On the wrong trail

Trekking is not countryside walking. The way it is practised in our country, it is a mad rush from one place to another, often in wilderness areas for the thrill of it. Its practitioners barely find time to observe anything in nature, or take time to enjoy the smell, sound and the tranquillity of it. The recent death of a youngster in the Ragihalli forest of the Bannerghatta range and the missing trekkers sometime back in Sakleshpura are pointers to a larger malaise that of eco-tourism.

In a bid to promote eco-tourism, the Karnataka government has established its own chain of hotels called Jungle Lodges and Resorts, which has been granted exclusive use of many tracts. Also, local communities, businessmen, NGOs, and even researchers, are in the fray. All out to conquer that last frontier called the wild.

The government and the people, are literally stripping the wild animals and plants of their home. In the big chase for stakeholders’ rights, we have turned all wild animals and plants into tenants in their own territory. All for revenue. Meanwhile, we are doing enormous damage to our ecosystems. An urgent need is to sit up and take note.

Karnataka has 38,284 sq km of forest area, which is about 19.96 per cent of its geographical area. Karnataka is also blessed with 60 per cent of the Western Ghats, a world heritage site. Human settlements in and around many of wilderness areas are a common feature. In recent times, these areas are encircled by resorts and lodges which cater to large urban crowds. In addition, there are adventure groups in urban areas which organise trekking in wilderness areas both during the day and night throughout the year. The forest department is not far behind in this race. There are official designated routes in many of our wilderness areas. Some of the popular trekking routes include Kukke Subramanya to Pushpagiri route, Kakkabe to Tadiyandamol, Samse to Kudremukh peak, etc.

Trekking is believed to be an ecologically sound way of experiencing nature and is much advocated. However, this is far from the truth. Trekking, the way it is practised in Karnataka is damaging to the ecology. The immediate effects are visible - broken liquor bottles, aluminium cans, plastic covers, gutka sachets, paper, etc on the waysides of trails and in our water bodies. These often are not because of the trekkers themselves, but by people who visit these areas made famous by trekkers. These impacts are less damaging, can be controlled easily by way of ensuring that visitors don’t litter the place. The damage can also be rectified by organising a collection drive to clean up the place. But prevention is always better than cure.

Long-term impact

The long-term impacts on the habitats have unfortunately not got adequate attention from researchers and authorities. There is hardly any research done to understand the damage occurring in any of our wilderness areas.

Destruction of vegetation to clear thickets to make way for easy movement and trampling of seedlings is the largest form of destruction of the habitat. Usually trekkers carry a machete and a common practice is to clear thorny vegetation and protruding branches, or bushes that protrude into the trail. The regeneration of plants and trees get affected enormously. Over time, one can notice in most of the trekking routes that the width of these trekking corridors widen progressively. This is very significant ecologically. In many cases, these trekking routes have slowly been converted into pucca roads. This is also the start of a process called fragmentation of habitats.

The other profound impact is soil compaction. As people walk on trails, there is a progressive compaction of soil. Compaction of the soil and leaf litter can lead to the reduction of air spaces within the soil structure. This change in the soil structure prevents germination of seeds as a good flow of water and air are important for root penetration. Walking repeatedly on vegetation over time can also kill iy. It can take decades to reverse this compaction process naturally.

Trampling also directly kills smaller organisms like ants, earthworms, millipedes and bugs, crucial to maintaining the integrity of the soil structure and quality. It could damage fruiting bodies of fungi (mushrooms and toadstools), key to nutrient recycling in a forest. Exposure and drying of the soil can destroy ectomycorrhiza associated with specific plants, existing for millions of years through evolutionary time. These fungi in heavy rainfall zones penetrate fallen leaves and litter, and transport minerals and nutrients directly to the plant/tree roots, before there is a chance of heavy rain washing it off. In drier zones, ectomycorrhiza help in mobilising phosphorus, an essential element for both plants and animals, and make it available to plants.

Threat of invasive species

Trekking trails provide an access point for colonising species from outside the wilderness area. For example, the fire ant (Solenopsis) gets into these trails because of human presence. So will the odour ant (tapinoma), and the crazy ant (anaplolepis).

Food waste draws animals to the trail while a noisy trekking group can disturb birds and animals. Most of the shy bird species such as warblers, babblers, spider hunters and all the mammals such as deer, sambhar, tiger, leopard, elephant, etc try to avoid the trekking area. Research studies prove that long-term effects of noise pollution could lead to birds failing to nest in the area and avoiding the area fully. Forest fires due to cigarettes and campsites are another major threat to our dry deciduous and scrub forests.

What needs to be done

While the Karnataka Forest Department is trying to install signboards indicating the movement of large mammals and warning trekkers to keep away from illegally entering protected areas, more needs to be done. Most of the efforts appear to be geared towards the safety of trekkers. There is a greater need to exercise the legal provisions efficiently under the wildlife and forest conservation acts for violations. The forest department should, with the help of researchers, periodically assess damages to habitats and the ecosystem, and close routes or lower traffic so that the habitats can recuperate. Trekking should be strongly discouraged when the soils are wet (during monsoon) as it could lead to soil erosion. However blocking access totally would encourage unauthorised entry, so it just needs to be regulated.

To preserve our ecosystems there is a larger need to orient trekking and other activities from being a mere endurance sport to an educative activity. We all have to play our role in conservation. It could be so informative to walk on a route where important and noticeable ecological features are flagged, both on a hand out map and on the trail, as watch points (thankfully not as watch towers!). We could then look forward to insightful education, rather than mere entertainment.
This article was co-authored with Dr. M B Krishna and appeared in Deccan Herald on 24th July, 2012.

Early village unearthed

This article was co-authored with Santhosh Martin

Bellary is changing the course of history. While the huge deposits of iron ore in Bellary are rewriting the political history and geography of the state, a chain of hills close to Bellary is adding to the interesting history and culture of human settlements in India.

About eight km from Bellary is the Sanganakallu complex of hills (also referred to as peacock hills) where archaeologists have discovered one of the earliest village settlements in South India. These settlements date from the Neolithic period (3000 BC – to the beginning of the Christian era).

The first settlers here are said to be the ones who established the first villages in South India. These settlers traded stone tools among the Neolithic people in that region. The region is considered the largest stone tool producing centre anywhere in South India.

Neolithic art on boulders

The Sanganakallu village settlement, spread over an area of 1,000 acres, is considered the largest village complex known so far.  The rock art that can be seen on the boulders of the hill chain is evidence of rituals and social ceremonies involving ringing rocks, still preserved by way of hand-percussion marks.

Grinding grooves where stone axes were polished, shallow concave surfaces on boulders where grain was processed, and dykes where the dolerite was exploited to manufacture stone tools on a large scale bears testimony to the rich Neolithic culture and the skills of the people.

Earliest agriculturists

The people who settled at Sanganakallu were the earliest agriculturists who cultivated small millets and pulses. They kept cattle, and sheep and cattle domestication was prevalent in the area. They erected separate areas for dumping dung, including sheep and goat dung. These heaps have survived till today in the form of ash mounds. One can see them at Kupgal, Kudathini, etc. The people of Sanganakallu traded stone tools to the other Neolithic people in the wider Rayalaseema region. By about 2000 BC, this settlement was the largest stone tool producing centre anywhere in South India. The hill complex of Sanganakallu preserves the earliest houses of mud and stone, rock art evidence for rituals and social ceremonies. By 1500 BC, cemeteries were created to bury the dead. In fact different types of burial structures have been documented from these hills.

Archaeologist’s delight

Sanganakallu has been an archaeologist’s delight because of a high concentration of findings in a small area. In fact, archaelogists from the Karnatak University and Cambridge University have been working at this site since 1997. Over the years, they have carried out a series of multidisciplinary investigations. Many archaeologists from all over the country and abroad have worked in this area and the findings have been published in many leading journals devoted to archaeology.

Many publications are in progress including a 1,000 page scientific study. The entire area has been digitally mapped and every millimeter of the cultural landscape has been recorded on these maps.

Sanganakallu is not the only interesting archaeological site in Bellary. There are several more. But many of them are getting destroyed due to widespread quarrying and mining activities in Bellary. Luckily, for Sanganakallu and other sites, a museum similar to that in Hampi is coming up at the Kannada and Culture complex, adjacent to the Deputy Commissioner’s residence in Patel Nagar, Bellary. A fully built two-storied building (about 8000 sq ft) has been made available by the district administration for the museum. Many of the findings from the Sanganakallu site will be displayed at this museum.

The proposed museum complex aims to bring into focus the history and cultural heritage of Bellary and its environs. It aims to inculcate in the people a commitment to preserving their heritage with a deep sense of pride and concern. There are also plans  to create an audio-visual time capsule of landmark of the people of the region through the ages.

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on ??

Biology under transformation

This article was co-authored with B M Subbalakshmi.

Blue bananas, golden rice, software programs for drug design... the
world of biology has expanded way beyond the cell and its functions.
With technology aiding the exploration of the miniscular world, the
potentials thrown up are mind boggling as a recent workshop revealed.

The next time you want to immunize yourself against Hepatitis, you
may not need to take a shot. Instead all you would have to do is eat
a blue banana. Similarly, for protecting yourself from Tuberculosis
all you have to do is eat a tomato. If you want that extra dose of
Vitamin A in your diet, try eating the Golden Rice. Welcome to the
world of biotechnology, a most happening research in science on which
most of us including students of biology know little.

Researchers all over the world are now focusing on to insert other
genes into plants to produce vaccines, which can be taken orally.
Those plants are selected which can be eaten uncooked and can easily
be eaten by children such as muskmelon, tomatoes, bananas. The
vaccine is expressed in the fruit that can be eaten to get the
desired effect. Researchers in a research institute in New Delhi are
trying to produce transgenic tomato plants, which can produce
vaccines against Tuberculosis. Similarly, researchers at the
University of Agricultural Sciences have produced a transgenic
muskmelon plant that produces vaccine against rabies. But permission
is awaited for its trial on dogs, says Dr P H Ramanjini Gowda of UAS,
Bangalore who delivered a lecture on 'Novel compounds from plants'.

Apart from the Bt cotton, another controversial transgenic has been
the Golden Rice, which has been claimed to provide sufficient Vitamin
A and so can be used to elimiinnate night blindness among people. The
Rice developed by scientists Inges and Potrykus has genes for
Beta-carotene taken from daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). The
genome of a japonica variety of rice has been injected with the
daffodil gene using Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a vector to effect
the transfer. The rice is called as Golden Rice because these rice
grains appear pale yellow due to Beta-carotene, which is a precursor
to Vitamin A. Dr C Kameshwar Rao of FBAE gave a lecture on the Golden
Rice, comparative levels of carotenoids in vegetables and oils, and
the relevance of Golden Rice.

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 18th December, 2001

Take your imagination with you...

A stroll in the Konagal hills (about six km from Ramanagaram town) in Bangalore Rural district can take you back in time from the stone-age to the rule of chieftains in 16th and 17 century and to the present. Amidst the huge granite boulders, weathered rocks and shrub vegetation, remnants of artifacts used by the stone-age man can be found. Apart from Piklihal in north Karnataka and Rajaghatta in Doddaballapur, this is said to be the third spot that is known to have housed the stone-age man. The discovery has pushed back the date of earliest human settlements in the region to about 20,000 years.

Half way on the top of the hill (from the village which is at the base), to the right side, is the Angadimala - a five acre area where several stone implements such as hammers, axe and clivers have been discovered. In the area to the left of the Angadimala smelted metal crumbs, which is a proof that the area may have housed a smelter, have been unearthed. Some pieces can still be found if you scratch the earth surface. A metal idol was also found here which bears some resemblance to Cholan art.

All along the path from the base of the hill to the top, pieces of pottery and decorative items, bangles and coins have been found.

Excavations in the Konegal hills by Anthropologist and amateur historian M Byregowda have yielded more than 200 pieces of primitive tools used by the early humans in their day to day living. Some of the stone implements weigh up to five kg. Interestingly, these implements were found right under the first layer of the soil.

In the other two places in the State, excavation had to be carried out through several layers to find these implements.

Mr Byregowda, who came across the site about three-years ago, says: “We have found hundreds of stone implements and supportive evidences to prove that stone-age settlements existed in this area. Some of the implements were subjected to radiocarbon dating test which show that they must be 16,000 to 20,000 years old.”

There are several natural caves in the hills which could have sheltered the stone-age humans from the harsh elements of nature. Mr Byregowda points out that the hills are rich in water sources and vegetation. “I have identified a few caves surrounded by vegetation where the Palaeolithic man could have lived,” says Byregowda.

But the hills also behold other treasures. There are broken walls of a fort on the top of the hill. Chieftains who ruled the area in the 16th and 17th century apparently built the fort. In addition, there are two small ponds and a temple that was built in recent times.

Apart from being an archeological treat, the hills also harbour a wide variety of medicinal plants that are slowly vanishing due to indiscriminate extraction. A climb to the hill top is indeed a journey into the past!

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 8th February, 2005. 

Gone with the fire: Do we ever learn?

This article was co-authored with N D Shivakumar

In the early 1990s, Kodagu saw a large-scale illegal felling of trees by various gangs in connivance with the forest officials resulting in the loss of several hundred crores. Now the same story is being repeated in Belgaum, albeit with a different cast. The forest cover at Belgaum is now reduced to mostly the moist deciduous and evergreen forests in south-western portion where the district touches the crestline of the Western Ghats and the dry forests to the east of Belgaum city.
The forests, especially, in Khanapur taluk as well as areas bordering Goa and Maharashtra are said to be among the richest bio-diversity areas in the country. The region is rich in flora including rare medicinal plants and harbours endangered fauna like tiger, giant squirrel, flying squirrel, hornbills and king cobra.

It is also the habitat for the critically endangered bats that roost in the caves of the region. The Wroughton’s Free-tailed Bat (Otomops wroughtoni) is found only in the Barapede caves (between Krishnapur and Talevadi) in the entire world. While the Krishnapur caves, which is close by, is one among the three places in India where the Theobalds Tomb Bat (Taphozous theobaldi) is found, the Talevadi caves are home to the rare Megaderma spasma bats, found only in four other places in the world.

In the last eight years, the district is slowly being stripped of its forest cover. There has been large-scale felling of trees on private malki lands and adjoining forests areas around Khanapur taluk. Warnings about deforestation and illegal mining in the Mahadayi valley in Belgaum Forest Division came from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) working in the area.

People for environment
The Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya, the National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources, Belgaum Nature Lovers Club and Paryavarni has been raising the issue with the forest department since 1997 but to no avail. In many cases, the forest department officials played mute spectators to illegal activities, in violation of the Supreme Court’s 1996 interim order which prohibited the felling of trees in any forest land - private or state owned and prohibited the diversion of forest land to non forestry purposes.

The environmentalists have been demanding the creation of a wildlife sanctuary as a way out to prevent deforestation for long. Bowing to pressure, the Forest Department at that time made a proposal to demark 550 sq km of forest for the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in 2000. Inexplicably the proposal has been gathering dust since then.

In the early part of 2004, illegal tree felling and mining, and burning of forests were discovered in 12 areas in the Belgaum Forest Division. The forest department woke up only when a local conservation NGO Paryavarni carried out a probe and submitted a report about the illegal activity to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Later, in a bid to cover up their lack of vigil, the officials filed FIRs in 5 of the 12 cases. An inspection done by the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF, Western Ghats Forestry and Environmental Project) in response to the petition revealed the charges to be true in all 10 cases, including the two mining cases. (See Box : It’s a shame)

Following the CCF report, the PCCF issued showcause notices to five forest officials and has transferred the Belgaum DCF. A senior forest official of the rank of additional PCCF is carrying out another probe into the matter. On several occasions, the Central Empowered Committee of the SC has warned the State that tardy compliance could invite contempt proceedings.

Medicinal plants
The disturbing factor is that, even as we await the last word on who is to blame, our rich, life-giving forests are being stripped systematically. A new kind of business is thriving in Belgaum’s forests, the smuggling of medicinal plants. The issue dawned on the forest department when officials on September 17, 2004, found 234 bags (of 100 kg each) filled with non-timber produce (a climber of the species Salacia chinensis which is called Eknaikan Beru in Kannada) stored in Londa Forest Range. The climber is used for its medicinal properties to treat diabetes and liver disorders, sells in the local market at Rs 300 per kg. Based on a tip-off by Paryavarni, an environmental NGO based in Belgaum, about the illegal extraction of the medicinal plants, the Chief Conservator of Forests B K Singh sent a team along with the members of the NGO for inspection.

The team found 152 gunny bags stored near Degoan village, 200 mtrs from the main road, hidden in the bushes. Near Gavali village, they found over 20 gunny bags of medicinal plants and at Mendil village, more than 40 bags were found.

The climbers are an integral part of the forest ecosystem and take many years to grow. They play a significant role in providing food and shelter for numerous species of mammals, birds and insects. Besides, the extraction disturbs the forests due to movement of people and trucks, posing a threat to the endangered species in the area.

Planned devastation
Organised gangs assign the job of extraction to the poor villagers, who see this as an employment option. They are paid Rs 3 per kg, while the gangs sell it at Rs 300 per kg. The illegal operators are also suspected to be supplying the extracted medicinal plants to companies or manufacturers of such medicines.

“The fact that 234 bags of 100 kg each) were found from 11 am to 6 pm in one day bears witness to the extent of damage done to the forest. It is possible that more material was stripped from the forest but was not detected. Even a rough calculation will indicate that about 40-50 tonnes of material is being removed from the forest. The market value of which will amount to Rs 1.2 to 1.5 crore,” the members of the Paryavarni tell us.

Pointing an accusing finger at the forest department officials, they add: “Such large-scale operations (especially around the villages and along the main roads) cannot go undetected without the active involvement of the forest staff. There are lots of evidence of illegal activities (truck tracks and debris of medicinal plants) in many areas.”

The issue has been brought to the notice of the State chief secretary; principal secretary (Environment Ecology and Forest); principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife); chief conservator of forests, regional office, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangalore; and Secretary, MoEF, New Delhi.

SHOWCAUSE NOTICES

In December 2004, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) issued showcause notices to five forest officers; Londa Range Forest Officer S Balakrishna, Kankumbi Range Forest Officer, Khanapur Range Forest Officer B N Chowhan, Assistant Conservator of Forests Khanapur subdivision K V Nayak and Khanapur Division Deputy Conservator of Forests Ashok Baskarkod. In the notices to these officials, the PCCF has said that large-scale illegal felling, removal of valuable trees and encroachment of forest land had taken place as the forest had been set on fire. “The irregularities in the forest area prima-facie prove that you have failed to discharge your legitimate duties,” he said. The PCCF also sought an explanation from the Conservator of Forests (CF) Belgaum Division B Nadagowdar on the issue. The PCCF said that if the CF had made frequent visits to the forests under his control and if he had disciplined the officers and staff such irregularities in the forest land could have been avoided. The PCCF has asked the CF why the government should not initiate action against him for the lapses on his part.

                                               IT’S A SHAME...
The report of the Chief Conservator of Forest says that some of the earlier cases booked by the department were eye-wash and that most of the recent cases booked have been just a cover up. The report points out that the illegal burning has not been restricted to the Malki lands as claimed by the local forest officials but has extended to the reserve forest. In one case, the report of the Deputy Conservator of Forest indicates that local forest officials had booked a case for burning 3 acres while the Chief Conservator of Forest in reality found 125 to 250 acres of evergreen forest having been burnt. The report states that such burning cannot happen overnight and the department is responsible for turning a blind eye to such activities. Referring to the permission granted for felling trees in steep sloppy regions in the catchment area of Mahadayi river, the Chief Conservator of Forests states: “I cannot find any justification for the grant of permission for felling of trees in such areas. It is a shame on the part of forest officers, who are originally responsible for destroying the areas.”

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 11th January 2005

Neem Power

The Ayurveda system attributes the cure of an ailment to the entire plant or its crude extract containing multiple chemicals, while the allopathy system attempts to extract the particular chemical from the plant or other organisms, purifies and prepares it as a tablet or capsule. According to the latter system, there is one chemical for one cure and emphasis is laid on purity of the chemical, while the former aims at utilising all possible chemicals.

A similar dichotomy prevails in the use of pesticides in agriculture. Farmers have traditionally used crude extracts from plants as pesticides, while the modern pesticide industry emphasises the use of the particular chemical responsible for the action. The stress is on purifying and concentrating the chemical in commercial formulations. Which is a better option? The crude extract or the purified chemical?
This has been a subject of debate for a long time in both medicine and agriculture.

A recent publication in the journal, Current Science (June 2003), by a team of scientists namely A R V Kumar, K Chandrashekara, H C Jayadevi and H J Ashoka at the Department of Ento-mology, University of Agricultural Sciences addresses this issue using neem and its most active insecticidal chemical azadir-achtin as the model system.

Neem (Azadirachta indica) is widely recommended for use in agriculture as an alternative to synthetic insecticides. It leads the list of plants with the highest potential to control pests largely because it contains a variety of biologically active compounds. These compounds together called limonoids, are present in various parts of the plant including the leaf, bark and seeds. However the seeds contain the highest quantities.

Crude water extract of neem seed kernels has been widely used traditionally for pest management in crops as in Ayurveda and is shown to be a highly potent pesticide. The crude extracts are known to contain more than 100 chemicals of which many are biologically active against insects. Neem has multiple modes of action against insects including repellence, feeding deterrence, growth disruption, reduced fecundity, mating disruption, etc. Much of this activity is however, attributed to azadirachtin, the most abundant limonoid in neem.

Employing modern chemical technology, like in Allopathy, extracts of azadirachtin (which is found in high concentrations in the seed) have been extensively used in commercial neem formulations (CNFs). In the last decade farmers have had access to several azadirachtin based formulations available in the market in the form of liquids or water-soluble powders. Earlier, products with azadirachtin concentrations of 300 and 1,500 parts per million (ppm) were available. Of late, CNFs are available with concentrations as high as 65,000 ppm. On the face of it, formulations with higher azadirachtin content should fare better as a pesticide than formulations having lower content. But the UAS scientists have found some surprising results.

They carried out two separate studies to understand the effects of azadirachtin at varying concentrations on the diamond moth (Plutella xyloste-lla), which is a notorious pest on cabbage. The researchers chose eight brands of CNFs prepared using different formulation techniques and having a wide range of concentrations (from 300 to 50,000 ppm) of azadirachtin. Bioassay tests were carried out using the leaf dip method to understand the amount of azadirachtin required for obtaining 50 per cent kill of the insect for all the products under test. To their surprise, they found that the quantity of azadirachtin required for obtaining 50 per cent kill of the test insect increased with the concentration of the azadirachtin in the CNF. Repeated tests confirmed the results and clearly indicated a commensurate reduction in the biological efficiency of azadirachtin in products with higher concentration. Why is this so?

According to the researchers, neem has a bouquet of limonoids. Many of them are biologically as active as azadirachtin. Besides, many compounds related to azadirachtin might act as synergists in enhancing its biological activity. But during the process of concentration of azadirachtin in the development of commercial formulations, it is likely that other potent chemicals are lost. As a result, greater the concentration of azadirachtin, lower will be the diversity of other biologically active compounds leading to the loss of other potent chemicals and the possible synergists of azadirachtin. Eventually, this leads to decrease in effectiveness of the chemical at higher concentration thus making CNFs with higher azadirachtin content to be less biologically efficient than crude extracts.

These surprising results have made the investigators to intensify their efforts to get a better understanding of the process at work which determines the efficiency of azadirachtin based formulations vis-à-vis crude neem extracts. Other field studies by the team has also shown the superiority of home made crude aqueous extract of neem seed kernels (NSKE) in managing the caterpillar pests and thus the call for the farming community to make full use of the local neem resources.

Drawing parallels, the researchers also feel that the phenomenon could be much more widespread than being limited to neem and its formulations. Recent studies at the Bangalore based Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), on Brahmi plant and its extracts seem to agree with the findings of UAS team. Brahmi plant is known to contain Bacosides, the memory enhancing drugs.

Bacosides are now extracted, formulated into pills and marketed in India under various brand names. Preliminary studies carried out at FRLHT have indicated that the fresh leaves of Brahmi have more memory enhancing activity as compared to the extracts (Amita Kaushal in Amruth, September- October, 2003, Vol. 7, issue 5).

For more details, contact Department of Entomology, UAS, Bangalore.

This n article appeared in Deccan Herald on 2nd December, 2003. 

Make a wish, plant a sapling

How often have you wished to plant a sapling and found no space in front of the house? Or your wish to plant saplings in memory of your loved one has remained a distant dream. Or even if you wanted to plant saplings in celebration of birthdays and marriages, you were put off by the same question of maintenance and space. If you are wondering how to gift a tree to you friend, help is at hand. Several government departments, BWSSB, Lake Development Authority and an NGO have embarked on a green scheme to provide you with space for planting and also to take care of your trees.

The idea does not end at planting saplings and providing space. The main objective is to create a forest and improve the catchment area of Thippagondanahalli reservoir (in Bangalore rural district), which provides drinking water to parts of Bangalore City. In addition, it aims at involving the public, students and teachers in environmental conservation.

By paying a nominal amount of Rs 500 per tree, an individual or group or an organisation can plant and adopt a tree in the catchment area of the reservoir. In the Savinenapina Vana (memorial plantation) one can plant trees in the memory of the dead while in the Srimithi Vana (commemorative plantation), trees can be planted in celebration of birthdays, marriages, building of new houses or simply for the fun of it. A certificate bearing the tree number and location will be given to all those who plant the trees.

Parisara

Eshwar Prasad of Parisara - Environment Protection Organisation who is the brain behind the initiative says that all the trees that would be planted will be native varieties. Each tree will bear the name of the person and address who has planted it. The money is a one-time investment that will be spent on maintenance and guarding the trees. People who plant the trees can also spend a day every year at the forest that will be created, he adds.

When Eshwar broached the idea with the BWSSB, they were eager to support the initiative. Later, he approached the government for permission to afforest the 300 acres of revenue land in the catchment area. To start with, 18,000 saplings will be planted in the area and depending on the success the scheme will be extended to a larger area. Eshwar hopes to rope in school and college students, youth associations and the public to support this green cause.

Former development commissioner Chiranjiv Singh who was involved in the initiative right from the beginning says: “the concept is very good as it is participatory in nature. The best way way of giving back to mother earth is by planting trees.”

The project

Additional Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka Vijay Gore who has been supporting the project says that this is the best project in recent times. A forest in the catchment area will minimise water seepage and also moderate the climate. About fears that the trees may be cut down later by the government after it is fully grown, Mr Gore points out that the empowered committee will make a special clause and that will prevent the cutting of trees.

A committee has also been formed to oversee the implementation of the initiative. It comprises of representatives from Lake Development Authority, Deputy Commissioners of Bangalore Urban and Rural Districts, Department of Forest Ecology and Environment, Parisara, Forest department, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, University of Agricultural Sciences, State Bank of India, Canara Bank among others.

The scheme will be launched in the next fortnight and if the initiative succeeds, a nice little forest will drape the Thippagondanahalli catchment area in the next decade.

For more details, contact Eshwar Prasad, Secretary, Parisara on 9448077019, or email to ecolinker@hotmail.com

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 24^th May, 2005.

City is a dumping ground for industrial wastes

While illegal dumping of garbage has become a fact of life, industrial and hazardous wastes are now becoming another common eyesore. A huge quantity of industrial wastes is lying in and around the City posing threat to the environment. Industrial wastes such as plastic cuttings, stone crushed powder, glass wool, ceramic wastes, metallic wastes and hazardous wastes such as waste oil, incinerator ash, effluent treatment plant sludge, sulphur, copper sulphate, printed circuit boards, pharmaceutical wastes etc have been dumped illegally in 60 places in the City.

According to Dr Lakshmikanth of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Mr Mahendra Kumar M C and Mr Muniraju of the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ), who recently completed a survey across the City, the industrial wastes in these ‘wild dumping sites’ add up to a whopping 25,000 tonnes. 

These dumping sites are located along and in proximity to the main highways - Mysore road, Tumkur road, Hosur road, Bannerghatta road, Old Madras Road, Doddaballapur road and Airport Road.

The total quantity of wastes, though roughly estimated at 25,000 tonnes, can be much more if a systematic long-term survey is conducted, says Mahendra Kumar M C. Out of the 60 dump sites, 27 posed a high risk of contamination of water and soil resources. At some places, the wastes were spread over an area of 20 acres. Thirty-five sites had mixture of both domestic and industrial wastes. In some places, the wastes have been dumped on private lands, close to water bodies, agricultural fields and low lying areas. The wastes are also set on fire causing air pollution.

Says Ms Beenesha P, Chief Environmental Advisor, GTZ: “Improper disposal of industrial wastes could lead to water pollution due to leaching during monsoon season and soil pollution. There is a need to monitor these wastes to determine the extent of damage.” According to the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, industries have to handle and dispose of hazardous wastes without affecting the environment. Since a Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) or a hazardous wastes landfill site has not been set up in Karnataka, the industry has to store wastes in their premises till a TSDF is set up. But not all industries follow these rules.

Some of them adopt the easy way out by disposing wastes wherever land is available. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board is now finalising the setting up of a TSDF in Dobbespet near Nelamangala and the facility is expected to come up next year.

KSPCB Member-Secretary Ramaiah says: “Action would be taken against defaulting industries. The wastes also need to be analysed to assess how much of them is really hazardous.”

But, what about the non-hazardous industrial wastes? A Ministry of Environment and Forests official says that while hazardous wastes, garbage and bio-medical wastes have separate laws for regulation, the non-hazardous industrial solid wastes have no rules for their safe disposal.

Waste dumped on these highways

Mysore road
Tumkur road
Hosur and Bannerghatta road
Old Madras road
Doddaballapur road
Airport road

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 13th July, 2003.

Nagarakere: Citizens show the way

Nagarakere tank, in the water scarce Doddaballapur town near Bangalore inspired a silent revolution two years ago. This 500-year-old tank was completely choked with weeds. Without waiting for the government to step in, the citizens took up the task of cleaning the entire 180-acre tank of water hyacinth and other wastes. Even NGOs, school and college students pitched in, and in six months, 50 per cent of the tank was freed from the weeds.

“We realised that depending on the government for everything is not a wise thing to do. Whenever the water level has been low in the tank, the groundwater table has gone low. Considering that the entire town depends on groundwater for all their requirements, saving the tank becomes extremely crucial,” says Parisara Prajna Kendra Co-ordinator D R Nataraj who was one of those who pioneered the movement. “Lately, there are reports that the tank would be made into a bus stand. We strongly oppose it as the tank is the lifeline of the town,” he adds.

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 27th July, 2004.

Red Alert.....Tanks in trouble

In Bidar, the tanks are dry even after the onset of monsoon. Of the 797 villages in the district, 200 villages face water shortage. In Kolar district, which has the highest number of tanks in the State people are digging the earth to over 1000 feet with the hope of striking potable water only to get water with high fluoride and nitrate content. All the big tanks are dry. Chikballapur faces water shortage even though it has several tanks. Even some of the tanks in a high rainfall district such as Udupi, are empty. The story is same in many parts of State.

Tank woes

The tanks which once provided adequate water to meet the needs of the people are no longer doing so. What remains in many parts of the State even after the onset of monsoon are dried up tank beds. In some cases, the tanks have broken weirs or damaged tank bunds or are choked with sewage.

Many of the 1300 tanks in Hassan are dying because of encroachments. Some tanks such as the Huniskere have been converted into a layout. The situation is similar in Mandya. Desilting of some of the tanks such as the Sathanur Kere was not possible because of encroachments. The lake has shrunk from 100 to 30 acres.

In Kolar, tanks have lost over 50 per cent of their water holding capacity due to silt and 40 per cent of them have been encroached. Due to which the area under agriculture is shrinking in the district. In some cases, the tanks don’t even exist as they have been fully encroached as in Bangalore City. Mudlifting for brick making has become another problem that threatens the existence of tanks.

The breach of the Gadimakunte tank in Jagalur taluk of Davangere district due to heavy rains is a pointer to the state of maintenance. The people of Jagalur who were in desperate need to store water could not do so as the bund collapsed at a crucial time. On the Western Ghats in Uttar Kannada district, the problem is no different. All the 13 tanks in and around Sirsi town are dry or in a state of mismanagement. Also in some of the tanks uphill, rich farmers use pumpsets to draw water for their fields.

Several reports in the past have recommended to vegetate the foreshore of the tanks to improve habitat for birds. And that no development works must be conducted till about 500 metres from the eye-water mark of the tank to ensure the quality of water replenishment, but these recommendations have been neglected time and again.

The Bonal tank in Gulbarga was built by Pam Naik in 17th century, and later Captain Meadows Taylor, who was a representative of the British at Surpur, increased the capacity of the tank to 1,600 acres with an average depth of 12 feet.

The perennial nature of the tank and the availability of the of food throughout the year, has made it a favourite nestling place for migratory birds. Even though the Bonal tank is almost thrice the size of Ranganthittu and attracts more species of birds, the tank lacks attention from the State government. Some of the rare birds that regularly visit the tank include White Necked Stork, White Ibes, Black Ibes, Brahmini Duck, Bar Headed Goose, Finitail, Common Tail, Tuff Tede, Pochad, Snake Bird, Purple Moorhen, Koot Large, Large Carmorand and Little Carmorand.
The same is the fate of other tanks and lakes in the district. Gulbarga district has also been bypassed by the Jalasamvardhane project in spite of the number of lakes in the district.

Enhance biodiversity
Karnataka has the second largest arid tract in the country after Rajasthan. Yet, it sustains a large population because people in the past found a way to tide over water scarcity by their ingenuity. Bunds were constructed across small seasonal streams to collect water. The impounded water was used for human and animal consumption and agriculture. In all, there are 36,679 tanks in the State having a potential to irrigate 6,84,518 hectares. And, Kolar district which does not have any perennial river, has the distinction of having the largest number of tanks in the State, about 4000. The largest tank in the State, Sulekere in Davangere district was built in the 12 th century and covers an area of 2,627 hectares.

Over the years, tanks are getting recognition for another reason. Many of the tanks in the State harbour a rich variety of aquatic plants, fishes, birds and other aquatic biota. “Tanks are wonderful habitats for water birds as they are dynamic habitats. They flock to these waterbodies in thousands during December to March across the State. Some of them are also used as a stop-over for birds that migrate from north to south India. Apart from the other water birds, many rare birds are also known to frequent tanks in North Karnataka. So it is crucial that tanks are maintained properly,” says Dr S Subramanya, an expert on birds, who has contributed to the book Threatened Birds of Asia.

Water use inefficiency
The tanks going dry can only be partially attributed to drought. “Mismanagement of water and bad cropping practice are the main factors. It has got more to do with excess withdrawal of water and growing the wrong crop. If one judiciously conserved rainwater, the situation will not aggravate,” says Dr M B Krishna who was one of the authors of the proposals for the National Lake Conservation Plan. To bolster the argument, Mr S M Ali Hasan of the Minor Irrigation department in Bidar says that amount of water used by paddy cultivation is thrice that for crops such as ragi.

There is also a gross inefficiency in use of water in the agriculture sector as only 40 per cent of the water released is used by the crops. Farmers violate prescribed cropping pattern and also adopt water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane. Precious water is wasted due to seepage and evaporation, warns the State of Environment Report, 2003. With the thrust on borewells to irrigate land, the importance of revival of tanks is going down. Tanks going dry and excessive withdrawal of groundwater for agriculture has also resulted in depletion of severe groundwater in 43 taluks across the State.

Desliting programmes
In many areas of the State, the much promised desilting of tanks has not taken place. As part of the Raitha Kayaka Kere scheme, a desilting programme was launched in Savalaganga tank, which is about 800 hectares large, in Honnali Taluk in 2001. But complete desilting is yet to take place even after three-years. Similar is the case for several tanks in Udupi and Raichur. Last year, the minor irrigation department spent only Rs 4.73 crore for tank maintenance and desilting in South Karnataka. An official of the minor irrigation department (which has about 3,000 lakes under its custody), says that there is shortage of funds to maintain and desilt tanks.

Tank management
The government has set up two new societies for restoration of tanks and their management system in the State. One is the Lake Development Authority (see Box: Urban lakes) and the other is the Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS) (Also see interview). The JSYS was a follow up of the Rs 670 crore Karnataka Community Based Tank Management project undertaken by the State government to develop and strengthen management of tanks involving people. The whole premise of the project is on re-inventing the wheel – reminding the community of the forgotten tradition of maintaining tanks and giving them a sense of ownership. The involvement of the community in maintaining these waterbodies waned following the take over of management of these tanks by the British and subsequently by the government in post independence India. Presently, the tanks in the State are under the control of the ZPs (tanks less than 40 ha), minor irrigation (tanks more than 40 hectares to 2000 ha), and major irrigation departments (tanks over 2000 ha).

Totally, 2,000 tanks in 34 taluks and nine districts will be covered in the project (see table Decentralised management: JSYS tanks). The main reason for the setting up of the JSYS has been to facilitate rejuvenation of tanks with people participation.

Under the project, tank users groups would be formed in villages to rejuvenate and maintain their tank (which includes the tank bed, command and catchment area). The villagers will contribute 6 pc in cash and 6 pc in terms of voluntary labour. The remaining amount will be borne by the JSYS. The Tank Users Group will carry out the activities under the plan. The JSYS provides technical assistance to the tank users groups, impart knowledge on farming and efficient use of water by involving the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Dharwad and NGOs. “The outcome of the exercise has been the adopting of a new method of paddy cultivation called as the Madagascar method which uses very less water compared to normal cultivation in some of the areas,” says Basavaraj, an agriculture expert at JSYS. There are also other components to improve the economic conditions of the people.

“In tune with the Tank Maintenance Policy of 2001, the TU groups after restoring the tank gets the right to collect water charges from water users. The groups can retain 90 per cent of the amount which can be used for maintaining the tank system. The rest 10 per cent is to be paid to the government, ” explains Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director, JSYS. This approach helps the community maintain the tank and can also be a sustainable model, he adds. The funding agency, the World Bank is impressed with the model and wants to extend the same to Sri Lanka.
As of now this approach has been tried only in 128 tanks in the State and there are about 18,00 tanks where it needs to be still implemented according to the project proposal. And, there are only four more years to go! Associate Professor M K Ramesh of the National Law School feels that the JSYS should also restructure itself to reflect the aspirations of the communities which are managing tanks. It should help the State to evolve a proper policy to ensure that the benefits derived from the management of tanks remain with the community. This would ensure sustainability of the model, he says.

As of now it appears that the attempts to decentralise the management of tanks through communities has a long way to go before the tanks regain their lost glory.

URBAN LAKES

There are about 2,000 tanks at the urban centres in the State and many of them are facing abject neglect and abuse. Thanks to improper planning, encroachments, fragmentation of catchment areas, dumping of garbage and debris. With introduction of piped water from distant rivers at subsidised rates, the significance of these tanks as an easy source of water supply has also been lost.

A few decades ago, Hubli-Dharwad cities had several tanks but they were converted into a stadium, shopping complexes and residential plots. The famous Sadhanakeri in Dharwad which inspired noted poet Dr Da Ra Bendre is on a death-knell due to shortsightedness of bureaucrats and elected representatives. Another beautiful tank, the Unkal tank in Hubli is choked to the brim with sewage. Similar is the case with the well-known Amanikere in Tumkur city which was built in 1130 AD by Chola King Rajendra Chola.

This is unlike the case of Mysore where the situation is better. The Mysore Jala Samrakshana Okkoota comprising the DC, city commissioner, other government heads and representatives of NGOs was formed to restore the five tanks in Mysore. Among the five Kukkarahalli and Karanji tanks have been restored using grants given by the Asian Development Bank. As part of the restoration process, deweeding, desilting and diversion of sewage was done. But the fate of the three tanks is not known (Devanoor, Dalvoy and Lingambudhi). In 2002, the government constituted the Lake Development Authority to protect and conserve lakes in the urban limits of the entire State.

DECENTRALISED TANK GOVERNANCE

The government is contemplating to transfer the management of tanks less than and upto 40 hectares in the State to the gram panchayats (GPs). As a result of this, the GP will get powers to maintain and manage these water bodies. Associate Professor M K Ramesh of the National Law School of India University feels that this is the most appropriate move. “This is in line with the Schedule 11, Art 243 G of the Constitution which states that the control and maintenance of community assets such as tanks, common lands and other common property resources lies with the community.” But the crucial question is would the zilla panchayats which are above the GPs give adequate resources to the GPs to manage these water bodies.

JSYS TANKS

Districts No of tanks
Bellary 53
Chitradurga 72
Tumkur 397
Kolar 1,024
Bagalkot 26
Koppal 21
Raichur 158
Haveri 228
Bidar 26

INTERVIEW WITH DR P BORE GOWDA
With inputs from Shankar Bennur in Mysore, Shyam Sundar Vattam in Hubli, Anand Yamnur in Gulbarga, Girish Kerodi in Davangere, Vidya Maria Joseph in Shimoga, Ramakrishna Murthy in Udupi, M G Balakrishna in Karwar, Arvind in Tumkur, Mariyappa in Kolar, Rajesh Hegde in Raichur, Muralidhar Kulkarni in Bidar, Sridhar in Mandya, Shivkumar Kanasogi in Hassan and Sripada Joshi in Bellary.

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 27th July, 2004.

The government is implementing a Rs 670 cr project, called the Karnataka Community Based Tank Management Project, to restore tanks in the State. Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director of Jala Samvardhane Yojane Sangha, an autonomous society set up under the Water Resources Department, which is facilitating the implementation of the project, shared his views about the project.
What are your achievements?
This is a pilot project and the first of its kind in the country and we are in the early stage of implementation and there is four more years to go.

The project is in various stages of implementation in about 100 tanks. Every stakeholder including government departments are being involved in the project. This is also the first time we are working with the community but the results so far have been good. The response from the community has been good.

Sustainability of the project after funding is stopped?
This is a crucial issue. We are working out the institutional arrangements. We want to link the tank users groups with the panchayats as one of their sub committees so that there is adequate funding later.

Any success stories?

The World bank is impressed and it wants to extend our model to other parts of the country and also in Sri Lanka. Even the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department wants to extend the same model to other tanks not covered under the project.

Will the dolphins bounce back?

Hindu mythology is replete with stories which are connected to nature. According to one such story, the Goddess Ganga came down to earth from heaven and the Gangetic Dolphin heralded the descent of the holy Ganga. The dolphins are also mentioned in the epic Mahabharatha. However, this special status of the Gangetic Dolphin seems to be restricted to the realm of mythology.

In reality, though, the high levels of pollution in the river has left this graceful mammal struggling for existence. The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) is restricted to the Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and surveys show that only about 2000 of them remain in these rivers.

Indicator of a river’s health

Ironically, the Gangetic Dolphins were probably the first animals in the world to have been accorded protection. During the rule of Emperor Ashoka in third century BC, the dolphins were considered sacred and specially protected.

Locally, the dolphins are called ‘Susu’, because of the breathing sound that they make. Ecologists consider the Gangetic Dolphin an extremely useful animal for monitoring the river. These animals act as an indicator of health for the ecosystem of the river.

Being at the top of the food chain, its presence in good numbers signifies a rich biodiversity within the river system. The Gangetic Dolphin is among the four freshwater dolphins found in the world - the other three are the Baiji found in the Yangtze river in China, the Bhulan of the Indus in Pakistan and the Boto of the Amazon River in Latin America.

Like any other dolphin, the Gangetic Dolphin looks very beautiful. Like the other river dolphins, they too have long, pointed noses. The teeth are visible in both the upper and lower jaws even when the mouth is closed. The body is brown in colour and stocky at the middle. They have only a small triangular lump in the place of a dorsal fin. The flippers and tail are thin and large in relation to the body size.

The Gangetic Dolphins are considered to be blind because their eyes do not have crystalline eye lens. But they may still be able to detect the intensity and direction of light. Also, they can still effectively navigate and hunt in the murky waters of the Ganga by using using echolocation, which is similar to the use of sonars in submarines.

Their rapid decline in numbers in the last few decades testifies to the development and conservation policies of the country. Even though the dolphins have been declared ‘highly endangered’ in Schedule I under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, their numbers have plummeted. This is because aquatic habitats like rivers and lakes have received less or no importance as compared to terrestrial ecosystems like the evergreen and decidous forests in India.

Development, at what cost?

Extensive damming of the Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers for electricity and irrigation have contributed largely to the decline in their population. Damming of the rivers has led to segregation of populations resulting in a small genetic pool in which the dolphins can breed.

They have also been impacted adversely by human activities in these rivers.

Entanglement in fishing nets can cause a significant damage to the remaining population. Some individuals are killed each year for their oil and meat which is used as an aphrodisiac and bait for catfish. It is also suspected that high levels of pollution of these rivers are contributing to their decline in numbers.

A recent announcement by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to accord the Gangetic Dolphins the status of National Aquatic Animal raises hope of survival for this highly endangered mammal and also the highly polluted River Ganga. This new status is likely to raise the public awareness and support for its conservation and protection.
However, the main issue which needs to be addressed effectively is the revival and conservation of river ecosystems that have been neglected for several decades. Or else, Gangetic Dolphins will merely become another symbol for campaigns such as ‘Save the tiger’!

Conversely, a successful conservation story of the Gangetic Dolphins will mean that we have achieved water security for the vast number of people dependent on the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.

Forests mired in problems

The woods are neither lovely nor deep in the State. Unfortunately, the State’s forest wealth is diminishing by the day. Contradictory policies and lack of a comprehensive approach towards forest conservation are slowly turning the forests brown. Only a small portion of forests (protected areas such as national parks and sanctuaries), receive comparatively best protection, are in their pristine condition. The rest is saddled with several problems.

Forest wealth

Karnataka ranks 18th in the country in terms of forest cover with 19.3 per cent of its land covered by it. Compared to many other states in the country, the number of types and habitats are very high. A significant portion of the Western Ghats, which is one among the 25 bio-diversity hotspots of the world, is found in Karnataka. It covers about 60 per cent of the forest area of Karnataka. A rich diversity of flora and fauna and most of which are still unknown to the scientific community can be found here.

The Shola forests, which are unique to the world, are found on mountain ranges at the Western Ghats. In the high rainfall region along the Western Ghats are the evergreen forests and down the Ghats are patches of moist deciduous forests. While the drier tracts and the plains have the dry deciduous and scrub jungles, the coastal region harbours a set of unique forests called as the mangroves. There are five national parks and 21 wildlife sanctuaries in State.

Diversion of forests

Despite housing rich bio-diversity, forests receive low priority. Contiguous stretches of forests are now in a fragmented state due to developmental activities like dams, canals, roads, mining, encroachments, agriculture and plantations.

Between 1956 and 1980, Karnataka lost 1,915.64 square km of forests for development. In the next two decades (between 1981 to 2002), another 345.20 sq km was cleared, of which 228.23 sq km alone went towards regularisation of encroachments and diversion for agriculture.

The decrease in diversion of forestlands in the last 20 years is mainly because of the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act in 1980 (FCA). Fragmentation of forests has led to problems for the wildlife. It has resulted in loss of corridors and migratory routes of wild animals and birds. A commonly encountered problem is the straying of elephants into agricultural lands leading to human-animal conflicts.

Paucity of funds

The problem runs deeper. Senior forest officials blame lack of staff, infrastructure and funds for the problem.

The plan outlay for forest department including externally aided projects is about one per cent of State’s annual budget. Considering that the department controls about 20 per cent of land in the State, the funds are dismal. As of 2001, the department had a shortfall of 2,200 personnel. A single guard with a stick in his hand has to patrol hundreds of acres on foot and deal with poachers who are equipped with rifles and jeeps.

“Most of the frontline staff who work as forest guards and watchers are temporary staff and would not always want to risk their life to save an elephant or a tiger. Sometimes, senior officers stay outside the forests in cities and towns and are not readily available during a crisis,” says a retired forest officer.

Involving community in conservation is the new mantra now. All along the Western Ghats there are patches of forests dedicated to gods called as Devarakadu.

These are forests conserved over centuries by people as an expression of important relationship to the God or Nature. These forests are also proof that our ancestors knew about forests and their importance. The State has more than 1,500 major sacred groves and Kodagu district alone has 15,500 acres of forests considered as sacred.

Communities in and around forests have never been considered as players in improving forest governance and conservation. In recent decades, however this mindset is changing. Afforestation programmes and forests are increasingly being managed by involving people around forests through joint forest management. The sustainability of this initiative in the State is uncertain as it is largely driven by foreign funds and is project-based.

There is a strong need to connect the urban people to the problem of forest destruction. The onus of conserving forests and wildlife, have been left to bureaucrats, corrupt politicians without considering urban centres, which draw abundant resources.

Many projects such as mining, power and water supply (which result in destruction of forests and wildlife) largely cater to urban needs.

              

THE VERDICT

The CAG report, 2003 says: “There has been laxity in the State Forest Department in monitoring the forest offence cases from the stage of their initiation till the disposal. The success rate of prosecutions of forest offenders has been very low. There have been innumerous delays in transportation of seized materials and in disposal of confiscated materials. Discrepancies were noticed in accounting of seized forest produce. Records for watching the progress of cases were incomplete.”

POOR PRIORITIES

Forests are storehouses for plant and animal genetic resources. They protect hydrological systems and regulate stream flow and protect soil erosion and act as carbon sinks. Forests have always been considered as a source of revenue rather than valued for its ecosystem services and this thinking needs to be changed. They also meet a large share of energy needs of the rural population and fodder for the cattle. Many of the non-timber forest produce such as tamarind, medicinal plants and fruits provide sustenance to rural people and tribals. But loss of forests is doing long-term damage to the viability of our rivers, soils, agriculture and bio-diversity resources that are crucial to the well-being of the people in the State. The prime example is the Bhadra dam which is filled with silt due to mining in the Western Ghats. 

This article appeared in Deccan Herald Newspaper on 17th August, 2004.

Lessons from London for Bangalore lakes

Right in the middle of the Heathrow flight path in London is a beautiful wetland brimming with birds and other wildlife. What makes it interesting is that four Victorian reservoirs have been regenerated to attract over 180 bird species and a host of other wildlife every year.  The wetland, named the London Wetland Centre, is an award winning wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area.

As you wander into this 105-acre reserve, you can spot many rare and beautiful birds which otherwise would usually give any metropolis a miss. Among the birds that frequent the wetland reserve are the white-spotted bluethroat, reed warblers, bittern, little ringed plovers, curlew, greenshank, green sandpiper, teal, whitefaced whistling duck, cetti’s warbler, swift, yellow warbler, bearded tit, water rail, pochard, shoveller, gadwall, widgeon, sand martin, kingfisher and little grebe. A third of Britain’s dragonfly species, reptiles, foxes, insects, fish, amphibians, bats and molluscs have all moved into this reserve.

What makes reserve attractive?

But what makes the wetland reserve so attractive to birds and other organisms in a huge city like London? Every bit of the wetland has been thoughtfully re-created to resemble the natural habitats of various water birds and other wildlife. There are also nesting and breeding spaces for birds and places for birds to hide. A mosaic of habitats have been created ranging from a network of lakes and ponds, large reed beds, lagoons, marshes and even an artificial deep water reef, used as a nursery ground for fish. As for the flora, over 300,000 aquatic plants and 27,000 trees have been planted in this wetland reserve.

The other special feature of this impressive wetland reserve is that one can get close to wetland wildlife without disturbing it. This has been made possible by the numerous trails and boardwalks over ponds and lagoons.

Hides have been set up (some are two or three-storeyed high) within the reserve for visitors to observe wildlife at close quarters without the wildlife noticing the visitors. Even live images from the wilderness areas of the reserve can be transmitted back, coupled with interactive computers allowing visitors to explore the secret life of birds and other wetland wildlife.

The reserve has become an educational and inspirational centre for people to conserve wetlands. In fact, the reserve has also been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Britain in 2002 as a tribute to the positive ecological impact on the area.

What the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has recreated in London has several conservation lessons for India which is losing its wetlands at an alarming rate. We could learn a lot about how to bring back life to our wetlands by planting trees, reeds and other aquatic plants, and regulating water flows. Wetlands across India are being drained rapidly to build housing colonies, bus stations, roads and industries at the expense of biodiversity. Wetlands are also dying due to dumping of industrial and domestic wastes and sewage.

Disappearing wetland habitats

In Bangalore, which was once called a city of lakes, wetland habitats are fast disappearing due to mismanagement and encroachments. The only measures that have been thought of are to de-silt the lakes and make them boating ponds and fringe them with a jogging track.

Our city planners and bureaucrats should take a cue from London’s practices and think out of the box, and come up with creative ideas.

They should make use of habitat restoration and management techniques, and reserve wetlands as conservation education centres. Until we incorporate ecological techniques in our planning and management, we will not be able to provide a safe home for many of our wetland wildlife including threatened ones.

Till that time, we will only continue to see the disappearance of wildlife from our remaining water bodies.

Where the Sarus thrives...

To say K S Gopi Sundar is interested in cranes would be an understatement. Hailing from Bangalore, he spends most of his time trying to save cranes and their habitats across south Asia with governments, NGOs, scientists, naturalists and anyone else who cares. He has been selected for a project on Sarus cranes at the Wildlife Institute of India. Gopi discovered hitherto unknown facts about this elegant species, and was subsequently invited by the International Crane Foundation (ICF) to continue his work on Sarus cranes.

Gopi is an invited member of several IUCN specialist groups, author of scientific papers and popular-science features. He is currently developing a new programme ‘Sarus Scape’ for ICF to be housed in India.

Explaining the relevance of saving the Sarus crane with reference to India, he says, “The Sarus crane is unique in having most of its population occurring outside of Protected Areas in India. The primary breeding population of this species occurs in paddy fields in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. This means that a conservation ethos limited by protected areas would be wholly inadequate for the Sarus crane and species like it.”

Impact on other species

He points out that work focusing on Sarus cranes has led to important findings on other species. For example, he says that it is now fairly well-established that the maximum population of the declining and near-threatened black-necked storks also occur in landscapes dominated by crops. This is based on previously published information on this species that said that relatively large and undisturbed wetlands are required for the species.

Gopi Sundar’s research throws light on the importance of semi-wild patches near agricultural fields. Northern India, his research shows, is one of the four most intensively cultivated landscapes globally. Most of the landscape has been converted to croplands in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and most of the fields produce multiple harvests each year.

Pointing out that these systems are not your classic locations for wildlife, he explains that they are still performing amazingly well as landscapes that provide food to humans and retain concentrations of globally threatened species like Sarus cranes.

Studies in Uttar Pradesh have revealed the importance of non-crop patches – like wetlands, woodlands, grasslands and scrub – in helping maintain populations of Sarus cranes and other species. Sarus crane numbers mirror the amount of wetlands – more wetlands mostly mean more cranes, particularly when the primary crop during the monsoon is flooded paddy. Areas with more non-crop patches invariably have more number of bird species and more birds per se.

Sundar’s studies show that a combination of favourable farmer attitudes and their habit of retaining some non-crop patches have helped conserve over 300 species of birds. Most non-crop patches are commonlands, especially wetlands and grasslands useful for grazing cattle and collecting natural products like lotus, reeds, clay and silt. These patches are used greatly by the needy, leading to panchayat-level institutional mechanisms that disallow conversions of these areas to private crops.

Linked to high human populationn

Ironically, a high human population and use of such patches by humans have led to improving the landscape for birds in these areas. Attrition of these non-crop patches, however, continues in part due to corruption and due to changing climatic conditions that sometimes force farmers to expand croplands into these erstwhile common lands.
Gopi Sundar’s current work seeks to understand factors that maximise persistence of birds in the rice-wheat belt of Uttar Pradesh. His work has improved understanding of the distribution and habitat requirements of over 200 species of birds. Species previously regarded as being largely “woodland species” such as the Bluethroat, were seen in good numbers in rice and/or wheat fields suggesting a much wider ability by some species to adapt to changes in land use. Some species previously not known to occur widely in Uttar Pradesh were found to be widespread. For example, the Grey-headed Lapwing, Spotted Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Brown Rockchat and Red-headed bunting occur throughout the Gangetic floodplains in the winter.

The Sarus crane (Krauncha) is revered in Hindu mythology. Is this helping its conservation? Explains Gopi Sundar, “The Ramayana begins with the story of the sage Valmiki walking along the Ganga and encountering a pair of Sarus cranes dancing. One was shot by an arrow of a hunter causing anguish to the sage who cursed the hunter in verse.

“This is an example of the human emotions that this species evokes. A pair of Sarus Cranes is thought to bond for life – in the event that one dies, the other is supposed to die in grief. These and other similar stories in rural India have helped in farmers developing great reverence towards the species.”

This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 5th October, 2010.

Dawn of a new ORDER

It was a discussion among friends about the farming situation and the issue of internal migration in Karnataka that led to the establishment of ORDER.
The Organisation for Resource Development and Environment Rejuvenation works at the grassroots level in two districts of Karnataka and has been trying to improve the lives of the farming community by helping them manage natural resources better. It has touched the lives of 12,000 families through various interventions and has also received accolades from many quarters. It has also been awarded the Best Implementing Agency by NABARD twice in a row.

What is special about the founders of the organisation is that they are highly qualified with rich work experience in their own fields. Vittal Kumar A, Lingadevaru ES, GV Raghu, Lakshmikanth, Ramappa, Tandavamurthy AN, TK Sheena and Surekha decided to take the plunge into the development sector to make a difference to communities in rural Karnataka. Five out of the eight friends had studied MSc Environmental Science together at Bangalore University.

“We launched awareness campaigns on natural resources conservation in several villages in Tumkur district before we took up actual work. We received funding from various sources like NABARD, Coconut Development Board, Zilla Panchayat and the Karnataka State Agriculture Department so that our efforts could lead to sustainable practices. Awareness and people’s participation are two crucial aspects,” points out Vittal Kumar, President of ORDER.

The organisation works in 55 villages of two districts, Tumkur and Hassan. Some of the villages include Ganada Hunase, Janakallu, Neralagudde, Kumbarahalli, Jobigenahalli, Mangalapura, Jakkanahalli, etc. It aims to implement development programmes in the areas of watershed development, agro-economics, village and tribal development, and building the capacities of local institutions in managing natural resources such as land, water, agriculture and biodiversity.

“The challenge has been to economically empower tribals or other local communities with little land holdings. We have been successful in growing horticultural cash crops like cashew, and timber trees on one acre of land, and this has been taken up in a big way by small farmers and tribals in some of our villages. Our objective has also been to establish vermi-compost pits, ponds, and train farmers in newer methods of growing,” explains Raghu, who is the project director and oversees all the projects undertaken by the NGO.

He points out that the key to successful implementation of their projects was the involvement of the community in the early stages of planning and also adoption of scientific methods to manage land and water. The organisation is also trying to promote organic farming in some of villages.

Vittal Kumar believes that there is no dearth of government initiated projects, but there is a paucity of good grassroots organisations which can effectively implement them. He points out that there is scope for several more ORDERs in the State to operate side by side.

This can also lead to employment opportunities for the educated rural youth and they can change the destiny of their own villages. It can also partly stem the migration of the youth to cities, he says.

The group now plans to reach out to villages in Chitradurga district. Their vision for the next couple of years is to start their own training institute where they can train farmers and other stakeholders.

Raghu and Vittal also dream of setting up a demonstration centre where farmers and other stakeholders can have hands-on experience while staying onsite. They have already purchased land at Bukkapatna of Sira taluk as a first step to achieve their dream.
The article appeared in Deccan Herald Newspaper on 12th June, 2012 

Future of Paddy

Madhu, Mangala, Pushpa and Vikram are not names of people but some of the best paddy varieties developed by this year’s Padmashree Awardee. ‘Paddy Mahadevappa’ as he is popularly referred to, Prof M Mahadevappa, is among those few agriculture scientists who have pioneered hybrid rice farming in the country.

Hailing from a poor family, Mahadevappa was the only one to complete SSLC from his village Madapura in Chamarajanagar taluk. Unable to get an engineering seat, he joined the Bachelor’s degree in agriculture as he was good at sericulture in his younger days.

After his PhD in 1960 and realising that research on rice was vital to maintain food security, in the past 35 years, the scientist developed nine improved rice varieties. Among them Intan and Madhu are two of the prestigious rice varieties mainly for the hilly and tank fed regions of Karnataka. The two varieties have alone given the State exchequer Rs 335 crore ever since their release in 1972. Mangala was another fast growing and high yielding hybrid that was taken up in the State over a large area.

His research on rice also led him to the prestigious International Rice Research Institute in Manila where he had a brief stint as a visiting scientist.

Realising the potential of biotechnology to meet the challenges of food security, he initiated the setting up of a separate biotechnology and seed technology departments in the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Dharwad way back in the eighties. He believes that research does not end. There is a need to constantly modify and re-orient research to suit present conditions.

About the ruckus on the ill effects of genetically modified crops, he points out “GM crops are needed. They are not evil but biosafety measures are a must.” However, the scientist is sceptical about MNCs and public sector seed companies. As a safeguard for farmers from getting cheated, the professor has started a pilot project on the lines of the self-help groups- called as seed groups in some villages in the State. Unemployed youth in the selected villages are being trained in producing quality hybrid seeds to be sold for farmers within and neighbouring villages.

Another major contribution to Indian agriculture has been the development of a technique to manage weeds such as parthenium. This has been referred as the integrated parthenium weed management which has been used extensively in the State.

His contributions to science and the art of agriculture however did not go unnoticed. He has received several awards including the Watumull Foundation Award, the Hooker Award and Sir Chotturam National Award. Recently, the State also honoured him with the Rajyothsava Award.

He has served on several committees related to agriculture both at the State and National sphere including the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. Recently, Mahedavappa as the chairman of Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, brought transparency in recruitment and helped expedite the process of academic promotions in line with the Parliamentary Committee.

During his career has a teacher and scientist, he has encouraged his students and colleagues to contribute to agricultural science.

This interview appeared in Deccan Herald on 15th February, 2005 

Bangalore's wetlands attract winged visitors

Several of the dying wetlands of Bangalore have suddenly sprung to life. They have beckoned several thousands of winged visitors from outside the country. Many of these birds have traveled thousands of kilometer and made these wetlands their temporary abode.

        Coinciding with the World Wetlands Day which falls on February 2, the annual waterfowl census conducted by a group of 25 birdwatchers using block counting method during the past one month reveals that several of the tanks are hosting bird populations of more than 5,000. Out of the 21 tanks studied under a census, the Byramangala tank has by far revealed the highest number of birds, a massive 40,000 birds. The second highest has been the Hoskote tank with 26,000 ducks, while the Ramapura tank revealed about 4,000 ducks. Large congregations of pelicans, large and small cormorants were seen in the Yelamallappa shetty tank on the old Madras road. Under the Ramsar convention on Wetlands, to which india is a signatory, any wetlands supporting a population of 20,000 water birds regularly can be declared as a wetland of international significance.

Among the birds that were recorded during the senses include, shovellers, garganeys, pintails pochards, spot-billed ducks, painted storks, black and white ibis, spot billed pelicans, spoonbills, sand-pipers, white necked storks, pheasant-tailed jacanas, egrets, pond herons and barheaded geese. The ducks fly all the way from Northern Central Asia, while the waders come from around the Artic Circles and sandpipers from Northern Asia making several stopovers in north India before reaching Bangalore.

        Birds counts in these tanks have been carried out regularly every year from 1987 onwards and the data has found its place in the Asian Waterfowl Census report prepared by the International Waterfowl and Wetland research Bureau. As winter in northern Asia would be very harsh, these birds migrate to the south.

        They arrive in the month of September every year to Bangalore and return back to their region in April the following year. With a steady decline in tanks due to encroachments, pollution, breakdown of valley system and over utilization of water, the number of some birds species has also reduced. A few of the tanks, this year, have also shown a drastic decline in birds counts compared to l^st year, says Naveein O C, who has been taking part in the census for several years.

        Auctioning of tanks for fishing and boating in tanks are major problems. It has been observed that wherever fishing and boating exists, birds avoid such water bodies, says ornithologist Dr M B Krishna. The group will conduct census in another 10 tanks in the next fortnight before calling it a day.

Fading Fragrance

It is the tree that imparts fragrance to the axe that cuts it. The sandalwood tree (Santalum album), also known as the East Indian sandal, is the pride of Karnataka. The tree, which was once found in great abundance in the forests of the State, has now become endangered, thanks to extensive logging of the trees in their natural habitats, illicit felling, government policy and corrupt Forest department officials. But a new amendment to the Karnataka Forest Act promises a ray of hope to this fragrant tree.

Chandana, the Sanskrit name for sandal, has been used in India from historic times. There are descriptions of the use of sandalwood by Kalidasa (300 BC) in some of his epics. The heartwood and oil is much sought after world over for its heavenly fragrance and has several uses for religious purposes, handicrafts, medicines and perfumes.

Though the tree is widely distributed throughout India, about 90 per cent of the trees are present in the deciduous forests of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, the tree is found in the southern belt, including the districts of Shimoga, Mysore, Coorg, Kolar, Bangalore, Chikmagalur, Tumkur and Dakshina Kannada. The huge demand for sandalwood has fuelled severe exploitation of the trees in its natural areas.

According to studies, the annual average extraction of sandalwood in the State between 1952 and 1973 was about 2,276 tonnes. But the extraction rate between 1975 to 1996 had come down to 1,080 tonnes. The figures may be a reflection of the depleting resource, possibly driven due to higher rates of extraction and land use change. Similarly, there was a reduction of sandalwood supplied to sandal-based industries and artisans.

Apart from extraction in natural areas, illicit felling and smuggling has been another major threat to the tree. Between 1980 and 1997, about 100 to 500 tonnes of sandal have been recovered annually amounting to about 30 per cent of the State's revenue from sandalwood. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as estimates show that the recovery might be just about 10-20 per cent of the sandal illicitly felled. But this has not been without its effects.

A study on sandalwood trees in the Biligri Rangan Temple Wildlife Sanctuary by Nageshwara Rao M, Ganeshaiah K N and Uma Shaanker of University of Agricultural Sciences and Ashoka Trust for Ecology and Environment (ATREE) shows that the genetic diversity among sandalwood trees has been reduced due to indiscriminate felling. This may be true for the rest of the State.

Illicit felling in the State continues despite control by the State government. Tipu Sultan first declared the tree as a royal tree in 1792. After Independence, the governments in the State continued the monopoly over the tree through the Karnataka Forest Act. In Karnataka, the tree is a state property and its extraction, distribution and cultivation are strictly regulated by the government.

Prior to the amendment of the Karnataka Forest Act, all the sandalwood trees belonged to the government, even if grown by a private individual in his land. So not many took up growing this tree. Alarmed by the declining population of the tree in the State, the government amended the Act in August 2001 its growing of the tree by private individuals.

The amendment has brought in a substantive change in the status of the sandal tree possessor. Earlier, the grower of the tree was just a custodian, but now he is almost an owner of the tree. Previously, a sandalwood tree grower was entitled to monetary claims as decided by the government, but as per the amendment, he can also carry a number of activities that include felling and processing of sandalwood in accordance with the rules. This has been made to ensure that the grower has more stake in growing the tree.

The de-regulation is a good move in the first stage of conservation of the tree. But the law could have been more pro-active. It, in a way, shows clear signs of the State withdrawing its functions in relation to the sandal tree conservation. One pro-active measure that the State could take up is to give technical assistance to private individuals or groups for growing these trees says M K Ramesh, assistant professor, National Law School of India University. The duties of the Forest department are not explicitly stated in the amendment and is poorly drafted, as it has not even stated the objectives, he adds.

The new amendment has given more teeth to the Act by making the penalty related to sandalwood tree offences harsher. The government would do well to make the sandalwood laws much simpler than the earlier one. It should also encourage the public to grow the tree through mass campaigns, establish sandal tree gene banks and enforce the law strictly.

Sandalwood or scandal wood?

The upholders of the law, the forest officials, also have had their share in worsening the situation. The latest report of the Public Accounts Committee relating to the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment has this to say: In contravention to the directives of the Government in 1987 to conduct a State-wide census of sandalwood trees at divisional and circle levels, such an evaluation has not been taken up by the Forest department till date.

The committee has observed that the price for sandalwood is higher in neighbouring states. This difference resulted in large scale illegal felling and smuggling of sandal to other states. For the period from 1991-92 to 1994-95, a short receipt of sandalwood valued at Rs 46.73 lakh relating to 93 cases covering 16 Forest divisions has been reported. The committee also noted that there was a shortage of 153 tonnes of sandalwood valued at Rs 2.45 crore in the Forest Department depots as per the stock accounts.

This article appeared in the Deccan Herald Newspaper on 31st May, 2002