“Thank God men cannot fly and lay waste to the sky as well as the earth,” said Henry David Thoreau. But that was more than a century ago, well before the Wright brothers’ dreams took flight. Yet reality stares. It does not blink; it stares!
April Fools’ Day has passed, and the next one is many months away. Nevertheless, here is an opportunity to become a “Fool for Forests.” The Government of India proposes to mine coal in the forests and forest lands of East and Central India. This quixotic plan, if realised, will have the potential to destroy thousands of hectares of forests for coal. When implemented, the plan will be more destructive than Armageddon. It will devastate forests, wildlife, and displace millions of people dependent on these forests. This is at a time when clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency measures are available to power our needs. Yet, the Government of India seems to favour a recipe for environmental euthanasia.
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India’s Prime Minister was widely quoted as having said that when it comes to development, the environment will have to take a back seat. Rotting food grains and millions going without even a single meal a day are not a jolt to the conscience of this septuagenarian, whose curriculum vitae has been circulating the internet as the epitome of academic brilliance and erudition. He has, like a medieval knight, declared that India has world-class safety measures in place at all its nuclear energy facilities, asserting there is no room for panic or alarm. Foolishly, he does not see that when it comes to nuclear safety, there is no such thing as a consoling “world-class” standard.
What Mr Manmohan Singh should know is that Namibia was the first country in the world to enshrine environmental protection in its constitution, a nation that does not boast the laurels of a bygone and rich culture or civilisation as India does.
Those voicing opposition to this disastrous path have been labelled foolish by the government. Now, these “fools” have joined Greenpeace, a civil society group working on environmental issues, to help save the forests.
Read more about this movement below and become a Fool for Forests.
The government plans to mine coal in the last remaining forests of eastern and central India. Multinational conglomerates and behemoths like POSCO and Vedanta have almost gained a foothold there. These forests support millions of livelihoods and are home to the last remaining vestiges of flora and fauna unique to India. Clean energy options and energy efficiency measures could meet our energy requirements, yet…!
To quote the great Native American Chief Seattle, “We do not own the land, air, and water; we have borrowed them from our children.” If our “farsighted” government has its way, it will slaughter and clear all the forests, leaving barren open-pit mines for posterity. Do we want this to happen? If all the Fools for Forests unite, they can strengthen the movement to save our forests from destruction.
You should become a Fool for Forests to help save the forests.
[Link to join the movement]
[Link to join the movement]
A study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that renewable energy options can power the world. Forests cannot be created; they must evolve. No amount of trumpeted afforestation can restore forests that have been destroyed.
Become a Fool for Forests and tell them “Now,” before it is too late!
[Link to join the movement]
Sources:
- ‘Allow mining in 90% no-go zones’, Hindustan Times, 29 October 2010
[Link to article] - ‘Greenpeace provides an alternate energy vision for India’, Greenpeace, 24 March 2009
[Link to article] - ‘Renewable energy can power the world, says landmark IPCC study’, The Guardian, 9 May 2011
[Link to article]
“We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved.” (Unknown)
11 comments:
Despite strong international pressure and diverse initiatives by tropical countries, the deforestation rate has remained unabated for more than 25 years.Almost 70%of the Brazilian Amazon is gone.
The world has lost a very priceless inheritance of rain forests due to deforesting. The species of plants and animals are reducing rapidly. And more importantly, this is affecting the water cycle. Deforesting causes the soil water to evaporate quicker than the standard rate and dry the ground. The parched land fails to manufacture crops and grow any kind of vegetation except the few plants which are species that grow in parched places.
There is no doubt,this Utopian idea of our government is not for the sake of development.Another story involving lakhs of crores of rupees will come out,once it is done.The price of wood,the commission on contracts,deeds on land...many of our leaders would get richer and the poor get more poor.
Dr Manmohan Singh is actually a Sick (sic) terrorist, avowed to destroy India.
A terrorist indeed and he is great at it.
Thats preposterous! Now how can we put some sense to this noble PM of ours!
Those who would be interested to know how the so-called economists value nature, read this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/06/monetisation-natural-world-definitive-neoliberal-triumph
This is a very informative article.
@ Balachandran,
The article link you gave bares the anomaly in
equating social causes with economic and arithmetical interpolations .
am trying my best to understand MM Singh but fails every time.. Where is he taking our country?
@ Happy Kitten,
There is nothing difficult to understand about the Sardraji. He is plain nut, spineless, weakneed and insensitive. Wonder how he got to be the Governor of the RBI
Dear Anil K.,
I came here very late. Yes, until the roof falls on our heads we will go on mining the foundations. Sharing the inmost feelings of the Great wise Indian chief, I quote him: " Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My words are like the stars that never change."
Kindly change the colour of the subtitles and tags. Reading is very hard in the present colour (violet).
@ Jijo
Thanks for the visit and the comments.
Yes indeed the wisdom of the Chief Seattle is apiece of quote that would haunt immensely as 'truth' always does.
I hope the changed colors of the fonts are now ok
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