Saturday Special: Photos by Chris Jordan, Plastic in Mundka, Narmada Dam and More

This weekend, spend some time looking at some some striking photos.  And why not sign a couple of on-line petitions while you're at it?

From photographer Chris Jordan:

Midway: What happens to birds who eat the plastic that floats in the Pacific.

(The same thing, with a soundtrack is here.)

Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption, 2003-2005

Interview with the photographer--and more photos.

Story in Mint about plastic recycling in Mundka (Delhi).

Slideshow that goes with the story about Mundka.

Our review of Of Poverty and Plastic by Kaveri Gill

Our interview with  Economist and Author Kaveri Gill

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Sign this: "We are deeply alarmed at the murderous attacks on adivasis in Orissa by the police working with mercenaries hired by Tata Steel...."

 "The struggle cannot be over": Interview with Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader. (Thanks Kabir)  
 Petition to the PM on the Narmada Dam from AID
 

Why Worry? Failing Infrastructure + Falling Water Tables=Dry Days Ahead!

On Tuesday, we looked at some of the many things that have been justified in the name of the Commonwealth Games: new flyovers, the metro, sports arenas, airport terminals, fancy liquor stores, get-tough-on public drinking laws, get-tough-on beggar laws, calls for reduction in public urination and spitting...it's a very long list.  

But aside from the design of the Commonwealth Games village, have you ever heard anyone use the Commonwealth Games to justify improved water infrastructure? Probably not.  That's because nobody expects Commonwealth Games athletes or tourists to drink Delhi's water; neither will they have to wake up early to fill buckets of water or carry jugs of water home from a public tap.  And they aren't likely to go for a swim in the Yamuna or in a local nallah.  So our lack of water won't embarrass us like bad traffic, beggars and public urination will.  

But it is common knowledge that our water infrastructure is a mess.  Every day, on my way to work, I cross one or two small streams in the road--the result of leaking water mains.  In the photo to the right, you can see one that is just off Khel Gaon Marg, near the Hauz Khas police station.  The water has been flowing there for at least a month, possibly as a result of the street light upgradation announced by the MCD sign.  

If you need statistics to convince you of the problems we have with our water infrastructure, you either don't live in Delhi or you should get your eyes checked--but here are two just for good measure: Delhi wastes about half the clean water we get, and about 45 percent of Delhi's population is not connected to the sewage system.  

Yes, in Delhi, lack of clean water is already a disaster for millions of people already. But the Hindustan Times reported that, according to a recent study by McKinsey and Company, things could get much worse by 2030:

"The report states that if existing services are not improved drastically, the per capita water supply to a average citizen could drop from an average of 105 litres to only 65 litre a day in the next 20 years... Also, 70-80 per cent of the sewage generated in the country would go untreated, while of the 377 million tonne per annum solid waste that would be generated by 2030, only about 295 million tonne will be collected because of inadequate facilities."

What's the problem?  Apparently, India is not spending anything like what it needs to spend on infrastructure in order to keep up with growing urban population.  According to the story in HT, India's per capita annual spending on urban infrastructure is just $17.  China, by contrast, spends $116.  We need to spend more on our cities.  

Of course, one way to reduce urban population growth is to improve the quality of life in rural areas. However,according to a recent parliamentary committee report, the water situation in rural areas is even worse than it is in the cities. Here's what Mint said about it:

....just 12% of rural families have individual household tap connections and only 16% of the population gets drinking water from public taps, according to the legislative panel’s report. Further, the sanitation coverage in villages is less than 65%.

You will sometimes hear higher numbers--like 84% of villages are covered by rural water supply--but these are misleading because many pumps that are included in those numbers are not in working order.  And of course the water table is falling throughout north India, which means more pumps dry up all the time.  

If you have any doubt about the falling water table, try dropping a pebble in an old well and see how long it takes to reach the bottom--in Delhi, at least, in most cases the pebble will take a long time to reach a dry bottom; you really need a tube well to reach water around here. (For some history of the Delhi water table, go here. )  

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand what deep, dry wells suggest about our water consumption, but you might be pleased to know that the rocket scientists do have something interesting to to say about this trend!  A team of researchers analyzed satellite data from NASA and learned some interesting things about groundwater.  Here's what NASA's website had to say:

"Beneath northern India’s irrigated fields of wheat, rice, and barley ... beneath its densely populated cities of Jaiphur and New Delhi, the groundwater has been disappearing.... [Researchers] found that groundwater levels have been declining by an average of one meter every three years (one foot per year). More than 109 cubic km (26 cubic miles) of groundwater disappeared between 2002 and 2008 -- double the capacity of India's largest surface water reservoir, the Upper Wainganga, and triple that of Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the United States."

In other words, our use of water--for farms and for cities-- is unsustainable. If we don't do something about it soon, we're going to be in deep trouble--and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out! 

Commonwealth Games 2010: Considering the Costs

The chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has declared, "The games won't cost the country a penny," but that hasn't stopped the the Delhi government  from raising our taxes to pay for them.  You see, nothing in life comes without a cost--and the Commonwealth Games are no exception to that rule.  

Sometimes you have to laugh at all the things that are justified in the name of these games.  Because of the CWG, we'll soon be able to buy liquor in fancy malls, but we may be sent to jail and fined Rs. 50,000 if we are caught drinking in public.    Our street vendors--at least those visible to tourists--have been promised state-of-the-art, solar powered carts but we've all been asked to stop spitting and urinating on public roads.  Oh well, all good things require sacrifices!

On a more serious note, we have  a new metro, thousands of new buses and dozens of new flyovers, but nitrogen dioxide levels are exceeding prescribed limits, and the idea that Delhi might be "pollution free by 2010"--something we heard our leadership say as recently as 2007, seems like a bad joke.  And it's not just the air: if the Yamuna is not fully dead, it's at least dying--and 80% of what is is killing it originates in Delhi.  That's not surprising, given that about 45 percent of Delhi's population is not connected to the sewage system.  The fact that the Commonwealth Games Village  is built on the flood plain of the Yamuna is unlikely to help this situation, though we have heard endless talk about how  those facilities have been designed to conserve water. Unfortunately, the rest of Delhi is not doing so well: we currently waste about  half the clean water we get.


On the human front, the Delhi government is investing in biometric machines to help crack down on people convicted of begging, but it won't force contractors who take public money to pay the required minimum wage to their workers, and it tolerates child labor on public construction sites.  Apparently, we are unwilling to go after contractors who take public money and then steal from their own workers, but we have plenty of funds to punish poor people who annoy middle class residents and tourists by begging on street corners.  (As usual, it seems the price you pay is inversely related to the depth of your pockets.)

Yes, a lot has been done in the name of the Commonwealth Games.  We are becoming a World Class City.  But the cost has been high indeed.  Exactly how high is hard to say.  Some estimates put the budget for the games alone, excluding non-sports related infrastructure, at about 1.6 billion dollars, which would make it the most expensive CWG in history.   In a recent "Telhelka Avenues" advertisement, the Delhi government claimed to have spent over 17.5 billion dollars in games-related projects and infrastructure.  (That's where the flyovers, anti-begging biometric machines, and liquor stores come in, I suspect). Of course any city will collapse if it fails to invest in infrastructure, and it would be silly to say that all of that money was wasted--much of it was well spent.


I suspect the real cost of the games cannot be measured in dollars or rupees.  Perhaps the real price we've paid has had something to do with our willingness to publicly embrace a  perversion that has long been present in our priorities:  the CWG have served as an excuse to put off spending on things like schools, housing and clean water, and to invest instead in things the urban middle and upper classes seem to value most--transportation, unsustainable consumption, and projects that make our city look good to outsiders.

Let's hope that once the games are over, we will hear less about flyovers, fancy liquor stores and  airports that  meet "international standards." Instead, let's talk about a city that strives to provide clean water, decent housing and "word class" schools to all. Those things will cost money--a lot of it--but they won't require excuses!

"Arrest the Minister," Toilet Paper, Floating Plastic, "Think before you print!"

We said from the start that the BRAI Bill is a stupid idea--it's an attack on our fundamental rights and our food security.  Greenpeace India is continuing to organize around this issue, calling for a "citizen's arrest" of Minister Chavan, who has been pushing the bill.  Watch a video about their campaign here.

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Research says that the American public doesn't like to be told that eating less beef is good for the planet, so you have to wonder what kind of response there will be to the news that worldwide toilet paper use wipes out 27,000 trees a day.  (thanks Sabitha) The comments on that post are worth a read.

Speaking of paper, here's what the American paper industry says about the idea that we should "think before you print" emails. (thanks Bhagwad)  It's hard to imagine being against an idea like that, but they seem to manage. As clever as they are, maybe they could work out a campaign that connects the toilet paper thing with the useless-e-mail-printing thing.  Now THAT has potential (but I'M sure not going to touch it).  On a more serious note, if you want to learn more about the hidden costs and benefits of both paper and electronic reading, check out what we wrote on Tuesday.

And if you watched the existential musings of a wandering plastic bag that we posted Thursday, you may have heard him mention something called a "great Pacific Vortex."  It's real.  You can learn more by using google--or by watching this (unfunny) video.

Have a great weekend!

Plastic Bag (Green Humour from Future States)

It's been a hectic few weeks at the Dhaba, and I need a day off from essay writing!  So here's a video about a lonely plastic bag, blowing through America, looking back on his long, long life.  Existential might be a word you'd use in connection with this video--or just wacky.  Either way, I think you'll agree it's funny.

(If you are looking for something serious about trash, check out these posts.)

I think laughter is one of the finer things in life, and sometimes we don't get enough with all the serious stuff going on.  This video was courtesy of a tip from Apurva Mathad, who has some interesting photos up here.  

If you've got a funny, green link to share, why not send it our way?  You can mail us here!