Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald

Indian forest and tree cover loss was 21,942 ha in 2014, which dropped to 20,997 ha next year before shooting up in 2016 and 2017. Subsequently there was a dip in 2018 when the forest loss figures stood at 19,310 ha.

The data has been collated by the University of Maryland that uses NASA satellite images to look into forest loss trends all over the world. Though the satellite images do not provide the cause of such a mammoth loss, various studies have blamed it on unprecedented mining activities, logging and shifting cultivation.

The forest cover loss has led to an increase of carbon dioxide in India’s atmosphere by 101-250% up to 2017, according to a different analysis by the WRI.

Paradoxically, in 2018, Modi, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, were selected as the ‘Champions of the Earth’- United Nations’ highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action. Is our PM really worth this honour? The above data gives enough evidence to answer this question.

Throughout the NDA regime, Modi and his ministers have diluted laws without consultation from stakeholders, undermined institutions and tried everything in their power for the ‘ease of doing business.’ This has led to incessant exploitation of natural resources by the corporates. The forests, wildlife and coasts have been tremendously destroyed with the air pollution and waste scenario worsening.

The first indication of NDA’s dubious stand on the environmental concept was found in the 2014 election manifesto wherein ‘Environmental management’ found mention under the subject ‘Industry’ instead of ‘Flora, Fauna and Environment.’ The manifesto stated, “The emphasis on framing of environmental laws in a manner that encourages speedy clearances, removal of red tape and bottlenecks, is a sure indicator of diluted scrutiny of development projects at the time of clearance.”

In the first year of his coming to power, Modi constituted a high level committee led by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian to review and suggest amendments in the six main environmental laws of the country- Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; and Indian Forest Act 1927. Due to intense opposition to the committee’s findings, the government never implemented them fully.

Various projects initiated in the past five years have proved to be environmentally and socially disastrous. Some of the projects include- the Sagarmala project, the Mumbai Coastal Road, Mumbai Metro-III, the Statue of Unity, the Char Dham road, Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train, expansion of Mumbai-Goa highway and the list goes on! To give a few glimpses of the environmental calamity that these projects will cause- it is estimated that around 40,000 trees will be cut for the 900 km Char Dham all-weather road, 44,000 trees for the expansion of Mumbai-Goa highway, another 8,300 for Mumbai-Pune expressway. Further, 77 ha of forest land in Maharashtra will be claimed for the Bullet Train project.

In March 2018, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) proposed major changes to the draft National Forest Policy (NFP) 2018. that has been criticised for favouring corporate interests in the forestry sector. In the same year in April, the MoEF&CC made public the draft CRZ notification 2018. Critics say that the draft will open up India’s coasts to industries and help in aiding the government’s ambitious Sagarmala programme. Also, the Mumbai coastal road will take away the livelihood of the entire fishing communing leaving them to fend for themselves.

The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs have expressed its concerns about the government’s policy that will affect tribals on a large scale. It has  pointed out that its authority as the nodal agency for the Forest Rights Act (2006), has been diluted by unilateral policy decisions and enactments proposed by the MoEF&CC without any consultation with it. Modi government has drawn ire from environmentalists for disempowering the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which was set up by the UPA-II in 2010 to adjudicate on environmental litigations. The Modi government was accused for misusing the provision of a “money bill” to make changes to the appointment system of judges to the NGT. However, the Supreme Court subsequently put a stay on the government’s amendment.

In short, according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, the last four years have seen:

• Significant increase in allowing ‘development’ projects inside wildlife protected areas, bypassing necessary impact studies, from 260 in 2009-13 (under UPA) to 519 in 2014 – 18 (the BJP phase);
• Proposed policy changes (e.g. a new Forest Policy, and Coastal Regulation Zone notification) that favour take-over of land, forest, water, coasts by corporate entities;
• New projects that are mere greenwash, having no teeth or clarity, e.g. the National Clean Air Programme which has no specific targets for cities;
• Attempts to weaken several crucial institutional structures, such as the National Green Tribunal (indications are that if BJP had its way, it would have shut the Tribunal down by now).

In contrast, the casualty in the UPA-2 regime between 2009 and 2013 was 77,963 ha, while 87,350 ha of tropical forest disappeared in 2004-08 when UPA-1 was in power. Cumulatively 3,10,625 ha of primary forest have been lost since 2002. The Congress is also to be blamed to some extent but the disaster in the BJP regime is unprecedented with millions of lives being affected!

India stands 177 (out of 180 countries) on the Environmental Performance Index, 2018. In 2016, India ranked 141. We also have the maximum number of environmental conflicts in the world, with the Environmental Justice Atlas (an international database) recording 271 cases in India in 2017. Moreover, in 2013, India had six out of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world. Today, we have 11 out of the top 12.

While the Congress’ manifesto talks a little bit about the measures for environmental protection, the BJP’s manifesto has no mention of India’s rich flora and fauna and the measures for conserving it.

The 2019 election results will decide the future of our ecology and of thousands of tribals and forest-dwellers!

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The post Study Shows 1.2L Hectares of Forest Lost in the NDA Regime! Is Modi really a ‘Champion of the Earth?’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Gagas valley in Uttarakhand, irrigated by the Gagas river. Image: Hridayesh Joshi

“River Gagas is our main source of drinking water and irrigation. Canals (from the river) bring water to the fields and make this (agriculture) possible for us”, says 27-year- old Bhupendra Singh Bisht, a resident of Rawalsera village in the valley.

Gagas is one of the myriad spring-fed rivers without which life would be almost impossible in the Himalayas. While large glacier-fed rivers such as the Ganga, Brahmaputra or Indus get all the attention, the relatively small spring-fed rivers in the middle Himalayas are what sustain the people.

The big rivers form gorges so deep that it is difficult to fetch water from them for everyday use. In most places, those gorges are too steep to farm on the riverbanks.

In contrast, the spring-fed rivers start in the forests at the top of local hills, flow through relatively wider valleys and finally meet the larger glacier-fed rivers, a crucial source of water in the winter when there is very little flow from the hard-frozen glaciers. A maze of irrigation channels (locally called gul) take the water from the rivers to the fields and return the water downstream after irrigation.

“The entire gul system developed in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is fed by these non-glacial rivers,” says Yogesh Gokhale, Senior Fellow, Forestry and Biodiversity Division at the New Delhi-based think tank, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Bhupendra Singh Bisht shows a water channel (gul) that flows from the Gagas river and irrigates farms in the valley. Image: Hridayesh Joshi

The Gagas river rises from a spring in the forests of Bhatkot in Almora district. It flows around 125 kilometres before merging into the Ramganga (West) at Bhikiasain. During its short journey, as many as 70 rivulets meet the Gagas, making it the river that caters to household and irrigation needs of over 100,000 people.

Forest rivers
In the Himalayas, there are many non-glacial rivers such as the Gagas. In Kumaon, there are the Gomti, Garudganga, Panar, Kosi, Bino, Gaula and so on. Locally, they are called “forest rivers”, because that is where they are born. Together, they form an intricate web that is the backbone of perennial water supply in the Ganga basin.

“In 1992 when the first (earth) summit was organised in Rio de Janeiro the Himalayan glaciers were termed water towers of the 21st century. I have been saying since then that though glaciers are definitely water towers, but the forests are too,” says the doyen of environmental historians Shekhar Pathak.

“In fact, they are double water towers because they not only preserve and maintain water in the ground, but also release water when in winters the glaciers don’t melt, and the snowy rivers don’t give you water. For three to four months the environment does not allow the river to flow. That is the time when these non-glacial rivers continue to supply water to these perennial rivers.”

Critical for the survival of local communities, these rivers have religious, mythological and historical importance. Gomti and Garudganga meet at the temple town of Baijnath, which was the capital of the Katyuri kings between 800 and 1100 CE.

The confluence of Ramganga (West) and Bino at Budha Kedar near Ranikhet in Uttarakhand, Ramganga is one of the largest forest rivers in Uttarakhand. Image: Hridayesh Joshi

Watershed destruction
Today, all these rivers are in danger.
The main threat is deforestation. Ill-planned road construction, housing and hydropower dams have led to trees being cut down. Add to that encroachment on forests for agriculture, horticulture and pasture. In Uttarakhand, over 45,000 hectares of forest land have been diverted to other use since 1980. Trees in over 60% of these “diverted” areas  have been felled since 2000.

Forests act like sponges to hold rainwater and release it slowly. The felling of trees has dried out many of the springs from which these “forest rivers” start.

The pressure of population has increased rapidly on hill towns of Uttarakhand. India’s decadal Census shows that urban population of the state has doubled in the last two decades. The populations in urban areas has jumped from 1.63 million (22.97%) in 2001 to 3.09 million (30.55%) in 2011. The population of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar – towns in Uttarakhand – increased by 30.63% and 33.45% respectively between 2001 and 2011. Population of the hill districts of Nainital, Champawat and Uttarkashi increased by 25.13%, 15.63% and 11.89% respectively in the same period.

A view of Pithoragarh, a town growing fast, all unplanned and haphazard. Image: Vipin Gupta

“Villages are getting emptied. People are migrating from remote areas not only to plains but also to hill towns. Besides big towns like Pithoragarh, small settlements like Didihaat and Berinaag are also getting crowded. The trend has sharply increased in the last 20 years.” says 39-year-old Komal Singh Mehta, who lives in Pithoragarh.

This migration has resulted in rapid construction for housing and business. Forests have been cut to make space for buildings, including for hotels and resorts to boost tourism. All this in the absence of any planning and through violation of norms. Catchments are being destroyed and the hydrology of the region has been disturbed.

“The growth is unlimited and it is all unplanned. We have seen hill towns like Almora growing as much as five times in the last fifty years. All the construction is done over the places where there used to be wells. Now as the buildings have been constructed over them the wells are gone. This has affected the catchment,” says G.C.S. Negi, scientist with the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development at Almora.

Environmental norms and laws are frequently violated during road construction across the mountains. Trees are cut without any clearance from the forest department and debris thrown into the rivers below. The process has significantly increased the number of landslides in the region.

The biggest example is the 900-km Chardham Yatra Marg project to connect four major Hindu shrines in Uttarakhand. The controversial project has seen felling of as many as 50,000 trees. The state and central governments have been touting the project as a state of the art “all weather highway”, even as the matter is pending in court for violation of environmental laws and not obtaining mandatory clearances.

Environmental experts and earth scientists have criticised the project for dumping debris in the rivers and excavating mountainsides in an ecologically sensitive region.

“Unfortunately, in recent times indiscriminate growth of projects have compromised the future of these smaller streams by striking at their very vitals, namely aquifer connectivity and facilitating greens,” says Manoj Mishra, retired official of the Indian Forest Service and now an activist seeking to revive the Yamuna river. “Char Dham all-weather road construction activities resulting in loss of thousands of trees and drying of springs is a case in point.”

River Gomti meets another important non-glacial river Garudganga in the historic town of Baijnath in Uttarakhand. Image:  Hridayesh Joshi

Depleting groundwater

The cutting down of forests affects percolation of water underground, drying up the water channels (known as nallas and gadheras in Kumaon) that feed the non-glacial rivers. Resident Ram Singh Bhandari, 51, talks of two main reasons for the drying up. “The rainfall isn’t as much as it used to be 25 years back. Another reason is the method adopted for the drinking water supply schemes by (government) departments. They have dug borewells and extracted all the groundwater.”

All over Kumaon, hand pumps can be seen along the roadside and in the villages. “These hand pumps extract ground water, so naulas (shallow wells) have dried up. These (wells) are very important for groundwater recharge that keeps the springs alive,” says 52-year-old Charu Tiwari, who has been part of several environmental movements in Uttarakhand.

“Correct way to provide water is make supply line from the rivers (to the villages) but the authorities have found an easy answer. They dig and encourage borewells,” says Tiwari while showing the famous Dosad ka Gadhera (a water channel) in Bagwalipokhar which is dry now. “There was a time some 25 years ago when this Dosad ka Gadhera had so much water we couldn’t cross it. But you can see what is left now. Such water channels are the feeders of forest rivers.”

The climate change effect
Long spells of dry weather punctuated by cloudbursts are becoming frequent in the Himalayas. Experts in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have ascribed this to climate change. The effect on receding of glaciers is better known globally. But for the residents, the erratic rainfall pattern is just as destructive, if not more.

“In the last 30-40 years the behaviour of weather is entirely different from what it was earlier,” says Shekhar Pathak. “Now nowhere do you feel that this is natural.  Either it is surplus water or it is long drought. In some parts of outer Himalaya between September and next June there is no snowfall or rainfall.”

Such water channels were once alive and fed non-glacial rivers. Image: Hridayesh Joshi

People power
Modern India’s ecological consciousness was born largely out of Uttarakhand’s Chipko movement in the 1970s, when women clung to trees to save forests. Now, the women are again taking charge to protect forests and plant the species that hold moisture and recharge groundwater.

Women in Thaman village of the Gagas valley are showing the way.

“Here we have planted around 800 trees,” says Hema Devi, leader of the Mahila Mangal Dal, a community group of women. “We also made some trenches and dug the ground (to make small ponds). As a result, we now have some water here.”
What variety of trees did they plant? “We planted trees with broad leaves like oak, rhododendron, basil and gooseberry. Her companions say they want to recharge the wells by rejuvenating the forest. “We noticed the falling water level and bad health of streams but now we are taking care of the forest,” adds Hema Devi. “The result is slow, but we are moving in the right direction. We can see the water level is improving in our almost dead wells.”

Such efforts have resulted in an initiative, the Naula foundation, a movement to save wells with the participation of women and young volunteers. Foundation member Manoj Pande, 52, shows the results in Panergaon and Dhankhal, where they have planted oak and rhododendron. “I started plantation in 1998 when this place had become barren and the wells had dried up. People would say nothing can happen, don’t waste your time. I was determined to grow this forest. Today you can see the difference.” The trees are thriving, and the wells have water.

Making trenches is another popular and effective way to increase the groundwater level and recharge the dead springs and water streams. Villagers have successfully implemented the technique in Uttarakhand with the help of experts.

The efforts of these passionate villagers become more critical as experts caution against the continued migration from remote areas in the mountains. They underline that habitation is necessary to protect the catchment. “Up in the mountains catchments are very badly managed. They are extremely damaged. People are coming down from higher altitudes leaving behind non-maintained watershed catchments. There is no availability of people to take care of bunds of farmlands and terraces resulting in extreme deterioration of landscape and also the watershed,” says Yogesh Gokhale.
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Source: India Climate Dialogue
 

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