[IMC Bombay] environment-housing health etc--Fw: What's new at CSE--centre for science and environment--tughlaqabad

[kush]

from the ppl who cleaned up delhi --from its unauthorised and illegal
industries and gave it CNG based buses/autos leading to a cleaner
environment
----- Original Message -----
From: "webadmin@cseindia.org" <cseindia@bol.net.in>
To: <CSE-LIST2@listserv.cseindia.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 3:59 AM
Subject: What's new at CSE


*******************************************************

What's New at CSE?

*******************************************************

A fortnightly electronic news bulletin from the Centre for Science  and
Environment, India, to our network of friends and professionals
interested in environmental issues. If you wish to unsubscribe, please
scroll down to the bottom of this page for more information.

-----------------------------------------------------

LATEST FROM DOWN TO EARTH MAGAZINE

-----------------------------------------------------

WHY WORDS ARE BIOTIC

What exactly is lost when a language dies? Do we also lose a biotic
world-view, the local knowledge and wisdom of which a language is a
repository? Is it a coincidence that areas of linguistic and ethnic
plurality are also areas of biodiversity?

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=1
NOTE: 'Down To Earth' magazine subscribers only

-----------------------------------------------------

ALSO IN DOWN TO EARTH MAGAZINE:

-----------------------------------------------------

STATE SPONSORS DISABILITY

At least 10,000 people in several villages in Uttar Pradesh have fallen
prey to a crippling disease. 'Fluorosis' is the administration's diagnosis.
But from all accounts, the authorities themselves have inflicted this
agony upon the people.

Read the complete article online:
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=2

-----------------------------------------------------

DRYING UP

Twin crises in the Sundarbans: depleting fish stocks and marginalized
fisherfolk

More at:

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=3
Note: Down To Earth subscribers only

-----------------------------------------------------

>From the Down To Earth Editor's desk:

-----------------------------------------------------

HOW CITIES (DON'T) RUN

Last week I met an official of the local municipal corporation to discuss
a property tax case, a blatantly inaccurate and astronomical
assessment. I asked: why? Said this officer, "Harassment is our tool of
governance." Of course the property assessment was inflated. It had to
be. We have to presume the worst and then issue the notice.That was
the way of doing things, he explained.

I was stumped for a moment. But then I realised this is exactly how city
governments are run. It is best to have ridiculous laws, outdated and
out-manoeuvrable, which cannot be used as the basis of practice.
These laws make the majority of people in the city dishonest or illegal.
They also ensure it is easier and less cumbersome to be so. It is no
accident that corruption becomes the way of life in such
circumstances.

Madhu Kishwar of Manushi has estimated that there are over 0.5-0.6
million hawkers in the city. The municipal corporation only licenses a
few. The rest pay over Rs 500-800 each month as bribes -- a
staggering Rs.480 crore of annual grease money in this informal
economy. No wonder it thrives.

Take the issue of illegal settlements. Over 50 per cent of Delhi -- more
than 6 million people -- live in what is popularly known as "unauthorised
colonies" and slums. The estimates for most other metros is similar.
Over the years, the settlements grow. Policy says they must not exist.
Reality dictates that there is no option. Delhi gets over 0.3 million
migrants each year, and housing is non-existent.

The reality also is that it suits the politician-administration combine to
keepthe city illegal. Encroachment of public land is a big business.
Then there is the even bigger business of extracting rent for 'illegal'
use of public space. Above all this towers the ultimate way of
profiteering: making political capital out of regularising the
encroachments.

The politician has made it into a fine and corrupt craft. In Delhi, BJP
veteran Madan Lal Khurana wants all unauthorised colonies to be
regularised, all unauthorised construction within one's boundary wall to
be regularised, all illegal shops in residential areas to be regularised.
Moreover, Khurana says that he will get all such illegal activities made
legal in a jiffy, if he is elected to power. The message is clear: you
break the law. I will make it all right. How much more can the system
be abused?

The Khurana-way is deplorable. But so is thinking that the problem
does not exist. Illegal settlements and slums are the city today. If we
dismiss half the population as illegal, then what is legal about the rest?
Today in Delhi, unauthorised colonies, roughly 2.5 million people, have
no municipal amenities -- no water, no sewerage, no garbage removal,
no roads. And certainly no parks and green spaces.

The dilemma is that if regularising settlements leads to more and more
illegal activities, then what is the way ahead? Does this not mean that
we condone the Khurana way? If so, why bother to plan? Why have
laws at all?

Similarly haphazard growth and deliberately obtuse laws and
regulations, combined with corruption, have lead to a proliferation of
polluting units in residential areas. Today, these areas are living hell.
The industrial units are illegal. But they exist and are growing, whatever
government may say. Studies on occupational structures of migrants
show that for the first few years they work mainly as hawkers and
vendors and then slowly get into low-paid, unskilled industrial
employment, often with very poor working environments.

This employment is created in dirty small industrial units working in cut-
throat competitive conditions, without any capacity -- financial or
technological -- to invest in pollution control. They are a public
nuisance. But also a social reality.

Where do we go from here? One way would be to change the business
of governance that is built on the illegal. First we will have to recognise,
even accept, what is unauthorised to some extent. City planners
accept that the only way to develop low-income settlements is by
providing security of tenure and infrastructure, like water and electricity.

Secondly, we have to put into place mechanisms to break the nexus of
the corrupt. It will begin with clearer and simpler laws, which make
sense. In the case of polluting units, nobody till date knows what is
polluting and what is not. We need to identify, publicise widely and
update all industrial activities considered polluting. These industries
must be banned from operating in residential or non-conforming areas.
Thirdly, once a city regulation is passed, there should be no mercy on
defaulters.

Fourthly, we need mechanisms to make sure that what is illegal does
not grow and grow. For this, it is essential we take the questions of
transparency and public participation much more seriously than ever
before. Make public lists of government-owned real estates, lists of
polluting industries so that residents know the law and can complain
against defaulters.

But to harass and to keep the business of governance illegal is
intelligent. It is profitable for the law-breakers and the law-makers. Why
will anyone bell the cat?

-- Sunita Narain

Read this editorial online:
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=4

WRITE TO THE EDITOR: editor@downtoearth.org.in

*******************************************************

News from CSE

*******************************************************

URGE OVERKILL: DECLINING SPERM COUNT

The average man will be infertile within a century. Endocrine disruptors
cause an effect using more than one mechanism to disrupt normal
sperm development and reproduction. Increasing evidence shows
plastics, fumes, pesticides and metals in food and water cause
impaired semen quality.

More in the latest Health Newsletter: http://www.cseindia.org

-----------------------------------------------------

ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK

Fake medicines account for nearly 10 per cent of the global
pharmaceutical commerce. Trade in fake medicines flourishes due to
official apathy in India.

Read the complete Sept.-Oct. edition Special Report:
http://www.cseindia.org

-----------------------------------------------------

CSE's Urban Wetlands campaign invites you to join

CSE LAKENET

A free, easy-to-use Yahoo! e-mail group. Interact and sustain a lively
and constructive dialogue. Network with members to develop a
comprehensive strategy to protect threatened urban water bodies.
Learn more...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cselakenet

-----------------------------------------------------

NETWORK WITH CSE

CSE's Database unit collects, disseminates and publishes information
about individuals  and organisations involved in environment,
sustainability and development issues. Add your name to our
specialised database of contacts. Buy our specialised contact
directories. Search for experts in your area of interest.

Learn more: http://www.cseindia.org

-----------------------------------------------------

CSE AWARDS 11 MEDIA FELLOWSHIPS

An eminent panel chose 11 journalists from across India to report on
community-based water management.

More at: http://www.cseindia.org/html/media/media_fellowships.htm

-----------------------------------------------------

REMINDERS:

-----------------------------------------------------

Next Paani Yatra: Jan. 16-21, 2002

South Asian Journalists' Workshop

Learn more at: http://www.cseindia.org

*******************************************************

SUBSCRIBE TO DOWN TO EARTH MAGAZINE!

India's only INDEPENDENT SOURCE of information on environment,
development and sustainability from a Southern perspective. Tap into a
tradition of fiercely independent environmental journalism.

Pay for the print edition and get complimentary access to DTE
ONLINE.Browse 10 years of research, exclusive features, and
interactive elements in our comprehensive online archive.

Give yourself an informed advantage. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

http://www.downtoearth.org.in

READ | THINK | EXPLORE | KNOW | INTERACT

*******************************************************

If you wish to unsubscribe, please e-mail: webadmin@cseindia.org
with the subject: "unsubscribe".

WRITE TO US: webadmin@cseindia.org

*******************************************************