Environment

Space institute to axe fragile land

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has agreed to the land in Ponmudi Hills, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, for setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. After many a controversy regarding the land, which saw the government and the ISRO in a tug of war, the Space Institute campus is coming up on the Ponmudi Hills, which has been earmarked as ecologically fragile.
As the country has made advances in the field of space, a Space Institute is a necessity and no one would ever question this. But the real question is about the location chosen. The ISRO from the beginning of the proposal was quite determined for a location at a higher altitude. They opine that the campus should be at a higher altitude, as that could only cater to their requirements. This itself is contradictory as most of the reputed Space Institutes in the world have their campuses in the plains and an observatory at a high altitude. When almost all the ISRO's establishments are on the plains, why can't it think of the plains? Why is it that they want to infringe into the ecologically fragile land? The land that has been chosen is entirely a forest stretch and is thick with threatened ''Gluta travancorica'', which is included in the red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
The so-called ''development in space technology'' is just killing our ecology. Moreover, it would only augment more construction works in the area, which could spell a death knell to the green canopy.
Another danger lies in the fact that if construction works are allowed in the forested area, the estate owners nearby could also challenge the State for the same. They can also argue that if a forest area is not fragile, how can an estate be termed as ecologically fragile.
The Kerala government has decided to hand over 100 acres of wooded forests on the Ponmudi hills, adjoining the Merchiston and Ponmudi estates, for the Space Institute. Yet another controversy had roped in he revenue and the Forest Department. While the Forest Department had reported the area to be a forestland, the Revenue people say it is just another revenue piece of land. Were the revenue officials blind enough not to notice the hundred and more years aged trees in the area?
Kerala, one of the greenest states in India, is fast loosing its greenery and concrete jungles are coming up. Only a few stretches of greenery is left and that too is being axed in the name of development. It is time that we all rise up against such a menace and fight together for protecting the few stretch of greenery from being axed.

issues/law

Reversing Land Reforms; Are Communists for it?

Will the Communists scrap or reverse the ''Land reforms'' in Kerala, a landmark resolution which had transferred agrarian power to the agricultural labourers and poor peasants in this tiny state of India? This has become a hot topic of discussion, and a decision if at all, would surely backtrack the rebellious ''land reforms'' Act of the first Communist government।
The ''Land reforms'' have helped in shaping the Kerala society by bringing down to a great extent the economic, class and caste inequality and ended the statutory landlordism and the ''janmi'' system, and limited the ownership of landholdings.
Soon after the formation of the state in 1957, The Land Reforms Bill of 1959 introduced by the first Communist ministry had the very clear objective of breaking landlordism. It realised the slogan of “land to the tiller” which had been the promise of the freedom struggle. The tenants became the owners of the land they cultivated and tenancy was banned in all forms. It also imposed limits on landownership and distributed surplus land to the landless.
A new thought has been kick started now with the Communists again at the helm of power. Kerala Industries department has suggested that the Kerala Land Reforms act be repealed taking into account the changed circumstances. The department has also pointed out that the law was binding on the industrial development in the state and the land reforms, having served its purpose, were no longer relevant.
The communists, at least a few, are a worried lot as even a thought in repealing or scrapping the reforms would be self-crucification. What significance is left after all their rebellions? What could they say to the peasants? What can they tell their cadres who still boast of having the tag of class revolution? Can it be worthy to tell the comrades that the world is moving to capitalism and individualism and ask them to the incorporate all the changes?
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Poliburo member and Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who had participated in the peasants revolt, has made it clear that the Act would not be scrapped. ''The land reforms brought by the first Kerala Government led by the Communist party was a revolution in itself. It has helped to change the social scenario of the state. But the reforms are not complete and efforts are needed for fulfilling it,'' he said. A staunch Achutananadan said that the government will go ahead with its efforts to strengthen land reforms till at least one communist was left in his Ministry. Meanwhile his party secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan is yet to come up with a comment. And many more of the communists are yet to pin point their views. Kerala, which tops Indian states in education, health and other sectors, has achieved such heights and no doubt the land reforms had helped he state in gaining such heights. Moreover it had brought down to a great extent the economic, class and caste inequality and ended the statutory landlordism and the ''janmi'' system. The farmers who had worked under the landlords were able to get a piece of land that they sweated upon. The law also ensured fixity of tenure and protection from eviction. The land reforms has greatly reduced inequalities in the ownership and operation of land, and broke the economic and social power represented by large tracts of landed property, which has led to the elimination of the more extreme forms of deprivation and socio-economic oppression.
But most of the critics are of the view that land reforms did not really end capitalist landlordism or transfer agrarian power to agricultural labourers and poor peasants. As E M S Namboodiripad, under whose leadership the reform process was launched in the late1950s, had remarked that the old ''janmi'' system was replaced by" landlordism of another type", of landlords who get their lands cultivated through wage labour and those who live by lending money and dominated rural trade.
Another significant aspect is that land reforms did not increase agricultural production or rural employment in Kerala. The land was fragmented which is often cited as a reason for making agriculture a low-profit venture in the state. With bits of land, the farmers did not get the due share of their investment. And as a result, most of the lands were left fallow. It had also resulted in a drastic fall in employment in the agricultural sector and a rise in farm wages disproportionate to the yield. The Workers began to migrate to non-agricultural sectors, especially to satisfy the demand caused by large-scale construction activity. Another factor is that the Gulf boom pushed up land prices so high that selling agricultural land for real estate development became an enticing option.
Apart from this, it is argued that as the land ceiling of 15 acre for individuals was fixed, the industrial development has been stagnant in the state.
Whatever the arguments, the repealing or scrapping of the historic law is going to have far reaching consequences. It will bring back tenancy and pave way for the old system of landlords, consolidating land in certain hands. The rich are going to become more rich and the poor will be deprived of land for even raising a hut. It will also create a situation in which big farmers lease land from small and marginal farmers and as such the small farmers will either become labourers in their own land or will be alienated from agriculture itself. No doubt, the reversal of the land reforms would create a land market, which would alienate land from the farmers and its concentration in the hands of the rich.
In a world , where capitalism is far spreading its wings, we have all to strive for up keeping the radical reforms that had always changed the face of the society.

Information

Gods Own Country becomes smarter in IT


Kerala, the gods own country, has taken a leap forward in Information Technology, finding a place in the global IT map with the Smart City project becoming a reality. The foundation stone for the ''Smart City'' was laid jointly by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Smart City Executive Director Farid Abdul Rahman. With this Kerala, the southern state in India which was till known for its tourist spots, is all set to take a big leap in knowledge-based industry.
The project, first major FDI in the IT sector in the state, would spread over in an area of 8.8 million square feet, of which 70 per cent would be for IT and its enabled services. To be modelled along the lines of the Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, Smart City is going to be home to the best IT companies
from India and abroad.
Smart City, envisaged to create about 90,000 jobs in ten years, would be set up on 246 acre of land which would be given to TECOM by the state government on lease for 99 years. The Kerala Government will initially have a 16 per cent stake in the project, which will be increased to 26 per cent within five years.
It was in 2004 that the then Congress-led United Democratic Front Government led by Mr A K Antony proposed the project and his successor Mr Oommen Chandy signed an MoU. But the Communist -led Left Democratic Front, who are now in the ruling while in Opposition, had raised concerns over the deal and said that it was not favourable to the state. The UDF Government was close to signing an agreement in early 2006 but it was challenged in the Kerala High Court and the Congress lost the Assembly elections.
The LDF Government successfully renegotiated and an agreement was almost reached in September 2006. However, it hit roadblocks again as some officials negotiating for the state toughened their stand
and raised fresh demands. The talks resumed in February 2007. Chief Minister Achuthanadan's tough negotiating skills came to the fore in driving a hard bargain with TECOM authorities.
''Smart City'' is also seen as a moral victory for Mr Achuthanandan as he had earlier opposed the terms of the project worked out by the Congress-led United Democratic Front Government - a stance which was seen as anti-development. The IT project was also thought to have been shelved after the Communists came to power. This is also the first mega investment that the LDF had brought into the State. Mr Achutanandan and his Communist government had proved the Congress wrong in view of development.
The state currently has Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi as two IT infrastructure facilities. The Smart City is expected to give a tremendous makeover to the state's image
as an IT destination.

Environment

'Water budget', need of the hour in God's Own Country

Despite 44 rivers, copious lakes, and a good deal of rainfall, Kerala, which receives more water than
any other state in the country, faces an acute water crisis in the near future unless it goes for a proper ''water budget''।

Water experts and hydrologists in the state feel that unless there is a proper ''water budget'' on the availability, allocation and conservation/preservation of water resources, Kerala would face a severe shortage of water in the near future। The State of Environment (SoE) Report, Kerala 2005, released last month, has come out with this startling find.

''Total availability and allocation should be done appropriately। There should be a water budget on availability, needs, economic, social, ecological and environmental aspects,'' says E J James, Director, Centre for Water Resource Development and Management. Stressing the need for scientific management of water resources, he says this should not only focus on conserving resources but also utilising resources in the most scientific manner. Mr James feels there should be a mechanism for recharging water bodies. ''If water was not allowed to be recharged by some sort of harvesting, then over-exploitation will lead to depletion of ground water and the balance between demand and supply would be affected.''

Earlier, Kerala villages had a number of small ponds and lakes, which were the rechargers of ground water। ''Today with encroachment and few ponds and lakes around, recharging sources have been lost.''

Likewise, the rapid increase in population, unprecedented pace of urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural requirements has led to the demand for water increasing rapidly at a pace that was fast outstripping water supply. Rainwater harvesting, building bunds and tilling land were ways to tap water. Wet lands and paddy fields, which acted as rechargers, were fast being reclaimed, which had added to the problem.
Stating that conservation/preservation of water had not been attended to properly, the hydrologist says there were two complicated webs in maintaining the water level. ''There was a holistic, eco-system approach like preserving natural resources and interaction of all resources like land, water and environment. The
other one was the aspirations of human beings। Only if these two webs are linked together, can a sustainable water balance be maintained.''

Agreeing that about 10 to 15 per cent of the people were facing real problems and more areas were reporting problems, he suggests a scientific approach for developing water resources, taking into view
the geography and ecology of individual areas।

The SoE report said that pollution, floods, salinity, intrusion, wetland modification and over-exploitation of wetlands were the major problems associated with water resources in Kerala। Natural forests, accounting for 32 per cent of total area, were depleting owing to encroachment, illegal harvest and diversion for non-forest purposes. According to a survey conducted by the Central Ground Water Board, ground water level in Kerala was receding every year. Quarrying, wet land reclamation and shift from paddy cultivation were the main reasons that environmentalist Sreedharan cites for fast depleting ground water level.

Prof Sreedharan says quarrying of sand from rivers led to their ''death'' Not only had flow of water in rivers slowed down but also salinity had increased upstream, making the area dry, devoid of ground water। Noting that rain water harvesting was only a temporary relief for tapping water, he says only increasing vegetation in the soil would prevent rain from flowing into the Arabian Sea. Traditional methods of bund construction, paddy cultivation and tilling of land were all needed for arresting water shortage.

Sharing this view, M K Prasad, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Calicut University and an environmentalist, says ground water was being exploited to a large extent and it was high time people realised the importance of water management. Prof Prasad opines that in ten years Kerala would be devoid of paddy fields and wet lands, which were the rechargers of ground water. The state would become a dry land.
''This is a stage when planners have to be alert on sustainable levels of ground water exploitation,'' the experts says।

Water conservation in the state was lax and 70 per cent of rainfall flowed into the Arabian Sea within 48 hours, without getting retained in the soil, they said, adding, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, rain water harvesting had been made mandatory.
Kerala is blessed with two predominant rainy seasons thanks to the South West monsoon during June-August and North East Monsoon in September-November. On an average the state received 3,000 mm of
rain. It had been estimated that Kerala needed 5,823 million m3 of water additionally to meet its needs.