Beyond The Billion

THE mythical clock has struck. A billion and ticking at the rate of 29 per minute, 1790 per hour... The rise in human numbers is accompanied by a host of problems. Knowledge of the carrying capacity of India's lands is extremely limited. There is no worthwhile study covering even the area of a development block, let alone a state or the entire nation.

Passive neighbour

India and Bangladesh breathed a sigh of relief last month after China denied it had plans to divert waters of Brahmaputra River to its arid region. At a press conference in Beijing on October 12, the Chinese Vice-Minister of Water Resources Jiao Yong said such a project on Yarlung Zangbo River, as it is known in Tibet where its headwaters is, would affect relations with downstream countries. This statement came with an admission that the project is neither technically feasible nor environmentally sound. But Beijing has not given up on its plans for the Brahmaputra.

Act before vicious cycle sets in

Goat rearing is the poor’s survival response to an ecological crisis. It has turned out to be an economic success. But the goat economy has the potential to precipitate an ecological crisis if grazing is not ensured. Options before India are very few: shrinking grazing ground, restricted forest land and stall feeding. India has to respond quickly to protect both poor people’s livelihood and ecology. How can it achieve that?

What does it all add up to?

On an industrial roller-coaster, Chhattisgarh has not once stopped to take stock of the cumulative environmental impact of the many projects. On a spree to usher more and more, the government does not consider important an analysis of a project's incremental impact combined with the effects of other projects.

The blind watchdog

The Gangetic dolphin is an indicator of riverine health. Like the river it's in a bad way A Hindu legend has it that the Gangetic dolphin was once a beautiful princess, called Sukanya. The princess was vain and onced earned the wrath of an ascetic. Sukanya had gone to take a bath in a river when the holy man asked her not to disturb him. The princess continued bathing. The enraged ascetic cursed her to a life in the river. The vain princess was turned into a dolphin, susaka.

Losing count

sperm density among residents of the us and Europe is on the decline, says a recent analysis of 101 studies from 28 different countries, published between 1938 and 1996. But the analysis finds no decline in the sperm density in the 'non-western' countries. The analysts say that environmental problems may be one the reasons for the decline.

Grazing concerns

agriculture, including livestock rearing, is of prime importance to India. More than 70 per cent of the country's population subsists solely on agriculture. Therefore, natural grazing lands and cultivated fodder crops are of prime importance and development of forage production systems is vital for livestock maintenance and sustenance.

UNITED NATIONS

There is a need to evolve a new approach to manage ecosystems in order to 'prevent the widespread decline of the process that sustain life', a recent report stated. The report titled "World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystem, The Fraying Web of Life" was jointly released by the UN Development Programme, the UN Environmental Programme, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute. The report was prepared by 175 scientists over a two-year period. They examined coastal, forest, grasslands, freshwater and agricultural ecosystem.

Relocating lions

following the death of five lions in the Gujarat's Gir Sanctuary within a span of three months, the state forest department plans to shift some of the lions to the neighbouring Barda hill forest range. According to officials, three of the five lions died due to natural causes.

Labour pangs?

India is fast becoming the land of superlatives. For all the wrong reasons, of course. Be it August 15, 1999 (UN prediction), or May 11, 2000 (government of India estimates), the nation has reached the inevitable mark. At the time of Independence, the country's population was as low as 350 million. Five decades later, the number has multiplied three-fold (see graph). The growth rate is 1.8 per cent per year, comparatively higher than China's 0.9 per cent. This despite the country being the first in the world to adopt a family planning policy in 1952.