Greed
Vs Human Life –Part-I
There
are three questions in my mind, one How to change the system which has failed
or every time tells that Satyamev Jayate is mere slogan? ,two how to not
become a part of the system? And three If you cannot change the system how to
become a part of system. The reply many time I hear is “Sab chalta hai”,”Karna
Padata hai “etc. It is society the corruption is a way of life now etc.
Here
corruption I mean not only transactional but also any wrongdoing
on the part of any authority or person through any means that
are illegitimate, immoral, patronage or incompatible with ethical
standards. In Public sectors and government sector, the corruption in
promotion, transfer & posting is
the most dangerous forms of corruption as corruption of the governing body can
lead to widespread effects. Recent research by the World Bank suggests that who
makes policy decisions (elected officials or bureaucrats) can be critical in
determining the level of corruption because of the incentives different
policy-makers face. The reason of this being the most dangerous is because it
contributes lot to GDP. The size
of the public sector is usually measured by either the amount of revenue raised
or the value of expenditure undertaken by the state as a percentage of GDP.
Therefore,, expenditure as a percentage of GDP is more than revenue in the high
fiscal deficit countries. As such bigger the project bigger the cost of project
and more chances of corruption and more the volume of corrupts money.
The Dam industry is the biggest Industry of the world having no single
balance sheet but have one common cause “the human greed of corruption”
It
was well settled policy across the world during late seventies and beginning of
eighties in 20the century big dams are not good for the eco balance nor are
economically viable, despite that we in India continued for big dam because our
first prime minister and architect of modern India hailed the dams as the "Temples of Resurgent
India” have to look at some of the biggest ones. Based on the philosophy of
Pandit Nehru we continued for following three recent big dams.
1. Bansagar , multipurpose River Valley Project
,construction began in 1978 and started in 2006 (Total 336 villages have come
under submergence of Bansagar Reservoir out of which 79 villages are fully
submerged and rest 257 villages are under partial submergence.) when I was in
Satna in the year 1997,I met with two Land acquisition officers (LAO) who were
responsible for paying compensation to farmers. One of them was honest and
another very corrupt. The corrupt was given full power and honest has no work
at all. The honest once said to me “ This Bansagar is Sanatan “. He explained
that Sanatan here means never-ending, these big project will continue for long.
The original approved cost was Rs. 91.31 crores. The latest estimated
cost in 1998 was Rs. 1054.96 crore.
2. The Tehri Dam is the
highest dam in India and one of the tallest in the world and which is situated
in the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan foothills
project started in the year 1978 and completed in the year 2006 ,power started
in 2003. The construction cost was $ 1 billion (USD). The Dam was
responsible to relocate 1 Lakh people and complete submerge of Tehri . The
Uttrakhand Kranti Dal and chipko leaders once upon a time used to say” "We don't want the dam. The dam
is the mountain's destruction." ,Big
Dam-death dam .Now many are still in UKD who are still the common man and other
have joined BJP or Congress and rich MP/MLA of BJP or Congress.
3. The Sardar Sarovar Dam ,
(estimated cost $ 8 Billion USD) the construction started in 1979 The dam is one of India's most
controversial dam projects and its environmental impact and net costs and
benefits are widely debated. The World Bank was initially a founder
of the SSD, but withdrew in 1994. The Narmada Dam has been the centre of
controversy and protest since the late 1980s. It was commissioned in 2006. Ms Arundhati Roy state about this
reference to big dam said that “Dams are to a Nation's 'Development' what
Nuclear Bombs are to its Military Arsenal. They are both weapons of mass
destruction. They're both weapons Governments use to control their own people.
Both Twentieth Century emblems that mark a point in time when human
intelligence has outstripped its own instinct for survival. They're both
malignant indications of civilization turning upon itself. They represent
the severing of the link, not just the link—the understanding—between human
beings and the planet they live on. They scramble the intelligence that
connects eggs to hens, milk to cows, food to forests, water to rivers, air to
life and the earth to human existence” . We also not forget that despite strong
reservation of the scientist the height of dam was increased to from 110.64 m
(363.0 ft) to 121.92 m (400.0 ft) of course with conditional certificate
from Supreme Court. When Amir Khan supported the cause of Medha Patkar, his
film “Rang De Basanti “was not allowed to feature in Gujarat.
We
all know the impact of big dams in eco-system. There was one 10 hours
documentary serial called “Race to save the Planet “anchored by Marlyn Streep
and it was well telecasted in many countries also in our Doordarshan for 10
consecutive Sundays. There has been much discussion across the world thereafter
and was consensus to no to big dam except India, which could have stopped then
and there only and could have many life thereafter. The big dam, they change
the fauna and flora system of landscape through which the river flows. It
changes the habitats of the river and more than 90% of fauna and flora is
destroyed. The big dams also change the flow pattern of river thereby
causing the seasonal variation in the region. The storage of water in dams
delays and reduces floods downstream. River and floodplain ecosystems are
closely adapted to a river’s flooding cycle. When water is stored in
reservoirs, The flow of the river water changes important lifecycle stage of
all plant and animals due to which causes rapid disappearance of riverside
species. Further evaporation rate of water increases from stilled water
or from dam. In case of Tehri dam the evaporated water goes up near the
Himalayan mountains where it immediately get condensed and near the hills of
Uttrakand they can behave like a water bomb when it bursts.
Based
on above I think majority of the people believe that “Paisa, Paise ko Khichata
hai” .
--continue
next week
Regards
Rajesh
Kumar
