:: Delhi Greens ::

Earth Hour is a WWF initiative where citizens around the globe show their support for action on climate change by turning off lights for one hour. This year the switch off is being observed on March 27, 2010, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm.

The campaign was recently launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi Smt. Sheila Dikshit and film actor Abhishek Bachchan, in the presence of WWF-India’s SG and CEO Mr. Ravi Singh. Abhishek along with Smt Sheila Dikshit lit the ‘candle of hope’ encouraging citizens of India to ‘switch on’ their minds and showcase solidarity and commitment towards climate change and energy conservation by ‘switching off’ the lights for one hour on the 27th of March.

Earth Hour 2010 is expected to be a culmination of over one billion people around the globe, in more than 6000 cities and towns worldwide, turning off lights and showing support for action on climate change. Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India, said, “Earth Hour 2009 was the largest climate action in history. It was heartening to receive tremendous support for the campaign from all sections of the society all across India it symbolized the aspirations and willingness of our citizens to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. He hoped Earth Hour 2010 will have even wider participation.

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit reminded everyone of how Delhi was the lead city for Earth Hour 2009 when India joined this global campaign. Several historical buildings, office complexes, RWAs, shopping centers and hotels switched off in support, resulting in close to 600 MW power saving in Delhi alone. She expressed hope as well as confidence that Earth Hour 2010 will also be taken forward in Delhi in a similar manner, only with even greater participation.

Participate in Earth Hour 2010: Switch off your lights, electrical appliances (even your mobile phone for one hour!) on March 27th, 2010 — from 8.30 PM to 9.30 PM (or longer if you wish to!)

Previously on Delhi Greens:

• Earth Hour at Dilli Haat Amidst Rain and Lightening

Students of Kamala Nehru and Gargi College, along with representatives of the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of Anand Lok, Gulmohar Park and adjoining areas came together to demonstrate against the rampant felling of trees and the ‘killing’ of footpath space in the area. Students and residents carried posters and display banners reading “Don’t kill our footpath space. Don’t kill us on the road” in the protest march from the Mithaas Complex in front of Gargi College to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) office.

The road stretch and the intersection near the college premises is already a congestion site and a traffic mess. Two trees have been cut and the CPWD plans to fell more and also break the pavement on both sides of the road, leaving barely any space for the pedestrians to walk on. The students of Kamala Nehru College, have protested in written to the DCP, South District, Delhi, warning that they will be forced to hold another protest march and jam the roads in front of the college in case the CPWD goes ahead with the tree-cutting drive.

A similar protest in 2007, calling for immediate stopping of the indiscriminate felling of trees around the Siri Fort area was noticed but overlooked by the Government, on pretext of “planning” for the Commonwealth Games 2010. Two weeks of Commonwealth Games does not mean we sacrifice our environment and risk thousands of young lives. The Trees are a necessity, the pavements our right, is the message the students are trying to get across to the Government and the policy makers. Are these Commonwealth Games, or Games to take away are Common Wealth?…the question resurfaces yet again..

Previously on Delhi Greens:

• Protesting against the 1000 trees being cut in the university campus
• Trees For Delhi – Protest on World Environment Day

The Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) invites all citizens to celebrate the World Wetlands Day on the 2nd of February. This date marks the signing of the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ in 1971 at Ramsar, Iran. The 2010 Wetlands Day theme is “Caring for Wetlands – an Answer to Climate Chang”. The theme highlights the fact that wetlands, with their biodiversity, can help mitigate climate change.

Date: 2nd February, 2010
Time: 10.30 am
Venue: Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Jharoda Majra, Ahead of Wazirabad and Jagatpur Villages (10 mins drive from the DU Metro Station)

The YBP has been established in Delhi to recreate the locally extinct biodiversity of Yamuna river basin. The almost seven years old biodiversity park now harbours a wide range of ecosystems of river basin which support more than 1200 plant species. These include finest wetlands, besides a butterfly conservatory, a conservatory of fruit yielding plants, grasslands, tropical moist and dry deciduous forest communities, Acacia woodlands and a herbal garden.

Located on the floodplains of River Yamuna, Yamuna Biodiversity Park is the model location to discuss and work on the conservation of river basin and its biodiversity. The exceptional wetlands of Yamuna Biodiversity Park are fully functional and attract thousands of migratory birds each year in the winter season.

Therefore, the YBP has already become a hub of nature education and conservation of biodiversity. To promote nature education and conservation of wetlands, river Yamuna and its floodplains we celebrate each year World Wetland Day on 2nd February.

For more information and to participate, please contact:

Faiyaz A. Khudsar
Scientist Incharge
Yamuna Biodiversity Park
University of Delhi
Email: faiyazwild@gmail.com
Mobile: 09810511552

Save Loktak Lake campaigners at India Gate in New Delhi

Delhi Greens is proud to partner with the North East Center for Environmental Education & Research (NECEER), Imphal in calling for March 7th, 2010 as a Worldwide Loktak Campaign Day! Being coordinated by NECEER in 20 cities across 3 continents, the day is being marked as a worldwide attempt to raise awareness on the world’s only floating National Park – Keibul Lamjao – which is central to the Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in North East India.

The Loktak lake has been a main source of income and sustenance for inhabitants of the area. Since the last few decades, the lake has been facing all round destruction owing to both natural and anthropogenic activities. Rapid expansion of ‘phumdis’ (floating islands!!), siltation, pollution, agriculture and adverse effect from Loktak Hydropower Project are some of the main problems which had led to an alarming destruction of the lake. This has also threatned the already endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai’ – Cervus eldi eldi and many plant species that are endemic to the region.

For more infomration, please contact:
K. Jibankumar Singh
neceer.imp(a)gmail.com

To volunteer for the Worldwide Loktak Campaign Day in Delhi, write to mehnazlee(a)gmail.com or to aastha(a)delhigreens.org. Visit NECEER.Imphal for updates, or subscribe to the Delhi Greens blog!

Previously on Delhi Greens:

• Delhi Greens partners for Global Day of Action in Imphal, Manipur

The Indian Government is considering approving genetic modification of our fruits and vegetables starting with Brinjal. While a rigged up “Expert” Committee has recommended clearance to genetically modified Bt Brinjal, due to concerns raised by independent scientists and farmer groups, Minister Jairam Ramesh has requested public feedback before making a decision in February.  Let us make our voices heard and democracy work! This is perhaps the last call to save our Brinjal!

On January 30, the day that took Mahatma Gandhi from us, a day that also happens to be the last day of the official national consultation hearing on Bt Brinjal, we are planning to gather in different locations across India in prayer and fasting to stop Bt Brinjal. The call for a National Day of Fast is being given by several individuals, groups and people’s movements including members of the Coalition for GM-Free India and National Alliance for People’s Movements.

We request everyone both individually and from various groups and coalitions to sign up to participate on the day by either fasting or lighting a candle either at your homes, or in groups at locations across India.

Here is what you can do:

• Sign up for fasting or lighting a candle on January 30
• Organize a fast gathering on January 30. Please send an email to aidsite@gmail.com to get your location listed.  (Click to view existing venues)

Over 100 years ago, the Father of our Nation, Mohandas K. Gandhi produced his central work, his key-text, his seed-text, the Hind Swaraj. This small 91-page booklet today reads almost like a prophecy that predicted all of 21st century India’s ailments. Gandhi clearly realised that the British continued in India as colonial masters not because of their superior military strength but simply because we Indians kept them “for our base self-interest.” Gandhi was clear that “India is being ground down, not under the English heel, but under that of modern civilisation (that makes bodily welfare the object of life).” He repeated, in different ways how “(modern) civilisation’s deadly effect is that people come under its scorching flames believing it to be all good.”

The approval for commercial sale of Bt Brinjal seeds developed by Mahyco, the Indian partner of Monsanto, the world’s most powerful and sinister agro-business company, tragically reflects how they achieved this goal. The fact that the approval of a crop that will threaten life itself, cripple the environment and economy and decimate India’s national biodiversity of brinjals was not based on hard, scientific grounds or vision for sustainable development for all vindicates this. In prophetic terms that warn us of the perils of globalisation the Mahatma said: “They wish to convert the whole world into a vast market for their goods…They will leave no stone unturned to reach the goal.”

For action leading up to January 30, please attend the national consultations and also write your views to the Environment Minister even if you are not able to attend personally.

Message Received from AID India

Previously on Delhi Greens:

• Toxics Link Public Lecture on GM Foods: Is India Ready?
• Invite: Day Long Orientation Session on GMOs
• Brinjal Festival Showcases Diversity of Veggies in India
• Invite: Brinjal Festival in Dilli Haat
• Public Lecture: GM Foods and Our Health
• Film Review: Poison on the Platter

Vijay Jardhari of the Been Bajao Andolan from Uttarakhand, was one among many to call for action for  ’saving the climate’ at Dastkar, the Nature Bazaar that recently concluded in the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi

Image Credit: Konsam Nirmala

Following is an excerpt from City Improbable writing on Delhi, a Delhi anthology edited by Khushwant Singh. The book is a complete rendezvous with Delhi, its historical as well as recent past and its present and is aptly reviewed by the Telegraph as, “Anyone who has ever had anything to do with Delhi, or is interested in the history of cities, should take a look at this collection”.

Needless to say, it is a collector’s item that has tried to capture the mystical majesty of the city of cities in a wonderfully comprehensive manner!

But you don’t see that kind of thing as often as you used to. Delhi has become a very polluted and congested city. It has more cars than Bombay, Calcutta and Madras put together. So there is more poison on the air than in the other cities. That and the reckless use of pesticides has taken a heavy toll of insect, amphibian and bird life. In the rainy season, no frogs croak, no fireflies or moths are to be seen. Vultures have disappeared, sparrows have become scarce. The incidence of asthma and bronchial ailments has shown an alarming increase, and if residents of Delhi mange to survive it is because of the greenery around them.

The not-so-loveable aspect of Delhi is entirely manmade. Delhiwalas are about the most inconsiderate of the human species you can encounter. They think nothing of throwing their garbage into their neighbour’s homes or on the road. they observe no road rules and are ever eager to overtake others, blow their horns and get into violent arguments. On an average four to six people are killed every day by cars and buses. About the same number are murdered in cold blood. Thefts and burglaries  are a daily feature. Molesting women in buses is a common practice.

Also Read:

• Delhi

Looks like we still have time, or do we?

On 17th October 2009, the President of the island nation of Maldives called for the world’s first ever underwater Cabinet Meeting. In the meeting, the President, Vice President, and the entire cabinet of Maldives signed a declaration calling for concerted global action on climate change, ahead of the UN climate conference (COP) in Copenhagen.

And even as the world prepares for this grand climate meet, a large part of South India went under water only a few weeks back. And while talks have already begun on coming up with an equitable deal and the very fear that there may be none, over 300 people lost their lives while millions have been displaced and missing in that global warming related freak weather event, predicted well in advance by the IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007.

The Earth will never come to the negotiating table and the earth will never die. Humans will and thus the need to understand that very strong emissions reductions of the magnitude emitted by leading Northern countries is not just the only way but also not-negotiable.

Image Source: Telegraph and PresidencyMaldives

Deepawali is the festival of lights and celebrations!

Let us make sure it is an enjoyable experience for every living being as much as it is for us. After all, there is no joy greater than than the joy of making others happy!

This Diwali, BE THE CHANGE! Do Not burst crackers and make others aware about the adverse impacts it has on ‘our common environment’.

The environmental impact of bursting of crackers are both visible as well as not so apparent. While the noise pollution caused by the crackers is highly disturbing even for humans (young and old alike, very dangerous for pregnant women and infants), they at least understand and expect the noise.

Animals are caught unaware, and get scared as well as very disturbed by the noise. While we know the impact on domesticated animals such as dogs, who can be seen running around to the central parts of homes or in cupboards..and the stray ones just running around here and there…the impact on our winged friends is little understood.

Birds are the worst hit owing to just the noise pollution part of the bursting of crackers. The pungent smoke only adds to their misery and impacts there entire body system. This also has long term effects that need to studied…and also leads to a selective selection of some birds (like pigeons, who’s excreta leads to asthma) and the disappearance of certain other birds like the common sparrow.

Diwali Greetings from Last Year:

This man-made selection both disturbs the urban ecology and also causes discomfort for an extended period of time. So, one day of crackers bursting actually leads to an year full of misery. Light pollution is another aspect of Deepawali that often goes unnoticed.

The bursting of crackers also adds to the suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the city. The SPM value is almost doubled on the Deepawali night than on any other day. This is, of course, a nightmare – a disaster for patients suffering from lung diseases including asthma. This also adds on the pollution load of the city and the SPM often remains accumulated on the leaves of plants for days after Deepawali. This reduces the area available for photosynthesis and brings down the ability of green plants to feed themselves.

Everything else, from the way the crackers are made (usually by small children), to the polythene packaging material (owing to the large consumption pattern) and the potential hazard contributes to the pollution related to Deepawali and affects all life forms in the city.

The toxic chemicals that make up the explosives and lights are released into the atmosphere with just one large bang…and while the festival is actually about celebrating life and glory…strangely…we do that by releasing poison in the air which is manufactured with processes that are no less lethal.

Tips to Readers for a More Enjoyable Diwali:

• During the festival-shopping, think before you buy, think what you are buying.
• Instead of crackers, buy yourself a gift–something you have been wanting for long, buy few more for your friends and relatives.
• Remember to keep your ecological footprint in mind when shopping for the festival. Buy only what you think is really really important.
• Avoid plastic bags when you are buying anything. The chance that they would be disposed off by burning are more around this time.
• DO NOT burst crackers near a green space or even a park. If you must, choose an open area for this.
• Last, but never the least, remember Deepawali is (and should be) about lights and celebrations, not pollution and death.

The Center for Climate Justice & Equity (CCJE) is a Delhi based non-profit organisation setup with an objective to promote environmental equity and climate justice in an otherwise inequitable world.

Our planet is facing a climate crisis unprecedented in the history of humankind. The crisis is fairly recent and began with the advent of the industrial revolution. The emissions from the so-called “developed” countries have been poisoning our atmosphere for over 200 years. The consequences of these emissions are now becoming apparent and we are living in a world where the shadow of the possibility of an unlivable earth is becoming more and more of a reality.

CCJE is the voice of the grassroots in policy formation and an equity watchdog setup to ensure every citizen gets his fair share in climate change negotiations.

In this regard, CCJE is looking for a young, skillful and passionate candidate for the post of Programmes Coordinator for its Delhi office. The position will be based in Delhi. Candidates with a background in Environmental Studies or a related field will be given preference. Freshers are encouraged to apply.

Interested candidates can apply with an updated CV and a covering letter to jobs@ccje.org

Selected candidates will be called for an interview. Last Date for applying is 10th October, 2009

CCJE is an equal opportunity organisation.