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India: Developing to become the 'Hunger Land'!

Basudev — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:14:57 +0000

The findings of FAO’s ‘State of Food Insecurity in the World’ and IFPRI’s ‘India State Hunger Index’ shocked the whole country, but the political leaders of India are yet to take a lesson from it and realise that taking hunger as a political concept will never provide food security to at least 230 million undernourished people of the country. Industrialisation and development against agriculture would probably bring no solution but worsen the situation

Orissa experiences the wrath of Climate Change in India

Basudev — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:27:57 +0000

1998 summer – Atmospheric temperature went up somewhere close to 50 degree Celsius in coastal Orissa and 100s of people died of Sun Stroke. Terrible super cyclone of 1999 took over 10000 lives and shattered the economy of coastal Orissa. 2000 onwards – Coastal Orissa has been regularly visited by flood almost every year.

All the more, Coastal Orissa has become the victim of natural disasters that occurred almost every year in different forms. During last 30 years, the coastal climate has changed to a great extent and rainy season is expanded to almost half the year.

Low pressures in the Bay of Bengal have been more frequent in an abnormal pattern posing threats to the life and livelihood of people living in coastal villages and towns. ‘Such violent behaviour of the Sea is believed to be the impact of global warming that resulted in climate change across the east coast and rise in sea level’, apprehends noted geoscientist Prof. Nanda Kishore Mahalik.

At many places along the coast, Bay of Bengal has crossed miles into the human habitations grabbing villages and agricultural lands on its way. ‘This is mainly due to rise in sea level that has happened due to increase in atmospheric temperature which may have a link with global warming. The sea has in graced into land area in Paradeep, Puri, Astaranga and Gopalpur coasts of Orissa’, says environmentalist and chief wildlife warden of Orissa Bijay Ketan Pattnaik.

Worst victim of the wrath of rising sea is Satabhaya village in the northern coasts of Orissa. Standing on the edge of Bay of Bengal, Satabhaya is now struggling for its existence. Hundreds of families have left the village after loosing most of their land in the sea.

The village tube-well now stands inside the sea only as a testimony to the old village limits. Almost 90 percent of the village is washed away by the violent tidal waves. The villagers have lost most of their land in the sea. Even a low pressure with minimum intensity is enough to snatch away sleep from the people of this village.

Satabhaya was once a cluster of seven villages. Leaving Satabhaya and Kanhapur on the edge of Bay of Bengal, rest five villages of the cluster have been submerged in the sea during 1980s and 1990s.

Kanhapur Village has shifted itself thrice leaving its original location some 1 km inside Bay of Bengal. Besides Satabhaya and Kanhapur, about twenty other villages on this coast are at high risk of submergence. People of those villages have lost around sixty percent of their land in the sea.

By now, over 3000 people of the cluster have been displaced from their original villages and over 10000 people have been severely affected as most of their livelihood support components like lands and vegetation have been eaten up by the violent Bay of Bengal. Even, they are unable to fish as the sea behaviour doesn’t remain stable or predictable.

Most people who have shifted to escape the wrath of the ocean are now living as daily wage labourers or have again migrated to distant places in search of jobs.

The Sea at Astarang coast within Puri district limit has equally gone violent and crossed over two miles during last 30 years pushing the coastal villages to shift again and again. Hundreds of acres of farm land, village ponds, and vast grazing land of the villagers have gone into the sea.

The hard soil bed, remnants of mud houses and few broken household properties on the edge of the sea make the villagers of Udaykani and Chhenu remember their old village limits that are now lost in the sea.

‘Away from the sea, there was my school. The school and village roads are now inside the sea. We had our paddy lands that side. All our properties have been grabbed by the sea. Our old village was washed away by the tidal waves. We are pushed to move to the new pace that is again facing the danger of submergence. Sea water gushes into our paddy fields very often causing severe loss to us’, says Bata Pradhan of Udaykani.

The villagers of Udaykani and Chhenu have shifted at least thrice to escape the wrath of the sea. The super cyclone left these people homeless and subsequent floods destroyed their economy that is primarily based upon agriculture.

Putting his eyes fixed on the sea, Gandharva Kandei of Udaykani village says, ‘Since 1982, we have been experiencing regular floods, low pressures, and heavy rains in this coast. The super cyclone of 1999 ruined our houses in the old village. Terrified with the cyclonic storms we went to the sand embankment. To save our children we kept them in holes made in the sand. We were pulling the children out whenever there was a sliding of sand. Facing all such dangers from the sea, we are still struggling to survive.’

Chhenu and Udaykani are shifted to a little distance from their old one. But, they are still afraid of the aggression of the sea as it comes closer to their new villages also.

In 2008 July, sea crossed over 300 metres and reached the marine drive road that connects Puri and Konark - two towns of tourist importance. About 2 and half meters from the side of the road was washed away by the sea posing danger of complete breaching of the road.

It’s just a year back, tidal waves washed away half of the beach road and gushed into the town of Puri. Tourists who had visited the holy town for Jagannath Darshan and were staying in sea side hotels were shifted on emergency basis.

Known as the liveliest sandy one, Puri beach is becoming a dangerous beach as sea is expanding itself towards the township and tides are touching the beach road more often.

Rising sea level has also posed the threat of complete submergence of Asia’s largest inland lagoon Chilka. Due to heavy tidal wave on the other side of the lake, the natural sand embankment near Gabakunda was breached during last rainy season and became a 700 meter wide mouth pouring huge sea water into Chilka.

If such heavy inflow of saline water to the lake continues, the ecological pattern of the lagoon would get disturbed and the lake would have to lose its under-water treasure including variety of fish species. Inflow of sea water in large volume would also force the lake to submerge in the sea.

If it happens, the country would certainly lose a natural treasure that is known as the largest irrawady dolphin habitat and the winter resort of overseas avian guests.

The southern end of Orissan coast is also not free from the violent aggression of Bay of Bengal. The fishermen Village Podampeta is already submerged in the sea where as Garampeta village is just awaiting complete submergence. Changing behaviour of sea has closed all doors for fishing that is the main livelihood source of the coastal villages here.

The unstable and violent behaviour of sea has also caused severe damage to coastal economy as it often destroys agriculture along the coast. Once called the rice bowl of the state, whole of the coastal orissa is now affected by the climate change and disasters occure as its resultants. So, people dependent on agriculture and fishing do not see their traditional professions reliable.

Coastal erosion in the state of Orissa has not only threatened the human habitats like coastal towns and villages, the trend has also threatened all three sites where lakhs of Olive Ridley sea turtles visit every year for nesting. As renowned wildlife researcher Dr. Chandra Sekhar Kar believes, ‘the special climatic condition added with proper size sand grains contaning enough food materials for lakhs of turtles and millions of their hatchlings are the factors that attract such huge number of sea turtles for nesting’. And, Orissa is fortunate to have all three mass nesting sites in India. The sites are Gahirmatha, Devi River Mouth and Rusikulya River Mouth. But, these world famous turtle nesting sites are now in danger as sea is moving ahead.

Sea has been worshipped as the reserve of wealth. The 480 KM long coast is the ‘unique selling point (USP)’ of Orissa tourism as it attracts lakhs of tourists into the state. But the changing and violent behaviour of the sea is now posing serious threat of submergence to the total coastal zone of Orissa.

It’s high-time for the policy makers to give a serious thought to the issue. A little delay in taking control measures would allow the sea to go more violent and take many more coastal villages and towns into it causing serious livelihood problems across the coastal area.

How safe is India from its Encounter-Hungry Police?

Basudev — Fri, 18 May 2007 06:34:12 +0000

There was a time when some officers of Mumbai police were praised and rewarded for their drastic moves against mafias and terrorists. Once the fact of planned and interest driven encounters by some Mumbai encounter specialist came to light, it astonished everyone in the country. If it was the beginning of unveiling the notorious face of Indian Police, the Sohrabuddin kidnap and fake encounter case followed by another incident of killing innocent village people in Bijapur of Chhatishgarh in the name of encounter with Maoists are truly the testimonials to prove it right and explain how Indian Police has been into such heinous activities that goes against its codes and ethics.
In this context, it’s worthwhile to place one of my experiences with Orissa Police as recently I visited Rayagada - one of the Naxal dominated districts of the state that has, many times, seen violence caused by the Red Ultras. I had been to IACR - a leading Engineering and Management college in the district headquarters. Incidentally, the college is just after the Reserve Police Battalion office with one road leading to both. It was little more than 6 pm when we left the Institute and the Reserve Police Battalion has blocked the road by putting a timber across the road on wooden forks. There was no board or anything to indicate why the road was blocked. There was nobody nearby and one of our team members just went close to it to lift the timber and make the vehicle pass through. Soon a voice came from the darkness - ‘don’t touch that, you will be killed, we will make it an encounter’. Everybody of our team was astonished. What is this and why these people are shouting for an encounter? We then said that we were from a Press and had gone through the same way for coverage of a story in the IACR Campus. We again shouted - ‘We are from Press’.
- Don’t touch that whoever you are.
- But we are in a hurry to move to Jeypore.
- Go by the other way.
- Where is it? We don’t know as we are new in the town. Can you please come out and tell us why the road is blocked?
It was hardly 6.30 pm and nobody appeared before us whom we could talk to. We were still at the check timber. After sometime a man came and said the check timber is put to obstruct the Naxals from entering into the Battalion and the town. Many of us were about to laugh at the reply when I asked - can you stop the naxals by putting a timber like this? It would be putting people only in trouble. You have not mentioned about the blockage anywhere, there is no declaration and you are threatening people of an encounter! There is a college nearby, if one’s guest enters by mistake or a student gets serious and comes this way you would be killing him in the name of encounter. The simple reply of the man, would be an armed police constable in civil dress, we are doing as the RO (Reserve Officer) is instructing. It is the duty of the RO to see that there is a board or a notification for public.
I was shocked with the behaviour of the Rayagada Police and its eagerness for an encounter with innocent people as most of the cops wouldn’t have the courage to face the better armed Naxalites, as it is seen in many instances during the previous years.
Even the failure in the recent police-naxal encounter in Kalimela Market proved the incapability of Orissa Police whereas the innocent people were put into harassment and trouble by the police during the aftermath. Was it meant to save its face in the public or to overcome the frustration of the failure and to hide the helplessness and weakness from public?
According to the police records, nearly 40 cops are killed in different cop-naxal encounters during last 6 years. In almost all naxal dominated districts, police has been ineffective to curb naxalism and ensure the security of common people. As it seemed in Rayagada, Police has become more unsecured than the public and are really terrified by the Naxals, terrorizing organizations and mafias. But to save their face and display their strength before public, they are now staging false encounters with innocent people as happened in Chhatishgarh. ‘Anticipation’ has become the greatest clue for Indian Police to escape from any kind of blame or controversy. Perhaps, the continuous failure of Indian Police against the red ultras and mafia force has made them hungry of encounters.
When the police force fails to ensure peace in public and provide security to people from the growing Naxalism or Maoism and even the Mafias, it never bothers to be harsh to people and kill them in mass as it did in Maikanch and Kalinga Nagar of Orissa, Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal and in many other states which are all government engineered massacres. If state police kills innocent prople like this, how can we (the government and elites) blame the Naxalites or Maoists for being aggressive to people, police and administration?
It’s not only in the case of Maoists or Naxalites or Mafias, the over activism of police has bothered public as in cases like beating up young boys and girls in a park in Kanpur, working hand to hand with RSS and VHP members in Gujarat - beating up young boys and girls on Valentines day and harassing artists in MS university and beating up people in MP who were agitating to get water, are all mater of concern. The question is - who empowered the Police to behave like gangsters and act against people? Whether police is to protect people or the pseudo ideologues of political parties? These simple questions may not find answer from any body or any quarter, but they have a greater relevance at this point of time.
Police has been empowered to combat internal terrorism and ensure a healthy law and order situation in the land. Recently state as well as union governments have decided to upgrade them with advanced arms and ammunitions. But, such a step would be proved wrong as, unfortunately, senior police personnel have been exposed in recent days for using there power against all ethical values and codes. They are more a part of the politician-Bureaucrat-Businessmen nexus than a body ruled by certain codes of conduct and works for the protection of people. This is the most serious issue of the day seeking intervention of judiciary. Because, if such illegal and irresponsible acts of Police are not checked promptly and permanently through some exemplary actions, then Indian Police is going to take the role of a government authorized terrorizing element in India and put a threat to the internal peace and safety of the fellow Indians.

Naxalism or Maoist extremism on Rise - Do Indian Leadership and Bureaucracy need a critical appreciation through self-analysis?

Basudev — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:51:43 +0000

The Bijapur (Chhatishgarh) incident of mass killing of cops by the Naxalites - now branded as Maoists - is a matter of concern for everybody. During the recent months these neo-Maoists have killed many people including the tribal people who had joined the ‘Salwa Judum’ - the anti-naxal movement promoted by the government, many tribal people, police officials and three forest department workers of Orissa, a popular political leader Sunil Mahato of Jharkhand etc. They have been successful in looting the armouries in Orissa and Chhatishgarh. But they are still rising under the support base in the tribal populated pockets of Andhra Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur and some other states of India. As the recent incidents explain, they are mostly active in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhatishgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand and use the edging forest and terrain track as the world under their virtual control that connects them with their counterparts in Nepal who have successfully entered the power corridors. Although the Maoists of India are not that close to power, they have a strong hold over this vast forest track the hearts of tribal population living in the forests.
The Naxalites or Maoists are supported by the tribal and other backward communities living in places where the developement is less visible or almost invisible and the gap between government officials and people is more. The prevalence of socio-economic disparity, unemployment problem, exploitation of innocent tribal folks and corruption are some usual features in those districts. Public reaction to large scale industrialisation on the issue of displacement and rehabilitation has become a blessing in disguise for the Maoists in India and worked as an opportunity to enter economic activity centres like mining areas and industrial zones. These issues are used by the Maoists for making their place in the community as the protector of peoples’ right and the saviour of the proletariats. They pull the unemployed youth of the community into the Naxal or the Maoist fold in the name of an armed movement against oppression, corruption and exploitation to safeguard the individual rights.
This fact raises the obvious question - why the youngsters, most of whom are at least a graduate - some are even B.Techs and MBAs, join the radical groups putting their life into lots of hardship and even at risk? When an active naxal cadre ‘Ravi’ died in an encounter by Andhra Pradesh Police, the administration came to know that he was an Engineer and one of the bright students of his batch. Like Ravi many youngsters who could contribute a lot to the nation prefers to join such radical outfits. Why? The primary force that drives the youth towards Naxal movement is frustration due to unemployment and poverty that puts the whole family in a struggle for gathering livelihood, due to humiliation and suppression by the capitalists of their society that leads to vengeance and vindictiveness, due to continuous negligence and harassment by the government officials who have a greater role to play in the public, and due to socio-economic inequality and non-fulfilment of material desires aroused out of social comparison.
The violence displayed by the Naxalites and the Maoists is nothing but an aggressive expression of the frustration that motivates them to join the radical groups. The recent massacre of cops in Chhatishgarh and their activities during the previous years in different states explain that the victims of their aggression are mostly either police, the local rich class, government officials or people who work against them - even if they are tribal folks. The reaction of the Naxalites against the tribals of Dantewada who joined Salwa Judum - the government supported campaign against the Naxalites - is an expression of their vindictiveness towards anyone who supports the government and opposes the left radicals.
It is the duty of the government in the state and centre to look into the problems and livelihood issues and sort them out to build strong faith and a sense of contentment in the public towards the government which, unfortunately, has become a body of privileged people or medieval nobility.
As seen in most cases, the Naxalites are often vindictive towards police. In fact, it is not only among the Naxalites and the tribals, Orissa police doesn’t have a good image in general public of Orissa. Instead of behaving as the protector of law and people, the role of police has always been like the master of people and imposer and twister of law to generate a fear psychosis in the public about it and make extra money. In most incidents, police acts on money and pressure from the privileged segment of the society. There are number of incidents where police has harassed common people and the tribals, put them behind bars without reasons and acted as an agent of the capitalists and corporate barons. It’s the police that killed general people in Nandigram, tribals in Kalinga Nagar, in Maikanch and ill treated the tribals of Lanjigarh and many other places. Police is always identified as the notorious face of the government. Police should change itself and act as a friend and the saviour of people for an image building.
Even, officials posted in the backward and tribal populated districts of India take it as a punishment. Corruption and exploitation by the administrative machinery is rampant in those districts where poverty and misery are the basic features of people and society. People and communities living in these districts are never taken into confidence and involved in the process of policy making. Without any effort to know them, their lifestyle and culture, political leaders and bureaucrats always imposed policies on them most of which are less practicable or almost impracticable. As is the case in many backward districts, people still live in hamlets having no connectivity. They have to go many miles for any reason, be it marketing or medical related.
Like the people in the administration, political leaders elected by the tribal communities do not act for the all-round development of the community expectation and involve themselves in various corrupt practices. Once elected, they work to relocate in the cities and camouflage into Sahari Babus. So, the government, administration and so called mainstream society members are in many ways responsible for the rise of Naxalite and Maoist activism in India?
After sixty years of freedom now it’s time, our leadership and bureaucracy should go for a critical appreciation through self-analysis and review of their role and work during the last years. The system formulated on a democratic platform must work for the people and hand to hand with people. Everybody in the system must realise that government is a public body meant for the welfare of the public and, like in any democratic set up, it is never the body vested with power to rule over the public in an unruly manner.
Naxalism and Maoist activism has taken the shape of domestic terrorism and day by day their activities go over-violent to generate a fear psychosis among people and the administration. In order to create the financial resource base the radical leftists are into lots of illegal practices large-scale Ganja cultivation and marketing, collecting money forcibly from richer people (businessmen, contractors and industrialists) based or working in the Maoist dominated places. Even the non-government development agencies working in the backward districts are forced to pay a part of their grant for each project. As once told by an NGO manager, he had to pay handsome money to the naxalites operating in the Orissa - Andhra Pradesh borders just for staging street shows meant to make people aware about the dangers of AIDS. In most cases, local police officials are aware of all such works but never dare to go for an immediate reaction as the naxalites or present day Maoists are much more resourceful in terms of arms and support from the local public. As told by the secretary of west Bengal CPI Maoist faction on a TV Channel recently, ‘we were using country-made rifles and hand bombs in seventies only. Now we operate with ultramodel guns, grenades and rocket launchers’. There is also a frequent inflow of fresh youth into the Maoist brigades who join with a default mindset to act against the government systems and privileged communities. This is mostly the result of socio-economic (mostly economic) disparity and frustration due to the irresponsible attitude of government, politicians and policy making bureaucrats towards the unemployment problem and livelihood issues in India. With good number of youth entering into their fold, the Maoists have formed their own armed force in the name of ‘People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army’ (PLGA) and deputed them to work in more than 100 operative zones in India. The shocking fact is that, Maoists are now shifting their operations to the proposed industrial hubs planned in the backward states like Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhatishgarh with the aim to ensure a substantial and sustained financial resource base. Even, the communist ruled West Bengal is not free from their heinous activities.
At such a point, it is almost impossible to end the naxal menace without changing people’s mindset about the government, police and politicians and making them feel that the government as a whole is people’s government to look after their all-round development and let them live peacefully. As an effort for realisation of these objectives, the government and so called mainstream society members should work to minimise socio-economic disparity, generate adequate employment opportunities and bring the general livelihood costs to the minimum level in order to achieve the one point goal of putting a check to the entry of Indian youth into the radical groups. The pace of development must be faster and visible in the backward and tribal populated districts to open up opportunities for the youth in particular and the communities in general to earn their livelihood. The administrative machinery has to come out of the imperialist British fashion and be responsible to play a greater role. Everyone representing the government at any level should act friendly to people who are innocent, needy and in the struggle for survival. Once the development goals are realised, people must feel themselves an essential part of Indian democracy and the support base of naxalites or Maoists would go thinner towards vanishing. This would also reap more and better results for the government than what it has achieved so far by deployment of huge police force for restoring peace on gun points.