:: Delhi Greens ::

Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna, an initiative of The Art of Living which finds full support from Delhi Greens, is a project for making a difference to our city, Delhi-NCR.

River Yamuna is immensely important for the economic, ecological and basic needs of the region and its people. But, over the years, it has become one of the most endangered waterways in India. Numerous attempts have not had much success, and there is confusion about what lies ahead in the future – for the river as well for all of us.

As already notified, the campaign is beginning with an event on March 16, 2010 on the banks of the river, and calls for citizens and leaders from all sectors and areas to come together and participate.

Date: 16th March, 2010
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Purana Qila

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living has already called for every person in the city to come together so as to raise awareness on the status of the river, to inform and alert the Government and concerned agencies and to work with the latter to bring about a difference – in the river quality and also in our lives and daily habits.

Eminent personalities, including those from the concerned departments of the Government would also be present on the occasion. These include, Shri Jairam Ramesh, Smt. Kiran Walia, Shri Kanwar Sain, Shri Ramesh Negi along with a number of stakeholders from corporate houses, culture, art, fashion, media, RWAs, government agencies, NGOs, etc.

Image © Delhi Greens, 2009 from the ‘Kiski Dilli’ Publication.

This is THE call for a clean, blue Yamuna, and a sustainable urban development for Delhi. All our encouraged to participate.

Considered to be the lifeline of Manipur state, North-east’s largest freshwater lake – Loktak – is today in a sorry state. Already declared a Ramsar site- a status given to world’s most threatened wetlands, this rapidly degrading lake has a total area of 300 sq. km. It is home to the endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai’ – Cervus eldi eldi and several plant species. Keibul Lamjao National Park, the only floating national park in the world is situated at the south west part of Loktak Lake.

Loktak Lake has been a main source of income and sustenance for inhabitants of the population living around it. However, since the last few decades the lake has been facing all round destructions due to natural as well as anthropogenic activities. Rapid expansion of ‘phumdis’, siltation, pollution, agriculture and adverse effect from Loktak Hydropower Project are some of the main problems which have led to an alarming destruction of the lake.

To raise awareness on the plight of the lake, and to draw attention towards an urgent need for action, the North East Center for Environment Education Research has partnered with Delhi Greens, and a series of environmental organisations in calling for an INTERNATIONAL SAVE LOKTAK LAKE CAMPAIGN on 7th March 2010. The event is taking place in 20 cities across three continents. Delhi Greens invites you to the Delhi chapter of the campaign at Gandhi Darhsan, Opposite Rajghat.

Date: 7th March, 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 9.30 am to 1230 pm
Venue: Gandhi Darshan, Opposite Rajghat, Rajghat Powerhouse Road

The event will have eminent speakers including MP Thockchom Meinya Singh, Dr. Irfan Quereshi from Jamia Millia Islamia, etc. who would be expressing their concerns over the issue. A poster competition for school and college students has also been organised.

Click here to connect with the campaign on Facebook

For further information and to participate, please contact:

Aastha Kukreti
aastha@delhigreens.org
9873124937

Mehnaz Lee
mehnazlee@gmail.com
9871318891

Here’s wishing everyone a colourful and well meant Holi hoping it is celebrated with all the natural colours and a judicious and well thought of use of water!

Haven’t we played enough?

Image source: over the Internet

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

Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna is a project for making a difference to our city of Delhi-NCR. What started as an initiative of The Art of Living, has now become a full blown citizen’s action plan. Dozens of civil society groups have already joined the movement and many companies including Microsoft, Educomp and Kent RO have become partners. The UNESCO, World Bank, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) etc. among many others are already on board the campaign and more and more people and groups are joining every day.

Delhi-NCR is not clean – India is at the centre of the world today, poised for global leadership in future – we can’t remain dirty, something needs to happen. Commonwealth Games are in October, and it would be great to present a clean city to the world.

Over the next few weeks, the campaign aims to bring together large number of partner groups and citizens, who will together inspire a million citizens to come out and clean Delhi in September 2010. Everyone will be contributing – people and leaders from all sectors of the society will be joining, including the NGOs; corporate and business community; Resident Welfare Associations; Defence and Allied Services; Schools, Colleges, Universities; Leaders from Arts, Culture, Music, Literature, Theatre and Films; Media, Government, and every citizen of Delhi.

The plan is to begin with Yamuna first, our sacred river. Yamuna is immensely important for the economic, ecological and basic needs of the region and its people – but, over the years, it has become one of the most endangered waterway in India. Numerous attempts have not had much success, and there is confusion about what will happen in the near future. We need to join hands and increase the awareness about cleaning of the river Yamuna – more than half of 3.6 billion tonnes of sewerage produced in Delhi everyday flows into Yamuna untreated! And we are dependent on Yamuna for more than 60% of the water needed by the Delhi region.

The Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna campaign is organizing an event on March 7, 2010 16th March, 2010 at 5 pm at Purana Qila in Delhi where the citizens and leaders from all sectors and areas would be participating. This will be followed by a massive cleaning of the banks of Yamuna on March 14 by the citizens to demonstrate that ‘it is possible to make a difference’.

The campaign invites all to support our initiative of national importance, which would perhaps be an inflection point for India – the citizens coming out and taking responsibility for their surroundings and this would spur the administration to be more effective too. Let us all join hands.

Editor’s Note: Delhi Greens, in partnership with Nature Foundation (India) have already spearheaded the Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna campaign in different target zones.

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

Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) requests the presence of all concerned to the Indian People’s Tribunal (IPT) on the issue of Genetically Modified (GM) seeds/foods and Bt Brinjal in particular. HRLN is bringing eminent speakers and researchers from across the country to share a common platform and vocalise their experience and opinion on January 28th and 29th, 2010, at Vishwa Yuva Kendra, New Delhi.

The regulators in India have cleared Bt Brinjal as safe for human (& animal) health and environment and that it could be permitted for commercial cultivation in India. However, the Government of India is holding nation-wide consultations to address numerous concerns and unanswered questions on the GM food crop before reaching a logical end. Bt Brinjal is the first GM food crop in India and the first ever GM vegetable in the world with the Bt gene in it. This Tribunal is being held as a platform to not only address the surrounding queries but also highlighting the many facets of the debate on GM seeds.

Without really getting lost in the larger debate around food/hunger crisis, which is being made into the rationale for bringing in Bt Brinjal iisue, this People’s Tribunal focuses clearly on GM seeds, their relevance and need and other related issues, even as all presenters of testimonies will be encouraged to touch upon some larger issues too and present data to support their case.

A panel of prominent citizens, journalists, judges, scientists and activists will preside over the two-day IPT.

HRLN strongly hopes and looks for your support in this two-day programme, so that it will serve for larger social and political change in perceiving the issue. We anticipate the tribunal will be an indicator for civil society to rethink of a new set of strategies, to compel the State for immediate intervention to address the GM seeds/food debate.

Concerned individuals who would especially like to attend the IPT on the 29th of Janary are requested to kindly confirm  their presence in advance so that necessary arrangements can be made in due time.

For further information and to RSVP, please contact:

Imran Ali, Coordinator (IPT), +91-9212696986 or write to imran@hrln.org
Manisha Tiwari, Coordinator (IPT), +91-9717-505-798

Image Source

Maitri Sthal at BumLa, the highest pass to Tibet in Tawang

Delhi Greens wishes its readers a very Happy Republic Day! We dedicate this day to all the soldiers who brave extreme environmental conditions to protect our borders and keep us safe and secure. May peace always be the way forward no matter what the conflict, for after a war, it doesn’t matter what was right…only what is left.

Toxics Link’s Environment & Health Public Lecture Series

How the Australian Rainforests were saved – the influence of Gandhi

Australia-India Council, Kalpvriksh and Toxics Link cordially invite you to an evening imbued in film, music and ecology by renowned conservationists

Speaker: John Seed

Very few of us are aware that the world’s first direct action in defence of rainforests took place at Terania Creek in northern New South Wales (NSW) Australia in 1979. Strongly influenced by Gandhi’s principle of Satyagraha, the movement hugely influenced the drafting of a historic legislation by NSW government in 1982 to protect the rainforests there.

John Seed, the founder-director of the Rainforest Information Centre, Australia, has been involved in direct actions that have resulted in the protection of the Australian rainforests. His narration involves innovative use of film, music and presentation to focus on the struggle of a peaceful few to protect the subtropical rainforests in their area

John, an accomplished bard, songwriter and film-maker , has produced albums of environmental songs and numerous films He is a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation UK and an occasional Scholar-in-Residence at the Esalen Institute in California. He has created numerous sustainable development projects to protect rainforests in South America, Asia and the Pacific region . His valuable contributions on various projects in India include reforestation of Arunachala and protection of wild Asian elephants in the Nilgiris.

Date: 28th January 2010, Thursday
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi (In collaboration with India International Centre)

For further information and to RSVP, please contact:

Suparna Dutta: suparna@toxicslink.org
Nitin Jain: nitin@toxicslink.org
Email: info@toxicslink.org

The Climate Project – India is excited to invite you to come and participate in the Environment Sustainability Leadership Program (ESLP) ‐ a climate change training program for the civil society. The objective of this program is to equip people with inspiring and comprehensive tools for spreading the critical message of climate change. Through inspired citizens, TCP-India hopes to create a well‐informed society that can strive to effectively tackle these environmental issues.

The one‐day interactive workshop is split into two sessions. The first session explores the science and impacts of climate change, with particular focus on Indian impacts. The second session will be led by experts in the various environmental fields and will focus on solutions. The materials presented at the workshop will be provided for you to take with you and use in your personal campaign to educate people.

Date: January 23, 2010
Time: 9.00 am to 5 pm
Venue: The Paharpur Business Center, New Delhi

Click here to apply for the ESLP

RSVP to confirm your participation: +91-22-32223320 |  divya@climateprojectindia.org

Donation ‐ We recommend a minimum donation to The Climate Project‐India of Rs.500 for attending the workshop if you are an individual. For Students and University Teachers (with ID proof), we recommend Rs.350 as a donation. Corporations are encouraged and requested to make a donation to the organization and fund the attendance of their employees and executives.

Once you complete the training, you will be a part of the TCP‐India Environment Sustainable Leaders network. As a member of this network, you are expected to spread the message broadly and help tackle this problem at an individual level. We will support you through newsletters, our weekly news bulletin and all the updated materials via our website. We will select 70 applicants based on their passion, drive and ability to spread the message of climate change.

The Climate Project is an international non‐profit organization founded by Nobel Laureate, Al Gore in June 2006 and is dedicated to calling attention to what it believes are global problems associated with climate change. The Climate Project‐India (TCP‐India), being the Indian chapter of this international organization, was established in March 2008 with the help of Al Gore and Dr. R K Pachauri.

TCP‐India supports a network of over 400 civil society leaders and 400 teachers all of whom are trained to spread awareness about climate change in India. Every variety of media is used to communicate messages on the science and impacts of climate change as well as solutions to climate issues and strategies for sustainable development. TCP-India works with all sectors of society including businesses, government, schools and individuals.

For further information, please contact:

The Climate Project – India
No.3, Rashid Mansions, Worli Point,
Worli, Mumbai 400 018
Tel: 022‐32223320
Email: info@climateprojectindia.org