WHEN Meghnaad, brother of King Ravana of Lanka, grievously
injured Lakshman, brother of Lord Rama, Hanuman was sent
to Gandhamardan Parvat to fetch the Mritasanjeevani Sudha,
a life-saving herb. Unable to identify the herb from among the
thousands that greened that locale, Hanuman brought the
entire hill to the war front. This story is a serious statement on
our biodiversity. Our ancestors had clearly indicated how
immensely diverse is India's living resources.
One is inevitably reminded of this today, when the Save
Gandhamardan Movement has scored a victory in its decadeold struggle. However, equally inevitably, this evokes anger
and frustration about the callous negligence of most of our
genetic resources at the hands of the authorities.
India is one of the 12 global centres of genetic diversity.
There is evidence of our resourcesbeing exported to ancient
civilisations in the Euphrates and Nile basins. Apart from the
large number of animal species, we have 45,000 species of
flora, of which 30,000 are almost invisible algae and fiingi, and the rest, flowering types. There are 2,000 species of forage legumes and grasses. However, till
date, genetic research in India has been
partisan towards crop plants, ignoring
animal and fish resources, plants, trees,
shrubs and grasses, especially in the and
regions. Some 7,000 plant species are
endemic to India, that is, this is their
only home.
This priceless diversity is under
attack from various fronts. Environmental destruction due to shifting cultivation, deforestation and developmental activities comprise one threat.
Underdevelopment, poverty and pressure on land, which
automatically lead to over-exploitation of natural resources, is
another. Overgrazing is ruining our valuable and region grasskands. Water pollution is devastating aquatic life.
The main threat to crops is the constant emphasis on narvvwing down our genetic base to a handful of genes with
b*Wy desirable qualities: the high-yielding varieties of seeds
which have been the mainstay of the Green Revolution. That
strategy might meet its goal of bountiful harvests, but the new
psiefic varieties used in them have to be upgraded every few
to sustain the logic of the strategy itself. As a result, we
ow wiping out several indigenous varieties which may have
en qualities. After all, Kerala has provided the world
saline resistant rice varieties, and California's mildew
t melons are genetic copies of Indian varieties.
Today, some of our most precious living resources are
. being turned into precious memories. This is especially
true of medicinal plants and orchids. Take just one such case:
the Arcus calamus, known as vacha, which once abounded in
the Manipur and Naga hills, has now to be imported by us.
Yet, this plant forms the basis of as many as 51 medicines.
We are also neglecting our wondrous arid-zone grasslands.
The sewan grass, which was once plentiful in the desert regions
of Bikaner and Jaisalmer, was the centre of an entire lifestyle
based on rural synergy. Thanks to sewan, the Jaisalmer
area had been @nown as the land where rivers of milk and
ghee (clarified butter) flowed. Sewan also helped develop
the tharpakar and rathi varieties of cattle specially adapted
to and conditions. High water-use and energy-use efficiencies
are two crucial characteristics of this grass. The root stocks
can lie dormant for years, and just a shower or two in the
monsoon is enough to revive it. Sewan, truly, was the life
of Thar.
In fact, the Thar Desert presents a unique paradox: with
71 persons per sq km, it is the most
densely populated and region in the
world, possible only due to its amazing
floral diversity. It is home to 700 plant
species, of which 6.4 per cent is endemic to it. Compare this with the
Sahara, which has at best 3-5 per cent
endemic plant species.
Yet, today the insistence on waterintensive agriculture, overgrazing, and
intrusions due to massive urbanisation
are destroying these grasslands, and
with it, an entire lifestyle. And as some
of our more conscientious conservation
scientists are lamenting, the official
visionaries of a better India are completely dazzled by the Northern preoccupations of biotechnological research. The whole focus is obviously wrong. Because
no plant or animal species can be allowed to become extinct at
man's whims. It is as self-destructive as it is unethical.
It is amazing how our policymakers are almost completely
ignoring genetic research. Even the work on neem, the
wonder-tree from India, has been grossly neglected- Financial
resources available for this work remain very small and there is
too much emphasis on government organisations.
What President Shankar Dayal Sharma said on the occasion of the Panchayati Raj extravaganza rings true here: that
our urban planners do not know what is best for our villages or
for biodiversity conservation. It is a sad commentary.
And if the policymakers are serious about conserving the
Gandhamardans we are still left with, there is no option for
them but to reach out for help from our rural communities
through the environmental NGOs.
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