalized the economy and imported technology.

There are many instances of the use of wrong technology or even dangerous technology promoted by the govt. The latest is the invitation to a French company to install atomic power plants on the Konkan coast. The incipient technology has not yet been successfully tested, has yet to become operational. When Finland adopted it, it created insuperable problems even in its installation. Yet our govt. wants our people to accept it without protest! Such is the pressure of multinationals and western powers who want bolster their economies by exporting technologies that they cannot use in their own lands.

Be assured that technology-based development will never create mass employment as it wants to minimize labour costs to reduce overall cost of production. It may create employment in fields which give rise to high and ostentatious consumption.

The alternative development path is nature based development, i.e. enhancement of our natural resources. Unfortunately there are no facilities in India to train people in this field.

In the present circumstances therefore, social inequalities, social strife, economic disparities and destruction of natural resources in India are likely to continue!


Prakash Gole

The Technological Man

The Technological Man

This is the age of Science & Technology. We all know how they have improved our lives & we are always looking forward to miracles they are expected to achieve tomorrow or day after. The computer and the mobile phone are the symbols of modern life. Biotechnology is expected to give us the power to control all other life forms for our benefit & provide us with all the wherewithals of life including food, fibre & medicine.
But have we ever stopped to ask the question what really are science & technology? What do they involve? Why is it that what they do appear as miracles to us? Let us try to answer these questions.

Science tries to unravel the secrets and mysteries of the universe, and enriches our knowledge of the physical & biological world. Technology is the practical manifestation of science. By applying Principles of Science, it provides us newer & newer means & tools to mould & bend the physical & biological world for the benefit of human beings. It caters to our wants & desires, increases our command over resources, thereby saving labour & providing more comforts to human beings. Therefore, it is technology that everyone is enamoured with.

How technology achieves this? that is, how it gives us greater command and control over resources? It does this by diverting & making available exclusively to human beings the natural flows of energy and materials evolved on this planet. What are these natural flows of energy and materials?

Everyone knows that energy flows to us from the Sun. Seventy percent of the energy that strikes the surface of the earth warms the planet, contributes to the movements of winds & sea water & generates the hydrological cycle. A small part of the Sun’s energy is converted by plants through photosynthesis into food on which all living beings including humans depend. Sun’s energy thus flows from plants to insects & higher animals ( herbivores & carnivores) and enables them to survive, grow, mature & carry out various movements & work. Energy is again used by decomposers to break down plant & animal waste & release nutrients stored in them so that they can be recycled in the system. Materials are then brought back into the system continuing the flows. Energy concentrated in the plants is converted over geological time into coal & oil which we increasingly use as fuels.

Nature therefore, is a wonderful system & an organization whose working depends on these flows of energy & matter. This system has evolved certain processes which ensure continuity of life on this planet. They are: the hydrological cycle which gives us rain & fresh water, the atmospheric balance which ensures a continuous supply of oxygen, the work of decomposers, which assimilates waste & assures the continuation of flows, the making & supply of soil which enables plants to survive & diversify & a pool of genetic resources embodied in various life forms whose survival and multiplication depends on these processes & who become an integral part of Nature’s organization.

Technology tinkers & interferes with this system so that more energy & materials are available to human beings. Less energy & materials are then available to other life forms, plants and animals of every hue, thereby affecting their lives & populations. They are deprived because the total flows of energy & matter on this planet are given; these can neither be created nor destroyed as laws of physics inform us.

The principal technologies through which Man interferes with energy & material flows are agriculture & industry, i.e. use of machines. Energy available to a variety of plants is diverted to a single plant by agriculture. The plant then provides ample food to human beings by taking away energy from other plants. More & more lands for agriculture means less plant variety, change in landscape, in soil chemistry, in insect & animal life, more erosion, sediment flows & creation of bare areas. If rivers & streams are used to provide irrigation to agriculture ( through dams & canals ) and power to industry, energy incorporated in rivers & streams which provides wherewithals to a number of riverine plants, animals, fish etc. is diverted to ensure survival of a few plants. The change in river flows affects the life in river basins, percolation & evaporation rates, ground water, the moisture holding capacity of soil and encourages water- logging, salinity & breeding of mosquitoes.

More & more use of machines leads to greater extraction of materials, cratering & gulleying the landscape, creating huge piles of waste, encouraging leaching of minerals & materials, emissions of heat & gases, effluents & chemicals polluting atmosphere, water, soil, & affecting vegetation and animal life.

The question before technological man is: in the pursuit of technology & benefits derived from its use, how far the changes described above should be allowed to proceed? These changes in energy flows & materials affect nature’s system & processes which are essential for our survival also. Should we, for our short term benefits, kill the goose that lays the golden egg? Much depends on the question how far the technology be allowed to proceed? The future of you and me, our children and grand children depends on how we handle technology today. Put your conscience to test & answer this question to the best of your abilities!


Prakash Gole