A long tradition of eco-sensitive agriculture helps Bishnois preserve groundwater

The intergenerational endeavours of the Bishnois in Punjab's Bazidpur village have increased agricultural profits, balanced groundwater levels and preserved the community's traditional knowledge systems.Abohar: In the late 15th century, much before our country's environmental laws were formalised, 34-year-old Guru Jambeshwar from Nagaur, in present-day Rajasthan, laid down 29 tenets of a new sect that he had founded — Bishnoism. Out of these, eight were focused on protecting the region's wildlife and its thick green cover. Ever since then, the Bishnoi community has been at the forefront of fiercely preserving the environment.The Bishnois are environmentalists by tradition. They bury their dead instead of cremating them to restrict unnecessary chopping of trees. Moreover, they only use dead trees for feeding their stoves and making furniture. With a legacy dating back to 500 years, this vegetarian sect with an estimated population of close to ten lakhs is concentrated in present-day states of Western Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.  In Bazidpur Bhoma, a village in Punjab, just on the border of Rajasthan, the Bishnoi community has steadfastly stuck to their sustainable indigenous cultures. Here, their eco-friendly social practices have continued over six generations. This formerly arid land is now home to around 3,500 people, who have together turned their lands lush and bountiful. The majority of the Bishnoi community is engaged in the local economy, working as agriculturists. While Punjab's water-hungry agriculture practices heralded by the green revolution have wreaked groundwater distress across the state, the Bishnois in Bazidpur have wilfully kept up with their sustainable agricultural practices. This has resulted in balanced groundwater levels, profitable agriculture, healthy living standards, and rich grassland ecology. Saving the Khejri: A community effort through the agesOne of the most significant reasons the community has strived to preserve the groundwater levels is to protect their sacred Khejri tree (Prosopis cineraria) that grows in a short period and is vital in maintaining the ecosystem of dry regions. "Khejri trees add immense nutrient value to the soil and ensure a good yield. The crops grown in the periphery of these trees are also protected from microbial infections and diseases. The dry barks of the trees have great antibacterial properties when burnt as firewood for cooking. The green leaves add a lot of oxygen to the air and are rich in lactic acid. The tree produces very nutritional fodder for our cattle. All of this tree's parts have some or the other medicinal value. In addition, we prepare a local dish called 'Sangri' from its fruit on special occasions," said Ajay Pal Bishnoi, a renowned conch shell (shankh) blowing practitioner from Bazidpur Bhoma, and winner of multiple recognitions, including the Limca Book of Records for longest non-stop blowing of the conch shell.In Bazidpur, the Bishnois have contributed a significant portion of their land to the migrant Sikh community engaged in agriculture, to tribal Banjaras, and towards wildlife and animal shelters (Picture credit - Mukul Deep Singh)The efforts of the community to save the Khejri have continued through the ages. In September 1730 AD, Maharaja of Marwar, Abhai Singh's men reached Khejarli village near Jodhpur to cut down Khejri trees to construct his new palace. In protest, 363 Bishnois laid down their lives by hugging these trees as a way to protect them. This inspired the famous Chipko Movement of the 1970s. Now, the Khejri trees appear to be in danger once again. A 2015 report by the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) claimed the fast decline of Khejri trees in Rajasthan was due to indiscriminate groundwater use. Responsible agricultureIn Punjab, the crisis of water table levels is infamously credited to the green revolution induced practices of transplanting rice three to four times a year. This conventional practice requires flooding of fields for almost three continuous months by pumping out the underground water through tube wells. To control this, the state government passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, restricting farmers from planting paddy before the notified dates. The farmers breaching the law are liable to a penalty of Rs 10,000/hectare/month. "However, the government continues to promote excessive pumping of groundwater by often providing 100 per cent subsidies on electricity and water bills," claimed Naveen Poonia (27), a former photographer who now works full-time as an agriculturist in his ancestral fields in Bazidpur. Well aware of how the green revolution has been impacting ecosystems through the rest of the state, Naveen, like others in his community, decided to grow their native rice variety called Jonna instead of the water-guzzling hybrid types found across Punjab. Even that is planted only once a year closer to the monsoons, therefore, reducing their dependence on groundwater. "If we ever need to use the groundwater, we only have to dig 30-40 feet down, unlike the rest of the state where one has to go down to as deep as 130-140 feet. Moreover, one has to use a lot of fuel such as diesel or hydroelectricity to pump this water out," said Naveen. Given climate change and erratic rainfall patterns, it might be impossible to replenish groundwater at this depth. Moreover, when pumped out, this deep underground water severely affects soil fertility and damages the old-growth trees as it’s rich in salts. Native crops and community livelihoodsFor Bishnois, cotton is a significant crop. The community uses cotton thatches for building houses and cooking purposes. Burning of the stubble is strictly prohibited in the village. The majority of Bishnois continue to grow the native variety of cotton. Though this variety produces a lesser yield, it sells for a 50% higher price and involves no use of chemical pesticides as compared to the widely used hybrid variety. The practice of intercropping with water-resilient crops such as kinnow, mustard, sesame, grams, maise and pearl millet has been consistent among Bishnois. They generate more profits through the cultivation of multiple crops and enrich their soil in the process. Intercropping of kinnow and cotton in the fields in Bazidpur Bhoma (Picture credit - Puneet Poonia)Despite not being highly profitable, the community continues to indulge in traditional crops instead of cash crops to support the village's local economy. "If we grow non-native crops such as paddy, not only will it have a dangerous effect on our natural ecosystem, but we would also be required to hire daily-wage labourers from other states such as Bihar who have the right kind of skill-set for [cultivating] paddy. Then the underprivileged demographic of our community, particularly women, who rely on [agricultural] daily-wage for their livelihood will be forced to migrate for work," explained Kalawati Devi (58), a Bishnoi woman from Bazidpur, who, like her fellow land-owning farmers, hires local women for cotton cultivation each year. "We aren't going out of our way to support people; this is simply how our social system works," she added. The legacy of Bishnoi's traditional knowledge systemsThese sustainable social systems are being carried forward by the next generations who have returned to Bazidpur to work from home during the pandemic. The young professionals are combining traditional knowledge with contemporary interventions that save water and effort. They are developing intercropping practices that will utilise the soil better and yield more profits. Puneet Poonia, 36, a software engineer, who has been working remotely from Bazidpur since March 2020, has been successful in experimenting with growing broccoli, beetroot, and plums through the intercropping approach. "We try to store whatever water we get from the government for agricultural purposes and rotate our crops in such a manner that no additional water is required to be pumped from underground. We have also switched to the drip-irrigation method wherever necessary to preserve water," said Puneet. Like other young returnees, Puneet has reconnected to his homeland, his people and aspires to encourage the Bishnoi community's sustainable practices through innovative approaches. "Along with declining levels of groundwater, its quality has degraded too. Therefore, we have recently started digging underground tanks to preserve the rainwater for drinking. The government is providing subsidies on some of these sustainable practices, so we thought to capitalise on that," he added. In order to maintain the shelf-life of the crops for a longer duration, most houses in the village have traditional inbuilt storage facilities with natural temperature regulating and pest-control mechanisms. This way, the community also remains empowered to hold on to their crops for longer durations instead of selling at the ongoing demand prices set by the middlemen in the supply chain.As the community keeps progressing with the practices centred around resource conservation, one of their challenges remains a lack of market linkage for the traditional crops, which are not listed as cash crops by the government. Click here to read about how the Bishnois in Abohar came to be the custodians of a large, open and collectively-owned wildlife sanctuary.This article is a part of a 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we will explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it. 

Punjab’s kinnow farmers maximise yield, profit amidst pandemic

While the pandemic posed serious challenges to farmers across the country, kinnow farmers in Abohar, Punjab managed to increase their yield and profits during in period. Dehradun: It was a few decades ago that the town of Abohar gained the title, ‘California of Punjab’. It came to be known thus for its rich soil, good irrigation sources, and striking production of kinnow — a high-yield mandarin hybrid that resembles an orange but is a tad smaller. The kinnow was introduced in the state in the late 1980s, but its popularity has grown over the recent years.While the current pandemic has had a negative impact on most economic activities, including agriculture, for the kinnow farmers of Punjab, the last few years have actually been profitable. The rising demand for kinnow, owing to its medicinal properties, has proved to be a game-changer for the farmers and fruit suppliers in Abohar. The last year was particularly profitable for the farmers due to the pandemic-induced increase in demand and prices of citrus fruits.    All about kinnow A typical kinnow tree takes up to five years to bear fruit, post which it bears fruit once a year. An acre of land can host around 90 well-spaced kinnow trees. An average mature tree by the age of 10 years produces up to 100 kg of fruit per harvest per year. According to experts, even if 0.01 per cent of flowers translate into fruit in a year, it is considered a good harvest.  A good kinnow crop, if supported by climatic factors such as rain much before the flowering, can yield a profit of up to 1.5 lakh per acre for the farmers. However, the cultivation process is both time and investment intensive as it requires treatment against insects as well as the intervention of fertilisers for a high yield. A good quality sapling can cost up to Rs 100 per plant.  The Indian Kinnow Mandarin is an interspecific hybrid crop that was developed at the University of California by H. B. Frost in 1915 and released in 1935.  In the mid-1950s, the Indian government extensively promoted citrus cultivation, especially in semi-arid zones, among the farmers in Punjab. And it was in the 1980s when kinnow made its entry into Punjab. Now, even organic cultivation of the fruit is gaining momentum in the region. "During the initial years of its introduction, the lack of awareness about kinnow didn't result in a market linkage and the fruit droppings used to be considered as a waste," informed Surinder Pal Singh, a 60-year-old kinnow farmer from Dhingawali village of Abohar, who is popularly known as ‘Organic Singh’ among his customers. He is a pioneer in the region in certifying his fields as organic. Singh's orchards have been around since 1953 and are now being run by the fourth generation of his family. Around 60 acres of his orchards have kinnow as the majority citrus crop. "We sell our certified organic kinnow at a price of 40-45 Rs/kg while the non-organic one is sold at an average price of 10-12 Rs/kg," said Singh. Surinder 'Organic Singh' Pal with local buyers in his Kinnow orchards (Picture sourced by Mani Mahesh Arora) Marginal farmers enter the market In Abohar, up until a year or so ago, only farmers with lands as big as 40-50 acres and above would commit to this time and investment intensive crop. But now kinnow is being grown by even marginal farmers with lands as small as three acres.  In the Bazidpur Bhoma village of Abohar, some afore-abandoned farmlands can now be seen as green zones flourishing with kinnow orchards. Additionally, lands that hold the potential for kinnow cultivation are also seeing a spike in their lease as well as selling prices. Some farmers are already setting up cold storage units for the profit-yielding kinnow droppings, which have an average shelf-life of up to 20 days, which is lesser than its contemporary orange. Orange has a shelf-life of up to two months without a cold-storage facility.  High demand Punjab and Haryana, along with a few belts of Rajasthan, contribute to the country's majority kinnow production. In 2020, IANS reported that kinnow worth Rs 30 crore was purchased from the growers in these three states. Among all the pockets, Abohar is said to produce up to 65 per cent of the fruit with around 33,000 hectares under its plantation.  The farmers selling kinnow at Rs 10-15/kg in 2020, witnessed a doubling of the prices to Rs 25-30/kg in 2021. According to some farmers, this year, even as the fruit was not ripe and self-aborted, it was procured to be transported mostly to commercial buyers, including juice and other processing businesses. In the last decade, Abohar has witnessed a significant international demand of kinnow, owing to its medicinal use, from Russia, the USA, Maldives, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. India manages to export 25 per cent of its kinnow production to some of these countries. The export prices for even premature droppings have gone up to as high as Rs 60/kg for non-certified organic kinnow. Some of the Abohar-based suppliers claim that the demand has been more than the production and supply capacity, and most of the region's produce ends up being consumed and supplied in India.  Aman Sharma, an Abohar-based farmer who has been growing kinnow in his 16 acres of land for the last 13 years, recently started his nationwide wholesale supply chain. He argues that the increased supply of kinnow is mainly due to the lack of production of its contemporary citrus fruit, the orange.  "The challenge with kinnow export in India remains the lack of an effective sea-linkage for this low shelf-life fruit. Due to its sea-link advantage, Pakistan has taken a lead and exports around 90 per cent of its kinnow, worldwide," shared Aman. A kinnow tree (top) and workers packing kinnow at a supply store in Abohar (Picture credit: Aman Sharma) Ecological sustainabilityWith the intervention of modern irrigation techniques such as drip-system, kinnow during its initial years of plantation consumes around 90 per cent less water than the conventional water-guzzling wheat-paddy crop cycle prevalent in most of Punjab.  Even a mature kinnow tree of 10 years consumes 30 per cent less water than the conventional cropping in the region, which requires flooding of the fields by pumping excessive groundwater from deep levels. Moreover, kinnow trees require less chemical intervention than the infamous wheat and paddy, which were introduced as cash crops during the Green Revolution. "Another factor adding to the sustainability as well as the profitability of kinnow is that by the time a tree produces the fruit, which is four to five years, farmers can intercrop the tree with vegetables and legumes to generate income while improving the efficiency of the soil in the process," stated Dr Maharaj Krishan Kaul, horticulture consultant at Surinder Jakhar IFFCO Trust in Abohar. Since Kinnow is a hybrid crop, Dr Kaul suggested not developing a complete dependency on a single fruit. "We need to diversify the crops by also growing and promoting other citrus fruits such as Malta and different varieties of orange," he added.  Despite the surge in profits, some of the challenges with kinnow cultivation remain lack of direct market linkage for most marginal farmers, unavailability of rapid transportation, and dearth of trained labour to handle the fruit carefully, especially during packaging and transportation. 

Santals of Bengal go back to their roots, champion agriculture that nurture ecosystems

With modern practices of rice farming draining their groundwater and making the community ill, this tribe in West Bengal is tapping into tradition to find more 'peaceful' ways of growing crops. Bolpur: Rabindranath Tagore held the Santal tribes in special regard for their unique way of life in which they combined farming with poetry, music and dance. Spread all across rural West Bengal, the Santals often own tiny pieces of land but largely work as daily wage labourers in rice fields.In one of their old traditional songs, ‘Har har dharti rima baha bagan; Baha bagan rima hunar Baha’, the Santalis celebrate the green earth teeming with incredible diversity. But with the widespread adoption of modern agricultural practices, often wasteful and harmful, much of this biodiversity got lost. In the Birbhum district, many Santals who still forage their food have observed the disappearance of burrowing animals as well as herbaceous plants, especially in and around the rice field ecosystems. Today the Santals in Bolpur are attempting to turn back the clock; banking on traditional wisdom, with some modern scientific ideas, to reclaim some of what has been lost. The challenge came in the form of rice cultivation ushered in with the Green Revolution, which accentuated excessive use of groundwater, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and has led to degradation of soil biodiversity over the years. The new varieties of rice, with its shorter and weaker stalks, can’t even be used as thatching or cattle fodder. The use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides directly impacted the health of farmers. Some Santalis claimed that their cattle had been falling sick and dying after eating the straw or drinking the water from local rice fields. Recognising the perils of conventional rice farming, a women-led group integrated native wisdom with permaculture for a sustainable economic alternative to the way agriculture and forestry are being practised. Permaculture is the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. The group from Khanjanpur village of Bolpur has transformed a plot of land measuring slightly less than an acre that was rendered dry with cracked soil and transformed it into a lush green ecosystem.Their success inspired many villagers to shift to natural farming of native rice varieties that not only preserves groundwater but saves them and their future generations from having to wade through chemical-laden water in order to ensure higher yields.In Birbhum, a farmer growing Boro rice using fertilisers shows his hands. The chemicals are causing various skin afflictions among those working in the fields (Picture courtesy: Mani Mahesh Aurora)Over-exploitation of groundwaterAgriculture, the way it is practised in India, is one of the major reasons for rapid groundwater depletion according to a 2016 report on groundwater status in West Bengal. Another report on water-intensive Boro rice cultivation also confirms this fact.Recognising this, Dr Sharmishtha Dattagupta, a former Geobiology professor from the University of Göttingen, introduced permaculture techniques to the Santali women with the support of an Israeli permaculture consultant.“Rice planting in the region was previously done in rhythm with nature using rainwater during monsoon. But now even policymakers promote, and governments incentivise groundwater extraction and the use of hybrid varieties of rice that can be planted in the dry winter season,” says  Dr Sharmishtha. Since the rice field needs to be flooded with water, villagers sink tube wells that draw water from up to a depth of 80 metres. This groundwater takes several years to recharge.“Deeper underground water is rich in salts. When used in rice farming, it quickly evaporates and makes the soil salty, damaging it. Overexposure of this topsoil to direct sun as well as ploughing with tractors is devastating as it kills all bacteria, fungus, and earthworms, which play an important role in the soil ecosystem. Basically, we kill the soil ecosystem and then treat it with fertilizers and pesticides to grow food,” she adds.The Dularia initiativeDr Sharmishtha with Dr Abhinanda Bairagi, a local biology teacher; Saraswati Murmu Baski, a Santali woman leading the initiative; and Kadamb, who disengaged from the group after her marriage – termed their permaculture initiative – Dularia. In Santali mythology, it means ‘created through love'; the original love that has created all living beings on the planet.The initiative, started in 2017, involved community members, with a workforce consisting of people across faiths from nearby villages. Expert consultants and volunteers from different parts of the world support them in integrating the methods of permaculture with traditional agriculture.Rice cultivation in Dularia is done entirely without chemicals, using only rainwater and with minimal use of machines (Picture courtesy: Dularia, Facebook)Yuval Leibovich, Israeli permaculture consultant, co-founder of the initiative says, “Before we started on this small plot of land, rain would fall on the hard soil and flow away, carrying precious topsoil with it. To capture rainwater and restore the groundwater, we figured out slopes, created a system of drains called ‘swales’ where water seeps into the ground and recharges the water table. Organic matter added to swales acts like leaves on a forest floor and retains water even in the dry seasons.”Within 3-years, the land transformed into a mini-forest ecosystem and indigenous trees flourished. Frogs, birds, crabs, snakes, fish and earthworms too thrived. The community now follows permaculture-based principles such as minimal or shallow tilling, no intervention of tractors, zero use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, adding nitrogen to the soil by growing leguminous plants and growing separate crops that attract pests so that rest of the food can be grown undisturbed.The initiative prompted the Santali community to revert to traditional farming techniques and growing native varieties of rice like ‘Gobindobhog’ which is grown in sync with the monsoons and does not require groundwater use. This variety sells at a market price of up to Rs 150/kg, compared to Rs 30/kg that hybrid varieties of rice grown perennially fetch.A community-wide scale-up Given the economic opportunity, the community is now eager to transform to natural methods of farming. Some farmers who are part of Dularia have already committed to transforming their own farms and farming methods.  Other villagers often stop by at the project location and engage with the Dularia team. The Dularia team plans to collaborate with local farmers, take on lease, and regenerate ‘abandoned plots’ in 30 Santali villages in Birbhum, and transform them into ‘natural fields’. Dr Sharmishtha, and the Dularia team explain the benefits of natural rice farming to farmers and advise them on how to embrace it. Saraswati Murmu Baski, one of the leaders of the initiative, facilitating an awareness workshop in among the Santal community (Picture courtesy Mani Mahesh Aurora)What started off as an educational and demonstrational initiative is now inspiring a wide community of farmers who are transitioning to natural rice farming in Bolpur.  “I worked as an agricultural labourer for Bengalis. They used chemical pesticides and fertilizers in the field. Often my face, even my hands and feet were swollen after a day in these fields, a feeling that others shared,” adds Churki Soren, 42, a Santali woman from Bishnubati in Bolpur who has battled poor health on a hospital bed for months. Churki Soren has recently vowed to go natural in farming her land.Madhusudan Ghosh, 50, a local farmer from Bandhnavagram in Bolpur aspires to adapt to natural methods to completely transform rice farming in his village within the next decade. “Nature itself is unlimited. But the way we are using it, it won’t last long. We are currently exploiting nature by cutting down trees, farming using chemicals, and preventing rainwater from returning to the soil. This is extremely damaging,” he says.A major challenge is to find the right type of land on which natural farming can be done. Most lands owned by Santals are small, low-elevation plots surrounded by fields, which over the years have become saturated with chemicals. Excessive groundwater usage in abutting fields has also affected these small plots of lands. This article is a part of 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it.

Following glacial burst, experts flag concerns about four infra projects in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand: The recent catastrophe in Uttarakhand that washed away two hydroelectric dams and killed 56 people has raised concerns among environmentalists about the viability of infrastructure projects in the Himalayan state. Geological experts attribute this tragedy to global warming but also to the unplanned construction in what they say is an ecologically-fragile region. If the government doesn't review the development projects that are already underway or just approved, it can lead to more mishaps in future, they warn. Uttarakhand currently has close to 32 such economic development projects, each costing Rs150 crore and above. Most of these involve building power stations, roads and railways in mid- to high-altitude regions in the Himalayas. This also includes a masterplan that the BJP is developing to build townships in Kedarnath and Badrinath valleys.  In a conversation with 101Reporters, experts identify four projects in Uttarakhand that are threatening its ecology and people alike.  Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project: It’s a high-altitude, 4 x 111 MW project coming up on the river Alaknanda in the district of Chamoli. In 2014, an expert body had sent a report to the Supreme Court arguing against the construction of dams in para-glacial regions (which are regions bordering the glaciers). Following which, the apex court had put a stay on 24 such dams but not on the Vishnugad Pipalkoti project or the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Power Plants that was battered by the recent flash floods, informs eminent scientist Dr Ravi Chopra, director, People’s Science Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Dr Chopra defends the report, explaining that in the high Himalayas, where the valley elevation is at an altitude of 2,000 meters or above, glaciers leave behind huge amounts of debris, moraines and boulders when they recede. “In the event of rainfall, flood or avalanche, the mixture of snow, ice and water moves down the slopes of the streams with extreme momentum and energy, as it happened in the recent tragedy, and destroys every barrier along its way.” The environmental impact of such projects sets off even before the construction begins, he informs. Mountain slopes have to be cut to make roads and sub-roads to transport the construction material to the project sites. This can make them vulnerable to landslides, apart from causing a loss of biodiversity. “Eventually, the impact reaches the river bodies where the [construction] debris is dumped in an unregulated manner,” he points out. And since hydro projects such as this tend to be diversion projects, they also affect the underwater ecosystem downstream. In 2013, the local communities had protested against this Rs3,860.35 crore-project for similar reasons. They also feared that the blasting and drilling work would weaken their houses. Their claims were investigated by the main funding agency World Bank, which later gave a nod to the dam. Rishikesh-Karanprayag Railway Line: This project will accelerate the army’s movement to the India-China border and is, therefore, of national strategic importance. In its current phase, the plan is to lay down a single-track railway line of 125 kilometres along with 35 bridges and 17 tunnels. This includes a 15.1 km tunnel between Devprayag and Lachmoli, one of the longest in the country. In 2016, when the first phase of the project commenced, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had transferred 300 hectares of the forest land to the railways. A slope is being cut for the construction of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag Rail Project. Credit Mani Mahesh AuroraDr SP Sati from the Department of Geology at Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar, has two major issues with the project. One, the blasting activities fracture the already-fragile mountain rocks. Two, the construction of tunnels generates a huge amount of debris, a problem, he says, is mostly sidelined and the hazards of which are underestimated.  “The management of the muck is not done in a responsible way. They are usually disposed of on the river slopes, hence, becoming one of the largest culprits for increasing the intensity of the natural disasters. Our valleys have no more room for the new debris being generated," he emphasises. Char Dham Highway: Budgeted at Rs12,000 crore, it aims to improve the connectivity to the char dham pilgrimage sites — Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath — in Uttarakhand. Currently, a stretch of 900km of national highway is being laid in addition to bypasses, bridges, tunnels and flyovers. It's estimated that the project would clear around 56,000 trees in the mountain state.The Char Dham Highway project in progess. Credit Hemant DhyaniRenowned environmentalist Hemant Dhyani from Dehradun, who has been a member of the Supreme Court Expert Body for assessing environmental degradation and the impact of economic development projects in the state, calls this one a “Himalayan blunder”. Upgrading the road infrastructure in hilly terrains starts with cutting through the mountain slopes and that’s where the damage begins. “In order to meet these standards for the Char Dham Highway, 700 hectares of forest land has been sacrificed with an official felling of about 48,000 trees. On the route, the green cover of the slopes has been cut beyond the suggested 24 meters RoW (Right of Way). The damage is unrepairable, unaccounted, and cannot be compensated,” he argues. The damage can be far-reaching. "Extensive tarred surface is bound to create a heat-island effect in the Himalayan valleys in future. And there is no space left for the plantation to be done along the road as they are tarred up to 12-15 meters. Heat generation and pollutants would contribute to climate change. We have been using our nation's funds to destabilise our own Himalayas," he adds. Moreover, the project aims to increase the vehicular influx to 10,000 cars a day while the capacity recommended by the experts is only 6,000 persons a day. This is an invitation to disasters, especially during the peak tourist season, scientists warn. Expansion of the Jolly Grant Airport: It's one of those development projects that even the Centre has raised objections to. On January 30, the environment ministry wrote to the Uttarakhand government for the second time to revisit its proposal on the non-forestry use of 87 hectares of the forest land in Dehradun required for the expansion. The state is yet to respond to the concerns even as Phase 1 of the project is heading towards completion next month. With an anticipated cost of Rs456.86 crore, the project by Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority aims to acquire forest land, including the high conservation value area of Shivalik Elephant Reserve. It's being said that the airport is being expanded to generate revenue by offering night-time parking facilities to the planes.Locals protested against the Jolly Grant Airport Expansion project in October 2020. Credit Ridhima PandeyRidhima Pandey, a 13-year-old climate activist who featured on BBC's 100 most empowering and influencing women list of 2020, snubs the idea. "The area has already seen man-animal conflicts due to the destruction of natural habitats. The wildlife corridor, which is being chopped [for this project] is home to many endangered and indigenous animal species, including the Indian Elephant. In fact, the [Shivalik Elephant] Reserve has among the highest densities of elephants in India."  

The toll Covid has taken on healthcare workers

Chandigarh, Chandigarh: Healthcare workers have been under tremendous pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts point out that apart from the increased risk of contracting the virus, healthcare professionals have to also deal with the lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, wage cuts and burnout from overworking. The current scenario has caused a surge in mental health conditions like depression and anxiety among healthcare workers, studies say.According to a study conducted by a group of Indian universities, 35.5%, 33.2% and 24.9% of the 217 undergraduate medical students, including resident interns, showed symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress respectively during COVID-19 outbreak. The study added that many of the respondents also showed symptoms of moderate depression (15.2%), moderate anxiety (17.5%) and mild stress (13.4%). In December, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) reported that over 700 doctors had died during the COVID-19 pandemic.A Mumbai-based clinical psychologist, who wished to be anonymous, stated that she has been working with doctors who tested positive for COVID-19. She added that they have been organising emotional wellness, counselling and medication sessions for the entire healthcare staff including nurses, ambulance staff, housekeepers and sanitation workers. She pointed out that most healthcare workers are facing burnout, causing a rise in stress levels.“The very act of wearing a PPE kit induces anxiety among us. Seeing a lot of human beings die from a virus in front of our eyes and not being able to do anything is going to have long-term psychological implications for healthcare workers," she shared.Stigma around mental healthAccording to another survey aimed to assess the mental health of Indian medical students during the pandemic, out of 359 participants (50.4% male and 49.6% females), a total of 75.5% and 74.6% of participants showed varying levels of anxiety and depression, respectively.Earlier in October, over 2,000 doctors in hospitals and dispensaries run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation went on to protest and strike for non-payment of salaries for over three months.Protests by doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi for non-payment of salaries during covid19. Credit: Mani Mahesh AuroraSeveral doctors have also reportedly died by suicide. In August, Dr SR Nagendra, a 43-year old government doctor on coronavirus duty, died by suicide in Mysuru district of Karnataka. His colleagues alleged that he was under intense work pressure. Later, investigators stated that Nagendra had been under pressure to meet the targets of coronavirus rapid antigen tests by the chief executive officer of the Mysore Zilla Parishad, who was booked under abetment to suicide.After this incident, a voluntary counselling and psychiatric service wing for the modern medicine practitioners was started by the Karnataka chapter of the IMA.Speaking to 101Reporters, Dr KS Karanth, chairman of the Psychiatry Cell of IMA Karnataka, mentioned that the online helpline offers counselling aid to the medicos, the ones especially working on the frontline and going through mental health issues. Psychiatrists, managed by a core body of experts, from across the state are volunteering for the programme, he added.The most common issues healthcare workers had been facing in the backdrop of the pandemic include stress, panic attacks, and anxiety apart from the pressure and harassment by the administrations and government bodies, he shared.Forced out of homesThroughout the nationwide lockdown, there have been reports of medical professionals and their families being harassed and chased away, on the streets by public mobs, from their rented homes by their landlords and neighbours, and even within the hospitals by their co-workers operating in the different departments. Dr.Shruthi Nagaraj, a doctor with the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, told 101Reporters that every doctor in the hospital has been made to go through 10 rounds of one-week of COVID-19 duties, followed by a week each of quarantine. Each shift lasts for at least six hours and there are seven subsequent shifts, she added.“We go through dehydration during the duties as we can't drink water or pee while wearing the PPE kits. All this while, there has been no other option but to maintain isolation and quarantine, even when we are allowed to be in our homes. I have felt depressed in these times owing to complete social isolation but gradually became accustomed to it,” she mentioned.She mentioned that several of her colleagues and friends have been forced to vacate their rented apartments owing to the stigma.Nurses, sanitation workers affectedApart from doctors, the mental health of nurses, technicians, ambulance drivers and sanitation workers in hospitals has also been affected.Uttam Gautam, 39, an ambulance technician for a Delhi-based ambulance service company, stated that most of his colleagues have tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered. He narrated that an 18-member team had shifted over 800 patients within north India during the peak of the pandemic.“It has been a challenging job to transfer and shift the patients with no single person from their family accompanying them during the transit owing to health and safety protocols. During the long interstate transits with the ambulance, our ambulance team wouldn’t be served food at any hotel or restaurant. We were not allowed to enter public toilets. Moreover, even hospital staff would treat us differently and see us as the ‘carriers of the virus’," he commented.A senior housekeeping and sanitation worker, who works on daily wage in the COVID-19 wing of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, alleged that many doctors within the hospital who were assigned COVID-19 duties, but they didn't enter the wards for months and forced the sanitation workers, including him, to perform their duties.He said his entire family had to be in quarantine while his neighbours called him names and mistreated his family members.Medical education disruptedThe pandemic has disrupted the medical education system as many government and private medical institutions have been converted into COVID-19 hospitals. Reports state that thousands of physicians-in-training across the country were pulled out from their classrooms in early April and deployed on consecutive COVID-19 duties. Towards the end of 2020, many state governments had already mandated MBBS students to report for COVID-19 duty in medical colleges with COVID-19 wards. According to The Wire, students in Gujarat were threatened with debarment from university examinations and were sent show-cause notices under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act 2005, if they didn’t report to colleges.With this forced shift from their primary role to learn medicine to performing COVID-19 duties, experts worry that most of the undergraduate doctors during the pandemic won't be specialising in their fields by the time they finish their degrees unless they extend their pursuing degree by a year. The consequences and long-term repercussions of this disruption are being anticipated to be affecting the society in large in the years to come, they say."Since medical education requires face to face interaction with the patients, undergraduate students are not able to get that opportunity. This has lead to reduced exposure in specific specialities," shared Dr Anupam Singh Chauhan, a second-year junior resident in the Department of Surgery, AIIMS Jodhpur. While stories about the lack of PPE kits for medical professionals in India are common, medical students at the Subharti University in Meerut claim that the institution had been depriving them of PPEs in order to cut the costs and had not even been giving salaries for months for the same reason. A student, who wished to be anonymous, stated that though their institution had been sourcing funds from the government for PPE kits, they had been deprived of the same for months, especially when the pandemic was on its peak.He claimed that they are yet to receive their salaries and are threatened with dire consequences if they approach the media with the issue.However, Dr Krishna Murty, Assistant Medical Superintendent at Subharti University, outrightly rejected the claims.

Traditional farming brings prosperity to many despite pandemic

Firozpur, Punjab: While the stereotypical farmer will complain of infertile land, water scarcity and low yield, there are sections of farmers who are at a happy place because of following traditional agricultural practices.According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the contribution of agriculture, forestry and other land use is about 21% in the total global emission of greenhouse gases. According to a study, high productivity, biodiversity conservation, low energy inputs and climate change mitigation are some of the salient features of the traditional agriculture systems. The modern techniques of agriculture have excessive dependence on chemicals additives, which deteriorate the soil quality and also harm water bodies. Experts say even switching to crops like millet from paddy can have a positive impact on the environment. According to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, about 4,000 litres of water is needed to produce one kilogramme of rice, while indigenous crops like millet require only a small fraction of that.Former dean of Punjab Agricultural University, Dr APS Man, told 101Reporters that traditional practices like agroforestry, intercropping, crop rotation, cover cropping, traditional organic composting and integrated crop-animal farming don’t require any chemical fertilisers. The crops cultivated using these techniques grow mostly under rain-fed conditions, he mentioned. Hence, these practices have the potential for enhancing crop productivity and mitigating climate change, he added. No fertilisers or chemicalsThe Bishnoi community in Bazidpur Bhoma, Abohar Tehsil, of Firozpur district of Punjab has been able to maintain underground water levels. It allows farmers to cultivate their traditional rice crop once a year, without creating stress on the water bodies, despite the area being a dry zone. The members of the Bishnoi community, originally from Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, are informally known as India’s first environmentalists. They are the ones who had heralded the Chipko movement. The community follows a set of rules, which include a ban on killing animals and felling green trees, and providing protection to all life forms. A native Cow breeding Center in Bazidpur Bhoma operated by the Banjara community members who are now residents of the village. Credits: Mukul Deep SinghThe self-sustainability of the community is quite in contrast with other regions of Punjab and the neighbouring state Haryana, which shifted to Bt cotton and wheat-paddy cultivation cycle from their traditional crops such as maize, pearl millet, pulses and oilseeds during the 1970s and 1980s during the Green Revolution. Puneet Punia, who worked as a software engineer, returned to his village during the lockdown. He stated that most of these indigenous varieties of crops grown in the area are conducive to the soil and the dry arid climate and it grows with minimal intervention of irrigation and chemical fertilisers. The practice of multicropping and intercropping nourish the soil, he added. Moong (green gram), which has a crop cycle of two-three months, can tolerate dryland conditions, and it prepares the soil for kinnow (mandarin), one of the biggest exports of Punjab, by fixing the nitrogen content in the soil, he explained. Kinnow Orchards in Bazidpur Bhoma. Credits: Mani Mahesh AuroraThe residents braved lockdown using traditional agricultural practices and even the small and marginal farmers have retained their native agricultural practices of cultivating crops such as indigenous cotton, he added. Using the intercropping technique, the community has planted kinnow with green gram, chickpeas, pearl millet and Guar beans, he informed.According to a study, while India's green revolution boosted the yield, it took a toll on the environment at the same time. The use of chemicals in farmlands has been blamed for pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, land degradation, erosion of traditional agricultural knowledge and decline in human health and livelihood.Puneet explained that the majority of the community is still following the pre-Green revolution era farming techniques, which don’t require chemicals or pesticides, so the fields remain high quality and the soil maintains its correct pH balance. Even while there’s a sharp rise in stubble burning after paddy harvest across Punjab, the Bishnoi community has ensured that they utilise the entire straw for feeding cattle and the stray during the following seasons, he added. Capitalising on traditional agricultureIn the Nagtibba region of Uttarakhand, most of the indigenous crops such as foxtail millet, barnyard millet, horse gram and red paddy were nearing extinction owing to the migration of villagers to the towns and cities. However, in the last few years, a majority of the villagers have shifted back to their traditional crops and methods. A for-profit organisation Bakri Chhap providing a platform to marginal farmers of the region by opening its small-scale collection and processing units in the villages which are operated completely by the villagers. The packaged traditional agricultural produce in the form of millet flour, rice, lentils and honey is being supplied directly to luxury hotels, retail stores and e-commerce platforms.During the pandemic, the organisation started scaling up by licensing the brand's trademark directly to the produce of marginal farmers and self-help groups engaged in ethical cultivation, stated Pradeep Panwar, a native of Uttarkashi district and the Community Manager at Bakri Chhap.They also provide reading material and training on the advantages of diversified agriculture over monocropping, quality control in supply mechanism, storytelling and marketing of farm produce, he added. Panwar stated that their initiatives during the lockdown have ensured that the farmers, especially the ones in remote villages with no access to roads and most of the conventional resources, have a consistent market for their produce through e-commerce channels and digital media platforms, he added. Modern techniques harmfulTraditional farming practices including the cultivation of millets and intercropping have been gaining popularity in recent years in the other parts of the country as well. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, who is part of a farming community settled in the basin area of Bagmati river in Bihar, cultivates paddy along with the soil-friendly intercropping of finger millet, beetroot and jicama. He said his produce is generating quite a fair demand in the urban ecosystems owing to the unique health benefits of the final yield.In West Bengal, an NGO Dularia has been working with the tribal Santal community towards reviving a degenerated piece of land through regenerative agro and forestry practices. Santal tribal women including Saraswati Baski, Manager of Dularia, planting Gobindobhog Rice on the Dularia plot. Credits: Jithu BaskiThe community, led by Dr Sharmishtha Dattagupta, is currently busy harvesting their first production of indigenous and highly aromatic Gobindobhog rice which offers high productivity, has a great export value and numerous health benefits in Ayurveda for treating imbalances in the body. The flattened version of this rice (chiwra) has gained momentum as a snack in domestic households. Speaking to 101Reporters, Dr Dattagupta explained that the soil has been rejuvenated using permaculture principles so that all farming can be done based on the high productivity of the soil without even having to use any manure. Natural farming and permaculture, which are regenerative practices, not only replenish groundwater but also bring back the natural state of healthy soil replete with beneficial fungi, bacteria and invertebrates and such practices ensure long-term productivity, Dr Dattagupta, a former assistant professor of Geobiology at University of Goettingen, Germany.