विरासत स्वराज यात्रा 2021-22: हरिद्वार
२४ दिसंबर २०२१ को मातृ सदन, हरिद्वार में प्रकृति और पर्यावरण संबंधित सरकारी नीतियों पर आयोजित चर्चा का द्वितीय दिन संपन्न हुआ। दो दिवसीय इस सभा में पर्यावरण सम्बन्धी नीतियों पर चर्चा हुई कि किस प्रकार राज, समाज और संत मिलकर भी गंगा की अविरलता और उसके जल की विशिष्टता को नहीं बचा पा रहे हैं |
सभा की शुरुआत में मातृ सदन के परमाध्यक्ष स्वामी शिवानंद जी महाराज ने गंगा नदी में हो रहे खनन के इतिहास के बारे में बताते हुए कहा कि पूर्व के अधिकारी दूरदृष्टि रखते हुए कुंभ का आयोजन करते थे और समझते थे कि हरिद्वार की शान गंगा के पत्थरों में ही है, इसलिए वे खनन के पूर्ण विरोधी थे। गंगा के पत्थर शिव की जटाओं के समान है जो गंगा के तेज़ बहाव को संतुलित रखते हैं।
आज तरह-तरह के आयाम से गंगा में खनन हो रहा है जैसे चुगान, रिवर ट्रेनिंग, तलाब और मछली पालन इत्यादि। तलाब जब खुदता है तब उसका पत्थर उसके चारो बगल में होना चाहिए लेकिन अब वह पत्थर क्रशर को दिए जाते है। जिस तरह से खनन बढ़ता जा रहा है, उत्तराखंड तो नष्ट हो ही जाएगा, क्योंकि भूस्खलन, बादल फटने की घटनाएं दिन प्रतिदिन बढ़ती जाएंगी। हिमालय और गंगा भारत के मस्तक हैं । यदि यह मस्तक बचा रहेगा तभी तो भारत देश बचेगा।
यहाँ उपस्थित रिटायर्ड फौजियों ने गंगा संकट पर चिंता व्यक्त करते हुए कहा कि, जहाँ सैनिक पूरे देश की रक्षा करता है, अपना जीवन बॉर्डर पर गुजारता है और जब वह यहाँ आता है तो इस समाज की स्थिति देखकर बड़ा दुख होता है कि, किस तरीके से हमारी प्रकृति का सर्वनाश किया जा रहा है।
गंगा तट जगजीतपुर कनखल हरिद्वार में आयोजित इस सभा में जलपुरुष डॉक्टर राजेंद्र सिंह द्वारा सुझाव दिया गया कि गंगा की अविरलता और निर्मलता के संरक्षण हेतु गंगा संसद विधान का निर्माण किया जायेगा, जिसे परम पूज्य श्री गुरुदेव जी ने अपनी संस्तुति प्रदान की। इस संसद का उद्देश्य व्यवसायिक शक्तियों द्वारा गंगा में हो रहे शोषण, प्रदूषण एवं अतिक्रमण को रोकना तथा सरकार से गंगा की रक्षा के लिए सही कानून बनवाना है। इसके साथ ही संसद गंगा में बन रहे बांधों और खनन को रुकवाने के लिए भी कार्य करेगी।
गंगा संसद उन्हीं लोगों को सदस्य बनाएगी जो निस्वार्थ भाव से माँ गंगा की सेवा का कार्य करेंगे। यह संसद सभी को सदस्य बनने का समान अवसर प्रदान करेगी, लेकिन माँ गंगा से अपने लोभ-लालच के लिए काम करने वाले व्यक्ति को न तो सदस्य बनाएगी, और यदि ऐसा कोई व्यक्ति सदस्य बनता है, तो उसकी सदस्यता समाप्त कर देगी। सभा के सभी सदस्यों ने एकमत होकर परम पूज्य श्री गुरुदेव जी को संसद का अध्यक्ष घोषित किया।
Court Orders Permanent Rehabilitation of Ailing Elephant Rescued in MP at Care Centre in Mathura
Following an intensive three-week campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the Bada Malhera court in Chhatarpur has ordered the permanent rehabilitation of Lakshmi, known as “India’s skinniest elephant”, at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
Efforts by PETA India and local activists had led to her seizure by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, after which her upkeep was ensured by PETA India’s veterinary experts. This was per the direction of Madhya Pradesh’s chief wildlife warden.
In the first week of December, following complaints by PETA India and local activists, the forest department registered a preliminary offence report under Section 42 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, against Lakshmi’s custodian for illegally keeping her and abusing her for begging.
Upon hearing from PETA India, the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Project Elephant division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had asked the forest department to take immediate steps to rehabilitate Lakshmi. The court issued a direction to send her to the ECCC based on Wildlife SOS’ willingness to care for her.
👉 PETA
Thousands of threatened seahorses killed every year as bycatch in Palk Bay: study
A study conducted by a Kerala-based scholar shows how seahorses are affected by commercial fishing in Palk Bay. The spotted seahorse, Hippocampus kuda, and the three-spot seahorse, H. trimaculatus, are two widely distributed species having a life span of two to three years. Though both species are heavily exploited because of their high value in the traditional Chinese medicine markets and the aquarium trade.
Between August 2018 and July 2019 Shalu Kannan, a Ph.D. scholar at Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) used to board between 10 and 15 mini-trawlers each month, looking for two threatened species of seahorses, Hippocampus kuda and H. trimaculatus, encountered as by-catch.
The study shows that these two species of seahorses are vulnerable to overfishing, and there is an urgent need to develop species-specific conservation guidelines and on-ground implementation.
The results were published last month in Marine and Freshwater Research. A paper published last year by an international team also showed that between 4.98 and 13.64 million seahorses land as by-catch from India’s southeast coast every year.
In Cachar, microchips in elephants for identification, to monitor health: Assam
In order to keep track of elephants and better monitoring of the pachyderms, Cachar Forest officials have started implanting microchips in them.
The three-day camp, which began at Sonai Forest office on Wednesday, was next held at Salchapra on Thursday and Sonai and Matinagar of Cachar district on Friday. The camp also consisted of health checkup for the elephants and verification of the owner.
“With the help of the chips, we can trace them if and when they are let into the forest or sold to any person. Also, it allows us to keep track of whether any elephant is exploited by its owner,” Assam University Ecology department professor Dr. Parthankar Choudhury, who is also member of the expert team appointed to oversee the process, said.
It is pertinent to note that there are almost no wild elephants in Cachar district. There are a total of 38 elephants under private ownership, of which 17 are male and 21 female.
👉 EastMojo
Organic India sets stage for Dharti Mitr Awards 2021; receives over 100+ nominations from farmers across the country
Acknowledging the relentless contribution of farmers from across the country, Organic India, an innovative global leader working with thousands of small family farmers who cultivates sustainable organic farmlands, officially announced the Dharti Mitr Awards 2021.
The award aims to recognize the outstanding contributions of individual organic farmers by felicitating them with cash prizes and citations, on February 20, 2022, at the Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Awards.
Earlier this year, Organic India had invited nominations from farmers from all across the country and received an overwhelming response. Currently, the screening process is underway, and jury members will be reviewing each entry followed by a farm visit and personal interview. Four best entries will be shortlisted and felicitated at the award function.
Year In Review: Diluting green norms may derail India’s climate goals
In 2021, the govt pushed renewables to meet its updated climate aims, but also came up with plans to clear forests and reduced scrutiny of polluting units that could cause further environmental damage.
In 2021, India committed to achieving net zero by 2070, but the dichotomy between the ambitious target and the steps taken on the ground is hard to miss. The government has not only diluted environmental laws that regulate erring units but also devised plans to divert forest land to non-forest users.
During this period, India announced other policy measures such as the National Hydrogen Mission for clean energy and the global solar Green Grids initiative to transition away from coal. However, amid the renewed stress on ramping up climate action, the Indian government also amended the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 to allow non-forest use of the land for “strategic” projects, stripped away the ecological protection of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and pushed palm oil cultivation in north east India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
This happened in the backdrop of two major climate events: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)–the first after 2013–which presented a grim forecast on how global warming has impacted and will impact us in the near future; and countries across the world met for the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in November, where they adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact to control global temperature rise.
Environment India 