The other bombs
The article on the Pokhran explosion made interesting reading 'Ground zero within' (Down To Earth Vol 7, No 3; June 30). I have been a great admirer of your book, The State of our Environment, in which there is a chap-ter on nuclear energy and the pollution it can create. But our criticism of Pokhran II should really start from Pokhran I which was conducted in 1974 when the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was in power. All the political parties are playing hide and seek with the recent nuclear explosions. They "celebrate" the technology but condemn BJP government for exploding it. You must also expose the hypocrisy of the five nuclear powers who have amassed nuclear weapons and missiles which threaten the peace and the environment of the entire globe.
Down To Earth must relate the nuclear explosions with other bombs of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease and mortality which are ticking all the time....
Indigenous power
This is with reference to the article 'Making power' (Down To Earth, Vol 7, No 2; June 15). It is quite interesting that villagers in Pathanpara, Kerala are no longer dependent on the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and have
managed to generate 4 MW of power in less than 90 days with an investment of Rs 3 lakh only. They have not used conventional turbine. Instead, they have generated electricity with the help of normal centrifugal pump induction motor,
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Sane step
Congratulations Down To Earth for publishing informative articles. In Amritsar, where I reside, there is a check on vehicular pollution, but vehi-cles such as three-wheelers, buses, trucks, and diesel operating vehicles have been left out of the preview. These are the vehicles which pollute the most.
Something has to be done so that these vehicles come under the category of pollution-causing vehicles. One step could be that everyone who owns a vehicle, should avoid their use at least once a week. This measure, to some extent, will help save petrol and control emissions.
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A query
I have been an avid reader of the Campaign Supplement of Down To Earth. But all of a sudden I have stopped receiving it. There is no mention in the magazine on why you abruptly stopped the supplement. Could you please tell me why?
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