Green Foot-Prints

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA
A D I S T I N C T I V E C U LT U R A L
MAGAZINE OF INDIA
(A Half-Yearly Publication)
FEBRUARY07 - JULY07
Vol.36 No.1, 71st Issue
Founder-Editor : MANANEEYA EKNATHJI RANADE

Editor
: P.PARAMESWARAN
GREEN FOOT-PRINTS
EDITORIAL OFFICE :
Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan Trust,
5, Singarachari Street, Triplicane,
Chennai - 600 005.
Phone : (044) 28440042
E-mail : vkpt@vkendra.org
Web : www.vkendra.org
SUBSCRIPTION RATES :
Single Copy
:
Rs.125/Annual
:
Rs.250/For 3 Years
:
Rs.600/Life (10 Years) :
Rs.2000/(Plus Rs.50/- for Outstation Cheques)
FOREIGN SUBSCRIPTION:
Annual
Life (10 Years)
:
:
$25 US
$250 US
The Vivekananda Kendra Patrika is a halfyearly cultural magazine of Vivekananda

Kendra Prakashan Trust. It is an official organ
of Vivekananda Kendra, an all-India service
mission with service to humanity as its sole
motto. This publication is based on the same
non-profit spirit, and proceeds from its sales
are wholly used towards the Kendras
charitable objectives.
Vivekananda Kendra Patrika
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This issue of Vivekananda Kendra Patrika has a popular theme of interest to

one and all. Reproduced and adapted material comprise a sizable part of the
issue. We have no scruples in acknowledging with a profound sense of gratitude,
the various publishers from whose relevant books/periodicals we have
reproduced/ adapted some portions in order to do a minimum justice to the subject
in question. We give below the list of Publishers / Publications:
1. The Hindu, Chennai / Tiruvananthapuram. (Articles with Asterisk)*

2. The New Sunday Express.
3. Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bombay.
4. Karnataka Forest Department, Bangalore.
5. CPR Foundation, Chennai.
6. WWF - India Features.
7. CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai.
8. Munshi Ram Manoharlal, New Delhi.
9. WWF, Hyderabad.
10. Orient Longman, New Delhi/Hyderabad.
11. Down to Earth Magazine, New Delhi. (Articles with double Asterisks)**
12. Third World Network, Penang.
13. Prabuddha Bharata.
14. Guardian Newspapers Limited, London.
2
Green Foot-prints
15. Auroville Publications

16. Gate
17. Worldwatch Institute, Washington.
18. The Union Ministry of N.C.Energy Source, New Delhi.
19. Kyoto Documents.
20. The Writings of Dr.Capra and the writings on him.
21. The Website on James Lovelock.
22. The Website on Lester Brown and the Worldwatch Institute.
23. Flamingo, London.
24. The Website and Prof. Sachs Introduction to the Development Dictionary
25. UN University Press, Response Books, New Delhi.
26. Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi.
27. Compiled from Dr.Vandana Shivas writings and writings on her.
28. The Complete Works of Anil Agarwal, a CSE Publication.
29. The Website on David Attenborough of the Private Life of Plants.
30. Catalogue of OIP.
31. The Website on A.L.Gore.
32. The Website on R.K.Pachauri.
33. A Bantam Turner Books, New York.
34. Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana, Bangalore.
35. Vintage Books Random House Ltd., London.
36. Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia.
The names of the various authors are given in the appropriate articles and a credit
line is also given at the end of the articles wherever proper.
Our sincere thanks are due to Sri P.Venkataraghavan who did the cover design
and the many cartoons in the pages of this issue.
Our thanks are also due to M/s.RNR Printers, Chennai-5, for all their help and
co-operation in bringing out the issue satisfactorily.
Anyone left out in the acknowledgements may please bear with us as the omission
is not deliberate.
The Cover Page
The cover page showing a cow being milked is

inspired by the story from the Padmapurana.
Pruthu, the king belonging to the dynasty of Dhruva,
levelled the earth which was very uneven.
People wanted various kinds of foods and objects of
enjoyment. Pruthu used Swayambhuva Manu as
calf and milked the Earth, the cow of plenty. All
plants as food and all worldly enjoyments were born
of this cow, Bhumi Devi. Pruthu was called the father
of Earth (Bhuma Devi) because he gave her life and
usefulness. Bhumadevi got the name Pruthvi.
As long as we milk the cow, we continue to enjoy worldly pleasures and basic lifesupport systems. But the cow has to be protected and judiciously milkedand
not destroyedso that mankind and all living beings can draw their sustenance.
4
SHANKAR MERCANTILE
Green Foot-prints
GREEN FOOT-PRINTS
CONTENTS
Title
Page
Editorial
8-11
Section-1
The Sacred Green
13-47
Section-2
Greening The Human Intelligence
51-128
Section-3
Green Diversity
135-176
Section-4
Green Systems
181-275
INVOCATION
Om. May there be peace in heaven. May there be peace in the sky.
May there be peace on earth. May there be peace in the water. May
there be peace in the plants. May there be peace in the trees. May
there be peace in the Gods. May there be peace in Brahman. May there
be peace in all. May that peace, real peace, be mine.
7
Green Foot-prints
VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA VOL.36 NO.1 FEB.07-JUL.07
GREEN FOOT-PRINTS
EDITORIAL
istory of evolution is replete with instances of catastrophes and calamities, which

have brought certain species to sudden or gradual, total or partial extinction.
Human history is no exception. Catastrophes and Calamities are the hallmark
of mans sojourn on this planet. Some of them have been wrought by nature, while some
of them are the result of human folly, ignorance or miscalculation. Todays world is
confronted with an unprecedented situation threatening the very survival of human species.
What is strange about it is that it is totally man-made. There are two threats which are
imminent and both are the handiwork of man; Religious terrorism and Environmental
degradation. Of the two, the latter is more fatal. Religious terrorism is due to fanaticism
confined to certain sections of people and it can be contained and gradually eliminated as
we march on. The case with environmental destruction and degeneration is, it is engulfing
the entire globe and increasing at an alarming rate. The most dangerous part about it is
that it is the most advanced and developed countries that are responsible for this heinous
crime. Moreover, it is the result, not of ignorance but miscalculation of the highest order.
In todays world, no one, not even the illiterate is totally unaware of the environmental
problems confronting us. It is not due to want of awareness but in spite of awareness
people are indulging in suicidal folly. Unless, effective and immediate steps are taken
locally and globally, the process of degradation will soon become irreversible and human
species will meet with its ignoble end.
Of course, there are quite a large number of individuals and groups, intellectuals and
environmentalists, social workers and cultural leaders who are deeply committed to the
cause of saving Mother Earth from the damages ahead. They are informing and
enlightening the general masses about the multi-dimensional crisis. Many groups and
organizations are working at the Grass-root level trying to set things right, to create small
models of development consistent with environmental protection and working out
paradigms of sustainable development in which man and nature can co-exist in total
harmony, physical, mental and spiritual.
Development is the craze of the times. Both advanced, developed and developing
countries are all caught up in this fierce race for development without stopping to think as
to what real development actually means and what its ultimate goal is. It is like the blind
leading another blind till both falls into the ditch. Clarity about goals and a viable and
suitable approach leading to them are sadly lacking, with the result that there is not only
mindless competition but also total confusion everywhere. There is feverish activity but
there is no guiding principle. There is no integrated outlook. There is no philosophy of life.
There is no wholesome world-view which integrates Man with the society around and the
nature that sustains both. These are absolutely necessary if there has to be a sustainable
model of development based on mutual co-operation and with assured and continuing
supply of natural resources and healthy environment.
9
Green Foot-prints
Much work has been already done towards evolving such a philosophy of life by great
and farseeing men in various parts of the globe. But it is Bharat that can legitimately claim
to have evolved an integrated philosophy of human development, which has universal
application and eternal relevance. The ancient sages of India, devoid of any selfish motives
or vested interests have delved deep into the fundamental truths of existence and
discovered that, all that exists have emerged out of One Ultimate Reality of which
everything is only various expressions. The West never attempted to evolve a complete
philosophy of life, nor could it envisage a holistic world-view. It has been always a
compartmentalized approach with short term objectives, with the result that it was
punctuated with periodical crisis for which every time they experimented with equally
short lived solutions. The present environmental crisis is also a product of this faulty
approach. Unless, the mindset is altered and a spiritual vision is accepted they will not be
able to tide over the present crisis. Not only that, they will also drag the rest of the world
into the path of self-destruction. Unity at the root and diversity at the manifest level is the
basis on which evolution has taken place. It calls for an understanding of the interrelatedness and inter-dependence of all that exists and translate it into practice in everyday
life. Our ancient sages called this mutual co-operation by the name yagna collective
effort for the common good as dedicated to the divine. This should be the basis of all
developmenteconomic, social, political, etc. Wealth has to be created in abundance
but it should be done in such a way that equitable distribution and social justice are inherently
assured. For this process to continue, there is need for perpetual recycling, which
Bhagavad Gita describes as evam pravartitham chakram, that ensures sustainability.
There is another aspect also. Is there a limit to acquirement of wealth and enjoyment
of happiness (Artha and Kama)? The Upanishads emphatically declare that Artha and
Kama are well in order, desirable and also necessary for human development. But these
two must be hedged between Dharma and Moksa. Then only development will end in
fulfilment. These four Purusharthas will take care of continuous and permanent welfare
of society for all time and everywhere, both at individual and the social level. Our forefathers
called it by the wonderful term Abhyudhaya nishreyasa., which means socio-economic
welfare and spiritual liberation.
10
This issue has been divided into four parts. The first part, Sacred Green enumerates
how environmental care was embedded into our day to day rituals and beliefs systems.
How a religious faith made people more nature friendly and a life worth emulating.
The second part Greening the Human Intelligence showcases the works of several
activists and thinkers of this century, who created awareness globally about the hazards
of blindly imitating the western lifestyle. The third part Green Diversity illustrates how
the irreplaceable Biodiversity got displaced due to industrialization and the rearguard steps
needed to be taken to reinstate it. The fourth part Green Systems deals with the steps
taken by various States and non-governmental organizations in safeguarding the traditional
knowledge systems, an invaluable asset which the so-called developed countries owe to
the developing ones.
This issue of Vivekananda Kendra Patrika is our contribution towards fulfilling the most
pressing need of the hour for the whole of humanity. In this we have tried to present all the
various aspects of the problem and also in brief the essence of all the available material
in support of the same. We have quoted experiences, illustrations, quotations, writings,
and summary of activities from all the available sources. But we dont claim that we have
been able to do full justice to this burning issue; because of the immensity of the task
involved. A few more topics will be covered in the next issue of Kendra Patrika named
Green Pathfinder. If we are able to provoke people to think and promote initiatives in
the right direction, we would feel sufficiently justified in our effort.
11
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
SECTION - 1
The Sacred Green
My mother has asked me to offer Pongal to the

Devi before the first sowing. For me, my
religion, my work and the trees fall in one piece.
13
The Sacred Green
SECTION - 1
Sl.No.
Title
Author
Page No.
Prelude--The Sacred Green
15
Grounded in Wisdom
Nanditha Krishna
19
Bharat, A Natural-Conservatory
of Medicinal Plants
Compiled
22
Sacred Groves - a
Community Property
M.Amrithalingam and
Dr.Nanditha Krishna
28
32
Replicating Sacred groves
Sudipto Chatterjee
Sthala Vrikshas-Sacred Trees
Dr.Nanditha Krishna and

M.Amrithalingam
34
Dr.C.Sivaramamurti
36
Indias devotion to Plants
Vana degula - Forest as a Temple
Plant Myths and Tradition in India
Dr.Shakti M.Gupta
42
10
An attitude of the mind
Rajni Bakshi
44
14
38
Green Foot-prints
The Sacred Green
Section-1
PRELUDE
Srimati Annapurna
Duval: How did the
problem
of
conservation build
up to this size as we
see today?
Shri Krish Phidal:
For thousands of
years man has been
consuming
with
astounding speed
what we farmers
could not produce in
corresponding time
frame.
Professor Jnani Noval: Yes. It is as if one
eats away in a few days, what his father
has taken decades to accumulate. Nature
has taken millions of years to build up coal
reserves, oil reserves, soil fertility, soil
culture, biodiversity and forests. But
mankind has blown them away as if there
is no tomorrow. Our prodigal past is
catching up with us now. Now we face the
gigantic problem of conservation.
Smt.Duval : Of course there should have
been parallels, conservation movements,
replenishments and course corrections.
Shri Phidal: Yes!

that is what we
farmers do. We
keep seeds for
second sowing in
emergencies. We
sow mixed crops
in rain-fed areas
so that when one
species
fails,
some other crop
prospers.
We
employ alternate
methods
of
irrigation.
Professor Noval:
Over the years, man
has
become
impatient. He failed
to notice that Nature
has taken thousands
of years to evolve
patterns, systems
and safe procedures,
testing
all
possibilities,
countering
all
dangers and then it
has patiently evolved
procedures, which may appear a bit slow
but are proof against catastrophes.
15

Shri Phidal: Yes! Yes! Our agro-methods
are so venerably old, that we almost
consider our agricultural procedures as
religious rituals. Our ploughing seasons
start on auspicious days. Our sowing is
coconut tree. These people are long on

theory and short on practice. Their
knowledge is not based on reality, or on
experience.
Prof. Noval: They are in a hurry to achieve
results. Our tribal and rural people and
traditionalists with their slow and steady
procedures have taken into account all the
variants like cost factors, availability of
local inputs, farming operations and use
of the output. The impatient modern
people neglect a number of factors and
care only for the immediate economic
gains, the bottom lines as they call them.
done in such a way that it meshes up with

the rainy season. Our cropping cycles,
knowledge of the nature of the soil,
harvesting seasons, festivals, all fall into
a pattern. Nature, man and his work relate
with each other.
Prof. Noval: Modern sciences including
agricultural sciences have been divided
into compartments. There is neither
coordination nor continuity within, with
the result that some of our scientists lose
their holistic perspective.
Shri Phidal: Yes! the other day a young
agriculture graduate came to lecture me
on my mango orchard. What procedures
are
you
adopting?,
he
said
condescendingly, I will be surprised even
if a tree gives even a hundred mangoes
this year. I replied I will also be surprised
even if it gives one mango, because it is a
16
Smt. Duval: We used to have a closed

system. Our cows, goats, pigs and hens
ate farm-wastes such as straw, grass and
broken grains which readily available. The
cow dung, hog wash, poultry waste
formed excellent manure. Nowadays, the
organised dairies are far away from farms.
None knows how to carry the cow dung
to the fields and how to dispose of surplus
straw.
Prof. Noval: It is called Cartesian split in
Action. It breaks up Natures
interdependent, self-sufficient, selfbalancing systems and leaves uncared for
wastes and unfullfilled input needs. Excess
straw from the farm rots. The animals in
the dairy go without roughage. The farms
go without manure and the dairies face
waste disposal problem.
Shri Phidal: Yes. I am afraid your high
sounding split system works everywhere.
We used to have temple tanks in the centre
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
Prof. Noval: In fact our biodiversity,
variety in trees, bushes, grasses, grains,
creepers etc. is maintained because of our
sense of the sacred. Our animals are
preserved by our sense of holiness. Our
seed variety is sacred to us. Our faith in a
variety of gods is born out of respect for
diversity. Our Theo-diversity is a mental
image of our Biodiversity.
of the village, which were desilted before

the annual temple festivals just before the
rains. When the monsoon sets-in, tanks
got full. Village wells got charged.
Nowadays our temple ponds and village
ponds are lying silted up. They have built
dams so far away that by the time the
water reaches my fields, half of the water
seeps away. And fields at the lower levels
are flooded and become salty.
Smt. Duval: And in summer I have to walk
miles for a pot of drinking water. And the
temple tank gets dry. So do my wells.
Prof. Noval: Our religious tradition is one
of conservation. Our trees are holy.
Smt. Duval: Yes. I should know. Our
Ganesha temple is near a peepul tree. Devi
dwells on the Neem tree. In temples, we
have Bilwa and Tulasi. Anyway what is left
is my Nandavan, where I grow some herbs
and flower-bushes for my puja.
S m t . D u v a l : When I went to
Chidambaram temple festival the priest
told me that the Kalasams (the copper pots
at the top of the Gopuram) were full of
seeds. Our temple Kalasams are seed
preservers.
Shri Phidal: Dont you remember! During
our village temple consecration, we filled
copper pots with varagu (coarse millet).
The priest said the Copper pot filled with
Varagu and mounted on the temple tower,
was like a lightning conductor.
Prof. Noval: In a world of spendthrifts, we
require some sort of an extra push, some
awe, to preserve, save and conserve. Mere
logic and rational knowledge are not
sufficient to check prodigality or
encourage husbandry. Religious spirit
supplies that extra motivation. Our sacred
groves, our sacred trees, sacred animals,
sacred places are all preserved out of a
sense of sanctity, not by rational
arguments, valid though they may appear
to be.
Shri Phidal: My mother told me that my
agricultural land was a Kshetra holy land
and body also a Kshetra.
17

killing medicines! The vegetables are full
of poison.
Smt. Duval: The food prepared out of
fertilizer-fed grains and vegetables do not
taste much. They eat less. If I put cow dung
manure in the field, the crops flourish. The
kids eat away even the raw vegetables!
They are so tasty!
Prof. Noval: With no science, or all wrong
and incomplete science, our people were
able to conserve our species! With all our
learning and knowledge, we have failed to
protect our ponds, our fields, our animals,
our Biodiversity.
Prof. Noval: That is from Bhagavad Gita.
Smt. Duval: In my village there is an
Ayyanar temple. There are statues of Devi,
and Muniswaran. So many varieties of
trees, bushes and creepers are there. Even
in day time, the grove is dark with shade.
And it is cool. I rest there when tired.
Prof. Noval: These shady trees control the
radiation on the crop plants. The bees and
birds that live on the trees help pollination
of the crops.
Smt. Duval: I do not know all your
explanations. My mother told me to offer
Pongal to the Devi before the first sowing.
For me, my religion, my work and the trees
fall in one piece.
Shri Phidal: With all your sciences, the
agricultural operations are yet to break
even. The expenses are high. The harvest
is poor. So much of fertilizers and insect18
Shri Phidal: We have only our faith to

guide us. We are basically creators and
producers and all our attention is focussed
on creating, producing and preserving.
We cannot learn the trickery and
manipulative cunningness of the city
dwellers. Nor can we give elaborate
explanations for everything that we do.
We befriend our trees and animals and
love nature. We act on our instinctive
urges. We learnt very slowly for
generations and our knowledge is deeply
entrenched in our souls. We cannot forget
all that, because it has seeped into our
beings like a slow rain on a ploughed field.
We learn from nature, we learn from our
society, the hard, slow, practical way. We
cannot remain without implementing what
we learnt. Our Devas and elders, our trees
and groves will not let us forget, the little
that we know.
Green Foot-prints
Grounded in Wisdom
Section-1
Nanditha Krishna
ncient India sanctified plants and

animals as a recognition of
biodiversity
the greatest tribute to the sun was at

Konarak, the giant chariot reflecting the
Sun God in all glory.
Earth day has come and gone, and

everybody has made his or her annual
commitment to save the earth, which
seems doomed to destruction. On Earth
Day, I chose to look back at the Indian view
of nature. How did ancient Indians
conceive the elements, how were the
elements recreated in art?
Water was the foremost of the pancha

bhutas or five elements. Flanking the
doorways of early temples, were images
of Ganga on a crocodile and Yamuna on a
tortoise. In the 4 th century A.D. Varaha
cave at Udayagiri, the two goddesses meet
in a well of water, recreating Prayaga. But
the greatest celebration of the Ganga was
in far-away Mamallapuram, where the
Pallavas carved the story of the descent
The Rig Veda is a celebration of nature,

its hero, the God of Rain. Dawn was
beautiful Ushas, dressed in a veil of light
crimson, whose dancing appearance is
heralded with the fragrance of the flowers.
The lotus, said Kalidasa, welcomes the
touch of the sun. In fact much of Indian
literature celebrates the sun, moon and the
constellations. In a sculpture in the rockcut cave temple of Bhaja (2 nd century B.C.)
Surya, in his chariot, destroys the demon
of darkness. Surya is invariably depicted
in a chariot driven by seven horses
representing the seven days, encircled by
a halo, and wearing boots, for his feet
could scorch the earth! The beautiful
Chola temple at Gangaikondacholapuram
in Tamilnadu contains a rare and exquisite
representation of Surya in a navagraha
stone a lotus encircled by planets. But
19

of the Ganga for eternity on an enormous
rock. Later, Adi Shesha, the divine snake
who forms the couch of Narayana,
represented water. Indian art sanctified
water as a giver of life.
Another bhuta Earth was the most
ancient deity, and lives on in the village
goddesses of India. She was incarnated in
Bhudevi, the consort of Vishnu and a form
of Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, and
was rescued by the mighty boar
incarnation of Vishnu, Varaha. Kushana
sculpture often combined water and earth
by making the goddess hold a pitcher of
water and food, or stand on a water pot
or on an overflowing cornucopia
(kalasha). Flanked by elephants that rained
water on her, the early Gajalakshmis
hands held fruits, vegetables and grain;
today the same hands shower gold coins
in popular art.
Vayu, the wind, was hardly represented,
although a rare image appears in a coin
of Kanishka. He was the fatest runner
among the gods, his speed and strength
inherited by his son Hanuman who could
dash from Lanka to the Himalayas, and
return with the mountain itself. The image
of Hanuman flying, a club in one hand and
the mountain in the other, is the most
popular image of Bajrang Bali.
Agni the fire, was an extension of the sun,
conveying the sacrificial offerings to the
gods. In early imagery, flames rose from
the crown and shoulders of Agni, who
purified the home and was the witness of
all actions and rituals, including the
20
marriage of Shiva and Parvati (Gurjara

Pratihara sculpture), the pact between
Rama and Sugriva (Mattancheri painting,
Cochin) and Sitas purity. Ancient Indians
looked upon Agni as an ally who cleared
the forests and helped them make the
transition from nomadic herders to
agriculturists.
Akasha the sky, was represented by Indra,
the king of the heavens, mounted on his
elephant Airavata, a symbol of royalty; in
the exquisite Kangra miniatures, Airavata
is the cloud and Indra is the rain. Indra
was often held hostage by demonic
elements. Kalidasa celebrated the rain
clouds in his Meghaduta, or Cloud
Messenger, beautifully depicted in the
cave paintings of Ajanta and the early
Chalukyan sculptures as Vidyadharas
flying among the clouds.
These were the pancha bhutas, but there
were others. The early cult of the Yakshas
or spirits of nature lived on in the
Vanadevatas, who lived in the trees and
helped human beings. In a Sunga
sculpture from Bharhut, the Yaksha or
Vanadevatas arms appear from the sal
tree, holding a bowl of food and a pitcher
of water. Several trees are celebrated in
art and literature. The most sacred is the
ashvatha or peepul, beneath which the
Buddha attained enlightenment. The
ashoka and bakula were brought to bloom
by the touch of a maidens foot, a ritual
immortalized in the shalabhanjikas of
Sanchi
and
Kushana
sculpture.
Dakshinamurti the teacher sits beneath the
Ficus benghalensis (banyan), while the
Plant a Notion : Going green doesnt have to be a daunting task that means sweeping life changes.
Simple things can make a difference.
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
baby Krishna sleeps on the leaf of the

Ficus krishnae. The luscious mango is
celebrated as the Goddess Ambika, sitting
beneath a mango tree. The Ekamreshvara
temple in Kanchipuram is dedicated to

Shiva, whose Lingam once stood beneath
the mango tree, which is still worshipped.
The Indian way of life provides the vision of the natural, real way of
life. We veil ourselves with unnatural masks. On the face of India
are the tender expressions which carry the mark of Creators hand.
- George Bernard Shaw
Greening the Life
21
Bharat, A Natural-Conservatory
of Medicinal Plants
1. Indian heritage on Plant Sciences:
he ancient Indian Civilization was

primarily dependent upon and
intimately related with Forests and
Flora. Sanskrit prose and poetical works
are replete with references to flowers,
foliage, trees and shrubs. The Epics and
Puranas not only contain descriptions of
many plants and flowers, but also
directives about the different uses of
plants. A science of Botany was well
established in India, as borne out by works
on Ayurveda, Vrikshayurveda and
Krishiparasara and by some lexicons.
The classification of plants is based on

Udbhida (Botanical), Oushadha (Medical)
and Annapanati (Dietic) principles.
2. Medicinal use of Plants in Ancient texts:
The extensive knowledge of ancient
Indians on the medicinal use of plants is
borne out by Charaka Samhita, Sushruta
Samhita, and Ashtangahridaya, the texts
in Ayurveda. They deal with the medicinal
uses of 1900 plant species. Agni Purana is
rich in information on use of plants in
reproductive physiology and on use of
plants in veterinary treatment of
elephants, cows and horses.
The ancient texts on plant sciences deal

with various aspects such as Ecology,
Physiology, Morphology, Taxonomy etc.
Vrikshayurveda gives instructions on
classification of soils, selection of soil,
manuring, seed germination, seed sowing,
plant propagation by means of cuttings
and grafting, planting and plant care. The
text also deals with diseases of plants, and
their treatment besides giving recipes for
preservation of seeds, seed pretreatments
inducing flowering and fruiting in plants,
producing seedless fruits, altering the
shape and colour of flowers etc.
22
Plant A Tree: Its good for the air, the land, can shade your house and save on cooling (plant on the
west side of your home), and they can also improve the value of your property.
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
4. Richness of the Indian Flora:
An interesting point in this connection is

that most of the plants regarded as
medicinal by the Puranas are also required
according to the Puranas, for some
religious rituals. Did the Puranas through
this relationship want to ensure that the
common people took care to protect these
important plants? For example: No work
or puja of any kind commences without
invoking the blessings of Lord Ganapati
who, the repository of knowledge. The
following plants used in puja to Lord
Ganapati in the Siddhi Vinayaka Vrata, are
important medicinally: Bilwa, Doorva,
Dattoora, Badari, Tulasi, Amra, Karavira,
Vishnukranti, Dadima, Shami, Ashwatta,
Arjuna, Arka, etc.
3. Use of Plants in Modern and Traditional
Medical Systems:
The organized Traditional Medical
systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani,
Amchi (Tibetan) use about 1200 plant
species. In comparison, the Folk and Tribal
health care systems, use about 6000
medicinal plant-species, while the modern
Allopathic Medicine uses about 30 species.
India is endowed with a rich diversity of

plant species with a representation of
almost all the known types of floristic
components, comprising some 20,000
higher plant species. This diversity is due
to diverse habitats found in this countryfrom Trans-Himalaya down to the coasts.
The country has been divided into 10
zones, further subdivided into 26 Biotic
provinces. The ten zones are: 1. TransHimalayan 2. Himalayan 3. Desert 4.
Semiarid 5. Western Ghats 6. Deccan
Peninsula 7. Gangetic Plains 8. N.E. India
9. Islands and 10. Coasts.
The Biotic provinces are further divided
into hundreds of ecological units or
BIOMES, (426 Biomes have been
recognized by the Govt. of India) which
provide specific habitats (ecological
niches) that harbour diverse vegetation as
reflected by forest types found in India:1. Moist Tropical 2. Dry Tropical 3.
This fact underscores the importance of

medicinal plants as a major resource base
of all Traditional Medical Systems and
demonstrates the existence of a rich
ethno- botanical and medical knowledge
base among the rural and tribal
communities in India.
23

Montane subtropical 4. Montane
Temperate 5. Subalpine 6. Alpine Scrub.
5. Natural Self-sufficiency of all Regions:
communities. Further the very survival of

many plant species of medicinal
importance has been jeopardised.
According to the Botanical Survey of
Yasya desasya yojantu:

Tasya tajjaushadham hitam
(Bhavaprakasha:)
This sloka says:
Nature is so benevolent that it has
provided every micro-region with the
plant-species required for its local health
needs.
In the light of this statement, it becomes
clear that Traditional Medical Systems
based on the local plant resources offer
tremendous scope to the rural and tribal
communities for self-reliance in primary
health care.
6. Source of Supply and Depletion:
Most of the species used by the Traditional
Medical Systems are from the higher
plants and a few from lower plants. The
6000 odd species of medical plants used
in India are derived from the terrain
ranging from evergreen forests to the
scrub jungles. Over 99% of the medicinal
plants are obtained from the wild with
hardly 40 species being cultivated in
farms.
Large scale deforestation and habitat
destruction have reduced the forest cover
and have reduced the availability of
medicinal plants to the rural and tribal
24
India, 5000 species of flowering plants of

India are threatened. Many of these are
medicinal plants.
7. Need for Conservation and its various
strategies
The skeletal forests remaining in the
country are no longer in a position to meet
the medicinal plant requirements of the
people. Alternative sources of supply of
medicinal plants must be developed.
Conservation of wild plant population is
to be ensured. Appropriate conservation
strategies are to be launched. These
strategies should protect wildlife
At the centre of each atom there is hidden the Supreme Divine Reality...
Green Foot-prints
populations and should improve their
availability to rural and tribal
communities, for their basic health care
needs. Of these strategies, in situ
conservation (conservation of plants in
their natural or original habitat) allows
evolution to continue within the area of
Natural occurrence.
Ex situ conservation of plants outside their
natural habitat in Botanic gardens,
Arboreta, Plantations, or in Gene Banks
as seed, tissue or pollen, supplement them.
8. In Situ Conservation
It is continuing maintenance of a
population within a community of which
it forms a part in the environment to which
it is adapted. It is most frequently applied
to wild populations, regenerated naturally
in protected or reserved areas.
Section-1
and for continued co-evolution
between associated species of plants.
3) Maintenance of wild gene-pools
facilitates research on species in their
natural habitat.
4) It is an effective way of conserving
species with recalcitrant seeds which
cannot be divided without rapid loss
of viability (and are also short lived
when moist) and hence cannot be
maintained on long term seed storage.
5) It is the only strategy available to
conserve biologically little-known
species which cannot be established or
regenerated outside their natural
habitat.
In situ conservation can be in protected

or reserved forests. The main advantages
of in situ conservation are:
1) It can serve several sections at once
since genepools of value to different
sections and crop-breeding forestry,
forage production, medicinal plants
etc, often overlap and they can be
maintained in the same protected area.
2) It allows evolution to continue as a
valuable option for conservation of
disease and pest-resistent species
which can co-evolve with their
parasites, providing plant-breeders
with a dynamic source of resistance;
25

Ex stiu conservation: Ex situ Conservation
is important because it fulfils the following
necessities: 1. To safeguard population in
danger of physical destruction. If intense
pressure exists on an important species,
or on the area where it grows, in situ is
not possible 2. To ensure a steady supply
of planting material, either through
storage (seed banks) or by
creating a production-source
(nursery) in the area of use. 3. To
allow commercial improvement
of a species through breeding
activities.
For majority of situations in situ
conservation is the ideal method
for protecting wild plant genetic
resources. Ex situ conservation is
a valuable complementary
method, and is the only hope for
rescuing genetic resources
threatened in their natural
habitat.
9. Conservation in Ancient India
Ancient Indian sages understood the
importance of maintaining the balance of
Nature. They prevented wanton
destruction of forests and encouraged
planting of trees. The Sacred Groves
around temples and other places
throughout India are pieces of land with
their natural flora. Cutting and removing
of vegetation from Sacred Groves is
prevented by religious faith. Many Sacred
Groves are found in NE India and in the
Western Ghats. The sages encouraged
26
planting of trees stating-planting of one

tree is equivalent to begetting ten sons.
The Vayu Purana states that various types
of natural calamities occur whenever man
starts felling trees on a massive scale.
Plants are considered to be so important
by the Matsya Purana, that it regards the
felling of trees without permission, a penal

offence. Discussions in Puranas reveal that
since the second century AD, the people
of India paid sufficient attention in an
organized manner on conservation and
perpetuation of plants.
The Agni Purana prescribes punishments
for cutting/felling trees. Denuding a tree
of its fruits invites a fine of one gold coin.
Cutting a branch a fine of 20 panas,
cutting a trunk, a fine of 40 panas, cutting
the roots of useful trees, a fine of 80 panas.
According to the Matsya Purana, cutting
a fruit-laden tree is punishable by a
penalty. If the felled tree stood near a
water reservoir, or by the side of a public
Who says Matter is inert? Metals get tired. Stones can feel. Love is everwhere...
J.C.Bose
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
road, or near any boundary, the amount

of penalty would be doubled. Cutting
shrubs or climbers is punishable.
Eradication of herbs without reason
attracted severe punishment.
b)National Bureau of Plant Genetic

Resources, New Delhi,
10. Status-conservation of Medicinal

plants in India today
e).Herbal Gardens and Nurseries by

Tropical Botanical Garden and
Research Institute, TVM
1. Dwindling resources.
f).Karnataka State Forest Dept. and
2. No organized efforts to conserve them
g).Ayurveda Department of Gujarat

Govt.
3. In Situ conservation not attempted

4. Ex-Situ conservation projects by
Govts.
NGOs
and
private
organizations carried out in an uncoordinated manner.
5. Agro-technology of about 40 medicinal
plants, mainly export-oriented,
Allopathy-driven or perfumery
industry funded.
6. The conserving organizations are
a)Indian Council of Agri Research and
Agri-Universities
c)RRL Jammu
d)Central Institute of Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants Lucknow.
7. Propagation Medicinal plants, nursery

techniques and plant tissue culture (50
species) have been studied. The Lok
Swasthya-Parampara Samvardhan
Samiti has collected data on nursery
techniques of bio medicinal plants.
8. Ethno-botanical
investigations
Ministry of Environment and Forests,
has documented medicinal plants used
by the tribal communities, through All
India Coordinated Research Project on
Ethnobiology.
Compiled From the Literature of
FRLHT, Bangalore
27
Sacred Groves a Community Property

M.Amrithalingam and Dr.Nanditha Krishna
acred groves represent an ancient

tradition of conservation in
India. They are protected by local
people out of reverence and respect, fear
and sentiment. They are the home of the
local flora and fauna, a veritable gene
p o o l a n d a m i n i b i o s p h e re re s e r v e .
Within these groves are locked ancient
s e c re t s o f h e r b s a n d t r a d i t i o n a l
medicine, primitive practices of sorcery
and magic.
The Sacred groves were the home of the
Mother Goddess and her warriors- a
spirit world to which people offered
terracotta figures, particularly horses on
which Ayyanar rode around the village
at night.
28
Conservation both at the macro and the

micro levels, is essential for our survival.
The take over of forests by various state
governments has not been very
successful, as it has alienated the people
who have conserved them for years. On
the otherhand, when local communities
preserved their natural resources by
setting a system of rules and taboos, it
has very effectively preserved the same
resources. The sacred groves are one
such example.
I n d i a h a s a g re a t t r a d i t i o n o f
c o n s e r v a t i o n o f n a t u r a l re s o u rc e s .
Reverence for rivers and lakes kept them
clean, the sanctity attached to hills and
mountains kept them intact. The belief
in the divinity of living organisms
people, animals and plantspreserved
the forests and maintained the intricate
web of life. Unfortunately this reverence
has been insulted and overshadowed by
a system of development which is alien
to Indian culture. If one single strand of
the web is broken, the web collapses. As
we pump sewage into the Ganga,
deforest the hills for tea estates, and
destroy forests for paper industries, we
are left with the problem of diminishing
natural resources.
Plants are living, breathing, communicating beings, endowed with personality and the attributes of
soul...
Green Foot-prints
There has been a certain amount of
debate as to whether the sacred groves
should be brought under the Forest
Department. This would be disastrous as
it would alienate local people and the
present community conservation efforts
would vanish. What is necessary is a
National policy which would recognize
sacred groves as a mark of traditional
Indian Culture, respecting social and
religious sentiments and as repository
of rural biodiversity, and ensure that
t h e i r p re s e n t s t a t u s a s c o m m u n i t y
property will be inalienable for all time.
Section-1
against the onslaught of the clearing
of forests for cultivation and
settlement.
Sacred Groves of Tamilnadu - A Survey

1. Every village in Tamil Nadu has a
sacred grove at least an acre in area.
2. The deities are mainly Amman and
Ayyanar to whom the people make
their offerings of terracotta horses and
other animals. It is rare to find a sacred
grove without an Amman shrine or
Ayyanar and the terracottas.
3. Sacred groves are small patches of
forest left untouched by the local
inhabitants to be protected by the local
village folk deities.
4. This is an all-India feature: The groves
now play a vital role in the
conservation and preservation of
species diversity. Sacred groves are the
last remnants of native vegetation of
each particular region. They probably
indicate the heroic efforts made by
local communities to protect and
preserve their natural forest tracts
5. The sacred groves include shady trees

by the side of a river, a shrine of the
Goddess or Amman, several male
attendants (one of which may be the
consort) Ayyanar with terracotta
horses, elephants, dogs, bulls and
other animals and a small pond natural
or artificial. Ayyanar is the watchman
of the village.
6. The groves are generally dedicated to
Amman in her various forms as
goddesses of fertility and good health.
Depending upon local folklore, the
Amman can be Mari, Kali, Ellai (Border
front) Pidari, Angalamman (Fire),
Kanniyamman (Virgin), Draupadi
Amman, Isaki Amman, or Madurai
29

Veeran,
Muni,
Karuppu,
or
Kuttandavan, the bodyless. The priest
at the village shrine is the potter who
represents the cyclic powers of Mother
Earth.
the local peoples struggles to conserve

ancient forests with their wealth of
herbal plants and resources which
supported rural lifestyles.
7. The sacred groves of Tamil Nadu are

small in size, ranging from half a
hectare to 20 hectares. Where the
groves are part of the western ghats
chain, they may extend up to several
hundred hectares.
8. The sacred groves are the home of the
local flora and fauna, and represent a
mini-biosphere reserve, making them
an essential part of the conservation
process. The rich plant life helps to
retain the subsoil water and during the
hot summer months, the pond in the
grove is the only source of drinking
water.
9. The sacred groves of Tamil Nadu
represent a variety of vegetation types
from evergreen, semi-evergreen, to
dry deciduous, corresponding to
climatic region. The vegetation species
of the sacred groves include: 1) Iron
wood 2) East Indian Satin wood 3)
Siris 4) Capparis bush 5) Cashmere tree
6) Indian wild lime 7) Hardwood tree
8) Arjuna 9) Sandal wood etc.
10. Festivals including Pongal, fire
walking, animal sacrifice, carrying fire
bowls are associated with the sacred
groves.
11. Hero stones and Sati stones are also
found in some of the Sacred groves.
12. The temple-forests (Kovil Kaadugal) of
Tamil Nadu, are the last remnants of
30
13. Sacred groves are called Manfloring

in Assam and Meghalaya, Mangaoon
and Ghols in the western ghats, Kavu
in Kerala, Deorai in Madhya Pradesh,
Devar Kadu in Karnataka and Goa and
Orans in Rajasthan.
14. The groves in Tamil Nadu are situated
on the outskirts of the village, thereby
serving as shelter belts or wind
breakers and are beneficial to the
farmers. They are the home of a variety
of medicinal plants which could be of
importance for the study of Indian
herbal medicinal systems.
Flowers speak to us when we know how to listen to them - it is a subtle and fragrant language.
Green Foot-prints
15. The sacred groves have integrated
social, cultural and religious
perceptions in one master image and
have motivated generations past,
present and future to safeguard the
integrity and diversity of various
ecosystems. They are probably the best
examples of human ecology.
16. The sacredness and the importance of
the sacred grove are reinforced in
various ways : for example, a thread is
wound around a tree or miniature
cradles are hung from the branches.
The first is a form of a prayer, and the
Section-1
second is a prayer for a child. Festivals,
sacrifices, folksongs, dances and folk
theatres are associated with the sacred
groves.
17. Taboos and beliefs have helped to
preserve the natural resources.
18. Some sacred groves like in Chittanna
Vasal are archaeological sites
preserved by the Archaeological
Survey of India.
(Extracted from The Sacred Groves of
Tamil Nadu by Dr.Nandhitha Krishna and
M.Amrithalingam, C.P.R.Foundation,
Chennai.)
There should be a National Policy on Sacred Groves:

1. To authenticate, preserve, conserve, protect and to
acknowledge the efforts of the people of this country in
preserving the local biodiversity.
2. To restore, regenerate, renovate and improve the degraded
groves without destroying the pristine nature of the original
Greening the Life
balance among species and subspecies.
3. To allow and encourage the evolution of such groves within and outside the
government forests.
4. To recognize sacred groves as a mark of traditional Indian Culture respecting
the social and religious sentiments.
5. To recognize all sacred groves and to treat them as an ecosystem preserved
by people from time immemorial.
6. To conduct a nationwide survey of sacred groves.
7. To recognise sacred groves as the repository of rural biodiversity.
(Ref-The Sacred Groves of Tamil Nadu)
31
Replicating Sacred Groves

Sudipto Chatterjee
s first step to bringing alive the

ecological traditions of the
country, the National Museum of
Mankind in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh has
decided to replicate plots of sacred groves
from different parts of the country. The
aim is to spread awareness on the
ecological
and
socio-economic
significance of these groves. Five hectares
have already been earmarked for the
purpose and work has begun.
Repositories of biodiversity, they still

harbour many threatened floral and faunal
species. The protection provided by the
Bishnoi community to the blackbuck
(Antelope cervicapra) is an example.
Sacred groves are patches of small forests

revered and maintained by local
communities, with beliefs, taboos and
folklore linked to them. Usually, sacred
groves are dedicated to one or more
deities worshipped by community.
Known as gomphas in some north eastern
states, run by Buddhist monasteries, as
gynas in Sikkim, as orans managed by the
Bishnoi community in Rajasthan, kavus
and devekavus in Kerala, devrais in
Maharashtra, samas in Madhya Pradesh
and nagvans in Manipur, these groves play
different roles in the day-to-day lives of
the people.
Most groves are regarded as abodes of the
worshipped deities. The gynas in Sikkim
are used for meditation while orans
provide shelter to wild animals and birds.
32
The number of groves vary from State to

State. The biogeography regions the
Western and Eastern Ghatas, the Western
and Eastern Himalaya, the Sal forests of
Central India and the Sunderbans are
reported to have a high number of sacred
groves.
Animals have all the reactions, emotions and feelings of which men are so proud...
Green Foot-prints
More than 750 groves have been recorded
in Kerala. These groves are managed
either by communities, temple trusts,
families or sometimes even by individuals.
They are thickly vegetated like the kavus
in Kerala, or they may be sparse like the
orans in Rajasthan where they were
dominated by the sacred Khejari (Prosopis
cinerama) trees.
The intention of exhibiting sacred groves
through outdoor and indoor display in the
museum is to demonstrate their
ecological, cultural, therapeutic, economic
and the social functions. Unfortunately,
they are also facing the same threats as
that of neighbouring forests. The need of
the hour is to make people aware of
corresponding issues and threats.
Given the local climatic and geological
conditions at Bhopal, it may not be
possible to replicate sacred groves from
different parts of the country, although a
near representation is being attempted.
The experts meeting held in June decided
to replicate groves of Rajasan (orans), and
Madhya Pradesh (sarnas). It was also
decided to plant tree species from the
Section-1
groves of Meghalaya, Kerala and Tamil
Nadu that are likely to grow in the museum
precinct. Exhibits would be changed and
improved from time to time. Cultural and
religious practices associated with each of
the groves would be organized with the
participation of the communities
concerned. The exhibits would not be
mere models, but would reflect the
diversity of cultures, issues and conflicts
associated with each of the groves.
According to the Director, Indira Gandhi
Rashtriya Manav Sangratalaya (IGRMS)
this is a New Museum Movement.
Conservation of sacred groves has always
been an important component of
biodiversity conservation efforts of WWFIndia. Under its community biodiversity
conservation movement. WWF-India has
documents the sacred groves of Andhra
Pradesh. Under the UNESCO sacred grove
initiative, WWF-India implemented a
study on the role of the orans in
conservation of biodiversity in two
villages of Rajasthan, Khejarli and
Peepasar.
From - WWF-India Features.
33
Sthala Vrikshas - Sacred Trees

Dr.Nanditha C.Krishna - M.Amrithalingam
acred trees or Sthala Vrikshas

along with sacred groves and
sacred tanks from a part of the
ecological heritage of Tamil Nadu, as of
other parts of India. Many temples are
associated with their sacred trees. Some
plants are sacred to the individual deity.
O t h e r s a re s a c r e d t o t h e p l a c e s .
Sometimes the tree is an integral or even
larger part of the sanctity of the shrine.
Occasionally towns and cities are even

named after their Sthala Vrikshas.
The worship of the tree goes back to the
seals of the Harappan civilization and
t h e h y m n s o f t h e Ve d a s . T h a t i t
continues in India today is a part of
I n d i a s c o n t i n u i n g t r a d i t i o n s w h i c h
sanctify
n a t u re
and
all
her
manifestations. Over the years, the
sacred trees have collected aspects of
Ve d i c , B u d d h i s t , J a i n , p o p u l a r a n d
animistic traditions in their character
and worship.
The choice of the trees which were
sanctified reveals, the socio-economic
concerns of ancient people. Some trees
were sanctified for their economic role
in ship building or in the timber
industry, some for their produces for
providing homes for various animals
and birds and others for their medicinal
and air purifying qualities. They reveal
t h e p e o p l e s k n o w l e d g e o f t h e i r
environment and its protection.
Tree worship provides a great continuity
in Hinduism. From ancient times when
trees alone were worshipped in
enclosures, to modern Hinduism, in which
Sthalapuranas, extol Sthalavrikshas, the
importance of trees has been stressed.
34
Nature sings her most exquisite songs to those who love her...
Green Foot-prints
Cities like Ekamravanam Kanchi-Mango,
Jambukeshwaram
(JamunTiruvanaikaval), Mullaivoyil -Mullai, are
examples of cities/towns being named
after trees. Sthalavrikshas are generally
associated with Shiva, Vishnu and
Kartikeya. A number of trees are also
associated with Devi worship.
The sacred trees symbolized knowledge
and spirituality. Open air shrines were
established under trees, where the
divinities were worshipped. In course of
time, the open air shrines were replaced
by a shelter or a temple for the deity; the
sacred tree became secondary and was
worshipped along with other nature Gods.
These sacred trees became the templetrees, associated with the deity as an
inseparable part of the faith.
Material from Sanskrit and Tamil
literature, the mythologies of ancient
civilization of Egypt, Greece, Indus Valley,
Section-1
Assyro-Babylonia, Phoenicia, Rome, Persia
and India, add to the evidence on the
importance of tree worship.
Extract from Sacred Trees of Tamil Nadu,

C.P.R.Environmental Education Centre,
Chennai-18 (1998)
35
Indias devotion to Plants

Dr.C.Sivaramamurti
n India trees and plants have been

adored not only with devotion but
have been affectionately fondled and
almost treated as members of a family.
Kalidasa mentions kindly spirits like
Vanadevatas, who had been companions
of Shakuntala in the forest, almost
shedding tears when she left her sylvan
home for her residence in the palace of her
husband, the king, and hastened to give
her presents of silken garments and jewels
worthy of a princess. When Sita was
abandoned by Lakshmana in the forest at
the command of Rama, Sitas sorrow
stirred the trees and plants, and along with
animals and birds, they too expressed
their grief by shedding flowers like large
drops of tears. Parvati makes no difference
between her fond son Kumara and a
Devadaru sapling almost chosen as her pet
off-spring, and she lovingly reared it by
watering it with pitchers of water as with
her own breast milk. When Aja laments
for Indumati, the prince cannot refrain
from mentioning with a pang the yet
unfulfilled marriage of the two trees that
the queen had brought up so lovingly in
the hope of getting them married.
the beloved clinging to her lord, is a poetic

expression of this sympathy for plants,
treated almost in human form.
In the Vishnusahasranama, Vishnu is
mentioned as the very embodiment of
imposing trees like Udumbara, Asvattha,
Asoka and Nyagrodha. Siva is himself
conceived as a yupa post fashioned in
Khadira or Sami wood. Sami has fire
inside it. Rudra is also the embodiment of
fire. Poets love to use the word Sthanu for
Siva and Aparna (lit. leafless) for Parvati
to suggest that even the dry tree trunk
(sthanu) bears shoots in association with
Aparna (saparna). Oshadhis or medicinal
plants respond to the light of the moon as
This idea of getting trees paired in

marriage bespeaks the almost human way
in which they were treated. The creeper
entwining the tree, spoken of by poets as
36
In what lies mans manhood? In exceeding himself...
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
effectively as the humans in their joy for

moonlight.
In the Vedic hymns the oshadhis have been
conceived as sentient and in the Puranas
the Vanadevatas are described as lovable
sylvan deities. The simple faith of the
Cheta in the Mrichchhakatika assumes that
the (watchful) eye of the Vanadevata is as
effective as that of the sun and moon that
are witnesses of the good and bad seeds
of people on earth. This is a primitive
belief that accounts for a true and honest
life in the simple and unsophisticated folk
of nearly 2000 years ago.
Indian outlook on life in general and on

the vegetable kingdom in particular, as an
exceedingly important group among
sentient objects that won the hearts of
their human neighbours makes an
interesting study. The Dohada, the
Vriksharopa, the Pratishta of the Pipal
tree, the worship of the Chaitya-vriksha
and other similar beliefs make it essential
that the psychological approach towards
plants in India should be studied in detail.
C.Sivaramamurti, Director, National
Museum, New Delhi. (1991)
Vratas
Conserve and use flowers and leaves optimally
In various Vratas (ritualistic) flowers and
leaves are used for worshipping deities.
Cultivation, preservation,
selective plucking and
proper utilization of these
are part of the ritual
worship. During different
Vratas various flowers and
leaves are used.
Each flower, or leaf is
offered with a special
invocation to a particular
name or aspect of the
deity. Twenty-one different
leaves are used in pooja of Siddhi

Vinayaka. Similarly 20 varieties of
flowers are offered to
Ganesha for propitiating
many
aspects
of
His
personality. The flowers and
leaves (patras) bring various
gifts from God to the devotee.
Not only that, they are
associated with various
episodes and personalities in
the epics and puranas. Almost
all the flowers and leaves used
for worship are of medicinal
value and available locally.
37
Vana Degula - Forest as a Temple
ommunion with nature has been

an article of faith with man and has
been an integral part of his life
since time immemorial. This has been a
phenomenon and legacy handed down
from one generation to another. Neither
the passage of time nor the onslaught of
forces, has been able to make any dent on
it.
The organic link that inextricably binds
nature with man has remained
unchanged. The strides in the fields of
science and technology have only
reinforced the view and call for better
understanding of the concept. As our
horizon of knowledge increases, the
perspective widens and the perceptions
begin to acquire a sharper focus. We are
astonished how the early dwellers of this
planet conceived the idea and nurtured
the same throughout.
Man, is a product of Nature ever since he

made his debut as a part of evolution. He
learnt to live with the five elements namely
the earth, the water, the light (Fire), the
air and the cosmos. He began to respect
them and started living with them. He
deified the forces of Nature which help
him to shape his life on the planet. As a
part of this process, he identified several
flora, with particular personalities of the
Hindu pantheon and started worshipping
them. For example, them element of
prithvi was identified with Ganapati, the
remover of obstacles and Shami and
Durva were considered as must for puja
of Ganapati. Likewise the element of water
One has to marvel at the manner in which

our forefathers (without the benefit of
modern education) with a common sense
approach and deep understanding,
thought about the environment and
devised their own plans in myriad ways
to bring home the message of
environmental conservation and of ManNature relation.
38
Animals have much more perfect senses than man...
Green Foot-prints
was identified with Goddess Bhavani.
Ashoka and Vishnukranti were prescribed
as Her favourite puja accessories. For the
element Vayu, Vishnu was the deity, with
Ashwatta and Tulsi as the favourite plants.
For Akash (Cosmos) was Ishwara and
Bilva trees, and Drona flowers were
chosen for his worhip. For Tejas (Fire),
Surya was the deity and yekka (Arka)
leaves, and karaveera flowers were

allotted to it. The list is quite endless, with
favourite foliage and flowers prescribed
for other members of the spiritual and
religious milieu. Thus began a pilgrimage
of harmonious links between Nature and
Man, a journey into the realm of eternity.
We do not know the rationale behind the
connection between a deity and a plant.
But, what is, however, interesting is the
perspicacity with which attempts were
made to familiarize man with Nature, all
of which have strong environmental and
ecological overtones. In the search for the
ultimate, the devouts were made to go in
search of species available, not so easily
Section-1
available, or the rare varieties thus making
it compulsory for folks to discover the
nuances and richness of the heritage of
Nature. It was (in simple words of today)
a message to protect and preserve the
cherished trees. It was a unique
experiment of discovering God through
flora.
It is this fascinating arrangement
of perceiving God through Nature
in general and through a cluster of
select species of plants, creepers,
and flowers available easily or
otherwise, which prompted the
Forest Department of Karnataka to
conceive the idea of Vanadegula of
seeing incarnation of temple in the
greenery. The Department chose
Uttara Kannada district for locating
the green temple. Uttara Kannada
accounts for the bulk of the forest
wealth of Karnataka. It is sought
after as the germ plasm of forest wealth
in the country.
The green temple in situated in Bakkala
village of Sirsi taluk of Uttara Kannada.
There are no idols to beckon the devout,
but species associated with the worship
of Gods, Goddesses and rishis are
specially grown in a particular fashion to
create the needed atmosphere and fervour.
Though people are familiar with the names
of the flowers and leaves used in different
poojas, more often than not, they would
not have seen them. Vanadegula for the
first time brings them face to face with the
species,in their natural surroundings;
39

Shivapanchayatana. The Bilva and Drona
for Shiva are planted in the centre. Vishnu
represented by Ashwatta and Tulasi is in
the NE (Ishanya). Sun God is represented
in the Aagneya (SE) by Billiyekke and
Karaveera plants.
Ganapati in the Nairrutya (SW) is
represented by Doorva and Khadir plants.
Ambika in Vayavya direction (NW) is
represented by Shanka pushpa and
Ashoka.
Similarly Ashoka Vana of the Ramayana
(38 species of plants and trees) Saptarshi
Vana with 7 trees and 7 flowers,
Navagraha vana with 9 plants,
Nandanavana of Kalidasa with 10 species,
40
Nakshatra Vana of 27 species are all

cultivated in Vanadegula. Similarly a
Rasivana with 12 species is also here.
The medicinal qualities of these plants are
very well-known. The trees interalia are:
1) Agastya 2) Amalaka 3) Amla or Imli
(Tamarind) 4) Amra (Mango) 5) Apamarga
Uttarini, 6) Arjuna 7) Arka 8) Ashoka
9)Ashwatta (pippala) 10) Atasi 11) Badari
12) Bhringaraja 13) Bilva 14) Brahati 15)
Champak 16) Champaka 17) Chaya 18)
Choota 19) Dadima (Pomegranate) (20)
Dattoora 21) Davana 22) Devadaru 23)
Dhatri 24) Doorva 25) Drona 26) Ganaki
27) Gandaleeka 28) Girikarnika 29)
Iruvantika 30) Jaji (Jasmine) 31) Jambeera
(Lemon) 32) Jamboo 33) Japa 34) Jatadhara
35) Kadali 36) Kadamba 37) Kalhara (lily)
38) Kamala 39) Kanchana 40) Kapitha 41)
Karaveera 42) Kastoorika 43) Ketaki 44)
Kovidara 45) Kumuda 46) Kunda 47)
Kurantaka 48) Kuruvaka 49) Machi 50)
Madhavi 51) Malati 52) Mallika 53)
Mandaram 54) Maruga 55) Maruvaka 56)
Champeya (Nagakesara) 57) Nagavalli 58)
Nandyavanda 59) Nilotpala 60) Nimba 61)
Nirgundi 62) Padma 63) Palash 64) Parijata
65) Patali 66) Pooga 67) Punnaga 68)
Sevantika 69) Shami 70) Shatapatra 71)
Shreegandha 72) Sindhuvara 73)
Sugandharaja 74) Surabhi Kataka 75)
Suragi 76) Surapunnaga 77) Svetadurva
78) Svetarka 79) Tamal 80) Tila 81) Tulasi
82) Udumbana 83) Unmatta 84) Utapala 85)
Vakula 86) Vata 87) Venu 88) Vishnukranti
89) Ambastha 90) Ankola 91) Davbe 92)
Hintala 93) Kakkola 94) Karashara 95)
Karnikara 96) Khadira 97) Krishna 98)
Kritamala 99) Kutaja 100) Lakucha 101)
As a rule plants suffer if they are kept shut up in a room.
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
Lavanga 102) Madhuka 103) Padari 104)

Panasa 105) Plaksha 106) Priyalu 107)
Raktachandana 108) Rasala 109) Rohini
110) Sala 111) Saptaparni 112) Sarala 113)
Sarju 114) Shimshapa 115) Shirishah 116)
Sungandhi 117) Syandama 118) Tala 119)
Tilaka 120) Tinduka 121) Uddalaka 122)

Vansa (Bamboo) 123) Vetasa (cane) 124)
Vikakanta.
(From: Sacred Trees, Karnataka
Forest Dept., Bangalore 1998).
Holistic Approach to Life

too will become less to that extent?
When this tree stood before us, full and
green, we too, in a manner, were full and
green. Today, its wound has caused a
scar within us also. We are not apart
from each other.
ne day a saint sent his

disciple to bring a few leaves
from a tree. When the disciple
broke a whole branch the saint stopped
him and said: Dont you know, you fool,
that if any part of this is destroyed, you
The saint said further: If there is an

attitude of friendship, of companionship
amongst various parts of Existence, and
a feeling of oneness with each other
instead of overpowering, wonderful
music is created in life.
This very music is Religion-Spirituality

and is Rit. (Cosmic harmony)
41
Plant Myths and Tradition in India

Dr.Shakti M.Gupta
he merit for planting trees is given

in many ancient texts. According
to a legend in Matsya Purana,
when Parvati planted a sapling of
Ashoka the gods asked her about the
merit for planting trees. Parvati replied:
A Vapi is equal to ten wells, a pond to
ten Vapis, a son to ten ponds, and a tree
is equal in merit to ten sons. The merit
f o r t h e c o n s e c r a t i o n o f t re e s a n d
orchards is also mentioned in the Agni
Purana.
Wisdom Trees
The reasons for a large number of plants
not having any commercial use and still
associated with myths and traditions are
not clear. The only explanation can be
that these plants, because of their
resemblance to the emblem of a
particular deity or the name of a sage
associated with them. For this reason
alone a large number of plants are
considered sacred in India, and called
Bodhi trees. For instance, Aswatta is
t h e B o d h i t re e o f S a t k y a M u n i o r
B u d d h a . N y a g ro d h a o f k a s h y a p a ;
Udumbana of Kanaka Muni, srisa of
K r a k u c h h a n d a ; A s h o k o f Vi p a s w i ;
Pundarika of Sikhi,
Cities - Flowers And Trees

Sometimes cities are associated with
flowers. According to the Bhagawata
Purana, Lotus flower floats on the lake.
Mathura rests upon the earth protected
by the chakra of Vishnu. Hence it is
called Gopalapuri. The city is
s u r r o u n d e d b y f o re s t s , n a m e d : 1 )
Brinadvana 2) Madhu vana 3) Tala Vana
4 ) B a h u l a Va n a 5 ) K u m u d a Va n a 6 )
K h a d i r a Va n a 7 ) B h a d r a Va n a 8 )
Bhandira Vana 9) Sri Vana 10) Loha Vana
and various deities preside over the
forests.
Cutting a Tree
So much importance was given to plants
particularly to trees, that a ritual was
laid down for the felling of trees for
making an idol for worship. Not every
Puja before cutting a tree
42
Flowers are very receptive and they are happy when they are loved.
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
wood was used for this purpose nor

could anyone worship an idol unless it
was as per scriptures. Deodar, Chandan,
Shami, Madhuka, Aswatta, Khadria,
Vilva, Syandana, Amra and Sala are
some of the trees prescribed for idol
making.
The ritual for felling the selected tree
was elaborate. The sculptor had to mark
on its trunk the various portions of the
idol to be made. Next, he had to
propitiate the tree with various offerings

and to worship the gods, manes,
rakshasas , nags, asuras , ganas, a n d
vinayakas in the night. In the morning,
after sprinkling water on the tree and
smearing the blade of his axe with honey
and clarified butter, he had to cut round
the tree rightwards beginning from the
NE corner.
From - Plant Myths and Tradition in

India, Munshi Ram Manoharlal,
New Delhi 55, 1991.
I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth sweet flowing breast
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray
A tree that may in summer bear
A nest of robins in her hair
Upon whose broom snow has lain
Who infinitely lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmore
Greening the Life
43
An attitude of the mind

By Rajni Bakshi
he Swadhyayees are not

reformers; neither are they
socialists. They do not claim to be
liberators or revolutionaries. Yet, what
they are engaged in primarily is helping
people rid themselves of deep-set
hypocrisy and unleash a new meaning
to life which in turn leads to harmonious
living with fellow beings. Swadhyaya, in
short, is a mission in progress.
In several coastal villages of Gujarat
there are certain fishing boats which
function as floating temples called
Matsyagandhas. These boats are part of
a collective endeavour of local members
of the Swadhyaya community.
The boat is built through voluntary
labour using materials which are
donated by members of the community.
E a c h d a y f i v e d i f f e re n t f i s h e r m e n
volunteer to take the boat out to sea.
Their catch is sold in the market and the
proceeds are distributed to those in
need. These collective earnings are
t re a t e d b y t h e S w a d h y a y e e s a s
impersonal wealth.
Swadhyaya is a Sanskrit word meaning
study or discovery of the self. Today in
m a n y S t a t e s o f I n d i a , t h i s w o rd i s
automatically
associated
with
44
S w a d h y a y a P a r i v a r. F o r o v e r f o u r
decades, this parivar has been
galvanizing millions of men and women
in different parts of India under the
leadership of Pandurang Shastri
Athavale.
Swadhyaya is an attitude of the mind.
Swadhyaya is the right perspective or
the vision which enables one to
understand the deeper aspects of
religion and culture, says Athavale.
Swadhyaya is neither an agitation nor a
revolution. It is
an attempt to
lead a pious
life to be ever
ready to work
for god.
An ideal lies at
the core of the
Swadhyaya
P a r i v a r .
H o w e v e r, t h i s
spiritual quest
is not limited to individuals peace of
mind and salvation. It finds expression
through diverse social and economic
activities that enhance the quality of
everyday life for countless people.
Yet Athavale always insisted that they
w e re
not
a
movement.
We
Nature first manifests through Matter as Engergy.

This is not merely a scientific fact but a deep spiritual truth and experience...
Green Foot-prints
Swadhyayess, try to bridge the gap
between the haves and the have-nots,
b u t w e a re n o t s o c i a l i s t s . We a r e
engaged in removing the dirt and rust
which have settled on our culture. Yet,
we are not reformers. We do try to
emancipate women from the oppressing
conditions, but we are not womens
l i b e r a t o r s . We a re b a s i c a l l y
devotees, i.e., bhaktas, Athavale
said in 1996 while accepting the
prestigious Magsaysay Award.
Section-1
S w a d h y a y a w o r k i s o rg a n i z e d i n a
thoroughly decentralised manner. At the
core of its activities is the Bhakti Pheri.
Each pheri of about 10 Swadhyayees
visit all houses in various villages and
engages in heart-to-heart speaking with
the residents. The purpose is to help
Athavale, now 80 years old, is

fondly and reverentially called
D a d a ( e l d e r b ro t h e r ) b y a l l
Swadhyayees. He was born in a
family of learned and prosperous
Brahmins and trained at a
traditional Sanskrit school, or
Swadhyayee gurukul. He could easily have
Transforming local community through Vol. Work
garnered a large following just on
the basis of his erudite lectures on the p e o p l e t o b e c o m e c o n s c i o u s o f t h e
Bhagvad Gita and other spiritual texts. divinity within and catalyse various
Instead
he
combined
s p i r i t u a l transfor mative endeavours through
discourses with an active search for voluntary work. Swadhyayas activities
p r a c t i c a l s o l u t i o n s t o p ro b l e m s a r e b a s e d o n c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f i t s
stemming from modern materialism and members. It seeks no private or public
the despair and frustration that haunt funds and declines donations.
most peoples lives. This pain and grief
shall not be in vain, he says, if it gives The Swadhyaya community is credited
birth to a new social order.
with reaching out to nearly 100,000
villages and urban neighborhoods, in
Athavale derived answers from ancient G u j a r a t a n d M a h a r a s h t r a a n d i s
Vedic wisdom and practices and gave s p r e a d i n g t o p a r t s o f c e n t r a l a n d
the principles a new form. For instance, southern India. Its efforts are estimated
he changed the traditional practice of to have improved the lives of over 10
fasting on ekadashi, to that of an annual million people. Many of the Swadhyaya
devotional visits or Bhakti Pheri of 24 communities have succeeded in putting
days.
an end to gambling, alcohol addiction,
45

wife and child abuse and initiated
cooperative efforts which vastly reduced
crime, fed the poor and helped to
nurture a spiritual quest.
Similarly, Swadhyayees work through

Yogeshwar Krushi, which is collective
farming. The income out of the harvest
is distributed within the community
according to need. Similarly, there are
community-based programmes for tree
planation and water conservation,
medical care and education. There are
Bal Samskara Kendras for children,
Mahila Kendras for women, the Divine
B r a i n Tr u s t f o r y o u n g p e o p l e a n d
Dhananjay Kreeda Kendras for sports.
In all such collective endeavours,
p e o p l e s c o n t r i b u t i o n b e c o m e s a n
expression of their devotion, and the
fruits of their labour belong to god, says
Pramila Jayapul, a writer-activist who
studied the Swadhyaya of community.
46
D r. R . K . S r i v a s t a v a , a n o t h e r s c h o l a r
Swadhyaya, finds it as both a metaphor
and a movement. It is a metaphor in the
sense of a vision, and a movement in
terms of its orientation in social and
economic spheres. Swadhyaya
has ignored caste barriers and
focused
on
m a rg i n a l
communities
and
the
dispossessed, and has integrated
them successfully into a
community without hectoring
them to change their lifestyle,
adds Srivastava.
As Paul Ekins noted in his book
A N e w Wo r l d O r d e r , t h a t
Swadhyaya
tackles
the
materialism of the western
worldview by reasserting the essential
spiritual quality of human nature; it
tackles poverty by bringing about
increased production without enlisting
the greedy and self-serving incentives of
the Western economic system.
This is possible for bhakti to become an
antidote to excessive individualism and
oppressive State control. Participation
i n c o m m u n i t y re c o n s t r u c t i o n a l s o
becomes a journey of self-discovery,
Athavale said in his acceptance speech
while receiving the Templeton Prize for
Progress in Religion in 1997. For us, to
align with the divine means to align with
othersFrom being passive spectators
and helpless victims, we become
responsible for our lives and the world
in which we live.
A resplendent sun rises above the horizon. It is your Lord that comes to you.
Green Foot-prints
Section-1
Therefore, the utilitarian aspect of the

various constructive programmes is
only a by-product from the Swadhyaya
point of view. It is the human bonding
capacity of these endeavours that is
important for the Swadhyayees.
N a t u r a l l y,
such
process
of
transformation is slow. The earliest
entrants on the Swadhyaya path waited
for 8 to 10 years before they saw any

signs of change.
Athavale often says that the problems in
society today will take at least two
generations to resolve and yet we do not
even have the patience to wait two
years.
(Extracts from an Article.)
The Legend of Thimmamma

The legend of Thimmamma Marri Manu, the banyan (Ficus benghalensis) tree near
Kadiri in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh is heart-warming. A simple and noble
village house-wife who did her duties to her family, until she ascended the funeral
pyre with her husband whom she had tended in his sickness and transformed herself
into a big tree and in the villagers perception lives there. The tree has grown and
villagers have given up their land to accommodate its growth to a point where it is
now the largest of the species in the world. This encouraged a vision (in the surveyors)
that more such places would be there.
Located in Gootybailu village, 118 kms. from Anantapur, spread over nearly 4 acres,
this magnificent Ficus benghalensis is dedicated to Thimmamma, who has left a rich
tradition of conservation. A wide variety of birds
are seen in the area but there are
hardly any bird droppings.
Undergrowth has nearly 15
species. The grove is wellpreserved and now under the
care of the Forest Department.
Greening the Life
47
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
SECTION - 2
Need of the hour - Decolonisation of

the mind, not only of Indians but also of
the west!
51
SECTION - 2
Sl.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
52

Title
Author
Page No.
Prelude - Greening The Human Intelligence

Fritjof Capra-In Him the Twain Met Compiled
E.F.Schumacher who saw
beauty in small systems
Geoffrey Kirk & Jonathan Porritt
Lovelock who believes
in a LIVING EARTH
Website
Growth through Gaia:
friendly approaches
N.R.Krishnan
Eco-Economy: New Hopes
Lester Brown
Lester Brown and the
Worldwatch Institute
Website
Hazel Henderson: The Holist,
Futurist, Evolutionary Economist
Fritjof Capra
Hazel Henderson -Striving to
Build a Win-Win World
Dileep Kulkarni
Wolfgang Sachs who divests
Development of its fig-leaves
Compiled
Herman Daly and his Green Laws Fritjof Capra & Gunter Pauli
Mahatma Gandhi - An Apostle of
Applied Human Ecology
T.N.Khoshoo
Deendayal Upadhyaya
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
Dr.Vandana Shiva - A
Crusader for Biodiversity
Compiled
David Attenboroughthe man
who thinks that plants think
Compiled
Anil Agarwal and His Comprehensive
Approach to Ecology
Sunita Narain
Claude Alvares and the
Other India Press
Compiled
A Noble Effort
Website on R.K.Pachauri
Last Days of Age of Oil
Lester R.Brown
Ishmael : An Adventure of the
Mind and Spirit
Book Review
Ahead to Nature
Book Review
In the Woods of Globalisation
Book Review
53
59
65
71
73
76
78
80
84
90
95
96
100
105
109
110
114
116
118
122
125
127
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
PRELUDE
Shri Krish Phidal: Shriman, you the
educated class, the learned Pandits, do
not do anything for us. All over the world
the farmers are suffering, the
agricultural land is shrinking, the
common properties of the people of the
villages are being usurped by the small
number of the organised class of people.
Prof. Jnani Noval: (Laughing) I shall
complete the list. The growth graphs of
grain production, food production are
getting flatter and flatter. The energy
crisis is looming large over the horizon.
The fish production is falling.
Urbanisation
has
reached
a
strangulation-level; slums multiply.
Prices soar! The rich are getting richer
and the poor poorer. The share of a small
number of rich people in the worlds
wealth and produces is going up. Worlds
ice caps are melting. Rivers are drying up.
There is water scarcity. The monsoon
becomes erratic, unpredictable, risking
40% of the overall food production of the
world.
Our
eating
habits
are
unsustainable. Our peace processes do not
progress. Mankind spends more on war
than on development. The western
countries which contribute little to the
worlds welfare have assumed our
leadership! Our social systems are not
strong enough to meet the challenges.
Modernity is corrupting our minds,

drowning the world in alcohol, narcotizing
our youth with drugs, leaving human
hands idle, and social work undone! Our
biodiversity is shrinking, forcing us on the
path towards a monoculture. Our life
support systems such as water supply, air
circulation, energy availability, living
space and habitat, our land and soil are
getting polluted, degraded and
fragmented. Our doomsday sooth-sayers
have promoted environmental risks
ahead of atombombs as the greatest
53

danger to life on earth. Our health
concerns intensify!
society. They are struggling to establish

ecologically ethical values in the world.
Smt.Annapurna Duval: (irritated) Then

what are you the learned people, the
scholars, the path finders doing about the
whole scenario?
Shri Krish Phidal: Unless we learn to

respect all Nature and all living beings as
God and Godmade, where will ethics
come from? We should learn to respect
and see God in all variety. Other wise how
shall be respect variety? Diversity?
Shri Krish Phidal: (Grinning) I am afraid

that the learned people are not the solvers
of problems, they are the creaters of the
mess in the first place. They have let the
genie of modernization, development, out
of the bottle and they do not know how to
contain it, how to control it, how
to recapture it!
Smt. Duval: And unless I see God in

myself how can I see God in you, in
others?
Prof. Noval: Please do not make

a flat statement covering all
intellectuals.
There
are
conscientious people struggling
to give the common people their
due and protect their interests,
protecting nature in the process.
But they get very little public
space, very little media coverage.
And their number is not big.
Shri Krish Phidal: Our village
kathakar used to say that Devas
are out-numbered by Asuras.
Smt.
D u v a l:
He
quoted
Kandapuranam to say that against 33
crores of Devas or positive forces there are
66 crores of Asuras or negative influences.
Prof. Noval: It may be true. But these are
the pioneers and cheer leaders of the
54
Prof. Noval: With your instinctive, natural

wisdom, you have quoted 1. The Yajurveda
(Isavasyam idam sarvamthe entire
creation is covered with Godliness) 2. The
Rikveda (Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda
VadantiTruth is one; the learned call it
Green Foot-prints
by many names) and 3. The Sama Veda (Tat
Twam AsiYou are that Divine).
Shri Krish Phidal: Eulogies apart, what
are you the learned, articulate, influential
people doing to help us? To protect
Nature? To give life a chance to live on
this earth?
Prof. Noval: People like J.C.Bose and
David Attenborough are tying tell the
world that plants and animals have their
own wisdom, survival instinct and the
urge for self-preservation. Many western
scientists and materialist-politicians were
all along saying that plants and animals
do not have values or gunas. Whatever
traits, we say they have, are products of
man reading his own virtues and vices into
plant and animal lives. Bose and David
Attenborough have shown that living
organisms have values, traits, gunas.
Smt.Duval: Does it take so much study to
find out that my cow is sattvik, my dog is
grateful, the crow is dirty and your buffalo
is slothful?
Prof. Noval: Yes! If you do not believe that
Nature has its own intelligence and believe
that all Natural intelligence is mere social
construction by the mankind.
Shri Krish Phidal: Then?
Prof. Noval: There are great social,
economic, agricultural scholars like Lester
Brown and his Worldwatch Institute, who
warn that mankind is on the wrong track,
cutting the very branch of the tree on
Section-2
which it is sitting. He has recognized the
various vital signs of Earths health and
he puts out periodical warnings about the
deterioration. He traces the bright linings
of the cloud. He records efforts at
Sustainability.
Smt. Duval: Does he agree that my Bhuma
Devi is drivine. I pray every day Samudra
Vasane Devi, Parvatha Sthanamandale,
Vishnu
Patni
Namastuybhyam
Padasparsam Kshamasvame! Bhumadevi
has the ocean as her dress, the mountains
as her chest, She, Vishnus consort, should
pardon my touching her with my feet.
Prof. Noval: Lester Brown is basically an
Agricultural Economist. It is given to
people like James Lovelock with his GAIA
theory to recognize the Earth as a Living
Being. Then there are scientists like Fritjof
Capra, who like true Advaitins, see that
the whole planet and its living and nonliving constituents are meaningfully,
organically inter-connected. They propose
a new model of Deep Ecology, with a
Feminine thrust.
Smt.Duval: Thank God. There is some one
among the Modern Scientists to
recognize that we the mothers give birth
to all living things, nurture them and
culture them and we have the real stakes
in the Earths survival. Does it take so
much of intelligence to unravel the simple
secrets of life.
Shri Krish Phidal: Yes! Your front door
is the farthest point, if you start at your
backyard!
55

Prof. Noval: (Laughing) Western science
proposed a theory of material origin of all
life on Earth and is still trying to
disentangle itself from that confusion. By
the time it arrives at Prajna-conciousness,
the simple and Natural beginning of
creation will appear to lie faraway.
Smt. Duval: If understanding the theory
itself is so diffcult, when are you the
intelligent people going to implement the
bonding with Nature. Their own living

examples are there.
Shri Krish Phidal: Some one should write
some Puranas about them. Our people
understand only the Puranas.
Prof. Noval: Yes yes. Books like Ishmael,
Ahead to Nature, In the woods of
globalisation chronicle mans journey into
the wrong direction, his course correction,
his return to the right path. They are
effective narrations.
Smt. Duval: How did the mess begin?
Man parting from the lap of his Mother
Nature?
practical suggestions that emerge from

your vision, belated as it is!.
Prof. Noval: Mahatmas like Gandhiji have
already made a beginning trying to bring
mankind nearer to truth, nearer to Nature.
Great men like Pandurang Shastri
Athavale, the followers of Swami Narain
and Deen Dayalji Upadhyaya have been
exhorting people to lead a life of ethical
56
Prof. Noval: Some people say that when

man gave up his nomadic life of constant
dependence upon nature, and settled
down to agricultural life, all his troubles
started. Others associate the human
problem with the advent of
technologies, the age of science. A third
group links mans trouble with the
petroleum shortage. Man appears to be
stretching and severing continuously
the umbilical cord that links him to
Mother Nature. And many sociologists say
that this trend is irreversible one-way
traffic. Jawaharlal Nehru was blamed for
Indias over-industrialization and the
neglect of the agricultural sector. When
Lal Bahadur Shastri was asked whether he
would go back to pre-industrial days, he
said the journey is irreversible; we have
already travelled too far. Andrei
Shakharov the Nobal prize winning
Russian rebel scientist, said that mankind
Green Foot-prints
cannot go back to its pastoral days. It has
lost its innocence once for all. But Hindu
Dharma believes in cyclic time and spiral
repetitions. Buddhism also believes in
human memories going backward in time.
It appears that putting the clock back
requires a tremendous spiritual effort.
Mircea Eliade says so, quoting Hindu and
Buddhist scriptures. Edward Goldsmith
also calls for a total spiritual revolution to
overcome our ecological problems.
Shri Krish Phidal: Much trouble appears
to have started with modern ideas of
development.
Prof. Noval: It is the opinion of a strong
school led by Ivan Illich, Wolfgang Sachs
and others. Gandhiji also felt so. Sachs
says the whole problem began when in the
post second world war-era, America

proposed a picture of development as a
one-way road, with America ahead and
all other nations trying to catch up with
it. The developing countries made up the
rear of the procession, attempting
constantly to imitiate America and the
West. In a devastating attack on
Section-2
Development in his introduction to The
Development Dictionary, Prof. Sachs
exposes the hallowness of the claim, saying
Development atomised the society and
perpetuated colonisation not only at the
economic level but also at social,
psychological and intellectual levels.
Smt.Duval: I am happy that somebody
from the west had the guts to debunk the
myth of Western Superiority and lay bare
the Western ideas of society-less, familyless, economic development!
Prof. Noval: Why! Our own Dharampalji,
Claude Alwares and Vandana Shiva have
done much to help Indians to try to come
out of Western paradigm of quick-fix ideas
of prosperity and peace. They plead for a
decolonisation of the mind not only of
Indians but also of the
West! People like Anil
Agrawal also plead for
Indianistation
of
conservation processes.
Shri Krish Phidal: Has
any one thought of the
spiritual oneness of the
creation and the sheer
immorality of meddling
with Nature? Cutting
Nature to pieces?
Prof. Noval: Yes! Apart from many Indian
Gurus and Vedantins, Fritjof Capra has
identified a number of parallel points
between Ultra modern science and
Eastern Mysticism imaging creation as an
integrated
whole
with
hidden
57

connections. But Capra has no field or
technological experience. He is only a
theoretician. It goes to the credit of
Schumacher and Hazel Henderson to face
the problem in its totality and try to solve
it at economic, spiritual, social, and
technical levels and come out with
practical suggestions for sustainable

development. These suggestions are based
on an integrated vision of reality,
marching in the footsteps of our Rishis,
Gandhiji and the Eastern thought in

general.
Smt. Duval: Do such people get some
recognition at all?
P r o f . N o v a l. Those who advocate
tightening the belt, economizing
Natural resources, substituting Natural
Resource capital with human ingenuity
and spiritual self-control, with
simplified life-styles, will never be
popular with the masses, except in
crisis situations. The present oil crisis
energy-crunch and global warming
have pushed people to recognize the
services of Al Gore and Rajendra
Kumar Pachauri awarding them the
Nobel Prize for their conservation
efforts, their rescue acts.
Shri Krish Phidal: It is a sad state of
affairs when man cannot learn the laws
of Nature except when threatened with
death and extinction. Education,
instead of charming man with lifeaffirming wisdom, is being forced to use
the stick of suffering to teach Man the art
of survival.
Prof.Noval: Sad! But True!
58
Green Foot-prints
Fritjof Capra
In Him the Twain Met
Section-2
withstood the test of time and ever more

emphatically endorsed by on going
experimentation and research. Referring to
recent researches in subatomic physics
Capra says, The new developments have
not invalidated any of the parallels to
Eastern thought, but on the contrary, have
enforced them.
ritjof Capra is a theoretical physicist

and has done research in highenergy physics at several European
and American Universities. He has written
and lectured extensively about the
philosophical implication of modern
science.
Writes Capra: My main professional

interest during the 1970s has been in the
dramatic changes of concepts and ideas
that have occurred in physics during the
first three decades of the (20th) century and
that it is still being elaborated in our
current theories of matter. The new
concepts in physics have brought about a
profound change in our worldview; from
the mechanistic conceptions of Descartes
and Newton to a holistic and ecological
view, a view that I have found to be similar
to the view of mystics of all ages and
traditions.
In his path breaking work The TAO OF

PHYSICS Capra explored the connection
between Eastern mysticism and modern
physics. The central thesis of that book
was that the mystical traditions of the East
constitute a coherent philosophical frame
work, within which the most advanced
western theories of the physical world can
be accommodated. This thesis has
Our clinging to the mechanistic

worldview of Newton and Descartes has
brought us perilously close to
destruction. Fritjof Capra shows how
these ideas are now obsolete and looks
forward to a new vision, more consistent
with the findings of modern physics, as
described in his innovative and
controversial THE TAO Of PHYSICS: a
59

holistic, systems-based approach. He
extends that approach in THE TURNING
POINT to include important areas of
contemporary life-medicine, psychology,
economics, political science, and ecology
as well as physics. We are in effect at a
turning point in all aspects of our
(European) culture, says Capra.
Researching for these books brought
Capra face to face with the wisemen and
women of his time. Werner Heisenberg
described to him most vividly his personal
experience of change of concepts and
ideas in physics. Geoffrey Chew taught
him not to accept anything as
fundamental. J.Krishnamurti and Alan
Watts helped him to transcend thinking
without losing his commitment to science.
Gregory Bateson broadened Capras
worldview by placing LIFE in its centre.
Stanislow Grof and R.D. Laing challenged
him to explore the full range of
consciousness. Margaret Lock and Carl
Simonton showed him new avenues to
health and healing. E.F.Schumacher and
Hazel Henderson shared with him their
ecological visions of the future. Indira
Gandhi enriched his awareness of global
interdependence. From them and many
more with whom he interacted, Capra
learned the main elements of what he came
to call the new vision of reality. His own
contribution has been to
establish links between their
ideas and between the
scientific and philosophical
traditions they represent. In
1969, he first experienced
the dance of subatomic
60
particles as the DANCE OF SHIVA. His

research was accompanied by a deep
personal transformation. His conversations
with the above-mentioned wiseman-and
women were recorded in his eminently
readable book UNCOMMON WISDOM. In
this book he charts the cultural, scientific
and philosophical landmarks behind that
intellectual odyssey.
When Dr.Capra was invited by the Bombay
University to deliver the Sri Aurobindo
Memorial lecture, he talked on the New
Vision of Reality. He said inter alia, Indian
Culture has deeply affected my life and has
helped me enormously in my spiritual
development. I came in contact with it
fifteen years ago, when I first read the Gita,
and ever since that time, I have been deeply
moved by Indias religious texts, her music,
the stone-sculptures of her ancient
temples, her dance, the metaphors,
symbols and images of her spiritual
traditions and by the beauty and grace of
her people.I hope that I will be able to
repay some of my debt by communicating
someinsights that emerged from my
contacts with Indian Culture, which may
help to facilitate the interaction and
cooperation between East and West:
Apart from writing and lecturing, Dr.Capra
also founded The Elmswood Institute for
Sustainable Development in Berkeley,
California and co-authored / edited books
on eco auditing and Steering business
toward sustainability. He also established
the centre for ecoliteracy Berkeley. Then
came his master-piece The Web of Life.
Consumption transition would seek to reorient consumer choice towards green products and
services and to ensure cooperate accountability to a green business code.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
The Web of Life by Fritjof Capra

This author of the well-known book THE
TAO OF PHYSICS has presented an overall
synthesis that integrates the new
discoveries ON LIFE into a single
context, allowing the readers to
understand them in a coherent way. This
is the challenge and the promise of the
book THE WEB OF LIFE.
For long years, the scientific community
based its work on mechanistic model of the
structure of the atom, molecules, living
systems and the whole universe.
Newtonian physics, Darwins ideas of
evolution, Marxist sociology are all based
on this mechanistic world view.
The Web of Life presents a holistic and
Deep Ecological paradigm for
understanding
living systems.
It offers a
unified view of
M I N D ,
MATTER AND
LIFE.
Written for the
c o m m o n
reader, keeping
t e c h n i c a l
jargon to an
irreducible
minimum, this
book studies
life at all levels
of
living
systems, organisms, social systems and

ecosystems.
It is based on a new perception of reality
the ultimate interconnectedness of
everything that exists on life that has
profound implications not only for science
and philosophy, but also for business,
politics, health-care, education and
everyday life.
The systemic problems of the world the
interconnectedness of problems are
brought out clearly in this book.
Sustainable society developing a society
that satisfies its present needs without
diminishing the prospects of future
generationsrequires a proper perception
of reality.
THE WEB OF LIFE seeks to invest its
readers with such a view.
To be read by everyone who believes in
social and ecological sustainability.
His final account THE HIDDEN
CONNECTIONS offers a vividly
penetrating analysis of what it means to
be a system an ecological system, an
economic system, any kind of system. All
of life-from the most primitive cells, upto
human societies, corporations and nationstates, even the global economy-is
organised along the same basic patterns
and principles. Capra describes the unified
systems that integrate the biological,
cognitive and social dimensions of life and
shows how understanding this will be vital
61

to humanitys survival. For, as the new
century unfolds, two developments which
will have defining impact on humanityGlobal Capitatism and ecodesign for
sustainable communities, are set on a
collision course. Our great challenge is to
change the value system underlying the
global economy before it is too late. The
Hidden connection shows us how.
Capras Writings:
Caprass philosophy, work and his models
for the future are based on the parallels
he draws between modern physics and
Eastern Mysticism.
1. The most important characteristic of
Eastern world view-one could almost
say the essence of it is the awareness
of the unity and mutual interrelation
of all things and events, the experience
of all phenomena in the world as
manifestations of a basic oneness. All
things are seen as interdependent and
inseparable parts of this cosmic whole;
as different manifestations of the same
ultimate reality. The Eastern traditions
refer constantly to this ultimate,
indivisible reality, which manifests
itself in all things, and of which all
things are parts. It is called Brahman
in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in
Buddhism and Tao in Taoism. Because
it transcends all concepts and
categories, Buddhists also call it
Tathate-SUCHNESS.
2. When the Eastern Mystics tell us that
they experience all things and events
62
as manifestations of a basic oneness,

this does not mean that they
pronounce all things to be equal. They
recognize the individuality of things,
but at the same time they are aware
that all differences and contrasts are
relative within an all embracing unity.
Since in our normal state of
consciousness, this unity of all
contrasts and especially the unity of
opposites-is extremely hard to accept
its constituents are of the most puzzling
features of Eastern philosophy. It is
however, an insight which lies at the
very root of the Eastern world view.
3. Modern physics has confirmed most
dramatically one of the basic ideas of
Eastern Mysticism-that all concepts we
use to describe Nature are limited, that
they are not features of Reality, as we
tend to believe, but creations of the
mind, parts of the map, not of the
territory. Whenever we expand the
realm of our experience, the limitations
of our rational mind become apparent
and we have to modify or even abandon
some of our concepts. Our notions of
space and time figure prominently on
our map of reality (we have to modify
them).
4. The emphasis on movement, flow and
change is not only characteristic of the
Eastern Mystical traditions, but has
been an essential aspect of the world
view of mystics throughout the ages.
The Rig Veda uses another term to
express the dynamic nature of the
universe-the term Rita.
People born after 1950 are 20 times more likely to suffer depression than those born before
1910.
Green Foot-prints
The Rigvedic terms Rita stands for

dynamic nature of the universe
5. On Forms coming out of Emptiness and

merging into It, Dr.Capra quotes the
Upanishads Brahman is life; Brahman
is joy. Brahman is the void. Joy verily is
the same as the void. The void verily
that is the same as joy. Chandogya Up.
(4-10-4.) Dr.Capra adds:
Tranquil, let one worship It
As that from which he came forth
As that into which he will be dissolved
As that in which be breathes
(Chandogya-3-14-1)
He concludes: The relation between the
virtual particles (in physics) and the
vacuum is essentially a dynamic relation;
the vaccuum is truly a living void,
pulsating in endless rhythms, of creation
and destruction.
6. Next, Dr.Capra discusses the Cosmic
Dance. The Exploration of subatomic
world in the twentieth century has
revealed the intrinsically dynamic
nature of matter. It has shown that the
constituents of atoms, the subatomic
Section-2
particles are dynamic patterns, which
do not exist as isolated entities but as
integral parts of an inseparable
network of interactions. These
interactions involve a ceaseless flow of
energy, manifesting itself as the
exchange of particles; a dynamic interplay, in which particles are created and
destroyed without end in a continual
variation of energy patterns. The
particle interactions give rise to the
stable structures which build up the
material world, which again do not
remain static, but oscillate in rhythmic
movements. The whole universe is thus
engaged in endless motion and
activity, in a continual cosmic Dance
of energy. (Dr.Capra compares this to
the Dance of Shiva).
7. Quark symmetries-a new Koan?
The attitude of Eastern philosophy with
regard to symmetry is in striking contrast
to that of the ancient Greeks. It would
seem that the search for fundamental
symmetries in particle physics is part of
our (Western) Hellenic heritage which is
somehow inconsistent with the general
world-view, that begins to emerge from
modern science. The emphasis on
symmetry however is not the only aspect
of particle physics. In contrast to the static
symmetry approach, there has always been
a dynamic school of thought which does
not regard the particle patterns as
fundamental features of nature, but
attempts to understand them as a
consequence of the dynamic nature and
essential interrelation of the subatomic
63

world. This school of thought has given rise
in the past decade (1980-90) to a radically
different view of symmetries and laws of
nature which is in harmony with the world
8. Interpenetration
The principal schools of Eastern Mysticism
agree with the view of the BOOT STRAP
philosophy that the universe is an
interconnected whole in which no part is
more fundamental than the other, that the
properties of one part are determined by
all others. In that sense, one might say that
every part contains all others and indeed a
vision of mutual embodiment seems to be
characteristic of the mystical experience
of Nature. In the words of Sri Aurobindo,
Nothing to the Supramental sense is really
finite, it is founded on a feeling of all in
each and of each in all.
Modern physics is in perfect

agreement with Eastern Philosophy
view of modern physics (described in

Dr.Capras books and in perfect agreement
with Eastern philosophy.)
64
(Compiled from the writings of Dr.Capra

and the writings on him)
Recycle old cell phones: The average cell phone lasts around 18 months, which means 130
million phones will be retired each year. If they go into landfills, the phones and their batteries
introduce toxic substances into our environment.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
E.F.Schumacher who saw beauty in

small systems
Schumacher achieved such distinction and
recognition as would have contented most
men, who had followed only one of those
activities. In each, he made a contribution
to human well-being that was not confined
to one Nation or perhaps to the present
age.
The interest he developed in Buddhism
when he was seconded to advise the
Burmese Government led him to favour
non-violent economic policies for the rest
of his life.
Part I
Geoffrey Kirk on E.F.Schumacher
Introduction
Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (B 1911-D
1977) was economic advisor to the British
National Coal Board from 1950 to 1970.
German born, he first came to England in
the 1930s as a Rhodes Scholar to study
economics and later taught economics at
Columbia University, New York. His advice
on the problems of rural development was
sought by many overseas Governments. He
was the author of the books Small is
Beautiful and A Guide for the Perplexed.
He died in 1977.
In each field social economics, energy,
intermediate technology and writing
When he told me that he intended to write

a book that would cover economics,
energy, intermediate technology and
organization, I doubted whether it could
be effectively done. My scepticism was
received with his usual cheerful confidence
and the book, SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL did
have the cohesion and unity discernible
throughout his workand his life.
In one of his controversial speeches, he
quoted thirty five eminent authorities,
including such people as Galbraith,
Einstein and Schweitzer as well as official
reports. He ended with this moving
statement of his beliefs. The continuation
of scientific advance in the direction of
ever-increasing insolence, culminating in
nuclear fission and moving on to nuclear
65

fusion is a prospect of terror, threatening
the abolition of man. Yet it is not written
in the stars that this must be the direction.
There is also a life-giving and life
enhancing possibility, the conscious
Small is Beautiful. Impressed by its key

ideas they did more in their own homes
or work-places.
Fritz Schumacher was a great synthesizer,
bringing many disparate concerns within
the same frame of reference. He was the
first of the Holistic Thinkers of the
modern Green Movement.
He borrowed ideas of crucial significance
from his predecessors and stirred them to
produce a work of wonderful vitality and
originality. This gave people access to
organic farming, awareness about the
importance of maintaining soil fertility. The
book Small is Beautiful has an appropriate
sub-title. A study of economics as if people
mattered.
exploration and cultivation of all relatively

non-violent, harmonious, organic, methods
of cooperating with that enormous,
wonderful incomprehensible system of
God given nature, of which we are a part
and which we certainly have not made
ourselves.
PART - II
Jonathan Porritt on Schumacher
Countless people in dozens of countries
have been deeply inspired by the little book
66
As he argues so passionately, the cardinal

error of our whole industrial way of life is
the way in which we continue to treat
irreplaceable natural capital as income. He
said Fossil fuels are merely a part of the
natural capital which we steadfastly insist
on treating as expendable as if it were
incomes and by no means, the most
important part. If we squander our fossil
fuels, we threaten civilization. But if
squander the capital represented by living
nature around us. We threaten life itself.
Hence the continuing absurdity of human
societies pinning all their hopes on
achieving exponential economic growth, of
measuring success solely in terms of
increased GNP, and of ignoring the social
and environmental externalities of
contemporary consumerism.
We now consume as much oil in a year as it takes Nature one million years to create.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
In Schumachers times the so called freemarket was not deemed to be sole arbiter
of all social and economic benefits, nor had
its defenders assumed the kind of
intellectual supremacy that the society
accorded them later on.
But even that orthodoxy is now being
challenged. Markets today are neither free
nor always efficient; they exacerbate
wealth differentials and accelerate
environmental degradation. As the
pendulum swings back to the idea of
regulated, planned and properly controlled
markets, the ideas of Schumacher in this
area many well assume a new authority.
PART III
2) History of Development
(In the colonial language) development
meant the development of raw material or
food supplies or of trading profits. The
colonial power was primarily interested in
supplies and profits, not in the
development of the natives and this meant
it was primarily interested in the colonys
exports and not in its internal market. This
outlook has stuck to such an extent that
even the Pearson Report considers the
expansion of exports as the main criterion
of success for developing countries.
(Dr.Pearson, former Prime Minister of
Canada won the Nobel Peace Prize-Ed).
3) On Market
Extracts from E.F.Schumachers book:

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
1) Who pays whom?

If a person at the university took a five year
course, by the time he had finished he
would have consumed 150 peasant workyears. How can this be justified? Who has
the right to appropriate 150 years of
peasant work to keep one person at
university for five years and what do the
peasants get back for it? These questions
lead us to the parting of the ways: is
education to be a passport to privilege?
or is it something which people take upon
themselves almost like a monastic vow, a
sacred obligation to serve the people?
The market is the institutionalisation of

individualism and non-responsibility.
Equally, it fits perfectly into the modern
trend towards total quantification at the
expense of the appreciation of qualitative
differences; for private enterprise is not
67

concerned with what it gains from
production.
even health, it could circumvent the need

for them or compensate for their loss.
4) Monoculture of the mind
7. Encompassing truth
Everything becomes crystal clear after you

have reduced reality to one-one only-of its
thousand aspects. You know what do do
whatever produces profits; you know what
to avoid whatever reduces them or
makes a loss. And there is at the same time
a perfect measuring rod for the degree of
success or failure. Let no one befog the
issue by asking whether a particular action
is conducive to the wealth and well-being
of society, whether it leads to moral,
aesthetic or cultural enrichment. Simply
find out whether it pays, simply investigate
whether there is an alternative that pays
better. If there is, choose the alternative.
A recent writer puts it: if it can be said

that man collectively shrinks back more and
more from the truth, it can also be said
that on sides the Truth is closing in more
and more upon man. It might almost be
said that in order to receive a touch of it,
which in the past required a life time of
5. Creative balance
The whole crux of economic life and indeed
life in general, is that it constantly requires
the living reconciliation of opposites which
in strict logic are irreconcilable. In
macroeconomics, (the management of
whole societies) it is necessary always to
have both planning and freedom not by
way of weak and lifeless compromise but
by a free recognition of the legitimacy of
a need for both.
6. On money
Money (today) is considered all-powerful;
if it could not actually buy non-material
values, such as justice, harmony, beauty or
68
effort, all that is asked of him now is not

to shrink back. And yet how difficult that
is!
8. On traditional wisdom
Everywhere people ask, what can I
actually do? The answer is as simple as it
is disconcerting. We can each of us work
to put our own inner house in order. The
guidance we need for this work cannot be
found in science or technology, the value
of which utterly depends on the ends they
serve; but it can still be found in the
traditional wisdom of mankind.
Cars are responsible for using 8 billion barrels of oil every day, contributing to nearly a quarter
of the total global greenhouse emissions.
Green Foot-prints
9. The fictitious equality of the market
place
In the market place for practical reasons
innumerable qualitative distinctions which
are of vital importance for man and society
are suppressed; they are not allowed to
surface. Thus the reign of quantity
celebrates its greatest triumphs in the
market. Everything is equated with
everything else. To equate things means
to give them a price and thus to make them
exchangeable. To the extent that economic
thinking is based on the market, it takes
the sacredness out of life, because there
can be nothing sacred in something that
has a price. Not surprisingly therefore,
if economic thinking pervades the whole
society even simple non-economic values
like beauty, health or cleanliness can
survive only if they prove to be

economic.
To press the non-economic values into the
framework of the economic calculus,
economists use the method of cost/benefit
Section-2
analysis. Apparently a progressive
development, it is really a procedure by
which the higher is reduced to the level of
the lower and the priceless is given a price.
It can therefore never serve to clarify the
situation and lead to an enlightened
decision.
Economics deals with a limitless variety of
goods and services, produced and
consumed by an equally limitless variety
of people. To develop any economic theory,
one has to disregard a vast array of
qualitative distinction. The total
suppression of qualitative distinctions
makes theorising easy and makes it totally
sterile. Most of the development of
economics (in the 1950s and 60s) were in
the direction of quantification, at the
expense of the understanding of
qualitative differences. Economics has
become increasingly intolerant of the
latter, because they do
not fit into its methods
and make demands on
the
practical
understanding and the
power of insight of
economists which they
are unwilling or unable
to fulfil.
It is of course true that
quality is much more
difficult to handle than quantity.
Quantitative differences can be more easily
grasped and certainly more easily defined
than qualitative differences; their
concreteness is beguiling and gives them
the appearance of scientific precision, even
69

when this precision has been purchased by
the suppression of vital differences of
quality.
It is a fact that there are fundamental and

vital differences between various
categories of goods which cannot be
70
disregarded without losing touch with

reality. Primary goods (1) that are nonrenewable; (2) renewable and secondary
goods that are; (3) manufactures and (4)
services for the four basic categories each
of which is essentially different from each
of the three others. The market knows
nothing of these distinctions. It provides a
price tag for all goods and thereby enables
us to pretend that they are all of equal
significance. Five rupees worth of oil
(category 1) equals five rupees worth of
wheat (category 2) which equals five rupees
worth of shoes (category 3) or five rupees
worth of hotel accommodation (category
4).
The differences are to be recognised and
appreciated. Even more important is the
recognition of the existence of goods
which never appear on the market because
they cannot be or have not been privately
appropriated, but are nonetheless an
essential precondition of all human
activity, such as air, water, the soil and in
fact the whole framework of living nature.
Consuming passion: North America has 8% of the worlds population, consumes 1/3 of the
worlds resources, and produces of the worlds garbage!!
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
Lovelock who believes in a

LIVING EARTH
After studying the operation of the Earths
sulfur cycle, Lovelock and his colleagues
developed the CLAW hypothesis as a
possible example of biological control of
the Earths climate.
GAIA hypothesis
r. James Ephraim Lovelock (b 267-1919) is a scientist, author,

researcher, environmentalist, and
futurist. He lives in Cornwall SW Great
Britain. He is known for proposing the
GAIA hypothesis, in which he postulates
that the Earth functions as a kind of Superorganism.
A life-long inventor, Lovelock has created

and developed many scientific instruments
some of which have been adopted by NASA
in its programme of planetary exploration.
It was while working for NASA, that
Lovelock developed the Gaia hypothesis for
which he is more widely known.
First formulated by Lovelock during the

1960s as a result of work for NASA
concerned with detecting life on Mars, the
Gaia hypothesis proposes that living and
non-living parts of the earth form a
complex interacting system, that can be
thought of as a single organism. Named
after the Greek goddess GAIA, the
hypothesis postulates that the biosphere
has a regulatory effect on the Earths
environment that acts to sustain life.
While the Gaia Hypothesis was readily
accepted by many in the environmentalist
community, it was not fully accepted
within the scientific community.
Lovelock responded to criticisms with
models such as Daisyworld, that illustrate,
how individual level effects can translate
to planetary homeostasis. However as a
Earth-systems Science is still in infancy, it
is not yet clear how well Daisyworld
applies to the full complexity of the Earths
biosphere and climate.
71

On climate and mass human mortality,
James Lovelocks theories are alarming. He
suggests that we have to keep in mind the
awesome pace of change and realise how
use of the resources they have, to sustain

civilization as long as they can.
He suggests that climate change would
stabilise and prove survivable, and that
the Earth itself is in no danger because
it would stabilise in a new state. Life
however, may be forced to migrate
enmasse to remain in habitable climes.
His predictions are fairly reliable as, in
1965, Shell oil quizzed some scientists on
what the world would be like in 2000. He
predicted that there would be significant
environmental changes affecting the
planet.
little time is left to act. Then each

community and nation must find the best
72
(From the Website on James Lovelock)
Every ton of paper recycled saves 1439 litres of oil.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
Growth through Gaia: friendly

approaches
N.R.Krishnan
James Lovelock the renowned conservationist has embodied his ideas in a timely book
The revenge of Gaia
ontrary to what the title may

suggest to the uninitiated, The
Revenge of Gaia is not a Rider
Haggard adventure story set in some deep
(now vanishing) African jungle. It is the
passionate plea of one of the foremost
conservationists of our time to save the
Earth from the irreversible adverse effects
of warming set in motion by natural and
manmade causes.
First, what or who is Gaia? In the early
1970s, James Lovelock, the distinguished
British biologist, and his associate Lynn
Margulis postulated that life on Earth
actively keeps the surface conditions
a l w a y s
favourable for
whatever is the
contemporary
ensemble of
organisms.
That is, life on
earth, instead
of adapting
itself to the
given climatic
conditions as
earlier believed, actually modified the
conditions to suit its survival and further

evolution. This regulatory mechanism was
christened Gaia after the Greek goddess
by Lovelocks friend, William Golding, the
Nobel Prize winner for Literature.
The Gaia theory
The Gaia hypothesis was later refined to
the Gaia theory, according to which the
thin mantle of the earths crust with its
living and non-living matter and the
gaseous envelope that surrounds it act
together as a self-regulating mechanism
keeping surface conditionsto be as
favourable as possible for contemporary
life. All the components of what we call
the biosphere act in unison to make
conditions fit enough for survival of
existing species, though a few may
succumb to the changes.
This idyllic equilibrium of Gaia can
tolerate the fury of forces, natural and
man-made, only to an extent, without
getting destabilised. The horrifying
situation today is that this equilibrium is
in danger of reaching its tipping point,
thanks to natural and man-made causes.
73

This is no fantasy but real. The melting of
polar icecaps and mountain glaciers, rise
in sea levels, increased frequency of
hurricanes and erratic monsoons and
floods are traceable to global warming. The
last 15 years have been the warmest in the
last 150 years. Climatologists warn us of
dire consequences such as repeated crop
failures, acute water scarcity, inundation
of vast tracts of coastal lands and
displacement of populations, should this
trend continue.
Though nature plays a major role in global
warming, mans contribution to it has not
been insignificant. At least a half to onethird of the observed global rise in
temperature of 1deg. Celsius in the last 150
years can be attributed to anthropogenic
causes such as excessive use of fossil fuels,
like coal and oil, for energy generation,
metallurgical operations and large-scale
deforestation to make way for agriculture
and animal husbandry. These have led to
the build-up of carbon dioxide and
methane in the atmosphere which trap
heat and relay it back to the earth.
Prescription
Lovelocks prescription to get out of this
growth versus Gaia impasse is
refreshingly different from that of staple
green recipes, which seek a return to the
primitive past as if that would be a
possible and widely acceptable solution.
Lovelock would like to see growth through
Gaia-friendly approaches already known
and practised for instance, the use of
nuclear energy, promoting renewables like
74
solar, wind and tidal energies, and
development of novel technologies like the

use of hydrogen and sequestration of
carbon dioxide released from industrial
operations in underground mines.
He is, of course, quick to underscore the
limitations on the early adoption of the
new technologies and their potential.
Lovelock is a strong believer in science
and technology as he feels, and quite
rightly too, that they can be made not only
more environment-friendly but also to
serve the larger human cause of alleviating
hunger and poverty. He is able to do so
because of his impeccable scientific
background and humanism, reminding
one of Sir Julian Huxley. He would thus
advocate the use of DDT to control malaria
despite the cacophony to ban it.
Lovelocks earlier works evoked a positive
response from radical ecologists as they
felt they had a seer to support them. They
may not be so welcoming this time. Take,
Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent of 39 litres of oil.
Green Foot-prints
for instance, his remark that enthusiasm
for renewable energy will fail and bring
discredit to both the greens and to the
Section-2
panel said a fourfold step-up in energy
demand from its present level of 385mtoe
(million tonnes of oil equivalent) would be
called for by the year 2031-32.
As much as half of this demand
will have to be met by coal. The
accompanying releases of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere will
have their own contribution to
make to global warming. The
mining activity that would form
the back end of coal based power
generation and the mineral
extraction
to
feed
the
metallurgical industry, notably
steel, will leave behind vast acres
of derelict land.
politicians foolish enough to adopt

renewables as a major source of energy
before they have been properly developed.
No terms of endearment here!
Lessons for India
Are there any lessons to be learnt for us in
India from the revenge of gaia? There are
many, particularly in the context of an 810 per cent annual GDP growth projected
for the next 25 years. The energy
requirements to fuel this growth have been
forecast by the Kirit Parikh Committee in
its report released in December 2005. The
Unless environmental concerns are

factored into the formulation and execution
of projects, the damage to local ecological
balance will be irreversible. Gaia may not
pardon us for our sins of commission and
omission.
James Lovelock has spoken. This is a
compelling book to read and ponder. On
a lighter note, one wonders why small
letters have been chosen for the title and
capital ones for the author. Goddess Gaia
may take umbrage.
*Extracts from the Article
75
Eco-Economy: New Hopes

Lester Brown
carbon dioxide levels, falling water trables,

rising temperatures, rivers running dry,
stratospheric ozone depletion, more
destructive storms, melting glaciers, rising
sea level, and dying coral reefs.
Over this last quarter-century or so, many
battles have been won, but the gap
between what we need to do to arrest the
environmental deterioration of the planet
and what we are doing continues to widen.
Somehow we have to turn the tide.
ith more time to think, three

things became more apparent
to me. One, we are losing the
war to save the planet. Two, we need a
vision of what an environmentally
sustainable economyan eco-economy
would look like. And three, we need a new
kind of research organizationone that
offers not only a vision of an eco-economy,
but also frequent assessments of progress
in realizing that vision.
When Worldwatch started 27 years ago, we
were worried about shrinking forests,
expanding deserts, eroding soils,
deteriorating rangelands, and disappearing
species. We were just beginning to worry
about collapsing fisheries. Now the list of
concerns is far longer, including rising
76
At present there is no shared vision even

within the environmental community,
much less in society at large. Unless we
have such a vision of where we want to
go, we are not likely to get there. The
purpose of our efforts is to outline the
vision of an eco-economy.
The good news is that when we started
Worldwatch, we knew that an
environmentally sustainable economy was
possible, but we only had an abstract sense
of what it would look like. Today we can
actually describe with some confidence not
only what it will look like but how it will
work. Twenty-seven years ago, the modern
wind power industry had not yet been
born. Now, world-wide, we have behind us
a phenomenal decade of 24 percent annual
growth.
Recycling glass reduces air pollution by 14-20%.
Green Foot-prints
With the low-cost electricity that comes
from wind turbines, we have the option
of electrolyzing water to produce
hydrogen, the fuel of choice for the fuel
cell engines that every major automobile
manufacturer is now working on.
Wind turbines are replacing coal mines in
Europe. Denmark, which has banned the
construction of coal-fired power plants,
now gets 15 percent of its electricity from
wind. In some communities in northern
Germany, 75 percent of the electricity
needs are satisfied by wind power.
A generation ago, we knew that silicon
cells could convert sunlight into electricity,
but the solar roofing material developed
in Japan that enables rooftops to become
the power plants of buildings was still in
the future. Today more than one million
homes worldwide get their electricity from
solar cells.
Today major corporations are committed
to comprehensive recycling, to closing the
loop in the materials economy. ST
Microelectronics in Italy and Interface in
the United States, a leading manufacturer
of industrial carpet, are both striving for
zero carbon emissions. Shell Hydrogen and
Daimler Chrysler are working with Iceland
to make it the worlds first hydrogenpowered economy.
What became apparent to me in my
reflections a year ago was that to achieve
Section-2
these goals, we need a new kind of
research institute. Its work highlights
trends that affect our movement toward
an eco-economy.
People appear hungry for a vision, for a
sense of how we can reverse the
environmental deterioration of the earth.
More and more people want to get
involved. When I give talks on the state of
the world in various countries, the question
I am asked most frequently is, What can I
do? People recognize the need for action
and they want to do something. My
response is always that we need to make
personal changes, involving everything
from using
bicycles more
and cars less,
to recycling
our
daily
newspapers.
But that in
itself will not
be enough. We
have to change
the system.
And to do that,
we need to
restructure
the tax system,
r e d u c i n g
income taxes and increasing taxes on
environmentally destructive activities so
that prices reflect the ecological truth.
Anyone who wants to reverse the
deterioration of the earth will have to work
to restructure taxes.
77
Lester Brown and the

Worldwatch institute
ester Brown has been described by

the Washington Post one of the
worlds most influential thinkers
Calcuttas The Telegraph refers to him as
the Guru of the environment movement.
In 1986 The Library of U.S. Congress
requested his personal papers noting that
his writings have already strongly
affected thinking about problems of world
population and resources.
A farmer, a degree holder in Agricultural
science, Brown spent six months in India
in 1955 and became intimately familiar
with the food/population issue. He also
worked
as
U.S.
Governments
International agricultural analyst. He
specialized in academic studies in Agrieconomics and then on public
administration.
He
became
an
administrator of USs Inter national
Agricultural Development Service. In 1969
he helped to establish the Overseas
Development Council.
In 1874 Lester Brown founded the
Worldwatch Institute, the first research
institute devoted to the analysis of global
environmental issues. The institute was
supported by the Rockefeller Brothers
Fund.
78
While there, he launched the Worldwatch

Papers, the annual State of the World
reports, World Watch magazine, a second
annual entitled Vital Signs : The Trends
That are Shaping Our Future, and the
Environmental Alert book series.
Brown has authored or coauthored 50
books. One of the
worlds
most
widely published
authors, his books
have appeared in
some
40
languages. Among
his earlier books
are Man, Land and
Food,
World
Without Borders,
and Building a
Sustainable
Society. His 1995
book Who Will
Feed
China?
challenged the
official view of
Chinas
food
p r o s p e c t ,
s p a w n i n g
hundreds
of
conferences and
seminars.
Recycling glass saves 25-30% of the energy used to make glass from virgin materials.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
In May 2001, he founded the Earth Policy

Institute to provide a vision and a road map
for achieving an environmentally
sustainable economy. In November 2001,
he published Eco-Economy : Building an
Economy for the Earth, which was hailed
by E.O. Wilson as an instant classic. His
most recent book is Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing
to Save Civilization. He is the recipient of
many prizes and awards.
Worldwatch Magazine
Worldwatch Mission Statement
This Worldwatch annual provides

comprehensive, user-friendly information
on key trends and includes tables and
graphs that help readers assess the
developments that are changing their lives
for better or for worse.
The Worldwatch Institute is an

independent research organization that
works for an environmentally sustainable
and socially just society, in which the
needs of all people are met without
threatening the health of the natural
environment or the well-being of future
generations. By providing compelling,
accessible, and fact-based analysis of
critical global issues, Worldwatch informs
people around the world about the
complex interactions between people,
nature, and economics. Worldwatch
focuses on the underlying causes of and
practical solutions to the worlds
problems, in order to inspire people to
demand new policies, investment patterns,
and lifestyle choices.
State of the World
Worldwatchs flagship annual remains the
most authoritative go-to resource for
those who understand the importance of
the nurturing a safe, sane, and healthy
global environment through both policy
and action.
This award-winning bimonthly features

lively, provocative articles, thoughtful
essays, news, and practical information
about
energy,
climate
change,
biodiversity, agriculture, population,
social and political developments, and
other forces shaping our world.
Vital Signs
Vital Signs Online

With Vital Signs Online, Worldwatch
presents our newest compilation of
significant global trends in 10 categories
with analysis, graphs, charts, Excel
worksheets, and Power Point slides to
illustrate each trend.
Worldwatch Reports and Papers
Written by the same award-winning team
that produces State of the World and Vital
Signs, each 50-70 page Paper provides
cutting-edge analysis on an environmental
topic that is making-or is about to make
headlines worldwide.
(From the Websites on Lester Brown and

on the Worldwatch Institute 2008.)
79
Hazel Henderson: The Holist,

Futurist, Evolutionary Economist
Fritjof Capra
delved into the area of the value of such

unquantifiables as clean air and clean
water, needed in tremendous abundance by
humans and other living organisms. This
work led to the development, with Calvert
Group, of the Calvert-Henderson Quality
of Life Indicators.
azel Henderson (b 1933 Bristol,

England) is a futurist and an
evolutionary economist. She is the
author of several books including Building
A Win-Win World, Beyond Globalization,
Planetary Citizenship and Ethical markets:
Growing the Green Economy.
She has been a television producer,
lecturer and a conservationist. Henderson
has been in good part concerned with
finding the unexplored areas in standard
economics and the blind spots of
conventional economists. Most of her
work relates to the creation of an
interdisciplinary economic and political
theory with a focus on environmental and
social concerns. For instance, she has
80
Henderson has been one of the critics to

point out that the definitions of reality
devised by natural and social scientists
often pertain to the realities they are paid
to studybegging the questions as to who
has funded these investigators and
theoreticians, and why? Who deems certain
research grants to be worthy of funding?
Which questions crop up in the first place?
Henderson believes that the various
threats to peace, community security, and
good environment have led us into a new
era in which we are obliged to look for
values, information, and know-how that
we seemed to be able to do without until
recent decades.
She says:
1. The Cartesian Paradigm is bankrupt.
Our
economic,
political
and
technological
problems
result
ultimately from the inadequacy of the
Cartesian world and the masculine-
Since glass does not break down, a bottle thrown in a landfill today would still be around in the
year 3000.
Green Foot-prints
oriented style
organization.
Section-2
of
our
social
2. Whether we designate our current

series of crisis as energy crisis,
environmental crises, urban crises or
population crises, we should recognize
the extent to which they all are rooted
in the larger crises of our inadequate,
narrow perceptions of reality.
3. Like Schumacher, Henderson criticises

the fragmentation in current economic
thinking, the absence of values, the
obsession of economic thinkers with
unqualified economic growth, and their
failure to take into account our
dependence on the Natural World. Like
Schumacher, she extends her critique
to modern technology and advocates a

profound reorientation of our
economic and technological systems,
based on the use of renewable
resources and the attention to human
scale.
4. Economics is not a science. It is merely
politics in disguise.
5. Todays economists speak in heroic
abstractions, monitor the wrong
variables and use obsolete conceptual
models to map a vanished reality. Most
economists are strikingly unable to
adopt an economic perspective. The
economy is merely one aspect of a
whole ecological and social fabric
ignoring social and ecological
interdependence. All goods and
services are reduced to their monetary
values
and
the
social
and
environmental costs generated by all
economic activity are ignored. They
are external variables that do not fit
into the economists theoretical
models. Corporate economists not
only treat the air, water and various
reservoirs of the ecosystem as free
commodities, but also the delicate web
of social relations which is severely
affected by continuing economic
expansion. Private profits are being
made increasingly at public cost in the
deterioration
of
the
natural
environment and the general quality of
life.
6. The gross national product for example
which is supposed to measure a
81

Nations Wealth is determined by
adding up indiscriminately all
economic activities associated with
monetary values, while all nonmonetary aspects of the economy are
ignored. Social costs like those of
accidents, litigation, and health care
are added as positive contributions to
the GNP rather than being substrates.
7. Hazel Henderson explains Sir Williana
Petty who founded the modern
economics was a contemporary of
Isaac Newton and his Political
Arithmetick (sic) owed much to Newton
and Descartes, not only in content but
too in modelling and phrasing. Adam
Smith also based his economic theory
on the Newtonian notions of
equilibrium (between supply and
demand) She adds on Adam Smiths
Free market, a theory which survives
today that the market has never been
free.
8. Henderson points out that the global
obsession with growth has resulted
in a remarkable similarity between
capitalist and communist economics.
The fruitless dialectic between

capitalism and communism will be
exposed as irradiant since both
systems
are
based
on
materialismboth are dedicated to
industrial growth and technologies
with increasing centralism and
bureaucratic control.
9. On Marx, Henderson said His view of
the role of Nature in the process of
production was part of his organic
perception of reality. Marx emphasised
the importance of nature in the social
and economic fabric throughout his
writings. He said. The worker can
create nothing without nature, without
the sensuous, external world. It is the
material on which his labour is
manifested, in which he is active, from
which and by means of which and by
means of which its produces. Marx
also said All progress in capitalist
agriculture in progress in the art not
only of robbing the labourer but of
robbing the soil. Hendersons sting is
in the tail of her statement. Of course,
if Marxists were to face the ecological
evidence honestly, they would be forced
to conclude that socialist societies have
not done much better. Their
environmental impact is diminished
their lower consumption, which in any
case they are trying to increase.
She adds Ecological knowledge is
subtle and difficult to use as a basis for
a mass movement. Red woods or
whales change human institution. She
conjectured that this may be the reason
82
In 1900, only 160 million people one tenth of the worlds population were urbanites. By 2006,
half the world (3.2 billion people) will live in urban areas a 20-fold increase.
Green Foot-prints
why Marxists have ignored the
ecological Marx for so long. The
subtleties in Marxs organic thinking
are inconvenient for most social
activities, who prefer to organize
around simpler issues. May be this is
why Marx declared at the end of his
life I am not a Marxist.
10. Inflation is just the sum of all the
variables economists leave out of their
models. All those social, psychological
and ecological variables are now
coming back to haunt us.
11. Wealth is based on natural resources
and energy. As the resource base
declines, raw materials and energy
must be extracted from ever more
degraded and in accessible reservoirs.
And thus more and more capital is
needed for the extraction process.
Consequently the inevitable decline of
natural resources is accompanied by
an unremitting climb of the price of
resources and energy which becomes
one of the main driving forces of
inflation.
With its narrow notions of productivity,
the business community lobbies
constantly for tax credits for capital
investments, many of which reduce
employment through automation. Both
capital and labour produce wealth but
a capital-intensive economy is also
resource and energy-intensive and
therefore highly inflationary. In fact a
capital-intensive economy will generate
inflation and unemployment.
Section-2
12. Hendersons Solution: The only real
solution is to change the system itself,
to restructure our economy, by
decentralizing it, by developing softtechnologies, and by running the
economy with a leaner mix of capital
energy and materials and a richer mix
of labour and human resources. Such a
resource-conserving, full-employment
economy will also be non-inflationary
and ecologically sound.
13. There is a tremendous need today for
simple skills involving cyclical work, like
repair and maintenance jobs, which
have been socially devalued and
severely neglected although they are as
vital as ever. In his conversation with
Henderson, Capra interjected with the
Zen story about a disciple asking the
master for spiritual instruction and the
master sending him off to wash his rice
bowl, sweep the yard or trim the hedge.
Cyclic work is precisely the kind of work
emphasized in the Buddhist Tradition.
It is considered an integral part of the
spiritual training. Why? Doing work
that needs to be done over and over
again helps us recognize the natural
order of growth and decay, of birth and
death. It helps us to become aware of
how we are embedded in those cycles,
in the dynamic order of the cosmos.
Henderson confirmed the importance
of this insight.
(Extracts from Uncommon Wisdom:
Conversation with Remarkable people:
FRITJOF CAPRA Flamingo,
London 1988)
83
Hazel Henderson
Striving to Build a Win-Win World
Dileep Kulkarni
or long time, there is an obsession

in the minds of scholars about being
scientific: exact, logical, objective,
rational, certain, etc. They wish to raise
their subject to the extreme position of,
say, physics or mathematics.
But, can we raise any subject to the
position of hard sciences? Can social or
behavioural sciences, which deal with
living human beings and not with dead
matter or energy or numbers, work on the
same principles? Actually, they cant.
but, afraid of being looked down upon as
unscientific,
they
neglect
the
requirements of their discipline and make
objectivity, reductionism, certainty, etc.
the basis of studysame as in physics.
We find this happening prominently in the
case of economics. It reduces human
beings to consuming entities; defines their
development as growth in production/
consumption; goes by mathematical
average (per capita). To become
scientific, it shuns aspects such as how
the production is increased; what are its
effects on individuals, societies and
environment; disparities in distribution
and consumption, etc. This might have
raised economics academically to the
status of a science, but in practice, it has
84
become unrealistic, absurd, bereft of

moralityand thus detrimental.
Many a scholar has now become aware of
this situation. They are both economists
and non-economists. Many of them
strongly criticize economics and suggest
reforms that are necessary to make the
subject realistic of all such scholars, the
most dashing, straight-forward and hence
renowned is Hazel Henderson. She was
born in the UK, but now stays in the US.
She is a great scholar who has studied
many subjects. She is an original thinker
also. These two aspects make her a unique
person. Since 1970, she is putting forward
her views through lectures and articles.
Her columns are published in hundreds of
periodicals all over the world, in more than
twenty languages. She has worked as
director, member or consultant to many an
institutions in the U.S. and abroad. She
works as a consultant for sustainable
development to more than 30
governments.
Hazel is damn against the present day
economics. She proudly calls herself an
anti-economist. She proclaims herself
with without any inhibition: I want to
dethrone economics as the predominant
policy-analysis-tool of the global economic
In cities of the developing world, one out of every four households lives in poverty.
Green Foot-prints
warfare system. She calls herself a
futurist.
She puts forward the reasons for opposing
economics vehemently, thus: Economics
became the most powerful discipline,
bestriding the policy process since World
War II, in every country in the world. But,
its framework is ever-narrowing; its
assumptions are concealed in a language
of false universalism and specious
mathematics, and its view of human nature
is too simplistic.
Today it is not philosophy, but economics
that defines development. It is the
growth measured in terms of Gross
National Product (GNP)! Another term
used is macro-economic growth.
Although growth is there in agricultural
production also, the prime emphasis is on
industrial growth. The motive of the
industrial enterprises is the maximization
of private profit. For that purpose, most

of the social and environmental costs
generated by the business, are not taken
Section-2
into account. This method is called as
externalization. Hazel is strongly against
such type of accounting. She criticizes this
policy and practice of increasing
production and private profit by
externalizing social and environmental
costs. Ultimately, someone has to pay them.
It is the citizens and governments who bear
them. The Citizens have to cope with everdiminishing resources, ever increasing
pollution, etc. They have to pay for injuries
and ill-health which result from pollution.
Governments have to spend huge amounts
to maintain social homeostasis. Hazel
says: The cost of cleaning up of the mess
and caring for the human casualties of
unplanned technologythe drop-outs, the
unskilled, the addicts, the displaced
mounts ever higher. Amounts spent on
mediating conflicts, controlling crime,
protecting
consumers
and
the
environment, providing ever-more
comprehensive bureaucratic coordination,
etc. grow exponentially.
She, therefore, argues that private
businesses should be forced to internalize
the costs generated by their products. She
says: As more externalities are included
in the price of products, we may find that
many consumer items profitability will
evaporate and these goods will disappear
from the market. She wants to redefine
the concept of profit to mean only the
creation of real wealth, rather than private
or public gain, won at the expense of social
or environmental exploitation. She wishes
that realistic profits should also include
improvements in energy-conversion ratios,
better resource-management, recycling,
85

using not capital, but income energies,
etc.
The process of externalization becomes
possible due to the narrow and myopic
concept of development. As we have seen
earlier, development is growth measured
in terms of GROSS National Product. The
less you subtract anything from it, the
better. Just like profit, this makes GNP
an unrealistic concept. Hazel strongly
criticizes this method: Social and
environmental costs of growth are,
incomprehensibly, added to GNP as
positive contributions to production and
wealth: the cleaning up of wastes of
production and consumption, the
maintaining of adequate supplies of clean
air and water, caring for the increasing
number of human casualties of massive
technology and inhumanly scaled
organization, the mediating of conflicts,
controlling of crime, addiction and other
pathologies, etc.
development. Many such indicators have

been proposed, which are called as Human
Development Indicators: Net National
Welfare, Basic Human Needs, Physical
Quality of Life Index, etc. Hazel has put
forward two more: General Satisfaction
Index and Country Futures Indicator. Many
of these indicators comprehend
development in a wider sense, to include
satisfaction of the basic needs of
populations, life expectancy, child
mortality, literacy, availability of health and
Not GNP but alternative, realistic

indicators of development are needed.
She further argues that, as complexity

increases, these costs go on increasing
and the increase in GNP (development)
is the increase in this part of it. She has
termed this state as the Entropy state:
due to unmanageable complexity and
inter-dependence, social and environmentcosts begin rising exponentially and exceed
actual production. Such a society is already
on decline, but, its still, rising GNP and
increasing rates of inflation mask the
condition.
education facilities, employment etc. Mere

huge GNP does not guarantee all this.
Hazel gives the example of the US: It is a
rich country in terms of GNP. But, one-fifth
of its children live in poverty; 30 million
citizens dont have the cover of medical
insurance, and it has the largest percentage
of jailed criminals. No person with a
common sense will ever call such a
country developed, but, seen through the
narrow window of economics, it is!
Hazel, therefore, stands in favour of

alternative, realistic indicators of
All economic calculations are presented as

per capita figures. Such averaging can
86
Fewer than 35 per cent of cities in the developing world have their waste water treated.
Green Foot-prints
be misleading. All disparities get hidden
under impressive per capita figures. Hazel
says: Measuring incomes averaged per
capita, conceals widening poverty gaps;
and averaged unemployment-rates mask
problems of local regions and populations.
The two components of development are
agricultural growth and industrial growth,
we want to maximize the productivity of
both. Hazel puts a question-mark on this
concept also. She notes: Raising
agricultural productivity can often
produce social costs such as the income
inequities engendered by the green
revolution, and environmental costs in
breeding insecticide-resistant pests,
runoffs of fertilizer-polluted water,
destroying more stable and resilient forms
of agriculture and rapid soil depletion.
Case with industrial productivity is no
different. Exploitation of labour,
disparities, higher unemployment,
alcoholism, drug-addiction, social
unrest and violence, warfare are the
social costs thereof. Depletion of
resources, pollution, loss of biodiversity, etc. are the environmental
costs. To Hazel, all these are win-lose
games, which will inevitably result in
lose-lose games. She frequently uses
the phrase tragedy of the commons:
destruction of common grazing
grounds due to overgrazing by the
flocks of dominant farmers. The same
is happening in the case of jointly
shared natural resources, such as air, water
or even whales, says Hazel. They are
treated as free goods. No one is
responsible for their overall protection. As
Section-2
a result, they are likely to be destroyed
completely.
All the growth that we have achieved
would not have been possible without the
input of huge amount of energies, the
major share being that of fossil fuels. But,
the same thing, to Hazel, has made the
development non-sustainable. So much of
stored energy was available for human use
only once in a million of years.
Development based on that was,
obviously, once-in-a-million of years
processand it has taken place. Now, for
further growthof developing countries
or the developed onesso much of energy
is simply not available, making the
development non-sustainable. Of course,
there are many other factors responsible
for this.
Need of the Hour - Shifting

away from Materialism.
Needless to say, Hazel is in favour

Sustainable development: development
which meets the needs of present without
87

compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
For this to happen, a shift is needed
towards the new paradigm. Hazel calls it
The Solar Age. She talks about it at great
lengths. The paradigm will be based not
on economic, but, systems theory. As per
this theory, the whole earth is a unified
system. Things on earth are successively
sub-systems. An important feature of all
these systems is that no sub-system
behaves such, that the well-being of the
higher system of which it is a part, is in
jeopardy. Only one speciesthe higher
system, of which it is a part, is in jeopardy.
Only one speciesthe Homo Sapiens
and the artificial systems it has created
societies,
nations,
industries,
corporations, etc. do not follow this
principle; thus putting the global system
in danger. In the new paradigm, we will
be following the laws of systems. For that,
we will have to refine development. It
wont just be macro-economic growth,
but, the real well being of all humans, all
societies, all nations, all creatures and
ultimately the global environment.
This can be achieved only through a major
change in our views, goals and life-styles.
Hazel says: we will have to shift away
from materialism and strive for social wellbeing, peace, justice and spiritual
development. She professes restricting of
all present-day institutions and their
down-sizing. She is very much against
present technology and pattern of
industrialization,
and
advocates
appropriate technology: Intermediate,
88
labour-intensive technology is a viable

development alternative. Simpler, less
expensive technologies can create rural
self-sufficiency,
raise
individual
productivity, stop the cancerous growth of
cities, reduce social inequities and the
dependence of poor countries on the rich
ones. She is in full agreement of
Gandhijis concept of not massproduction, but production by the
masses. Such a technology will be ecofriendly: Since capital, energy and
materials are scarce and increasingly
costly, rationality dictates that we
conserve natural resources, while fully
utilizing our human resources. Only such
a resource-conserving, full-employment,
non-inflationary economy can be
environmentally benign. She is of the
opinion that world peace can be ensured
only through use of renewable resources
and energies, sustainable production and
consumption, equitable distribution of
available resources and eco-friendly
science and technology.
All this is not just a wishful thinking. Hazel
tells us with gratification that, a large
number of people-in the U.S.-are opting
for such a life-style: People are trying to
drop out of the rat race, preferring to work
as few hours a week as they can for their
cash income needs, and to live in a more
communal, reciprocal, sharing life-style.
She tells us about American people
returning to smaller towns or to rural
areas; growth of home-gardening and
preventive healthcare; alternative media;
movements for fitness and organic foods;
growth of alternative technologies, etc.
About one-third to one-half of the solid wastes generated within most cities in low and middle
income countries are not collected.
Green Foot-prints
And she doesnt only talkshe also walks
it. Her family has opted for such a simple,
frugal life-style.
Hazel reiterates the slogan put forward by
ecology movements: Think GloballyAct
locally. The vision of traditional economics
is too myopic to take global consequences
into account. Through futurism, she
wishes to broaden and deepen our
perception. For right perception and right
decisions, she advocates a multidisciplinary approach which includes
Section-2
systems theory, thermodynamics, modern
physics,
biology,
anthropology,
psychology, etc. She stresses the need to
change our view: from reductionist to
holistic. All competitive games are winlose games, which ultimately result in
lose-lose games; hence, Hazel underlines
the need of co-operation so than a winwin world can be built!
Dileep Kulkarni is a author of many books

and the editor of a Marathi monthly Gatiman Santulan.
Salient Features of the New Paradigm put forward by Hazel

Henderson:
Win-win World
Cooperative Agreements
Human Development
Civil Society
New Structures
New Partnership
Re-conceptualization
New Currencies
New Criteria of Success
New Indicators
New Goals and Values
Planetary Culture
Sustainable Societies
Appropriate, Green Technologies
Grass-root Democracies.
Books by Hazel Henderson
Creating Alternative
Futures.
The Politics of the
Solar Age
Paradigms in Progress
Building a win-win
world.
89
Wolfgang Sachs who divests

Development of its figleaves
r. Wolfgang Sachs is a German

Researcher and author with many
books including Fair Future,
Environment and Human rights, and
Joburg Memo. He is the editor of
Development Dictionary.
He is currently working and lecturing in
Wuppertal Institute in Germany. He is the
head of the Cross-cutting project
Globalization and Sustainability. He
specialises on Environment and Fairness in
the World Trade Regime in the Wuppertal
Institute.
Wolfgang Sachs is known as one of the
many followers of Ivon Illich. His critical
works on development idea influenced the
green and ecological movements. Sachs
90
participated in the Stock exchange of

Visions project 2007.
The Development Dictionary
Over the years, piles of technical reports
have been accumulated which show that
development does not work; stacks of
political studies have proven that
development is unjust. The authors
of the book The Development
Dictionary deal neither with
development
as
technical
performance nor with development
as class conflict, but with
development as a particular cast of
mind. For development is much
more than just a socio-economic
endeavour; it is a perception which
models reality, a myth which
comforts societies, and a fantasy
49 per cent of the worlds cities have established urban environmental plans.
Green Foot-prints
which unleashes passions. Perceptions,
myths and fantasies, however, rise and fall
independent of empirical results and
rational conclusions; they appear and
vanish, not because they are proven right
or wrong, but rather because they are
pregnant with promise or become
irrelevant. This book offers a critical
inventory of development credos, their
history and implications, in order to expose
in the harsh glare of sunlight their

perceptual bias, their historical
inadequacy, and their imaginative sterility.
It calls for apostasy from the faith in
development in order to liberate the
imagination for bold responses to the
challenges humanity is facing before the
turn of the millennium.
We propose to call the age of development
that particular historical period which
began on 20 January, 1949, when Harry
S.Truman for the first time declared, in his
inauguration speech, the Southern
hemisphere as underdeveloped areas. The
label stuck and subsequently provided the
Section-2
cognitive base for both arrogant
interventionism from the North and
pathetic self-pity in the South. However,
what is born at a certain point in time, can
die again at a later point; the age of
development is on the decline because its
four founding premises have been
outdated by history.
First of all, it was a matter of course for
Truman that the United States
along with other industrialized
nationswere at the top of the
social evolutionary scale. Today,
this premise of superiority has
been fully and finally shattered by
the ecological predicament.
Granted the US may still feel it is
running ahead of the other
countries, but it is clear now that
the race is leading towards an
abyss. For more than a century,
technology carried the promise of
redeeming the human condition
from sweat, toil and tears. Today, especially
in the rich countries, it is everybodys best
kept secret that this hope is nothing other
than a flight of fancy.
After all, with the fruits of industrialism
still scarcely distributed, we now consume
in one year what it took the earth a million
years to store up. Furthermore, much of
the glorious productivity is fed by the
gigantic throughput of fossil energy; on
the one side, the earth is being excavated
and permanently scarred, while on the
other a continuous rain of harmful
substances drizzles downor filters up into
the atmosphere. If all countries
91

successfully followed the industrial
example, five or six planets would be
needed to serve as mines and waste dumps.
It is thus obvious that the advanced
societies are no model; rather they are most
likely to be seen in the end as an aberration
in the course of history. The arrow of
progress is broken and the future has lost
its brightness: what it holds in store are
more threats than promises. How can one
believe in development, if the sense of
orientation has withered away?
Secondly, Truman launched the idea of
development in order to provide a
comforting vision of a world order where
the US would naturally rank first. The
rising influence of the Soviet Union-the
first country which had industrialized
outside of capitalismforced him to come
up with a vision that would engage the
loyalty of the decolonizing countries in
order to sustain his struggle against
communism. For over 40 years,
development has been a weapon in the

competition between political systems.
92
Now that the East-West confrontation has

come to a halt, Trumans project of global
development is bound to lose ideological
steam and to remain without political fuel.
And as the world becomes polycentric,
scrap yard of history now awaits the
category Third World to be dumped, a
category invented by the French in the
early 1950s in order to designate the
embattled territory between the two
superpowers.
Nevertheless, new, albeit belated, calls for
development may multiply, as the EastWest division gets absorbed into the richpoor division. In this light, however, the
entire project fundamentally changes its
character: prevention replaces progress as
the objective of development; the
redistribution of risk rather than the
redistribution of.
Wealth now dominates the international
agenda. Development specialists shrug
their shoulders about the long promised
industrial paradise, but rush
to ward off the flood of
immigrants, to contain
regional wars, to undercut
illicit trade, and to contain
environmental disasters.
They
are
still
busy
identifying deficits and
filling gaps, but Trumans
promise of development has
been turned upside down.
Thirdly, development has
changed the face of the
earth, but not in the way it had intended.
Trumans project now appears as a blunder
By 2008, one-half of the worlds population will live in urban areas compared to little more than
one-third in 1972.
Green Foot-prints
of planetary proportions. In 1960 the
Northern countries were twenty times
richer than the Southern, in 1980, fortysix times. Is it an exaggeration to say that
the illusion of catching up, rivals on a
world scale Montezumas deadly illusion of
receiving Cortez with open arms? Of
course, most Southern countries stepped
on the gas, but the North outpaced them
by far. The reason is simple: in this kind of
race, the rich countries will always move
faster than the rest, for they are geared
towards a continuous degradation of what
they have to put forth: the most advanced
technology. They are world champions in
competitive obsolescence.
Social polarization prevails within
countries as well; the stories about falling
real
income,
misery
and
desperation are
all too familiar.
The campaign to
turn traditional
man into modern
man has failed.
The old ways
have
been
smashed, the new
ways are not
viable. People are
caught in the
deadlock
of
development: the
peasant who is
From the Start,
Developments hidden
dependent on
agenda was nothing
buying seeds, yet
else than the
finds no cash to
Westernisation of the
world.
do so; the mother
Section-2
who benefits neither from the care of her
fellow women in the community nor from
the assistance of a hospital; the clerk who
had made it in the city, but is now laid off
as a result of cost-cutting measures. They
are all like refugees who have been rejected
and have no place to go. Shunned by the
advanced sector and cut off from the old
ways, they are expatriates in their own
country; they are forced to get by in the
no-mans land between tradition and
modernity.
Four thly,
suspicion
grows
that
development was a misconceived
enterprise from the beginning. Indeed, it
is not the failure of development which has
to be feared, but its success. What would
a completely developed world look like?
We dont know, but most certainly it would
be both boring and fraught with danger.
For development cannot be separated from
the idea that all peoples of the planet are
moving along one single track towards
some state of maturity, exemplified by the
nations running in front. In this view,
Tuaregs, Zapotecos or Rajasthanis are not
seen as living diverse and non-comparable
ways of human existence, but as somehow
lacking in terms of what has been achieved
by the advanced countries. Consequently,
catching up was declared to be their
historical task. From the start,
developments hidden agenda was nothing
else than the Westernization of the world.
The result has been a tremendous loss of
diversity. The world-wide simplification of
architecture, clothing, and daily objects
assaults the eye; the accompanying eclipse
93

of variegated languages, customs and
gestures is already less visible; and the
standardization of desires and dreams
occurs deep down in the subconscious of
societies. Market, state, and science have
been the great universalizing powers;
admen, experts and educators have
relentlessly expanded their reign. Of
course, as in Montezumas time,
conquerors have often been warmly
welcomed, only to unveil their victory. The
mental space in which people dream and
act is largely occupied today by Western
imagery. The vast furrows of cultural
monoculture left behind are, as in all
monocultures, both barren and dangerous.
They have eliminated the innumerable
varieties of being human and have turned
the world into a place deprived of
94
adventure and surprise; the Other has

vanished with development. Moreover, the
spreading monoculture has eroded viable
alternatives to the industrial, growthoriented society and dangerously crippled
human-kinds capacity to meet an
increasingly different future with creative
responses. The last 40 years have
considerably impoverished the potential
for cultural evolution. It is only a slight
exaggeration say that whatever potential
for cultural evolution remains is there in
spite of development.
(Compiled from Websites and Prof. Sachs

Introduction to the Development
Dictionary)
1,200 million more people in developing nations were living in urban areas in 2000 as compared
to 1975.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
Herman Daly and his Green Laws

Fritjof Capra & Gunter Pauli
erman Daly is a world-renowned

economist. He was formerly with
the World Bank. He has outlined
how ecologically based tax reforms can
stop rewarding intensive resource use,
pollution, and job destruction, and reward
companies that produce true goods
instead of ecological bads.
In most industrial countries today, we tax
what we should encouragejobs and real
incomeand we reward what we should
discouragepollution and resource
depletion. These tax policies give business
strong signals to maximize energy use and
waste, favour virgin materials over
recycled ones, and seek quantitative rather
than qualitative growthall of these
leading
away
from
ecological
sustainability and toward ultimate
ecological and economic collapse. In
addition, by taxing labour and income,
governments reduce employment and help
create social instability.
Herman Daly the distinguished economist

has argued for several decades in favour
of a radically different economic systems
that incorporate the basic principles of
ecology. Herman Daly has been an
economist at the World Bank, and a
University Research Scholar, he runs the
journal Ecological Economics. He has
authored books and articles. His books
Steady-State Economies and For the

Common Good are classics in the field of
eco-economy.Daly provides a careful
analysis of an eco-tax reform of the type
that is now under study in several
European countries. He demonstrates that
economic arguments can be used not to
reinforce the status quo, but to create a
tax system that would provide powerful
incentives for business to move towards
sustainability.
Lester Brown, describes Herman Daly as
the intellectual pioneer of the fast growing
field of ecological economics. Says Daly:
The world has passed from an era in which
man made capital represented the limiting
factor in economic development (an empty
world) to an era in which increasingly
scarce natural capital has taken its place
(a full world). When our numbers were
small, relative to the size of the planet, it
was human made capital that was scarce.
Natural capital was abundant. Now that has
changed. As the human enterprise
continues to expand, the products and
services provided by the earths ecosystem
are increasingly scarce, and natural capital
is fast becoming the limiting factor while
human made capital is increasingly
abundant.
(From-Steering Business Toward
Sustainability, UN University Press,
Response Books, New Delhi, 1995).
95
Mahatma Gandhi An Apostle of

Applied Human Ecology
T.N.Khoshoo
numbers in check, otherwise demand on
resources will increase and 5) not coveting
or amassing materials and wealth beyond
requirement.
andhiji was a practising ecological

Yogi, with a discipline and control
over body and mind. He practised
the Raja Yoga, with Yamas, the ethical
principles or commandments relating to
human behaviour in relation to other
humans and living creatures and non-living
materials and Niyamas, the self-based
codes of conduct.
The five Yamas are: 1) non-violence
towards all animate and inanimate
creations; 2) truth; 3) shunning the use of
materials obtained by illegitimate means
and avoiding destruction and vandalism;
4) celibacy, humans need to keep their
96
The five Niyamas are : 1) cleanliness/

sanitation of ones mind, body and the
surroundings, for a human being is
essentially a dirty animal which, unlike
other animals, generates considerable
wastes and garbage, often nonbiodegradable in character as such,
pollutes the environment. Freedom from
lust, anger and greed are also included;
2) contentment; 3) austerity; 4)
introspection on the self, and 5) prayer and
meditation for any dereliction of duty
towards Yamas and Niyamas and towards
nature and components of the biosphere
of which humans are an integral part. A
Yogi controls himself by himself. Gandhiji
practised all the Yamas and Niyamas.
He encouraged indigenous capability and
local self-reliance (Swadeshi) self-rule and
local self-governance (Swarajya) at the
level of villages; welfare of the weakest
(antyodaya) and finally welfare of all
(Sarvodaya). He used non-violence and
sticking to truth as his chief weapons, to
free India from the British rule and the
plunder of the countrys resources.
The European Union is even contemplating making noise maps of different regions to regulate
the nuisance.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
These commandments the Yamas and the

Niyamas, though essentially personal
moral codes, were converted by Gandhiji
into a socio-economic and political
movement to galvanise Indians and India
into a cohesive force to drive the British
out. The movement with its moral
strength, was essentially a conversion of
environmental and ethical principles into
a political movement. He blazed a new
trail, creating a non-violent method of
conflict resolution.
simple; since a human being has no power

to create life, he has, therefore, no right
to destroy life. Gandhiji believed that there
cannot be any ecological movement
designed to prevent violence against
nature, unless the principle of nonviolence becomes central to the ethos of
human culture.
In the recent past the earth has come again

to be regarded as the Universal Mother
(Dhartimata or in Greek, Gaia) who
harbours her very large brood of living
Gandhiji was equally concerned about

sanitation and also the liberation of
scavengers.
Gandhiji was particularly concerned about

women who have actually been traditional
conservators.
Gandhiji felt a society or government as

only an extension of individuals. Hence the
environmental perceptions of an individual
are of critical importance. He was very
much concerned about inequities/
disparities in resource-use of various
sections of the society and has said, mans
happiness lies in contentment. He who is
discontented, however much he possesses,
becomes a slave to his desires.
organisms (Vasudaivakutumbakam).
Human kind is only one out of 16,04,000
species described so far. Being a thinking
species, it is no doubt different from others.
Gandhiji believed that there is divinity in
all life and that there is thus a fundamental
unity in diversity. His faith in non-violence
and vegetarianism, made him a votary of
conservation of all diversity including all
forms of life, societies, cultures, religions,
traditions, etc. His argument for
conservation of biodiversity was indeed
Here then lies the basic ethic behind

resource use. If implemented, the
downstream environmental degradation
that follows over-use of resources could
also be controlled if not eliminated
altogether.
His personal lifestyle was the most
sustainable one, simple, austere, clean,
need-based, with adequate worldly
possessions and was reasonably
97

comfortable. His strength came from the
fact, he preached what he practised.
Gandhijis choice was clear. He was for the
poorest of the poor (daridranarayana). In
fact his advice to every one was that before
embarking on any project or programme,
he or she must use a simple talisman
recall the face of the poorest and weakest
man you may have seen and ask yourself
if the step you contemplate to take is going
to be of any use to him. Will he gain
anything by it? This has to be the acid
test of all development.
He wanted to educate the children about
their surrounding environment and
availability of resources together with
giving them a thorough grounding in selfhelp and self-reliance through productive
crafts. His main thrust of education would
be 1) children being integrated with
environment; 2) strong teacher-pupil
relationship and 3) appreciation of Indian
Culture.
The Gandhian model of rural development
for over 5,76,000 villages was 1) based on
his firsthand experience at the grassroot
level; 2) to be governance from bottom up;
3) to have goals self-defined and not a
stranger defined; 4) to have aimed at basic
goods being supplied, not greed, sought
to be appeased and 5) to have production
by the masses. He was opposed to
following Western Industrialism blindly
because of the associated environmental,
social and economic problems.
98
Human kinds only home is the planet

earth, and if we do not care for it, its
environment can become very harsh,
hostile and ruthless towards us. An
economic overview (not taking into
account, ecological principles) with
unbridled economic growth and no respect
for nature must inevitably lead to a sick
economy.
The enemy of our environment is within
each one of us because we want more and
more at the expense of nature and consume
more than our share of materials. Most of
us are at war with nature in one way or
other. What is at stake? It is control over
ecological assets like air and air space,
water, land, biodiversity, forests, humanmade assets and human being themselves.
We have to stop this war. Today human
race is at the crossroads; the present ecodegradation and pollution are the result of
greed of the rich, need of the poor to eke
out an existence, and careless application
of technology.
What is the way out?
Right choices, common choices, to ensure
eco-security, preparing mankind for an
ecological revolution, the fourth
revolution after 1) tool-making 2)
agriculture and 3) polluting industrial
revolution.
Gandhijis recipe for the new revolution
is based on his conviction:
Turn Off Computers when not in use: By turning off your computer instead of leaving it in sleep
mode, you can save 40 watt-hours per day.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
inanimate materials because overuse of
such materials also amounts to
violence.
4) Women are respected partners of
human endeavour.
5) Bottom upturned view is preferred over
top-down totalitarian view.
6) Conservationist and sustainable lifesaving approach prevails over the
unsustainable, consumerist, selfdestructive approach.
The earth provides enough for

everymans needs but not for everymans
greed.
His model of development is enshrined in
J.C.Kumarappas books ECONOMY OF
PERMANENCE.
Gandhiji would have liked us to take the
full responsibility of carving our own
future where:
1) We would act in a manner that we are
a part of nature rather than apart from
nature.
2) Materials available on earth (mans only
home) are not used with greed.
3) Human beings practice non-violence
towards fellow human beings and also
towards other living organisms and
7) Humans live a life of moral obligation

of sharing with the poor and the
destitute, taking from the common
pool only enough for a simple needbased austere, and comfortable
lifestyle.
8) All development as far as is possible
leads to local self-reliance and equity
with social justice.
9) Resource use with ethical and
disciplinary values is an overriding
criterion of development.
To achieve all these, Gandhiji considered
the path of love, co-operation and peace,
more sustainable than hate, conflict and
war.
(Abridged from the book of the same title

by Tata Energy Research Institute,
New Delhi 1995.)
99
Deendayal Upadhyaya
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
uilding Our Future on the

Foundations of our Past: Vinay
Sahasrabuddhe
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay (1916-1968)
was one of those philosophers of modern
India whose contributions to the Indian
thought have largely gone unnoticed.
Although as a thinker Deendayalji was in
no way any less than intellectual giants like
E.F. Schumacher, Fritj-of Capra or Hazel
Henderson, the life and works of
Deendayalji became victims of apathy and
ignorance of the intelligentsia in India.
Often described as modern sage of India,
Deendayaljis philosophy of Integral
Humanism is so very basic and
fundamental that it has become a
restatement of some eternal truths and
hence relevant to the entire mankind. And
100
yet, let alone global recognition, even

global cognizance eluded his philosophy
mainly because it was propounded
necessarily in the Indian context, with
Indian parlance connoting meanings not
very intelligible universally. Academia and
intelligentsia hardly recognised the
contributions of Deendayalji because he
was seen more as a political leader and
less as a philosopher. Although later he
was rightly compared with Gandhi and
Ram Manohar Lohia two other
ideologues in Indian politics. Yet another
reason for the lack of recognition to
Deendayaljis philosophy was the fact that
none of his disciples could painstakingly
re-state his thought in modern, universally
intelligible phraseology and present it on
a global platform.
The basic tenets of Deendayaljis thought
were mainly four. 1. Superiority of
spiritual bliss, 2. The basic innateness of
human tendency to associate with each
other out of an urge with its moorings in
culture and traditions, 3. Fundamental
mutuality of human life and the mother
nature and an organic linkage between an
individual, the society in which he/she
lives, the natural surroundings with which
a human being grows and 4. The ultimate
supreme element that controls this
Australia is the fattest country in the world. 40% of Victorians are overweight. On an average an
Aussie opens the fridge door 22 times a day!
Green Foot-prints
universe; were at the core of Deendayaljis
philosophy.
Perhaps, his staunch denial of the preeminence of physical and material aspects
of human cravings for a life full of
enjoyment makes him stand out in the
galaxy of Indian thinkers. In the land of
Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi,
certainly he was not the first to point out
the limitations of worldly pleasures, or
underscoring the eternality of spiritual
bliss. However, what was perhaps unique
with Deendayalji was his emphasis on
spiritual harmony as fundamental
destination of human life. To him, human
body and sensual pleasures were just
means and not the end in them selves.
Based on The Upanishads, he had stated
that to experience and to understand
human soul is and has to be the final
objective of Human Life. The
unmistakable undercurrent all through
his doctrine was that everybody takes
birth mainly to achieve a purpose and
accomplish a cause.
In todays world, where every individual
is driven solely by the thought of
competing to achieve something that
brings material and worldly pleasures,
Deendayalji may sound both irrelevant and
extremely relevant, both at the same time.
Irrelevant because there are not quite a few
takers to what has been propounded by
Buddha, Gandhi or Deendayal, even in their
own land. Extremely relevant, because
there is now greater realisation about the
limitations of materialism world over.
Section-2
Mutuality, not just in human lives but also
in the entire scheme of the universe is yet
another important element of Deendayaljis
thesis. According to him, human beings
cannot come together for a lasting
association without any social and cultural
bonding. He firmly believed that every
organisation, like every individual; is a
living organism and the life-spirit for the
same emanates from the emotional
linkages that the constituents of the
organisation or its members develop with
each other. Taking the same thread ahead,
he stated that an individual and the society
of which he/she is a part and parcel have a
mutuality-based relationship and hence

there is also a very natural commonality
of their interests. An innate element of
interdependence is at the foundation of
this relationship. It is with the same logic
that he moves on to define the relationship
between human beings and Mother
Nature. Giving an illustration that
commoners will find easy to understand,
Deendayalji says that exploiting nature
bodes ill for the mankind too and instead,
101

one should consume the varied gifts of
Mother Nature with the same amount of
sensitivity as one would show while
milking a cow. Here lies the importance of
using natural wealth from minerals to
water resources to vegetation with not
only a sense of responsibility and also
gratitude towards the giver. However,
Deendayalji never went overboard and
targetted anything that was western. He
had an open mind to accept that Western
principles are a product of a revolution in
human thought and it is not proper to
ignore them. His critique of the Western
political and economic thought does not
call for its total rejection; it only highlights
its inadequacy. Referring to nationalism,
democracy, socialism, world peace and
world unity, which were the hotly
debated Big Ideas in India and
elsewhere in the 1960s, he says, All
these are good ideals. They reflect the
higher aspirations of mankind. But the
manner in which the West has voiced
them shows that each stands opposed
to the rest in practice.
Like a flower blossoming out of a bud,
Deendayaljis thoughts evolve from one
after the other and one out of the other.
Through his theory of Integral
Humanism or Ekatma Manav Darshan,
he has rightly focused on the striking
similarity between the order of various
stages of an ideal human life as stated
in the ancient Hindu scriptures and the
gradual evolution of human relationship
with the outer world, ultimately making
one go deeper into the self within. The four
ashramas in the Hindu philosophy are in
102
fact like a structured syllabus for attaining

spiritual
realisation.
While
brahmacharyashram lays down the
foundation of Human Life, grihasthashram
opens a window to the world of material
and sensual pleasures; albeit with a sense
of responsibility. Vanaprashtashram makes
one step out of his/her home, away from
near-ones and dear-ones, to be taken
ultimately to sannyasashram, on the path
of finding the inner-self while sacrificing
all that one possesses.
It was an accident that Deendayalji became
a politician. By nature, he was incapable
of thinking in a partisan manner.
Understandably, the basic impulse in
Man, the highest creation of God, is

losing his own identity
developing his discourse was humanistic,

and not political in the narrow sense of
party politics. Not for no reason then he
wrote: Man, the highest creation of God,
is losing his own identity. We must re-
To eradicate mass poverty, the prescription would be to make available basic social services and
monetary credit to the poor, to regenerate and sustain the environmental resource base of the
poor, to empower the poor politically and to decentralise decision-making to local levels.
Green Foot-prints
establish him in his rightful position, bring
him the realisation of his greatness,
reawaken his abilities and encourage him
to exert for attaining divine heights of his
latent personality.
During the lifetime of Deendayalji, the
great debate after Indias independence
revolved around the theme of capitalism
vs communism, Deendayalji developed
Integral Humanism partly as a counter
to both. He presents persuasive arguments
to show the pitfalls of both the systems.
Both capitalism and communism have
failed to account for the Integral Man, his
true and complete personality and his
aspirations. One considers him a mere
selfish being hankering after money,
having only one law, the law of fierce
competition, in essence the law of jungle;
whereas the other has viewed him as a
feeble lifeless cog in the whole scheme of
things, regulated by rigid rules, and
incapable of any good unless directed. The
centralisation of power, economic and
political, is implied in both. Both,
therefore, result in dehumanisation of
man. Nothing can be truer than this,
especially on the backdrop of the present
global scenario.
It was Deendayaljis deeply held belief that
Bharatiya Culture (it is notable that the
word Hindu or Hindutva does not
appear in his treatise even once) was
capable of harmonising and realising
these great ideals for the common good
of mankind. What was the basis of his
belief? It is the integral approach of our
culture - the keynote of Bharatiya
Section-2
Sanskriti - which views every aspect of
human life not in isolation, but holistically
in light of the universal and enduring
principles of man, as applied to the specific
conditions of each society. In contrast to
the theory of class conflict (as in
communism), Indian culture posits interdependence between various sections of
society working together for the common
weal of all. Similarly, rejecting notions of
any inherent contradiction between the
individual and society (as in capitalism), it
underscores the essential concord
between the two. A flower is what it is
because of its petals, and the worth of the
petals lies in remaining with the flower
and adding to its beauty.
Today, when we wonder as to what could
be the right process for Indias national
resurgence, Deendayalji shows us the path.
First,
he
resurrects, from
the works of
ancient Indian
rishis ,
two
important
definitional
traits
of
nationhood
(called chiti,
the
n a t i o n s
soul,
and
virat ,
the
power
that
energises the
n a t i o n ) which
deserves to be
studied in depth
by todays thinkers especially in the
103

present-day context of identity, inspiration
and emotive character of our social
persona. Secondly, with the courage
befitting a social revolutionary, Deendayalji
calls for abandonment of all those customs
(untouchability, caste discrimination,
dowry, neglect of women) that are
symptoms of ill-heath and degeneration
of our society. (We have taken due note
of our ancient culture. But we are no
archaeologists. We have no intention to
become the custodians of a vast
archeological museum.)
echoes Gandhis concept of Ram Rajya.

Dharma (which is different from religion)
sustains the nation. If Dharma is destroyed,
the nation perishes. Does Dharma Rajya
negate democracy? Not at all. Look how
Deendayalji creatively expands the
meaning of Lincolns famous words: In the
definition of democracy as government of
the people, by the people and for the
people, of stands for independence, by
stands for peoples rule, and for indicates
Dharma. Dharma Rajya encompasses all
these concepts.
Thirdly, he lays down general objectives

of Indias economic reconstruction which,
in spite of the vast changes that have
occurred in the global economic terrain
in the past four decades, are still valid.
Deendayalji needs to be revisited, analysed

and understood once again. If we refuse
to do that only we are to blame, because it
is in his thoughts one can find a clearer
path to move towards a bright future.
Again, to put it in his words; From the
past, through the present, to the future.
Lastly, his emphatic espousal of Dharma

Rajya (which, according to him, does not
connote theocratic state but only a lawgoverned state and duty-oriented citizenry)
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is the

Director General of Mhalagi
Prabodhini, Mumbai
Ten drivers of global environmental deterioration.

1) Population Growth 2) Affluence of some; 3) Poverty of many
4) Environmentally unfriendly technology 5) Market failure to
price goods like air, water and land 6) Policy and political failure
to correct such price distortions 7) Scale and rate of economic
growth 8) The nature of growth 9) Consumerist culture and values
and 10) Globalisation.
James Gustave Speth, Dean at the
School of Forestry and Environmental
Studies Yale University
104
60 per cent of the worlds cities involve civil society in a formal participatory process prior to the
implementation of major public projects.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
A Crusader for Biodiversity

Dr. Vandana Shiva
Green Revolution, and 5) Mono-cultures of

the Mind.
Her book The Violence of the Green
Revolution is a basic work. Recent advances
in Biotechnology have put the world and
its agro-systems on the threshold of a
Second Green Revolution.
r. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, a

philosopher,
and
an
environmentalist. She is the
Director of the Research Foundation for
Science, Technology and Natural Resource
Policy, Dehradun. India. A science and
ecology advisor, professor and author, she
is
an
internationally
known
environmentalist, well-decorated with
awards and prizes for ably expressing her
concerns.
Vandana Shivas Books and her
Philosophy
The titles of her books reveal her fields of
speciality 1) Ecological Audit of Eucalyptus
Cultivation, 2) Staying Alive, 3) Ecology
and Politics of Survival, 4) Violence of the
Vandana Shiva examines and writes

cogently about the impacts of the first
Green Revolution on the bread-basket of
India. She shows how the quick-fix promise
of large gains in output, pushed aside
serious pursuit of an alternative agristratgy grounded in respect for the
environmental wisdom of peasant systems
and building an egalatarian, needs-oriented
agriculture, consistent with the village
based, endogenous, political tradition of
Gandhi. Dr.Shiva documents the
destruction of genetic diversity and soil
fertility that resulted and in a highly
original fashion shows how the Green
Revolution also contributed to the acute
social and political conflicts now tearing
the Punjab apart.
Dr.Shivas arguments are set in the contest
of a sophisticated critique of the privileged
epistemological position achieved by
105

modern science whereby it both aspires to
provide technological solutions for social
and political problems, while at the same
time disclaiming responsibility for the new
problems which it creates in its wake.
In her book Earth Emocracy Living
Democracy, Dr.Vandana Shiva calls for
rebuilding an alround security in an age
of insecurity. She describes how Economic
Globalisation, through climate change,
species extinction and pollution of water
is threatening our Ecological Security. She

blames corporate globalisation squarely
for this economic insecurity. All around
Globalisation, according to her, has led to
the decay of participative democracy and
has
given
rise
to
Terrorism,
Fundementalism and Police states. She
exhorts the world to move from life106
destroying to life-preserving culture. She

traces how the common properties of the
Earth family are being usurped by
Privatisation Regimes. Her concept of ecodemocracy is a democracy of all liferespecting people, respresenting the
intrinsic worth of all Species and Peoples.
Diversity in Nature and culture is to be
treasured and the Natural rights to
sustenance are to be heeded. Her Living
Economies are built on local economies,
using living knowledge, through the
instruments of living Democracy. She
advocates of course, balancing Rights with
Responsibilities.
Her book on The Globalisation of
Agriculture highlights how the land area
under foodgrains production is
continuously shrinking. How Aquaculture, flori culture and Mad Cow Disease
have become the symbol of globalised
agriculture, pressurizing farmers off the
land is discussed succinctly. The
Globalisation puts land to wrong use,
pollutes and wrongly prioritises water use,
robs the farmers of their home-grownseeds and makes them dependent upon
commercial seed producers. This she calls
a new serfdom. For her decentralisation of
Food System and the right to food security
are inalienably linked to Sustainable
Agriculture.
Conservation of Biodiversity through seed
security has been a life long concern of
Dr.Shiva. Her book Cultivating Diversity
calls the public attention to Global Erosion
of Biodiversity. She argues that the best
place to conserve Biodiversity is the
The USA has an average water footprint of 2480m3/cap/yr, while China has an average footprint
of 700m3/cap/yr.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
farmers field, where biodiversity lives and

grows. The centralized, improved seeds,
take away the space of the farmers homegrown seeds, destroying diversity in the
process. Both for proper conservation and
for adequate consumption of food, the
biodiversity has to be preserved in situ.
Navadanya Movement
She and her associates research on the
erosion of biodiversity and on the social
and ecological impact of mono-cultures in
the forest and agriculture sectors.
The Earth Summit in Rio in June92 brought
biodiversity conservation to the centrestage. Protection of diversity of species,
and protection of diversity of different
cultures have become vital concerns for
survival of life on earth.
A
movement
for
the
conservation of biodiversity in
this larger setting, then becomes
a movement for the protection
of cultural diversity of mankind.
The view that diversity is a
disease to be cured is becoming
a social and ecological threat in
our times. Ethnic and religious
cleansing and crop monocultures are symptoms of worldview that fuels the intolerance
of diversity in culture and
nature. Cultivating diversity is
no luxury in our times. It is
survival imperative.
conservation practices and documents and

replicates the farmers traditional
conservatory methods. She also seeks a
peoples movement for the same.
Her methods show that traditional
knowledge can yield rich harvests, with
cost-effective processes of production,
using internal inputs and applying plantbased insecticides, green-manure and
harvesting not only grains, but quality
fodder for the cattle as well.
All this naturally led her to fight Biopiracy
at global level, against deeply entrenched
global commercial interests. When Neem
and Neem products were sought to be
patented by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture
and a U.S. company, Dr.Shiva knocked
many doors to halt this Biopiracy of
traditional Indian Wisdom. Even the
Dr. Vandana Shiva wants to

release the world from
Euro-centric thinking
Her Navadanya movement nurtures seed
Government of India could not help her.

She forged a consortium of NGOs, roped
107

in European Union of Organic Farmers and
fought the case in the European Patent
office. The victory she won was a trend
setter, because, patent claims on Basmati,
Turmeric, Brinjal and Karela were pending
all over the Western world. Her paper
Protecting our Biological and Intellectual
Heritage in the Age of Biopiracy, singles
her out as a courageous fighter.
Her background as a scientist helped her
to see how Biotechnology, meddling with
Gene modification, is fraught with
unjustifiable risks taken for dubious
rewards. She sees biotechnological
interventions as promoting monoculture,
destroying the environment. Her brilliant
essay Monocultures of the Mind (a part of
the book of the same name), shows how
this attitude goes beyond the seed and plant
biodiversity and pervades the whole human
approach to life. Out of this beginning
came her book Decolonising the North
seeking to release the world from Eurocentric thinking.
108
Dr.Vandana Shivas knowledge has grown

from her constant interaction with grassroot level farmers and their procedures.
That is why her theories, conclusions,
arguments, predictions and fears are so
Earth Bound. At a time when ecological
activism is fast acquiring a negative
stance, Dr.Vandana Shiva always comes
with positive action plans and cures.
Dr.Shiva is wor ried that the Green
revolution has ended up as an ecological
disaster. She believes that women
activists such as the Chipko participants
can still make the best out of a bad
bargain. In a world that appears to be fast
losing its mind, Dr.Vandana Shiva is a
voice of sage counsel and a life of sane
action.
(Compiled from Dr.Vandana Shivas

writings and writings on her)
India contributes 17% to the global population, the people in India contribute only 13% to the
global water footprint.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
David Attenborough, the man who

thinks that plants think
ranges, deserts, beaches and home gardens
to show us things we might never have
suspected about the vegetation that
surrounds us. With their extraordinary
sensibility, plants compete endlessly for
survival and interact with animals and
insects; they can see, count, communicate,
adjust position, strike and capture.
Attenborough makes the plant-world a
vivid place for readers and viewers.
avid Attenborough (b 8/5/1926) is

one of the worlds most acclaimed
broadcasters and naturalists. One
of the pioneers of the naturedocumentary, he has been for 50 years the
face and voice of British Natural History.
He produced the nine Life series with
BBC natural history unit. This series forms
a comprehensive survey of all terrestrial
life. A highly decorated writer and
filmmaker, David Attenboroughs films and
productions have created much taste for
natures dynamism in the minds of his
viewers/readers.
His texts are informative, lively,
enthusiastic and with a mixture and
excitement. He is a fellow of the Royal
Society and a trustee of the British
Museum.
Through his books and documentaries, he
treks through rain-forests, mountain
He reveals to us the aspects of plants lives

that seem hidden from view, such as
fighting, avoiding or exploiting predators
or neighbours, and struggling to find food,
increase their territories, reproduce
themselves, and establish their place in the
sun. Among the most outstanding
examples, the acacia can communicate with
other acacias and repel enemies that might
eat their leaves.
The orchid can impersonate female wasps
to attract males and ensure the spreading
of its pollen. The Venuss flytrap can take
other organisms captive and consume
them. Covering this remarkable range of
information with enthusiasm and clarity,
Attenborough helps us to look anew at the
vegetation on which all life depends and
which has an intriguing life of its own. He
has pleased the plant lover and enthused
the exploration of the natural world.
(From the Website)
109
Anil Agarwal and His

Comprehensive Approach to
Ecology
Sunita Narain
n 1980s the fledgelling environmental

movement got its basis as Anil
Agarwal (1947-2002) established the
need for poor countries to be concerned
about the environment. This was the
time, when it was generally accepted
that environment was to do with
pretty trees and tigers and that
smoke was the sign of progress.
Poverty in fact was seen as the
greatest polluter in the words of the
mighty. Anil Agarwal debunked this
and did that effectively.
alternative economic paradigm of the poor,

arguing that the rural poor lived within
what he called the biomass based
subsistence economy. That is they lived
on the environment as all their basic
survival needs from food to firewood, was
collected and used. He mocked our
economists who measured welfare in terms
of Gross National Product and demanded
instead that poverty should be measured
in terms of Gross Natural Product and
indicators like the number of hours it takes
women to collect water or firewood,
should be used to calculate the
improvements in our economy. Today all
Environment for the poor was not a

luxury but a matter of survival he
wrote. He conceptualised the
110
One agricultural worker today feeds herself and one city dweller on average. In 2050 she will have
to feed herself and two urbanites.
Green Foot-prints
this is common knowledge. But how
difficult each step was! In the late 1980 we
wrote a book Towards Green Villages
which outlined how rural regeneration was
more to do with decentralization and
devolution of power than with planting
trees or smokeless stoves (which were in
fashion then). Again this is well accepted
today. But then many people disagreed
with us and violently.
Our book Global Warming in an unequal
world forced us to fight the most
powerful research institutions of the
industrialised world. The campaign on air
pollution made us take on the powerful
automobile industry. But Anil Agarwal
never let us even for one moment, feel that
we were less powerful.
Section-2
building up two campaigns to push for
community involvement in water
management and to clean up Delhis air:
(Ms Sunita Narain is a long time associate
of Sri Anil Agarwal). (From Down to Earth)
Anil Agarwals work:
Sri Anil Agarwal, a Mechanical Engineer
of I.I.T Kanpur joined the Hindustan Times
as a science journalist. The Chipko
movement catalysed his understanding of
environment-development process. In
1982 he founded the Centre for Science and
Environment. Then came the trendsetting, shocking, stunning revelations of
the state of Indias Environment in the
form of Citizens reports. In 1986, the
This is because his faith in democracy was

total. As long as we were absolutely sure
about our facts we could challenge the
world. If we have good knowledge and
we have social capital-friends and experts
willing to cooperate with us we can work
with Indian democracy, was what he said
again and again. For Anil, democracy was
not a good idea, it was his way of life. It is
because of this belief that Anil was able
to find the balance in the challenge:
markets were important as much as
participatory democracy at the village end.
A leading journalist from UK described the
work of Centre for Science and
Environment the organization Sri Anil
Agarwal founded, - Forensic rigour
combined with passion. This was Anils key
quality. His last many years went in
Prime Minister invited him to address the

council of ministers on Environmental
111

concerns of Development. In 1992, he
started Down to Earth the monthly
magazine on Environment, along with the
childrens supplement The Gobar Times.
Anil Agarwal began the Right to clean
air campaign, instrumental in CNGbased
public transport in Delhi. He edited and
published the monumental Dying Wisdom;
the Rise Fall and Potential of Indias
Traditional water harvesting systems. It
was the first step in his
campaign to popularize rain
water harvesting. Making
water everybodys Business
was a subsequent seminal
publication. In 1997 Agarwal
launched the Green Rating
Project, aimed at making
industry more environmentfriendly. He guided the rating of
automobile industry and the
paper and pulp industry. 1999
saw his services as co-editor
Green-Politics, on global
environmental negotiations. In 2001 he
published Poles Apart an important book
on the third worlds perspective on these
treaties.
milestone for Indias environmental

planning.
When for the first time a comprehensive

report of The State of Indias Environment
1982" was published by the Centre for
Science and Environment, the effort and
its leader Anil Agarwal were praised as
pioneers, trendsetters etc. by all sections
of the people.
The Forests issue opened a Pandoras box.

The Governments official estimates of
forests in India differed widely from
ground realities. Eucalyptus and social
forestry promoting monocultures were
discussed in the book State of Indias
Environment threadbare.
For an NGO to study all aspects of Indias

Environment was an unimaginably
mammoth task indeed. The report was a
Dams already have attracted the media

attention as well as the researchers
scalpel. The third report on State of
112
That and the subsequent problem-studies,

reports, dealt with Indias Land, including
grazing lands, soil erosion, ravines mines
etc. in a comprehensive way.
The problem of water with reference to
groundwater depletion and surface water
pollution, the role of transfed irrigation in

India, food security, inland fisheries etc.
came up for a total treatment at the hands
of Anil Agarwal.
There are about 170 million tribal people in the world whose way of life, culture and often very
existence is threatened by mainstream development.
Green Foot-prints
Indias Environment 1991 dealt with the
flood situation in the Gangetic plains, the
Himalayan reaches, the repeated havoc
wrought by the Brahmaputra in Assam,
N.Bihar etc. Floods, alternating with
droughts should have been an
administrators nightmare.
Section-2
4) Concern for equity.
5) Good values that comprise. a) respect
for nature, b) respect for cultural
diversity, c) respect for the poor, their
knowledge and their extraordinary
Pollution of the atmosphere and the

habitat disintegration add to the human
misery.
But there is more! The exploding
population and the new breed of
environmental refugees call for urgent
attention.
The problem of health and energy have
been interlinked in recent times.
The dwindling genetic resources, shrinking
biodiversity and development of ex-situ
conservation did not escape Anil
Agarwals attention. Who will bring about
the change? The role of Governments and
NGOs are discussed by Anil Agarwal.
But he is not a mere documentation
specialist. He comes out with
comprehensive solutions.
An appeal pioneered by him is signed by
eminent Indians. Anil Agarwal pleads for:
ability to manage their affairs in the

worst of adversity, d) respect for equity
including social, cultural, economic
and gender dimensions and e) respect
for democracy and the right of
participation.
Inevitably Anil Agarwals attention has
turned towards women, evaluation of
natures gifts and water conservation. His
writings and speeches and his magazine
Down to the Earth serve eco-enthusiasts
predigested food for the mind.
1) Good democracy.
2) Good governance.
3) Good science for environmental
management.
(Extracted from the magazine Down to

Earth and The Complete Works of Anil
Agarwal, a.C.S.E.Publication).
113
Claude Alvares and the Other

India Press
continuing to listen to and to adopt the
increasingly insane and senseless ways of
the West. A few years ago, they have been
joined in the campaign by Pujya Hitmchi
Vijayi Maharaji Saheb a young Jain Monk
in Gujarat.
laude Alvares and his colleagues

established the Other India Press
(O.I.P) and Bookstore (O.I.B),
inspired by the writings and work of
personalities such as Haji S.M.Mohammed
Idris, President of the Third World
Network
and
Dharampal,
the
distinguished Indian Historian.
Both these individuals for several years
now, and desperate in their advanced
ages, have been vociferously urging in
every conceivable forum they have
addressed, that we are in permanent
danger of killing our minds and souls by
114
What all the three spirits have most

fervently denounced is the continuing
colonisation of the Indian mind, reflected
in the book industry still largely controlled
by the large publishing houses of London
and New York. For well-nigh 40 years till
the Other India Bookstore came along
readers in India could not get books direct
from Africa but via London. A book
published in New York would be reviewed
not just in New York but in almost all the
major leading newspapers across the world
(to our amazing shame, this still often
happens). However newspapers in New
York did not reciprocate the gesture by
reviewing books published from Asia or
Africa. It almost seemed as if those born
in the U.K, or U.S. came congenitally
equipped with innately superior bodies
and brains.
In relation to the universities, the situation
is even more depressing. The universities
of Asia, for example are supposed to be
inhabited by intellectuals. But most of the
writers of the letters are really intellectual
Central American cattle raiser destroys two million hectares of forest land for establishing
artificial grasslands to cater to the beef market of North American fast food industry.
Green Foot-prints
slaves, their output continues to be a blind
repetition or mindless imitation of theses,
perceptions, proposals or ideas originating
from universities based either in the U.K.
or in the U.S. The colonial control over the
mind is so startling you still do not get
books written by even Swedish or Finnish
or German writers, much less writers from
Hong Kong, China or Africa.
Both Idris and Dharampal have insisted
that this must radically change. We must
produce our own literature, our own
history, our own psychology. We could if
we so desire, go further and decide for
ourselves whether we even need outright
colonial science, like Anthropology, or
Western disciplines like Sociology. The
myths of Europe are good for Europe. If
we must live by myths, better our own
than imported ones. What we must put a
stop to is mindless regurgitation of ideas
borrowed unthinkingly over 500 years of
imposition.
The Other India Bookstore has been
engaged in just this kind of intellectual
disengagement for the past ten years.
Through its sustained effort, titles from
S.Asia, S.E.Asia, China and Africa have
finally been able to reach Indias stores.
At its bookshop in Mapusa, Goa, the
visitor will not find a single title imported
from the U.K. or from the U.S. The
radically independent intellectual world
that Idris and Dharampal have fought for
is now fully functioning at O.I.B. and is
clearly manifest in its catalogues.
What is important to say here is that this
Section-2
work has been accomplished as a
commercial proposition, without grants
from aid agencies. O.I.B. and O.I.P. have
earned their way through quality work and
by providing significant and needed
services to a large section of the planets
population honestly and efficiently. Both
have thrived because they fulfil a need:
thousands of people feel the same way.
They are fed up being told they are
incompetent human beings simply because
they do not live, think, or dress or speak
like Westerners. Or because they do not
read their books. Or do not wear blue
jeans.
In May 1998, the group behind O.I.P. and
O.I.B. got off to a good start by preventing
any celebrations in honour of Vasco-daGama at Calicut. In the years to come,
those who wish to dump the doubtful
baggage of Western learning and to
revitalised their own dying and forgotten
traditions, roots, culture and knowledge
systems should take courage and do so
openly. They should firmly recover the
spirit of their civilizations refusing any
longer to continue as mimicking apes or
as carbon copies of the real thing
somewhere outside and far away from
here.
OIB/OIP deals with Various topics.It
requires a lot of courage and conviction
to sink ones money, time and life in what
is now, a non-mainstream activity.
Claude Alvares and his friends have
succeeded in crossing a stretch of this
minesfield.
(Adapted from the Catalogue of O.I.P)
115
A Noble Effort
for immediate action. Bringing out the
Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC
earlier this year, Pachauri had warned the
International community that continued
negligence of the worlds heritage and
natural resources would have an adverse
impact on biodiversity. While the IPCC
does not provide any directions on how
conflicts inherent in the social implications
of the impacts of climate change can be
avoided or contained, the Report provides
scientific findings that other scholars can
study, Pachauri said.
hri Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (b 20/

8/1940 Nainital, India) is an
economist and environmental
scientist. Pachauri has been associated
with coal, oil and gas energy firms as a
Director. Scientific Research and Habitat
are his other concerns. At present,
Pachauri is the Director General of The
Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi,
an institution devoted to researching and
promoting sustainable development. In
2001 he received the Padma Bhushan
Award for his immense contribution to the
field of environment.
Shri Pachauri has served as the Chairman
of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), since 2002. The reports of
the IPCC have served to highlight the need
116
The IPCC, headed by Pachauri, shared the

Nobel Peace Prize this year (December
2007) with AI Gore. For Pachauri, winning
the award has given the issue of climate
change the visibility it deserves.
Honouring the IPCC through the grant of
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 in essence
can be seen as a clarion call for the
protection of the earth as it faces the
widespread impacts of climate change, he
said.
Pachauri began his Nobel Prize acceptance
speech by drawing attention to his
conviction that the Hindu Philosophy of
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means
the whole universe is one family, must
dominate global efforts to protect the
global commons. Pachauri repeatedly
Over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition. 5 million are
children. Yet, some 1.2 billion suffer from obesity.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
emphasized his concerns regarding the
implications of climate change for the

worlds poorest nations, referring to
studies that have raised the threat of
dramatic population migration, conflict,

and war over water and other resources,
as well as realignment of power among
nations. Some also highlight the possibility
of rising tensions between rich and poor
nations, health problems caused
particularly by water shortages and crop
failures.
One of the most significant aspects of the
impacts of climate changerelates to the
equity implications of changes that are
occurring and are likely to occur in the
future. In general, the impacts of climate
change on some of the poorest and most
vulnerable communities in the world could
prove extremely unsettling.
(From the Website on R.K.Pachauri)
Alber Arnold AL Gore Wins a

Nobel Prize for Climate Stabilization
A former Vice-President of U.S., Al Gore is a prominent
environmental activist. He won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
(together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
IPCC for the efforts to build up and disseminate greater
knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the
foundation for the measures that are needed to counteract such
change. He wrote a book Earth in the Balance. He also starred
in the award winning documentary on the topic of global
warming. He also raises funds for environmental causes. He makes attempts to bring
environmental accountability to Business concerns and investment trends.
Gore was one of the first politicians to grasp the seriousness of climate change and to
call for a reduction in emissions of carbon di-oxide and other green house gases.
(From the Website on AL Gore)
117
Last days of Age of Oil

Lester R. Brown
Many corporate leaders now know that our energy future is going to be strikingly different.
There is a growing acceptance that the world is in the early stages of the transition from a
carbon-based to a hydrogen-based energy economy, says LESTER R.BROWN.
In August 1997, a few months before the

Kyoto Conference on Climate Change, the
Global Climate Coalition (GCC) helped
launched a massive advertising campaign
designed to prevent the United States
from endorsing any meaningful
agreement to reduce global carbon
emissions. This group, including in its
ranks some of the worlds most powerful
corporations and trade associations
involved with fossil fuels, concentrated its
efforts on a series of television
advertisements that attempted to confuse
and frighten Americans.
Among other things, the ads indicated that
Americans will pay the price50 cents
more for every gallon of gasoline, even
though there was no proposal for such a
tax. The campaign was successful. The socalled Carbon Club had effectively
undermined public support of U.S. efforts
to lead the international effort to stablise
climate.
While the public image of the GCC at the
time was that of a unified group, there was
already dissent within the ranks. John
Browne, Chairman of British Petroleum, in
a speech at Stanford University on May 19,
1997, announced that the time to consider
118
the policy dimensions of climate change is

not when the link between greenhouse
gases and climate change is conclusively
proven, but when the possibility cannot be
discounted and is taken seriously by society
of which we are part. We in British
Petroleum have reached that point.
Brownes talk shocked other oil companies
and
pleasantly
surprised
the
environmental community. British
Petroleum withdrew from the GCC.
Dupont had already left. The following
year, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it
was leaving too. Its corporate goals, like
those of British Petroleum and Dupont, no
longer meshed with those of the GCC. Like
BP, it no longer viewed itself as an oil
company, but as an energy company.
In 1999, Ford withdrew from the GCC. Its
young Chairman, William C.Ford, Jr.,
great-grandson of Henry Ford, went on
record saying: I expect to preside over the
demise of the internal combustion
engine. The company was already
working on a fuel cell engine, one where
the fuel of choice was hydrogennot
gasoline.
In 6 hours the world spends as much in arms as it has spent in 10 years in supporting the United
Nations Environment Programme.
Green Foot-prints
Fords decision to withdraw was yet
another sign of the changes occurring in
major industries involved directly and
indirectly with fossil fuels. A company
spokesman noted, Over the course of
time, membership in the Global Climate
Coalition has become something of an
impediment for Ford Motor Company to
achieving our environmental
objectives.
Section-2
environmental impacts of climate change
for us to take actions to address its
consequences.
Other leading companies that have joined
the Council are Toyota, Enron and Boeing.
Membership
requires
individual
companies to have their own programmes
In rapid succession in the early

months of 2000, Daimler Chrysler,
Texaco, and General Motors
announced that they too were
leaving the coalition. With the
departure of GM, the worlds
largest automobile company, the
die was cast. A spokesman for the
Sierra Club quipped, May be it is
time to ask the last one out to turn
out the light.
The image created by this
accelerating exodus of firms from
the GCC was that of rats abandoning a
sinking ship. It reflected the conflict
emerging with GCC ranks between firms
that were clinging to the past and those
planning for the future.
Some of the exiting companies, such as BP
Amoco, Shell and Dupont, joined a
progressive new group, the Business
Environmental Leadership Council, now
an organisation of some 21 corporations.
This new outfit, founded by the Pew
Center on Global Climate Change, says,
We accept the views of most scientists
that enough is known about the science and
to reduce carbon emissions. BP Amoco,

for example, plans to bring its carbon
emissions to 10 per cent below its 1990
level by 2010, exceeding the Kyoto goal of
roughly five per cent for industrial
countries.
Dupont has one of the most ambitious
goals of any company, going far beyond
that of Kyoto. It has already cut its 1990
greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent
and plans to reduce them by a total of 65
per cent by 2010, rendering hollow the
claim that lowering carbon emissions to
meet the Kyoto goal is not possible.
119

On the supply side, BP, Amoco and Shell
are investing heavily in new sources of
energy. BP Amoco is now a leading
manufacturer of solar cells. Shell,
already a major player in both wind and
solar cells, is also investing heavily in
hydrogen and will likely open the
worlds first chain of hydrogen stations
in Iceland.
familiar. This loss of credibility led to a

major shift in public opinion, one that is
now affecting court proceedings and the
To date, the net effect of the various

public and private initiatives
worldwide has been to check the
growth in global carbon emissions.
Since 1996, global carbon emissions
have levelled off. The burning of coal,
the most carbon-intensive fuel,
dropped five per cent in 1999. The next
step is to reduce carbon emissions
across the board.
Abandonment of the GCC by leading
companies is partly in response to the
mounting evidence that the world is indeed
getting warmer. The 15 warmest years in
the last century have occurred since 1980.
Ice is melting on every continent. The
snow/ice pack in the Rockies, the Andes,
the Alps and the Himalayas is shrinking.
The volume of the ice cap covering the
Arctic Ocean has shrunk by more than 40
per cent over the last 35 years. To deny that
Earth is getting warmer in the face of such
compelling evidence is to risk a loss of
credibility, something that corporations
cannot readily afford.
The high price paid by the tobacco
industrys continuing denial of a link
between smoking and health is all too
120
decisions of juries considering the claims

of plaintiffs against the tobacco industry.
And it figured prominently in the
agreement by the industry to pay state
governments $251 billion to compensate
them for the medicare costs of treating
smoking-related illnesses.
In a thinly veiled effort to conceal the real
issuethe loss of so many key corporate
membersthe GCC announced that it was
restructuring and would henceforth only
include trade associations in its
membership. While the companies leaving
the GCC are still represented by their trade
associations, their loss of confidence in the
The direct medical cost of hunger and malnutrition is estimated at $30 billion each year.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
GCCs ability to represent their corporate

interests is all too evident.
Thoughtful corporate leaders now know
that our energy future is going to be
strikingly different from our energy past.
There is a growing acceptance among the
key energy players that the world is in the
early stages of the transition from a
carbon-based to a hydrogen-based energy
economy.
In February 1999, ARCO Chief Executive
Officer Michael Bowlin said in a talk at an
energy conference in Houston, Texas, We
have embarked on the beginning of the Last
Days of the Age of Oil. He went on to
discuss the need to convert our carbonbased energy economy into a hydrogenbased energy economy.
Whether the GCC will survive as a
collection of trade associations or whether
it will join the Tobacco Institute, which
closed its doors in January 1999, is
uncertain. What is clear is that the
organisation that so effectively
undermined U.S. leadership in Kyoto is no
longer a dominant player in the global
climate debate. The stage is set for the
United States to resume leadership of the
global climate stabilization effort.
*Extracted from the Article
Down to Earth
121
ISHMAEL : An Adventure of
the Mind and Spirit
his book by Danial Quinn-carries on

its cover page an appropriate
sentence from its
review by Jim Britell in the
Whole Earth Review.
Be hope
For Gorilla!
From now on I will divide

the books I have read into
two categories, the ones I
read before Ishmael and
those read after.
This is the story of human
beings killing the Earth along
with themselves, in the name
of progress, development and civilization.
It is too late to check their fate.
This is the story of mankind praying for a
little more time for trying for survival.
This is the story of a man, finding an ad in
the newspapers worded thus:
Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an
earnest desire to save the world. Apply
in person.
He goes to find that the teacher is a
gorilla, worried
With Man Gone!
Will there
122
Then starts a series of disarming brutal

revealing conversations between Man and
his predecessor.
Ishmael, the gorilla accuses Man, You are
captives of a civilizational system, that
more or less compels you to go on
destroying the world in order to live. Man
has made the world a captive too. But man
is not able to find the bars of the cage so
that he can release the world from
captivity.
Ishmael divides the whole humanity into
two groups Takers the people of
developing civilizational cultures and
Leavers, the Other people who do not
The way termite guts process food could teach scientists how to produce pollution-free energy
and help solve the worlds imminent energy crisis.
Green Foot-prints
join the civilizational
mainstream.
Section-2
progressive
The story goes on to show how the

takers take off to go away from Nature,
spirit and away from themselves towards
inevitable destiny disaster seen today.
Ishmael tells another story to Man. A few

men who did not understand the law of
gravity or the laws of aerodynamics, built
one pedalled contraption with flapping
wings and pushed-off from a cliff, hoping
to fly.
The tragedy of human civilization is

narrated in words of unsullied humour,
humourous, if man can manage to forget
that it is his story.
Similarly, eight thousand years ago, man

launched a civilizational machine,
knowing neither the laws of nature, nor
the laws of civilizational changes.
Ishmael said, We know what happens if

you take the Taker premise that the world
belongs to man?
Every one was looking down and it was

obvious that the ground is rushing up
towards them and rushing up faster every
year. Basic ecological and planetary
systems are being impacted by the Taker
Thunderbolt (the civilizational
aircraft of Man who thought the
world belonged to him) and that
impact increases in intensity
every year. Basic irreplaceable
resources are being devoured
every year and they are being
devoured more greedily every
year.
Whole species are
disappearing as a result of mans
encroachment and they are disappearing
in greater numbers every year. Pessimists
or it may be they are realists look down
and say, Well! The crash may be twenty
years off or may be as much as fifty years
off. Actually it could happen any time.
There is no way to be sure. But of course
there are optimists as well who say We
must have faith in our craft. After all it
has brought us this for in safety. What is
ahead is not doom, it is just a little hump
that we can clear if we all just pedal a little
Yes! That is a disaster.
And what happens if you take the Leaver

premise that man belongs to the world?
Then creation goes on forever.
How does that sound?
It has my vote.
That man in real life did not vote in that
way is the tragedy of the story the story
of Ishmael the Gorilla, the story of Man.
123

harder. Then we will soar into a glorious,
endless future and the Taker Thunderbolt
will take us to the stars and we will
conquer the universe itself. But mans
craft is not going to save him. Quite the
contrary, it is mans craft that is carrying
man towards catastrophe. Five billion
human beings pedalling away cant make
it fly. It has been in free fall from the
beginning that fall is about to end.
Ishmael, like all great narratives, is

simple, straight, touching, disturbing and
true. A must for anyone concerned about
saving the Earth.
A Novel by Daniel Quinn.
A Bantam Turner Book New York, 1995.
Where are we going?

We have entered this era (late twentieth century) with the realisation that the pathways
of ecologically unsustainable and economically inequitable development followed
during the previous decades will take us to a century of common misery. Excessive
consumption of energy, adverse changes in the balance between carbon emissions
and absorption, pollution of air, water and soil, accumulation of toxic and nonbiodegradable wastes, destruction of ecosystems especially forests rich in biological
diversity, uncontrolled growth in population in developing countries and unsustainable
lifestyles in industrialised countries, are all leading to an impending general breakdown
of the resource and environmental systems.
The warning signals include: 1) drying of streams 2) vanishing forests and associated
flora and fauna 3) intensifying droughts and floods 4) loss of grazing
land 5) increasing biotic and abiotic stresses affecting agriculture 6)
deterioration of quality of air and water 7) mushrooming urban slums
8) explosive growth of rural and urban unemployment.
It is the poor nations and the poor and the marginalized in all Nations
who suffer most from such environmental breakdown. Nature
protection cannot be done without public cooperation and
understanding.
M.S.Swaminathan
124
500 corporations control 70% of the worlds trade.
Green Foot-prints
Ahead to Nature
Section-2
(A Book ahead of its times)
oming out of the present mess in

which mankind has landed itself,
calls for a new approach to the
central problems of life including
examining the fundamental assumptions of
human life.
Spiritual values of a) all-pervading Atman
(Isavasyam Idam Sarvam Yajur
Veda), b) one truth with many names
(Rik Veda) and c) mans divinity (Sama
Veda) have held the central place in
Indian culture, religion, art,
literature and society. These values
have stood the test of time, and the
growing Western science has only
succeeded
in
approaching,
confirming and elucidating these
spiritual tenets. There is an urgent
necessity to reevaluate mans
activities in all fields in the light of
Indias eternal values and apply
corrections in the economic, social
and environmental aspects of our
life.
1) The environmental crisis, 2)
mans alienation from man,
Nature and God, 3) growing
poverty and inequity and 4)
breaking up of social bonding all over
the world have forced man to search
for his true identity. Drugs, sleeping
pills, alcoholism, consciousnessaltering drugs, suicide, war and

violence have compelled the
sociologists and philosophers of both
the East and the West to reexamine the
dearly held scientific beliefs, and
fanatically hugged materialistic
affiliations.
There is an urgent need to consolidate the

information available on developmental
125

and economic issues and apply the searchlight of truth, morality, survival-urge,
spirituality and social ethics, to them.
becomes easy. That is the reason, more and

more scientists and technologists turn to
Yoga Vedanta today.
Dileep Kulkarni has done this job

admirably, in his book Ahead to Nature.
Fritjof Capras The Web of Life seeks to

prove the interconnectedness of all living
things. Amit Goswamys Self-Aware
Universe tries to prove the existence of A
Universal Consciousness underneath the
faade of the material and living world.
When we urge man to reduce his wants,

consume less, we appeal only to his moral
sense. We do not act in any way to
strengthen his will or convince him
intellectually.
The Ananda Mimamsa of the Taittiriya
Upanishad (Krishna Yajurveda), the
Bhagawad Gita and Yoga and Tantra texts
examine the fundamental problem of
Ananda (happiness) and help man
understand empirically that all happiness
comes from within. Once this fundamental
concept is understood and Yoga Vedanta
methods are applied to realise that
concept, sacrifice of material possessions
126
Ahead to Nature seeks to apply these

values to the environmentally endangered
world.
Written lucidly, elegantly produced, this
book fills a gap in our understanding of
Eastern values, Vedic values, in an applied
perspective. A must for all.
(A Vivekananda Kendra Publication by
Dileep Kulkarni, 5, Singarachari Street,
Triplicane, Chennai-5,
Cancer is projected to be responsible for half the deaths in the Western world by 2020.
Green Foot-prints
Section-2
In the Woods of Globalisation

This book, whose name the title carries,
is a comprehensive guide for
understanding the impact of globalisation
on indigenous culture, economy, lifestyle,
employment and all aspects of life.
The first part talks of the exploitative West
and the gullible East. The affluence of the
industrialized, achieved at the cost of the
developing nations has created a wide
chasm between man and man.
The second part picturises the institutional
arrangement that perpetuates this
inequity, the World Bank, the I.M.F.
and the General Agreement of Trade
and Tariff, the lure of globalisation
and the power of the multinational
corporations in twisting the arms of
the poor country-cousins from the
South.
Many values, vital to mans survival but

insignificant to the economic calculation
of myopic range, find no place in the
economic dictionary. With the result, man
today can run a profitable industry by
destroying nature, exhausting fossil fuel
and exploiting fellowmen and yet can be
branded successful in his vocation.
The fourth part On Swadeshi deals with
indigenous economy, technology,
economic relations based on human
The third part on economic theory

brings out the inadequacies of
classical economic studies in
understanding human cultures,
societies and mores. By putting
wealth ahead of equity, production
ahead of sharing, quantity ahead of
justice,
profit
ahead
of
environmental safety, western
economic theories have invested
man with a tool for social suicide.
127

relations and environmental safeguards.
Production by the masses, non-polluting
nature of production by cottage and
appropriate technologies are explained.
The Swadeshi concept, as an extension of
spiritual, patriotic, economic and
environmental values and systems, is
elucidated.
Some Quotes:
1) The economist Havelock Brewster has
said: Some 30% of industrial,
agricultural, and services production
is in excess of any beneficial
consumption, another 10-20% is
harmful, useless, wasted, destroyed, or
stored, while an untold percentage is
accounted for by unnecessary (and)
contrived obsolescence.
economically bankrupt. They are

gradually losing their political
autonomy too. The creditor countries
now formulate all the development
policies of the debtor countries.
5) In 1991-92 the contribution of
traditional sectors like KhadiGramodyog,
small
industries,
agriculture, pisciculture etc. was about
70% of the G.D.P. of India. In 92-93,
91% of the total of 1692 crore metres
of cloth produced in the country was
manufactured by the handloom and
small scale units.
6) The United Food Company has
secured the genes of 75% all plantain
varieties; Firestone has collected over
700 varieties of rubber plant genes
from Asia and Brazil.
2) Herman Daly on the World Bank: The

major weakness in the Banks ability
to foster environmentally sustainable
development is that it only has
leverage over the South, not the North.
Some way must be found to push the
North also.
7) A sumptuous reference book called

The Global Seed Study deals with
profits from seeds. The book is priced
at 25,000 dollars and sells well. Seed
manufacturing companies are buying
it.
3) About 76% of the luxury-goods market

is now under the control of foreign
companies.
75%
of
the
Pharmaceuticals marketed is by
foreign companies which have been
earning huge profits by often selling
unnecessary and hazardous drugs in
India.
Companies which were earlier dealing in

pharmaceuticals (e.g.) Ciba-Geigy and
Sandoz have now entered the seed market.
4) Brazil, Mexico, Bharat, etc. have not

only run the risk of becoming
128
This book gives a timely warning to our

people to wake up or get bogged down in
Neo-Colonialism.
(Author S.R. Ramaswamy Sahitya Sindhu
Prakashana, 14/3-A Nrupatunga Road,
Bangalore 560002).
33% of the natural world has been exhausted in the last 25 years, largely to supply resources for our cities.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
SECTION - 3
Green Diversity
Indias Biodiversity reinforces its

Theodiversity
135
SECTION - 3
Green Diversity
Sl.No.
Title
Prelude - Green Diversity
Are we in the middle of

another Mass Extinction?
Author
Page No.
137
Compiled from
New Scientist
140
A country like India must

have a land use plan
G.Ananthakrishnan
143
A case for
Biodiversity Conservation
Peter Raven
147
Saving the web of life
R.Rajamani
149
Digested database on
country s bio-resource
Compiled
155
Take a lesson from Nature
Lucy Siegle
157
The National Environment Policy N.R.Krishnan
159
Preserving Indias Biodiversity P.J.Sanjeeva Raj
162
10
The Biological Diversity Act and
3
4
11
its implications
Madhav Gadgil
National Biodiversity
Action Plan
Ashish Kothari and
165
Kanchi Kohli
167
Sustainable Development
Compiled
169
Doomsday seed vault

opens in Arctic
Compiled
171
14
How much water do you Eat? Compiled
174
15
Community Reserves
176
12
13
136
To w a r d s
Bahar Dutt
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
Green Diversity
PRELUDE
K.Phidal : Sir! What is Biodiversity? I
come across the word so frequently in
papers!
Jn.Noval: Nature abhors monocultures.
Brahman Himself said Ekoham
BahusyamI am one, I shall become
many. Therefore the inherent variety
in living beings, animals and plants is
called Biodiversity. Each of the living
beings derives its strength, sustenance
and enthusiasm for life from the variety
that surrounds it.
A.Duval: We are practising it in every
sowing season. In Khariff (rain fed)
crops, we do not sow or plant single
species as we do in Rabi (irrigated winter)

crops. To face the uncertainties of the
monsoons, we mix up the Navadanyas
and sow them. Even if the monsoon fails,
one or other of the drought-resistant
crops will survive. And we will harvest
something. Whereas in well-irrigated
Rabi we can afford to sow wheat/chana
which are what you call monocultures.
Even then, we try to sow together some
friendly varieties, like pea or barley.
K.Phidal: True. In rain fed season we
cannot and we need not use pesticides
or rich fertilizers. The crops protect each
other. Even if diseases attack in one
corner of the field, my cow-peas in other
corner will protect the corns there from
diseases.
J.Noval: These protecting crops are
c a l l e d b u f f e r s . I n t e r- c ro p p i n g o f
d i f f e re n t s p e c i e s , m i x e d f o re s t s o f
various trees, bushes and creeper and
grasses, forest wild animals where deers
eat the grass and the tiger eats the deer,
are examples of Biodiversity in action in
Nature.
K.Phidal: I should know. When I sow
mixed crops, they serve each other. My
maize needs less urea when I sow maize
and moong together.
137

J.Duval: Yes. Moong (green gram) is a
Nitrogen fixer. Starchy crops use up
Nitrogen. It is always wise to sow them
together, rather than going for single
crops.
A.Duval: Do you remember our
neighbour Parvatis husband planted
rubber on his entire farm and disease
wiped out the plantation? He came a
cropper with losses.
J . N o v a l: Tr ue. Nature thinks in the
language of Diversity. In the domain of
plants and animals, food chains, are
formed by Diversity, both on land as well
as in water. For example, plankton is
eaten by Krill, Krill by small fish, fish by
Predator fish, fish by seal and seal by
man. If you disturb the food chain at one
place or at one link, the whole chain is
upset. The damage is much larger
than snapping of a single link.
individuals of living beings which

justifies the variety.
J.Noval: This relation exists across
species also. For example pollinators
like butterflies, flies, wasps and bees
give you a bumper crops by helping the
plants in fruiting.
A.Duval: It appears that God has made
them and meant them to live together.
Perhaps saints understood this better
than our scientists. They said Truth
survives, in varieties.
J.Noval: Yes. There are scholars who
say, Indias Biodiversity reinforces its
Theodiversity. Hindus can believe in a
number of Devas and yet philosophize
t h a t B r a h m a n i s o n e . We a re v e r y
tolerant towards variety and yet know
that Truth is one.
K.Phidal: Yes, Yes. In Andhra,

when they caught the frogs and
sold them for pickle making in
America, the
mosquitoes
multiplied. The entire income from
America went for mosquito
repellant medicines!
A.Duval: Dont you remember!
When a snake-charmer caught
many snakes from our farm, rats
multiplied and played havoc with
our harvest?
K.Phidal: Yes. There appears to be an
unseen relationship between the
138
K.Phidal: Yes Yes. Sometimes we are too

tolerant! When I went to Kolkata for a
Green Foot-prints
farmers conference, I saw a most modern
underground railway survive along with
archaic hand-pulled rickshaws. We do
not know how to throw away things.
J.Noval: This capacity to conserve, the

ability to tolerate, the practical sense to
handle variety has invested us with a
great culture of adjustment, flexibility
and compatibility.
K.Phidal: What are you intellectuals,
doing to preserve this natures love for
and expression of variety? Everywhere
y o u r m o n o c u l t u re a p p e a r s t o b e
destroying variety. The variety of rice
seeds I used to get is shrinking!
J.Noval: There have been international
conventions and treaties to preserve
variety. Scientific studies are being
made to help us to understand, how the
Biological variety serves man in crop
production, development of new food
varieties, disease-resistance, evolution of
new varieties and enhancing the quality
Section-3
of human life by promoting a culture of
understanding,
tolerance
and,
acceptance and respect, valuing and
application. International funds are
created to preserve variety and conserve
the endangered species. Both in place
(insitu) conservation as well as
isolated,
secured
(exsitu)
conservation
a re
practised.
P re s e r v e s ,
re s e r v e s ,
parks,
s a n c t u a r i e s , g a rd e n s , z o o s a n d
conservatories are established to
save declining individuals, groups,
and environments and Biomes! At
the same time warning bells are also
sounded about loss of variety.
A.Duval: You scientists are a funny
lot. You destroy natures variety and
promote monoculture to gain a rupee as
immediate profit. And you spend a crore
of rupees to reinstate and pre-serve the
declining variety.
K.Phidal: True, when the Britishers
ruled India, the Sahibs would shoot
tigers and get themselves photographed
with the carcasses. Now to preserve the
Kalakkadu Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve,
t o p re s e r v e e a c h t i g e r t h e re , s o m e
international body is spending one and
a half crores of rupees, annually.
J.Noval: That sums up the penal costs
mankind has to pay if it fails to preserve
Biodiversity.
139
Are we in the Middle of another

Mass Extinction?
f all the species that ever lived

on Earth 99.9% are now extinct.
Often it seems their demise was
hastened by major changes to the planet.
The causes and effects of these changes
i n c l u d e d n u m e r o u s a s t e ro i d a l a n d
cometary impacts producing huge dust
clouds, climate extremes from a hot
house planet to ice age and back again,
major changes in sea-level and
prolonged periods of volcanism caused
by roving tectonic plates. But the further
back in time we go the shakier is our
knowledge and lesser the data.
reptiles, that had ruled life on land

for 80 million years. Dinosaurs soon
stepped into their shoes.
4. End-Triassic event took place 205
million years ago because of which
76% species, predominantly marine
were lost.
5. End-Cretaceous event took place 65
million years ago, extinguishing 75-
The Big Five Mass extinctions:

1. End-Ordovician event of 440 million
years ago, was second most severe
extinction so far discovered. About
85% of the species were wiped out.
2. Late Devonian event: took place 365
million years ago. It took place in two
waves of a million years apart. In
t h i s , t h e t h i r d l a rg e s t m a s s
extinction, the marine species were
especially hard-lit.
3. The End-Permian event, the largest,
took place 251 million years ago, 96%
of the species being wiped out. It
dealt a fatal blow to mammals like
140
80% of all species. This signaled the

end of 140 m. old reign of dinosaurs
The desert in northern China is growing; The Sahara African desert is growing. The Thar desert in
India is growing; the problem is that there is a Ministry of Forestry but not a ministry of GRASS!
Green Foot-prints
on the earth. In the seas the
ammonites disappeared.
Section-3
They match the extinction rates of
All the mass extinctions were the result

o f a t a n g l e d w e b o f e n v i ro n m e n t a l
changes. Among the changes, global
climate change-usually global coolingmay have been the most consistently
damaging factor. But just as important
was the dramatic direct loss of habitats
as inland seas dry up and coastlines
shrink or are flooded. For example
extensive woodland became open
savanna.
Each mass extinction was a gradually
l o n g - d r a w n a f f a i r t r i g g e re d b y 1 .
Meteorites and comets colliding with the
e a r t h , 2 . d i f f e re n t c o m b i n a t i o n s o f
environmental perturbations, 3. changes
in sea-level and global climate 4. Erosion
on the land, 5. Wobbles in the earths
axis, 6. Shifting tectonic plates, 7.
Marked global cooling 8. Condinental
drift and 9. Fall of oxygen levels etc.
O f c o u r s e t h e E a rt h s f o s s i l re c o rd
shows that no species lasts for ever-the
average life-span is between one and ten
million years. Of all the species that have
ever lived 99.9% are extinct now.
So extinction is certainly a natural
phenomenon. But our activities have
accelerated the rate of species extinction
to hundreds perhaps thousands of times
the normal background rate. Extinctions
on their order of magnitude qualify as
Mass extinctions scientists fear.
catastrophe at the end of the Cretaceous.

Homosapiens is the current version of
late Cretaceous comets, comments a
s c i e n t i s t . We a re p re d i c t i n g t h e
extinction of about two thirds of all bird
mammal, butterfly and plant species by
the end of the next century says the
President of the International Botanical
Congress.
Not all damage we are causing is yet
apparent. Species become especially
vulnerable to extinction when the
fragmentation of natural habitats by
agriculture and development leaves
them in small isolated populations. Such
populations may look healthy but they
are really among the living dead says an
ecologist. Sooner or later some
o c c a s i o n a l d i s a s t e r l i k e a f i re . O u r
epidemic or a temporary famine
destroys each population one by one.
141

If another mass extinction-this time of
our own making-is indeed underway,
will humanity be one of the lucky
survivors. The fact that No mass
extinction has achieved 100 percent
species extinction, despite same
extraordinar y near misses-so far is
surely of little comfort.
All the same through our impact on the

ecosystems is now-frighteningly remains
cent of the cretaceous comet a scientist
issues a solemn warning:- We face a
crisis-one of our own making-and if we
face a crises-one of our own making and
if we fail to negotiate it with vision, we
will lay a curse of unimaginable
magnitude on future generations.
Compiled from New Scientist
A Global Green Effort

Dr. Mark Richardson has served for six
years as the creator of a Desert Park in
Central Australia. That experience equips
him to conserve Botanical treasures in the
most difficult and drought hit areas. At
present he is the Director of Asia and
Middle East programmes of the UK Based
Botanic
Gardens
Conservation
International. He feels that there is an
awareness all over the world, for
conserving Nature and its wealth. Many
have realised that the survival of mankind
depends upon them.
Conservation with area specific
programme, knowledge and wherewithal
are his special fields. His aim is to make
the world fit with pure air and clean water.
142
For this, he wishes to create a network

of Botanical gardens exchanging
information on research to improve
agriculture. The benefits? The
endangered plants will be protected,
local communities will prosper and
there will be sustainable development.
A gene bank will be developed.
Creating infrastructures and model
demonstration are his methods. He is
satisfied with the GOIs role and money
allotment for this purpose. Indias high
resources and intellectual strength are
its other assets. Present education
system neglects Botany he rues. The
scientists working in allied fields may
find it difficult to recognise plants. The
lab-land gap is also a problem.
Because of habitat loss every year 27,000 species are lost all over the world.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
A country like India must have a

land use plan
George B.Schaller, a pioneer in field biology, says it is possible to achieve economic growth
without destroying the environment and losing wildlife. In an interview in Bangalore,
September 2006, he said even India and China, the two most populous nations, can save their
forests and biodiversity. Excerpts:
G.Ananthakrishnan
ith his meticulous research

four decades ago and the
resulting scientific treatise
on Indias wild life titled The Deer and
the Tiger (Chicago University Press),
D r. G e o r g e B . S c h a l l e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y
influenced
I n d i a s
first
major
conservation policies. As Vice-president
o f t h e N e w Yo r k - b a s e d Wi l d - l i f e
Conservation Society he now steers its
international
conservation
programmes covering wild species that
range from rare sheep in the Pamir
mountains to tigers in tropical forests
and cheetahs in the Iranian desert.
the knowledge. Now you have a really

solid background to know what must be
done and what should be the government
policy and how local people are to be
i n v o l v e d . Yo u s t a r t s c i e n c e w i t h
questions and other people continue. It
is satisfying to see many good biologists.
The Wildlife Conservation Society has
been funding projects here for years. We
have two projects in Ladakh and one in
1. What is Indias conservation record

since your path-breaking work?
I took a very small first step, and
described what I actually saw in the
forest. Since then the best biologists like
Ullas Karanth have put tiger studies on
a firm basis. How to take a census them,
how to monitor themRaghu Chundawat
and a whole lot of others are adding to
Arunachal. WCS has set up a very good

sanctuary for tigers in South India.
143

While tigers are in trouble in other
places, in Bandipur and Mudumalai they
are well protected.
4. Talking about development, many

view this as an economic versus
environment question
2. Is there hope that we can save much

of what is left of natural spaces, given
the pressure for economic growth?
That is a far too simplistic way to look

at. What you need to measure is the
services that the natural environment
provides. Cleaning the air, cleaning the
w a t e r, t h e g e n e t i c b a c k g ro u n d t o
rehabilitate areasyou can in a rough
way actually measure it. Indirectly the
forest provides billions of rupees free,
that would cost you otherwise.
You can have development but it has to

be planned properly. Politicians dont
think of the future and there is very little
long term planning. India, must have a
land use plan. Certain areas should be
designated as part of the natural heritage.
Consumption is increasing faster than
population. You cannot afford that. You
need leaders. Indira Gandhi did a
tremendous service by raising awareness
on environment and wildlife.
3. China and India experience severe
pressure on the environment. We have
lost a lot.
5. What are you currently pursuing in

field biology?
I work on Marco Polo sheep in the
Pamirs.
6. You have suggested the creation of a
wildlife sanctuary there.
But you still have a quite a bit of forest.

You have tigers and leopards. But the
problem has been in the last few years,
the Government has been quite lax.
Meanwhile, how thousands of leopards
have been killed just to send skins to
Tibet. There is a need for better
monitoring.
The Chinese Government has been
extremely supportive. When I started
work there in 1980 there were about a
dozen reserves, now they have about
2,000.
Congo people require meat, so they eat Gorillas
144
Biodiversity loss is inflicted in Asian countries by a) Forest fragmentation b) Habitat loss c) Physical
alteration d) Pollution e) Introduction of exotic species that bring slow death to native species.
Green Foot-prints
Ye s . T h e re g i o n i n c l u d e s P a k i s t a n ,
Afghanistan, China and Tajikistan. I
have been working in all those countries
taking census. I find that Marco Polo
sheep cross international borders freely.
Trophy hunters like to shoot it and
everybody knows about it. Therefore, I
am trying to get the four countries
together to make a land use plan for that
part of the Pamirs, where they can
thrive.
In China I am doing something similar
in the Tibetan plateau. Chiru, the Tibetan
antelope has the finest wool and India
is involved in the trade (Shahtoosh
business). Many NGOs have been
working very hard to protect it, but the
wool still comes from Tibet. China has
tried to control poaching with little
success.
Section-3
the WCS in some areas. In Laos, the
tigers are gone in most places, but there
are patches where they can be increased.
Nepal has been doing all right, except for
poaching. Sumatra still has a few large
reserves.
8. What would you say to someone who
said extinction is nothing new and that
it happened in the past?
The statement is perfectly true. But the
problem is it has been calculated that
extinction rates are a 100 to 1,000 times
greater than they were in the past. In
other words it is so fast that things dont
7. What is the state of tiger?

The only country where the tiger
population has increased recently is
Russia. The Wildlife Conservation
Society and others had an intensive
programme there. They tried to increase
the number by reducing poaching. That
looks hopeful. Whereas at the next door,
in China, it is in absolutely dismal
condition. The Siberian tiger from
Northeastern Russia is an occasional
visitor. We dont know of any breeding
popuation in China. But countries like
Cambodia, Thailand, Mayanmar, can
increase with the population with
protective measures. Ullas Karanth has
set up the Tigers Forever programme of
have much time to adapt. We are dealing

with tens of thousands of species. Most
of the insects, the soil nematodes and so
onwhat is their function? How many
of those species can you lose before the
whole thing collapses? When you dont
understand something, the best thing to
do is to save all the pieces so that you
have an option in the future.
145

9. Edward Wilson (the naturalist) said that
the earths sustainable capacity was
exceeded by population demands in
1978
That certainly sounds reasonable
considering the consumption. The
population curve may well level off in the
middle of this century but the
people. They eat gorillas and elephants.

See how the little phone takes its toll.
Similarly the demand for tea results in
rainforests getting converted into tea
gardens.
10. What is your experience with
conservation in the U.Sthe Alaska
National Wildlife Refuge?
I was on a Biological Survey in 1956 there.
In 1960, the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge was established, as a result of the
survey. It is an area of about 20 million
acres. It is the finest wilderness area with
huge herds of caribou migrating
undisturbed by moving vehicles as there
are no roads. Except this area, all other
parts of Alaska has been leased out for
oil exploration. If this area (4%) is also
allowed for the purpose, then it will be
a great ecological vandalism.
consumption curve will keep going up

because you have well over two billion
people in India and China put together
will want more.
Look at the cell
phone.
The
phone has a little
mineral in it
called coltan. It
is a capacitor
that intensifies
the
energy
Rainforest makes
way for tea
enabling that
little machine to
send signals. Coltan is mainly mined in
the eastern Congo, by thousands of
146
11. You have a project in Iran. Are any

cheetahs still there?
That is what we (the WCS) are working
on. I went to Iran several years ago and
asked them what they wanted done. They
said they would like to have help with
the cheetahs. We dont know how many
there are, may be 50 or 60.
Genetically, the African and Indian
cheetahs are close. India wanted to clone
African ones but Iran wisely, did not
agree to the proposal. African cheetahs
can be bred in captivity. Besides, there
are not enough black buck and gazelles
to support a large number of cheetahs.
The Madurai Kamaraj University has established a centre for conserving endemic species of
W.Ghats and Tamil Nadu, and for studying microorganisms to understand their role in litter
decomposition, nutrient recycling and functioning of eco systems.
Green Foot-prints
A Case For Biodiversity

Conservation
Section-3
Peter Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

1) C u l t u r a l d i v e r s i t y i n I n d i a i s
interlocked with its biological
diversity and plants form the
backbone of that biological diversity.
There are more than 17,000 kinds of
medicinal plants and preservation of
all plants in situ or ex-situ has
become imperative.
2) B i o l o g y h a s t h e c o n c e p t o f c o e v o l u t i o n , w h e re t w o i n t e rdependent species evolve concert, as
a response to their ecological
interactions. Life depends on the
ecological interactions of various
kinds of species and we cannot
assume that development is free and
we can do anything to our
environment.
existence
and
sustainable
development. The earth is a closed
system and the only thing that comes
from outside is sunlight.
6) We often talk of throwing things
away, but things cannot be really
thrown away.
7) Four conditions are necessary for
supporting life on earth (i) Nothing
made by human being can be made
to accumulate indefinitely in the
3) Many religions in India would say it

would be National Sin to let such
natural capital disappear.
4) All human welfare goes on within the
e n v i ro n m e n t . W h a t e v e r w e d o
c re a t i v e l y c a n o c c u r o n l y i n t h e
context of the environment. We know
the earth is one planet and is limited,
but we are acting as if it is unlimited.
5) The goods provided to us by nature
is free and is the basis for human
biosphere (ii) Nothing can be dug

from the biosphere and allowed to
147

accumulate indefinitely (iii) Taking
care of the photosynthetic materials
and (iv) Equity and social
development.
8) We depend entirely on the properties
of those living systems individually
and collectively for our continued
future existence.
9) Organisms individually penetrate all
of the food we consume, much of the
shelter we enjoy, most of the clothing

and most of the medicines
synthesised.
10) People are living in intimate contact
with biodiversity all over the globe.
Though traditional interest in
biodiversity is waning in different
parts of the world including Indian
universities, it needs to be globally
fostered.
THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROBLEM

The following table drawn up by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre projects
the threat to the worlds flora and fauna with a matter-of-fact dreadfulness:
Species
Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fishes
Plants
148
Endangered
Vulnerable
Total
177
188
47
32
158
3,632
199
241
88
32
226
5,687
376
429
135
64
384
9,319
The Inter Nation Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has on its Red List
12,000 species of plants and animals threatened with extinction on the planet.
Green Foot-prints
Saving the web of life
Section-3
R.Rajamani
1. Introduction
Loss of biodiversity can damage the
environment and affect life on earth. But
this process is so slow and unseen that it
is often not recognized. People ask why
all this fuss about endangered species
when so many species have become
extinct without affecting humans and why
biodiversity is important to human beings,
this article gives an answer to these
questions.
2. Biodiversity-an overview
When the poet sang sasya symalam
maatharam he was instinctively singing
the praise of the biodiversity of the
country. Biological diversity or

biodiversity is a subject much discussed
in recent years. Thanks to the work of
scientists like Darwin and N.I.Vavilov, we
know that the richness in variety and
variability at different levels of living
things or organisms contribute to
biodiversity. Loss of diversity over large
regions (like deserts or wetlands or
Biosphere Reserves like the Nilgiris) or
community ecosystems (like Valley of
Flowers, Silent valley) or population
species (like the lions or Gir.tigers or
elephants) or genetic organisms which are
somewhat more pervasive can damage the
life on earth and its environment
irretrievably. But the process of such
damage can be so unseen or slow as to go
unrecognized by lay people.
Biological diversity of the species or
genetic organisms can also be
interpreted differently by different
groupsagricultural scientists may
globally important crops while other
biological scientists or ecologists may
study trees, plants and animals in the wild
and pharmaceutical scientists may
concentrate on medicinal plants.
sasya symalam maatharam

stands for Bio-diversity
If biodiversity can take so many forms

and mean different things to different
people, how does one give a simple
149

explanation of what it is and why
conserving it is important?
This was the question before a group
of experts who were trying to
formulate a simple definition of
biodiversity. Their problem was solved
by Indira Gandhi, then the Chairperson
of Indian Board of Wildlife. She
suggested that biodiversity was the
web of life. This simple phrase
encompasses the variegated forms of
life which are bound together as in a
web, sometimes tenuously but always
interdependent. The phrase also
emphasised the variegated forms of
life.
3. The Indian way of looking at biodiversity
useful. Perhaps he meant useful in a

generic sense but we are comforted by its
specific sense of use for us as human

beings. We do reluctantly concede the
value of biodiversity feeding domestic
animals too for that too serves our
purpose ultimately.
But science has not yet shed enough light

to assert that the web of life is such that Thus, we have to value biodiversity for our
one part cannot exist for long without the own sake if not for its own or because it is
other. It is prudent not to dismiss this beautiful or because animals and other
outright not only on a precautionary living things too have their own rights.
principle but also because our beliefs in Neither can we trample on the feelings of
India are not very different. There is great those who value other life as much as our
reverence and affection for all living things own and draw sustenance for this belief
in our society a web not of our making from major religious tenets fashioned over
but a part of our psyche nevertheless. As ages. Three of these streams Hinduism,
human beings we tend to look primarily Buddhism and Jainism originated in India
at our own welfare and will bother and all other faiths lay much store by the
(barring exceptions) about other life or its value of the Earth which is a Noahs Ark,
existence only if it seems to serve our tolerant and caring of all species.
purpose. In this science and our ancient
wisdom have come up trumps. The vital 4. The Value of Biodiversity
connection between crops of our daily
consumption and their wild relatives have The value of biodiversity can ;also be seen
been established. As an ancient sage said in the knowledge shared by generations
and he was looking at medicinal plants of women on edible and medicinal plants.
there is nothing in nature that is not A large number of tribal communities are
150 Biodiversity reduces global warming and thus controls climate change.
Green Foot-prints
wise to the ways, not only of the plant
kingdom, but also of animals. It was not
only protein and fats that they valued but
in many cases their medicinal properties
too. We have areas like sacred groves
which village communities have protected
for ages for various reasons and which are
valuable repositories of biodiversity.
The argument comes a full circle when we
talk of conservation of biodiversity not
only because of aesthetics or the need to
allow evolution and adaptation of species
but because it makes sense for our present
and future well being. Our food, fats,
fertilizers and a whole host of products of
daily use are so dependent on continuance
of biodiversity that the need for its
conservation has become more than
apparent.
Section-3
material from trees, plants and animals
has also goaded efforts to practice
selection of plus trees, vegetative
propagation and hybridization, etc., in exsitu conditions.
In all these developments, biodiversity and
conservation are taking center stage.
There is debate on how much biodiversity
can be conserved with human intervention
or without it, and how it can thrive in spite
of human beings. The spectrum of opinion
at one end favours protection of at least
the hot spots of diversity from human
interference while at the other end there
are views that biodiversity is best
protected
with
planned
human
Biodiversity Protection is not only
protection of hot spots but _ _
5. Conservation Strategies
Thus there is much talk of promoting
in-situ and ex-situ conservation. In-situ
conservation protects the species
where they occur in nature. In this, the
genetic pool is widespread and
intermingles with all other species,
whether fauna or flora. In ex-situ
conservation,
endangered
or
threatened species or germplasm is
taken care of in artificially created or
simulated conditions like those in
zoological or botanical gardens. The
growth of biotechnology has given a fillip
to the increase in gene banks where germ
plasm is preserved under artificial
conditions. The need to increase
productivity of biomass to meet increasing
human needs based on natural raw
intervention especially of traditional

communities. The difference of opinion is
sharp where biodiversity is found in areas
like village commons, pastures and forest
lands as there are clear indications of
commercial pressures slowly replacing
traditional virtues of sustainable
151

husbandry and management. But this is a
debate, which we should look at in the
context of other contemporary subjects
like joint forest management or ecodevelopment.
6. India; A Treasurehouse of Biodiversity
The features of biodiversity in a tropical
country like ours, are its abundance (even
more than 80 years old, has listed 81000

fauna and the work is nowhere near
completion. The whole invertebrate
kingdom (which includes insects, pests
etc.) is now being studied. India has 372
species of mammals, 1230 species of birds
and 399 species of reptiles. Of 15000
flowering plants, about 5000 are endemic
to India. The two major hot spots of
biodiversity of the world are in the
Western Ghats and North Eastern
Himalayas.
7. International convention of Biodiversity
and its after-effects
after a lot of ravage by monoculture,

cropping
and
overrunning
for
industrialization or urbanization) and
distribution. Indias biodiversity is
distributed over a wide variety of
ecosystems, deserts, flood plains, forests,
mountains, wetlands, plateaus, coastal
areas, mangroves, islands and coral reefs,
to
name
some.
We
have
10
biogeographical zones according to one
classification. The Botanical Survey of
India, which is over 130 years old, has
listed 45000 species of flora so far the work
continues. The Zoological Survey of India,
152
India, too, is a country where the

sustainable use of biodiversity has been
understood (perhaps not always in the
idiom of modern science) and practiced
for centuries. This is one of the reasons
why India joined countries like Malaysia.
Indonesia, Brazil (which are equally if not
better endowed) to insist in the
discussions leading to the International
Convention on Biological Diversity that
nation States have sovereign rights over
their own biological resources. This has
now been acknowledged in the preamble
to the Convention.
The Convention recognizes many other
things like (a) reduction of biological
diversity by certain human activities, (b)
the need for in-situ and ex-situ
conservation, (c) the role of local
communities and women and need for
equitable benefits to and participation by
them in conservation activities, (d) need
for regional and global cooperation, (e) the
Tamil Nadu has 2 million hectares of cultivable wastelands. Of this only 50,000 hectares are
common government lands.
Green Foot-prints
special problems of developing countries
for whom economic and social
development and poverty eradication are
main priorities, (f) the need for new and
access to technologies, (g) the sharing of
experience in research and conservation,
and (h) the importance of access to and
sharing of both genetic resources and
technologies.
The key element in the Convention is
balancing the access to and transfer of
technology of genetic resources. Its call for
conservation and sustainable use and
helping development bolsters this
balancing. But the Convention will work
only if the contracting parties abide by it.
The developing countries will gain
confidence if they see moves for
generating new and additional financial
sources or stable arrangements for
transfer of technology without bringing in
specious arguments based on intellectual
property rights or for supplementing their
own efforts for conservation or for
compensating their farmers and
communities with wisdom on species to
be protected. In their turn, developed
countries will expect moves by developing
countries to conserve, understand and
develop their skills. If the moves do not
match the world will suffer.
Section-3
we have, survey our resources and protect
them. In this effort, our Indian industries
(like pharmaceuticals, agro-processing)
will have to play a constructive role,
strengthening their research and
development and evolving mechanisms to
compensate village communities and
women for their role in conservation and
husbanding of knowledge. This could even
be a model for regional and global
cooperation.
9. Conclusion
Productive and sustainable agriculture
and forestry (especially on private lands)
is an effective tool for conservation of our
wilderness and vulnerable eco-systems.
Generation of more incomes and
8. The North-South gap

But countries like ours should not despair
if no clear moves are made by the
developed countries. We can go ahead
with our own resources to conserve what
153

employment in the process of production
and conservation is a sure method of
ensuring people themselves conserve our
biodiversity.
Issues of environment arising from use of
improved crop varieties which result in
local (and wild) species disappearing must
be addressed at once.
The problem of indiscriminate use of
fertilizers and pesticides based on broad
spectrum killers affecting all microorganisms especially those which are vital
for long term health and productivity of
our crops must be tackled.
Strengthening our educational system and
scientific structures dealing with
biological and chemical sciences will
ensure a steady stream of skilled personnel
to identify, map and advice on sustainable
154
use of our biodiversity. Our structures in

agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry,
fisheries all dealing with biodiversity in
different forms should be aligned
Industrial and other projects can be
located in places where there will be least
or no damage to biodiversity.
We have made a strong beginning and we
have talent and the vision both in the
traditional and modern sector. We have
the people, both in cities and villages, who
can look beyond the present and realize
present consumption rates can be
sustained only if support is extended to
conservation in association with local
communities. We have to simply combine
the process of greening the mind and
minding (or conserving) the green and
biodiverse in India.
(The Author was the Secretary, Ministry
of Environment and Forests, Government
of India)
Nilgiris - Eastern Ghats rserve contains the largest single population of elephants in Asia (a
minimum population of 6300 elephants).
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
Digested database on countrys

bio-resource
hat is sanjeevani? Where are

kurunji flowers found? How
does a Great Indian Bustard
bird look like? Which are the animals used
in cancer studies?
Answers to these and a million other
questions on animal, bird, and plant or for
that matter marine and microbial
resources of the country are now just a
mouse click away. All you need is a
windows-based PC and access to a set of
nine CDs produced by the Department of
Biotechnology under the Union Ministry
of Science and Technology.
Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal, said

it was designed to be of use to a wide
range of users, from students, teachers
and the general public, to ecologists,
conservation-biologists, foresters, policy
makers and patent offices.
Web-based portal
Mr.Sibal also launched a web-based portal
called Indian Bioresource Information
Network, which sees to network the
otherwise independent databases and
Called Jeeva Sampada, the first-ever

digitized inventory of Indias vast bioresource provides data on 39,000 species
and offers images, distribution maps and
an interactive data retrieval system.
If offers information in 10 modules on
taxonomy distribution, uses, chemical
composition, economic potential and
other literature on 2,700 medicinal and
economically important plants, 9,000
species of animals, 17,000 microbes and
7,000 marine organisms.
Releasing the database, claimed to be the
largest on bio-resource at about seven GB
(gigabytes), the Union Minister for
information on the countrys biodiversity

as one window system for the benefit of
research
scientists,
bio-resource
managers, policy makers, entrepreneurs
and the common man.
155

The portal is in the form of a distributed
database infrastructure and provide
access to both spatial and non-spatial
databases available with various scientific
agencies in the country. The University of
Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, will host
the non-spatial node for the network and
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing,
Dehradun, its spatial node. The web
address of the network is: www.ibin.co.in
which had covered 44 per cent of the

countrys forest cover.
Biodiversity maps
The Union Minister also released an atlas
of maps of the biodiversity of East Coast,
Eastern Ghats and Central India prepared
using the geospatial data generated under
a joint project of the Department of
Biotechnology and the Department of
Space using the techniques of satellite
remote sensing and the geographical
information system. The maps provide
location-specific information for more
than 5,000 plant species, including their
current status.
The maps are expected to be of value in
the context of identifying areas of high
priority of bio-prospecting and
conservation.
The databases, which cover 42 per cent of
the total forest cover of the country, have
been integrated into a web-enabled
biodiversity information and use of the
data. The DBT and DOS had already
brought out similar maps in 2002 for
eastern and western Himalayas, Western
Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
156
Releasing the three products at the

inaugural session of the fourth meeting of
the National Bioresource Development
Board, Mr.Sibal urged the members of the
Board to come out with a proposal to make
it an autonomous institution, considering
the need to tap the rich bio-resource more
effectively.
Separate identity
The Board needs to have a separate
identity. It needs to be provided with not
only more funds to step up its activities
but also a specific budgetary allocation for
the next five years so that it could draw
up a road map for better utilisation of the
countrys bio-resources. This was the right
time as the Eleventh Five Year Plan is
being finalized.
(The Hindu 13/7/2003)
The population of ice-dependent penguin species in the Western Antarctic Peninsula has
decreased by 20% over the last 25 years
Green Foot-prints
Take a lesson from nature
Section-3
Lucy Siegle
other Nature has 3.8 billion

years
experience
of
conservation; an ideal source of
inspiration.
mining. Unfortunately, it is precisely this

kind of unique behaviour that tends to get
us into one fine mess after another, as
catalogued by the recently released
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
(www.millenniumassessment.org).
An audit of the worlds ecosystem
services, it has taken 1,300 researchers
from 95 nations, four years to complete,
and to summarisewhich is useful given
that it runs to 2,500 pages it reveals that
60 per cent of the worlds ecosystem
services are being used unsustainably and
/ or being degraded. Failing to curb our
Individual Angst is all very well, but as a

collective we human beings rate ourselves
pretty highly. We know we are unique,
fabulous and important because we tell
ourselves so all the time. And, although
the epithet terminal uniqueness was
coined in reference to alcoholism, it could
also apply quite generally.
And we do, of course, possess some
interesting distinguishing features. For
example, we are the only species that
extracts resources from the ground via
enthusiasm for just about all of the earths

resources, including fresh water, fish
stocks and virgin forest, means that
157

between 10 and 30 per cent of the worlds
species face extinction. The human ego, it
seems, is inversely proportional to levels
of biodiversity.
Not surprisingly then, the latest solutions
to environmental mayhem seek to take
humans down a peg or two. Take, for
example,
interesting
biomimicry
(www.biomimicry.org), an emerging
science that gives nature credit for having

3.8 billion years of experience in matters
such as recycling and conservation, and
suggests that we should not only talk to
158
the animals, in the manner of Dr. Dolittle,

but actually learn from them. So to curb
climate-changing emissions caused by
heating and cooling buildings, we should
study the way termites regulate their
mounds using a complex web of tunnels.
It works with plants, too. If you want to
build a better solar cell, for example,
follow the structure of a leaf. Eventually,
it is argued, this humble approach will lead
us to design out waste and
toxicity.
Proponents
of
conservation or ecological
medicine sing from a
similar hymn sheet.
Saving exotic animals or
the rain-forest is not just
about encouraging people
to adopt an elephant or
sponsor a patch of jungle,
but to understand that
their own survival relies
on biodiversity, too.
(Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2005).
India, one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world, housed an estimated 47,000 plant
species (12 per cent of the world flora) and 90,000 animal species.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
The National Environment Policy

N.R.Krishnan
1. The directive principle of state policy

on environment has been articulated
in Article 48A of the constitution
introduced by the 42 nd Amendment in
1977. It says: The state shall endeavour
to protect and improve the
environment and to safeguard the
forests and wildlife of the country.
Likewise Article 51 (A) (I) has laid
down protection environment as one
of the fundamental duties of every
citizen.
2. The draft National Environment Policy
(NEP) was released in August 2004 by
the Ministry of Environment and
Forests. The NEP emphasis the often
overlooked truth that what is good for
the environment is also good the
economy and that the environmental
protection cannot be considered in
isolation from the development
process. A fair trade-off between
environmental costs, as far as they can
be ascertained and monetised, and
economic development imperatives is
possible and desirable. The NEP is
quick to qualifies that where money
cannot compensate for loss of an
environmental good, cost benefit
analyses and trade offs are better
avoided.
3. The NEP draft records priority to

conservation of life supporting
systems such as land, forests and
water. The causes of land-degradation
in India are many, ranging from the
direct (water and wind erosion, loss of
forest cover and water logging) to the
indirect (fragmentation of landholdings, inadequate tenure rights,
wasteful subsidies on agro-inputs such
as water and power).
4. The NEPs prescription of adoption of
science based and traditional land use
159

practices developed through R & D is
too vague and general.
5. Further land-degradation is often the
result
of
unsustainable
and
incompatible land use engineered by
the market. The progressive
deterioration of tracts once under
cultivation, into pastures and barren
lands is a common feature in India.
Suicides and migration by farmers
exemplify these facts.
6. Forest and wildlife conservation has
been the forte of MOEF (the ministry).
The NEP breaks new ground in
pleading for legal recognition of the
traditional rights of forest dwelling
tribes to remedy a serious historical
injustice. This however
calls for a major overhaul
of Indian foresters
prevailing mind set that
looks upon forests as
garrisons to be protected
against marauders and of
the legal dispensation
that extinguishes all
traditional rights in
protected areas. With
4.5% of the countrys land
area already under some
form of protection or the
other, unrest among the
populations traditionally dependent on
the forests for sustenance is growing.
Despite this situation, the NEP
advocates that more areas be brought
under the protected area network. A
better solution as the NEP
160
acknowledges is to encourage
participatory
management
of
protected areas on the lines of the joint
management programme already in
existence.
7. Forest policy has all along been outside
the land use policy. There was a centrestate friction generated by the Forest
(conservation) act 1980 and the forest
policy (1988). Those legislations should
be revised.
8. Biodiversity conservation has received
adequate attention in the NEP. An
important object of the Biodiversity act
2002 is to check piracy of Biomaterial
and Traditional Knowledge (TK) and to
enfore intellectual property rights (IPR)
NEP Stands for Forest Conservation

and Bio-diversity
over them. Therefore the central and

state committees should have
representatives of authorities and
experts for proper implementation.
Revenue Departments, the Council and
of Scientific and Industrial Research,
India has 597 Protected Areas comprising 95 National Parks, 500 Wildlife Sanctuaries 2
conservation reserves covering 1.56 million ha area or 4.75 per cent geographical area of the
country.
Green Foot-prints
Department
of
Science
and
Technology, and the Department of
Biotechnology should have a say in the
formulation and in representation of
Biodiversity policies and building up
their regulatory institutions.
9. On the Fresh-water resources, the NEP
expresses its alarm over the wasteful
and inefficient use of surface as well
as groundwater and suggests
conservation measures. A levy of
proper user-charges, and a review of
agricultural subsidy for water use are
suggested. The existing National
Water Policy document has not been
referred to.
10. The NEP dwells on a) air quality b)
mountain eco systems c) wetland
conservation
d)
creation
of
environmental awareness among the
masses,
and
e)
spreading
environmental education. Notable
omissions are a) energy constraints, b)
Hydrocarbons c) dependence on fossil
fuel beyond 2020, d) global warming.
Section-3
11. The Urbanization problem and the
problems of environment emerging
out of its large and growing population
are also considered by the NEP. The
assimilative
capacity
of
the
environment for water is seriously
challenged by the pattern of
population distribution. Urbanisation,
human settlements, spatial planning of
population centres, role or urban local
bodies in environmental management
municipal waste management, are
areas not touched by the NEP.
12. There is a greater role for State
Governments to play (than that
envisaged in the NEP) because most of
the fields are state subjects with only
an advisory role for the central
Governments.
(The author is a former Secretary, Ministry

of Environment and Forest, Government
of India. This article is an abridged version
of his essay.)
161
Preserving Indias Biodiversity

P.J.Sanjeeva Raj
etting Bio-Diversity conservation

priorities for India A Summary of
the findings and conclusions of the
Biodiversity Conservation Prioritization
Project in two volumes by Shekar Singh,
A.R.K.Sastry, Raman Mehta and Vishaish
Uppal for World Wide Fund for natureIndia. (1728. Lodi Estate. New Delhi
110003).
are represented in a nutshell, in India.

Therefore, the task of prioritizing
biodiversities in India is not an easy one,
because there are still several un-explored
riches and it is a very data-deficient
country, with sparse literature widely
scattered, in time and in space. However,
the basic methodology of prioritizing has
been laid down through several
Biodiversity or the richness of genes,

species and ecosystems can be saved in
situ or in their natural habitats, only at the
level of sites and species. India is one of
the mega biodiversity countries in the
world, and as a signatory of the
Convention on Biodiversity, it has to fulfill
its implicit obligations of conserving its
biodiversity. An international workshop
sponsored by the USAID at Washington
has, along with the Biodiversity Support
Programme (BSP), chosen India to explore
this prioritizing exercise as a model as well
as for offering lessons to the other
developing Countries. WWF India was
chosen as the nodal agency for
coordinating this project, for two and a
half years.
The Indian sub-continent is so vast and
diverse topographically, altitudinally,
climatologically and edaphically, that
almost all the major biomes of the world
162
discussions, and experts in various sites

and states have suitably modified it for
their purposes.
One thing to be
Indian forests play vital role in harboring more than 45,000 floral and 81,000 faunal species of
which 5150 floral and 1837 faunal species are endemic.
Green Foot-prints
appreciated however is the participatory
methodology that they have all adopted in
inviting opinions from as many
stakeholders as possible. Biological values
of sites and species are considered as
primary and socio-economic values as
secondary, but supporting the former.
Prioritizing is done mostly based on
secondary
data
like
published
information, supplemented by PRA and
RRA techniques, questionnaires and
discussions with stakeholders like local
people, their NGOs and scientific experts.
Sites are the natural biogeographic homes
for species or communities, and hence will
be the focal points for in situ
conservation. Ten sites in the
Andaman and the Nicobar group of
islands, with a very high percentage
of endemicity, and similarly four from
among the Lakshadweep islands,
with low endemicity but with several
threats facing them are prioritized.
The seas that bathe the Indian coasts,
being continuous with the world
oceans, their in-shore as well as
offshore waters have little endemicity
as well as fewer sites that need
prioritization, excepting for the
sedentary coral reefs, algal and grass
beds. It is strange that wetlands like
coral reefs, mangroves, lagoons, and
estuaries which are such unique and
rich ecosystems of India are not
adequately covered for prioritizing their
specific ecological riches and species, in
the studies. The magras and the orans
of the Thar Desert, offering natural shelter
for rich and rare biodiversity are
Section-3
recommended for protection. Grass lands,
Timberline zone and the Alpine zone of the
Himalayas, with the threats posing these
unique temperature ecosystems in a
tropical country like India, are also
prioritized. Satellite imageries of the forest
cover of some States in India are printed
in colour and discussed for their
biodiversity values. 253 protected areas
(Pas), out of a total of 525 in the country,
are prioritized as those which need greater
attention than non-protected areas. Thirty
sites in Tripura, 16 in Meghalaya and four
in Arunachal Pradesh, all representing the
biodiversity hotspots of India, are
identified for prioritizing.
Species is the basic unit in taxonomy and

biodiversity and it is also the starting point
for conservation. Sites (habitats) interact
constantly and vigorously with species
163

inhabiting them, and determine their
ultimate fate for survival or for extinction.
The section on species prioritization traces
first the history of conservation in India
since the past few years, starting with the
pioneering work of the Bombay Natural
History Society and of the Zoological and
Botanical Surveys of India (ZSI and BSI).
More recently, the IUCNs preparation of
the Red Data Book and the Red Lists for
Endangered species, which have been the
basis for the SITES also are the more
obvious attempts at conservation. The
Wildlife Protection Act of India, with its
Schedules for protected species are legal
supports for conservation. The Wildlife
Institute of India and the Salim Ali Centre
for conservation of Nature (SACON) have
particularly
contributed
to
the
prioritization of birds and mammals.
Now, the WWF-India has undertaken this
formidable task of prioritizing sites as well
as species and the strategies to implement
the
recommended
conservation
programmes. The workshops of the
conservation and management planning
(CAMP), six of them held in different
places in India have greatly helped in
prioritizing
different
data,
for
conservation. Statistical and quantitative
methods for assessing the Composite
Conservation Value (CCV), for each
species are explained. However, more
practically, it is emphasized that successful
conservation is dependent exclusively on
local peoples participation, and as one
author says, Prioritization is a
prerequisite for any conservation effort,
164
but actual conservation, to a great extent,

is impossible, without the active
participation of the public. Other areas
covered for prioritization in these volumes
are endangered plants, trees, medicinal
plants and wild relatives of crop plants.
Under strategies to accomplish
conservation, the authors highlight that
womens potential is undermined despite
the fact that women, with their natural
predilection for sustainable use of scarce
resources, are admirably suited for
conservation of sites and species also.
Biodiversity awareness, education at all
levels of our society, laws, policies and
schemes that support biodiversity
conservation in India are discussed.
Micro strategy examples for biodiversity
conservation in Mexico, Thailand, and
Dehra Dun and in the U.P. hills are given.
Methodologies for economic valuation of
biodiversity and its social relevance are
advised for supplementing the biological
values of sites and species. Special papers
on conservation biology, environmental
ethics with special reference to Indian
culture and heritage, management of
biosphere reserves and sacred sites and
species in India are all included, for a more
holistic approach to conservation.
Like the agenda 21, this BCPP document
will also be a blueprint for future
conservation of biodiversity in India, not
only by the Biodiversity Support
Programme(BSP), but also and much more,
through local peoples commitment to
conservation.
There are as many as 100 million species on Earth, of which only 1.7 million have been identified.
Humans are but one of those species.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
The Biological Diversity Act

and its implications
Madhav Gadgil
1. The GOI brought out in 2002 the
Biological Diversity Act (BDA), a most
significant piece of legislation.
provision for benefit sharing. Nor the

sovereign rights of Nations over their
biodiversity resources are recognised.
2. Because of the developments in

biotechnology and information
technology, all organisms have become
potential resources of economic value.
The fast erosion of Biodiversity is
another factor.
8. The BDA of India, tries to resolve these

two contradictions in Indias favour.
3. These resources are worthy of

conservation
and
scientific
investigation.
9. The BDA is ambitious and aims to

promote the conservation, the
sustainable use, and the equitable
sharing of the benefits of their use. The
Biodiversity Resources that can be used
4. The Nation should secure the rights

over the associated intellectual
property.
5. At the world level, a) The Trade
Related Intellectual Property Right,
(TRIPS) of the General Agreement on
Trade and Tariff (GATT) and b) The
Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) have been working.
6. The CBD, while accepting the sovereign
rights of nations over their biodiversity
resources, concedes the need of to
share the benefits of their commercial
use with the traditional knowledge
holders.
7. In the normal TRIPS, there is no
include
habitats,
cultivars,
domesticated stocks, and breeds of
animals and microorganisms.
10. The BDA provides for a National
165

Biodiversity Authority at central level,
state boards, and biodiversity
management committees at panchayat
level.
11. This act has to be implemented along
with a number of earlier acts regarding
plant varieties, farmers rights and
patents.
12. This act protects the Traditional
Knowledge of Indian orign, but within
the country it may spawn centre-state
problems of jurisdiction.
13. We do not know how the Convention
on Biodiversity is going to be
implemented at global level, and how
Indias BDA is going to be built into
global CBD. The US has not accepted
CBD.
14. The BDA recognizes the Traditional
Knowledge of indigenous communities,
but not Ayurveda and other classical
knowledge. This is another field of
conflict as TRIPS do not recognize the
sovereign national rights over common
public knowledge. There is no scope for
benefit sharing of classical knowledge.
We can only use this knowledge as
evidence of Prior Art to prevent
patenting.
15. We have to set up a Biodiversity
information system of huge size and
complexity for implementing the
provisions of this act. We have to survey
and compile data on issues such as a)
the status of countrys ecological
habitats b) population of a whole range
166
of biodiversity elements c) regimes of

legal and customary property rights d)
access rights e) conservation practices
f) harvest, transport, trade and markets
in biodiversity. g) processing of
biodiversity products to generate valueadded products h) demand for and
consumption of biodiversity products
i) existing technologies and new
innovations pertinent to biodiversity,
both at grass roots as well as well as at
the sophisticated industrial sector j)
IPR rights customary and legal k) equip
all levels of the civic society with this
knowledge, panchayats, states and
centre.
16. The BDA should help direct proper
flows of benefits to Traditional
Knowledge holders and grass root
innovators.
17. Making inventories of thousands of
entites, with variations in time and
space, will be a huge task.
18. The stakes of all participants, the
tribals, the rural medicine-men, the
industrialists have to be kept in mind.
19. A lot of cross-disciplinary scientific
activities, and much of cross-cultural
dialogues have to take place.
20. This will help scientists to evolve a new
people-oriented approach.
*Adapted from an article published on the
occasion of Earth Day.
The car industry uses 20% of the worlds steel, 50% of the lead and 60% of the rubber.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
National Biodiversity Action Plan

A Plan for Life
Ashish Kothari and Kanchi Kohli
1. A four day workshop held in New Delhi

during 20-23 December 2002 drafted an
Action Plan for the National
Biodiversity strategy. Many Scientists,
Activists, researchers, farmers,
government officials and NGOs
participated.
2. It was a decentralized planning
process, seventy (sub) plans were
earlier drafted, for local sites, all states
and union territories, interstate eco
regions, and themes of national
importance. They were
collected to draft the
National Plan.
3. The National Action Plan
(NAP) seeks to ensure
ecological security of the
Nation and the livelihood
of millions of people
dependent on biological
resources. Major lifestyle
changes
and
reorientation
of
economic development
including that of Natural Resources
were advocated. The critical eco
systems and wildlife-habitats are to be
given special attention.
4. The livelihood of biomass-dependent

communities should be safeguarded.
These should become central to all
planning. The local communities
should be involved.
5. The protection of traditional knowledge
(TK) on biodiversity is crucial. The
knowledge (TK) should be respected,
revitalized, and protected. Otherwise
in an era of patenting and genetic
modifications, TK can fall prey to
biopiracy, as has repeatedly happened
in the last few decades. To prevent the

TK from slipping through the fingers
of farmers and forest dwellers without
their having a clue, the NAP suggests
community-led development of
biodiversity-knowledge-registers. It is
167

important not to fall into the trap of
privatised intellectual property rights
like patents.
6. Gentically engineered or modified
organisms and products should not be
introduced into use till the long-term
ecological and social studies by
intepentent agencies are completed;
Full disclosures of the risks to users
and consumers should be made. Full
participation in decision making of key
stake-holders should be ensured. The
relevant Government research and
regulatory bodies should be involved.
There should also be nation-wide
consultation.
7. Issues of pure conservation should be
taken up seriously. The network of
conservation sites for wild animals and
plants
should
expended
and
strengthened. The officially protected
areas such as National-parks, and
sanctuaries, community conservation
areas like sacred sites, community
forests and village tanks, biosphere
168
reserves, Ecologically sensitive areas,

Heritage sites, Medicinal plant
conservation areas, coral reefs and
mangroves should be attracting our
special attention.
8. Domesticated Biodiversity has been
badly neglected in previous National
processes. Indigenous, nutritionally
superior food crops such as coarse
millets should be encouraged for
consumption and distribution through
public distribution systems, mid-day
meal schemes, food for work
programmes etc.
9. Legal and Governmental Back up,
creation
of
institutions
and
instruments to implement the schemes,
capacity building and provision for
Research, will complete the plan of
action.
(Compiled from the writings of the

authors)
Southeast Asia experienced the largest decline in forest area, with the annual net loss of more
than 2.7 million ha per year during the period 2000-2005.
Green Foot-prints
Towards Sustainable
Development
iodiversity on this planet is

shrinking faster than ever and
over the past century, the
extinction of species has reached
unprecedented levels, or 1000 times their
natural rates. Almost a quarter of the
mammals, around a third of the
amphibians, and 12 per cent of the bird
species are facing extinction. The
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report
titled Ecosystems and Human WellBeing, backed by the United Nations and
prepared by scientists from 90 countries,
states that the damage wrought by
humans on biological diversity over the
last 50 years has been
formidable.
The
demand placed on the
eco-systems is bound
to grow further in the
coming decades with
increasing population
and the consequent
rise in consumption of
biological
and
physical resources.
Some
of
the
ecosystems
have
already reached their
peak capacity to provide services. Human
induced impacts on ecosystems have
severely affected global climate while
some 40 per cent of the agricultural land
Section-3
has been degraded in the past halfcentury. Nearly 60 per cent of the gifts of
the natural world, dubbed economic
services, are either already degraded or
are heading in that direction. And, the
destruction of ecosystems is bound to
continue with economic growth. One of
the ways to stop this is to make people
directly benefit by conserving the
ecosystems. For instance, economic
incentives for leaving the forests uncut are
only now beginning to be devised. With
human well-being so closely tied to
ecosystems, the plundering and
destruction should cease immediately.
The only solution for this malady is

sustainable development, which implies
preserving biodiversity for continued food
169

security. For instance, the report points out
that a hectare of mangrove left intact in a
country like Thailand is worth more than
$1000. The value drops to $ 200 when it is
intensively farmed. But ever-growing
demands on already degraded ecosystems
seriously affect the prospects for
sustainable development. The poor are
particularly vulnerable. While the rich can
access the benefits of ecosystems at a
higher price, the marginalised population
loses out. For the nearly 50 lowest-income
countries located in the tropical and subtropical regions, with the population set
to treble by 2050, increasing agricultural
productivity becomes imperative. This will
exert significant pressure on their
ecosystems. Unfortunately, the humaninduced climate change will see

agricultural productivity of the tropic and
subtropics compromised. This makes it
necessary for the governments of the
world to quickly understand the
importance of spatial and temporal scales
while dealing with the ecosystems. Any
improved ecosystem management to
enhance human well-being will call for a
change in policies relating to rights and
access to resources. While the imperative
of development cannot be ignored, the
need for giving the poor equitable and
secure access to ecosystem services
cannot be overlooked either.
*Compiled from an article
Seed Bank that lives and propagates

The Dharohar Samiti of Bastar in Chattisgarh has organised the
tribals there, not only to collect 1000 varieties of rice-seeds, but
also to cultivate all the varieties, so that the seeds are multiplied
and returned to the seed bank. The Golavand village farmers find
the grain tastier than cross-bred varieties, and better suited to local
conditions. The Dharohar Samiti is extending its experiment to
collection of millet and vegetable seeds too!
(Down to Earth 30/4/2002)
170
Juang and Munda tribes of the Keonjhar district of eastern India use 215 plants, belonging to 150
genera and 82 families.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
Doomsday seed vault opens in

Arctic
oahs Ark of crops will come in

handy in the event of a global
catastrophe
A vault carved into the Arctic permafrost

and filled with samples of the most
important seeds was inaugurated in
Norway, providing a Noahs Ark of food
crops in the event of a global catastrophe.
Aimed at safeguarding biodiversity in the
face of climate change, wars and
other natural and man-made
disasters, it can hold up to 4.5 million
batches, or twice the number of crop
varieties believed to exist in the world
today, according to the Global Crop
Diversity Tr ust (GCDT), which
spearheaded the project.
With
European
Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso
looking on, Kenyan environmentalist
and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Wangari Maathai and Norwegian
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
opened the vault by symbolically
depositing grains of rice in one of its
three spacious cold chambers.
Norway has assumed the entire sixmillion-euro charge for building the vault
in its Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, some

1,000 km from the North Pole.
There are currently more than 200,000
different varieties of rice and wheat in the
world, but this diversity is rapidly
disappearing due to pests and diseases,
climate change and human activities.
Biodiversity is essential because it enables
crops to adapt to new conditions, resist
diseases, increase their nutritional value

and become less dependent on water,
according to GCDT.
171

Under tight security, duplicates of seed
samples from 21 seed banks around the
world will be stored in the vault at a
constant temperature of minus 18 degrees
Celsius, and even if the freezer system fails
the permafrost will ensure that
temperatures never rise above minus 3.5
degrees Celsius. Contributions from the
other 1,300 seed banks worldwide are
expected at a later date.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault will hold
some 268,000 samples. They will remain
the property of their countries of origin,
which can claim them back if should they
disappear from their natural environment.
The number of seeds that could in the end
be stored in the vault is two billion, since
each sample can contain several hundred
seeds.
Measuring twice the size of Belgium and
counting just 2,300 inhabitants, the
Svalbard archipelago, where no crops
grow, is considered the ideal location for
the new vault due to its remote location
far from civil strife.
The vault will be under remote
surveillance through motion detectors and
cameras. Nobody works onsite. There are
four armoured and air-locked doors
leading to the seeds. They can only be
opened with electronic keys with different
access levels.
The vault sits at an altitude of 130 metres,
high enough that it would not flood if the
172
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt

entirely due to global warming.
There are 1,400 gene banks around the
world. Some contain no more than a single
seed sample, while the largest ones can
hold more than 500,000.
Insurance policy
The vault is an insurance policy for
mankind, according to the head of the
project. Were going to be having new
climate conditions, (and) pests and
diseases continue to evolve and mutate
and they mount ever better attacks against
our crops, Cary Fowler, executive
director of the GCDT said.
He said there was a need for gene banks
around the world that can directly supply
plant breeders and researchers with the
diversity they need. The vault is the back
up, this is the insurance policy, he said.
Biodiversity is important because that is
what will enable those crops and all the
rest of the crops in the world to adapt to
new conditions. He added: If we dont
have diversity in our agricultural crops,
agriculture comes to a standstill and dies.
We need to improve production and
nutrition and we probably need crops that
are more drought resistant, that can
produce yield without using so much
water, and that useless fertilizersbased
on natural gas, Mr.Fowler said.
One of the principle tree genus growing in association with tanks and ponds in India is Ficus
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
While the general public is well aware of

the threat of extinction to animal species,
far fewer are aware of the risk of crop
extinction. With whales or tigers or polar
bears, you can look at them in the eye and
you can be very empathetic. But you cant
do that with a wheat variety or carrot
variety.
The emotion is not there even though

thats a very important natural resource
for human beings, Mr.Fowler said.
* Compiled from an article
Award for Navdhanya Movement

Navdhanya, an agricultural biodiversity conservation movement in India, and its
seed keeper, Ms.Bija Devi Kaintra, were awarded the Slow Food Prize for their
outstanding contribution to the field of preservation of biodiversity and promotion
and protection of indigenous knowledge and food culture.
The award aims at spotlighting research, production, marketing, popularisation
and documentation for the defence of biodiversity in the agro-industrial field.
The awardees are chosen through the votes of 500 jurors
belonging to over 80 nations.
Ms.Kaintra of Lostu Badyargarh has worked with Navdhanya
for two decades in Garhwal, conserving rice, millet, pulses and
vegetable diversity and spreading awareness on threats to
biodiversity, such as IPRs on seeds and plants and genetic
engineering, both in and outside the region. Navdhanya has
established over 20 seed-saving and exchange networks in
seven States. It has conserved over 2000 varieties of rice and
hundreds of varieties of millet, pulses, oil seeds and vegetables.
173
How much water do you EAT?
he World Water Forum in its third

plenary meeting held in KYOTO in
March 2003, came up with a
practical concept VIRTUAL WATER, the
total amount of water needed to produce
an article. This will help the water-scarce
countries to determine their agricultural
and industrial strategies.
When you consume one kg. of grain you
are also consuming 1000 litres of water,
needed to grow the grain. A person who
consumes a kg. of beef consumes 13,000
litres of water needed to produce that
amount of meat. This is the hidden virtual
water, says Daniel Zimmer, Director of
the World Water Council. It is this
unconscious behaviour that causes
humans to consume so much water.
174
An average Asian uses 1400 litres of

virtual water a day. An average European,
4000 litres. 70% of the water goes for food
production. Diet and water consumption
are closely related. Americans are using
75% more water than others.
Because of weight, volume and transport
problems, water may not be traded in
large amounts between nations. But
countries may opt to be net importers of
virtual water as opposed to real water, and
can relieve pressure on its own water
resources.
U.S., Canada, Thailand, Argentina, India,
Vietnam, France and Brazil are big net
exporters of virtual water. Sri Lanka,
Japan, The Netherlands, South Korea,
The Cochabamba people of the Andes (South America) have maintained 70 varieties of potato.
Some single families maintained up to 31 varieties.
Green Foot-prints
Section-3
China, Spain, Egypt, Germany and Italy

are net importers.
The problem of Food Security and Food

Sovereignty was also discussed. Though
countries may supply sufficient food to
their people by food imports, their
dependence upon global trade may
compromise their food sovereignty.
India and China are such countries that
may like to make their Nations selfsufficient in food.
The ultimate question is sharing the
benefits of water wisely, instead of
sharing water itself.
Unconsciously through food imports

Nations one importing water. Now this
will be done consciously.
(From Inputs from Kyoto Papers)
Coastal eco systems

The Indian landmass has 7500 km of coastal areas with their
beaches, mangroves, sea grasses and algal beds coral reef and
island ecosystems are rich in biodiversity. The marine eco
systems with their associated habitats support a wealth of marine
resources and provide physical protection to the coastal
environment and benefit people directly.
175
Community Reserves
Bahar Dutt
he Government of India brought an

amendment in 2002 to the wellrecognized Indian Wild Life
Protection Act of 1972. The amendment
recognizes the communitys role in
conservation and names such areas as
protected by the community as
Community Reserves (CR).
In the North East India, the local villagers
could protect forests surrounding tea
gardens for over a hundred years. But as

the tea garden lands were owned by
private people, the local people could not
act against the poachers and the timber
176
mafia. The estate had hornbills, leopards

and 200 other species of birds.
In Mendha village in Maharashtra, the
Gond tribals protect 1800 hectares of
forest. In Kolavipalam (Kerala), local
fisherfolk protect sea-turtle eggs and
nestings sites. In Kokre Bellur in
Karnataka, the endangered spot-billed
pelicans are known as the daughters of the
village, as they come once a year to nest
on the trees on the
village commons.
If the law provides
the villagers support
and institutional
backing, the CR will
do good work. It has
to work through
Community Reserve
M a n a g e m e n t
committee of local
people. The state
machinery should
not impore itself on
the
healthy
grassroots style conservation.
**Adapted from an article
Arawakan women of the Guainia-Negro region of the Venezuelan Amazon cultivate more than
70 varieties of bitter manioc.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
SECTION - 4
Green Systems
Society so much dependent upon law,

without traditions & Conventions,
cutoms & Usages can never be a loving,
Caring, Serving Society
181
SECTION - 4
Sl.No.
Title
Green Systems
Author
Page No.
Prelude - Green Systems
183
Biotech risks: Nobel laureate

forewarns
George Chacko
188
Scientists on Biohazards of
Biotechnology
Vandana Shiva
194
Biotechnology A Buddhist /
Vedantic Perspective
Prof. Ron Epstein
198
Why Holism works: Gene

Modification Does Not
Johnjoe McFadden
200
Patents and laws to preserve

rights of developing countries
Dr.Vasant Savangikar
202
Traditional Knowledge/Valuable
Asset of Developing Countries
M.D.Nair
211
National Biodiversity
Authority of India........
K.P.Prabhakaran Nair
215
3
4
7
8
9
Warring over karela (Bitter Gourd) S.Swaminathan
219
10
Biopiracy and Western concepts of

Intelluctual Property Rights
Dr.Vandana Shiva
222
11
The Garden of Malabar - A

biopiracy story
Kaushik Dasgupta
224
12
Sweet Bitter Victory Over Neem
Compiled
228
13
Restoring exemption to
patents in Agriculture
Dr.Vandana Shiva
230
14
Branding From Origin
Albert Chominot
232
15
New knowledge versus

Old knowledge
233
Property rights, public rights

and a finite world
T.N.Narasimhan
235
16
17
Prayer of the Frog in the cauldron VK - Nardep Team
241
18
Greening of Auroville
C.L.Gupta
254
19
For Clean Air the Kyoto Protocol
Asit Sharma
261
20
How can the Consumer help in

Waste control and Waste disposal Sivakumar Moorty
264
21
World Water Forum
Compiled
267
22
182
Environmental Law in India
Kirthi Jayakumar
268
Green Foot-prints
Green Systems
Section-4
PRELUDE
Smt. Annapurna Duval: Shriman,
inspite of your valiant efforts to defend
the intellectuals, their efforts at
preservation of Nature and at persuading
humankind to return to Natures ways
appear to be feeble, uncoordinated and
unsystematic.
Prof. Jnani Noval: But these attempts by
the learned people have the advantage of
being totally unforced, spontaneous and
genuine, springing up from the depths
of their beings. They are totally nongovernmental, unstructured. They make
honest attempts to protect Nature, and
facilitate our farmers and preserve our
traditional procedures.
Shri Krish Phidal: What is it that our
Agricultural extension worker is saying?
That some new seeds are coming up
which cannot be resown! That we have
to buy the seeds from shops every year?
Prof. Noval: American and European
Agri-scientists have created in their labs
some new seeds which are diseaseresistant,
high
yielding,
but
unresowable.
Shri Phidal: But our own seeds are good
enough! They are drought-resistant,
disease resistant. They grow on our soil.
We are used to them and know them like

our own children! And these highsounding-named-seeds are costly and do
not suit our soil at all. They require too
much water, too many inputs. They lack
the rustic strength my native seeds have!
Adding and subtracting, I found at the
end of the year, my local types are more
profitable. My local cows are easy to
maintain
and
my
local hens
live
on
s t u r d i l y. I
do not have
to kill the
sick ones in
hundreds as
some of my
neighbours
have to do.
Why
do
p e o p l e
m e d d l e
with things
which they
do
not
understand?
Prof. Noval: There are three factors.
First, the explosive growth of world
population requires more food, more
food grain production, even if it means,
183

sacrificing our long term eco-security for
our short term gains.
goat Sumesh as a contraption? My hen

is a tool for these blessed scientists!
Nobody told them that they are wrong?
Smt. Duval: What Next?

Prof. Noval: Secondly, the understanding
of Nature by the Western Scientific
Establishment. Led by the philosophy of
Newton, Darwin and Galileo, the west
thought of Nature as a Machine
composed of many independent parts.
Any sick part, inefficient part, can be
withdrawn and a more efficient, healthier
part can be refitted. The other parts of
the machine will accept the new
introduction, and function as before,
Prof Noval: Many did. When the

scientists synthesised new seeds, new
animals, new viruses, some eminent
scientists protested the move. This latter
group, many of them Nobel Laureates
raised two objections. First our
understanding of the factors that go to
give our living systems their
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i s v e r y p o o r. We
understand only a small portion of these
factors. Some of our models are based
on mechanical patterns which may not
work in the case of living organisms.
And we do not know when some of the
suppressed traits will show up their
heads, perhaps one or two generations
later. Secondly, the society, the polity, the
decision makers, the businessmen and
the technologists are not mature enough,
responsible enough, conscientious
enough, public-spirited enough to handle
these risky, Genetically Engineered
living organisms, seeds and animals.
They may manipulate science to satisfy
their greed.
Krish Phidal: Our school teacher once
told me that a scientist whose discovery
led to the manufacture of atom-bombs
regretted his own work later!
allowing the new part to discharge the

expected duty. That is their supposition.
Smt. Duval: Stupid. Who will think of
my cow Lakshmi as a machine and my
184
Prof. Noval: Yes! Both Albert Einstein

and John Oppenheimer regretted the way
the knowledge of Atomic energy was
used in the second world war.
Green Foot-prints
Smt. Duval: You said three factors.
Prof. Noval: The third is the colonial
mindset of the west where trade and
technology look upon the Developing
countries as their Market, which is
another sophisticated name for colony.
Krish Phidal: My agri-extension worker
told me that some western people
have patented Karela, brinjal,
haldi and basmati rice! What is
patenting?
Section-4
right is called patent. Any other person
using these rights should pay the legal
owner.
Smt.Duval: (Flabbergasted) My God! In
my village this will be considered a
blatant sin to put into your private pocket
what has been for a thousand years the
common asset of the whole community!
Prof. Noval: Such things can

happen only is those societies,
where moral laws are enforced not
through social traditions and
customs, by families and
communities but by the mere
force of a parliaments law.
Smt. Duval: A law is as good or
as bad as the man and the
machinery and the enticement
used to implement it.
P r o f . N o v a l : Ye s . T h e w e s t ,
especially America does not recognize
the sanctity of the social traditions of the
east and the role of traditions in keeping
Traditional Knowledge (TK) open and
accessible to all. Their western
technologists funded by their business
men take up our sweet-smelling Basmati
rice, our Karela with its anti-diabetic
properties. Turmeric with its healing
components, make some minor cosmetic
changes in their make up and claim legal
ownership on them. This legal ownership
Krish Phidal: Can we not stop it?

Prof. Noval: We have to fight the case
in American courts, European courts.
Shri Phidal: How can any one commit
such offences against the poor farmers,
large populations, a number of countries,
hoary traditions, the sacred Nature, all
in one stroke! It requires an evil genius
to perpetrate such crimes.
185

P r o f . N o v a l: O u r N a t i o n a l l e a d e r s ,
Nature-lovers,
Economists
and
Governments have realised that our
interests and concerns are being highjacked. They understand though
belatedly, that our lack of knowledge,
lack of documentation, lack of
inventories of our own biowealth have
allowed others to steal our wealth. This
process is called Biopiracy. But making
registers of our own plant and animal
species, our medical procedures and
other local technologies is not an easy
job.
o u r B i o d i v e r s i t y, o u r e n d a n g e re d
species, our reserve forests, our rare and
useful germ plasms, rice varieties, seeds.
After sometime the governments
themselves realized that environmental
protection is not possible by mere law
without
public
participation,
cooperation, involvement and taking
responsibility.
Smt. Duval: When you have assets, you
dont care for them. When they are
endangered by local negligence or alien
thieves, you wake up to unleash a
plethora of laws. And late in the day you
Smt.Duval: But keeping on counting

my own children to prevent some one
from stealing them is nauseating. It
robs one of the ethical sense of
security born out of a trustworthy
neighbourhood!
Prof. Noval: And that census-taking
cannot be done in a hurr y. Five
hundred years of western science
could identity, categorise and name
only 10-15% of the Four Crores of
living organisms plants/animals/
insects supposed to be populating
the earth.
Shri Phidal: A society so much
dependent upon law, without traditions
and conventions, customs and usages can
never be a loving, serving, caring society.
Prof. Noval: But what to do! Everyday
our own society is abusing its National
Wealth. The governments at National and
state levels are framing laws to protect
186
come to remember the ultimate

custodians and stakeholders and seek to
involve them. My children sometimes
play games imitating their father but
they put the cart before the bullock
instead of the other way about.
Green Foot-prints
Prof. Noval: Anyway, a huge task of
listing,
documenting,
counting,
recognizing, categorising our Natural
Wealth of materials, and procedures,
many of them held only orally and in
trust, stares at the Nation. Our National
security involving so many layers of
material wealth and procedural
knowledge as wealth lies in our listing
them and owning them in our bid to
preserve, revive and use them.
Section-4
Organisations such as the Vivekananda
Kendra, Auroville try to revive our
traditions by constantly putting them to
use. Other voluntary organisations,
scientists, patriots do their best but the
huge job is really daunting all of us. We
have to complete the job before it is too
late.
Smt. Duval and Shri Phidal: And to that
end please help us O God!
187
Biotech risks: Nobel laureate

forewarns
George Chacko
n his inaugural address to an

international
congress
on
biotechnology held by the UNIDO
(United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation) at Vienna, renowned Nobel
laureate Dr.Arthur Kornberg (discoverer
of basic mechanisms of DNA replication)
issued a serious warning on possible
biotech abuses in society. He extolled the
brilliant achievements and invaluable
merits of genetic engineering (GE) having
worldwide impact on science, industry
and society. Qualms on societal
immaturity to absorb this ominously fastgrowing technology was also voiced by the
Green-peace International.
Seldom has world focus zeroed-in on a
technology long before it has set a foot on
market. Biotech is not new. Down the
centuries man had selectively bred plants
and animals for his own ordered survival.
Microbial enzymes had been used, obeying
traditional prescriptions, to produce beer,
bread, cheese and wine, vinegar, yoghurt,
pickles, soya sauce, sauerkraut:
fermentation by-products such as
enzymes, flavours and additives, and
dietary supplements like amino acids and
vitamins, all followed through ingenuous
use of biotech methods. What sets apart
uniquely the modern biotech in the
portentous grave engineering dimension
188
it potentialises, that can, if willed,

perilously and irreversibly manipulate the
heart of biological lifethe cell nucleus,
methods inducing radical changes in the
nature-sheltered
genetic material,
a p p l y i n g
recombinant
DNA (RDNA) and
cell
fusion
knowhow drawn
from
basic
s c i e n c e
discoveries of
1959 (Kornberg
and Ochoa) and
early Seventies,
fleeting into the
next millennium
with the entire
human genome
awaiting to be
decoded. Mankind faces the formidable
dilemma of a bio-paradise or a virtual
tortuous hell on Earth.
Humans can now create new life forms in
addition to sustaining or destroying the
old. The new GE language is, plants,
animals and humans can be cloned, as
mechanically one might clone a PC. Taken
to extreme consequential applications, the
in vitro replication of geneotype combined
In Gujarat Food for work programme helps individual farmers attempting to reclaim their own
wastelands.
Green Foot-prints
with phenotype could set in trail a genetech induced eugenic racism or spawn
science-fiction type floral and faunal
monsters, debilitating irreversibly the
species
homo
sapiens
into
a
paedomorphised bio-prisoner of his own
making. On the positive side, an ethically
guided proper exploitation of sciencebased GE, and not a commercially abused
one, can help man colossally to develop the
right medicines to vanquish dreaded
diseases like cancer or HIV and other
loathsome viruses of future, in addition to
producing cheaper and richer food for the
starving poor of developing countries. Rich
and poor alike, it can enhance beauty and
quality of man and nature.
To cleanse and enlighten the public, bioexperts met in Vienna. The themes chosen
were provocative. Among the panelists
and key speakers were Dr.A.Kornberg
(Stanford), Dr.Alan Colman (Scotland, who
cloned the worlds first sheep Dolly, on
making pharmaceuticals in animals),
Dr.Dieter Soell (Yale, on genomics, an end
users perspective), Dr.Gurdev Khush
(IRRI, Phillippines on gene or green
revolution), Mr. Benny Haerlin
(Greenpeace, on science vs.democracy),
Ms. Margaret Liu (Chiron Corp. U.S. - on
genes as vaccines). Dr.Charles Arntzen
(Cornell, on bananas as vaccines), Julian
Crampton (Liverpool, on mosquitoes to
prevent malaria), Tapio Palva (Helsinki, on
engineering crops for the desert), Mr.
Carlos Joly (Monsanto Co.Belgium, on
biotech dilemmas) and Dr.Klaus Amman
(Bern. on organic farmers and biotech).
Section-4
Although Kornberg and Severo Ochoa
identified the polymerase I enzyme
catalyzing the DNA synthesis in 1959,
earning them the Nobel Prize, a more
fabulous feat was Kornbergs successful
synthesis in 1967 of the biologically active
Phi XI 74 virus, the first active virus
produced artificially in a biochemistry lab
in the world.
Looking back, he remarked in his address
that the future is invented and not
predicted. Neither he, Paul Berg and Dale
Kaiser who invented the recombinant DNA
(RDNA) in Stanford in 1972 ever anticipated
that it would quickly ignite explosive

developments in GE, nor foresaw
ingenious biotechnologies would develop
around GE in few years. Biotechs
foundation, Kornberg traced back to
189

several antecedents, (I) Mieschers isolation
of DNA in 1869, (II) Contributions of
organic and physical chemistry, (III)
Development of microbiology and
genetics, (IV) Averys 1942 demonstration
of DNA as the genetic substance, (V)
Watson & Cricks 1953 proposal of DNAs
double helix structure. (VI) Plasmidology
of Boyer & Cohen 20 years later. But what
really gave birth to biochemistry to him,
was, J.J.Thompsons discovery of the
electron in 1897.
Dozen discrete enzymatic reactions were
discovered following Eduard Buechners
accidental observation in 1897 that the
yeast cell juice could convert sugar into
alcohol. The conversion of glycogen into
lactic acid via a muscle extract later proved
identical to the yeast pathway. Today
numerous synthetic pathways of bacteria,
fungi, plants and animals have been
charted and the universality of
biochemistry established: as corroborated
by replication, transcription and
translation studies of DNA. Although
molecular
biology
and
recent
biotechnologies have stolen the show, it
was enzymology that solved chemical and
biological problems making available
polymerases, ligases, nucleases, the
reagents needed for the RDNA invention
and crucial to GE practice, reminded
Kornberg.
He recalled, the first two decades of this
centurys biomedical science were
characterized by microbe hunters who
identified the microbes causing, TB,
cholera and diphtheria. But, scurvy,
pellagra and beri-beri remained unsolved
190
due to lack of trace substances in diet

called vitamins. Although by the 1940s the
vitamin hunters discovered most
vitamins, the obscure biochemical
functions of these were left for the enzyme
hunters to unravel, how vitamins helped
perform the vial metabolic functions of
growth and reproduction. The enzyme
hunters have now been replaced by gene
hunters, who now using RDNA can
identify, clone genes and introduce them
into bacteria, plants and animals,
precipitating mass-production factories
for hormones, medical vaccines and better
breeds of agro-crops to emerge, whisking
biotech into a multi-billion dollar industry.
Soon, Kornberg conjectured, head
hunters will take over, meaning neurobiologists and neuro chemists, who might
want to apply the enzyme and gene hunting
techniques to the brain. Science today, he
noted, can understand and examine
genetics in simple chemical terms as DNA.
DNA in the chromosomes and genes is
It is no longer a question of whether

we can determine the sequence of
the 3 billion base pairs of the human
genome, but rather who will do it
first.
I.T.C.Ltd. has agreed to adopt one lakh villages Nationwide for wasteland development.
Green Foot-prints
easily analysed, synthesised and
rearranged. Species are modified at will.
It is no longer a question of whether we
can determine the sequence of the 3 billion
base pairs of the human genome, but rather
who will do it first.
Kornberg pointed out that recent
advances in Stanford in the area of
functional genomics, that is, the technique
of DNA micro arrays, has much in store to
help man understand gene action patterns
in different cells and cancer aberrations,
degenerative diseases and infections that
would enhance radically diagnosis,
treatment and prevention. One can
determine from the 6200 genes of an yeast
genome which genes are switched on and
of responding to a metabolic need, like
sporulation a wounded cell, (hibernation
phase) or in a wounded cell, hours
following wound. Genes used by a cancer
cell can be compared with that of a normal
cell, that of human brain cell with those of
skin cells. Even if the 3-billion letters
sequence of an average human genome is
spelt out, said Kornberg. we still need to
identify the 0.1 per cent of the differences
among us in nucleotides, the 4-letter
language of genes, the 3 million differences
that uniquely identify each of us. We will
need to know whether these differences
are benign or associated with a disease or
a predisposition to a disease in some cases,
we may even identify differences among
us in the genes that improve a function:
sharper vision, an ear for music, a sunny
disposition. So marvelous these advances
of genomic science are in helping us avoid
devastating diseases through prior
Section-4
knowledge of their human genetic basis,
hence of immense biomedical value, the
dangerous potential they hold for abuse are
somber too, Kornberg listed few of them.
Even though DNA tests get wide publicity
in legal issues, personal genomic
information can become a serious societal
predicament. Kornberg warned, we do
need to be concerned about their abuse in
matters of employment, insurance,
personal affairs. The following issues do
deserve the most serious consideration.
1. Our knowledge is incomplete and vested
interests abuse the present incomplete
knowledge:
Vested interests delude the world
advocating the need for large federal and
industrial funds to complete the human
genome project. Kornberg pinpointed, its
an illusion to believe that knowing the
genomes sequence will give us all the
information to understand the structure
and function of an organism. That simply
is not true. With all the insights from
genomics, we will still be miles away from
our goal of understanding the enormous
variety of life processes at the basic level
of proteins and other molecular details.
2. Commercialization abuses:
Biotech enterprises, governmental or
private, being human, are susceptible to
mismanagements. Venture capitalists who
back them want quick buck returns, making
biotech
ventures
prone
to
misrepresentation, litigousness and even
fraud. Investors, having neither the
mandate nor the tradition to advance
191

scholarship for its own sake, but with focus
on profitability, have forced litigations in
biotech burgeon into an industry of its
own, employing thousands of lawyers.
Secondly, profit ventures want secrecy,
thus subvert academic units with patent
agreements demanding exclusive access to
discoveries, delay publications and divert
scientists attention from basic untargeted
computers, transistors and lasers on all

communication, business and personal life
aspects. We ought to be deeply concerned
on how to cope with it, warned Kornberg.
His major philosophic tenet is, the culture
of science, meaning the discipline of
sciencescience per se, must be kept up,
no matter what the practitioners of science
and technology might do in daily life.
However, Greenpeace International took a
radical line that society in which science
operates should put brakes on when
translation of fruits of scientific research
affects society. Mr.Benedikt Haerlin in a
hard-hitting expose of biotech ills listed
actual problems.
1. The vested interest of genetic engineers
(GEs) to promote their own products:
Transgenic Mouse
research to early profitability-tailored

research agenda. This corrupts science
culture. Kornberg bemoaned that basic
science research, so vital it is for all
technological take-offs, has now been
beaten to the back rows.
3. Pure Science being pushed to the
background in an utilitarian era:
An unprecedented new type of technology
culture is emerging, bringing on the one
hand deep impact on biotech-on heredity,
disease and human behaviour, on the other,
overloading us with avalanche of genetic,
chemical
and
physical
data,
regimentalising the pervasive influence of
192
Most GEs have hardly botanical experience

or expertise, sit between computer screens
in labs or in glass house, engrossed in
acquiring scientific fame and patents, have
no time for critical reflection over their
very engagement, worsened by sponsoring
companies pitched in desperate
competitive battle for success.
2. No proper risk assessment on GMOs
(genetically modified organisms) released:
Transgenic products are introduced into
the global market by decisions made by few
and follows the market blindness axiom:
Get sold or get lost, with no public
acceptance or compliance sought from
world consumers. The International
Biosafety Protocol of the Convention of
Biological Diversity (CBD), to which States
Ground water is treated as a private asset in India resulting in acute scarcity. Because of this
people with enough money are able to access water without restrictions.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
are parties, but not the U.S. once

established in February 1999, will put the
burden of proof (bad effects on
environment of human health) on the
consumer or buyer nation saying no, who
may not have the sound science capability
of proof against the developed countries
where GMOs were developed.
these moral and ethical reservations? His

answer, Let me point out, we never know
whats good for man, that there is a
dependence on what society you are in,
what society can decide that something is
good and other bad. As scientists our
obligation is to refuse secrets, to provide
new knowledge.
3. Science has not described and

understood
the
complexity
of
ecosystematic structures into which
GMOs are released:
It is up to our society, whether it is in India.

Austria or U.S. to have citizens informed
to make best use of that knowledge. Now
the knowledge of atomic fission, (there is)
the quick basic value, but it can be abused,
so can the internal combustion engine or
fire or anything else. Whether the value
of the biotech debate will finally lie in the
way man uses science for the good,
Kornbergs response: But I think people
ought to be informed. There are people,
who make their living from phantasies. We
have to replace the phantasies with
society. It is so exciting to know where we
came from. I mean the genes. This is what
I would hope will come from discussions.
Whether he would exclude the possibility
that there will be a code (of conduct) for
(biotech) scientists in the future in the
application, that they dont give their
patents (for licensing) or even register
their patents if they think there is a
possible misuse, Kornberg reacted. Oh,
scientists are human beings, and there will
be a whole spectrum of scientific
behaviour (related to that). What I say is,
science itself should be trusted.
There is no recipe on how to deal with the

unknown and unexpected, GEs have to
regulate themselves in the spirit of
Asilomar Conference of 1974 when GE
scientists agreed on a short moratorium
on all experiments, when transfer-dangers
of genetic material from one species to
another were recognised.
7.No democratically arrived definitions of
social, political and environmental goals
(with regard to GE):
Scientists while providing the required
information cannot substitute political
decision making. Industries intervention
serves neither their interests nor those of
society.
In an interview, Kornberg faced the
question: If science could discover the
atom and manipulate the laws and derive
benefits through fission or fusion, then
why not manipulation with genes, why
(Adapted from the Articale)
193
Scientists on Biohazards of
Biotechnology
Vandana Shiva
echnological innovation and

scientific change do not merely
bring benefits. They also carry
social, ecological and economic costs.
It was the scientists closest to genetic
engineering who first expressed concerns
relating to the emergence of the new
technology. In 1973, a group of prominent
scientists called for a moratorium of
certain types of research due to unknown
risks and hazards associated with the
possible escape and proliferation of novel
forms of life. In 1975 at the Asiloniar
Conference, part of the scientific
community led by Paul Berg, a molecular
biologist from Berkeley, attempted to
agree on the need for regulation of
biotechnological research (Krimsky, 1982).
viral, animal, and bacterial sources.

Although such experiments are likely to
facilitate the solution of important
theoretical and practical biological
problems, they would also result in the
creation of novel types of infectious DNA
elements whose biological properties
cannot be completely predicated in
advance. There is serious concern that
Statement by scientists on potential

biohazards of recombinant DNA
molecules
Recent advances in techniques for the
isolation and rejoining of segments of
DNA now permit construction of
biologically active recombinant DNA
molecules in vitro.
Several groups of scientists are now
planning to use this technology to create
recombinant DNAs from a variety of other
194
some of these artificial recombinant DNA

molecules could prove biologically
Aim at the gradual increase in the share of renewable source of energy in overall energy supply
and demand through regulation and the price mechanism.
Green Foot-prints
hazardous. One potential hazard in current
experiments derives from the need to use
a bacterium like E.coli to clone the
recombinant DNA molecules and to
amplify their number. Strains of E.coli
commonly reside in the human intestinal
tract, and they are capable of exchanging
genetic information with other types of
bacteria, some of which are pathogenic to
man. Thus, new DNA elements introduced
into E.coli might possibly become widely
disseminated among human, bacterial,
plant, or animal populations with
unpredictable effects.
Concern for these emerging capabilities
was raised by scientists attending the 1973
Gordon Research Conference on Nucleic
Acids, who requested that the National
Academy of Sciences give consideration
to these matters. The undersigned
members of a committee, acting on behalf
of and with the endorsement of the
Assembly of Life Sciences of the National
Research Council on this matter, propose
the following recommendations.
First, and most important, that until the
potential hazards of such recombinant
DNA molecules have been better
evaluated or until adequate methods are
developed for preventing their spread,
scientists throughout the world join with
the members of this committee in
voluntarily deferring the following types
of experiments.
Type 1: Construction of new,

autonomously replicating bacterial
Section-4
plasmids that might result in the
introduction of genetic determinants
for antibiotic resistance or bacterial
toxin formation into bacterial strains
that do not at present carry such
determinants; or construction of new
bacterial
plasmids
containing
combinations of resistance of clinically
useful antibiotics unless plasmids
containing such combinations of
antibiotic resistance determinants
already exist in nature.
Type 2: Linkage of all or segments of

the DNAs from oncogenic (cancerinducing) or other animal viruses to
autonomously replicating DNA
elements such as bacterial plasmids or
other viral DNAs. Such recombinant
DNA molecules might be more easily
disseminated to bacterial populations
in humans and other species, and thus
possibly increase the incidence of
cancer or other diseases.
Second, plans to link fragments of animal

DNAs to bacterial plasmid DNA or
bacteriophage DNA should be carefully
weighed in light of the fact that many types
of animal cell DNAs contain sequences
common to RNA tumour viruses. Since
joining of any foreign DNA to a DNA
replication
system
creates
new
recombinant DNA molecules whose
biological properties cannot be predicted
with certainty, such experiments should
not be undertaken lightly.
Third, the director of the National
Institutes of Health is requested to give
195

immediate consideration to establishing an
advisory committee charged with (i)
overseeing an experimental program to
evaluate the potential biological and
ecological hazards of
the above types of
recombinant
DNA
molecules;
(ii)
developing procedures
which will minimize the
spread
of
such
molecules
within
human and other
populations; and (iii)
devising guidelines to
be
followed
by
investigators working with potentially
hazardous recombinant DNA molecules.
Fourth, an international meeting of
involved scientists from all over the world
should be convened early in the coming
year to review scientific progress in this
area and to further discuss appropriate
ways to deal with the potential biohazards
of recombinant DNA molecules.
The above recommendations are made
with the realisation (i) that our concern is
based on judgements of potential rather
than demonstrated risk since there are few
available experimental data on the hazards
of such DNA molecules and (ii) that
adherence to our major recommendations
will entail postponement or possibly
abandonment of certain types of
scientifically worthwhile experiments.
Moreover, we are aware of many
theoretical and practical difficulties
involved in evaluating the human hazards
196
of such recombinant DNA molecules.

Nonetheless, our concern for the possible
unfortunate
consequences
of
indiscriminate application of these
techniques motivates us to urge all

scientists working in this area to join us in
agreeing not to initiate experiments of
types 1 and 2 above until attempts have
been made to evaluate the hazards and
some resolution of the outstanding
questions has been achieved.
Member of Committee on Recombinant
DNA Molecules, Assembly of Life
Sciences, National Research Council,
National
Academy
of
Sciences,
Washington, DC 20418 - Signed by
1) Paul Berg, Chairman
2) David Baltimore
3) Herbert W Boyer
4) Stanley N Cohen
5) Ronald W Davis
6) David S Hogness
7) Daniel Nathans
8) Richard Roblin
9) James D Watson
10) Sherman Weissman
11) Norton D Zinder
Setting environmentally honest prices on goods and services would reflect the true value the
Earths life supporting systems.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Later, as many scientists got involved in

the commercial application of the new
technologieswhat Congressman Gore
has called the selling of the tree of
knowledge to Wall Street the selfcriticism and self-restraint of the scientific
community faded away.
The sustaining of the social impact analysis
of the new technologies then became the
responsibility of individual scientists and
activists. The most persistent theme of the
criticism has been the fear of adverse
ecological
and
epidemiological
consequences that might stem from the
accidental or deliberate release of self-
propagating genetically engineered

organisms into the biosphere. Prominent
scientists like Licbe Cavalieri, George Wald
and David Suzuki have argued that the very
power of the new technology outstrips our
capacity to use it in safety, that neither
natures resilience nor our own social
institutions are adequate protection
against the unanticipated impacts of
genetic engineering (Kloppenburg, 1988).
( Extracted
from
the
book
MONOCULTURES OF THE MIND , Third
World Network, Penang, 1993.)
Guard Against Bio-terrorism

Gujarat has 130 varieties of indigenous cotton. Genetic pollution by genetically
modified Bt-cotton
would wipeout this
rich genetic wealth.
Spreading the risk
of
genetically
engineered crops is
not
necessary.
Because organic
cultivation produces
more cotton of
better quality at a
lower
cost.
It
therefore brings a
double benefit to
farmers lowering
costs on expensive
seeds and chemicals
and
increasing
income by producing
a quality product.
Genetically modified cotton is not a superior option for the farmer; it is only a
preferred option for the bio-tech and seed industry that can lock the farmer
into a new bio-serfdom based on patents and intellectual property rights, and
the forced purchase of expensive and unreliable seeds at every planting season.
Vandana Shiva
197
Biotechnology
A Buddhist / Vedantic
Perspective
Prof Ron Epstein
Prof. Ron Epstein teaches philosophy at San Francisco State University, USA. In this
article, he briefly discusses the importance of a religious outlook towards the newer
scientific developments. This article is a gift from AHIMSA.
e are on the threshold of a

biotech country that is going
to reshape totally life on the
planet in many wayseconomically,
politically, scientifically (particularly in
terms of medicine), and environmentally.
Most important for many of us, though, is
the relationship between this incredible
new century and the biotechnology. Very
little has been written about its
relationship, and particularly about that of
genetic engineering, with the human
spirit.
begin to take over responsibility not only

for the evolution of human beings but also
for the evolution of many other sentient
and non-sentient beings on this planet.
Second, the use of genetic engineering in
bio-warfare. As we write, many
governments are actively working on the
development of genetically engineering
organisms for use in bio-warfare, and
presumably terrorist organizations are
doing the same. These are just two of the
things we must deal with in the immediate
future and in the coming biotech century.
Let me just mention two ways in which

genetic engineering is profoundly
affecting our lives. First, at the time of
writing this, the United States government
is considering a request by medical
scientists who wish to intervene in the
gene line of human genetics, that is, to
change the genetic structure in ways that
would be transmitted to future
generations. This would mean that, in
sense, evolution in the traditional sense
would come to an end and that we would
I would like to write something about a

Buddhist / Vedantic paradigm. I think this
is important because the way in which we
deal with biotech / spiritual issues will be
directly related to the lens through which
we see those issues. Paradigms cause us
not only to focus on and clarify issues but
also to distort those issues, so it is
important to look at our paradigms
closely.
198
Recycle Glass : Recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20 per cent and related water
pollution by 50 per cent. If it isnt recycled it can take a million years to decompose.
Green Foot-prints
Let me then mention some of the principles
of the Buddhist / Vedantic paradigm, if I
may lump those two vast systems of thought
together for a moment, that are perhaps
somewhat different
from both the dominant
paradigm
of
our
scientific culture and
also from many of the
paradigms
within
Christian theology. The
first aspect I will
mention is that of
ahimsa or non-injury.
Ahimsa is the principle
of intrinsic respect for
the life all sentient
beings, not just human
life. It respects sentient
beings not for their usefulness to us as
tools or means to ends, but as beings with
their own inherent needs and worth. It is
out of this principle of respect for life that
the idea of selfless compassion as a guiding
principle arises. In terms of genetic
engineering, this would exclude any
instrumental use of human or non-human
sentient life, and I could give numerous
examples of such instrumental uses which
have been and are being carried out in the
interest of the profit motive by biotech
companies.
The second principle is, from both the
Buddhist and Vedantic standpoints, the
cosmos is an open system, whereas in
science one deals with artificial, closed
systems. Now what does this mean in
terms of genetic engineering? It means
that built into the open system model is
Section-4
the assumption that it is impossible to
know, through scientific methodology, the
full extent of the possible effects of genetic
alterations on living creatures. We can
have neither certainty nor
even a reliable risk
assessment, using the
scientific model, of such
effects.
Next is the principle that
the world is non-Cartesian,
that is, that mind and body
are non-dual. They are not
qualitatively different.
Moreover, mind and spirit
affect the body, and the
body affects mind and
spirit. This is why the
karma-based ethics of Buddhist and
Vedantic systems insist upon purity of
mind, body, and spirit because they are
inter-related and affect one another.
I hope in this short presentation you have
been able to follow the gist of this
paradigm which differs so much from the
mainstream paradigm of scientism. Please
think over this then. If body, mind, and
spirit are indeed inseparable, is it not
possible that genetic engineering might
interfere with the ability of sentient beings
to attain transcendence and liberation?
There is no scientific experiment or risk
assessment that can answer this question
for us. From a Buddhist and Vedantic
standpoint, the risks are, to say the least,
troubling.
(From Prabuddha BharataJune 2000)
199
Why Holism works: Gene

Modification Does Not!
Johnjoe McFadden
The new biology is reasserting the primacy of the whole organismthe individualover
the behaviour of isolated genes
hat is a gene? Scientists eager

to uncover genes for heart
disease, autism, schizophrenia,
homosexuality, criminality or even genius
are finding that their quarry is far more
nebulous than they imagined. Uncovering
the true nature of genes has turned biology
on its head and is in danger of undermining
the whole gene-hunting enterprise.
Gene hunting
may not work
200
The first clues

turned up in
study of the cells
m e t a b o l i c
pathways. These
pathways are like
Britains road
networks that
bring in raw
materials (food)
and transport
them to factories
(enzymes) where
the
useful
components
(molecules) are
assembled into
shiny
new
products (more cells). A key concept was

the rate-limiting step, a metabolic road
under strict traffic control that was
thought to orchestrate the dynamics of the
entire network.
Biotechnologists try to engineer cells to
make products but their efforts are often
hindered, apparently by the tendency of the
key genes controlling the rate-limiting
steps to reassert their own agenda.
Scientists fought back by genetically
engineering these genes to prevent them
taking control. When they inserted the
engineered genes back into the cells they
expected to see an increase in yields of
their products. But they were
disappointed. The metabolic pathways
slipped back into making more cells,
rather than more products.
Geneticists were similarly puzzled by an
abundance of genes with no apparent
function. Take the prion gene. This is the
normal gene that in mad cow disease is
transformed into the pathogenic braindestroying protein. But what does it
normally do? The standard way to
Hang Dry: Get a clothesline or rack to dry your clothes by the air. Your wardrobe will maintain
color and fit, and youll save money.
Green Foot-prints
investigate what a gene does is to inactivate
it and see what happens. But geneticists
who inactivated the mouses prion gene
found that mutant mice were perfectly
normal. The prion gene, like many other
genes, seems to lack a function.
But a gene without function isnt really a
gene at all. By definition, a gene has to
make a difference; otherwise it is invisible
to natural selection. Genes are those units
of heredity that wrinkled Mendels peas
and are responsible for making your eyes
blue, green or brown. A century of
reductionist biology has tracked them
down, through Wastson and Cricks
double helix, to the billions of A,T,G and
C gene letters that were spewed out of the
DNA sequencers. But now it seems that
the genes, at the level of DNA, are not the
same as genes at the level of function.
The answer to those riddles is being
unravelled in an entirely new way of doing
biology: systems biology. Lets return to
that road network. We may identify a
particular road, say the A45, that takes
goods from Birmingham to Coventry, and
call it the BtoC road, or B to C gene.
Blocking the A45 might be expected to
prevent goods from Birmingham reaching
Conventry. But of course it doesnt
because there are lots of other ways for
the goods to get through. In truth the
Section-4
road (or gene) from B to C isnt just the
A45 but includes all those other routs.
Rather than having a single major
function, most genes, like roads, probably
play a small part in lots of tasks within the
cell. By dissecting biology into its genetic
atoms, reductionism failed to account for
these multitasking genes. So the starting
point for systems biologists isnt the gene
but rather a mathematical model of the
entire cell. Instead of focusing on key
control points, systems biologists look at
the systems properties of the entire
network. In this new vision of biology,
genes arent discrete nuggets of genetic
information but more diffuse entities
whose functional reality may be spread
across hundreds of interacting DNA
segments.
This radical new gene concept has major
implications for the gene hunters. Despite
decades of research few genes have been
found that play anything more than a
minor role in complex traits like heart
disease, autism, schizophrenia or
intelligence. The reason may be that such
genes simply dont exist. Rather than
being caused by single genes these traits
may represent a network perturbation
generated by small, almost imperceptible,
changes in lots of genes.
(Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005)
201
Patents and laws to preserve rights

of developing countries
Dr Vasant Savangikar
Patents, rights they affect and common
perspective about them
atents give a right to patentee to

stop others from using his invention
without his consent for a limited
period, by thumb rule, of 20 years from
the date of filing the patent. In U.S.A. this
period of protection may extend further
for a variety of reasons. Thus patents rules
out right of anyone else than the patentee
himself to use the patentees invention
without his consent for a limited period
of time.
On account of this, patents are criticized
as a monopolistic tool of
developed countries and
it
is
feared
that
developing countries
would be at a perpetual
disadvantage
with
respect to their basic
needs of food and public
health and would have to
compromise their rights.
Hence, there is always a
concern aired that there
should be laws that
would preserve the
rights of developing countries / defend the
interests of developing countries.
202
On the other hand, developed countries /

multinational and big companies complain
on weak protection to their legitimate
Intellectual Property Rights in developing
countries and insist that the same must be
harmonized to ensure a minimum level of
protection which has seen the genesis
of TRIPs.
Eventually, TRIPs had its way and Patents
Laws in all WTO member countries were
amended on agreed lines after a long
debate. The strategy of the developing
countries was perceived and projected as
smart, to make amendments only to an
extent that was stipulated as minimum

necessary and take maximum advantage
Go vegetarian : One less meat-based meal helps the planet and your diet. For example; It requires
2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also save some trees.
Green Foot-prints
of the exemptions allowed by TRIPs.
Patents Act of India now has a long
negative list which enlists what is not
patentable. Patents amendment under
TRIPs were perceived as a necessary evil
that needs to go through under pressure
of International treaties that should be
gone through skillfully incurring least
possible damage.
While time will tell whether the
amendments to comply with TRIPs have
been or not successful in this perspective,
at some point of time a review should be
taken on threats perceived from patents,
rights of developing countries they are
capable of affecting adversely and present
status of law aimed at countering the
threats.
Let us start analyzing from fundamentals
of nature of a patent and rights of
developing countries.
Threats to developing countries from
patents and remedies
A patent gives rise to a right to a patentee
to prevent others from using his invention
for a period of 20 years starting from the
date of his patent; the invention being held
patentable only if it is novel (done for the
first time by a human being), inventive
(involves active experimental work and
not just mental thinking) and has industrial
applicability (its commercialization by
industrial production should be possible).
A patentee does not get a positive right to
produce it, in the sense that right to
practice his invention is subject to its
Section-4
being legal in the face of contemporary
laws, to several regulatory laws and
regulations and security concerns
including, for examples, Foods and Drugs
Administration if it is a medicine or a
cosmetic, to Food safety Act, if it is a food
supplement, to Environment Laws if it is
a process of manufacture, military
security, food security, public health
security and environmental security,
public morality and so on. A patent is a
prima facie certificate having a judicial
force that the invention is novel, inventive
and industrially applicable. A patent does
not endorse that it complies with
regulatory laws. These features are
common to all countries that have patent
system.
Thus patents cover right to prevent
practice of only such subjects that never
existed earlier to the date of their filing,
there is no possibility that they can
threaten any right of anyone, including
developing countries on use of public
domain knowledge, including traditional
knowledge, and anything that existed
already, including life forms, minerals,
water resources, forest resources,
underground resources, air, medicines,
crops etc. Thus fears of patenting of
traditional knowledge, traditionally used
crops, traditionally used medicines,
anything that is being currently used by
people and that forms ingredients of
current food security and public health
security are not correct because none of
the things already available can be taken
away by any patent because such a patent
can not be granted.
203

Just as there is no law that is not tried to
be misused by anti-social elements
everywhere in the world, instances of
misuse of patents do occur and can be
cited anywhere in any country; and they
have to be seen as instances of a general
malice that needs to be countered by
taking up to respective patenting
authorities and showing them that the
patent should not have been granted and
is eligible for revocation. These instances
have to be dealt with case-by-case basis
and there is no general solution to it
because there can not be law to state that
basically the question is, whether this is at

all necessary. First of all, if one is to
examine a negative list existing in Patent
Acts in India or abroad, and principles of
patentability are applied to them, it will
become immediately clear that even
without express inclusion in a negative
list, every such item is unpatentable on at
one or the other basic criteria of
patentability i.e. either it is already known
to public and is not novel (traditional
knowledge, mere discoveries), or there is
no inventive step (mathematical formulae,
algorithms etc. where they are a result of
only mental calculations / thinking
involving no experimentation) or lacking
in industrial applicability (matters against
morality, against public order that would
automatically be unlawful also and hence
industrially not applicable, methods of
agriculture etc.). Yet they are specifically
expressly mentioned to remove fears from
public mind that a patent may be granted
on those subjects for some reasons.
Traditional knowledge
Turmeric for wound heeling - Traditional

knowledge can be patented.
a law should not be subverted; although

subversion can be punished.
Indian Patents Act specifically bars
patentability of traditional knowledge by
explicitly adding it to the negative list
under Section 3. It has been suggested that
this principle should be accepted
Internationally, such as TRIPS. However,
204
The fear that patents may be granted that

claim traditional knowledge are real.
Examples include turmeric for wound
heeling patent (US Patent No. 5401540),
neem for anti-fungal properties (EPO
Patent No, 0436257), a U.S patent of Rice
Tec on Basmati, etc, all of which were either
totally revoked or the claims that covered
traditional knowledge existing in India
were revoked. Although this proved that
wrongly granted patent can be revoked, it
is expensive and time consuming for every
such case and doing this for every such
Dont use Paper Napkin: During an average year, an American uses approximately 2,200 napkinsaround six each day. If everyone in the U.S. used one less napkin a day, more than a billion
pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year.
Green Foot-prints
instance is impractical. The magnitude of
the problem became clear when an
interdisciplinary task force constituted by
The Department of Indian System of
Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H)
consisting of Ayurveda experts from
Central Council of Research in Ayurveda
and Siddha (CCRAS), Banaras Hindu
University (BHU), Department of ISM&H,
patent examiners from the Office of the
Controller General of Patent, Design and

Trade Marks (CGPDTM), information
technology experts from National
Informatics Centre (NIC), and scientists
from Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), under the Chairmanship
of Mr V K Gupta, Director, National
Institute of Science Communication
(NISCOM), New Delhi concluded that (a)
more than five thousand patent references
on ninety medicinal plants appeared in
United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) databases alone, (b) on ninety
medicinal plants of which 80% were on
seven medicinal plants of Indian origin.
Section-4
Out of these, a detailed analysis on 762
patents granted on medicinal plants by
USPTO revealed that more than 45%
patents could be categorized as patents
belonging to traditional knowledge system.
The USPTO can not be blamed for this state
of affair because the examiners need to
have access to this knowledge through
their computers and in the language they
can understand. If a prior art is not
available, the examiner is obliged to grant
a patent. Conversely, there is no patent
system in any country where a patent will
be granted if a prior art document is
detected in prior art search.
India responded to this deficiency by
undertaking the TKDL project (Traditional
Knowledge Digital Library, can be seen at
http://www.tkdl.res.in/tkdl/langdefault/
common/home.asp) wherein traditional
knowledge is being documented and made
available on internet as a digital database.
WIPO has also decided to integrate it with
the International Patent Classification that
will take into account 5000 sub-classes
created by TKDL for Ayurveda. The result
is that no patent examiner would be able
to grant a patent if there is a prior art
available to an invention that is being
claimed in Traditional knowledge of
Ayurveda. TKDL is based on fifteen wellknown Ayurvedic books which are being
referred
at
undergraduate
and
postgraduate level courses in Ayurveda and
are also well-known to Ayurvedic
practitioners. Similar databases will be
created for other traditional medicine
systems in India such as Suddha, Unani,
Yoga, Naturopathy, etc. This is excellent
205

and very effective strategy to strike at the
root of any fear of traditional knowledge
being patented.
Biopiracy
Next concern is piracy of biological
resources, Biopiracy in the form of
genes of varieties endemic to India being
transferred to other plant species (as has
been done in Basmati patent), patenting
them and using endemic (available only in
India) varieties for inventions that use
them for further improvement in
themselves or some other plant species for
commercial exploitation. The only
possibility to avoid this is to guard
commercial utilization of the plant species
from India and examine the contents of the
patents involving any part of life forms to
watch whether it involves use of a variety
on which there are any individual or
community rights on account of their
contribution in conservation.
This particular aspect has been dealt very
effectively by Biological Diversity Act,
2002. Approval of National Biodiversity
Board is required for (a) access to
biological resources or knowledge
associated thereto for research or
commercial utilization or for bio survey
and bio utilization by any foreign
individual or foreign institution or by an
Indian company with foreign shareholding or foreign management
participation, or by Indian citizen
(excepting the local people and
communities of the area, including growers
and cultivators of biodiversity, and vaids
206
and hakims, who have been practicing

indigenous medicine) or an Indian
company, (b)transfer of results of research
to a person who is not a citizen of Indian
or to a citizen of India who is not resident
in India certain persons, (c) collaborative
research programs involving transfer /
exchange of biological material, (d) for
applying for a patent, or at least before
grant of such a patent, if the subject matter
of the application covers biological
material, for which the Board may
recommend impose benefit sharing fee or
royalty or both or impose conditions
including the sharing of financial benefits
arising out of the commercial utilization
of such rights.
These restrictions under Biological
Diversity
Act
are
sufficiently
comprehensive to prevent recurrence of
any fresh incidence of piracy of genetic
resources. Biodiversity Act is Indian
version adapted from the International
treaty Convention to Biological Diversity
(1992) and every developing country can
emulate example of India to adapt it to
themselves.
Farmers Rights
Further issues of concern includes the
status of varieties conserved by farmers
and communities. These have been given
eligibility for registration under The
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers
Rights Act, 2001 and consequent benefits
of protection under the Act. Farmers right
of saving the seeds and using them has also
been recognized under the Act. Farmers
Use Both Sides of Paper: American businesses throw away 21 million tons of paper every year,
equal to 175 pounds per office worker.
Green Foot-prints
right to reward for conserving the
landraces, genetic resources and wild
relatives of economic plants and their
improvement through selection is
recognized if any of such is used as donor
of genes in varieties registrable under this
Act.
Above developments fully take care of the
angle of misuse of patents provisions that
can be prevented by creating systems
against a misuse and go a long way in
protecting general interests of developing
countries. In Indian context, they are very
well in place. In the context of other
developing countries, this can be used as
model law and adopted accordingly.
Greening of patents
Besides this,
misuse
of
patents can also
be done, which
can be handled
only on a caseto-case basis by
directly affected
Party, and that is
Greening of
patents. This is
nothing but an
old wine in a new
bottle. Here,
there is already a
patent that has
covered
the
Greening
of
patents
c l a i m e d means old wine in a new
invention, the bottle
patent is either still in force or has expired,
Section-4
and the same invention has been claimed
again but presented deliberately and
dishonestly in a clever manner in a different
way so as to give a perception of a new
invention so that a new period of 20 years
protection starts for the invention,
protection to which has already ended or
will end soon under the initial patent.
Usually patent examiners are clever enough
to detect such instances of double
patenting and likelihood of such patent
applications being granted is very low.
However, in case the same is granted
wrongly, the affected party has no choice
but to throw an invalidation challenge as
per law applicable in each country. In some
countries, pre-grant opposition is
available; however, it is a matter of
strategy whether to use a pre-grant
platform of patents office, or post grant
platform either of a patents office or a
Court, as per provision available in law.
Here, perhaps is the end of concerns,
which originate from illegal use of patents
themselves.
Public interest and Compulsory licensing
Hereafter starts the area of concerns which
originate from legal assertion of rights by
the patentee when they pose a question of
a choice between protecting his right to
give consent or making validity of this
right conditional. This is an area where
Compulsory licensing provisions come
into picture.
It is ordinarily a matter of clear logic that
since the patents create new knowledge,
making access to it expensive or difficult
207

or impossible (block patents which are
filed for the purpose of blocking the use
of the covered subject matter at any time)
by the adamant patentee need not
ordinarily raise any issue of rights of
developed countries because rights can
exist only in what existed and a patent will,
if at all, create a right for a patentee and
not for any country. If the invention is
offered at an unreasonable price, well the
choice to the user is not to use it. The
invention can not take away choice of
leading the life as it was being led earlier
to the invention. Thus unaffordable price
of the patented subject matter only raises
a loss of opportunity, which was not in any
way available before that invention and
there can not be any pre-existing right
which is breached by denying access to
the new opportunity. In absence of that
invention, life was going on, and it would
have remained same in absence of that
invention.
However, they are justified on the ground
that the rights of patentee are subordinate
to National emergency. Further, act of
granting a patent protection by a country
is in return for the disclosure of the
invention and with the expectation that the
benefits of the invention reach up to the
people of the country for improving
quality of their life. Although vigorously
criticized by aggressive global pharma
companies in U.S.A. and elsewhere, the
value and legitimacy of compulsory
licensing provisions is acknowledged by
every country including developed
countries. This is evidenced by the fact that
Patents Act of every country has
208
compulsory licensing provision that

empowers them to issue compulsory
licenses in case of National Emergency.
This provision was required to be invoked
even by a country like U.S.A. which is
considered as strongest of patents regimes
where patentees interests are very
zealously protected, when in the face of
anthrax epidemic scare a few years ago in
the face of threatened terrorist attacks on
large scale through anthrax-sporescontaining letters which did affect a
handful of people at least, demand for
antibiotics shot up, prices soared,
adequate availability became doubtful in
case of threats being translated to practice
and the patent holder, Bayer AG, of
anthrax medicine ciprofloxacin, seemed to
be unrelenting to ensure availability at
reasonable price. Canada actually invoked
compulsory licensing provisions to ensure
availability at reduced cost and U.S.A.
threatened invoked the compulsory
licensing provisions to discipline them and
under that threat, Germany-based drug
maker Bayer AG (OTC: BAYZF) reached
an agreement with the U.S. government
for supplies of its Cipro anthrax antibiotic
for $0.95 each tablet, a little more than half
the $1.77 the government had reportedly
been paying. This gave the federal
government the ability to treat 12 million
people for anthrax by January 2002, against
2 million before this deal. Thus, even in
developed countries, need of compulsory
licensing provisions is very much real. In
this example, compulsory licensing
provision was used merely as a threat, but
there are instances where U.S. has actually
Rethink bottled water: Nearly 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled, instead taking thousands of years to decompose. Buy a reusable container and fill it with tap water, a great choice for
the environment, your wallet, and possibly your health.
Green Foot-prints
used these provisions to use patents by
paying a reasonable royalty determined
by them under certain criteria when use
pertained to U.S. Army, solving trade
disputes etc.
In India, this provision is far more wide. If
within three years of date of the grant of
the patent, if a patentee fails to
commercialize his invention, himself going
into production or through licensing and
in such a way that; (a) reasonable
requirements of public is not satisfied, (b)
the same is made available enough to fulfill
the demand of the public or, (c) at a
reasonable affordable price, or (d) the
production is not done in India, under
Section 84, any person can apply for a
compulsory license to the Controller of
patents if the patentee has refused to give
him license itself or on reasonable terms
and the person is capable of producing the
same at an affordable price and is
prepared to pay reasonable royalty that
shall be determined by the Controller of
patents. Section 84 is very much
comprehensive and is beyond the scope of
total coverage and comprehensive
discussion and could be a subject for an
independent article. However, suffice to
say here that the definition of reasonable
expectations of public are deemed to be
not satisfied for the purpose of this
section is very wide and include prejudice
created to existing industry or prevention
of upcoming of new industry and in
general seems to ensure that a patent
should mean opportunity for all and should
not mean destruction of existing industry
and trade or unjust deprivation to
Section-4
somebody. Sections 87 to 90 deal with
various aspects of compulsory licensing
under Section 84.
It is surprising that this provision has not
been used by Indian industry so far. This
itself indicates that real problem if Indian
industry is not threat caused to it by
patents, but it originates from their total
isolation from and ignorance about world
of patents. In line with the fact that Indian
pharmaceutical industry is comparatively
better literate on patents, with some of
them being outstanding champions of
patents, champions amongst them have
woken up to the utility of cumpulsary
licensing provisions and likes of Natco and
CIPLA are trying recently to take best
benefit out of them.
One form of compulsory licensing
provision may actually stand out as
outstanding feature of Patents Act, i.e.
Section 91, i.e. Licensing of related
Indian Patent act is almost a model
209

patents. This actually provides for statutory
compulsion for cross licensing wherein
if an invention of one patentee can not be
efficiently utilized unless patent granted to
the other is also licensed to him, without
waiting for three years after the grant, the
first patentee has right to get compulsory
license of the patent of the other right from
the day of its grant; of course, if the second
patentee demands licensing of the patent
of the first patentee, the first patentee has
to be prepared to license it to the other.
In summary, Indian Patents Act is almost
a model Patents Act that merits to be
emulated by all developing countries
because it takes care of all the threats to
developing countries.
Patents as a god-sent opportunity to
developing countries / small inventors /
SMEs
All this discussion is from a defensive
perspective, where patents are considered
as evils of monopoly and need to be
managed to cause least damage.
It is necessary to review this perspective.
Patents are the only tools where
intellectual property can be encashed by
small inventors and are an equalizer with
big ones. Every small entrepreneur has
something proprietary with him that
justifies his competitive edge over others
and which may be vulnerable to easy loss
to a competitor. That proprietary matter

could in all probability be patentable. In
todays world, very few inventors get
access to public funds to take risk on
experimenting on inventions and yet they
may not get exclusive rights to benefit from
their own inventions if that is on strength
of public funds; effectively his invention
might actually be a source of knowledge
to his more resourceful competitors.
However, patents is the only system where
he can disclose it without losing a right to
prevent competitors from using it for 20
years. He can even license it or sale the
invention for a handsome price and make
money. Rather than big companies, who
have derived most of the benefits of the
system, patents are a great business tool
for small entrepreneurs to come up quickly
and hence, a god sent gift for them. What
is true for small entrepreneurs, is true for
developing countries too. Rather than
taking a defensive posture towards
patents of preserving rights, they should
master patents from a position of positive
and aggressive strength to score
equalizers in creating high value rights for
themselves in developed markets and
utilizing inventions to their own
advantage that come from developed
world. Patent system is a god sent gift for
small entrepreneurs / individuals / SMEs.
Of course, that needs to be backed by a
well thought out business strategy. A
patent is a business decision, not just a tool
to disclose invention and asserting a right.
Dr Vasant Savangikar is a patent attorney and

associate of Krishna and Saurastri, Mumbai.
210
Brush without running : Youve heard this one before, but may be you still do it.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Traditional Knowledge / Valuable

Asset of Developing Countries
Legislative Options for Protection
M.D.Nair
he developing countries which are

the major repositories of Traditional
Knowledge (TK), including bioresources, are concer ned about its
progressive erosion and unsustainable
commercialisation without adequate
rewards for the owners of such
knowledge. At a meeting organized by the
Indian Government and UNCTAD in Delhi,
it was agreed that TK needs to be
protected by appropriate legislative
systems that will be acceptable to the
international community.
1).Misappropriation of TK and bio-piracy

has led to irreparable economic loss.
According to a UN study, if royalty was
paid by the developed countries for use of
their knowledge base and natural assets,
the latter would have gained as much as
$5 billion, double the amount claimed by
the developed countries as loss due to
patent piracy.
The consensus was that the present

systems for protection of intellectual
property and bio-resources, such as those
under the TRIPS agreement of the WTO
or the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD)
are not adequate or appropriate for
protection of community rights on TK and
indigenous systems and practices.
3).There have been no benefit sharing

mechanisms to reward the owners of these
assets, when they are exploited
commercially by third parties.
What are the key issues?

The concerns of the developing countries,
which are the major owners of TK, are
based on the following ground realities:
2).There has been considerable erosion due

to exploitation of these finite assets with
no plans for their conservation.
What needs to be done?

Any discussion has to answer four major
questions, namely, 1) why protection is
important, what needs to be protected, 2)
what are the protection modalities and in
3) what way can the owners of TK benefit
from the protection system. While there
is no agreement on the definition of TK,
211

one of the ways of defining it would be to
include all traditional and unique verbal
expressions (folk tales), musical
expressions (folk music) and tangible
expressions (textiles, pottery, sculpture,
jewellery and medicines). Protection is
important to the owners, as TK can be
considered as a valuable tradable
commodity that will bring economic
benefits to the owners, while at the same
time ensuring that such knowledge is not
eroded or destroyed. For example,
indiscriminate use of medicinal plants
without ensuring sustainability through
conservation, has led to massive
endangering of valuable plant bioresources.
Similarly, due to lack of documentation
and poor dissemination of knowledge, by
chance or by design (as a protective
mechanism), much of indigenous
knowledge is getting irretrievably lost. At
the same time, global companies routinely
exploit such knowledge to gain
commercial benefits through the patenting
system. In the absence of searchable data
bases, disclosing that such knowledge
exists as prior art, patent offices grant
patents on the use of this knowledge to
produce useful products. The patents on
turmeric for wound healing (since revoked
by the U.S.Patent) Office on the basis of
CSIR producing evidence of prior art),
Karela, Brinjal and Jamun for Diabetes,
Neem formulations as insecticides and
fungicides, Phyllanthus amarus as antiviral activity and the like, point out
compulsions that traditional societies go
through to ensure that their knowledge
212
base is protected from unauthorized

exploitation with no benefits accruing to
them.
Traditional knowledge digital library
The Department of Indian Systems of
Medicine together with the CSIR has
launched a massive effort to document TK
available in all systems of indigenous
medicine in all forms, written and oral and
prepare a Digital Library (TKDL), which
will be put on the Internet. Such
documentation will prevent patenting of
TK disclosed in the library. However,
documentation by itself will not assure any
Digital library of Traditional Knowledge

(TKDL)
return for the owners, unless international

agreements stipulate benefits to the
original owners, if information in the
library is used for development of
commercial products.
Adjust your Thermostat : Adjust your thermostat one degree higher in the summer and one
degree cooler in the winter. Each degree Celsius less will save about 10% on your energy use.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Sui generis law for protection of TK
What kind of protection system can save

TK? The present instruments for
protection of intellectual property under
TRIPS or of bio-resources under CBD are
inappropriate for the protection of TK.
Intellectual property protection under the
patent system requires the subject matter
to be novel, inventive and useful. Since
much of TK comes from the public domain,
in the conventional sense they would be
deemed to lack novelty. It is, therefore,
necessary that the protection modalities
have to be through a novel sui generis
system, which should (i) protect nascent
TK and derive benefits there from and (ii)
reap benefits and rewards from property
derived from TK, even if such property is
novel, inventive and commercially useful
and therefore patentable.
In other words, even if novel azadiractin
formulations have been granted patents,
any benefits from the commercial
exploitation of the patent should be shared
with the original owners of the TK on
neem, since without that knowledge the
product could not have been developed.
This may be called the Derivation
Principle. The Indian Patents Act (Second
Amendment) has stipulated that all patents
have to disclose the origin of the materials
used (example: medicinal plants) and the
knowledge based on which the innovation
was made possible. Perhaps this is the first
step for invoking the Derivation
Principle, which at the moment does not
find a place in the Bill.
Nothing prevents WTO members from

developing sui generis system at the
national level for protection of TK. A
model law should cover (i) a definition of
subject matter for protection, (ii) extent of
rights to exclude others from
unauthorized use, (iii) methods of deriving
benefits when TK leads to commercial
products, (iv) conservation strategies to
ensure sustainability, (v) registration of
title holders of TK, (vi) material transfer
agreements and (vii) duration of
protection.
The question of prior informed consent
has often been mooted as a pre-requisite
for use of TK. While this is desirable, there
are any number of implementation
problems associated with such a
requirement, which need to be sorted out
before it is made mandatory. It is also to
be decided whether all forms of TK can
be incorporated under one sui generis
legislation. For example, is it possible to
include Artistic creations, Folklore and
Heritage systems and products on the one
hand and plant genetic sources for food,
agriculture and medicines on the other in
one sui generis legislation?
Need for international recognition of
national sui generis legislation: While
member countries can bring in national
legislations (as long as Art. 3 and 4 of
TRIPS are satisfied), on protection of TK
unless it is recognized and accepted by
other members of WTO and CBD, it has
213

no global legitimacy. And that is where the
proposal to have a Development
Coalition of representatives of countries
agreeing on a common framework for
protection of TK becomes important. The
outcome cannot be taken for granted, as
there are members who agree with the
U.S. stand that a regime to protect TK
cannot by definition adhere to the
principle of IPR, namely, as an incentive

mechanism for innovation.
The developing countries which have high
stakes in this area owe it to themselves and
their heritage to ensure that the
Development Coalition works effectively
to achieve the objectives which have been
spelt out at the CBD of 1992.
*Extracts from the Article
India needs to document biodiversity of Insects

On the face of it, the fact that there are over 8.5 lakh species of insects
in the country, and of them only about 50,000 have so far been identified,
may not mean much. But, it assumes importance, considering that India
is a party to the Biodiversity Convention. It has now become obligatory
for the country to document and monitor the entire range of its biological
wealth, and that includes the insects.
Insects are important as they not only play both useful and harmful
roles in areas like agriculture, horticulture and health, ranging from
pollination of the crops, to the spreading of diseases,
but also, as some recent research studies have found,
they could be a good source of chemicals, including raw
materials for the drugs and the pharmaceutical industry.
Proper and full documentation of the insect biodiversity
is necessary to protect the countrys biological wealth
from being exploited by others. India is a home for one
of the largest collection of insects species in the world.
214
Invest in your own Coffee cup rather than a Reusable.
Greening the Life
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
National Biodiversity Authority of

IndiaChallenges, Opportunities,
Precedents, Threats
K.P.Prabhakaran Nair
hennai is all set to get the countrys

first government-funded modern
biodiversity institute with the
National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
finalizing plans to set up an integrated
facility in 2006. The NBA has allotted Rs.22
crores for setting up the facility, which will
include a biodiversity documentation
centre, a library, in situ plant garden,
genetic resources conservation centre and
a microbial collection and maintenance
centre, apart from an auditorium and
exhibition hall.
The NBA was in the process of forming
State Biodiversity Boards (SBB) and so far
Rs.45 lakhs have gone into their formation.
Significantly, except Tamil Nadu, some
states like Kerala, Karnataka, Goa,
Pondicherry, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland and Punjab have
already constituted SBBs. Lakshadweep,
Andaman, Nicobar Islands and Daman
and Diu are expected to follow suit. The
NBA would be advised by experts from
abroad and India. It is in this context that
an average Indian needs to know what the
implications of this landmark decision are.
This is extremely crucial to safeguarding

Indias very rich bio wealth.
The prior art implications
Current Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
frameworks consider documented
knowledge as prior art. Defining what
constitutes prior art and establishing the
state of knowledge at a given time,
especially within the community (public
domain) would be the most crucial
challenge for India. To incorporate
community knowledge within the
meaning of prior art, one will have to
include any disclosure by oral, written or
other means, such as, public use or sale in
any part of the world. Moreover, the
definition and scope of traditional
knowledge in diverse forms (including
folklore and / or oral transmission and
traditional practices) should be arrived at.
A series of important questions must be
raised here: what is the existing
identifiable knowledge base in a specific
area, who can the knowledge base be
associated with, to what extent can the
innovation be associated with or be
215

related to specific parts of the knowledge
base, is the knowledge base in public
domain or is the knowledge in public
domain part of the traditional
knowledge or community knowledge,
is the knowledge documented and
authenticated in any form, which part of
the existing knowledge base is propriety
including their intangible components,

such as the traditional knowledge of the
tribes from the Yanomani islands. The
indigenous people who collaborate in the
project will receive 30 per cent of the
contract cost and the Venezuelean
Ministry of Environment would receive 20
per cent through rights on royalties,
patents and commercial benefits of the
research findings.
However, it transpired that the
traditional Yanomani tribe had not been
notified of the contract and has since
then raised serious objections to this
arrangement. The Swiss researcher
working on the project had to leave the
country resulting from protests of the
community. This example illustrates the
difficulties one could face in the
implementation of contracts on access to
biogenetic resources and traditional
knowledge in India.
Bioprospecting or biopiracy?
and who is the legal owner, and finally, how

does one differentiate individual ownership
on Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) from
community ownership. Against the
background of these questions, one needs
to analyse questions on traditional
knowledge from diverse angles.
The following example highlights the
issue. The Venezuelean newspaper El
National published an article on January
26, 1999, reporting that the Ministry of
Environment had authorized a Swiss
University to access genetic resources
216
The state of knowledge in any field,

especially the knowledge evolved in
communities over considerable length of
time, have wide gaps and defy
quantification and exactness. Innovations
based on such empirical knowledge often
require extensive work with remote or
variable chance of success. More often
than not, the modern inventor who
exploits quantitative or semi-quantitative
methods in science successfully completes
the last mile in the innovation highway
based on leads from traditional knowledge.
Buy Local: Consider the amount of pollution created to get your food from the farm to your table.
Whenever possible, buy from local farmers or farmers markets, supporting your local economy
and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas created when products are flown or trucked in.
Green Foot-prints
Thus, it is not just a question of borrowing
knowledge, but also substantially adding
value to transform it into meaningful
applications or marketable products. It is
here that India will have to be extremely
vigilant if it should safeguard its bio
wealth in a foolproof manner. If one goes
back into the history of modern Indian
agriculture dating back to the immediate
past of the so-called green revolution in
the late fifties, vis-a-vis the Basmati
fiasco, it transpires that it was the
stubborn refusal of late Dr.R.H.Richharia,
one of the foremost Plant Breeders in the
world and a former Director of the Central
Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, to part
with his vast collection of more than 25000
rare rice germplasms, and the subsequent
pressureboth pecuniary and official
brought on him that led to the clandestine
pirating of some of these rare germplasms
with official connivance at the highest
level, that saw India losing it very rich
genetic rice base.
Section-4
inventions resulting in value added
knowledge goods using existing
knowledge base. More often than not,
these
two
categories
are
not
differentiated, causing confusion and
wrong branding of legitimate inventions
as biopiracy. Mere use of a genetic
resource as permitted by the convention
of biodiversity through rightful material
transfer agreements is better defined as
bioprospecting and should not be termed
biopiracy. What took place in India was
the latter.
Supposing an individual or a company
takes a seed from a farmer who has been
using it in traditional plantations or
agriculture and then through genetic
engineering patents it, would the original
cultivator get a share of the benefits for
developing and maintaining the
traditional knowledge, which would now
Had Dr.Richharia lived on and left to work

in peace, the entire course of rice
cultivation in South Asia would have gone
on a totally different trajectory and one
would not have witnessed the kind of
problems that the crop now faces
pestilence, yield stagnation, so on and so
forth.
One will have to objectively differentiate
between appropriation of traditional
knowledge, for instance, exploiting
existing genetic resources and gaining
control over them through wrongfully
granted patents, from those patentable
be commercially exploited using modern

science and technology? Under the
circumstances where the lead was
obtained from traditional empirical
217

knowledge, what would be a fair scale for
benefits sharing between the inventor
completing the crucial last mile and the
source of the initial lead? The following
are some of the glaring examples of such
issues.
For generations tribesmen in the Amazon
rain forests have used secretions from frog
skin to make poison blow darts. Abbot
Laboratories developed a painkiller
modelled on the active ingredient of the
frog skin secretion, which is as effective
as morphine, but without its damaging
sideeffects. In 1998, Chinese Government
stopped a project, partially funded by the
National Institute of Health (NIH), USA,
which sought clues to longevity by
studying genes of 10,000 elderly Chinese.
The project resumed after the organizers
gave an assurance that the samples would
stay in China and local scientists would
share patents and publications.
Way to go
Demand for natural resources is
continuously on the rise. Productivity of
traditional knowledge in agriculture, food
procurement and development of new
medicines is plateauing. Using traditional
community knowledge to find useful leads
and exploiting advances in biotechnology
for discontinuous increase in productivity,
218
especially against the dead-end the socalled green revolution has reached, are
imperatives for the future. Establishing
inventiveness and non-obviousness in
patenting of inventions in genetic
engineering will continue to challenge
legal frameworks.
Ownership of knowledge and legal use in
cooperative
development
of
pharmaceutical activities, making rapid
innovations with quick diffusion in the
market, with fair benefit sharing will be
the key to success. This demands an
unflinching commitment from the
Government of the day, totally devoid of
any politicking to fly kite to serve vested
interests, NGOs, corporates and
communities to create cooperative
frameworks for intellectual property
rights, respect for community and
traditional knowledge systems and the
unquestionable need to nurture all forms
of innovations for the benefit of mankind,
in general, and the vast Indian populace,
in particular. Will the NBA facility being
set up in Chennai rise to the rigours
demanded of the occasion?
The Author is a former professor,
National Science Foundation, The Royal
Society, Belgium and Senior Fellow,
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,
The Federal Republic of Germany.
Recycle Aluminium: Twenty recycled aluminium cans can be made with the energy it takes to
manufacture one brand new one.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Warring over karela (Bitter Gourd)

S.Swaminathan
he new global trade culture which

the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) is nurturing assiduously is
patently pro-industralised countries.
There can be little quibbling on its basic
Should this process of looting be

tolerated as an inevitable part of a new
global ethic which threatens to destroy
the traditional knowledge-base of the
country? Is there any countervailing
action which India can take? What
would be the broad contours of such an
action?
Overcoming culture shock
As an ancient civilization with a
virtually inexhaustible if scattered stock
of traditional lore, India today is
ironically confronted with a situation in
which relatively new countries are able
to call all the shots where applications
of knowledge matter. It is not only
technology of manufacturing and its
latest incarnation of communications
and information technology which have
put the rich countries in the drivers
seat.
p re m i s e w h i c h i s t h e u n a p o l o g e t i c
commercialisation of knowledge. The
report that the U.S. patent office has
granted a patent for an obstensibly new
anti-diabetic formulation, based on
karela (bittergourd), brinjal and jamun,
is bound to evoke angry reactions in this
country. If this is not brazen robbery of
Indias biodiversity, what else is it?
Practically in the whole labyrinth of

Science and Technology today, it is
m o n e y r a t h e r t h a n p e o p l e s n e e d s ,
which dictates the priorities in resources
allocation and in research endeavour. It
is the concept of private property along
with profit which drives the process of
Research and Development as well. This
is not the cultural milieu in which
219

ancient societies (such as China and
India) brought forth their own great
epochs. Knowledge as the collective
property of society rather than as the
right to commercial exploitation of an
individual or corporate organization
formed the bed-rock of such societies.
To d a y i t i s a n e w b a l l - g a m e . R i c h
societies (in terms of material resources)
can annex any part of the culture of
poorer societies through the process of
trade or investment. For a country that
has venerated its seers such as Valmiki,
Vyasa and Valluvar for their immortal
contributions to cultural formation,
terms such as copyright, patent and
royalty which reek of a mercenary
mentality, not only sound odd but are
extremely uncomfortable.
Globalization which threatens to sweep
a l l c u l t u re s a w a y a n d p r o m o t e a
universal homogenization of styles of
living no matter how pluralistic and
variegated a society such as Indias is in
reality, can be ruthless in its strides.
The WTO and its TRIPS (Trade-related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
a re p ro v i n g t o b e n e w j u g g e r n a u t s
trampling upon the traditional
knowledge-base and cultural identities
of people, especially the tribals and the
marginalized. The new threat of an MNC
appropriation of karela and similar
Indian vegetables for global marketing
is one more strong reminder that the
c o u n t ry s r i c h b i o d i v e r s i t y ( n o t y e t
properly assessed) is up for grabs.
220
Folklore and science

Are bittergourd, brinjal or jamun for
that matter, chemically conducive to the
treatment of diabetics? There is much in
Indias native wisdom (cutting through
linguistic differences) which suggests
that karela (bittergourd) is a useful part
of a diet therapy
for diabetics. And
so is the case with
jamun although
brinjals eligibility
may
be
controverted. But
then for the vast
majority
of
practitioners of
w e s t e r n
pharmacopoeia-based medicines in India
(the so-called allopaths and specialist
diabetologists), all this claim about
karela and other bitter vegetables is so
much of unverifiable folklore.
Where is the clinical evidence that karela
helps to bring down the blood-sugar
level? Where is the documentation in
Ayurveda about this approach? There
a re p h y s i c i a n s ( b ro u g h t u p i n
sophisticated methods of modern
medicine) who would even go to the
extent of dismissing the karela theory
as quackery. There is as yet no scientific
evidence, much less proof, about the
efficacy of karela in treating diabetics.
Why take up the cudgels against some
MNC in the U.S. patenting a formulation
based on karela? When nothing much is
known about the traditional sources of
Recycle Glass : Every ton of glass recycled saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil needed
to make glass from virgin materials.
Green Foot-prints
knowledge in this area, Siddha or
Ayurveda?
In any case, from a strictly legal point
of view, how can anyone in India or
elsewhere challenge the legitimacy of a
patent obtained in the U.S. for karela or
peri winkle (flower) which is claimed by
some, in Kerala, as an antidote for
diabetes? Unless it is proved that in
India, there are texts (in Sanskrit, Tamil
or in any other Indian language) where
such a therapy was specified.
Turmeric case model
It is not that everytime some MNC
obtains a patent in the U.S. or elsewhere
involving as Indian herb (with its clear

geographical identity or derivation), this
Section-4
country should simply reconcile itself to
such bio-piracy. As it was shown in the
turmeric episode two years ago, the
Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) successfully battled
against the patent, by marshalling a
wealth of evidence in support of the
Indian claim that turmeric was a native
plant.
It is to the credit of the CSIR and
particularly to its Director General,
Dr.R.A.Mashelkar, that India was able to
demolish the U.S. patentees claim for
originality about the discovery of the
wound-healing properties of turmeric.
But for this model to be followed in other
cases, in future, Indian technologists and
pharmacologists need to look into
the vast treasures of folk wisdom
and ancient literature. The task of
networking with traditional
institutions of learning about
health, medicine, herbs, diet is, no
doubt, daunting but without its
being undertaken on a national
scale, India can hardly resist the
wholesale sweep of globalisation.
Nor is it a credible stance that while
everytime the west comes up with a
new patent assimilating a traditional
herb such as tulsi or pudina, howls
of protest reverberate from India,
while R & D in the country continues to
practise apartheid where it relates to
indigenous knowledge.
*Adapted from an article
221
Biopiracy and Western concepts of

Intellectual Property Rights
Dr.Vandana Shiva
1. T h e u s e o f K a r e l a ( b i t t e r g o u r d )
Jamun (Blackberry) and Brinjal for
c o n t ro l o f d i a b e t e s i s c o m m o n
knowledge and everyday practice in
India.
2.
This knowledge is well documented

in
the
We a l t h
of
India
Compendium of Indian Medical
P l a n t s a n d Tr e a t i s e o f I n d i a n
Medicinal Plants.
indigenous knowledge. After years,

these patents can be used to create
monopolies and make everyday
products highly priced.
6. Biopiracy is not an error but an
epidemic involving Karela, jamun,
brinjal, neem, haldi pepper, harar,
3. This indigenous knowledge and use

consits of Prior Art. No patents can
be granted where Prior Art exists.
Inventions on the basis of Novelty and
Non-obviousness alone quality for
patents.
4. Cromak Research Inc. based in New
Jersey America, was granted a patent
for these vegetable on the false claim
that their use is an invention.
5. Biopiracy and patenting of indigenous
knowledge is a double-theft. It allows
theft of creativity and innovation
secondly it establishes exclusive rights
to patentees on stolen knowledge. It
steals the economic options of
everyday survival on the basis of our
indigenous
biodiversity
and
222
Cut down on Junk Mail.
bahera, amla, mustard, basmati,

ginger, castor, jaramla and amaltas.
7. T h e
present
patent
system
systematically rewards piracy. But it
was
supposed
to
reward
inventiveness and creativity. The
criteria of novelty and nonobviousness are not honestly applied.
Green Foot-prints
The system itself is flawed. The
problem of biopiracy is the result of
western IPR system. It should be
Section-4
9. Indias documentation of indigenous
knowledge, the folk knowledge orally
held by local communities all deserve
to be reoorganised as collective,
cumulative innovation. U.S. is
ignorant of this knowledge and the
piracy there is treated as an
innovation.
10.
Comprehensive changes in
patent laws should be brought in.
Indigenous knowledge, and trivial
modifications thereof should not be
permitted to be patented. Sui
generis (of its ownkind, unique)
systems should be created to
protect collective, cumulative
innovations. Until then biopiracy
will continue.
changed. The promotion of piracy is

intrinsic to U.S. patent law.
8. P r i o r A r t a n d P r i o r u s e i n o t h e r
countries are not recognized by U.S.
law.
*Adapted from an article
223
The garden of MalabarA biopiracy story

Kaushik Dasgupta
he Dutch East India Company was

formed in 1602. As the Dutch
Armada set sail for the East Indies
from Amsterdam, surgeons and
apothecaries on the fleet were instructed
by the great European renaissance
botanist Carolus Clusius to bring, laid
between paper, branches carrying leaves
and fruits foremost of commercially
important spices and fruit trees but also
from any kind of trees that seem strange.
The medical fraternity was also instructed
to make notes on the habitats they visited.
Setting up colonies and commercial
ventures in the East had a concomitant
mission: gathering knowledge about
newly discovered lands. This extended to
appropriating useful knowledge of the
natives. Empirical fact-gathering was
enormously privileged in the intellectual
milieu of seventeenth century Europe,
experimentation in botany and medicine
an abiding passion for many. And the
colonies with their largely untapped
natural bounties became veritable
treasure troves for this mission.
Apothecaries gardens were established at
European universities and increasingly
stocked with plants imported from distant
lands. These gardens showcased the
expansion in European knowledge of the
224
global environment; they also became the

first sites to classify plants on a global
basis.
Turn to Circa 1703
Turn to circa 1703. A little over a hundred
years after Celsiuss exhortation, Hendrik
Adrian von Rheede, the Dutch governor
of Malabar, has just finished compiling a
monumental 12 volume study: the Hortus
Malabaricus or the Garden of Malabar. The
study includes 740 plants of 17th century
Malabar. It is almost a superhuman feat:
the finely illustrated volumes are finished
in a twenty-five year span, between 1678
and 1703.
The Hortus was written in Latin, the
accepted language for scientific work in
Europe at that time and also employed
three other scriptsthe local Malayalam,
Arabic, Sanskrit. Plant names also
appeared in the Portuguese and Flemish
languages. The volumes are replete with
copious introductions, dedications,
references and certificates given by or for
people ranging from Rheede himself to the
native physicians he relied on.
Give it away : Before you throw something away, think about if someone else might need it.
Green Foot-prints
The book was in some measure the product
of political rivalry between Van Rheede
and General Ryklof van Goens, who was
bent on establishing the Dutch colonial
capital at Colombo rather than Cochin. Van
Rheedes wanted to prove Malabars
superiority in terms of ready supply of
valuable spices, cotton and timber. More
importantly he was able to show that many
valuable drugs purchased in European
cities, including those used for the
treatment of Dutch officers in the Indies,
were actually made from medicinal plants
originating in Malabar and exported
through Arabian and other trade routes.
This worked. The Dutch government
sided with the Cochin governor, even as
his publication created a stir in Europes
scientific and political circles, further
stimulating rivalry for colonies in India.
How did Van Rheede accomplish his
monumental feat? A quintessential Dutch
renaissance man, his father was a
forester and he inherited a love for
nature. His biographer notes of his
fascination with the flora in Malabar; he
also set up a laboratory to process
cinnamon oils. The Hortus was strongly
connected with a shift, in the
Netherlands, towards depicting the
natural world as accurately as possible.
For Rheede accurate depiction meant not
just meticulous attention to detail but also
scrupulous regard for authenticity. It took
him only two years to reject the
methodologies for plant description
represented by the Vridarium Orientale of
Father Mathew, an Italian Carmelite priest.
Section-4
The missionary had come in contact with
the Governor in 1673 and had presented
him a copy of his study. But, the priests
efforts were disqualified on grounds of
alien methodology. And by April 1675, the
Dutchman started relying entirely on
Malayali sourcesinitially to the expertise
of three Brahmins, Ranga Bhatt, Vinayaka
Bhatt and Appu Bhatt. But the wily Rheede
was soon to realize that the botanical
knowledge of the Brahmins was in fact
entirely dependent on the restatement of
aphorisms from old texts. This knowledge
was merely academic. It thus made sense
to bypass the Brahmins.
Ezhava knowledge fitted the

dutch governors bill splendidly
For field collection, therefore complete

reliance was placed on certain men who
were experts in plants, who were
entrusted with collecting for us finally
from everywhere the plants with the
leaves, flowers and fruit for which they
climbed the highest tops of the trees. Van
Rheedes frequent peregrinations into the
225

countryside had bought him into contact
with Ezhava collectors of the toddy tapper
caste. Amongst them were families of
Vaidyar, traditional doctorshighly
esteemed medical practitioners, whose
occupation was passed down in a lineage
from father to son, along with bulky
collections of palm leaf manuscripts
containing hundreds of years of
accumulated
medico-botanical
knowledge. Ezhava knowledge fitted the
Dutch governors bill splendidly.
Enter Itty Achuden. Very little is known
of him, except that he was a Vaidyar
physician and had inherited enormous
medical knowledge from his forefathers
both oral as well as palm leaf manuscripts.
The Company interpreter Emanuel
Carnerio roped Achuden into the Hortus
project. According to historian Richard
Grove, Achuden and his fellow Ezhava
tree-climbers actually selected the plants
that were to be included in the book,
disclosed their knowledge about the
virtues and uses. According to Grove,
Ezhava insight into the affinities between
a large number of plants is revealed by the
names they gave to those species which
have the same stem and to one which one
or more prefixes are added; for example
Onapu was used. More importantly
according to Grove, the names preserve
the true social affinities of the plant name,
instead of isolating them in a context-less
arbitrary category. The plants were
arranged at the University of Leiden
garden exactly as prescribed by Achuden
and his fellow Ezhavas in the Hortus.
The Hortus was to seminally influence

many historically and botanically
important texts. Carl Linnaeus in
particular, in 1740, fully adopted the
Ezhava classification and affinities in
establishing 240 entirely new species. The
Swedish botanist conducted most of his
studies at Leiden, where his mentor and
friend Johannes Burman encouraged the
study of the Hortus. Other important
botanists such as Michel Adanson, Denis
Diderot Jussieu and Ciamician Dennstedt
also relied on Ezhava classification, as did,
In India, Francis Rosburgh, BuchananHamilton and William Jackson Hooker.
Together with the Herbarium Ambroinense
of G E Rumphius (1682-1702), the Hortus
volumes immediately established Holland
as the centre of tropical Botany.
The perfection of printing, the
establishment of botanic gardens, global
networks of information and materia
medicinal transfer, together with
increasing professionalisation of natural
history facilitated the diffusion of Ezhava
medico-botanical knowledge and imposed
an indigenous technical logic on
subsequent European texts of botany. A
remarkable chain links Indian lower caste
knowledge, Dutch political interests, and
the formative period of modern scientific
botany and pharmacology. Linnaeus and
Burman are extolled as fathers of modern
botany. Itty Achuden has passed into
oblivion.
Exactly 300 years after
There is now an English translation of this
226
Plastic Bags Suck : Each year the U.S. uses 84 billion plastic bags, a significant portion of the
500 billion used worldwide. They are not biodegradable, and are making their way into our oceans,
and subsequently, the food chain.
Green Foot-prints
compendium of Ezhava knowledge. The
Kerala University has bought it out. 300
years ago, the knowledge of the Ezhavas
were appropriated by the gurus of modern
botany. There is a more sinister monster
lurking today: biopiracy. The West today
guards its knowledge with hawkish alacrity,
but continues to predate on third world
knowledge systems with rakish impunity.
The information on the medicinal uses of
plants described in Hortus Malabaricus is
of immense importance and current
relevance, in the growing global needs for
Section-4
natural drugs, Intellectual Property Rights
and Biological patent Laws. The migration,
disappearance and the possible extinction
of many of the useful plants from their
original habitats, from where they were
collected 300 years ago, as commented in
this book, also points out to the need to
take urgent steps to protect and conserve
the plants of this biodiversity-rich zone in
the Western Ghats of peninsular India,
considered as one of the hot-spots of the
world.
**Adapted from an Article
This is
I, Itti Achudem (sic), a Malabari Doctor, Chego by race, gentile and native of
Carrapuram or the place called Godda Carapalli, inhabitant of the house called
Coladda, who was born of great-grant (sic) parents, grant (sic) parents and parents
who were physicians or Doctors, testify that I came to the City of Cochin as per
the order of Governor Henry A.Rheede, and through Manuel Carneiro, interpreter
of the Noble Indian Society, told and dictated names, medical powers and
properties of plants, trees, herbs and creepers, written and explained in our book
and which (plants) I had observed by long experience and practice; that this
explanation and dictation went on without any doubt, nor would any of the
Malabari doctors doubt about the veracity of the things I said, I made these which
I wrote by my own hand and signed.
Given in the City of Cochin, 20 April, 1675.
ITTI ACHUDEM, (sic)
Malabari Doctor.
Translated from the Malayalam language into Portuguese by
MANUEL CARNEIRO,
And from Portuguese into Latin by me
CHRISTIAN HERMAN de DONEP,
Civil Secretary of the City of Cochin.
(Down to Earth 30.9.2003)
227
Sweet Bitter Victory Over Neem
fter a six-year-long battle, India

has finally managed to see a
patent application filed for an
extract of neem tree be rejected in a
European Court. The European Patent
Office cancelled the decision to give a
patent jointly to the US Department of
Agriculture and the Chemicals Major,
W.R.Grace, on a fungicide formulation
from Neem seeds. It was the members of
the civil society and not the government
that contested the US claim.
The judges agreed.

This act of revocation of the patent is
significant. It will have repercussions on
various laws being enacted to prevent
Biopiracy and protect the traditional
knowledge available in India.
The civil society has proved that it can
channel its efforts to prevent biopiracy
Supported by consistent campaigning by

NGO s in India and abroad, New Delhi
based Research Foundation, For Science
and Technology and International
Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements and a former Belgian minister
fought the case. Abhay Phadke, a
biotechnology entrepreneur of Pune,
persuaded the judges that there was no
inventive step involved and that the US/
Grace patent did not satisfy the basic
requirement for a patent.
The prior art of the use of neem as a
fungicide was confirmed. The technique
used was well-known to local farmers and
lacked any inventive step and that such
indegeneous knowledge could therefore
not be patented.
228
from developing nations. This action also

illustrates how the patent system is being
Share! Take what youve learned, and pass the knowledge on to others. If every person you know
could take one small step toward being greener, the collective effort could be phenomenal.
Green Foot-prints
abused by multinational companies.
Genetic resources that are freely available
to the South are being expropriated
without reward or recognition for their
traditional custodians. This is biopiracy at
its crudest.
There are still 40 patent applications on
neem lying with the European Patent
Office and 90 such patents worldwide.
A coalition of 40 NGOs from 19 countries
argued that 1. Biological resources are
common heritage and are not to be
patented 2. The Grace/USAD Patent will
restrict the availability of living material
to local people whose ancestors have
developed the material through centuries
3. The patent may block economic growth
in developing countries.
Earlier there was no move to patent either
the traditional extraction methods or the
modern methods developed by Indian
Scientists.
Section-4
For 2000 years or more neem based
pesticides have been in use in India. Many
complex processes developed to make
them available for specific use. The only
thing lacking was some Latin names!
In India, neem-based insecticides were
common knowledge and to patent them
would be ridiculous. Neem materials have
been on extensive use in India since ages
without any known harmful effects.
Neem biopesticides are among 60 valuable
neem compounds. Since Azadirachtin A
(azaA) was identified as the key compound
that works as an insect feeding deterrent
and as an inhibitor of growth, its value has
gone up. The compound aza A offers
protection against 130 insects and partprotection against further 70 insects.
MNCs are behind Indian farmers to Steal
their products or processes.
**Edited from an article
Published by : L.Madhavan on behalf of

VIVEKANANDA ROCK MEMORIAL & VIVEKANANDA KENDRA,
5,Singarachari Street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600 005. Phone : 2844 2843, 2844 0042
Printed by : L.Madhavan at M/s. Hi-Tech Offset (P) Ltd.,
No.1, Angamuthu Naicken Street, Royapettah, Chennai - 600 014.
Phone : 2848 4681, 2848 2697
Editor : P.Parameswaran
229
Restoring exemption to patents in

Agriculture
Dr.Vandana Shiva
1. Though the Government of India has
written to WTO on TRIPS arguing that
patents on life should be excluded, at
home it is introducing such patents.
2. If the seeds and plants the cotton
farmers need to grow their crop is
patented and they have to pay
royalties, their position will become
more miserable.
3. At present, in the west, patents are
being granted for discovery of
biological material or even its piracy
as in the case of basmati, neem and
the yellow Mexican beans. This
should be stopped. We had to fight
to stop the Basmati patent.
genetic engineering round up genes.

Monsanto had a patent on round up
resistant genes. That company used
that patent to sue this farmer for patent
infringement, even though the gene
had reached his field by genetic
pollution and had contaminated his
indigenous Canola!
6. Across the US and Canada, thousands
of cases are being field against farmers
4. Another case of patent of living

material through mere discovery is
the yellow Mexican Beans. An
American bought it in the Mexican
market and applied for a patent which
was granted to him. He is now using
this patent to sue farmers growing it.
5. A funny ludicrous situation arose!
when patents on plants were allowed:
A Canadian farmer has sown canola
in his field. It was contaminated by
genetic pollution from Monsantos
230
for patented transgenic material

reaching their fields through cross
Wasteful use of energy in the car: 80% is wasted through the heat of the engine and the exhaust.
The other 19% moves the car, while only 1% moves the driver.
Green Foot-prints
pollination. Patents on plants and
genes are thus reversing the polluter
pay principle, established by the
Supreme Court into a polluter gets paid
principle.
7. Indian farmers so far had free access
to seeds and unimpeded right to save,
exchange and improve seeds and
plants. So far these were excluded from
Patents Act. Now commercial
(patented) seed supply is pushing
Indian peasants into debt and suicide.
Patented seeds will create a survival
crisis for farmers, since patents will
Section-4
prevent them from saving or
exchanging seed and they will be
forced to pay royalties.
8. Clear definition and principles should
be established for what is not an
invention but a mere discovery,
especially for plants and seeds
materials, since this is the domain in
which through Biopiracy western
companies are claiming monopolies on
our indigenous resources, such as
neem, basmati, karela and jeera.
*Abridged from the Article
The Indian products that will qualify for this

Branding from origin are:
1. Rasagollas of Kolkata. 2. Silk Sarees of Assam, Varanasi,
Kollegal and Kanchipuram. 3. Jasmine flowers from Madurai.
4. Artificial silk from Chinnalappatti, Dindigul. 5. Mysore Sandal
Soap. 6. Palani Panchamritam. 7. Shimla Apple. 8. Tirunelveli
Halwa. 9. Saffron from Kashmir. 10. Darjeeling tea. 11.
Pashmina Shawls from Kashmir. 12. Hand woven shawls from
Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. 13. Kalankari
painting/printing. 14. Thanjavur Art plates and paintings. 15.
Agra Petha. This list is endless.
231
Branding From Origin

Albert Chominot
1. Geographically labelling the medicinal

plants used in various preparations,
mentioning their place of origin would
translate into better business.
2. This branding from origin would put
a seal of genuineness and adulteration
can be prevented.
3. For example Ashwagandha from India
can compete well and outsell
Ashwagandha from California.
4. Sooner or later medicine sourcing
should shift from mere collection from
the wild to cultivation and harvest.
Branding from origin will then be very
helpful.
allows supply control. For products

benefiting from Certified Designation
of Origin, yield quotas are compulsory.
9. Origin recognition for agro-products,
builds up farmers initiatives.
10. Location of origin, definition of
product and process, identification of
origin and official certification are the
factors in getting a Geographical lable.
Allotment of rights to produce under
and the designation control is the other
factor. Quality check is a must.
6. Trademark achieves monopolistic

bargaining power in the industrial
world. Geographical labeling can be a
trademark.
11. The Certified Designation of Origin

thus established analogous to a trade
mark is inalienable. It is collective
property under public law. It is
intellectual property. The Public
authority is necessary to prevent risk
of usurpation and to give guaranty that
the product marketed under the
denomination has the claimed
characteristics. Necessary institutions
have to be built to define and protect
the so-called designations.
7. Origin labelling will avoid usurpation

of name.
12. The Indian medicinal plants qualify for

this designation.
8. The labelling calls for process

discipline and monitoring, once the
tradition has been recognized. Then it
Adapted from an article by Albert

Chominot, emeritus professor, National
Institute of Agriculture, Paris.
5. Area, process of cultivation, culture,

product differentiation will all help in
lending an identity to the product.
232
31 countries with a collective population of half a billion are experiencing chronic water shortages.
Green Foot-prints
New knowledge versus Old

knowledge
he Sastra Deemed University has

declared that the use of Indian
System of medicine is not harmful
but quite safe.
In a research journal, Journal of America
Medical Association (JAMA) an article
was published. The authors analyzing 14
Ayurvedic Formulations manufactured in
India concluded that they contained heavy
metals such as Mercury,
Arsenic and Lead.
The Sastra University
Dean for Advanced
Research in Indian
System of Medicine Sri
Victor Rajamanickam
says: 1. The authors of
Jama article have failed
to analayse the different
forms by which the
elements are bound;
they have projected
only the quantum of
elemental distribution. This is critical since
these elements could be chelated in the
formation and will be safe to use.
Further the final product in Bhasmas and
Rasayogas are different from raw
materials since they would be transformed
into their therapeutic compounds by
Section-4
different processes like detoxification,

titration, heating etc. Hence it is unlikely
that free elements would be present in
these products which may cause damage
as claimed by the authors.
The trials showed no neuro-toxity, nephrotoxity, haemeopoetic toxity and hapato
toxity and even higher dosages were
found safe in all respects. The department
of Ayush GOI constituted an experts

committee of CSIR, AIIMS, ICMR and
Ayush members to go into the complaint.
The Banaras Hindu University and Sastra
conducted the tests and the experts
committee appreciating the work, wanted
the results to be published.
*Adapted from an Article
233

(Editorial Note: When the Ex-President
K.R.Narayanan passed away, Ayurvedic
medicines he had used earlier were
blamed. Yoga guru Ramdevs Ayurvedic
medicines were sought to be discredited.
Alarmed by the invasion of Traditional,
Ayurvedic, Siddha and other exotic
medicines into European and American
markets, western scientists researched into

the medicines. The vested interests of the
pharmaceutical companies of the West
trying to protect their markets by creating
doubts in the minds of users and medical
personnel cannot be ruled out. Sastra
research lays such rumours to rest).
Getting Geographical Indication (GI) for Basmati Rice

1. The Punjab province (now divided between India and Pakistan) produces
Basmati, a variety of rice. The grains are slender, long, fragrant and have a
unique taste.
2. The Heritage Trust of Haryana, All India Rice
Exporters Association and the Rice Exporters
Association of Pakistan together fight for securing
their farmers the Geographical Indication (GI) for
Basmati.
3. The US based Rice Tec Ind. was granted the
controversial patent for Basmati in September 1997
on Basmati Rice Grains and lines.
4. India exported 1.12 million tones of Basmati worth 596
million dollars in 2005. It was a 45% increase over the
2004 figures, indicating the popularity of the Rice
variety.
5. Rice Tec surrendered four claims and withdrew 11 out
of its 20 claims.
6. U.S.Patent and Trademark Office prohibited Rice Tec from using the term
Basmati. It also restricted the scope of the patent to three specific rice-strains
developed by the U.S. company that are unrelated to the varieties grown in
India.
7. In GI registration for Indian Basmati rice will establish its differentiation,
reputation and quality standards.
8. The G.I.Registry has been approached for recognizing Dehradun Basmati as a
GI.
P.Manoj
234
Economic losses due to climate change are projected to eclipse total global GDP by 2065.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Property rights, public rights and a

finite world
T.N.Narasimhan, University of California, Berkeley
There exists a reasonable scientific consensus that the Earth is a very finite system,
with well-defined boundaries. Within this system, the air, the water, the soils, the
landscape, and the biological organisms exist in very delicately balanced mutual
relationships. As the balance is disturbed by technological innovations, nature
responds by adjusting itself to a new equilibrium compatible with the new conditions.
This new adjustment usually manifests itself in the form of changed environmental
and ecological conditions that may often be highly detrimental to the community at
large.
rom an economic and commercial

point of view, the onset of the 21st
century is marked by two
competing forces, namely, laws relating to
public rights and those relating to
personal property. Some would argue that
the success of capitalism and economic
growth in the developed nations of the
world are attributable to their well-defined
laws that protect personal property rights.
These property rights have presumably
provided the necessary incentive to
individuals and corporations to develop
technologies for harnessing natural
resources and maintain a high level of
economic growth. A corollary is that
positive legislation to protect property
rights in developing nations is necessary
to stimulate economic growth and
prosperity in those nations. Here,
proper ty right refers to ordinary
property such as a car or a home. In the
case of ordinary property, the owners

expectation of opportunity to use and
enjoy as well as the right to protect is
explicitly recognised through the
ownership title.
Perhaps the best illustration of this success
of free enterprise supported by right to
personal property is the United States. It
is a remarkable fact of history that the
birth of the United States is synchronous
with the birth of the Industrial Revolution.
An enormous land, rich in natural
resources, fell into the lap of a people that
was seeking freedom from an oppressive
monarchy, and was motivated by a
religious belief of subduing nature for
human benefit. It is not surprising that
Americans of the Nineteenth century gave
themselves laws and policies that gave
them seemingly limitless freedom to own
and exploit natural resources for profit
235

and for benefit. Not surprisingly,
capitalism and the free market economy
have had the most favourable conditions
to flourish in the United States, Laws,
policies, and institutions evolved in the
United States, designed to nurture the
spirit of capitalism as a means of bringing
prosperity to all.
Public trust properties
The emphasis on rights to personal
property, nevertheless, did not mean that
the American Constitution was not
congnizant of public rights. Public Rights
as here used pertain to things that are
fundamentally different in nature from
ordinary property. Vital resources such
as air, running water, and the sea are
essential for the sustenance of all. In the
case of these resources, the public assert
and expect to have the rights of use,
enjoyment, and protection although
without a formal ownership document.
Such properties are public trust
properties. They have the same status and
dignity of right as private
ownership of ordinary
property.
When
individuals, corporations,
or communities use public
trust resources they do so
with permission in a
usufructuary sense. That
is, the resource is put to
beneficial use while
rcognising the interests of
others and ensuring that
the resource itself is not
damaged during the
236
process of beneficial use. The notion that

every human being has a fundamental right
of access to vital natural resources such
as air, water and the sea, dates back to the
Justinian Code of Roman Law of the Sixth
century A.D. This basic right cannot be
abridged even by the monarchs. The public
trust concept was latent in the Magna
Carta of Thirteenth century, and also
became part of the Constitutions of the
United States as well as its constituent
States. Yet, the fascination to achieve
economic prosperity through conquest of
nature by technology was so strong that
the courts as well as the legislatures of the
nineteenth century and early Twentieth
century United States largely overlooked
public rights and acted in favour of
property rights.
Environmental movement
However, the courts and the government
could not, for ever, overlook public rights.
By the middle of the 1950s, a collection of
natural scientists and wilderness lovers
The WHO estimates that 10 million people are dying every year from polluted drinking water.
Green Foot-prints
began to produce scientific evidence
showing that technology and economic
growth were having adverse effects on vital
natural resources that were needed for
human beings as well as fish and wildlife.
The ensuing movements in favour of
wilderness, the environment and
ecosystems have successfully shown that
the courts and the legislatures can no more
unilaterally nurture private properties on
the basis of economic prosperity. The
environmental movement in the United
States has succeeded in placing public
rights in a strong legal position.
In modern democratic societies, both
rights of individuals to property and public
rights are essential parts of the ethos. The
question then is how best does one balance
these competing interests between the
individual and the community. This
balancing of interests may not always be
easy because the two interests often
involve different time scales; private
citizens and corporations are often
interested in benefits accruing over short
periods of time while communal benefit
may involve potential benefits extending
to many future generations. How then may
we approach this difficult question of
balancing property rights and public
rights? One approach is to recognize the
distinction between laws that are made by
human beings to implement their
aspirations and ambitions (human laws)
and laws of nature that dictate the
behaviour of the world in which humans
and all other biological organisms thrive
(laws of nature).
Section-4
Natures Balance is disturbed by

technological innovations
At the onset of 21 st century, a little over

two centuries after the Industrial
Revolution, there exists a reasonable
scientific consensus that the Earth is a very
finite system, with well-defined
boundaries. Within this system, the air, the
water, the soils, the landscape, and the
biological organisms exist in very delicately
balanced mutual relationships. As the
balance is disturbed by technological
innovations, nature responds by adjusting
itself to a new equilibrium compatible with
the new conditions. This new adjustment
usually manifests itself in the form of
changed environmental and ecological
conditions that may often be highly
detrimental to the community at large.
Alteration of climatic patterns by global
warming, acid rain, salinisation of soils in
arid lands, groundwater contamination,
disappearance of wetlands, destruction of
wildlife habitats are all examples of
natures adjustment to human intervention.
237

How does nature function? What are the
laws of nature that govern the behaviour
of natural systems? Although the details
of how natural systems work involve
complicated mathematics, the broad
foundational ideas on which mathematics
is based are not difficult to comprehend.
Among these foundational ideas are:
conservation of mass and energy, motion
of matter caused by mechanical, thermal,
chemical, and other forces, work involved
in lifting matter against gravity, and the
tendency of natural systems to organize
themselves in such a way that they get
a maximum amount of work done for
a given amount of energy to do the
work. The various natural cycles that
are so vital to all living things and that
make the Earth a very special entity
in the solar system are all subject to
the laws of conservation, motion,
work, and least action. Notable among
these cycles are the hydrological
cycle, the nutrient cycles (e.g. carbon,
nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus), the
erosional cycle of sediments, and the
geochemical cycles. One can get a
sense about the delicate nature of
these cycles with the help of two
examples.
days or so. Or, equivalently, the total

quantity of rain falling over the earth every
year is about 40 times the total quantity of
moisture present in the atmosphere at any
given time. Without this rapid circulation
of moisture, the geological and biological
make-up of the Earth would be drastically
different from what it is now. Even small
changes in this circulation, in space or in
time, can force significant adaptive
changes by human and other living things.
Of the total quantity of water on the Earth,

the amount of fresh water in the
atmosphere (in the form of water vapour)
is less than 0.001 per cent. Yet, it is this
small part of the total inventory that is the
source of rain and snow on which most
living things depend for survival. It is
worth noting that, on an average, water in
the atmosphere gets recycled once every 9
Carbon cycle
238
A second example is the carbon cycle. All

living things on the Earth, from a
bacterium to a whale, are made of carbon.
An interesting question is, how does
carbon enter the body of all living things?
As it turns out, practically all carbon
contained in living things originates in the
The world has enough for everyones need, but not everyones greed. Mahatma Gandhi.
Green Foot-prints
atmosphere, from where it is transferred
to plants and algae by the process of
photosynthesis. It is from these plants and
algae that almost all other life forms
ultimately derive their carbon. Thus, how
much carbon exists in the atmosphere and
how it finds its way into plants and algae
is of fundamental interest to us. Carbon
occurs in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
gas, which constitutes a little less than 0.03
per cent of all gases present in the
atmosphere. Not only is life, as we know it
on the Earth, is vitally dependent on this
small amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, but also we know that if the
quantity of carbon dioxide were to vary by
even 20 or 30 per cent from this average
quantity, the worlds climate would
significantly change. This vulnerability of
the Earths climate to small changes in
atmospheric carbon dioxide content is at
the centre of the worldwide debate on
global warming. It has been estimated that
the pool of carbon in the atmosphere gets
recycled once every three years or so.
What is the implication of this scientific
knowledge to the laws of private property,
and public rights? The major implication
is that laws of nature place definite limits
on the extent to which human beings can
manipulate the natural resources
infrastructure of water, land, energy, and
minerals in order to support human
existence. Even if humans were to give
themselves unlimited freedom to exploit
nature for profit, sooner or later such an
exploitation would come to a stop as nature
rearranges itself towards a new
equilibrium. Given that the natural
Section-4
The challenge is to learn to pattern our

living in such a way that the natural
cycles are not unduly disturbed.
resource infrastructure of the Earth is

bounded and finite, unlimited growth is
not sustainable regardless of any laws that
humans may set in place. What then is the
way out?
Based on what we know now the human
values we respect, it is clear that we have
to rely on the natural resources
infrastructure of air, water, soil, and the
landscape for human sustenance. We have
to achieve this sustenance within the
confines of natural laws outlined above.
The challenge is to learn to pattern our
living in such a way that the natural cycles
are not unduly disturbed because of our
actions. The challenge is to derive benefits
for the present, while still maintaining the
integrity of the infrastructure for the
future. This challenge is quite profound.
For science and technology it entails a
change of mindset from one of subduing
nature through new methods of
manipulation, to one of evaluating the
sustainable limits of individual natural
239

resource systems and learning to live
wisely and efficiently within such limits.
Landmark decisions
What are the implications to rights of
property? In a democratic society
committed to the welfare of all citizens,
individual rights to property had a
legitimate place, side by side with the
rights of the community as a whole. The
issue is one of maintaining a balance
between these two rights. From what we
know of the nature of natural laws, it
appears that vital natural resources such
as water and air have to be beneficially
used within the framework of public rights,
being excluded from private ownership or
monopoly. Laws and policies are still
evolving along these lines in the United
States, especially in the arid west. Public
Trust is now part of the constitution of the
States of California, Arizona, Colorado,
New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas and so on.
By constitutional mandate, the State owns
all the water and issues usufructuary
permits to individuals, corporations, and
municipalities to beneficially use water.
Over the past two decades, there have been
landmark Supreme Court decisions in the
States of California and Hawaii that have
asserted the superiority of the States
public trust responsibilities over property

rights on matters related to water
resources,
ecosystems
and
the
environment. Legal opinions and resource
management institutions are still evolving,
trying to achieve a balance between public
rights stemming from the immutable
bounds of natural laws and rights to
property, stemming from human
aspirations for liberty and freedom to
prosper.
Dichotomy
This dichotomy between natures laws and
human laws has profound implications for
science, technology, and education. The
future of science and technology lies in the
direction of developing ways of living
efficiently within the bounds of finite
systems, subject to the vagaries of climatic
phenomena. The future of education lies
in a move away from high technological
specialization to one of broader-based
knowledge, what is popularly known as,
in the United States, liberal arts education.
Wise use of natural resources in the future
will require a coming together of the
sciences and the humanities. As we have
seen above, such a coming together is
quite natural if we recognise the mutual
relationship between laws of nature and
laws of humans.
*Adapted from the Article
240
Only when the last river has been poisoned, the last tree has been cut down, the last fish has
been caught; only then will you realise that money cannot be eaten.Cree Indian saying.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Prayer of the frog in the cauldron

VK-Nardep Team
cologists define an ecological crisis

as that which occurs when the
environment of a species or a
population changes in a way that
destabilizes its continued survival. Irony of
p r e s e n t
situation is that
the humanity is
the
species
threatened by
the
present
crisis
and
humanity is also
prime, if not, the sole architect of the
present crisis the planet is in.
Humans have been like the proverbial frogs
in the boiling cauldron, swimming in bliss
in initially tepid and only gradually
warming water. Today humanity finds itself
in the same condition only the cauldron
is replaced by the warming atmosphere
and related rising sea levels of
hydrosphere. Add to this other crises like
the losing of 25 billion acres of top soil
annually and the fact that within the next
thirty five years largest aquifers in the
world will disappear the magnitude of
crisis looms before us as if there is no
escape from this Karmic web we have
woven within which we have entangled
ourselves so perfectly with no apparent
escape routes.
However the cauldron can be kept away

from boiling by acts of a single frog. So
says the fable in Mahabharata where the
prayer of the single frog kept the cauldron
from reaching the boiling point. And what
can be a more effective prayer than the one
done with our own little deeds than with
our lips?
Here we provide such deeds done by the
Natural Resources Development Project of
Vivekananda Kendra (VK-NARDEP) in the
five core areas where we face the
ecological crisis: sustainable shelter, water,
health, agriculture and energy. And
permeating all these activities is the value
of inner sustainability the prayer of the
single frog that kept the cauldron from
reaching the boiling point.
I. Shelter Construction Technologies
The challenge before the society is to
provide permanent livable and lovable
houses to all people. But recently with
environmental costs starting to exert real
economic pressures such housing seems to
remain in the arena of utopian fantasy.
This is because every component of
conventional building materials carries
enormous hidden ecological costs and
related embodied energy, which are
241

beginning to manifest in global ecological
crisis like global warming - making their
invisibility to economic calculation no
longer possible. Thus bricks which
constitute 27 percent of the energy

required for a conventional building also
emit 31 tones of CO2 for 1 lakh brick units.
Cement factories emit 90 kgs of CO2 for a
bag of cement and hidden in every bag of
cement is embedded water - 350 to 500
liters. And steel which has become an
inevitable component of conventional
buildings emits 4.3 tones of CO2 at every
one tone of its production.
Clearly pucca housing for every one on
earth may be an utopian dream but an
environmental nightmare that may
extinguish human survival itself.
Perhaps not so, if we can make a shift in
the choice of building technologies.
For Sri. Govindaraj the then Panchayat
president of Kallakurichi village of
Vizhupuram district, Tamil Nadu, the least
thing in his conscience was Global
242
warming when he attended 6 days

workshop for Panchayat presidents on
Sustainable development at Technology
Resource Centre of VK-NARDEP. What
mattered was that here are some visibly
aesthetic building technologies which we
ourselves can make at our village. Of
course he does not know that the
technology that attracted him is also sound
by the principles of environmental
economics.
When
compared
to
conventional roofing where embodied
energy in totally 522 MJ/unit Filler slab
roofing economises embodied energy by
30 percent volume reduction.
Sri. Govindaraj motivated and sent his own
village masons to VK-NARDEP for
training in these technologies. When he
was thus sending masons to learn these
technologies he could have not known that
the compressed earth blocks technology
that these masons would bring back home
would have reduced 23 kg per square meter
of CO2 emission (Wire cut bricks- WCB:
39 kg/m2 vs. CEB:16 kg/m2) or that they
would reduce 429 MJ/m2 of energy
consumption per square meter of walls
they built (WCB:539 MJ/m2 vs CEB 110 MJ/
m2).
A accurate estimate of housing shortage
has been made by the working group on
Rural Housing in the context of
formulation of the 11th five year plan. The
working group took into account the
factors of congestion and obsolescence
and estimated the housing shortage for
2007 2012 to be 47.43 million of which
90% is the shortage for BPL families.
Lord, make this world to last as long as possible. Prayer of 11 year-old child.
Green Foot-prints
After these masons returned they started
making buildings and components that
made use of local materials, avoided
materials with high embedded energy and
the structures they build were affordable,
adorable and ecologically sensible. Soon
the technology trainers at VK-NARDEP
received a package which contained photos
of buildings built by masons thus trained
in eco-technologies.
Section-4
II. Water Management
Water is most essential for life. From the
beginning of civilizations, many
technologies have been developed in tune
with nature, to harness water for the
Clearly it is a small effort but in the

process India has earned a few extra
carbon credits and the world has been
made a better place moving the clock
hand at least some geo-minutes from the
doomsday of global warming.
Affordable, adorable houses for all in the
planet need not be after all an utopian
dream or ecological nightmare but an
achievable target that economically and
environmentally can make sense for all of
us.
Technologies promoted by
VK-NARDEP
equitable use of the entire society.

However a brief but powerful interlude of
a few centuries of steam-fuelled industrial
revolution and colonialism changed this.
The colonials imposed unsuitable
technologies in many countries regardless
of the social realities existing there.
Compressed Earth
Block (CEB)
Filler Slab
Rat trap bond
Ferro-cement doors and
windows
Prefab Technologies
Domes and Vaults
Different types of
Arches
Traditional techniques of flooring
Micro Roofing Tiles etc.
Traditional water harvesting structures of

India were victims of such an onslaught.
Huge dams of the state replaced the
ancient de-centralized water harvesting
structures. This led to lop-sided
developments with enormous ecological
cost. Pollution of ground water, depletion
of aquifers and additional energy
consuming technologies for exploiting the
remaining water resources by the haves at
the cost of have-nots resulted in social
unrest as witnessed in recent decades.
243

With water tables disappearing at alarming
rates, can we really save and provide water
for all the members of village communities
by reviving our own water harvesting
structures? VK-NARDEP tried one such
revival successfully as can be seen from the
following:
Revival of traditional water harvesting
structures:
Spread over an area of 3.38 hectares,
Mudukulattur block has 36 revenue villages
and 155 hamlets under 48 gram panchayats.
The area has 61 minor irrigation tanks and
42 tanks belonging to public works
department connected to Vaigai River.
When VK-NARDEP entered the area, there
were about 25 power pumps and 240 hand
pumps - but
all bailing out
saline water.
The absence of
deep-seated
freshwater
aquifers has
restricted
ground water
use.
The
traditional
p o n d s
(Ooranis) that
collect
the
surface runoff
and even subsoil freshwater at many places had fallen
into a sad state of disrepair. The storage
capacity was greatly reduced due to silting
and encroachment. VK-NARDEP after
obtaining the cooperation of the local
244
communities submitted appropriate

proposals to the Council for Advancement
of Peoples Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART), New Delhi and obtained funds
to take up renovating of five almost nonexisting Ooranis in Thattankudiyiruppu,
Sambakulam, Mattiyerandel, Kannicheri
and Selvanayagapuram. The reviving of
these Ooranis involved widening and
deepening of the beds to increase the
storage capacity, addition of simple inlet
and outlet structures, stone pitching and
turfing the slopes to prevent soil erosion
and connecting filter trenches to draw wells
for getting clean water from the ponds. A
most heart-warming feature in this
undertaking was the spontaneous
voluntary labour and various other
facilities provided by the villagers.
VK-NARDEP pioneered another innovative
measure - roof water harvesting - as early
as 1990s. In Thattankudiyeruppu, all
houses with slopping tiled rooftops were
connected through an underground
network of pipes to a collection tank. The
collected water in this tank was then
filtered and stored in another underground
tank, to be drawn out by a hand pump when
needed for use. Incidentally, the
Government of Tamil Nadu made roof
water harvesting mandatory through an
ordinance in 2003 Tamil Nadu. In addition
VK-NARDEP provided Artificially
recharge
tube
wells
at
Selvanayagapuram and Kottakudi.
If people destroy something replaceable made by mankind, they are called vandals; if they destroy
something irreplaceable made by God, they are called Developers. Joseph W.Krutch
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
VK-NARDEP carried
out renovation of
temple tanks at 3
places in Kanyakumari,
namely Kanyakumari,
Chakkarkulam and
Krishnankovil. It has a
cascading effect and
now many more tanks
are getting renovated
in the district.
Embedded water and Hidden Energy:

The water footprint or the virtual water
that is enclosed in the food we eat and
products we use is slowly but steadily

getting worldwide attention. According to
a report of UNESCOs Institute of Water
Education, the production of one kg of
broken rice costs 3,400 liters (L) of water;
one kg of eggs costs 3,300L water and one
kg of beef costs 15,000 L water. Not just
these food items but also other
consumables. According to the UNESCO
report on Water Footprint of Cotton
Consumption, a cotton shirt of 300 gram
costs 2,500 L water, a pair of Jeans (1000g)
costs 10,850 L of embedded water, a Diaper
(75g) costs 810 L of embedded water and a
Bed Sheet (900g) costs 9,750 L of embedded
water. These are not just fanciful
computations or academic conjectures.
There are worrisome implications in
such concepts particularly for
developing nations like India.
A survey explains:
In India, groundwater levels have fallen as much
as 1-3 meters per year, to levels 70 meters or more
below those of 30 years ago. Nearly 12% of Indias
aquifers are severely overdrawn. By 2015, the per
capita water availability in India is projected to
be less than 1,000 cubic meters (m3), in contrast
to about 1,600 m3 today and in the US where it is
30,000 m3. The resulting lowered water tables
require farmers to use increasingly larger pumps
and additional energy to pump ever-deeper water
supplies, putting more strain on already
insufficient power supplies and contributing to
higher levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution. Recent studies estimate
a 4-12% increase in GHG emissions per meter drop in water tables. Thus,
over-exploitation of water resources also becomes a significant
contributor to Indias growing carbon emissions.
245

Any reduction in water consumption at the
farm will have a telling impact on
electricity consumption in the state too.
Statistics indicate that in Punjab alone 35
per cent of the total electricity is being used
to energize 7.5 lakh tube wells, mostly for
irrigating paddy. In Tamil Nadu, the
present uncontrolled use of electric pumps
for irrigation of paddy has an alarming
impact on environment as depletion of
aquifers during the primary growing
season causes environmental damage and
drying of wells. Even the marginal social
cost of groundwater use based on the
current state of aquifer storage and the
forecast of the coming monsoon are never
taken into account in the pricing system
making paddy one of the greatest
inefficient consumer of hidden water.
quite effective. SRI is based on the

principle of sustainable agriculture, by
raising more crops with less seed and less
water, by alternate wetting and drying
(AWD) during vegetative stage and use of
organic inputs. Rice seedlings are
transplanted early (8 to 12 days in SRI: 21
days in the conventional method). During
transplantation the seedlings are widely
and uniformly spaced (up to 20, 25, 30 or
even 50 cm apart). The fields are alternately
kept wet and dry and not flooded until the
panicle initiation stage (1-3 cm of water in
the field during the reproductive phase).
It has shown that SRI recorded higher
water productivity of 0.699 kg/m 3
compared to conventional farm water
productivity of 0.253 kg/m3.
If water consumption can be reduced and

simultaneously production increased, it
will ensure not only food security but also
get its carbon credits. With sustainable
agriculture technologies even the above
challenges can be turned into
opportunities for earning Carbon credits
for India.
SRI in the field:
SRI the method:

According to a World Bank report titled
More Rice with Less Water the System
of Rice Intensification method (SRI) has
helped to increase yield by over 30% (4 - 5
tones) per hectare instead of 3 tones per
hectare, using 40% less water than by
conventional methods. This method was
initially developed in the 1980s in
Madagascar, proved in 28 countries to be
246
VK-NARDEP witnessed the SRI effect in

Kozhikottupothai, where a project called
BIOFARM is being implemented with
different eco-technologies. The cost of
skilled labor cost was a deterrent initially.
However, a retired agricultural officer
came forward to experiment SRI in his
plot. He and a group of 19 farmers were
already adopting various integrated
organic techniques. In 2006-2007, SRI was
also added. The results on vital parameters
are tabulated below. Clearly for the farmer
the SRI provided a major saving on water
usage. With also substantial increase in
yield the practice has created a cascading
effect on other farmers on the village and
today many farmers are taking up SRI
Who will speak for Planet Earth? Carl Sagan
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
cultivation in the region resulting in very

high saving on water in rice cultivation.
Year
20052006
2006
20062007
Percentage decrease in
water usage in paddy field
12
10
Percentage N
0.029
0.030
0.0035
Available K
29.78
30.04
28.46
20
28
Soil macro-fauna
35
Murugans field in Kozhikottupothai did

not merely increase soil fauna and water
efficiency but also earned India carbon
credits without attending Al Gore
seminar on Global warming.
interactions between the farm elements

and he will be freed from the vagaries of
external factors. That is the theory. But can
the theory work at the ground level?
III. An expanding web of life in a hilllocked village
VK-NARDEP tried this principle in

Kanyakumari district and found it
extremely successful. Here is the story.
The main difference between sustainable

agriculture and chemicalized agriculture is
that the former is biomass based, the latter
is yield based. For the last fifty years,
concentration on the yield has resulted in
single-crop oriented agriculture. This in
turn has made the agricultural fields highly
vulnerable to external factors from pest
attacks to market forces. So what is the
alternative?
System approach to a problem states that
more the number of diverse elements in a
system and more varied their interactions
more stable the system will be. In the case
of a farmer, the more diverse his field, the
more will be the number of dynamic
Kozhikodupothai is a small village in

Kanyakumari district. It has virtually
created a silent revolution. The villagers
here took to rose cultivation with heavy
inputs from the original food crops
because of the profit. But they found over
the years their fields also turned as
avaricious as themselves in wanting more
fertilizers and pesticides and yielding less
profits. It was at such a time that VKNARDEP went there as part of a DST All
India Coordinated Project (AICP) called
BIOFARM. Its basic philosophy is that if
we increase the farm and homestead level
diversity of livestock units, poultry units,
biogas, vermi compost etc and link them
intelligently in tune with the local
247
ecological and economical context,

dependence on the external factors will
diminish progressively and the food
security will increase. This will in turn
empower the farming community to use
the local common resources through
coordinated peoples efforts. VK-NARDEP
acted as a catalyst and the villagers were
willing to follow this principle with
patience, perseverance and suitable
technologies.
suggested cheaper herbal remedies to be

prepared at home thereby cutting down
medical expenses. The village, which was
once low on egg consumption, is today
produces surplus marketable eggs besides
meeting domestic demands. Each change
could have been highly unstable and hence
short-lived in itself. But the interlinking of
all the subsystems through nodal points of
alternative technological interventions
helped stabilize the system.
Thus Vivekananda Kendra ensured an

Azolla beds and poultry units in the expanding web of relations between the
backyard of the farmsteads were subsystems of a typical farmhouse. The
introduced. Livestock was linked with AICP has provided a web-diagram as a
biogas plants. Biogas slurry went to Azolla statistical tool to quantify how much each
bed and Vermi compost units, which in turn farm and homestead has been integrated
gave their output to the livestock and the in diversifying of sub systems and flow of
farm respectively. Azolla spilled into the biomass and energy. More satisfying is
vegetable gardens. The rural physicians witnessing the expansion of the web of
identified many traditional herbs, helped
to establish herbal home gardens, and
248 We are losing our capacity for wonder, the power to see and feel the miracles of life and beauty
around us, without which our souls are half-empty and the real fullness of life is denied us.
E.J.Urwick.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
relations in the fields than the cold

quantified data,.
of vital parameters ranging from soil

macro fauna to organic carbon content. .
The household level integration led to

increased social interaction. Weekly
meetings held to discuss farmers problems,
challenges, solutions and experiences
The common services center upgraded into

an agro-eco shop now offers bio-liquid
formulations, with VK-NARDEPs labels
and quality checking. Many seminars on
sustainable agricultural technologies are
held in the neighboring villages. The
farmers try techniques like SRI and Ipomea
compost (made from a biomass rich yet
notorious water weed) and share their
experience with others.
resulted in the formation of farmers

association. NABARD also stepped in. The
farmers association has now a common
tools and services centre. Another
encouraging feature of the weekly
meetings is the high number of women
participation. VK-NARDEPs experts
trained them in the preparation of herbal
medicines and bio-liquid formulations like
Pancha-Gavya and tri-leaf extracts etc
based on livestock and plant extracts. These
were essentially revival of local knowledge
systems. The women with these skills and
knowledge are able to participate in
agriculture in a more empowered manner
than just offering passive labour.
With increased organic inputs, soil
organisms increased and soil analysis
revealed that the soil is healthier in terms
The hill locked village, Kozhikodupothai,

once known only for the high debt rate of
its farmers and quarries in neighbouring
hills, today stands transformed into a
vibrant example of sustainable agriculture
and social infrastructure building and
connectivity, as a proof of the immortal
statement Expansion is life.
IV. Losing a treasure chest unaware
A BBC report dated 19 January 2008
brought to light a highly alarming fact
discovered by the Botanic Gardens
Conservation International: Hundreds of
medicinal plants are at risk of extinction,
threatening the discovery of future cures
for disease, according to experts. The
report further elaborated:
Five billion people still rely on traditional
plant-based medicine as their primary form
of health care. Report author Belinda
Hawkins said: The loss of the worlds
medicinal plants may not always be at the
forefront of the public consciousness.
249

However, it is not an overstatement to say
that if the precipitous decline of these
species is not halted, it could destabilize
the future of global healthcare.
What applies to medicines also apply to
traditional practices as well. But with
but also revived, revitalized and put to

service for the masses.
During the last ten years, VK-NARDEP has
been consistently bringing together
traditional physicians, scientists, local
communities and self-help groups to
identify the local herbal resources and
medical systems, and use them to promote
healthy living. Besides running a green
health home to serve the local people with
herbal remedies, it conducts the following
activities
proper intervention and care, traditional

medicinal practices can be not only
brought back from the edge of extinction
Identification of Herbal Home

Remedies
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants
Collection and Sale of locally
available medicinal Plants
Manufacturing
Health-care
products through women self help
groups
It has conducted many national and district

level seminars and camps of Siddha doctors
and traditional physicians, showcasing the
local systems to the world to save them
from extinction.
Prof. David B. Morris of Center for Biomedical Ethics and

Humanities on biology states in his famous book Illness
and Culture in the Postmodern Age that the western
medicinal culture has declared a war on biology. According
to him, this is evident in the terminology used by Western
medical paradigms: those of battles and counterattacks. A
growing number of scientists are today concerned with the
major flaw of this system with its over-reliance on
reductionism, which views the human body in terms of a
conglomerate of simpler processes. This neglects the
interaction between the phenomena it studies.
250
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do little. Edmund
Burke
Green Foot-prints
Varma Medical Practices (VMP) flourished
for ages in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli,
Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts of
Tamilnadu. This system with a number of
branches is not only cost-effective and
therapeutic but also has a martial heritage.
It is a popular art of self-defence. It is costeffective in the treatment of fractures,
muscular sprains and other internal
damages sustained by coconut climbers,
quarry workmen and agricultural
labourers.
A number of documented texts,
manuscripts, and Varma schools are
available in these districts with the healers
but will be lost to posterity if they are not
documented and preserved. The healers
hold them in secret and are reluctant to
part with them. This resulted in a number
of unscrupulous persons claiming to be
experts in this system and bring about
unwittingly a bad name for it.
To overcome this barrier and to revive and
revitalize this precious system to its
original glory, VK-NARDEP has been
conducting number of re-orientation
programmes for VMP.
VK-NARDEP organized the first-ever
national level seminar on Varma therapy
in the year 2007. About 300 practicing
Asans of Kanyakumari district (seat of
Varma therapy) attended it and read 30
research papers read besides giving
Section-4
practical demonstrations. It encouraged
VK-NARDEP to take steps to conserve and
use resources endemic to local regions.
Home Herbal Gardens:
First, it conducted green herbal camps in
which Siddha physicians studied the locally
prevalent common ailments. Then they
identified herbal plants, which the villagers
could grow in their fields. A detailed chart
of the herbs and how to use them either as
an ingredient in their daily food-intake or
processed as medicine for common
ailments was prepared and handed over to
the villagers, besides training the village
women. Soon herbal gardens came up in
many houses and plants of medicinal values
hitherto unutilized or under-utilized came
to be used.
The table below shows the names of such

herbal plants.
Local Name
Kandankathiri
Adathodai
Arukampul
Kuppai meni
Nilavempu
Nelli (Amla)
Nochi
Manathankali
Vallarai
Karpoora valli
Botanical Name
Solanum
xanthocarpum
Adhatoda vasica
Cynodan dactylon
Acalypha indica
Andrographis
paniculata
Emblica officinalis
Viex negundo
Solanum nigrum
Centella asiatica
Coleus ambonicus
VK-NARDEP runs Green Health Home for local people on every Monday and
Wednesday. It also conducts free Medical camps for the villagers.
251

V. Technology for transforming waste to
wealth
an hour daily for collecting or purchasing

firewood.
Energy is the basis of all civilization says

futurologist Alvin Toffler.
There is also another alarming problem.

The urban tourist centers as well as cities
by dumping a lot of wasted food material
wherever there is open space create a lot
of pollution. Such pollution can be seen
particularly in major crowded pilgrim
centers. For example, visitors to TirumalaTirupati generate about 35 tons of waste
per day, higher than the per capita in urban
areas. With 12,000 tons of waste
accumulated in the Pamba River at
Sabarimala, the presence of E. coli has
reached near epidemic proportions at 19
times the permissible limit.
There is a wide gap in energy consumption

between the fast growing urban and
impoverished rural population due to
capital-intensive centralized technologies
for energy production. While per capita
electric energy consumption in India 553
kWh/yr (a mere 4 percent of US), the rural
per capita consumption is 57 kWh/yr.
Despite urbanization, more than 120
Is there a way for these two problems

by a single technology?
VK NARDEP says, Yes with its
Shakthi- Surabhi. It is a small
beginning in its line of research, for
converting waste into wealth.
million households residing in rural areas

still depend on traditional fuels for their
energy needs. The presently used rural
sources of energy - Fuel wood, crop
residues, cow-dung etc - have built-in
disadvantages: collection is arduous and
time-consuming; combustion is difficult to
control; and cooking captures only a
fraction of these fuels available energy.
The rural people who switch to kerosene
and LPG for cooking even then spend about
252
Shakti Surabhi is a Bio-methanation

plant for producing biogas from kitchen
and vegetable waste, based on similar
principles of traditional KVIC type biogas
plant with a few modifications. It is
available in two designs: portable and
fixed. The portable unit is entirely made
of fiberglass material. Both the plants have
a user-friendly design and suited for both
urban and rural environment.
All kitchen waste (cooked food, raw and
boiled vegetable, and from the dining hall
Indifference is the essence of inhumanity George Bernard Shaw
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
can be fed to the Shakti Surabhi). The

minimum feed requirement is 5 kg per day.
The system consists of an inlet pipe for
waste feed, a main digestion tank, fiberglass
gasholder, water jacket, gas delivery
system, manure outlet and gas burner.
Shakti Surabhi has proved to be an ideal
solution for the waste disposal problemhygienic, economical and eco-friendly. The
plant has found acceptance among
housewives.
This backyard Bio-Methanation plant has
a 3-in-1 advantage. It is an environmentally
sound technology for saving fuel, waste
disposal and nutrient enriched slurry for
your compost. It is also easy to handle.
Like a typically vibrant eco-technology
Shakthi Surabhi has inherent hidden
benefits (unlike the hidden costs in all
capital intensive technologies). These are:
a) Saves time spent for collecting firewood.
b) The time thus saved can be utilized
for household production of value
added
vermi-compost
or
panchagavya using the biogas
slurry from the Shakthi Surabhi

itself
c) Elimination of pollution from
domestic kitchen and food waste.
d) Smoke free households to improve
general health condition of women.
This technology is a great blessing for the
urban tourist centers as hotels and lodges
catering to a large number of people can
provide them a pollution-free environment
by constructing bigger size (up to 100 cum)
Bio-methanation plants. This gas can be
converted into Electricity and also can be
compressed in a cylinder after purifying
and can be used for running Automobile.
This also symbolizes a paradigm shift
whereby a techno-innovation developed
from the rural technology embedded with
values of ecology serves the urban
population and last but not the least
important aspect of Bio-methanation is
reducing the Green house gases (Methane
is 23 times more dangerous than CO2) and
thus global warming.
You too can delay the cauldron from
VK-NARDEPs contribution in the field of Biogas

Constructed more than 2000 biogas plants
Brought out half a dozen books on technology in English, Hindi and
Tamil
Advocacy promoted use of biogas slurry as a manure
Trained VOs, Masons and beneficiaries
253
Greening of Auroville
(Renewables and Eco Initiatives)
C.L.Gupta
Solar Energy Unit
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Puducherry 605002
Historical Context
The
Stockholm
conference
on
environment and development in 1972
paved the way for bringing environmental
considerations into the mainstream of
developmental efforts. Further, it led to the
widening of the concern for sustainability
to include all resources and not only
money, as was the case earlier. Recently,
the impact of Ozone hole and evidence
of global warming have set the agenda for
renewable sources of energy in its
imperative and non-polluting context.
low energy housing, water harvesting,

renewable energy, afforestation, organic
farming, waste water recycling and
transportation- all within the context of a
rural location in a developing country.
Over the last forty years, reliable data and
know-how have been generated for
Parallel to the efforts that led to these

global initiatives, a bold experiment in
international living, launched in 1968, was
taking shape, centered around the ideals
of spiritual, psychological and material
harmony. A new township, christened
Auroville, was created as a site of material
and spiritual researches for a living
embodiment of an actual human unity. It
had to be sustainable by definition. Thus
began an on-site, hands-on effort by
dedicated team of seekers from many
nations. They took up the challenges of
developing appropriate technologies for
254 Supermarket shelves are lined with thousands of food products which contain little more than
refined flour, sugar, saturated fat, salt and chemical additivesa recipe for poor nutrition, poor
health, heart disease and cancer.
Green Foot-prints
technical, financial, social and operational
aspects of this hardware of community
sustainability. On the result of this effort
would depend the birth of properly
conceived sustainable Eco communities,
unconstrained by rigidities of utility grids
and myth of the rural/urban divide.
The Beginnings
The first three steps to provide scientific
support to sustainability efforts were (1)
The setting up of a top grade climate
station with a sunshine recorder, a
bimettalic pyranograph and a clock driven
anemograph, (2) A Nursery to record the
growth patterns of indigenous shrubs and
trees, and (3) Development of renewables
as dictated by the priorities of the
community and availability of talents
within it. This article highlights and
celebrates 40 years of efforts at Auroville
for a Green city.
Renewable Energy
Wind pumps
Section-4
Aerospace Laboratory and the setting up
of its own workshop, the Auroville
windmill came to be developed. The
Auroville wind pump lifts 50 kilo litres of
water per day under the same conditions
as the first. Both models are still in use at
Auroville, but it is the latter that the
government schemes have made available
to the public. Newest model uses the-stateof-the-art load matching devices and lifts
double the amount of water without
increasing cost.
Solar Water Heating and Drying
The next requirement was hot water,
through solar energy naturally. The
earliest living huts in Auroville, built as
pentagonal capsules on stilts, were made
out of thatch material and had no running
water. The solar water heaters made for
these homes were portable and shaped like
a bread box. A bucket was used to feed
water into it. The solar heaters provided
60 litres of hot water in the evenings for
each square metre of single-glazed
collector. They were all hand built and cost
U.S.$15.00 each. Some of these are still
The very first focus of attention was on

developing and acquiring wind pumps,
since power from the grid was either not
available or unreliable, and open wells
were the main source of water for drinking
and agriculture. A sail-type wind mill was
developed, which lifted about 2.5 kilolitres
(kl) of water per day, given an yearly
average wind speed of 12 kph, from a
depth of 10 to 15 meters. Later, with
experience gained by the use of excellent
multi blade rotors developed by National
255

working, though these days,natural
circulation water heaters are bought from
commercial manufacturers in India. Lately
ETC tube collectors from China, which has
revolutionized solar water heating, have
taken over and Auroville is an OEM
importer and installer of these systems.
alignment. This system delivers 500 kg of

steam per day through a heat transfer loop
and works as a tandem boiler to cook meals
for 1,000 persons at a time. Its efficiency
is 43 percent and it is the only concrete
solar bowl in the world.
Solar Lighting
Solar drying was also needed for the

community, mainly for processing food,
and this need was met. Free convection air
drying systems were designed and
fabricated on request, for various tasks
such as melting of jaggery or drying spices
and organic food stuffs, wood seasoning
and for curing of Ferrocement components
in a condensing mode.
Solar Cooking
Solar cooking
was now one
step away and
the cookers
made were in
great demand.
Box
type
cookers with a
single mirror, to Indian Standard
specifications are now manufactured for
use within the community. A large system
capable of delivering community meals is
now operational. It has a large Ferrocement
bowl with prefabricated reflector
segments and a tracking boiler on a
computer- controlled swinging boom. The
bowl with a 15 metres diameter, has an
accuracy of 15 minutes of arc. This can be
improved to 3 minutes by positioning
individual mirror strips with laser
256
The problems of getting electricity in the

late eighties prompted Aurovillians to go
in for Solar PV lighting. The supply of
power from the rural feeding grid was
uncertain and distance from the grid, as
well as the long wait for connection added
to the odds. The decision for solar lighting
was made simpler by the on-site-availability
of an electronic unit, which made the
charge controllers and procured CFC
lamps. The prospect of having PV modules
at half the price clinched the issue.
Standard fittings in the Auroville lighting
system used to be one 35 wp module, a 12
volts DC system with 2 CFC lamps and 2
motor cycle head lamps in bowl reflectors
and a 12 volt 45 Ah deep discharge lead
acid battery. At present, there are some
hundred houses lit by this system and many
more use the hybrid system. Solar lanterns
with 5 watt and 3 watt lamps have also been
The average American watches 22,000 TV commercials per year and is exposed to 3,000
marketing messages per day.
Green Foot-prints
designed. The lighting of the Matrimandir
complex, the heart of the town has been
completed. The inner chamber of
Matrimandir is lit during the day by
optically directed sunlight from the
computer controlled heliostats mounted
on the roof of the building. The stand-alone
36 kW system for night time lighting has a
bank of 240 batteries, each of 2 volt cells
of 600 Ah, charged during the day by 484
modules of 75 WP each. High efficiency
CFC lamps, with electronic ballast and
metal halide flood lighting, are fed through
a 15 kW inverter.
Section-4
Biogas
Auroville kitchens use mainly biogas for
cooking, after the successful design was
pioneered in the eighties. The earliest
biogas systems was cow dung based units
of a floating drum linked to toilets. The
drums were in fact used oil barrels, which
corroded fast in the coastal climate. A three
piece prefabricated floating drum system
in Ferro-cement was then designed to
replace the old in situ models.
Solar PV Pumps
Auroville has the largest number of
clustered solar PV pumps in a single cluster
among the many such users in India. The
common configuration here is the 960wp
module directly linked to the 1hp
centrifugal surface pump. The entire work
of installation, including foundations,
module supports, electronics and wiring is
done in-house. Bulk purchases and
investment allowances have made it
possible for the Aurovillians to get the
pumps at less than half the market price,
thanks to a World Bank subsidy of 50
percent. Auroville has installed one
thousand solar pumps in many states of
India and won the prestigious Ashden
Award for this enterprise. Water pumped
by solar cells, is used in homes for drinking,
in kitchen gardens and for power through
battery storage to run domestic appliances.
Water for irrigation is used by high
efficiency delivery systems such as drip,
sprinklers and LDPE lined channels.
Toilet systems were transferred to plant

based aerobic bio-filtering systems, with
a water recovery capability that is useful
for the farming of non-edible trees. The
peculiar egg shaped dome system has been
achieved by constraining the width to the
flat bed bullock cart used for
transportation.
The
process
of
prefabrication has eliminated corrosion
and ingress of vegetation, reducing the
commissioning time to two days instead of
fifteen days and ensured that quality is
maintained under supervision.
Visitors to Auroville have gained
confidence in renewables, from this vibrant
and living laboratory, which the
community is famed to be.
257

Ecodevelopment Initiatives
Some projects of significant
importance to wider areas are as
follows:
S o i l C o n s e r v a t i o n :While
trying to correlate discharge
rates with intensity of rain fall,
the autographic level meter
anchored in the canyon of
Forecomers was swept off by the
fury of flash floods and it was a
great lesson. So the work began
on soil and water conservation
and afforestation initially at
Pitchandikulam and Forecomers.
Organic Food :Some farmers had
already started work on organic
agriculture and this also took off with
greater speed. Now there is an active
program on organic vegetables and
other crops.
Tropical Plant Data: Work at Nursery

of documenting plants and their
growth was supplemented by seeds
exchange and documentation of trees.
Later work was added on medicinal
plants growing locally. Auroville has
an active data base on plants, trees and
medicinal herbs, which is constantly
updated for our bioregion.
Mud as Building Material: Research

in mud housing resulted in a widely
258
acclaimed publication and now

Auroville is a world leader in
Compressed Earth Block including
fabrication of brick presses.
Ferrocement Technology: Search for

fire proof roofing material began after
a devastating fire at Tojour-Mieux
workshop and this led to wide use of
Ferrocement. Auroville is the most
successful promoter of this technology
in India and has successfully made
airtight biogas gas holders and also the
ribs of the first concrete Solar Bowl in
the world. Gas holders are even shipped
to Andaman and NIcobar Islands. In
addition, roofing channels, door
shutters, toilet blocks and Dewat
modules are also made. A product mix
is needed for economic viability within
a Panchkoshi region of 16 km
diameter.
The ability to accelerate a car that is low on gasoline does not prove the tank is full. the authors
of Natural Capitalism.
Green Foot-prints
Eco-buildings
To integrate renewables with buildings, an
eco-house was built in the mid-seventies.
It included a climate conscious design
integrating solar cooking and
solar water heating with roof
top rainfall harvesting, biogas
plants from mixed waste and
roof mounted aero generator.
The concept was too far ahead
of its time and did not succeed
precisely
because
the
technologies had not matured
then.
Section-4
those that can generate income in rural
areas. Prominent examples are the making
of prefabricated biogas plants, shutters,
roofing panels and ready to install toilet
blocks. The renewable systems are field
Green Buildings
With the development of stabilized mud
bricks for walls and Ferro cement
elements for roofing, two very low energy
buildings came into being, namely:
Visitors Centre and Solar Kitchen which
has solar bowl integrated within. These
were conceived and designed by Auroville
architects with support from technology
teams. They are passive buildings and have
been widely acclaimed as green buildings
because they use day lighting, low energy
materials and employ waste recycling and
rainfall harvesting.
The Outputs
Two videos,titled Aurovilles experience
and The City that earth needs tell the
enchanting story of the alternative life
style that is evolving here. For the wider
society, the enterprises generated in
Auroville hold great promise, specially
tested, guaranteed and issued with

handbooks for users. A number of
renewable systems developed elsewhere in
the country have also been field tested at
Auroville. Among these were BHELs aero
generators and cross flow micro hydel
turbines developed by NGOs.
Pointers for Eco Initiatives for a
Community
Following pointers have emerged from the
experience of
forty years of eco
developments and renewable energy
applications at Auroville:
Research
programs
growing
organically in response to needs of the
community evolve their own
paradigms, which are not structured
mentally
as in normal organized
research but evolve a pattern of their
259

own as seen by an overarching
presence. This leads to creativity and
good results, if one is flexible and
receptive in attitude but meticulous in
detailing and actual execution in matter.
Funds are never in abundance but are

never the prime limiting constraint
they flow in some how, if one observes
the Laws of Mahalakshmi in handling
them: scrupulous care in spending and
accounting with minimal waste.
There is a great danger of MAFA,

where one has to promote oneself
because of funding applications:
MAFA= Mistaking articulation for
achievements . This has to be
consciously eschewed.
For outreach efforts, participatory

design in siting and choosing options
has to be initiated from the beginning.
This is where things go wrong and
cannot be set right later on. Right
beginnings lead to right ends. Efforts
become effectively productive and self
sustaining economically thorough
generating enterprises and ecologically
through a balanced and conscious
strategy, if competent design teams
operate for a commonly agreed goal
from schematic design stage.
If harmony in the team can be achieved,

the Grace pours in and achieves
miracles i.e. outputs are far out of
proportion to inputs and one is left
wondering with a grateful heart, bowed
head and misty eyes rather than with
pride.
AUROVILLE EDUCATION
Aurovilles educational research endeavours to nurture the childs
potential to its highest possible level, and is based on a child-centred
approach. A free choice system, allowing the student to increasingly
choose his/her own subjects for study, is gradually being Greening the Life
introduced, in particular in the more advanced courses. Also, sports
and physical education are strongly emphasized for a balanced and healthy growth
of the children. Artistic training is an intrinsic part of Aurovilles system of education
which encourages the child to develop his/her artistic faculties and sense of beauty.
Education in Auroville is administered under the umbrella of the Sri Aurobindo
International Institute for Educational Research (SAIIER), an organization established
in 1984 to focus on Aurovilles multi-faceted educational and cultural activities for
both children and adults.
(From Auroville Publications)
260
Half the male population in the industralised world is predicted to get cancer, while 1 in every 3
women will be affected.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
For Clean Air- -The Kyoto

Protocol
Asit Sharma
he Kyoto Protocol to the United

Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, which was
adopted during the third conference of the
parties in Kyoto, (Japan) in December
1997, came into force on February 16,
2005. This historical Protocol puts
binding
commitments
on
industrialized countries to make
vigorous efforts to reduce overall
greenhouse gas emissions, individually
or jointly by atleast five percent below
1990 levels in the first commitment
period 2008 to 2012. Green house
gases targeted in the Kyoto Protocol
are carbon dioxide, sulfurexafluoride,
methane, hydroflurochlorocarbons
and nitrous oxide.
The study revealed the number of cars

coming to private schools every morning
was exceedingly high, with one school
chalking up 250 cars. Comparing the
results between private and government
More emissions.
A premier initiative to study the
greenhousegas emissions in the
schools of Chandigarh was carried out by
the CAPE/Environment Society of India
between February 2001 and November
2004. The study recorded the number of
vehicles (buses, cars and two-wheelers)
being used to bring children to school.
Thirty-two (16 private and 16 government)
schools across the city were studied
during the morning hours.
schools indicate that government schools

fare better than their private counterparts
in the promotion of eco-friendly
transportation.
It is a cause for worry for the residents
that the number of vehicles in Chandigarh
has risen so steeply. During the past three
decades, the population in Chandigarh has
tripled.
Rapid urbanization and
261

commercial activity have increased the
demand for transport. The public
transport system has not shown a
corresponding growth. Hence it has
become necessary for individuals to use
their own vehicles. The study further
revealed that the number of vehicles on
the road in 1971 was 12,346 while in 2001
it had increased to 5, 22,438.
What we can do?
As the number of
greenhouse gas
increased. Seen
Kyoto Protocol,
vehicles has increased

emissions have also
in the context of the
to which India is a
signatory, it is necessary to practise what

we preach. To achieve this, schools must
use more buses for transportation;
encourage car pools and use of cycles. This
will imply construction of more cycle
tracks in the city. More importantly a
sense of responsibility towards the
environment should be developed among
children and parents. The Eco clubs under
the National Green Corps (NGC)
functioning in various schools should
understand that mere slogan are not
enough.
The Beginnings of clean air movement

The concept of sustainable development goes back to the U.N.
Conference on Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972). It was
here that the international community met for the first time to
consider global environment and development needs.
The 20th anniversary of Stockholm took place in 1992 in Rio de
janeiro. The UN Conference on Environment and Development
Earth Summit, agreed on Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration.
The summit brought environment and development issues into
public domain. Along with the Rio declaration and Agenda 21 it
led to agreement on two legally binding conventions: Biological Diversity and the
Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). Have you heard of Climate
Change?
Climate Change is the change in climate over a time period that ranges from decades
to centuries. The term refers to both natural and human-induced changes.
An analysis of temperature records shows that the Earth has warmed an average of
0.5C over the past 100 years. The warming is real and significant though its intensity
has varied form decade to decade, from region to region and from season to season.
262
A multiplicity of hospitals is no test of a civilisation. Rather it is a symptom of decay.

Mahatma Gandhi.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Whats what of Air Pollution

Naturally occurring green house gases include
water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, and ozone. Certain human activities,
however, add to the levels of most of these
naturally occurring gases:
Carbon dioxide : released into the atmosphere
when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas
and coal), and wood or wood products are
burned.
Methane : emitted during production and transport of fossil fuels (coal, natural
gas, and oil) from the decomposition of organic wastes in municipal solid waste
landfills, and the raising of livestock.
Nitrous oxide : emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during
combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels.
Other greenhouse gases that are not naturally occurring include:
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride,
which are generated in a variety of industrial processes.
263
How can the Consumer help in

waste control and waste disposal
Sivakumar Moorty
he solution to the problem of waste

management does not lie in the
regulations, laws and treaties, for,
mans genius can circumvent any barrier.
This can lead to pockets of highly polluted
areas around the globe that can reach
catastrophic levels given the kind of
nuclear and hazardous waste being
produced and dumped.
Delving a bit more into the production of
waste we come across three stages of waste
production from a particular product:
product manufacturing, product use and
product disposal. Each stage contributes
its own share of global waste. Waste in
manufacturing is of two types: avoidable
and unavoidable. Production processes
are not ideal and hundred per cent
efficient.
This leads to waste production. Damage in
storage and transportation leads to the
premature disposal of the product. These
are avoidable wastes and companies will
have to revamp their inefficient processes
to have a high conversion ratio.
Unavoidable waste is the by product of
any process that is released into the
environment. This can be tackled by new
process design and pollutant treatment
and ensuring that they are implemented
and levels adhered to. The scrap industry
264
takes over only when there is economic

viability in such a material.
What do you do when the waste is not
economically viable? What about the nonstorable pollutants like gases and noise?
Use of a product can also produce waste.
This stage of waste production again has
two types, avoidable and unavoidable. In
the case of the former, consumer
education in proper handling and use of
the product is essential. For example, illmaintained vehicle engines release more
toxic gases into the atmosphere than a well
tuned engine.
In the use of petrol and diesel the
consumers and the producers know that
the use of the product will produce waste.
Hence it is an unavoidable waste. But does
this knowledge reduce the severity of the
problem?
Product disposal is the stage in the
products life where it is no ones babyboth the consumers as well as the
producers do not want to take the
responsibility for it. It is left to the
municipal authorities, the scavengers, the
scrap workers and the recycling industry
to take over. The whole cycle then starts
with the recycling industry. Quo vadis?
Each 330 ml of Coca-Cola contains 46 mg of caffeine, an addictive stimulant of the central nervous
system, cardiac muscle and respiratory system. It contains phosphoric acid, an excellent cleaning
liquid for toilet stains, rust spots, grease on clothes and corrosion from car batteries.
Green Foot-prints
The common source of waste is the product
itself. An even more fundamental question
will be, the need for a product. Consumers
from a part of the total force resulting in
the final product. The organisations that
try to cash in on the consumers need, by
giving a quick solution, from a vital
support. They rarely think twice before an
action is taken to offer the consumer a
range of non eco-friendly products.
In spite of the consumers starting the chain
of demand and supply they can be
pardoned though not wholly
for the waste produced (They
may for instance, refrain from
the purchase and the use of
such products). The person
who is responsible for the birth
of a product is the product
designer and to help him, is the
materials person. Driven by
the easy to procure easy to
produce-easy on the purse
philosophy the material used in
a product which results in the
waste during the life of the
product is not taken care of.
The solution lies in the
foolproof design of the
product. The consumer gets to use what
he is offered. In a way under the collective
product provider entity, the consumer is a
slave, for, he has no other choice to gratify
his needs. The onus then shifts to the
product designers and producers to give a
thought to the products life and the waste
produced at each stage.
Section-4
The consumer was, and is, used by many
companies to implement their quality
programmes. The concept of internal
consumer forms an essential part of
quality programmes. The chain is then
extended to the supplier and the external
customer. The common link to all these
elements in the product chain and the
element that completes the loop is missing
and that is the environment. The quality
of a product spoken of now-a-days should
now include the eco-friendliness of the
product.
Taguchi gave the quality conscious world

a new quality measurement toolthe loss
to society. Here he spoke of a society
consisting of human beings only. This
should be extended to include the
environment consisting of two broadly
classified elementshuman and nonhuman. Human beings have the ability to
265

express directly and immediately
and hence their opinion is given far
more importance than the so called
mute beneficiaries of a product.
Nature has its own way of striking
back but usually does not fall into
the realm of the low level cause
and effect. For example harmful
effluents being consumed by
animals and birds which are
consumed by man and ultimately
harms man is simple non-linear
cause and effect relationship. The nonlinearity of the world is now being
understood and hence the need for a more
holistic understanding of ones action.
Stretching Taguchis measure of quality one
step further we can include the long term
harmful effect of any product. The loss to
society will then be translated to the loss
to nature which is actually the loss to the
future society. The pricing of a product
should also include the cost of rectifying
any damage done to nature and that
amount should be used to restore the
balance. The use of eco-friendliness as a
competitive advantage coupled with the
consumers mind-set shift to green products
will ensure a better environment.
Man can march along with nature. The root

cause of wastage arising out of the product
manufacturing, product use and product
disposal is the need for the product itself.
Here the consumers can play an effective
role by consciously avoiding products that
are non eco-friendly even though they are
cheaper and more convenient to use. The
producers and product designers should
consider the nature price the product will
demand for being introduced and for
which the next generation if not the
present will have to pay. Finally it is left to
the collective conscience of the whole
generation to look beyond the petty and
immediate short term benefits and
conveniences and be true trustees of a
beautiful planet entrusted to us by our
future generations.
266
About 3 billion people or half of the worlds population earn less than US$2 a day, 1.3 billion earn
less than US$1.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
World Water Forum

he World Water Forum meet at
Kyoto in March 2003 was attended
by the representatives of 160
countries.
10. Unsustainable
extraction
groundwater resources.
The Problems:
1. Supplementing water supply by better

exploitation, storage and transport
strategies.
1. 450 million people are suffering from

water shortage, water-stress.
of
Solutions:
2. Improved
governance
management of water source.
and
2. This number will go up to 2.7 billion, a

third of the world population by 2025.
3. Capacity building.
3. The wars of the 21st century will be

fought over water, not oil.
4. Additional finances for water projects

in the poorer countries of the world.
4. Violence between countries has

erupted 37 times over water
already.
5. 1.25 billion people do not have
access to drinking water.
6. 2.4 billion people go without
proper sanitation.
7. Sources of fresh water are drying up
around the world.
8. Pollution is damaging many fresh
water sources.
5. Integrated approach in agriculture,

industry and homes, looking beyond
purely a supply side approach.
(Kyoto Documents)
9. Water is used inefficiently

agriculture, industry, homes.
in
267

By: Kirthi Jayakumar
Introduction:
he last two decades has witnessed

the mushrooming of a plethora of
cases in the guise of what we deem
as environmental jurisprudence. The point
of inception of this movement is marked
by the 42 nd Amendment to the Indian
Constitution, which quietly encouraged the
enactment of the Environment Protection
Act, 1986. Marked attempts by the
legislature as regards Environmental law
have been overtaken by the rapid
developments brought out by the judiciary
in the same field.
By no means can it be said, that a mere
enactment of laws relating to the
protection of environment would ensure a
clean and pollution free environment. If
such was the case, India would, perhaps,
be the least polluted country in the world.1
It is imperative to note that though a
tumultuous multitude of acts have been
passed, the implementation of these acts
have unfortunately taken a back seat. The
judiciary has emphatically linked human
rights and environmental protection, to fill
in the vacuum created by faulty
implementation.
An
expansive
interpretation of A.21 of the Indian
Constitution has been a solution to the
fastidious problems to the environment by
268
rapid industrial development. Right to life

as enshrined under A.21 has been subject
to
expansive
interpretation,
which led the
judiciary to cull
out a surfeit of
rights, of which
one major right is
the
Right
to
Healthy and Clean
Environment
This perception
has led to the
s t r i n g e n t
enforcement of
environmental
rights of the
One major right is the
people. The new Right to Healthy and
precepts of judge Clean Environment
d r i v e n
implementation have seen the light of day
on account of these decisions.2 As Julius
Stone put it, this is what one could
justifiably call Judicial Legisputation.3
This article is segregated into two parts.
Part I deals with a neutral analysis of the
judiciary and its role as regards the
environmental jurisprudence in India. Part
II throws light on the extent to which India
has
incorporated
principles
of
Let us permit nature to have her way: She understands her business better than we do. Michel
De Montaigne
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
environmental law as explained in

international Statutes.
The Judiciary and the Environment:
An active role on part of the judiciary with
regards to environmental protection has
been in the offing for nearly two decades,
now. Writ petitions and Public Interest
Litigations have been instrumental in
taking the goals of the judiciary forward.
Departing from the previous approach of
proof of injury4, we find that the judiciary
has become more sylvan to the cause of
the victims, by recognizing that the Right
to A clean and healthy Environment is a
collective right, not restricted to a specific
individual. The perceptions of the judiciary
have been elicited by writ petitions and
public interest litigations, what with the
The
judiciary
has
brought
about
revolutionary changes in Environmental

law, along with other spheres too.
debaucheries of the industrial sector, by

polluting the environment.
In looking beyond the quintessence of

A.21 of the Indian Constitution, the
judiciary has brought about revolutionary
changes in Environmental law, along with
other spheres too. By looking into whether
an act or omission violates the right to a
persons right to a clean and healthy
environment, as a part of his right to life,
there is no need to worry about individual
environmental rights. There is no
confinement of the boundaries to decide
which is a violation, and which is not. A.21,
ultimately, is a negative right, not a positive
self-executing right.5
The two key approaches put to use by the
judiciary involve the balancing of
interests and the intentionalist
approach, which aid the expansion of the
meaning and scope of A.21, to include
within its gamut, the right to a clean and
healthy environment. In Subash Kumar v.
State of Bihar 6, the court enunciated the
fact that if anything impaired the quality
of life in derogation of the rule that Right
to life includes the Right to a healthy
environment, A.32 may well be sought by
the citizen.
The former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, Y.K. Sabharwal,
characterized the interpretation of A.21,
as being done in two ways:7
) Any law affecting a Fundamental right
must be reasonable and just
) The
Court
included
several
unarticulated liberties under A.21
In his opinion, the second method is in
vogue, and it is by this mechanism that the
269

Right to Life has been deemed to include
the Right to Environment. The need for the
law to suit the changing times has
encouraged such a development8.
Of the many principles evolved by the
Court, the concept of Absolute Liability
stands tall. In the case of M.C.Metha v.
Union of India9, this concept evolved as
the brainchild of Justice Bhagwati. In this
case the leak of oleum gas from the factory
injured several Delhi citizens. Justice
Bhagwati used this opportunity to develop
the concept of Absolute liability, which
replaced the strict liability of Rylands
v.Fletcher.10 In this judgment by Bhagwati
we could see the judicial activism of the
highest order. Bhagawati held that strict
liability rule evolved in the 19th century
and that law has to grow in order to satisfy
the need of the fast-changing society and
keep abreast of the economic
developments taking place in the country.
This one decision was the watermark of
judicial activism in India. The embodiment
of Absolute liability includes the following
tenets:
)
It applies to an enterprise that is

engaged in inherently dangerous or
hazardous activity.
) The duty of care is absolute
) The exception to the strict liability
developed in the Ryland v.Fletcher11 is
not applicable.
) The liability is on the enterprise rather
than on the company (a point well taken
from the Bhopal gas tragedy)
270
) The larger and the greater the industry

greater should be the compensation
payable12
This transition marked what is known as
the constitutionalization of a tort.
A epitome of this is the C o n s u m e r
Education and Research Center v.Union
of India.13 In this case the Supreme Court
ordered several asbestos mines and
industries to pay compensation to any
worker certified by the National Institute
of Occupational Health to be suffering
from asbestosis.
Absolute liability has become a principle
of remediation of the damaged
environment, as
part of the concept
of
sustainable
development,
which ultimately
culminated in the
polluter pays
principle.
The
evolution of the
absolute liability
principle stands out
as an epoch making
discovery, and is an
epitome of the
notion of judicial
Balancing
the
law making.
environment and
Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart Mahatma Gandhi.
development
became
herculean task for

the courts.
Green Foot-prints
Incorporating Precepts of International
Law:
The incorporation of the concept of
sustainable development depicted judicial
activism shows judicial activism in a new
light. This earmarked the practice of
reading international norms into the local
setting. Balancing the environment and
development became a herculean task for
the courts, on account of facing a Hobsons
choice each time, when a matter between
infrastructural projects and the
environmental damage on account of the
same came up before the courts.
Sustainable development has been defined
under the 1972 Stockholm declaration. The
more apt definition, however, has been
provided by the World Conservation
Union, in its Strategies for National
Sustainable Development, thus:
Sustainable
development
means
improving and maintaining the well being
of the people and ecosystems. This goal is
Life, public health and eco logy has priority

over unemployment and loss of revenue
problem
Section-4
far from being achieved. It entails
integrating economic, social and
environmental objectives, and making
choices among them where integration is
not possible. People need to improve their
relationships with each other and with the
ecosystems that support them, by changing
or strengthening their values, technologies
and institutions
In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India 14 is one
of the earliest case that the Supreme Court
had indirectly dealt with question of
Sustainable development and Supreme
Court held that: Life, public health and
eco logy has priority over unemployment
and loss of revenue problem
In Rural Litigation and Entitlement
Kendra v. Dehradun v. State of U.P15, the
matter related to illegal and unauthorized
mining that was causing ecological
imbalance and also causing environmental
disturbance. The court rightly pointed out
that it is Always to be remembered that
these are permanent assets and not to be
exhausted in one Generation and thus
holding that the environmental protection
and ecological balance should also are
equally important as the economical
development of the country.
In T.N Godavaraman Thimmalapad v.
Union of India 16 the Supreme Court
reiterated what had been said in the Vellore
case and has declared that the
precautionary
and
sustainable
development principles were two salutary
principles that govern the law of the
environment.
271

In N.D Jayal v.Union of India 17 , the
Supreme Court has declared that the
adherence to sustainable development is a
sine qua non for the maintenance of
symbiotic balance between the right to
development and development.
Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration

elaborates on the precautionary principle.
It has been recognized by the court in
Vellore Citizen Welfare Forum vs. Union
of India21.This is considered to be the most
important case as far as the evolving of the
environmental law and the contribution of
According to the high level Bruntland

Report, Sustainable development includes
the following principles. Each of these are
analyzed in the context of the Indian
environmental jurisprudence.
a) Intergenerational Equality:
This principle reflects that each
generation shall get the benefits of the
environment and natural resources. This is
enunciated under Principle 3 of the Rio
Declaration. This principle was used in the
cases of and has also been recognized by
the Supreme Court of India in the M.C.
Mehta v. Union of India (Taj Trapezium
case)18. In State of Himachal Pradesh v.
Ganesh Wood Products19, the Supreme
Court invalidated forest -based industry,
recognizing the principle of intergenerational equity as being central to the
conservation of forest resources and
sustainable development. The Court also
noted in Indian Council for Enviro-Legal
Action v.
Union of India 20 (CRZ
Notification case) that the principle would
be violated if there were a substantial
adverse ecological effect caused by
industry.
b) Precautionary Principle:
272
Precautionary principle is an essential

facet
of
the
Indian
Environmental
system.
the Indian Supreme Court towards that

direction. Justice Kuldip Singh said that
the precautionary principle is an essential
facet of the Indian Environmental system.
c) Polluter pays Principle:
This principle has been declared under
Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration. The
object of this principle is to make the
polluter liable not only for the
compensation to the victims, but also for
the cost of restoring of environmental
degradation. Once guilty, the perpetrator
is liable to compensate the victims. The
principle was applied in Vellore Citizen
Welfare Forum vs. Union of India.22 In the
The world is a dangerous place to live in; not because of people who are evil, but because of the
people who dont do anything about it.Albert Einstein.
Green Foot-prints
instant case, dispute arose over some
tanneries in the state of Tamil Nadu. These
tanneries were discharging effluents in the
river Palar, which was the main source of
drinking water in the state. Jusitice Kuldip
Singh has observed in his judgment that
the traditional concept that development
and ecology are opposed to each other, is
no longer acceptable. Sustainable
Development is the answer.
Section-4
of interpretations. Hence Judges have to
become activist Judges. Every case
presents a conflict of competing social
interests among which a choice must be
made. The judiciary thus wishes to bring
about a silent revolution for the purpose
of securing environmental justice to all.
But the implementation of the leg islation
and that of the judgments handed out by
the Supreme Court is another big trouble.
The Government continues to act without
regard for the so -called landmark
cases that are considered revolutionary .It
was observed that in India if the mere
protection of environment was to ensure
a clean and pollution free environment,
then India would, perhaps, be the least
polluted country in the world, but this is
not so. To conclude, Justice Mathew in the
case of Kesavandha Bharati v.State of
Kerala23 pointed out that It is established
that fundamental rights themselves have no
fixed content, most of them are empty
vessels into which each generation must
pour its content in the light of its
experience

regard for the so -called landmark cases
that are considered revolutionary .
Conclusion:
The factor that contributes to the evolution
of social jurisprudence is that the Indian
Constitution aims at a Welfare State. In a
welfare state judiciary cannot solve
problems if it adopts the traditional rules
273

References
1
Shyam Divan and Armin Rozencranz, Environmental Law and Policy in India: Cases,
Materials and Statutes , 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, New Delhi (2001) .
2
See Justice B.N. Kirpal, Environmental Justice In India, (2002) 7 SCC (Jour) 1 and
A. Padmavathi, Fixing Liablity In Environmental Cases Recent Trends, http://
www.nlsenlaw.org/envProtection/articles/GERART4/view ;also see S.C.Shastri,
Environmental Law in India, 2nd Edition, Eastern Book Company,Lucknow(2005).
3
See Julius Stone,Legal System and Lawyers Reasoning, Universal Law Publishers,
New Delhi (Indian Reprint 2004 )
4
Bangalore Medical Trust v. B.S. Muddappa , (1991) 4 SCC 54
5
See P.Leelakrishnan, Environmental Law in India, Butterworths Indian, New Delhi
(1999), Ibid.
6
(1991) 1 SCC 598
7
See Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Human Rights and the Environment, http://supremecourt
ofindia.nic.in/new_links/humanrights.htm
8
Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, Principle of Constitutional Interpretation:Some
Reflections, (2004) 4 SCC (Jour) 1
9
(Oleum gas leakage case)(1987) 1 SCC 395
10
(1868)LR 3 HL 330
11
Ibid
12
Supra n.10 at p.351
13
AIR 1995 SC 99 2.
14
Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Judicial Process: Social Legitimacy and Institutional Viability,
(1996) 4 SCC (Jour) 1
15
(1987) Supp SCC 487.
16
(2002) 10 SCC 606 at p.613. .
17
(2003) 6 SCC 572 at 586
18
AIR 1997 SC 734
19
AIR 1996 SC 149
20
(1996) 5 SCC 281
21
AIR 1996 SC 2715
22
AIR 1996 SC 2715
23
(1973) 4 SCC 1461
274
I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still can do something; I will not refuse
to do something I can do Helen Keller.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Only when the last river has been poisoned,

the last tree has been cut down, the last
fish has been caught; only then will you
realise that money cannot be eaten.
275
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
Prayer of the frog in the cauldron

VK-Nardep Team
cologists define an ecological crisis

as that which occurs when the
environment of a species or a
population changes in a way that
destabilizes its continued survival. Irony
of
present
situation is that
the humanity is
the
species
threatened by
the
present
crisis
and
humanity
is
also prime, if not, the sole architect of the
present crisis the planet is in.
Humans have been like the proverbial
frogs in the boiling cauldron, swimming
in bliss in initially tepid and only gradually
warming water. Today humanity finds
itself in the same condition only the
cauldron is replaced by the warming
atmosphere and related rising sea levels
of hydrosphere. Add to this other crises
like the losing of 25 billion acres of top soil
annually and the fact that within the next
thirty five years largest aquifers in the
world will disappear the magnitude of
crisis looms before us as if there is no
escape from this Karmic web we have
woven within which we have entangled
ourselves so perfectly with no apparent
escape routes.
However the cauldron can be kept away

from boiling by acts of a single frog. So
says the fable in Mahabharata where the
prayer of the single frog kept the cauldron
from reaching the boiling point. And what
can be a more effective prayer than the
one done with our own little deeds than
with our lips?
Here we provide such deeds done by the
Natural Resources Development Project of
Vivekananda Kendra (VK-NARDEP) in the
five core areas where we face the
ecological crisis: sustainable shelter,
water, health, agriculture and energy. And
permeating all these activities is the value
of inner sustainability the prayer of the
single frog that kept the cauldron from
I. Shelter Construction Technologies
The challenge before the society is to
provide permanent livable and lovable
houses to all people. But recently with
environmental costs starting to exert real
economic pressures such housing seems
to remain in the arena of utopian fantasy.
This is because every component of
conventional building materials carries
enormous hidden ecological costs and
related embodied energy, which are
1

beginning to manifest in global ecological
crisis like global warming - making their
invisibility to economic calculation no
longer possible. Thus bricks which
constitute 27 percent of the energy

required for a conventional building also
emit 31 tones of CO2 for 1 lakh brick units.
Cement factories emit 90 kgs of CO2 for a
bag of cement and hidden in every bag of
cement is embedded water - 350 to 500
liters. And steel which has become an
inevitable component of conventional
buildings emits 4.3 tones of CO2 at every
one tone of its production.
Clearly pucca housing for every one on
earth may be an utopian dream but an
environmental nightmare that may
extinguish human survival itself.
Perhaps not so, if we can make a shift in
the choice of building technologies.
For Sri. Govindaraj the then Panchayat
president of Kallakurichi village of
Vizhupuram district, Tamil Nadu, the least
thing in his conscience was Global
2
warming when he attended 6 days

workshop for Panchayat presidents on
Sustainable development at Technology
Resource Centre of VK-NARDEP. What
mattered was that here are some visibly
aesthetic building technologies which we
ourselves can make at our village. Of
course he does not know that the
technology that attracted him is also
sound by the principles of environmental
economics.
When
compared
to
conventional roofing where embodied
energy in totally 522 MJ/unit Filler slab
roofing economises embodied energy by
30 percent volume reduction.
Sri. Govindaraj motivated and sent his
own village masons to VK-NARDEP for
training in these technologies. When he
was thus sending masons to learn these
technologies he could have not known that
the compressed earth blocks technology
that these masons would bring back home
would have reduced 23 kg per square
meter of CO2 emission (Wire cut bricksWCB: 39 kg/m2 vs. CEB:16 kg/m2) or that
they would reduce 429 MJ/m2 of energy
consumption per square meter of walls
they built (WCB:539 MJ/m2 vs CEB 110
MJ/m2).
A accurate estimate of housing shortage
has been made by the working group on
Rural Housing in the context of
formulation of the 11th five year plan. The
working group took into account the
factors of congestion and obsolescence
and estimated the housing shortage for
2007 2012 to be 47.43 million of which
90% is the shortage for BPL families.
Green Foot-prints
After these masons returned they started
making buildings and components that
made use of local materials, avoided
materials with high embedded energy and
the structures they build were affordable,
adorable and ecologically sensible. Soon
the technology trainers at VK-NARDEP
received a package which contained
photos of buildings built by masons thus
trained in eco-technologies.
Section-4
II. Water Management
Water is most essential for life. From the
beginning of civilizations, many
technologies have been developed in tune
with nature, to harness water for the
Clearly it is a small effort but in the

process India has earned a few extra
carbon credits and the world has been
made a better place moving the clock
hand at least some geo-minutes from
the doomsday of global warming.
Affordable, adorable houses for all in the
planet need not be after all an utopian
dream or ecological nightmare but an
achievable target that economically and
environmentally can make sense for all of
us.
Technologies promoted by
VK-NARDEP
equitable use of the entire society.

However a brief but powerful interlude of
a few centuries of steam-fuelled industrial
revolution and colonialism changed this.
The colonials imposed unsuitable
technologies in many countries regardless
of the social realities existing there.
Compressed Earth
Block (CEB)
Filler Slab
Rat trap bond
Ferro-cement doors
and windows
Prefab Technologies
Domes and Vaults
Different types of
Arches
Traditional techniques of flooring
Micro Roofing Tiles etc.
Traditional water harvesting structures of

India were victims of such an onslaught.
Huge dams of the state replaced the
ancient de-centralized water harvesting
structures. This led to lop-sided
developments with enormous ecological
cost. Pollution of ground water, depletion
of aquifers and additional energy
consuming technologies for exploiting the
remaining water resources by the haves
at the cost of have-nots resulted in social
unrest as witnessed in recent decades.
3

With water tables disappearing at
alarming rates, can we really save and
provide water for all the members of
village communities by reviving our own
water harvesting structures? VK-NARDEP
tried one such revival successfully as can
be seen from the following:
Revival of traditional water harvesting
structures:
Spread over an area of 3.38 hectares,
Mudukulattur block has 36 revenue
villages and 155 hamlets under 48 gram
panchayats. The area has 61 minor
irrigation tanks and 42 tanks belonging to
public works department connected to
Vaigai River. When VK-NARDEP entered
the area, there were about 25 power
pumps and
240
hand
pumps - but
all bailing out
saline water.
The absence
of
deeps e a t e d
freshwater
aquifers has
restricted
ground water
use.
The
traditional
p o n d s
(Ooranis) that
collect the surface runoff and even subsoil freshwater at many places had fallen
into a sad state of disrepair. The storage
capacity was greatly reduced due to silting
and encroachment. VK-NARDEP after
4
obtaining the cooperation of the local

communities submitted appropriate
proposals to the Council for Advancement
of Peoples Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART), New Delhi and obtained funds
to take up renovating of five almost nonexisting Ooranis in Thattankudiyiruppu,
Sambakulam, Mattiyerandel, Kannicheri
and Selvanayagapuram. The reviving of
these Ooranis involved widening and
deepening of the beds to increase the
storage capacity, addition of simple inlet
and outlet structures, stone pitching and
turfing the slopes to prevent soil erosion
and connecting filter trenches to draw
wells for getting clean water from the
ponds. A most heart-warming feature in
this undertaking was the spontaneous
voluntary labour and various other
facilities provided by the villagers.
VK-NARDEP
pioneered
another
innovative measure - roof water
harvesting - as early as 1990s. In
Thattankudiyeruppu, all houses with
slopping tiled rooftops were connected
through an underground network of pipes
to a collection tank. The collected water
in this tank was then filtered and stored
in another underground tank, to be drawn
out by a hand pump when needed for use.
Incidentally, the Government of Tamil
Nadu made roof water harvesting
mandatory through an ordinance in 2003
Tamil Nadu. In addition VK-NARDEP
provided Artificially recharge tube
wells at Selvanayagapuram and
Kottakudi.
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
VK-NARDEP carried
out renovation of
temple tanks at 3
places
in
Kanyakumari, namely
Kanyakumari,
Chakkarkulam and
Krishnankovil. It has a
cascading effect and
now many more tanks
are getting renovated
in the district.
Embedded water and Hidden Energy:

The water footprint or the virtual water
that is enclosed in the food we eat and
products we use is slowly but steadily

getting worldwide attention. According to
a report of UNESCOs Institute of Water
Education, the production of one kg of
broken rice costs 3,400 liters (L) of water;
one kg of eggs costs 3,300L water and one
kg of beef costs 15,000 L water. Not just
these food items but also other
consumables. According to the UNESCO
report on Water Footprint of Cotton
Consumption, a cotton shirt of 300 gram
costs 2,500 L water, a pair of Jeans (1000g)
costs 10,850 L of embedded water, a
Diaper (75g) costs 810 L of embedded
water and a Bed Sheet (900g) costs 9,750
L of embedded water. These are not just
fanciful computations or academic
conjectures. There are worrisome
implications in such concepts
particularly for developing nations like
India.
A survey explains:
In India, groundwater levels have fallen as much
as 1-3 meters per year, to levels 70 meters or more
below those of 30 years ago. Nearly 12% of Indias
aquifers are severely overdrawn. By 2015, the per
capita water availability in India is projected to
be less than 1,000 cubic meters (m3), in contrast
to about 1,600 m3 today and in the US where it is
30,000 m3. The resulting lowered water tables
require farmers to use increasingly larger pumps
and additional energy to pump ever-deeper water
supplies, putting more strain on already
insufficient power supplies and contributing to
higher levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution. Recent studies estimate
a 4-12% increase in GHG emissions per meter drop in water tables.
Thus, over-exploitation of water resources also becomes a significant
contributor to Indias growing carbon emissions.
5

Any reduction in water consumption at the
farm will have a telling impact on
electricity consumption in the state too.
Statistics indicate that in Punjab alone 35
per cent of the total electricity is being
used to energize 7.5 lakh tube wells, mostly
for irrigating paddy. In Tamil Nadu, the
present uncontrolled use of electric pumps
for irrigation of paddy has an alarming
impact on environment as depletion of
aquifers during the primary growing
season causes environmental damage and
drying of wells. Even the marginal social
cost of groundwater use based on the
current state of aquifer storage and the
forecast of the coming monsoon are never
taken into account in the pricing system
making paddy one of the greatest
inefficient consumer of hidden water.
quite effective. SRI is based on the

principle of sustainable agriculture, by
raising more crops with less seed and less
water, by alternate wetting and drying
(AWD) during vegetative stage and use of
organic inputs. Rice seedlings are
transplanted early (8 to 12 days in SRI: 21
days in the conventional method). During
transplantation the seedlings are widely
and uniformly spaced (up to 20, 25, 30 or
even 50 cm apart). The fields are
alternately kept wet and dry and not
flooded until the panicle initiation stage
(1-3 cm of water in the field during the
reproductive phase). It has shown that SRI
recorded higher water productivity of
0.699 kg/m 3 compared to conventional
farm water productivity of 0.253 kg/m3.
If water consumption can be reduced and

simultaneously production increased, it
will ensure not only food security but also
get its carbon credits. With sustainable
agriculture technologies even the above
challenges can be turned into
opportunities for earning Carbon credits
for India.
SRI in the field:
SRI the method:

According to a World Bank report titled
More Rice with Less Water the System
of Rice Intensification method (SRI) has
helped to increase yield by over 30% (4 - 5
tones) per hectare instead of 3 tones per
hectare, using 40% less water than by
conventional methods. This method was
initially developed in the 1980s in
Madagascar, proved in 28 countries to be
6
VK-NARDEP witnessed the SRI effect in

Kozhikottupothai, where a project called
BIOFARM is being implemented with
different eco-technologies. The cost of
skilled labor cost was a deterrent initially.
However, a retired agricultural officer
came forward to experiment SRI in his
plot. He and a group of 19 farmers were
already adopting various integrated
organic techniques. In 2006-2007, SRI was
also added.
The results on vital
parameters are tabulated below. Clearly
for the farmer the SRI provided a major
saving on water usage. With also
substantial increase in yield the practice
has created a cascading effect on other
farmers on the village and today many
farmers are taking up SRI cultivation in
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
the region resulting in very high saving

on water in rice cultivation.
Year
20052006
2006
20062007
Percentage decrease in
water usage in paddy field
12
10
Percentage N
0.029
0.030
0.0035
Available K
29.78
30.04
28.46
20
28
Soil macro-fauna
35
Murugans field in Kozhikottupothai did

not merely increase soil fauna and
water efficiency but also earned India
carbon credits without attending Al
Gore seminar on Global warming.
interactions between the farm elements

and he will be freed from the vagaries of
external factors. That is the theory. But can
the theory work at the ground level?
III. An expanding web of life in a hill-locked

village
VK-NARDEP tried this principle in

Kanyakumari district and found it
extremely successful. Here is the story.
The main difference between sustainable

agriculture and chemicalized agriculture
is that the former is biomass based, the
latter is yield based. For the last fifty years,
concentration on the yield has resulted in
single-crop oriented agriculture. This in
turn has made the agricultural fields
highly vulnerable to external factors
from pest attacks to market forces. So
what is the alternative?
System approach to a problem states that
more the number of diverse elements in a
system and more varied their interactions
more stable the system will be. In the case
of a farmer, the more diverse his field, the
more will be the number of dynamic
Kozhikodupothai is a small village in

Kanyakumari district. It has virtually
created a silent revolution. The villagers
here took to rose cultivation with heavy
inputs from the original food crops
because of the profit. But they found over
the years their fields also turned as
avaricious as themselves in wanting more
fertilizers and pesticides and yielding less
profits. It was at such a time that VKNARDEP went there as part of a DST All
India Coordinated Project (AICP) called
BIOFARM. Its basic philosophy is that if
we increase the farm and homestead level
diversity of livestock units, poultry units,
biogas, vermi compost etc and link them
intelligently in tune with the local
7
ecological and economical context,

dependence on the external factors will
diminish progressively and the food
security will increase. This will in turn
empower the farming community to use
the local common resources through
coordinated peoples efforts. VK-NARDEP
acted as a catalyst and the villagers were
willing to follow this principle with
patience, perseverance and suitable
technologies.
Azolla beds and poultry units in the
backyard of the farmsteads were
introduced. Livestock was linked with
biogas plants. Biogas slurry went to Azolla
bed and Vermi compost units, which in
turn gave their output to the livestock and
the farm respectively. Azolla spilled into
vegetable gardens. The rural physicians
identified many traditional herbs, helped
to establish herbal home gardens, and
8
suggested cheaper herbal remedies to be

prepared at home thereby cutting down
medical expenses. The village, which was
once low on egg consumption, is today
produces surplus marketable eggs besides
meeting domestic demands. Each change
could have been highly unstable and hence
short-lived in itself. But the interlinking of
all the subsystems through nodal points
of alternative technological interventions
helped stabilize the system.
Thus Vivekananda Kendra ensured an
expanding web of relations between the
subsystems of a typical farmhouse. The
AICP has provided a web-diagram as a
statistical tool to quantify how much each
farm and homestead has been integrated
in diversifying of sub systems and flow of
the biomass and energy. More satisfying
is witnessing the expansion of the web of
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
relations in the fields than the cold

quantified data,.
of vital parameters ranging from soil

macro fauna to organic carbon content. .
The household level integration led to

increased social interaction. Weekly
meetings held to discuss farmers
problems, challenges, solutions and
The common services center upgraded

into an agro-eco shop now offers bioliquid formulations, with VK-NARDEPs
labels and quality checking. Many
seminars on sustainable agricultural
technologies are held in the neighboring
villages. The farmers try techniques like
SRI and Ipomea compost (made from a
biomass rich yet notorious water weed)
and share their experience with others.
experiences resulted in the formation of

farmers association. NABARD also
stepped in. The farmers association has
now a common tools and services centre.
Another encouraging feature of the
weekly meetings is the high number of
women participation. VK-NARDEPs
experts trained them in the preparation of
herbal medicines and bio-liquid
formulations like Pancha-Gavya and trileaf extracts etc based on livestock and
plant extracts. These were essentially
revival of local knowledge systems. The
women with these skills and knowledge
are able to participate in agriculture in a
more empowered manner than just
offering passive labour.
With increased organic inputs, soil
organisms increased and soil analysis
revealed that the soil is healthier in terms
The hill locked village, Kozhikodupothai,

once known only for the high debt rate of
its farmers and quarries in neighbouring
hills, today stands transformed into a
vibrant example of sustainable agriculture
and social infrastructure building and
connectivity, as a proof of the immortal
statement Expansion is life.
IV. Losing a treasure chest unaware
A BBC report dated 19 January 2008
brought to light a highly alarming fact
discovered by the Botanic Gardens
Conservation International: Hundreds of
medicinal plants are at risk of extinction,
threatening the discovery of future cures
for disease, according to experts. The
report further elaborated:
Five billion people still rely on traditional
plant-based medicine as their primary
form of health care. Report author Belinda
Hawkins said: The loss of the worlds
medicinal plants may not always be at the
forefront of the public consciousness.
9

However, it is not an overstatement to say
that if the precipitous decline of these
species is not halted, it could destabilize
the future of global healthcare.
What applies to medicines also apply to
traditional practices as well. But with
but also revived, revitalized and put to

service for the masses.
During the last ten years, VK-NARDEP has
been consistently bringing together
traditional physicians, scientists, local
communities and self-help groups to
identify the local herbal resources and
medical systems, and use them to promote
healthy living. Besides running a green
health home to serve the local people with
herbal remedies, it conducts the following
activities
proper intervention and care, traditional

medicinal practices can be not only
brought back from the edge of extinction
Identification of Herbal Home

Remedies
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants
Collection and Sale of locally
available medicinal Plants
Manufacturing
Health-care
products through women self help
groups
It has conducted many national and

district level seminars and camps of
Siddha doctors and traditional physicians,
showcasing the local systems to the world
to save them from extinction.
Prof. David B. Morris of Center for Biomedical Ethics and

Humanities on biology states in his famous book Illness
and Culture in the Postmodern Age that the western
medicinal culture has declared a war on biology. According
to him, this is evident in the terminology used by Western
medical paradigms: those of battles and counterattacks.
A growing number of scientists are today concerned with
the major flaw of this system with its over-reliance on
reductionism, which views the human body in terms of a
conglomerate of simpler processes. This neglects the
interaction between the phenomena it studies.
10
Green Foot-prints
Varma Medical Practices (VMP) flourished
for ages in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli,
Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts
of Tamilnadu. This system with a number
of branches is not only cost-effective and
therapeutic but also has a martial heritage.
It is a popular art of self-defence. It is costeffective in the treatment of fractures,
muscular sprains and other internal
damages sustained by coconut climbers,
quarry workmen and agricultural
labourers.
A number of documented texts,
manuscripts, and Varma schools are
available in these districts with the healers
but will be lost to posterity if they are not
documented and preserved. The healers
hold them in secret and are reluctant to
part with them. This resulted in a number
of unscrupulous persons claiming to be
experts in this system and bring about
unwittingly a bad name for it.
To overcome this barrier and to revive and
revitalize this precious system to its
original glory, VK-NARDEP has been
conducting number of re-orientation
programmes for VMP.
VK-NARDEP organized the first-ever
national level seminar on Varma therapy
in the year 2007. About 300 practicing
Asans of Kanyakumari district (seat of
Varma therapy) attended it and read 30
research papers read besides giving
Section-4
practical demonstrations. It encouraged
VK-NARDEP to take steps to conserve and
use resources endemic to local regions.
Home Herbal Gardens:
First, it conducted green herbal camps in
which Siddha physicians studied the
locally prevalent common ailments. Then
they identified herbal plants, which the
villagers could grow in their fields. A
detailed chart of the herbs and how to use
them either as an ingredient in their daily
food-intake or processed as medicine for
common ailments was prepared and
handed over to the villagers, besides
training the village women. Soon herbal
gardens came up in many houses and
plants of medicinal values hitherto
unutilized or under-utilized came to be
used.
The table below shows the names of such
herbal plants.
Local Name
Kandankathiri
Adathodai
Arukampul
Kuppai meni
Nilavempu
Nelli (Amla)
Nochi
Manathankali
Vallarai
Karpoora valli
Botanical Name
Solanum
xanthocarpum
Adhatoda vasica
Cynodan dactylon
Acalypha indica
Andrographis
paniculata
Emblica officinalis
Viex negundo
Solanum nigrum
Centella asiatica
Coleus ambonicus
VK-NARDEP runs Green Health Home for local people on every Monday and
Wednesday. It also conducts free Medical camps for the villagers.
11

V. Technology for transforming waste to
wealth
about an hour daily for collecting or

purchasing firewood.
Energy is the basis of all civilization says

futurologist Alvin Toffler.
There is also another alarming problem.

The urban tourist centers as well as cities
by dumping a lot of wasted food material
wherever there is open space create a lot
of pollution. Such pollution can be seen
particularly in major crowded pilgrim
centers. For example, visitors to TirumalaTirupati generate about 35 tons of waste
per day, higher than the per capita in
urban areas. With 12,000 tons of waste
accumulated in the Pamba River at
Sabarimala, the presence of E. coli has
reached near epidemic proportions at
19 times the permissible limit.
There is a wide gap in energy consumption

between the fast growing urban and
impoverished rural population due to
capital-intensive centralized technologies
for energy production. While per capita
electric energy consumption in India 553
kWh/yr (a mere 4 percent of US), the rural
per capita consumption is 57 kWh/yr.
Despite urbanization, more than 120
Is there a way for these two problems

by a single technology?
VK NARDEP says, Yes with its
Shakthi- Surabhi. It is a small
beginning in its line of research, for
converting waste into wealth.
million households residing in rural areas

still depend on traditional fuels for their
energy needs. The presently used rural
sources of energy - Fuel wood, crop
residues, cow-dung etc - have built-in
disadvantages: collection is arduous and
time-consuming; combustion is difficult to
control; and cooking captures only a
fraction of these fuels available energy.
The rural people who switch to kerosene
and LPG for cooking even then spend
12
Shakti Surabhi is a Bio-methanation

plant for producing biogas from kitchen
and vegetable waste, based on similar
principles of traditional KVIC type biogas
plant with a few modifications. It is
available in two designs: portable and
fixed. The portable unit is entirely made
of fiberglass material. Both the plants have
a user-friendly design and suited for both
urban and rural environment.
All kitchen waste (cooked food, raw and
boiled vegetable, and from the dining hall
Green Foot-prints
Section-4
can be fed to the Shakti Surabhi). The

minimum feed requirement is 5 kg per day.
The system consists of an inlet pipe for
waste feed, a main digestion tank,
fiberglass gasholder, water jacket, gas
delivery system, manure outlet and gas
burner.
Shakti Surabhi has proved to be an ideal
solution for the waste disposal problemhygienic, economical and eco-friendly.
The plant has found acceptance among
housewives.
This backyard Bio-Methanation plant has
a
3-in-1
advantage.
It
is
an
environmentally sound technology for
saving fuel, waste disposal and nutrient
enriched slurry for your compost. It is also
easy to handle.
Like a typically vibrant eco-technology
Shakthi Surabhi has inherent hidden
benefits (unlike the hidden costs in all
capital intensive technologies). These are:
a) Saves time spent for collecting firewood.
b) The time thus saved can be utilized
for household production of value
added
vermi-compost
or
panchagavya using the biogas
slurry from the Shakthi Surabhi
itself
c) Elimination of pollution from
domestic kitchen and food waste.
d) Smoke free households to improve
general health condition of
women.
This technology is a great blessing for the
urban tourist centers as hotels and lodges
catering to a large number of people can
provide them a pollution-free environment
by constructing bigger size (up to 100 cum)
Bio-methanation plants. This gas can be
converted into Electricity and also can be
compressed in a cylinder after purifying
and can be used for running Automobile.
This also symbolizes a paradigm shift
whereby a techno-innovation developed
from the rural technology embedded with
values of ecology serves the urban
population and last but not the least
important aspect of Bio-methanation is
reducing the Green house gases (Methane
is 23 times more dangerous than CO2) and
thus global warming.
You too can delay the cauldron from
VK-NARDEPs contribution in the field of Biogas

Constructed more than 2000 biogas plants
Brought out half a dozen books on technology in English, Hindi
and Tamil
Advocacy promoted use of biogas slurry as a manure
Trained VOs, Masons and beneficiaries
13

By: Kirthi Jayakumar
Introduction:
he last two decades has witnessed

the mushrooming of a plethora of
cases in the guise of what we deem
as environmental jurisprudence. The point
of inception of this movement is marked
by the 42 nd Amendment to the Indian
Constitution, which quietly encouraged
the enactment of the Environment
Protection Act, 1986. Marked attempts by
the legislature as regards Environmental
law have been overtaken by the rapid
developments brought out by the judiciary
in the same field.
By no means can it be said, that a mere
protection of environment would ensure
a clean and pollution free environment. If
such was the case, India would, perhaps,
be the least polluted country in the world.1
It is imperative to note that though a
tumultuous multitude of acts have been
passed, the implementation of these acts
have unfortunately taken a back seat. The
judiciary has emphatically linked human
rights and environmental protection, to fill
in the vacuum created by faulty
implementation.
An
expansive
interpretation of A.21 of the Indian
Constitution has been a solution to the
fastidious problems to the environment by
14
rapid industrial development. Right to

life as enshrined under A.21 has been
subject
to
e x p a n s i v e
interpretation,
which led the
judiciary to cull
out a surfeit of
rights, of which
one major right is
the
Right
to
Healthy and Clean
Environment
This perception
has led to the
s t r i n g e n t
enforcement of
environmental
One major right is the
rights of the Right to Healthy and
people. The new Clean Environment
precepts of judge
driven implementation have seen the
light of day on account of these decisions.2
As Julius Stone put it, this is what one
could
justifiably
call
Judicial
Legisputation.3 This article is segregated
into two parts. Part I deals with a neutral
analysis of the judiciary and its role as
regards the environmental jurisprudence
in India. Part II throws light on the extent
to which India has incorporated principles
Green Foot-prints
of environmental law as explained in
international Statutes.
The Judiciary and the Environment:
An active role on part of the judiciary with
regards to environmental protection has
been in the offing for nearly two decades,
now. Writ petitions and Public Interest
Litigations have been instrumental in
taking the goals of the judiciary forward.
Departing from the previous approach of
proof of injury 4 , we find that the
judiciary has become more sylvan to the
cause of the victims, by recognizing that
the Right to A clean and healthy
Environment is a collective right, not
restricted to a specific individual. The
perceptions of the judiciary have been
elicited by writ petitions and public
interest litigations, what with the
The judiciary has brought about revolutionary

other spheres too.
debaucheries of the industrial sector, by

polluting the environment.
Section-4
In looking beyond the quintessence of
A.21 of the Indian Constitution, the
judiciary has brought about revolutionary
other spheres too. By looking into whether
an act or omission violates the right to a
persons right to a clean and healthy
environment, as a part of his right to life,
there is no need to worry about individual
environmental rights. There is no
confinement of the boundaries to decide
which is a violation, and which is not.
A.21, ultimately, is a negative right, not a
positive self-executing right. 5
The two key approaches put to use by the
judiciary involve the balancing of
interests and the intentionalist
approach, which aid the expansion of the
meaning and scope of A.21, to include
within its gamut, the right to a clean and
healthy environment. In Subash Kumar v.
State of Bihar 6, the court enunciated the
fact that if anything impaired the quality
of life in derogation of the rule that Right
to life includes the Right to a healthy
environment, A.32 may well be sought by
the citizen.
The former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, Y.K. Sabharwal,
characterized the interpretation of A.21,
as being done in two ways: 7
) Any law affecting a Fundamental right
must be reasonable and just
) The
Court
included
several
unarticulated liberties under A.21
In his opinion, the second method is in
vogue, and it is by this mechanism that the
15

Right to Life has been deemed to include
the Right to Environment. The need for the
law to suit the changing times has
encouraged such a development8.
Of the many principles evolved by the
Court, the concept of Absolute Liability
stands tall. In the case of M.C.Metha v.
Union of India9, this concept evolved as
the brainchild of Justice Bhagwati. In this
case the leak of oleum gas from the factory
injured several Delhi citizens. Justice
Bhagwati used this opportunity to develop
the concept of Absolute liability, which
replaced the strict liability of Rylands
v.Fletcher.10 In this judgment by Bhagwati
we could see the judicial activism of the
highest order. Bhagawati held that strict
liability rule evolved in the 19th century
and that law has to grow in order to
satisfy the need of the fast-changing
society and keep abreast of the economic
developments taking place in the country.
This one decision was the watermark of
judicial activism in India. The embodiment
of Absolute liability includes the following
tenets:
)
It applies to an enterprise that is

engaged in inherently dangerous or
hazardous activity.
) The duty of care is absolute
) The exception to the strict liability
developed in the Ryland v.Fletcher11
is not applicable.
) The liability is on the enterprise rather
than on the company (a point well
taken from the Bhopal gas tragedy)
16
) The larger and the greater the industry

greater should be the compensation
payable12
This transition marked what is known as
the constitutionalization of a tort.
A epitome of this is the C o n s u m e r
Education and Research Center v.Union
of India.13 In this case the Supreme Court
ordered several asbestos mines and
industries to pay compensation to any
worker certified by the National Institute
of Occupational Health to be suffering
from asbestosis.
Absolute liability has become a principle
of remediation of the damaged
environment, as
part of the concept
of
sustainable
development,
which ultimately
culminated in the
polluter pays
principle.
The
evolution of the
absolute liability
principle stands
out as an epoch
making discovery,
and is an epitome
of the notion of
Balancing
the
judicial
law
environment and
making.
development
became a herculean
task for the courts.
Green Foot-prints
Incorporating Precepts of International
Law:
The incorporation of the concept of
sustainable development depicted judicial
activism shows judicial activism in a new
light. This earmarked the practice of
reading international norms into the local
setting. Balancing the environment and
development became a herculean task for
the courts, on account of facing a
Hobsons choice each time, when a matter
between infrastructural projects and the
environmental damage on account of the
same came up before the courts.
Sustainable development has been defined
under the 1972 Stockholm declaration. The
more apt definition, however, has been
provided by the World Conservation
Union, in its Strategies for National
Sustainable Development, thus:
Sustainable
development
means
improving and maintaining the well being
of the people and ecosystems. This goal is
far from being achieved. It entails
Life, public health and eco logy has priority
Section-4
integrating economic, social and
environmental objectives, and making
choices among them where integration is
not possible. People need to improve their
relationships with each other and with the
ecosystems that support them, by changing
or strengthening their values, technologies
and institutions
In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India 14 is one
of the earliest case that the Supreme Court
had indirectly dealt with question of
Sustainable development and Supreme
Court held that: Life, public health and
eco logy has priority over unemployment
and loss of revenue problem
In Rural Litigation and Entitlement
Kendra v. Dehradun v. State of U.P15, the
matter related to illegal and unauthorized
mining that was causing ecological
imbalance and also causing environmental
disturbance. The court rightly pointed out
that it is Always to be remembered that
these are permanent assets and not to be
exhausted in one Generation and thus
holding that the environmental protection
and ecological balance should also are
equally important as the economical
development of the country.
In T.N Godavaraman Thimmalapad v.
Union of India 16 the Supreme Court
reiterated what had been said in the
Vellore case and has declared that the
precautionary
and
sustainable
development principles were two salutary
principles that govern the law of the
environment.
over unemployment and loss of revenue

problem
17

In N.D Jayal v.Union of India 17 , the
Supreme Court has declared that the
adherence to sustainable development is
a sine qua non for the maintenance of
symbiotic balance between the right to
development and development.
Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration

elaborates on the precautionary principle.
It has been recognized by the court in
Vellore Citizen Welfare Forum vs. Union
of India21.This is considered to be the most
important case as far as the evolving of
the environmental law and the
According to the high level Bruntland

Report, Sustainable development includes
the following principles. Each of these are
analyzed in the context of the Indian
environmental jurisprudence.
a) Intergenerational Equality:
This principle reflects that each
generation shall get the benefits of the
environment and natural resources. This
is enunciated under Principle 3 of the Rio
Declaration. This principle was used in the
cases of and has also been recognized by
the Supreme Court of India in the M.C.
Mehta v. Union of India (Taj Trapezium
case)18. In State of Himachal Pradesh v.
Ganesh Wood Products19, the Supreme
Court invalidated forest -based industry,
recognizing the principle of intergenerational equity as being central to the
conservation of forest resources and
sustainable development. The Court also
noted in Indian Council for Enviro-Legal
Action v.
Union of India 20 (CRZ
Notification case) that the principle would
be violated if there were a substantial
adverse ecological effect caused by
industry.
b) Precautionary Principle:
18
Precautionary principle is an essential facet

of the Indian Environmental system.
contribution of the Indian Supreme Court

towards that direction. Justice Kuldip
Singh said that the precautionary principle
is an essential facet of the Indian
Environmental system.
c) Polluter pays Principle:
This principle has been declared under
Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration. The
object of this principle is to make the
polluter liable not only for the
compensation to the victims, but also for
the cost of restoring of environmental
degradation. Once guilty, the perpetrator
is liable to compensate the victims. The
principle was applied in Vellore Citizen
Green Foot-prints
Welfare Forum vs. Union of India.22 In
the instant case, dispute arose over some
tanneries in the state of Tamil Nadu. These
tanneries were discharging effluents in the
river Palar, which was the main source of
drinking water in the state. Jusitice Kuldip
Singh has observed in his judgment that
the traditional concept that development
and ecology are opposed to each other, is
no longer acceptable. Sustainable
Development is the answer.
Section-4
problems if it adopts the traditional rules
of interpretations. Hence Judges have to
become activist Judges. Every case
presents a conflict of competing social
interests among which a choice must be
made. The judiciary thus wishes to bring
about a silent revolution for the purpose
of securing environmental justice to all.
But the implementation of the leg islation
and that of the judgments handed out by
the Supreme Court is another big trouble.
regard for the so -called landmark
cases that are considered revolutionary .It
was observed that in India if the mere
protection of environment was to ensure
a clean and pollution free environment,
then India would, perhaps, be the least
polluted country in the world, but this is
not so. To conclude, Justice Mathew in the
case of Kesavandha Bharati v.State of
Kerala23 pointed out that It is established
that fundamental rights themselves have
no fixed content, most of them are empty
vessels into which each generation must
pour its content in the light of its
experience

regard for the so -called landmark cases that
are considered revolutionary .
Conclusion:
The factor that contributes to the evolution
of social jurisprudence is that the Indian
Constitution aims at a Welfare State. In a
welfare state judiciary cannot solve
19

References
1
Shyam Divan and Armin Rozencranz, Environmental Law and Policy in India: Cases,
Materials and Statutes , 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, New Delhi (2001) .
2
See Justice B.N. Kirpal, Environmental Justice In India, (2002) 7 SCC (Jour) 1 and
A. Padmavathi, Fixing Liablity In Environmental Cases Recent Trends, http://
www.nlsenlaw.org/envProtection/articles/GERART4/view ;also see S.C.Shastri,
Environmental Law in India, 2nd Edition, Eastern Book Company,Lucknow(2005).
3
See Julius Stone,Legal System and Lawyers Reasoning, Universal Law Publishers,
New Delhi (Indian Reprint 2004 )
4
Bangalore Medical Trust v. B.S. Muddappa , (1991) 4 SCC 54
5
See P.Leelakrishnan, Environmental Law in India, Butterworths Indian, New Delhi
(1999), Ibid.
6
(1991) 1 SCC 598
7
See Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Human Rights and the Environment, http://
supremecourt ofindia.nic.in/new_links/humanrights.htm
8
Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, Principle of Constitutional Interpretation:Some
Reflections, (2004) 4 SCC (Jour) 1
9
(Oleum gas leakage case)(1987) 1 SCC 395
10
(1868)LR 3 HL 330
11
Ibid
12
Supra n.10 at p.351
13
AIR 1995 SC 99 2.
14
Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Judicial Process: Social Legitimacy and Institutional Viability,
(1996) 4 SCC (Jour) 1
15
(1987) Supp SCC 487.
16
(2002) 10 SCC 606 at p.613. .
17
(2003) 6 SCC 572 at 586
18
AIR 1997 SC 734
19
AIR 1996 SC 149
20
(1996) 5 SCC 281
21
AIR 1996 SC 2715
22
AIR 1996 SC 2715
23
(1973) 4 SCC 1461
20

Green Foot-Prints

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Green Foot-Prints

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Green Foot-Prints

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How is the magazine structured and organized?

How is the magazine structured and organized?

What are some of the topics covered in the articles?

What are some of the topics covered in the articles?

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA

Founder-Editor : MANANEEYA EKNATHJI RANADE

The Vivekananda Kendra Patrika is a halfyearly cultural magazine of Vivekananda

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

This issue of Vivekananda Kendra Patrika has a popular theme of interest to

1. The Hindu, Chennai / Tiruvananthapuram. (Articles with Asterisk)*

15. Auroville Publications

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

The Cover Page

The cover page showing a cow being milked is

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA VOL.36 NO.1 FEB.07-JUL.07

istory of evolution is replete with instances of catastrophes and calamities, which

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

The Sacred Green

My mother has asked me to offer Pongal to the

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

The Sacred Green

Prelude--The Sacred Green

Replicating Sacred groves

Sthala Vrikshas-Sacred Trees

Dr.Nanditha Krishna and

Indias devotion to Plants

Vana degula - Forest as a Temple

Plant Myths and Tradition in India

An attitude of the mind

The Sacred Green

Shri Phidal: Yes!

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

coconut tree. These people are long on

done in such a way that it meshes up with

Smt. Duval: We used to have a closed

of the village, which were desilted before

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

Shri Phidal: We have only our faith to

ncient India sanctified plants and

the greatest tribute to the sun was at

Earth day has come and gone, and

Water was the foremost of the pancha

The Rig Veda is a celebration of nature,

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

marriage of Shiva and Parvati (Gurjara

baby Krishna sleeps on the leaf of the

temple in Kanchipuram is dedicated to

Greening the Life

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

he ancient Indian Civilization was

The classification of plants is based on

The ancient texts on plant sciences deal

An interesting point in this connection is

India is endowed with a rich diversity of

This fact underscores the importance of

Vivekananda Kendra Patrika

communities. Further the very survival of