VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 17:21:14 +0530
From: "Kisan Mehta" <kisansbc@vsnl.com>
Subject: Re: things needed urgently

Dear Colleagues,

Apologies for entering into the lively discussion a bit late.

Our once healthy and pleasant villages have suffered degeneration as a result of people in the burgeoning towns and cities pursuing unsustainable consumeristic way of living. Cities draw on the resources of the village and rural areas for growing their materialistic propserity and dispose of their unhealthy products and waste in the villages creating serious problems for villages always short of money resources. Since the time poor and developing countries have accepted `free market access and globalisation' dictats of the rich and overpowering world, foreign corporations and loval large business have illfiltrated their unsustainable and wasteful products packed in plastics and aluminium foil in villages causing irreparable damage. Villages are their dumping grounds for disposing of their junk products.

This has created serious problemds in the hinterland. To protect the erstwhile healthy,
self correcting and protecting life style that protected the environment and conserved
natural resources, we shall have to go f and or revive many things that our villages and villagefolks have discarded or are discarding to copy self destructive practices.

Villages should utilise their local resoucres for construction and maintenance of their shelters. Instead of cement, steel and similar factory made products, shelters should
be built using local materials like wood, bamboo, vegetative material, earth etc.

Every household should have toilet and washing places with biogas and vermiculture facilties that provide energy and compost. Organic component of kitchen and
domestic waste should be turned into compost while recyclable component should
be recycled and reused.

Non-conventional energy sources like solar, wind power should be applied for cooking, lighting and other purposes. Villages should be independent of the commercial power
plants as no poor country run by urban politicians would ever divert finite resource
based power to villages. Villages should be self dependent if they want to be free of
frequent and constant power shedding.

Suistainable agriculture not requiring use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, hybrid
and GM seeds and heavy agriculture implements should be applied to reduce the
food cost as well as to improve the environment and general health. Cooperatives not
of the size of Amul but to ensure minimum food and other natural resources within the region should be developed.

Water harvesting and water shed management programmes should be developed to conserve water for the region.

Villages should be helped to produce healthy food and food items for people not having access to land to improve public health in cities. Cities should stop dumping hteir waste
into villages as well as in the water bodies and in the sea. Urbanites have a duty to
manage their waste in a way that the soil can use for enhancing its fertility. The
estimatesd 100,000 ton of solid waste generated in our country daily should be turned
into soil conditioner by the larger areas and returned to the soil in villages for imrpoving
the quality of food and conserving our natural resources.

Many innvations need to need to be introduced and applied with a commitment to
make rural areas self sufficient in natural resources. They should be protected
against the consumerist onslaught. The prevailing life style and business practices
have made villagers depend on the industrialised prodcts. This dependence has to
go. Villages should instead feed cities with healthy food.

The fundamental truth that the health of a country and its people is direcly linked
the extent of the health of its villages should not be lost sight of. This is an universal
truth for the entire globe.

The question is how many of us are ready and ancious to work for bringing about
the change? Best wishes

Kisan Mehta, Priya Salvi and Rajiv Bhatt
PRAKRUTI
620 Jame Jamshed Road, Fourth Floor, Dadar East,
Mumbai 400014
Tel/Fax: 00 91 22 2414 9688
Kisan Mehta Mob: 92234 48857
Rajiv Bhatt Mob: 93228 29805
Priya Salvi Mob: 93231 96420
***********************


----- Original Message -----
From: saleem
To: indianenvironment@yahoogroups.co.in
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 9:47 AM
Subject: [indianenvironment] things needed urgently


Dear Dr Zuberi, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

I am working for the last Ten years in Delhi in the field of environmental pollution control, specifically water and waste water treatment.But i belong to a remote village in Assam near nagaland border.
Points to be noted regarding the five points raised,
1. There is a big difference amongst villages in UP,Bihar , Maharastra and Assam. assamese villages have proper layouts, clean and wide roads with big pot holes (which can be used for fisheries;-)),etc etc. seeing is believing.
2.assamese villages are using composting method of night soil disposal. so no sewerage is required.zero maintenance.
2.regarding ponds, they are infact developing the old ponds into fisheries and poultry farming.
3.they are already doing Protection and returning of captured pasture land or land of village society for various progressive programmes by plantation of small tea gardens, small Patchouli plantations, teak wood, eucaliptus, the list is long... they are doing it themselves without any help from NGOs or Govt.
4.point 4 that is Money generating environmental projects to employ and satisfy the simple living status of young villagers who come between the age groups of 18 to 25 years. ---- covered in point 3.
5.point 5 that is To open counseling and employment centers in all blocks of county with simple but holistic fruitful mission-----what exactly this means....?

WHAT I HAVE SEEN and think needed urgently:
1. the villages need co-operatives to sell their produce like AMUL in Gujrat.
2.low cost iron removal techniques for drinking water
3.low cost flouride removal techniques for drinking water
4.low cost arsenic removal techniques for drinking water( BANGLADESH & WEST BENGAL)
================================
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:18:20 -0800 (PST)
From: iqbal zuberi <zuberimi@yahoo.com>
Subject: Please think for villages

Dear friends,

I am happy that the question of our villages come up. Without this there will be no development.

I work in Bangladesh villages, very similar to Indian villages. The issues have been identified alright but the question of redesigning or even doing something will involve the people of the villages who are owner of the unplanned houses etc. One only can do something taking them into consideration, in fact they will have to do it.

During our attempts, we noticed and faced very complex situations - conflicts of interest, social differences and huge needs - all making intervention very difficult if not impossible.

Have any one given a thought on this ? How this can be overcome ?

Dr Zuberi, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
======================================
> From: op goel <opgoel@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: Please think for villages
>
>
> dear dr singh,mrinalini,vikram and all our friends
>
> i proceed with the assumption that we all have seen
> indian villages in and out.the major problems that the
> village life is faced with are:
>
> 1. bad layouts[infact no planning at all]
>
> 2. no drainage
>
> 3. bad hygiene
>
> i am not taking up the issue of lack of drinking
> water,power and connectivity here.i am also leaving
> out the enhancement of rural incomes and agriculture
> here.
>
> i want someone to help out in redesigning of indian
> villages so as to improve their quality of living.
>
> regards
>
> opgoel
> 9893031186
=======================
> > --- mrinalini goswami > > > Hazards Centre
> > > 92-H, 3 rd floor
> > > Munirka, Pratap Market
> > > Delhi
<goswamimrinalini@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Suraj Singh,
> > >
> > > I am delighted as i have known about your interest
> > > in the Indian villages
> > > to increase the concern of environemental aspects,
> > > employment and development.
> > > I was born and brought up in a village in Assam
> > and
> > > presently working as environmental researcher in
> > > Hazards Centre, Delhi
================================
> > > Suraj Singh <suraj_nath2000@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear Mr. Selvan ,
> > > In this context five most important points can be
> > > considered to change the environmental scenario of
> > > the villages
> > >
> > > 1. Good plotting of sewerage lines and waste
> > > disposal places, their formation and successful
> > > maintenance.
> > >
> > > 2. Protection and development of old ponds to save
> > > water.
> > >
> > > 3. Protection and returning of captured pasture
> > land
> > > or land of village society for various progressive
> > > projects launched by the Govt./ private
> > machinaries.
> > >
> > >
> > > 4. Money generating environmental projects to
> > employ
> > > and satisfy the simple living status of young
> > > villagers who come between the age groups of 18 to
> > > 25 years.
> > >
> > > 5. To open counseling and employment centers in
> > all
> > > blocks of county with simple but holistic fruitful
> > > mission.
> > >
> > > Yours affectionately
> > >
> > > Suraj Nath
> > >
> > > (Dr.S.N.Singh)