Trees often talk to me and ask, ‘we mourn
your deaths & even participate in your funerals. Why do you do the opposite?’…
Ranjan Panda
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thought for 30th November 2011
Sacrifice is a term necessarily attached to
the poor & weak. For the rich &
powerful, its gain and gain all the way at the cost of the dispossessed…
Ranjan Panda
Monday, November 28, 2011
Invitation to Consultation on IWRM and Baitarani River Basin
Water Initiatives Odisha
In association with
Baitarani Banchao Abhiyan, Keonjhar & NGO Forum onADB, Philippines
Invite you to the Consultation on
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) inBaitarani River Basin: How far and for whom?
Date: 9th December, 2011; Keonjhar
Dear Friends/Co-sailors,
As you are aware, the state of Odisha, with support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has been engaged in water governance reforms programme in the Baitarani River Basin through IWRM In December 2010, we at Water Initiatives Odisha(WIO) had organised a state level consultation to build a “People’s Agenda on IWRM”, in which about 100 people including farmers, fishermen, civil society groups, academia, media and other sections of the society participated, deliberated and rejected the IWRM proposal of the Govt. of Odisha in its present form. We strongly pointed out several technical faults and loop holes in the document. We warned that such plan was actually meant to serve the interest of the mining and industrial houses rather than the people of the state and the rivers’ ecology including wildlife who are dependent on the rivers.
Even while the date for receiving public comment on the IWRM document was open, the Government went ahead with notification of the Bairarani River Basin Organisation (RBO). We again urged upon the Govt. not to go ahead with the RBO in this river which is already critically polluted and at stressed due to mindless mining and indiscriminate withdrawal for industrial use. In Baitarani River, farmers and other dependent communities and species including the trees and wildlife are fighting a losing battle for their rights over the water. Even though the RBO has not yet been established, perhaps because the govt. found reasons in the crucial issues we have raised since the beginning, we feel the need for discussing the IWRM plans to manage the Baitarani River Basin has become more important than ever before.
We have witnessed how in the absence of a proper management plan and its implementation, the floods in our rivers are becoming more devastating; and how mining and industrialization is taking away more and more water – both due to faulty allotment principles and illegal withdrawal by such profit making groups, at the cost of farms, farmers, fishermen, and most importantly the river itself including the biodiversity it supports.
In our December 2010 Consultation, we had proposed formation of River Basin Parliaments with people of the basin as the major decision makers, where in govt. officials and other technical experts could help as advisers only. We had strongly opposed the inclusion of any mining, industrial and vested interest group to be included in any decision making body. We had also asked for updated information on water availability and had demanded a status paper of all rivers after conducting a thorough cumulative ecological assessment of the carrying capacity of the rivers. However, nothing has been done so far but the tempo and speed of signing MoUs with more and more water guzzling and polluting industries is going on.
With this in background, Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO), in association with Baitarani Banchao Abhiyan (BBA) and NGO Forum on ADB is organising a day long Consultation on the above subject at Keonjhar on 9th December, 2011 to discuss the following:
- The IWRM Approach of Govt. of Odisha and ADB: Challenges Ahead.
- RBO in Baitarani River Basin: Issues and Challenges.
- Alternative to RBOs: River Basin Parliament for River Basin Management putting riparian rights (including rights of the River, its ecology, biodiversity and wildlife): Discussions by people and groups from the Basin.
If you have been working on these issues and have an interest to participate and actively contribute to the process and our Network, please write back.
Look forward to hear from you and your active participation.
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Water Initiatives Odisha
Water Initiatives Odisha: Fighting water woes, combating climate change... more than two decades now!
R-3/A-4, J. M. Colony, Budharaja
Sambalpur 768 004, Odisha, INDIA
Mobile: +
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
You can also mail me at: ranjan.waterman@facebook.
Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader
Please join our group 'Save Rivers Save Civilizations' at http://www.facebook.com/
Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) is a state level coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia, media and other concerned, which has been working on water, environment and climate change issues in the state for more than two decades now.
Thought for 29th November 2011
An average ‘night dream’ is said to last
about 2 to 3 seconds only. Its better to
‘day dream’; at least you have some control over it…
Ranjan Panda
Dams Could Worsen Climate Change
Google Earth Shows How Dams Could Worsen Climate Change
A project of two NGOs highlights far-ranging effects of damming rivers.
A new interactive Google Earth video tour aims to teach people how damming rivers around the world can exacerbate climate change.
The video, created by the nonprofit conservation groups International Rivers and Friends of the Earth International, is narrated by Nigerian environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey and will debut at the United Nations COP 17 Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, this week.
"A lot of analyses of large dams have focused on their social and environmental impacts," said Zachary Hurwitz, policy coordinator for International Rivers. "In addition, greater attention needs to be paid to whether hydropower is a viable option in a warming climate," he said.
The approximately 12-minute video uses computer animation to simulate the potential climate hazards associated with building dams in Africa, the Himalayas, and the Amazon.
For example, the tour illustrates how glacier melt in the Himalayas, driven by global warming, could lead to higher flood and safety risks for communities living downstream from dams.
"So many dams are planned for Himalayan rivers that one dam burst could result in a domino effect of dam failure, putting millions of people at risk," Bassey says in the video.
In another section of the video tour, viewers are virtually plunged into the waters of Brazil's Tucurui Dam to see how rotting organic material at the bottom of the reservoir creates the greenhouse gas methane, which bubbles up and is released into the atmosphere.
The video will be released in two formats: a non-interactive version that will be available for viewing on YouTube, and a KML file that can be opened using free Google Earth software. In the KML version of the tour, users can pause at any point and zoom in and explore additional information and imagery about a topic.
Dams and Climate
Dam builders have argued that large dams are effective counters to climate change because they store water for energy production and irrigation in a warming and increasingly water-scarce world, International Rivers' Hurwitz said.
But conservation groups say that the plans for many large dams are based on historical river flow data that are irrelevant in today's rapidly changing and unpredictable climate.
"Large dams have always been based on the assumption that future stream-flow patterns will mirror those of the past, but this is no longer true," Rudo Sanyanga, International Rivers' African program director, said in a statement.
In the video, various alternatives to large dam projects are proposed. For example, solar and geothermal energy would be better methods for producing power in Africa, where millions of people live far from the electric grid. And in India, Bassey says, where the transmission system experiences some of the highest energy losses in the world, money could be better spent on creating a smarter, more efficient electric grid.
David Tryse is a developer based in Dublin, Ireland, who has helped create numerous Google Earth applications for scientists and conservation groups, including International Rivers.
Tryse said he is excited about using Google Earth as a tool, because it gives hundreds of millions of people access to high-resolution satellite imagery and allows them to investigate environmental issues themselves.
"If a logging company claims there is no deforestation next to an important national park, then anyone can 'fly in' to verify this," Tryse, who helped develop the new dam video, said in an email.
Rhett Butler, the founder and editor of the environmental science and conservation news site Mongabay.com, said the video "really shows the scale of the dam issue."
"Before Google Earth, there was really not a good way to do this," said Butler, who was not involved in the project. "It's a very powerful way to convey a story. Maybe you would have had satellite pictures, but I'm sure the process would have been a lot more costly. Google Earth has made it a lot easier."
International Rivers says it hopes the new video will encourage the public to think about global dam issues and to contact their local lawmakers and other officials about their concerns.
"Large dams are not the silver bullet answer to climate change," Hurwitz said. "Climate policymakers at the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP 17] and the World Bank should support more decentralized and efficient water and energy solutions to meet the needs of developing countries," he said.
Ranjan K Panda
Water Initiatives Odisha: Fighting water woes, combating climate change... more than two decades now!
R-3/A-4, J. M. Colony, Budharaja
Sambalpur 768 004, Odisha, INDIA
Mobile: +
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
You can also mail me at: ranjan.waterman@facebook.
Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader
Please join our group 'Save Rivers Save Civilizations' at http://www.facebook.com/
Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) is a state level coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia, media and other concerned, which has been working on water, environment and climate change issues in the state for more than two decades now.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thought for the day - 28th November 2011
Natural behavior of someone may surprise us
sometimes, but brings to us the message of truth. Artificiality on the other hand may look so
comfortable, only to surprise us later with sour experiences…
Ranjan Panda
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Thought for Children's Day - 2011
Each deprived & dispossessed child must
remind us that we have still many miles to go before we can wish anyone ‘Happy
Children’s Day’…!!!
Ranjan Panda
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Thought for the day - 13th November 2011
The limits of learning are within the limitless unconditional gifts provided to us by Mother Nature...
Ranjan Panda
Thought of the Day - 12th November 2011
Nature has not only provided us with useful produces, but has
also taught us how to convert those to utilities. All this without
expecting anything in return.
Can we learn this nature from nature?
Ranjan Panda
Monday, November 7, 2011
Farmer Suicide Clock
Dear Friends/Co-sailors,
The Farmer Suicide Clock is ticking fast in the state and there seems no end to the farm woes. This is a quick update to inform you that reports have come in with the shocking news of another farmer ending his life in the state.
It is reported that 55 year old farmer Ankur Mahalick from Mandari village of Bhadrak's Basudevpur block, allegedly committed suicide over loan burden. He consumed pesticide on Sunday (6th Nov) morning.
Late Ankur's wife Rama has said that he had faced crop loss in the Kharif season due to lack of adequate rainfall and was under pressure to repay loans. He had borrowed 10,000 rupees from neighbours and another 10,000 rupees from a SHG. His crops failed and he was under severe mental pressure for the last one week. Finally, he had to succumb to the pressure and consumed the killer pesticide.
We are sure the local officials will try to cover up this incidence and give reports to justify that this is not a suicide due to crop loss. Some funny reasons will be cooked as they are done in almost all the farmer suicide cases. It is therefore a request to local groups and media in Bhadrak to bring out the details of this case and build up adequate pressure for appropriate compensation to late Ankur's family. Also, immediate steps should be taken up in the locality to see that other farmers do not take to this path.
Look forward to all of your urgent attention and action in this regard.
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Water Initiatives Odisha
P.S. Farmer Suicide Clock is an initiative of the WIO as part of the Drought Updates. It will be a regular feature in our upcoming Drought Updates.
Water Initiatives Odisha: Fighting water woes, combating climate change... more than two decades now!
R-3/A-4, J. M. Colony, Budharaja
Sambalpur 768 004, Odisha, INDIA
Mobile:
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com,
You can also mail me at: ranjan.waterman@facebook.
Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader
Please join our group 'Save Rivers Save Civilizations' at http://www.facebook.com/
Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) is a state level coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia, media and other concerned, which has been working on water, environment and climate change issues in the state for more than two decades now.
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