Focus on deteriorating global environment

Countercurrents circulated today three pieces, published by leading newspapers, which draw attention to the deteriorating global environment.

Brief write-ups on the stories and links to them are provided below:

Global Warming Even Worse Than Previously Thought
By Michael McCarthy

http://www.countercurrents.org/mccarthy130309.htm

Lord Stern, the economist who produced the single most influential political document on climate change, says he underestimated the risks of global warming and the damage that could result from it. The situation was worse than he had thought when he completed his review two-and-a-half years ago, he told a conference yesterday, but politicians do not yet grasp the scale of the dangers now becoming apparent

Severe Global warming Will Render Half Of
World's Inhabited Areas Unlivable
By David Adam

http://www.countercurrents.org/adam130309.htm

Severe global warming could make half the world's inhabited areas literally too hot to live in, a US scientist warned today. Parts of China, India and the eastern US could all become too warm in summer for people to lose heat by sweating - rendering such areas effectively uninhabitable

UN Warns Of Widespread Water Shortages
By Martin Mittelstaedt

http://www.countercurrents.org/mittelstaedt130309.htm

The world faces a bleak future over its dwindling water supplies, with pollution, climate change and rapidly growing populations raising the possibility of widespread shortages, a new report compiled by 24 agencies of the United Nations says

Plachimada agitation is 2,500 days old

The agitation by residents of Plachimada in Kerala’s Palakkad district and nearby villages against the multinational giant Coca Cola is 2,500 days old. It thus becomes the longest popular struggle in the State’s history.

The MNC set up the Plachimada plant in 1999. As the factory depleted and polluted their water sources, the villagers, mainly Adivasis, began an agitation on April 22, 2002, with a symbolic blockade and continuous picketing.

When the panchayats stepped in to protect the interests of the villagers, the company dragged it into costly legal proceedings that extended all the way to the Supreme Court.
Eventually, however, the company had to shut down the plant as the State Pollution Control Board and the panchayats refused licences for continued working.

Mylamma, an Adivasi woman who emerged as the leading spokesperson of the Adivasis, has since died.

Although expert committees have upheld the villagers’ contention that the company has polluted their water sources, the government has desisted from taking any punitive action against it.

Velur Swaminathan, Secretary, Plachimada Adivasi Samrakshana Sangham (Tribal Protection Council) and R. Ajayan, Convener, Plachimada Samara Aikyadardya Samithi (Agitation Solidarity Committee) last week wrote an Open Letter to former UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor taking exception to his association with the company as a member of the advisory board of Coca Cola India Foundation.

They listed the following charges against the company:

Coca Cola polluted the ground water with deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead, which it has not listed under ‘raw materials’, and refused to provide an explanation for their presence.

Coca Cola distributed and spread the deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead through its waste sludge and slurry, passing them off as good soil nutrients.

Coca Cola did not supply piped water to the affected families as ordered by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Waste.

Coca Cola, as the single largest extractor of ground water and largest transporter of water to other centres through soft drinks, a non-essential luxury good, made the most contribution to depletion of ground water.

Caste-based discrimination in access to water resources

Following is a message from an NGO in Orissa seeking information on caste-based discrimination in access to water

I am associated with Kalpataru (a registered voluntary organization) working on water and forest management in the Kishorenagar Block of Angul District, Orissa. As part of our work, we have encountered difficulties in effective collective action in the management of traditional water bodies like tanks and ponds. This is due to the existing exclusion and discrimination prevailing in our villages.

In 1965, the United Nations formed the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The CERD is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties. However, despite prolonged efforts by UN, studies show that some form of discrimination and exclusion exists in most UN member countries.

On this front, India always has been worst in terms of caste-based discrimination, with certain castes being historically excluded, socially as well as physically, from society. Additionally, their access to land and water resources is limited, and hence food security is always under threat.

Water is a common property but this never works in practice. Access to common property water resources, especially traditional wells, tanks and modern watershed, tube wells, and water harvesting structures is also restricted or unequal.

In this context I would request members to provide their inputs on the following:

· Evidence and documentation of caste-based discrimination and exclusion in using the water resources at the national and regional level and the consequences/ impact (if any)

· Experiences on the role NGOs have played in reducing caste-based discrimination and social exclusion

· Experiences with collective action in the management of Common Property Water Resources, and insights on the effectiveness of this approach, given the backdrop of caste based discrimination and exclusion

· Information on the legal measures available, as well as alternative measures to solve the water crisis for the socially excluded

These inputs will help us strive towards achieving inclusive growth and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and also help Kalpataru devise measures to tackle the challenge posed by caste-based discrimination in the management of natural resources. We look forward to your contributions and will acknowledge them in our work.

Regards,

Sarbeswar Sahoo
Kalpataru, Orissa

Responses to this request may kindly be dsent to Nitya Jacob, Resource Person and Moderator for the Water Community of Solution Exchange. His email: nityajacob@gmail.com