Letters

The Jharkhand example

I disagree with your opinion (Down To Earth, Aug 31) that sustainability of development arises merely from bio-regional (or even national) political control of natural resources. Consider the Jharkhand movement: Shibu Soren lives in the Coal India guest house in Delhi. Do you think an independent Jharkhand will preserve natural resources for "sustainable development?" ...

What about flood lines?

It is somewhat disheartening to note that even you harp only on the high-tide line (HTL) and seem unconcerned about parameters for riverine and estuarine constructions. The hotel in the photograph on page 13 of Down To Earth (Sept 15) was built and is being expanded in contravention of flood-line parameters. B B Vohra, during his committee's sitting in Goa, confessed to me he had not heard of flood lines.

Interestingly, the Goa chapter of the Architects' Association, which has expressed alarm at the Konkan railway alignment, has not censured architects who ignored the HTL and flood line parameters....

Congratulations!

We must congratulate you and your editorial team on an excellent publication. The stories do cover a broad spectrum and we notice that they are gradually becoming global in dimension and not being confined only to India. ...

Misconceptions

In the June 30 issue of Down To Earth, there are a few misconceptions in the article "Out in the Cold" by Koshy Cherail:

The term "solar passive" for this kind of architecture is grammatically awkward. The correct term is "passive solar."

The Solar Passive Architecture Group (SPAG) was not founded by Prof M S Sodha, although he contributed substantially to the Centre for Energy Studies at IIT, where he did a variety of work in passive solar architecture. SPAG was founded later under the aegis of Dr N K Bansal, who is with the Centre for Energy Studies.

Although the photograph is very prominently featured, there is only a passing reference to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Readers may think the photograph is of some other project....

A matter of human mind

In your lead article (June 30) you state: "The biggest problem with the Rio conference has been its petty-mindedness. It has consistently refused to look into the basic processes that lead to environmental destruction.

"But what are the issues that lie at the heart of the global environment problem?..." You go on to elucidate "sovereignty", the "use of aid, trade and debt as levers of power...." and the problems of "normal desire" and the need for "responsibility". Finally you say that "Only One Earth" and "Only One People" is "still a big dream".

The problems-below-the-problems, which you have correctly identified, beg another question. What is the cause of greed, of irresponsibility, of childishly supporting the national identification of one's parents that becomes sovereignty, and so on?

The mystics of this country have consistently said the root of these problems lies in the human mind, in the societal conditioning that creates it. Until we face this issue, we can never claim to be looking into the basic processes. Sadly, by consistently failing to address this issue, the environmental movement is following the Western notion that mind is a given thing and therefore not worth wasting any energy on. By accepting this, we may be missing the way out of the current impasse....

Reader-friendly

Down To Earth is very impressive, combining a very personal, informal image with effective communication.

It requires great editorial sensitivity to maintain a balance between the technically complex nature of environmental issues and their urgency to the masses. The claims of ordinary, non-technical individuals to whom environmental protection is a matter of immediate concern should not be pushed into the background by the overpowering and all-encroaching expressions of the technical elite (including eco-politicians and neo-ecojournalists). I am sure you are quite competent to keep the required balance. ...

Clarification

The article on the threat to the coral reefs of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago on page 37 of Down To Earth (June 30) should have clarified that the study was done by the Andaman and Nicobar Chapter of INTACH and that it was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)....

Involve the reader

The magazine is exactly what it is called - extremely realistic and informative. The article are all about what is actually happening and are easily understood by the common man.

I have a suggestion. You could introduce a section wherein you suggest some simple project/tasks that could be undertaken by any person and that do not involve too much of technicality, so that the reader gets a first-hand experience of the situation. He/she sould also be given through an article or a report in a subsequent edition. ...

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