E-Weekly-6/12
Green Earth Movement
An E-Newsletter for the cause of Environment, Peace, Harmony and Justice
Remember - “you and I can decide the future”
'Laudato Si'' is inspiration for those who want to
be part of the solution
It's courageous, it's prophetic, it's challenging, it's holistic, it's wonderful: That's what I think of Pope
Francis' environmental encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Quoting his patron
saint, Francis of Assisi, who is also the patron saint of ecology, Pope Francis begins his papal letter with a
beautiful verse from the saint's "Canticle of the Creatures": "Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister,
Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and
herbs."
"Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us," writes the pope, "that our common home is like a sister with whom
we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. ... "This sister now cries out
to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with
which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder
her at will." Pope Francis explains, "Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much
of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and
demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look
more and more like an immense pile of filth."
The Holy Father then weighs in on climate change. Ignoring the weak scientific claims of those who deny
the climate is changing and that the earth is warming principally because of human pollution, he writes,
"A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the
climatic system." Indeed, the scientific consensus is very solid. According to NASA, "97 percent or more
of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are very
likely due to human activities."
Pope Francis continues, "In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the
sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events ... Humanity is called to
recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this
warming." "The problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil
fuels" -- that is, coal, oil and gas.
The pope urgently calls for global conversion from the use of these fossil fuels to "clean and renewable
energy" -- wind, solar and geothermal. "[Climate change] represents one of the principal challenges facing
humanity in our day. Its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades."
For example, "there has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing
poverty caused by environmental degradation." "The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of
some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in
temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming," Francis writes.
"Many of those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be
concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms, simply making efforts to reduce
some of the negative impacts of climate change."
In a rebuke to some multinational corporations operating in economically underdeveloped countries,
Francis writes, "Generally, after ceasing their activity and withdrawing, they leave behind great human
and environmental liabilities such as unemployment, abandoned towns, the depletion of natural reserves,
deforestation, the impoverishment of agriculture and local stock breeding, open pits, riven hills, polluted
rivers and a handful of social works which are no longer sustainable."
Francis then turns his attention to the growing scarcity of clean water, especially in Africa, and the
reckless pollution of much of our existing water. And he writes about his concern regarding the
privatization of water -- "turning it into a commodity subject to the laws of the market." "Our world has a
grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water," Francis says. The pope expresses
deep concern that the many injustices of market-based economies, together with environmental
degradation, have their gravest effects on the poor and vulnerable.
He writes, "The depletion of fishing reserves especially hurts small fishing communities without the
means to replace those resources; water pollution particularly affects the poor who cannot buy bottled
water; and rises in the sea level mainly affect impoverished coastal populations who have nowhere else to
go." Francis tries to awaken the consciences of all, especially the economically and politically powerful,
to the plight of the poor.
He writes that in political and economic discussions, the poor seem to be brought up as an afterthought.
"Indeed, when all is said and done, they frequently remain at the bottom of the pile."
Francis astutely observes that living comfortable lifestyles far removed from the poor often leads to a
"numbing of conscience" and to a cold, impersonal analysis. "At times this attitude exists side by side
with a 'green' rhetoric. "Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological
approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the
environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor."
Observing the connection between the degradation of the environment and war, Francis writes, "It is
foreseeable that, once certain resources have been depleted, the scene will be set for new wars."
Pope Francis says in addition to highlighting the duty of each person to care for nature, the church "must
above all protect mankind from self-destruction." The Holy Father sees the environmental problem as part
of a much larger, more serious problem: Our failure to consistently recognize the truth that everyone and
everything is interconnected.
He explains, "When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human
embryo, a person with disabilities -- to offer just a few examples -- it becomes difficult to hear the cry of
nature itself; everything is connected." "Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of
nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion," he writes.
Pope Francis sees in St. Francis a perfect example of one who fully understood our interrelatedness.
He writes that St. Francis "was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony
with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is
between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace." Pope Francis
has given the world a great gift. With wise insight, he has laid out for us the truth of our
interconnectedness with all creation -- not only in the ecological web of life, but as people sharing one
human nature and, spiritually, as brothers and sisters united to God, father of all.
However, because we continue to ignore the vital necessity of nurturing this interconnectedness, the
ecological, social and spiritual web is tearing. But if we care at all, we still have a little time to mend the
tears. For anyone interested in being a part of the solution, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home"
is a must-read!
[Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist. He is available to
speak at diocesan or parish gatherings about Catholic social teaching. His keynote address, "Advancing
the Kingdom of God in the 21st Century," has been well received by diocesan gatherings from San
Clemente, Calif., to Baltimore. His email address is tmag@zoominternet.net.]
Editor's note: We can send you an email alert every time Tony Magliano's column, "Making a
Difference," is posted. Go to this page and follow directions: Email alert sign-up.
For the Power Point Presentation (PPT) of Pope Francis’
encyclical LAUDATO SI (PRAISED BE TO YOU) visit:
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in
Go to GEM section, PPT No. 32.
You may download this PPT and use it for educational
and awareness purpose for various groups.
Waste not, want not
Seema Redkar, National Award-winning officer from the Solid Waste Management
Department of MCGM, explains why waste segregation is the way forward to minimise
pressure on the city’s fast-filling dumping grounds
Pooja Patel, DNA
Waste segregation is one of the many answers to being part of a greener environment. Waste
sorting needs to be a collective effort by citizens... this is in order to reduce the pressure on the
city’s dumping ground. The four strata of society – the corporation, citizens, private corporate
companies and the political clan – need to work together to make this step a reality. It is high
time these four major stakeholders get together to benefit the environment. There are a number
of people practising waste segregation in the city; currently, 617 ALMs (advanced locality
managements) in the city are effectively sorting waste in their neighbourhood, and around 40
locations witness activities like composting. We need to scale this up by active participation.
Mumbaikars need to understand segregation needs to be conducted from the source, i.e. from
each household, hotels, commercial complexes among others. What is lacking, I feel, is
awareness and publicity about the benefits as well as the necessity of this process. A lot of civic
bodies (like the ones of Thane and Pune) allow rebate on property tax if the societies conduct
waste segregation. I feel all corporations should adopt such pro-people and eco-friendly policies.
I have been working with the slums for more than two decades now and it is surprising that the
awareness level here is higher than the societies. On average, a person living in a society
generates a kilo of waste per person per day, while a slumdweller would (probably) generate
around 250gm. Also, slumdwellers recycle more than us (mostly due to their financial needs).
They sell emptied milk sachets, metal scrap, newspapers (that are later recycled or reused) in
exchange for other household items.
We need to change how we store garbage in waste bins. Usually, most houses use plastic
waste bin liners to stock garbage. It is important that we replace these plastic liners with bags
that are compostable, which are corn or starch-based. Though these are not 100 per cent
environment friendly, they do less harm than plastic bags. We need to understand that the
environment is a chain, where production only ends with going back to nature. But this is not
happening… now, we only add to the pollution.
We need private industries that can create a market for recycled material, where products such
as products are recycled. These private industries can also help in managing commercial waste
like rexine from leather industries, cloth waste from textile industries and others. Along with this,
we need public-private partnerships. I don’t see another way for managing waste.
Finally, change yourself and society will change.
—As told to Pooja Patel
pooja.patel@dnaindia.net
Available
Educational PowerPoint Presentations (PPTs) on
ZERO GARBAGE - PPT No. 6 AND WASTE TO COOKING
GAS – PPT No. 18
Download these PPTs from our website:
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in, GEM section
Vanishing dumping grounds
Ajit Ranade
Mumbai, brimming as it is with garbage, needs to urgently pursue a strategy to convert
waste to electricity
Have you heard of the Smoke Affected Residents Forum? Mumbai must be the only city in the
world to have such an association. The SARF is made up of people who are victims of toxic
smoke from burning garbage. They live mostly in the vicinity of Deonar dumping ground. They
probably have members from Mulund as well. Every now and then there is a fire in the dumping
ground, caused either by miscreants or spontaneously due to inflammable material. That causes
toxic fumes.
Then they have to call the fire brigade. This year in February the fire, smoke and fumes were so
bad that the entire Eastern suburbs were under smog, and visibility was very poor for a couple
of days. Every now and then there is an informal advisory for residents to stay indoors, or at
least to not let the kids out. The plight of asthma patients can only be imagined.
This problem is not recent. In 2009, the Bombay High Court had to intervene because the SARF
filed a contempt of court petition against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The
corporation had ignored orders of the court to do something about mounting garbage in the
dumping ground back in 2003. The complaints actually had started much earlier, in 1996. The
court asked that Deonar dumping ground be partially closed, as this was necessary to protect
the fundamental “right to life“ of the people. If this were not done by BMC then it would amount
to contempt of court. Matters didn't progress much till this year.It is not as if the BMC has been
doing nothing. It has been looking for alternative sites for dumping grounds. Kanjurmarg may be
opened soon despite earlier opposition and legal problems. Most dumping sites tend to be near
residential areas, so they need safeguards and a buffer zone. In landscarce Mumbai this is a
huge challenge. The BMC has also experimented with bio-mining, or composting as a solution
to waste management. It has been asking for land from the state government.
Some of the delay in complying with court orders is inherent in bureaucracies. Why does it take
acourt to give an ultimatum to municipal authorities to do something about garbage? (In Delhi
too they switched from toxic diesel to CNG for buses only after the Supreme Court ordered the
local government). But for SARF and indeed all of Mumbai city, the garbage and the fumes have
become a matter of life and death. (Swachch Bharat, anyone?) This year, matters came to a
head as the court asked for immediate closure of both Deonar and Mulund. So BMC moved
court to seek an extension. During this time it will explore opening Kanjur and new landfill is
being explored near Taloja, about 70 km outside Mumbai. Kanjur will open in about two months.
The November deadline looms large. Taloja is far and we will have to burn lots of diesel to get
the garbage to that dumping ground, if and when the land is made available.
This column has repeatedly made the plea that Mumbai is uniquely placed to convert its waste
to electricity through a thermal power plant. We can aspire to zero-garbage status, like Sweden.
The technology is proven and tested and more than a decade old. The sale of electricity at say
Rs 8 or Rs 9 a unit will generate enough revenue to pay the rag pickers (who might lose their
livelihood), and for the initial capital expenses of the power plant. It can be a zero-emission
plant, eliminating not just toxic fumes, but all polluting emissions.
For this project there is no serious need to separate wet and dry garbage, although it is a
laudable goal (but needs change in our habits). Waste to watts, your time has come.
Indian children spread pope’s message on
climate change
Kids want people to care and take steps to preserve the environment
Ritu Sharma, New Delhi
India
July 14, 2015
Supporting Pope Francis’ global call for urgent action on climate change, children in
New Delhi took to the streets to create awareness for the environment. “People
tend to ignore the need to preserve the environment and carry on with their lives. I
hope they will take into consideration what the pope has said on the issue,” Kalpana
Singh told ucanews.com. Singh was among the 7-15 year-olds taking part in a
dance event on New Delhi streets July 12 using colorful umbrellas, unicycles and
holding banners, despite the heavy downpour.
Deepak, who uses only one name, told ucanews.com, that he was concerned about
the increasing number of natural calamities across the world. “We have caused this
harm to our mother Earth and we will have to take steps to rectify it. The sooner we
start, the better.” Pope Francis recently released the encyclical Laudato si' (Praise
be to you — On Care For Our Common Home). Addressed to every person on the
planet, the pope blamed human greed for the critical situation "Our Sister, mother
Earth" now finds herself in. "This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we
have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which
God has endowed her," he wrote.
The New Delhi event, a part of the Pope4Planet campaign, was organized by the
Church-based social organizations Caritas India, Chetnalaya and Nine is Mine.
More than 250 people signed petitions addressed to world leaders in the U.N.
Climate Summit to be held in Paris in November, asking them to take responsibility
for climate change and take steps to control it. “People are just waiting for an
opportunity to do something for the environment,” Amrit Sangma, spokesman of
Caritas India, told ucanews.com. Pope Francis’ letter expressing concern about
climate change provides them this opportunity, he added.
Sangma also pointed out that the “church's large network should be put to use to
spread awareness about this increasing problem and ways to tackle it.”
The campaign has the support of more than 200 partners in India working in
solidarity with more than 164 international member organizations under the aegis
of Caritas Internationalis. It prioritizes afforestation activities in India in order to
limit global warming levels to a maximum of two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, as proposed by U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Caritas India is also planning a number of “green activities” to encourage
afforestation, renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices, according to
Fr. Frederick D'Souza, executive director of Caritas India.
Report finds rumours, fear-mongering in
Western Ghats eco-sensitive area
Ananya Dutta,TNN | Jul 17, 2015
PUNE: "If your village is declared as part of the eco-sensitive area (ESA) then no one will want to
marry your daughters" — This is just one of the reasons being bandied about in villages to drum
up opposition to the notification declaring 37% of the area in the Western Ghats as an ESA.
While the above example may be extreme, the fear-mongering in the villages that fall in this
region include claims that the ESA would cause disruptions in agricultural practices or even
relocation of villages.
After the K Kasturirangan committee recommended the declaration of the ESA based on satellite
data, the Union government had told the states concerned to carry out a 'ground-truthing'
exercise. The impact of the campaign of misinformation by vested interests during this period
has been documented in a recent report called 'Citizens' fact-finding report on the public
consultation process as part of ground-truthing in the Western Ghats'.
The report has made a comparative analysis of the public consultation process in four of the six
states in the Western Ghats region — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala. The document
was prepared by Jhatkaa, a Bangalore-based citizens' campaigning group, with the help of
activists working in each state. "The individual experience in each state will perhaps be different,
but we certainly found efforts to spread misinformation about the ESA across the region. In
some places, the lack of transparency in the process was striking; we couldn't even find any
information on Gujarat or Tamil Nadu," said Tania Devaiah, a campaigner at Jhatkaa.
City-based environmentalist Saili Palande-Datar, who has contributed to the report, cited an
example of the confusion regarding the notification. She received questions from residents of
Koyna village, who were being told that they would be relocated once their village was declared
as part of the eco-sensitive area. "They have already been displaced twice — first because of the
dam and later when the wildlife sanctuary was notified. They are apprehensive that this
notification will make them move a third time, which is far from the truth," she said.
The report says that local political interests and pro-mining lobbies are fanning the flames.
"There has been a concerted effort to derail the ESA process — Billboards belittling Professor
Madhav Gadgil (the head of the Western Ghats Ecological Experts Panel that preceded the
Kasturirangan Committee) have been put up, and rumours are being spread about how harmful
the ESAs would be," the report notes.
Mahadev Bhise, a resident of Amboli village who attended a public consultation meeting, said
that many rumours are being spread in the area near his village. "Some people were told that
they will not even be able to hammer a single nail in their houses," he said. Other
misinformation being circulated includes claims that farmers will not be able to use chemical
fertilisers in their fields and that no one will be able to carry out any repairs in their houses, he
added.
Vilas Bardekar, chairman of the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB), is overseeing the
ground-truthing exercise in the state. Bardekar said that the committee had not received any
formal complaints on the matter. "There are some places where such rumours have been
circulated, but we are addressing them through the public consultation process. Overall, I think
public opinion is in favour of the ESA," said Dilip Singh, member secretary of the MSBB.
Sources in the board said that although they encountered these rumours during the process of
these consultations, there was little clarity on who was spreading the misinformation.
Most of the queries were regarding the future of agricultural land, because people were being
told that this was an attempt at a land grab by the government, they said.
Available
Educational PowerPoint Presentations (PPT) on
FORESTS ARE GREEN LUNGS– PPT No. 23
Download this PPT from our website:
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in, GEM section
Tax sugary drinks by 20%, say doctors
www.bbc.com/news/health
It estimates poor diets are causing around 70,000 premature deaths each year. In a major report
on unhealthy diets, the body called for the extra money raised to be used to subsidise fresh fruit
and vegetables. The Food and Drink Federation said the measure would not change diets.
There has been growing concern about the damaging impact of sugar on health - from the state
of people's teeth to type 2 diabetes and obesity.
In its Food for Thought report, the BMA warns that a 330ml can of pop is likely to contain up to
nine teaspoons of sugar that are simply "empty calories". The report said taxing specific food
groups - such as the sugar drinks tax introduced in Mexico - were shown to cut consumption.
Doctors said a tax of at least 20% would be needed to deter customers. It would mean a 65p
can of fizzy drink would cost at least 78p and a two-litre bottle would shoot up from £1.85 to
£2.22. The report says the extra revenue should be used to make fruit and vegetables cheaper
so that we "create an environment where dietary choices default to healthy options".
'Massive problem'
Dr Shree Datta, from the British Medical Association, told the BBC: "I think it is a massive
problem illustrated by the fact obesity is creeping up. "We're looking at 30% of the UK
population being obese by the year 2030, a large extent of that is due to the amount of sugar
we're actually consuming without realising. "The biggest problem is a lot of us are unaware of
the amount of sugar we are consuming on a day-to-day basis."
The government's main approach to obesity has to been to work with the food industry to get it
to voluntarily reduce calorie content. A spokeswoman said obesity was of "great concern to this
government". She added: "There is no silver bullet but we do want to see industry go further to
cut the amount of sugar in food and drinks so that people can make healthier choices."
The BMA's report is timely. Later this week, the UK's official Scientific Advisory Committee on
Nutrition will publish its final advice on the amount of sugar we should be eating. Its draft
report said sugar added to food or naturally present in fruit juice and honey should account for
5% of energy intake. The current recommended level is 10% and many people fail to meet that.
Ian Wright, director-general of the Food and Drink Federation, said: "We share the BMA's
concerns about the health of young people in the UK." However, it said many foods were
already taxed at 20% through VAT such as soft drinks and confectionery. He added: "Where
additional taxes have been introduced they've not proven effective at driving long-term, lasting
change to diets.
"In recent years, calories in household foods and drinks have been gradually lowered through
recipe reformulations, including sugar reductions, and changes to portion sizes."
Available
Educational PowerPoint Presentations (PPT) on
SOFT DRINKS – AN HEALTH HAZARD– PPT No. 7
Download this PPT from our website:
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in, GEM section
ASIA : “Bring Laudato si’ to the edges of
society”
Card. Luis Antonio Tagle Manila (AsiaNews)
“The many quotations of bishops’ conferences from all over the world in the
encyclical show that the local Churches have been addressing the ecological issue
for a number of years now,” said Card Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, in
his message as new president of Caritas Internationalis. Below, please find the full
text of Cardinal Tagle’s message.
Dear Caritas friends, In some parts of the world babies are born, children grow up
and adults face the end of their lives living and working in the poisonous waste
created and discarded by others. In other parts, people live on a tightrope between
floods and droughts and grave injustices. In these places, life is slowly strangled
from the very beginning. This is not God’s design for humanity and the Earth. Life is
moving so fast that many people are disorientated. The faster life goes, the more
we consume, the more we waste and the further away from God and the poor we
move. With this over-consumption comes a heaviness – not just physical but also
spiritual. We gather so many things into our heads and lives that one more thought
or fact or responsibility overwhelms us into lethargy.
In June, Pope Francis called each of us to undertake a mission to save the planet,
our relationship with God and our human family. He gave us a reminder to “take
the trash out of our lives” and clean it up out of everyone else’s so we can live as
one human family in dignity and in unity. In the encyclical Laudato Si’ the Holy
Father lays the path for a global “ecological conversion”. I would like to echo this
call to the whole of the Caritas family and invite you to welcome into your hearts
Caritas’ strategic vision “One Human Family, Caring for Creation”.
In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis reminds us to replace consumption with a sense of
sacrifice, greed with generosity and wastefulness with a spirit of sharing. We must
“give, and not simply give up”. We are called to free ourselves from all that is heavy
and negative and wasteful and to enter into dialogue with our global family. This
requires a process of universal communication and listening in truth, a global
examination of conscience, a global recognition of failures and guilt and a global
resolve to right the harm already done. We need to recover the horizon of gift and
grace within which every creature finds its place. We need to see our human
vocation to live with the family of creation as stewards and not owners. This
requires us to be energetic, driven and creative but never domineering and abusive.
In Caritas, I have witnessed the power of active love at work in the midst of this
global ecological crisis. Caritas workers build bonds of solidarity with people living
on trash heaps. They reinforce the dignity of the poorest who are battered by
climate change. Caritas volunteers accompany people across the world in their
efforts to build up their lives and homes and send their children to school. Caritas is
the living Word of God in the poor communities of the world. It is a free-flowing
river of love and hope, which nourishes and has an enormous natural power to
bring about change.
As Caritas and as members of the human family, we all have a role to play in this
ecological revolution to which Pope Francis has invited us. We must strengthen the
ties among our organisations so we work better together. By pooling our resources,
sharing information and supporting one another we can show that it is possible for
people of good will to restore hope together. We must use all of our knowledge and
experience to come up with “bite-size” initiatives which will enable ourselves and
any member of society to embark on the lifestyle changes necessary for personal
conversion. We must think long and hard about how to make sure that the message
of the encyclical reaches the extremes of society: the poorest who suffer unjustly
because of other people’s choices, and the elites who have an enormous power to
bring about global change and yet shy away from this responsibility.
The many quotations of bishops’ conferences from all over the world in the
encyclical show that the local Churches have been addressing the ecological issue
for a number of years now. We thank Pope Francis for bringing these voices
together into a “chorus” of praise, lament and call. I believe that Church leaders,
especially Caritas bishops have a major role to play making sure people take to
their hearts the message of Pope Francis’ encyclical by pushing for a Christian
spirituality of ecological integrity. Such a spirituality includes a recovery of a
contemplative stance that sees and appreciates the beauty of creation. We need to
shape a spirituality that invites politicians, business people, artists, educators,
scientists and builders to work for the common good, respecting the dignity of each
person, especially of the poor and most vulnerable. God’s love is the fundamental
moving force in all created things. Caritas is a manifestation of that love which
translates “global warming” into a worldwide warming of our hearts to the poor.
Yours in Christ, + Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines
China struggles to contain the environmental
damage of its rapid growth
Courtesy: BBC news
At a conference in Ethiopia this week, the world is discussing the funding for a new set of
international goals on sustainable development. Any global attempt to push for
sustainability will need the world's biggest country on board. China represents a fifth of
the world's population, and after more than three decades of high speed growth it is
grappling with the challenge of cleaning up environmental damage and creating a more
sustainable future. China Editor Carrie Gracie visited Hunan Province in central China to
assess the progress of the cleanup there.
Water should be a life giver. But in the fields of Zhubugang it is a silent killer. Yang Juqing, 68, is
irrigating her fields of green pepper and aubergine. But her water is polluted with industrial
waste. She leads me along a fetid ditch which is full of black bubbling water leading back to a
high brick factory wall with smokestack chimneys behind. This land was once known as China's
basket of rice and fish. But Zhubugang is also rich in minerals. So as China became the factory
to the world, this area became a centre for the chemical industry. The crops began to suffer:
untreated effluent in the water, heavy metals in the soil, sulphur dioxide in the air.
Tendrils of vine wind up a bamboo frame and Mrs Yang reaches across to pluck a winter melon,
cracking it open and showing me the rotten inside. She's been farming here all her adult life but
she says that in recent years, the crops have been useless. "Here in this village, many people
have cancer. Three people died in the space of as many months. They were all so young. It's so
toxic here," Mrs Yang says. China is often congratulated for pulling hundreds of millions of
people from poverty. But wealth has come at a terrible price. Unregulated smokestack industries
have ravaged the environment and damaged the health of generations.
Next door to Mrs Yang, the neighbours are sliding the lid off the well in their courtyard to pump
water from twenty metres underground. They tell me they buy bottled water for the baby, but
they can't afford it for the rest of the family. The wife holds the end of the rope as the husband
tentatively lowers the pump down the well shaft. She jerks her chin in the direction of the forest
of chimneys on the other side of the fish pond. "If it wasn't for the factories that would be clean
water down there but because of them it's heavily polluted."
It's not just Zhubugang. A fifth of China's arable land is poisoned with heavy metals, most of its
groundwater is polluted and some experts say air quality is now a bigger killer than smoking.
Numbers like this are forcing Beijing's hand. Across the country, some of the largest antigovernment protests now focus on pollution problems. And the wealthy middle classes in the big
cities are increasingly impatient for action to guarantee clean air, water and food.
In March this year Premier Li Keqiang told the annual session of China's parliament, the
National People's Congress: "Environmental pollution is a blight on people's quality of life and a
trouble that weighs on their hearts…We must fight it with all our might." From province to city to
township level, the message has made its way down to Zhubugang that creating jobs and
turning a profit can no longer come at the expense of public health. All the chemical complexes
which have sprung up haphazardly and without regulation have now been ordered to move.
Local environmentalist Song Wei says she is encouraged: "No more economic growth stained
by blood. Under the new environment law, every factory has to be approved before it's built.
We're putting an end to unregulated chaos." We visit one of the factories forced to move to a
dedicated industrial zone, a supplier of enamel paints and glazes for cookware.
Company boss Liang Menlin tells me that in the Zhubugang days, the minerals were mixed by
hand, no one bothered with masks and there was toxic dust everywhere. Now the minerals are
machine ground in sealed chambers and dust is extracted by vacuum pumps. "Internationally,
standards are rising and technology is more advanced. What's more, environmental inspections
are much more frequent than in the old days. Traditional methods of manufacturing have to give
way to the big trend for environmental protection. No company can afford to fall behind."
As for the basket of fish and rice that all these people remember from the Zhubugang of their
childhood, there is no going back. The soil is too contaminated to be farmed again. Instead
factory sites will be reassigned as urban real estate and the remaining farmers will be moved out
to apartment blocks.
Right incentives
Pan Jiahua of the Research Centre for Sustainable Development at China's Academy of Social
Sciences reminds me of the enormous pressure that urbanisation itself places on China's
resources and ecology. "The real concern is consumer behaviour. People want a modern,
comfortable way of life…a big car, a large apartment, air-conditioning in the summer, heating in
the winter. All of this is new in China. It's not wrong but it's so vast and so sudden. We are just
not prepared for the consumption of energy and natural resources," Prof Pan says.
But Prof Pan is confident that with the right incentives for government officials and a
determination to enforce regulations, China will move from its headlong rush for growth to a
future of sustainable development. "Now we have the investment, the demand, the
technologies, the determination. If we decide to get things done I don't think that will be a huge
challenge."
Everyone has a stake in Prof Pan being right, and for some its urgent. The Zhubugang sprawl is
being demolished, but close by lies another maze of crumbling factories and according to the
families who live among them, they show no sign of leaving. Next door to a foundry, we visit
three-year-old Yangyang who has three times the safe level of lead in his blood. The air smells
foul and stings our eyes.
As Yangyang spins round the yard on his scooter, his grandmother tells me she's never had a
lungful of clean air in her life. His father says they are all the voiceless victims of the country's
rush for wealth."The central government has good intentions. It does want to clean up the
pollution. But we don't know where the money goes on the way down the chain. By the time it
gets down here there isn't any money left." Yangyang's father washes an apple in a tin basin,
pointing out that he has no idea how safe either the water or the apple is to Yangyang's health.
So how confident is he that the air will improve in his son's lifetime? "Things should get a bit
better …maybe in ten years or twenty years, things should improve somewhat." China has a
long, long way to go to make good on its promise to children like Yangyang: a sustainable future
in which every life counts.
She Begged On Streets So She Could Feed Every
Orphan She Saw!
www.thebetterinida.com
Born on 14 November at Pimpri Meghe village in Wardha district of Maharashtra,
Sindhutai Sapkal was keen on completing her education and used Bharadi tree leaves to
write as the family could not afford a slate. But, she could not continue her studies after
fourth grade due to family responsibilities and she got married at a tender age of 10 to a
30-year old man. Her abusive husband beat her up and threw her out of the house when
she was 20 and nine-months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl in a cow shelter
outside their house the same day and walked a few kilometres in that condition to her
mother’s place, who refused to give shelter to her.
“I cut the umbilical cord with a sharp-edged stone lying nearby,” she recalls. The incident
deeply affected her and she thought of committing suicide, but gave up that thought and
started begging at railway platforms for food to look after her daughter. As she spent
more time begging, she realized that there are many orphans and children abandoned by
their parents. Having faced the difficulties herself, she decided to adopt them. She started
begging more earnestly in order to feed the many children that she had adopted.
Gradually she decided to adopt every child who was as an orphan and, over a period of
time, she emerged as the “mother of orphans”.
Till date, she has adopted and nurtured over 1,400 orphans, made them lawyers, doctors
and engineers, and got them married and helped them settle down. She is fondly referred
to as “mai” (mother). To eliminate the feeling of partiality among children she gave away
her biological daughter to Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai. Her daughter herself runs an
orphanage today.
Many years later, her husband came back to her and apologized for his harsh deeds.
Having devoted all her life to the orphans, she forgave him and accepted him as her
child, as she could only harbour motherly love for all. She affectionately introduces her
80-year old husband as the eldest child.
For her immense courage and compassion she has received over 500 awards. Whatever
amount she received as awards, she used it to construct homes for her children.
She has six organizations operating under her name which work for various needs of
orphans. Her life’s story inspired many and a Marathi film called “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal”
was made on her which won a national award.
The unusual life of Sindhutai is an inspiration for all of us. We salute this brave lady and
hope that the country gives birth to many such strong daughters and mothers.
Read more on http://goo.gl/sdOihY
Delhi government to launch 'aam aadmi' canteens in Delhi,
provide meal for Rs 5
Jul 16, 2015, IBNLive
New Delhi: Cheap meal for the common people of Delhi is soon going to be a reality with the
Arvind Kejriwal government deciding to start 'aam aadmi' canteens in the national capital which
will provide meals for Rs 5 to 10. The canteens will first be started in industrial areas, hospitals
and commercial institutes which will be run by the Food and Civil Supplies department.
A Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) proposal in this regard was approved by Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, setting the ball rolling for its implementation. There was no official
word on the amount of subsidy required for the scheme though. "Today the choice is limited for
the poor when it comes to having nutritious food. They have to depend on food that is often
unhygienic yet pricey," DDC Vice-Chairman Ashish Khetan told reporters.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner would be available in the canteens which would mainly cater to
construction labourers, slum dwellers, students and office-going population alike. When asked
about the possible expenditure, Khetan referred to the Tamil Nadu model which, he said, needs
around Rs 65 crore annually to run 225 canteens. "The detailed work map is being worked out,"
he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party government is closely following 'Amma Canteen' model started by Tamil
Nadu government while implementing this scheme. The Amma Canteen scheme is a hugely
popular one. At these canteens, good quality food is sold at very cheap rates three times a day morning, afternoon and night.
The Amma Canteen concept involves selling food items such as sambar rice, curd rice, lemon
rice, idly and chapatis at very low rates and is aimed at benefiting the working class population,
including daily wage labourers.
Each Day is a New Gift,
Priyanka Reena Quadros, courtesy: daijiworld. com
Every day, once we wake up in the morning, we receive a new gift wrapped with a
lot of new surprises awaiting us, new challenges, new duties, new responsibilities
and so on. The way we open the gift wrapper decides how well the gift remains,
whether it remains intact or get damaged.
Each day is indeed a wonderful gift from God, provided, we accept it wholeheartedly and make the best possible use of it. No human being is perfect on this
universe but we do have some inbuilt talents which we need to identify and
recognize. Each one of us is unique and special. All we need to do is to believe in
ourselves and at the same time rely on God’s unique plans for us. Jennifer Lopez
has very beautifully quoted, “There are all ideals about what is perfect and what is
beautiful and what is smart, but the most appealing thing is, that which is me is
nobody else.”
We may sometimes fail to recognize what we are capable of. But, we must never
lose hope, pray to God and wait for the right moment. A word of appreciation and
encouragement from others may also help us to identify our unique talents. We
may not receive everything on the same day. Therefore, we must learn to be
content with whatever we have and treasure every new day that we come across
just like we preserve the gifts given by our loved ones.
An American author Augustine “Og” Mandino II has beautifully explained the
importance of each day saying, “Each day is a special gift from God, and while life
may not always be fair, you must never allow the pains, hurdles and handicaps of
the moment to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future. You can
never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity, and the sour sound of whining
will certainly frighten away any opportunity for success.”
We must never consider a new day as a burden but thank God for having given us
this day. The baseball player Eric Davis says, “Blessings can come in a number of
ways. The Lord doesn’t give you what you want, the Lord gives you what you
need.” We must thereby never be discouraged, trust in God’s plans and try to
identify the blessings that God has given us.
Fear must never become a hurdle in our path. We, as human beings tend to make
mistakes unknowingly. We must not worry about it as every mistake teaches us a
new lesson. Even the previous day’s mistakes must not dishearten us and prevent
us from enjoying God’s precious gift to the fullest as Coulton E. Knox has told us,
“Let not the mistake of yesterday nor the fear of tomorrow spoil the day.”
Sometimes, we might come across people who try to discourage us and create
barriers in our path. But, we must not step backwards. Bono has very clearly
quoted, “Whenever you see darkness, there is extraordinary opportunity for the
light to burn brighter.” Hence, we need to be very quick in grabbing all the
opportunities that knock the door since we never know if we would get a second
chance.
An unknown author has beautifully quoted, “Always believe something beautiful is
going to happen. Even with all the ups and downs, never take a day for granted.
Smile, cherish the little things and remember to hug the ones you really love.”
Therefore, we must never forget to consider each day a new gift, be thankful to
God, remember that the best is yet come and keep in mind that all of us can make
a difference.
WANTED HELPING HANDS- Courtesy: Daijiworld.com
For more appeals visit – www.daijiworld.com - charity
Savitha(37),Kuchila Bail,Near Manor Temple,Neermarga Village,Mangaluru575029
Monday, June 29, 2015
Savitha(37), W/o Vasanth, 2-118, presented with complaint of sudden onset of
headache, alteration of sensorium with right sided limb weakness. Diagnosed left MCA
aneurysm. She underwent left pterional craniotomy, clipping of multilobulated MCA
aneurysm under GA on February 13, 2015. Post op uneventful. On discharge she was
conscious,had improvement in her limb weakness to extent of walking with support and
feeding herself. Speech was however aphasic. She is under treatment at A J Institute of
Medical Sciences.
She is very poor and unable to pay for the medical treatment. She has requested kind
hearted donors to help her financially so that she can get herself treated.
Your kind remittances may please be sent to her following bank account:
Bank Account No.: 181400101003122
Name of the Account Holder: Savitha
Bank: Corporation Bank,
Door No. 3-113,Crystal Center,
Crasta Compound, Neermarga Main Road,
Mangalore 575029
IFSC Code: CORP0001814
Telephone No: 91 97310 13757
Prajoth D'Souza (23), Prashanth Nilaya, Anjare, Manjeshwar, Kerala state,671323
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Prajoth D'Souza (23), son of Felix D'Souza, resident of Prashanth Nilaya, Anjare,
Manjeshwar, Kerala state, has been suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (blood
cancer). Prajoth had recently completed a course in interior designing, and started
supporting the family, when he was diagnosed with the above ailment. He has been
undergoing chemotherapy at KMC Hospital Mangalore at the advice of the hospital
doctors.
KMC Hospital has estimated cost of Prajoth's treatment at about five lac rupees. Prajoth
lives with his parents and brother. The family, which does not have any substantial
means, is finding it a formidable task to continue with the said treatment because of high
cost involved. Having been hard-pressed for money to treat Prajoth, the family has
requested willing donors to extend possible help.
Bank account details:
SB account number: 012900101024586
Prajoth D'Souza
Corporation Bank, Poonja Arcade,
K S Rao Road, Hampankatta, Mangalore.
IFSC: CORP0000129
Phone: 91 04998-279277/ 91 97430 81997
Published by Fr Felix Rebello
c/o Infant Jesus Church, Jogeshwari
Mob. 9819688630, Email:frfelixrebello@gmail.com, gemenewsletter@gmail.com
website: www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in
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