Ch.

5 - The Ailing Planet

the Green Movement’s Role
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the factors that are responsible for the declining health of the earth. The
chapter was originally an article written by Nani Palkhivala which was published in the
newspaper ‘The Indian Express’ on November 23, 1994.
The writer discusses the Green Movement, how a zoo in Zambia declared human beings as
‘world’s most dangerous animals’. The writer also focuses on overpopulation, deforestation and
what should be our responsibility towards the environment.
Vocabulary
Gripped – clutch; hold
Green Movement – It is a movement which stresses people to follow environmentally
friendly practices.
Irrevocably – in a way that cannot be changed or reversed
Holistic and Ecological View – It means a view for the preservation of the environment. It
also refers to the understanding of importance of earth’s resources for the use of future
generations
Revolutionary – evolving a complete change
Metabolic needs – needs of a living organism that enables them to have a chemical
process that causes food to be used for growth and energy

Ethical Obligation – when someone is required to do something based on a righteous

standard of rules
Stewards – manage or to look after
Sustainable Development – economic development without depletion of natural resources

Dawned – begin
Catalogued – classify; characterise
Reckon – calculate
Languish – lose or lack of vitality of a person or plant or animal; grow weak
Ignominious darkness – disgraced as no one has knowledge about them
Inter Alia – among other things
Scorched – burn the surface with heat of fire
Impoverished – made poor
Ailing – in poor health

Synthetics – artificial substance

Impaired – weakened or damaged
Barren wastelands – barely inhabitable piece of land
Deteriorate – become progressively worse; decline
Decimated – to reduce in number
Procure – obtain with care or effort

Precede – come before in order or position

Patrimony – property inherited from father or ancestor
Deprives – prevent a person from using something
.
Endeavor – trying hard to achieve something
Anguish – pain; suffering
Casteism – discrimination on the grounds of caste
Catastrophic Depletion – a harmful reduction in a number of something
Distorting – deform; disfigure
Beget – give life to
Condemns – find guilty of something
Sterilised – make free from bacteria or other micro organisms
Voluntary – done or given of one’s free will
Coercion – force
Perpetuation – keep going
Hutments – collection of huts
Transcending Concern – a concern that existed for a very long time and has passed down
from one generation to another
Demise – death
Ushered – guide someone somewhere
Decisively – clear and definitive
Felicitous – well-chosen
Freehold – permanent tenure of land or property
Tenancy – possession of the land
Question Answers
Understanding the text
1. Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.
Ans: The lines that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’ are:
i. “The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health”
ii. “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished
landscapes, and the ailing environment?”
iii. “…the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight
countries investigated”
iv. “There can be no doubt that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors
distorting the future of human society”
2. What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at
Lusaka, Zambia, signify?
Ans: The notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ signifies that human has deteriorated the
planet from a long time that his own survival is under threat now.
3. How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?
Ans: There are four principal biological systems – fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands.
These four systems provide food and raw materials for industry except for minerals and
synthetics. These systems have reached an unsustainable point where their productivity have
impaired. As a result, fisheries are collapsing, deforestation is taking place, grasslands are
turning into barren wasteland and croplands are becoming worse. Overfishing is very common
nowadays where people are becoming protein-conscious. In poor countries, the forest is being
cut down on a large scale to obtain wood for cooking. In some areas, firewood is more costly
than food. Many species are under destruction in tropical forests.
4. Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest
factors distorting the future of human society?
Ans: The author avers that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors behind
the distortion of the future of mankind because overpopulation leads to unemployment, rise in
poor health conditions and ultimately poverty. It deteriorates the environment and the four
principal biological systems.
The richer are getting rich and the poor is birthing more children which leads to more
unemployment. Development is the best contraceptive which will lead to more employment, rise
in health conditions and improvement in education. It also results in a reduction in fertility rate.
We have to choose between population control and keeping up with poverty.
Talking about the text
1. Discuss – Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.
Ans: According to the Article 48A of the Constitution of India, the state should try to protect and
improve the environment and must protect the forest and wildlife of the country. But the painful
fact is that laws are not followed in India. For example – casteism, untouchability and bonded
labour, are said to be abolished in India but are still in practice. Over the last four decades, India
is losing forest at a harmful rate of 3.7 million acres a year as per the report of Parliament’s
Estimates Committee. The large area of forestland is now treeless and the actual loss is
estimated to be eight times the rate given by government statistics.
2. Discuss – “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts,
impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment?”
Ans: The above lines were mentioned in the first report of the Brandt Commission. With the
rising scale of distortion of the environment, humans are going to leave a burned planet with
aided deserts, poor landscapes and a poor environment for our future generations. Our earth is
like a patient with declining health and it is not a good sign. Deforestation and over populations
are some of the reasons behind the deterioration of the earth. We must realize our ‘Era of
Responsibility’ before it’s too late. We must conserve the earth as if we have borrowed it from our
future generations.
3. Discuss – “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it
from our children”.
Ans: From many decades, humans are using the resources of the earth at a very alarming rate
without worrying about future generations. Now the environment has become critical enough that
humans must realize the era of responsibility towards it. With quite some time, human perception
is changing and the earth is seen as a ‘holistic and ecological view’. Earth is seen as a living
organism which has its own metabolic and vital needs. We must protect the resources for future
generations. Use of ‘Sustainable Development’ which means meeting the needs of the present
generation without compromising with future generations. Thus, the earth’s resources should be
utilized in a way that doesn’t affect the future.
4. Discuss – The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.
Ans: Overpopulation leads to many problems that are affecting mankind and natural resources.
It leads to poverty and unemployment. The poor children are forced to live the same lifestyle as
their parents did because of the lack of resources and facilities. Overpopulation leads to lesser
education and low health facilities which results in more problems like the rise in harmful
diseases and fertility rate. The natural resources are being consumed at a very fast rate to fulfill
the need of the population throughout the world. Deforestation is one of the issues where forests
are being cut down. All this results in global warming and if the population is not controlled, it will
deplete the environment and earth.