Author: Kalyani Jada
Human beings are always under the anthropocentric notion and they tend to forget their immediate environment. They strive hard to achieve material things by all means. This self seeking behavior of the humans leads to the ignorance of the nature as well as other living beings. As the society became more complex the dependence on natural resources has become requisite and this lead to the disruption of the environment. The degree of depletion of bio-diversity has become much more evident post Globalization phase. India, one of the developing countries is a no such exception to this condition.
Globalization is an economic process in which there is free flow of manufactured goods, services and intellectual properties amongst the worldwide nations with an apex international authority regulating such trade. Although the process of globalization can be traced to the ancient times, the term has been in use predominantly after 1990’s. However its impact on the environment and biodiversity is unperceived to a larger extent as most of them are indirect. This environmental turmoil prevails in almost all the countries regardless of either developed or developing countries. Rapid industrialization accompanied with varied developmental programs associated with that has started altering or otherwise destroying the ecological ambience of the country in many ways. Most of the developing countries like India are focusing on the sustainability of the economy and it might lead to chaos in the future. India stands in 3rd position in ecological footprint next to USA and China. Ecological footprint is the measure of dependence of human kind on the eco system. As a result the capacity of nature to sustain has sharply declined to half during the past four decades.
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
The interesting area of concern would be the ‘Adivasis’ and their commitment towards the conservation of their surrounding environment in all parts of the world especially in India. These bodies of knowledge stand opposite to the mainstream economics as their main motive is to share unlike the concept of heavy competition for basic needs in the mainstream. There have been an increased number of displacements of these people after 1990’s due to the construction of the dams and other heavy developmental projects. Around 30 to 40 million people without proper compensation for their displacement. Degradation of the forests happened because of the colonization and also the new laws of the independent India which focused on development at a faster pace. Biodiversity is in threat from the forces within the India but also from the International finance post globalization phase. Structural reforms program of IMF and WB demands an opening up of the economy including agricultural sector and areas with varied exotic biodiversity. The green revolution has lead to a new style of agriculture which resulted in the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers. In turn this resulted into the massive decline of the many species of birds, insects and earthworms. Earthworms act as natural decomposers and are boon to the agricultural practices but the so called globalized form of agriculture has ruined the ecological balance of the nation completely. The traditional modes of agriculture and production connect people with the forests, mountains and rivers. Some of the developmental aspects like large scale mining operations, construction of heavy dams and projects; SEZ’s and Steel plants had lead to displacement of many Adivasis. Buy displacing them one is not only doing injustice to Adivasis but also disturbing the ecological balance and biodiversity of that particular place. They are in tune with their ecology and successfully operating that since a very long time. It was evident that the globalization buying up the rights to India’s natural resources and thereby resulting into the more riotous depletion of water, minerals, forests and bio diversity. Therefore the displacement of the indigenous communities can be interrelated to the disruption of the biodiversity of such areas. In such a situation the protests of Adivasis against their displacement not only preserves their culture but also helps to maintain the flora and fauna effectively in this modernized times.
“When one understands the linkages with numerous mining and other projects, it is hard not to see this road-building programme, and new debts taken onto fund it, as a rape of the country’s resources that converts the fertile fields and long established villages into wastelands.” (Padel, 2013, p.46)
The above lines clearly indicated the inter linkages of the adverse impacts of the globalization on the nation as a whole. It enters slowly and destroys all the bonds with the most valuable resources as well as the environment. The number of species which are endangered to extinction due to this phenomenon is hardly recognized by anyone.
There has been almost degradation of the forests by the diversion of 70% for the purpose of mining since 1980. India celebrates its prosperity of having a varied range of flora and fauna out of which 10% of them being listed as endangered species. According to the recent reports, 108 coastal towns and cities release 5.5 billion litres of waste water into ocean daily. This would seriously affect the living of traditional practices like marine fishing to a greater extent. Since 1991 most of the world’s mining industries started investing in India .This includes Rio Tinto Zinc (UK), BHP (Australia), Alcan (Canada), Norsk Hydro (Norway) Meridian (Canada), De Beers (South Africa, Raytheon (USA), and Phelps Dodge (USA). This has resulted in the massive degradation of the environment and also depleted the biodiversity of those regions. Long sections of rivers and have been commodified and sold to the corporate buyers in different parts of the country. This is one of the monstrous consequences of the globalization in the mask of development.
As discussed India is a country of huge variety of species when compared to the rest of the world. Indian rivers have a global frontier of fresh water vegetation and are under the risk of endangered and threatened species. Nearly a 50% of aquatic plants have been recorded in India but only some of them are studied in detail. India has an excellent record of fresh water species as it stands 8th in the world and 3rd in Asia for its fresh water fish diversity. The western Ghats which is the significant point of river biodiversity, 16% of the species are threatened to extinction while in some other significant places the insufficiency of the data of the species to be conserved is itself neglected. The major menace that rivers and its biodiversity and communities dependent on them are the construction of dams and projects, sand mining, deforestation and improper use of environment. Large dams are planned and are under construction and are affecting the protected, sensitized and world heritage sites. All the rules which are imposed by the environment department are getting more liberal leading to adverse impacts they have on biodiversity and also the community of indigenous living there.
According to Ministry of environments and forests, India:
“The Biological Diversity Act 2002 was born out of India's attempt to realize the objectives enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992 which recognizes the sovereign rights of states to use their own Biological Resources. The Act aims at the conservation of biological resources and associated knowledge as well as facilitating access to them in a sustainable manner and through a just process”
There has been a wide disparity between setting up of laws and strictly enforcing them especially in the case of environment. There has been an impact of globalization on all such developmental activities which calls in for the rapid growth of the economy and which usually forget the encompassment the eco favor implementations. Dams are adversely affecting the Ramsar wetland sites but there is no report of such activity. According to the wetland rules (2010), the definition of wetlands excludes rivers completely and thereby these rivers don’t find any place in planning or in any other programs. The inconsistency in this system might lead to the depletion of entire biodiversity of the rivers.
Affects of dams on biodiversity:
The first thing that is affected is the fresh water aquatic diversity in the fresh waters. It also incorporates various contents like duration, amplitude of floods and flows. temperature, nutrient content, concentration of various pollutants and dissolved gases and turbidity of the water in motion; flow pattern, chemistry, quantity and content of sediments; the physical condition, composition of the river bed, plant, animal, fish, insect biodiversity in the water and floodplains. All these might have adverse impacts if a dam or a hydro project is being constructed. Some of the major dams have acquired permission from the environmental ministry which could destroy the biodiversity. Over 150 dams are planned to be constructed in rich biodiversity states like Arunachal Pradesh. In spite of having the common adverse impacts on biodiversity this special case also results into the degradation of species like black necked crane, Bengal florican etc. There are also many other projects taking place on the rivers Teesta river, Ra thong chu river and over 300 dams in upper Ganga basin and many more of that sort. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has recommended cancelling at least 24 of these projects for protecting terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity of the region. But all the suggestions were ignored by the environmental ministry itself. Alakananda hydro electric project has all the negative recommendations from WII and also Forest advisory committee, the environment ministry gave a green signal to the project.
The major consequences are the climate change, the patterns and duration of the monsoons, also the increased melting of glaciers of the Himalayas and increased sea levels in coastal areas. All of this fluctuating conditions results into the massive depletion of fresh water biodiversity. In order to control this government should review all such plans and make rules stringent regarding the issues related to environment.
Main Argument:
The independent India had many challenges to face before it. Unemployment, poverty and many other social evils played a very important role in deciding the future role of the country. Strive to achieve economic development has created a chaotic condition in the country as this ensued to the deterioration of the environment and biodiversity. This has led to the displacement of millions of Adivasis who were actually share a divine bond with the ecology. In all the cases the movements against displacement are also associated with save the environment motto. Their economy is interwoven with the ecology and we the mainstream individuals experiencing development at the cost of their exploitation, displacement and their alienation from their motherland. A developmental economist would never understand that. The concern regarding the environment has been recognized these days but in obscure ways. The environmental laws should be made and enforced in such a manner that the development wouldn’t come into the way of using up of all natural resources and the environment.
The special aspect of the environmental degradation and depletion of biodiversity would be the case of endangered fresh water species during construction of dams and heavy projects for various purposes. Rapid construction of dams leads to many disasters hereafter. Globalization is a not a single phenomenon in which it could be defined just as the free flow of goods and services without considering the results of it. Therefore it should incorporate the ideas of the eco economy in order to attain sustainability. The development economics stresses on why certain parts of world are not developed but wouldn’t essentially take into account the adverse impacts of it both economically and environmentally. There are many such incidents where the environment clearances have become very easy in our country. For example:
“The state may get approval to reopen its mines in next two to three months, but actual mining operations will start from September, since environmental clearances and other clearances takes time…. Supreme court imposed a ban on that activity as there were illegal mining operations in 2012” (Economic Times, 27/3/2014, p: 13)
The environment clearance is likely to be received to start the mining operations in Goa. It is evident from the above lines that the concern of the environment in that area is not taken care of properly. The day to day encounter of such news doesn’t bother anyone unless and until it comes into their way. So the government should realize the cons of the globalization instead of supporting it continuously by all the possible means.
Conclusion and Way ahead:
There is no way that one could stop all the developmental programs that are occurring in the country at a faster pace. The only way to resolve this issue is that both the economy and the ecology should go hand in hand with respect to development. There are successive countries which have adopted the policy of eco economy and became progressive. Similarly India should adopt such policies and try to stop the deterioration of the plethora of the biodiversity in our country. in the same way the government should allow the indigenous tribes to leave the way as they are since they can preserve the environment better than the mainstream people. All the dangerous activities like set up of a nuclear plant, exploitation of wetlands for constructions of dams, mining projects, and heavy industries such as steel plant in Rourkela should be compensated or should be functioning in an eco-friendly manner.
Reference List
Free flowing biodiversity rich rivers: Most endangered species in India. (2012). South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People. Retrieved from http://sandrp.in/rivers/Endangered_Riverine_Biodiversity_India_Nov2012.pdf
Padel, F., Danderkar,A., and Unni,J. (2013). Adivasi economics, Ecology economy: quest for a socially informed connection. (pp.21-46). New Delhi: Orient black swan.
Srivastava, A. and Kothari, A (2012). Globalization in India: Impacts and Alternatives. Retrieved from http://www.kalpavriksh.org/images/CLN/Globalisation%20Brochure.pdf
Iron ore mining likely to start in Goa from September, (2014, 27th march), p: 13
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