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01Cover.indd 1
`45.00
EXODUS
EFFECT
25/11/15 1:26 PM
STATE OF INDIA'S
ENVIRONMENT
2016
India's most credible annual survey
of environment, backed by more
than 30 years of research and
reportage, equips you with incisive
news and views.
24/11/15 3:46 PM
EDITORS
ALTERNATIVE
PARIS
03Editors.indd 3
lacklustre indc, it will take up another 8 per cent. In this way the indc
is not just a countrys commitment to reduce emissions, it is its intention to occupy global carbon space.
Two, by 2030, according to the current emission targets on the
table, some 80 per cent of the carbon budget will be used up. In other words, what is available to the world to use up to 2100 will be
nearly finished by 2030. This would be fine if all countries were at
equal levels of development and would not require any space for
growth beyond 2030. But this is hardly the case. India and almost
all of Africa, even under the most aggressive plans for growth, would
still be struggling to meet the basic needs of people beyond 2030.
But by then the carbon budget would be all appropriated and gone.
What happens to their right to development?
So, thirdly, and most crucially, Paris must
agree to operationalise equity by accepting that
the level of effort of each countrys indc will be
equal to its share of the global carbon budget.
Anything less would be development apartheid.
Anything less would be gross climate injustice.
Fourthly, to ensure ambition and also operationalise equity, it must agree that it will stocktake the commitments made by countries. These
commitments must ensure that the world stays
below 2C rise and reflect the equitable sharing of
the global carbon budget.
Fifthly, the Paris agreement must recognise that it is the worlds
poor who are worst hit, even though they are least responsible for the
emissions that are leading the world to a climate precipice. The current draft only has some broad statements about the need for all governments to build resilient systems to adapt to climate change. This
must change to protect the interests of the poorest and to ensure that
not only is the loss and damage estimated but payment is made.
Finally, Paris must build the framework for future action, real
and meaningful, to combat climate change. To do this it must identify key actions that can be supported through global fundingnot
ways in which aid is passed off as climate supportto make the transition towards low-carbon growth. The best way to share the limited carbon budget is if countries find ways not to use the space at all.
This has to be the promise at Paris.
RITIKA BOHRA / CSE
PAGE
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Down To Earth
ON THE WEB
Anil Agarwal
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Sunita Narain
MANAGING EDITOR Richard Mahapatra
WHAT'S HOT
FOUNDER EDITOR
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
SPECIAL COVERAGE
Women power
in Bihar
A remarkable feature of the
just-concluded Bihar Assembly
election was that women
voters outnumbered men in all
phases. Explanations vary from
Nitish Kumar's women-friendly
policies to the fact that most
men in the Bihar countryside
have migrated to other states,
leaving women behind to
vote independently.
DESIGN TEAM
SPECIAL FEATURE
BLOG
WEB TEAM
Sinha Ratna
Kiran Pandey
www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in team
POPULAR
On web
CONSULTING EDITORS
On Facebook
These farmers use paddy
straw for income
On Twitter
Women's ultimatum to
husbands: build toilets or
go without food
VIDEO
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COVER PHOTO The Department for
International Development
Down To Earth editorial does not
endorse the content of advertisements
printed in the magazine
4 DOWN TO EARTH
www.downtoearth.org.in
24/11/15 12:28 PM
letters
* By implementing carpooling, we are not only saving our money but also the
environment. The apps available today for carpooling are saving our time and
providing cheaper rides. I agree with the last lines of the article in which India is
called a better place for carpooling.
ASHUTOSH KUMAR MISHRA
VIA EMAIL
05-07Letters.indd 5
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26/11/15 12:30 PM
letters
SWETA BASNETT
Dirty diesel
KIRAN SHARMA
VIA EMAIL
BMT RA JEEV
BENGALURU
http://www.facebook.com/down2earthindia
Yes. Delhi should always celebrate a crackerfree Diwali, given that it is the most polluted
city in the world.
RA JENDAR SINGH
6 DOWN TO EARTH
05-07Letters.indd 6
23/11/15 10:58 AM
R N MISRA
AHMEDABAD
BHARATH KUMAR K
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JE AN-PHILIPPE PUYRAVAUD
SIGUR NATURE TRUST, NILGIRIS
Purnapramati
A Center for Complete Onto-Epistemological Learning
NICHOLAS CLAXTON
Mischievous statement
This refers to Haryana's health minister
Anil Vij's statement suggesting that the
cow be declared India's national animal
in place of the Royal Bengal Tiger (The
Fortnight, 1-15 November, 2015). The
statement is not only mischievous but also
has a lot of potential to create chaos. The
minister concerned deserves a special
award for suggesting the most idiotic
proposal of 2015.
G AZEEMODDIN
ANANTAPUR
Thank you
We want to thank Down To Earth for the
article on Giant Hearts (Elephant Tales,
P Swould
SUBRAHMANIAN
1-15 October, 2015). We
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contents
THE FORTNIGHT
22
11
16 How milkmen
landed in a soup
26
COVER STORY
Labour exit
Labour shortage in
agriculture forces
Indian farmers to
innovate to stay afloat
18
Chennai floods,
a human-made
disaster
24
Leprosy is still
around
14
Half-baked
Changes proposed in the
emission norms of brick kilns
are unlikely to curb pollution
8 DOWN TO EARTH
08-09Contents.indd 8
24/11/15 5:51 PM
52
REVIEW
Wings of ecology
Cultural tolerance can
help reduce human-wildlife
conflict
56
42
OPINION
Dropping
flat
49
HEALTH
Intel inside
Intelligence is not
just about language
and logic
GOOD NEWS
Banking on
grains
SCIENCE
Global warming
reaches deep sea
Why USA
grudges
the poorest
Farmers in
Bangladesh create
paddy banks to tide
over the lean season
44
50
TECHNOLOGY
54
Re-charged
41
USA opposes
least developed
countries' plea
for indefinite
exemption from
pharma patents
Elusive
temper
Scientists join
the nationwide protests
against
irrationality
and
intolerance
58
Scientists find
alternatives to replace
the expensive lithiumion batteries
WILDLIFE
Suspended
animation
Climate change is altering
the hibernation pattern of
animals, disturbing their
breeding patterns and
metabolism
08-09Contents.indd 9
46
P L A N E T
P E O P L E
P O L I T I C S
GOBAR TIMES
59-78
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FORTNIGHT
CROSS HAIRS
THE
11-13The Fortnight.indd 11
POINT
1,500-2,500
microgram/m3
www.downtoearth.org.in 11
23/11/15 10:59 AM
FORTNIGHT
CREATIVECOMMONS
WILDLIFE
THE
THE INDIAN
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
T H E U N Food and
Agriculture Organization
(FAO) has announced that
2016 would be celebrated
as the `International Year of
Pulses'. The FAO is hoping
the year-long dedication to
pulses will combat pulses'
under-appreciation as
they can be an affordable
alternative to animal-based
protein. Pulses also improve
animal and soil health and
support biodiversity. The FAO
12 DOWN TO EARTH
11-13The Fortnight.indd 12
23/11/15 10:59 AM
THE
I N FO C U S
I N CO U RT
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
FORTNIGHT
Punjab
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
Assam
Jharkhand
Maharashtra
Goa
HIGH
COURTS
NGT
05
09
55
V E R B AT I M
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
A FORTHCOMING
11-13The Fortnight.indd 13
``For my
contribution I
should have
obtained a Nobel
Prize. But maybe
because I am black I
was not chosen ''
Baba Ramdev,
Yoga Guru
www.downtoearth.org.in 13
23/11/15 12:54 PM
CHENNAI
FLOOD
Rain
reign
Shrinking lake area and blocked
drains have reduced Chennai's
capacity to drain rainfall runoff
SHREESHAN VENKATESH | chennai
SUSHMITA SENGUPTA | new delhi
14 DOWN TO EARTH
14-15Chennai Flood.indd 14
COURTESY: OLA
24/11/15 6:21 PM
CHENNAI
Chennai clogged). It was estimated that the
city would harvest almost 129 million cubic
metres of rain and recharge through different methods. Physiographically, Chennai is
flat and needs a very good drainage system.
A combination of natural and artificial
drainage is the only way to protect Chennai
from drought as well as floods. However, it
seems that the governments efforts made
have not been effective.
According to the Centre for Environmental and Water Resources Engineering,
Chennai had more than 600 waterbodies
in the 1980s but a master plan published in
2008 said that only a fraction of the lakes
could be found in healthy condition.
According to records of the states
Water Resources Department, the area of
19 major lakes has shrunk from a total of
1,130 hectares (ha) in the 1980s to nearly
645 ha in early 2000s, reducing their storage capacity, explains architect K Lavanya
of Crescent School of Architecture, B S
Abdur Rahman University, Chennai. Anil
Kumar Gupta of the National Institute of
Disaster Management (nidm), New Delhi,
says that there are over 30,000 slums on
the banks of waterbodies in these areas. The
drains that carry surplus water from tanks
to other wetlands are also encroached
Monumental waste
The loss of waterbodies, drainage systems
and green areas show that the city has never
given a serious thought to flood management. But the state government has spent
huge amounts to clean up the rivers and re-
Chennai clogged
The city is flat and needs a very good drainage system. Flood-like situation
was experienced in areas where waterbodies have been encroached upon
of B
enga
l
CHENNAI CITY
Bay
Chennai
central
Cooum river
Chembarambakkam tank
Adyar river
Buckingham
canal
Source: chennaicorporation.gov.in, personal communication with Chennai corporation; Map not to scale
14-15Chennai Flood.indd 15
Tamil
Nadu
FLOOD
Citizens' efforts
Concerned citizens groups have moved the
courts several times to save the wetlands.
For example, in September 2015, the
Madras High Court ordered all authorities
concerned to remove encroachments from
the marsh of the Pallikaranai lake. Laws,
such as the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks
and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007,
have not been able to save the wetlands in
the city, say experts. Even the court orders
are waiting to be implemented.
Lavanya says that the city needs an integrated approach to flood control and management. This can be done under a nodal
agency that can plan, coordinate and monitor authorities like the Chennai
Corporation, the Slum Clearance Board and
cmwssb. L Elango, head of the geology department, Anna University, Chennai, says
that the mapping of the flood-prone areas
has already been done, but it is not clear why
the state government has not initiated action on this.
Apart from these steps, the management of untreated sewage and solid waste
should be done on a war footing to avoid
choking of the drains, says Lavanya. Strong
regulations to save the urban waterbodies
should be implemented to stop encroachment of the wetlands and water channels.
The existing rules and regulations are
just not strong enough to protect the
urban lakes, says Delhi-based advocate
Sanjay Upadhyay. n
www.downtoearth.org.in 15
24/11/15 6:22 PM
16-17Dairy.indd 16
24/11/15 12:28 PM
DAIRY
European Union (EU) are also facing the
heat due to a crash in international dairy
prices (see Downward spiral). Singh is
unaware of the global market scenario and
fails to understand why he is unable to cover
the cost.
Reduced prices are threatening the
livelihood of small milk producers. While
many have fallen into a debt trap, some have
been forced to give up their profession.
Many marginal farmers in my locality have
already been pushed out of the market
because the cost of milk production is higher
than the procurement price, Singh says.
According to the Union Ministry of
Agriculture, cooperatives and private dairy
companies procure about 7.2 million litres
of milk every day. These companies are
largely integrated with the global market
through the export of skimmed milk powder
(smp) and other dairy products. But after the
slump in global milk prices, private
companies have started reconstituting smp
to produce milk instead of directly procuring
fresh milk from the farmers and selling it in
the domestic market at a cheaper rate.
Farmers associations in different states
have demanded timely government intervention to end the crisis. The Food Sovereignty
Alliance (fsa), a Telangana-based group,
convened a dialogue in Chennai on October
21 to chalk out a collective strategy to protect
the livelihoods of small and marginal dairy
farmers. In Ajmer, Rajasthan, thousands of
farmers gathered on November 15 and
demanded fodder at half the rate from the
Union government to compensate for the
decreasing procurement price.
In September this year, EU farmers got
a bailout package of US $560 million after
week-long protests at the European Council
headquarters in Brussels and other cities.
However, the Indian farmer is yet to receive
any support from the government. This is
shocking considering about 70 million
households are engaged in dairy production
in the country. The sector employs 90 million
people, 75 million of whom are women.
Butterfly effect
The origin of the current milk crisis can be
traced to plummeting prices in the US and
Europe following Russias ban on the import
of food products from EU in 2013. The ban
was in retaliation for economic sanctions
over the Ukraine crisis.
1-15 DECEMBER 2015
16-17Dairy.indd 17
Downward spiral
Global milk prices have been falling
since Russia and China banned import
of food products in 2013
Rate of skimmed milk powder (in I/kg)
Aug, 2015
April, 2015
2014
2013
92
160
267
333
24/11/15 2:12 PM
REPORT
SPECIAL
18 DOWN TO EARTH
18-20Leprosy.indd 18
24/11/15 2:08 PM
LEPROSY
Tricky to eliminate
Since 2009, new cases are being detected at the same rate at which patients are
getting cured
3.5
Annual new case detection rate
Prevalence rate
3.0
Per 10,000 people
2.5
2.0
1.2
1.0
0.5
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
18-20Leprosy.indd 19
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
It is in the environment
To understand the mode of transmission of
the bacteria, in 2011 researchers with
Stanley Browne Laboratory in Delhi tested
soil samples from leprosy endemic areas of
Purulia district in West Bengal for the presence of M leprae. They collected 207 soil
samples from bathing and washing areas
around houses, common sitting places, community ponds and areas around borewells.
They found dna of M leprae in 71 of the 207
samples. The bacteria dna was present in 27
per cent of the 82 samples collected from the
houses of infected leprosy patients, and in 39
per cent of the samples collected from areas
near washing and bathing places, notes the
study published in Infection, Genetics and
Evolution in November 2011. The presence
of M laprae in soil could lead to indirect infection, the study suggests.
The environment also acts as the reservoir of several other Mycobacterium species,
which make people susceptible to leprosy.
One such species is M gilvum. The Stanley
Browne Laboratory researchers stumbled
upon this rare species in 2014, while
www.downtoearth.org.in 19
24/11/15 2:12 PM
LEPROSY
VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE
Leprosy patients spend almost 30 per cent of their family income on treatment. Most patients do
not receive pension
18-20Leprosy.indd 20
24/11/15 2:08 PM
21 DEC15 2015
21AMway ad.indd 21
24/11/15 3:48 PM
POLLUTION
Supreme abuse
Bulk drug makers at Patancheru continue to pollute in the
absence of effective vigilance, shows an analysis by the Centre for
Science and Environment
KANKANA DAS | new delhi
Tribunal (ngt) in Chennai against the erring industries. In his petition, Chidhamberum alleges that most industries continue to pollute the streams and villages adjacent to Patancheru-Bollaram area in the absence of an effective vigilance by the tspcb.
I realised that the inspection reports of
the tspcb will help prove the violation by
these industries as well as the lackadaisical
attitude of tspcb, says Chidhamberum.
He sent the inspection reports to Delhi
non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (cse) for analysis, which found that
all the companies, barring two, were at fault
on all the parameters that require the per-
The effluent of
pharmaceutical
industries at
Patancheru finds its
way to the Musi river
22 DOWN TO EARTH
22-23Pollution.indd 22
23/11/15 12:54 PM
SPECIAL
Shifting load
TELANGANA
Patancheru
moefcc classifies pharmaceutical industries as red category because of the hazardous waste they produce. However, till 1997 industries at
Patancheru routinely dumped their waste
in the surrounding land, irrigation fields
and released their effluents into the
Nakkavagu stream, that passes through the
industrial estate, and other waterbodies that
act as feeders for the Musi river, flowing
18 km from the Nakkavagu. Some would
also send their wastewater in tankers to the
common effluent treatment plant (cetp) at
Patancheru, which is ill-equipped to treat
pharmaceutical effluents. The cetp would
then release the untreated effluents into the
Nakkavagu stream, polluting it further.
Following a public interest petition in
1997 about the highly toxic effluents from
the industries, the Supreme Court banned
the establishment or expansion of bulk drug
manufacturing units in the estate. To
improve the quality of surface and groundwater, it ordered the pollution control authorities to channelise effluents from the
cetp to the mega sewage treatment plant
(stp) at Amberpet through an 18-km pipeline so that industrial effluents can be diluted by mixing with sewage. It also asked the
industries to ensure zero liquid discharge
(zld), which means they would have to treat
the wastewater and reuse it.
Since the waste generated by pharmaceutical industries are not of similar chemical composition, they need to use sophisticated technologies, right from multi-effect
evaporator and agitated thin film dryer to
biological treatment and reverse osmosis,
for treating effluents with high-tds (total
dissolved solids) and that with low-tds.
However, Chidhamberum alleges that very
few industries practice the zero-liquid discharge policy. Instead, they continue to send
Hyderabad
Andhra
Pradesh
270
industries,
including paint, plastic,
chemical and bulk drug,
operate in Patancheru
industrial estate, spread
over 440 hectares
22-23Pollution.indd 23
90
industries send
their effluents to
common effluent
treatment plant
at Patancheru
15
of them
make bulk drugs.
Their effluents are
laced with heavy
metals, organic and
inorganic chemicals
Those making
products without
consent
Those producing
ingredients in
excess amount
Those consuming
more water than
allowed
Those
discharging
more effluents
Those producing
more hazardous
waste than limit
10
11
REPORT
Little respite
as
ar
h
Ma
tra
Diseases like cancer, infertility, hormonal imbalance and birth defects are common
in the area. In fact, a family now spends
30 per cent of its earning on treatment, says
G Vijay, assistant professor at the School of
Economics, University of Hyderabad. To
gauge the prevalence of pollution in villages
in the drainage basin of the Musi, his students had interviewed families in the villages of Kazhipalli, Guddaputharam, Sultanpur and Kistareddypeton October 29.
P Ishwar Reddy, executive director of
the Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association
(bdma), told Down To Earth that all industries at Patancheru are complying with the
Supreme Court orders and directions of expert committees. Though Reddy admits that
excess discharge of water and hazardous
waste result in pollution, he says any change
in the pharmaceutical ingredient does not
result in more pollution. But cse researchers argue that any change in the pharmaceutical ingredient requires recombination of
chemicals and different manufacturing process. This will invariably alter the chemical
composition and toxicity of the effluent.
The researchers add that the pollution control authorities should improve their monitoring measures and be extra vigilant to
check the release of toxic effluents at the
point of discharge. n
www.downtoearth.org.in 23
23/11/15 1:07 PM
GOVERNANCE
new delhi
Monitoring small-scale units
is a huge challenge because
state pollution control boards
face a severe staff crunch
24-25Governance.indd 24
RAHUL / CSE
24/11/15 12:29 PM
GOVERNANCE
24-25Governance.indd 25
Brick by brick
Over
20 per cent of
India's brick kilns are
in Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and West
Bengal
1,000
Medium kiln
15,000-30,000 bricks/day
750
Large kiln
>30,000 bricks/day
750
Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change
24/11/15 2:10 PM
COVER
STORY
FINDING
ANSWERS
TO THE
34 MILLION
QUESTION
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 26
24/11/15 5:27 PM
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 27
STORY
ARINDAM GHOSH
COVER
24/11/15 5:27 PM
COVER
STORY
(icrisat), the daily nominal wage rate of
various agricultural activities, such as
ploughing, sowing and transplanting,
increased 3.6 to 4.2 times during 2004
and 2014. According to the Department
of Agriculture and Cooperation, the
cultivation cost of major crops such as
paddy and wheat has been increasing at
an annual rate of 10 per cent due to the
rise in labour cost that now accounts for
up to 50 per cent of total production cost
of crops like paddy.
So, why are labourers moving out of
agriculture at this time? For many, it is a
simple play out of the change in Indian
economy where people have betterpaying livelihood alternatives in nonfarm sectors such as construction and
service sectors. According to icrisat,
though the value of gdp from agriculture
and allied activities has increased by 142
per cent during the last decade, and by 121
per cent during the past five years alone,
its share in gdp has been declining due
to the rise in other sectors. The share of
agriculture in the gdp has declined from
20.7 per cent in 2001-02 to 12.9 per cent
in 2013-14. Some also say the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment
GuaranteeAct(mgnrega)thatguarantees
manual jobs and offer significantly high
wage rate is the reason labourers are
quitting the farm sector. But several
surveys done by both government and
non-government agencies show that
mgnrega could hardly have lead to the
abandonment of the agriculture sector
to such an extent; at an average the
employment scheme offers just 31 days of
work a year. However, the employment
programme did increase the wage rate
28 DOWN TO EARTH
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 28
24/11/15 5:27 PM
STORY
COVER
Opportunity
in crisis
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 29
Chhattisgarh farmer
Rahul Chawda uses
drones for farming
because of acute labour
shortage
www.downtoearth.org.in 29
24/11/15 5:41 PM
COVER
INDIA'S
LABOUR
CRISIS
STORY
UNITED FRONT
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 30
24/11/15 5:27 PM
COVER
STORY
CH NARENDRA
Members of farmers'
clubs in Telangana.
The clubs are helping
farmers adopt farm
mechanisation
www.downtoearth.org.in 31
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 31
24/11/15 5:27 PM
COVER
STORY
Kerala | 37% Uttarakhand | 34% Karnataka | 27% J&K | 26% Haryana | 24%
Past perfect
Odisha has age-old farming traditions that reduce the need for labourers
is not new to India. Tribal and farming communities
in Odisha have age-old traditions that reduce the dependency on
contractual labourers. But these practices are being forgotten.
Farmers in Odisha's Sambalpur, Bargarh, Debagarh and Sundargarh
districts have traditionally followed the Pancha system, where men
from all farming families come together and work at farms. If a farmer
remains absent, he has to hire a labourer and send him as a substitute.
"The traditional system, which is prevalent in tribal pockets, could be
a deterrent to rising wage cost. But community trust has been steadily
eroding. The system is struggling to survive as tribal youths have started
looking for jobs in cities," says Saroj Mohanty, spokesperson of farmers'
association Pashim Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samannaya Samiti.
Farmers in coastal Odisha also follow a similar practice which is called
Badalia (exchanging of labour).
Tribals in southern Odisha follow a community farming practice called
Kutumb Bada where all the villagers work together on paddy fields. The
interesting feature of Kutumb Bada is that the farm owner has to make a
nominal contribution, which can be as low as `20 per person, to a collective
fund that is used for community development.
LABOUR CRISIS
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 32
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
STORY
*Crops majorly affected by dipping workforce (2004-05 2011-12); Figures in million ha; Source: Analysis by KPMG for FICCI, 2015
LANDESA
ADVANTAGE WOMEN
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 33
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
STORY
*Income from paddy cultivation in 2011-12; Source: KPMG Analysis for FICCI using Department of Agriculture and Cooperation data
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 34
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
STORY
GOOD BUSINESS
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 35
www.downtoearth.org.in 35
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
STORY
2020 | 23 mln fewer labourers | Share in rural employment down from 48% to 41%
Source: KPMG analysis for FICCI using erstwhile Planning Commission data
A NEW OPPORTUNITY
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 36
24/11/15 5:28 PM
Advertisements
Advertisements
nurturing Nature
http://csestore.cse.org.in
37nov30 2015
43
11:08 AM
COVER
STORY
P S Bir thal
Birthal is the director
of the National
Institute of Agricultural
Economics and Policy
Research, New Delhi
S K Srivast ava
Srivastava is a
scientist with the
research institute
38 DOWN TO EARTH
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 38
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
7,500
7,000
7,000
6,500
6,500
6,000
6,000
5,500
5,500
5,000
4,500
5,000
Labour cost (J/ha) - Real
4,500
4,000
4,000
3,500
3,500
7,500
STORY
3,000
3,000
2004-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
Source: Wage Rates in Rural India report by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 39
www.downtoearth.org.in 39
24/11/15 5:28 PM
COVER
STORY
G U E ST CO LU M N
A
David
Berg vinson
Bergvinson is the
director general
of ICRISAT
40 DOWN TO EARTH
26-40Cover Story-labour.indd 40
24/11/15 5:28 PM
SCIENCE
BYTES
H E A LT H
RESEARCHERS HAVE
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
DISEASES
Monkey alert
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
ASTRONOMY
41S&T Bytes.indd 41
www.downtoearth.org.in 41
26/11/15 12:30 PM
HEALTH
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
42 DOWN TO EARTH
42-43Health.indd 42
20/11/15 12:25 PM
Hybridisation signals
For decades now, researchers have tried to
figure out the reasons for this increased intolerance to the staple wheat. Agricultural
practices like hybridisation of wheat to increase yield has often been linked to the increase in the incidence of CD. Modern wheat
is a 42-chromosome plant, but traditional
wheat was an 11 chromosome plant.
Ancient or diploid (having chromosome
pairs) wheat is purely antigenic while the
modern hexaploid (having a set of six homogenous chromosomes) wheat has highly
antigenic glutens, and is more capable of inducing CD, B S Ramakrishna, head of gastroenterology and an expert on CD at the
srm Institute of Medical Sciences, wrote in
Celiac Disease: Can we avert the impending
epidemic in India, an editorial in the Indian
Journal of Medical Research published in
January 2011.
The fact that most people are intolerant today in one way or the other says something about the kind of grains we are consuming, says Khosla. A 2010 study by HC
Van den Broeck and others published in
Theoretical and Applied Genetics compared
modern and heritage varieties of wheat and
found that about 50 per cent heritage collec-
42-43Health.indd 43
Gluten disorders
Only recently have gluten-related
diseases been categorised
CELIAC DISEASE is only one among three
gluten-related disorders, the others
being Wheat Allergy (WA) and NonCeliac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS). These
were categorically defined by a panel
of experts who first met in London in
2011 and then in Munich in 2012. While
Celiac is an auto-immune disorder,
WA is an allergic reaction to gluten.
But NCGS is neither allergic nor autoimmune. It is a relatively new term
that is ill-defined and still not part of
our textbooks, says Pankaj Vohra,
founder-director of Celiac India and
Beyond, a Delhi-based non-profit.
A range of studies have attempted
to clear the air between CD, WA
and NCGS. Some individuals who
experience distress when eating
gluten-containing products and show
improvement when following a glutenfree diet may have NCGS, instead
of CD. NCGS patients are unable to
tolerate gluten and develop an adverse
reaction, but this does not lead to
damage of the small intestine.
20/11/15 4:54 PM
TECHNOLOGY
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44-45Technology.indd 44
20/11/15 4:42 PM
Battery of options
44-45Technology.indd 45
20/11/15 4:43 PM
WILDLIFE
WAKE-UP CALL
Climate change is altering the hibernation
periods of animals, disturbing their
breeding patterns and metabolism
RAJESHWARI GANESAN | new delhi
46 DOWN TO EARTH
46-48Wildlife.indd 46
N OCTOBER and November last year, attacks by bears outnumbered the attacks by leopards in Pauri, Tehri,
Joshimath and Chamoli districts of
Uttarakhand. While initially the cause was
attributed to habitat loss and deficiency in
food, a closer look by Uttarakhands forest
department officials brought out a startling
revelation: the bears were not hibernating
as they normally would, and thus were
becoming increasingly aggressive. Hibernation is an adaptation process among
many animals that helps them conserve energy, and also to survive long periods when
food is scarce. The Himalayan brown bear,
which would normally go into hibernation
right through the winter, is no longer doing
20/11/15 4:52 PM
THINKSTOCKPHOTO
Global pattern
so. While some are active for a couple of winter months, there are even those that stay active throughout the winter. There are several reasons for this, and climate change is a
primary reason, says Uttarakhands chief
wildlife warden, D V S Khati.
Asiatic bears in Kashmir, which used to
hibernate from November to March, now
hardly hibernate. If there is a less harsh
winter, bears prefer to roam in the woods
and nearby human habitations in search of
food, says S Sathyakumar, scientist at the
Wildlife Insitiute of India (wii), who has
conducted a study on bears in Kashmir.
From amphibians in southern Africa
and reptiles in India to mammals in
Colorado and even polar bears in the Arctic,
1-15 DECEMBER 2015
46-48Wildlife.indd 47
20/11/15 4:52 PM
India
United Kingdom:
46-48Wildlife.indd 48
Australia:
Southern Africa:
Spotted Snout Burrower's reliance on
seasonal rainfall tends to break
periods of hibernation
Disrupting timing
Even arthropods such as bees are facing the
heat. A 17-year study in Colorado by scientists from the University of Toronto shows
that climate change is affecting pollination
by disrupting the synchronised timing of
flower opening and the emergence of bees
from hibernation. Climate-driven changes
in the timing when flowers bloom and the
timing when the bees emerge from hibernation is an important factor, says James D
Thomson, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto,
who authored the study.
Early in the year, when bumble bee
queens are still hibernating, the fruiting
rates are especially low. This is sobering because it suggests that pollination is vulnera-
Climate change is
affecting
hibernation cycles
of many of
Australia's frog
species, including
the endangered
Baw Baw frog
20/11/15 4:52 PM
COLUMN
H E D G E H O G TA L E S
RAKESH KALSHIAN
found no fewer than 102 poor children with extraordinary IQs, the media lapped up the story with
sheepish bewilderment. The fact that these gifted
children were sons and daughters of poor blue-collar
workers like labourers, drivers and security guards was
qualified by the adverb interestingly. All the gifted children had an IQ of over 100, with over a dozen surpassing
the 145 mark, which puts them in the genius category.
Mensa India is the Indian branch of Mensa International,
a non-profit in the UK, which certifies people with an IQ
over 100. Mensa India is cagey about the nature of these
tests, but it is common knowledge that they are mostly
about language and math skills.
The media did not dwell on the
fact that the crme de la crme were
chosen after screening over 4,000
poor school-going children in and
around New Delhi. In other words,
over 3,900 children were labelled
average or ordinary or less smart,
hence not worthy of special attention. Even though Mensa India
claims that it has tested more than
15,000 tribal and underprivileged
children since 2002, success, to
quote from their website, has come
with someone becoming a teacher to another a line
manager in an automobile engineering major. Is this all
that exceptional IQ amounts to, one might ask with justified scepticism?
Ironically, even as the Mensa project dents the popular perception about poor children being less clever, the
very idea that intelligence can be reduced to a single number has been criticised as elitist, simplistic and flawed. IQ
tests have been used widely around the world ever since
psychologist Alfred Binet introduced them in France over
a century ago. But many scholars in recent decades have
questioned whether this straitjacketing of intelligence is
valid or even desirable. They have provoked a debate
about intelligencewhether it can be inherited, or
whether there are different varieties of intelligence, and
whether or how intelligence can be assessed.
49Column.indd 49
20/11/15 12:25 PM
CREATIVECOMMONS
GOOD NEWS
Stock option
Poor communities in
Bangladesh trade in
paddy through the
creation of grain banks
KUNDAN PANDEY |
rangpur , bangladesh
50 DOWN TO EARTH
50-51Good News.indd 50
Paddy banks have emerged as a sustainable survival solution for poor communities
in Bangladesh who face seasonal food insecurity due to a variety of reasons. These paddy banks are a social innovation of Rangpur
Dinajpur Rural Service (rdrs), a non-profit in Rangpur. It all began in 2006, when the
idea was propagated by an independent research group from Jahangir Nagar University in Nilphamari district. Bangladeshis
living abroad helped finance the initiative.
Today, rdrs has set up more than 350 paddy
banks in the country benefitting thousands
of poor farmers and ensuring their food security. There is no restriction on the number
1-15 DECEMBER 2015
20/11/15 4:53 PM
Mitigating a crisis
This was not the case earlier, says Malti Rani
from Sipaipada village of the same division.
During lean seasons, the poor would be dependent on loans from moneylenders, who
used to charge exorbitant interest rates. If
farmers failed to pay, they were harassed and
forced to work as bonded labourers. Says
Rani, Before the creation of paddy banks,
we were often indebted to multiple creditors
to manage our crisis. If we failed to repay the
loan because of illness or some other rea-
50-51Good News.indd 51
How paddy
banks work
Members contribute paddy
and manage the banks
Around 30 people from poor rural
communities come together to form a
management committee
The committee selects an executive
committee of three to seven members
who take care of day-to-day work
The committee also selects a house
where the storage facility
is established
The non-profit, RDRS, provides a big size
bamboo-made basket which can store
one to two tonnes of paddy
Members are motivated to deposit
paddy after the harvesting period
Any member can then borrow paddy
whenever they are in need. They either
use it for consumption or sell it in the
market. The borrower has to return an
extra 5 kg of paddy, along with the
amount borrowed
20/11/15 4:54 PM
REVIEW
Wings of ecology
Cultural tolerance and better understanding can
reduce human-wildlife conflicts
MEGHA PRAKASH & IPSITA HERLEKAR
EXCERPT
NATURAL HABITATS of birds are under
the great threat of inappropriate
land-use and misuse of ecosystems.
Urbanization of rural areas, incessant
construction of buildings, bigger
airports, wider roads (or which ancient
trees are ruthlessly cut down), along
with replacement of natural vegetation
with cultivated crops, particularly those
that offer no resting or roosting sites for
birds, and extensive use of chemical
52 DOWN TO EARTH
52-53Review.indd 52
23/11/15 12:55 PM
A U T H O R S AY S
SORIT / CSE
52-53Review.indd 53
23/11/15 12:55 PM
COLUMN
PAT E N T LY A B S U R D
L AT H A J I S H N U
54 DOWN TO EARTH
54Column.indd 54
23/11/15 10:51 AM
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56-57Opinion.indd 56
End-to-end disaster
To begin with, pmksy contradicts the National Water Policy, 2012,
which declares management of water from the perspective of hydrological units (river basin or sub-basin or watershed). But the
pmksy aims at water management at the level of the district-a
lower order political boundary of governance in India. Wherever a
watershed is divided by several districts, there could be several plans
1-15 DECEMBER 2015
20/11/15 4:55 PM
56-57Opinion.indd 57
24/11/15 2:38 PM
LAST WORD
R I G H T TO D I S S E N T
L AT H A J I S H N U
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58Last Word.indd 58
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