Vadodara ravines, wetlands being "systematically destroyed", yet nobody cares

By Our Representative
Several prominent Vadodara citizens have in a letter to the city municipal commissioner expressed concern that ravines and wetlands in Gujarat's cultural capital "are being systematically destroyed and filled with debris and municipal solid waste in order to reclaim land for further 'development'."
According to them, "This will further augment the already existing waterlogging and flooding woes in various parts of the city", adding, "We have raised the issues with the concerned authorities, related to prevention anticipated disasters, flooding and water logging due to deliberate negligence". Yet, what they got was "lip service" regarding cleaning up the debris with all kinds of solid waste.
The letter follows a Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) communication to Gujarat government authorities directing them to take steps to protect "the ecology of the wetlands and ravines there through effective waste management" in Vadodara following a complaint by senior environmental activist Rohit Prajapati dated May 22, 2019. The MoEFCC letter asked the state authorities to "send an Action Taken Report to the applicant under intimation to this Ministry.”
The letter, whose copy has been sent to Gujarat and Government of India environment and forest officials, especially identifies Sursagar Redevelopment and Jan Mahal as "prime examples" of such dumping, adding, "The Vadodara Smart City website lists 64 projects with estimated cost of Rs 2,906 crore. An overwhelming 42 of these projects are infrastructure development related projects that will create significant issues of debris."
The letter says, "In spite of recent site visit on April 24 by a committee headed by Chief Justice (Retired) of Delhi High Court Justice BC Patel, Gujarat Pollution Control Board officials and the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, instead of removing the dumped debris, is still allowing dumping of fresh debris, discharge of untreated sewage, filling, levelling, construction, etc. activities along the Vishwamitri River and its environs (banks, ravines, tributaries, ponds, wetlands, etc.)."
Those who have signed the letter include Rohit Prajapati, environmental activist; Neha Sarwate, environmental and urban planner; Dr Ranjitsinh Devkar, zoologist; Dr Shishir R Raval, landscape architect and ecological planner; Dr Deepa Gavali, wetland ecologist; Dr Jitendra Gavali, botanist; Shakti Bhatt, water resources expert; Dr Arjun Singh Mehta, biotechnologist;Dr Jayendra Lakhmapurkar, hydro-geologist, others.

Comments

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

'Anti-poor stand': Even British wouldn't reduce Railways' sleeper and general coaches

By Anandi Pandey, Sandeep Pandey* Probably even the British, who introduced railways in India, would not have done what the Bhartiya Janata Party government is doing. The number of Sleeper and General class coaches in various trains are surreptitiously and ominously disappearing accompanied by a simultaneous increase in Air Conditioned coaches. In the characteristic style of BJP government there was no discussion or debate on this move by the Indian Railways either in the Parliament or outside of it.

Why convert growing badminton popularity into an 'inclusive sports opportunity'

By Sudhansu R Das Over the years badminton has become the second most popular game in the world after soccer. Today, nearly 220 million people across the world play badminton. The game has become very popular in urban India after India won medals in various international badminton tournaments. One will come across a badminton court in every one kilometer radius of Hyderabad.

Faith leaders agree: All religious places should display ‘anti-child marriage’ messages

By Jitendra Parmar* As many as 17 faith leaders, together for an interfaith dialogue on child marriage in New Delhi, unanimously have agreed that no faith allows or endorses child marriage. The faith leaders advocated that all religious places should display information on child marriage.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Ayurveda, Sidda, and knowledge: Three-day workshop begins in Pala town

By Rosamma Thomas* Pala town in Kottayam district of Kerala is about 25 km from the district headquarters. St Thomas College in Pala is currently hosting a three-day workshop on knowledge systems, and gathered together are philosophers, sociologists, medical practitioners in homeopathy and Ayurveda, one of them from Nepal, and a few guests from Europe. The discussions on the first day focused on knowledge systems, power structures, and epistemic diversity. French researcher Jacquiline Descarpentries, who represents a unique cooperative of researchers, some of whom have no formal institutional affiliation, laid the ground, addressing the audience over the Internet.

Article 21 'overturned' by new criminal laws: Lawyers, activists remember Stan Swamy

By Gova Rathod* The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, organised an event in Ahmedabad entitled “Remembering Fr. Stan Swamy in Today’s Challenging Reality” in the memory of Fr. Stan Swamy on his third death anniversary. The event included a discussion of the new criminal laws enforced since July 1, 2024.

Hindutva economics? 12% decline in manufacturing enterprises, 22.5% fall in employment

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The messiah of Hindutva politics, Narendra Modi, assumed office as the Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. He pledged to transform the Indian economy and deliver a developed nation with prosperous citizens. However, despite Modi's continued tenure as the Prime Minister, his ambitious electoral promises seem increasingly elusive.

Union budget 'outrageously scraps' scheme meant for rehabilitating manual scavengers

By Bezwada Wilson* The Union Budget for the year 2024-2025, placed by the Finance Minister in Parliament has completely deceived the Safai Karmachari community. There is no mention of persons engaged in manual scavenging in the entire Budget. Even the scheme meant for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS) has been outrageously scrapped.

Search This Blog