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    Hard of Desire: How to Make the World Sustainable
    Hard of Desire: How to Make the World Sustainable
    Hard of Desire: How to Make the World Sustainable
    Ebook349 pages4 hours

    Hard of Desire: How to Make the World Sustainable

    By Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

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    About this ebook

    This book is based on authors desire to change the world. It is surprising to see how one could contribute in so many diverse areas. There is no limit to one's contributions if one wants to give. The knowledge and skills are easily accessible if one desires. This book has future solutions too, which could be adopted.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka
    Release dateJan 27, 2019
    ISBN9780463904848
    Hard of Desire: How to Make the World Sustainable
    Author

    Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

    I am involved in Environment and Development work for the past 25 years. Contributing to Climate Resilience, Environmental Sustainability, Disaster Risk Reduction, Rural Energy - good stoves, biochar, Water Resources, and Agriculture. An innovator, writer, podcaster, lecturer, presenter, and development professional.

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      Book preview

      Hard of Desire - Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

      Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

      Hard of desire: How to make the world sustainable

      Desire is the cause of freedom and change

      Copyright © 2019 by Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

      First edition

      This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

      Find out more at reedsy.com

      Contents

      I. CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND DISASTERS

      Building resilience and coping with disasters

      Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods

      Going to Himalayas

      Nature’s fury- Cyclone

      Thin line between life and death

      The ten days in Kabul

      II. ENVIRONMENT

      Environmental Awareness

      Court intervention to arrest Sand Mining

      Cleanliness

      Ignored needs of farmers

      Poisoned rivers and troubled lives

      Sacrificing villages for development

      Rescuing the gods from pilgrim footprints

      Mules and waste management

      Assessment of Iron ore mines in Goa

      Iron Ore Mines - Barbil, Orissa

      Pollution in Patancheru

      Fox Society

      Environmental Legal Activism

      Airport Expansion

      Rocks blasting

      Protecting Taj Mahal from discolouration

      Drinking poison from reused chemical drums

      Ganga River

      Fog and Rocks

      Home reflecting Nature’s bounty

      Biochar compost bin

      Wild animals in villages

      III. ECOLOGY

      Learning principles of wildlife study from Mouse Deer and Vultures

      What we love is ours – Community Forest Management

      Eastern Ghats Expedition

      Nallamala Hills

      Visit to remote Assam

      Bird Islands in Hussain Sagar lake

      Ecology awareness

      Cycling Track

      Gaia Aquarist

      Spirituality, Nature and Wild Life

      Change your environment

      Trapped in the lake sludge

      IV. DEVELOPMENT

      Decision Support Systems

      Open Knowledge

      Leaders and Envisioning the Future

      Food Security

      Poor and destitute

      V. AGRICULTURE

      Agriculture and technology

      Biocharculture

      Chowtkur village failed to offer cup of tea

      Sunlight Harvesting

      Charcoal production

      VI. WATER

      Efficient Irrigation Technologies

      Floatigation

      Rootigation

      Sapigation

      Perchigation

      Sewagigation

      Geo Biochar Capsule

      Water Names

      Biochar Bathrooms

      Gardens on the move!

      Plants Library

      Rainharvester

      Geo Filter

      Cursed Lives in Fluorosis Affected Regions

      VII. ENERGY

      Facilitating stoves and getting scolded

      Good stoves in Cherangani hills of Kenya

      Stoves for sex workers

      Values in promoting good stoves

      Biomass Pellets

      Open kitchen

      VIII. EDUCATION

      Teaching

      Presentation

      Environment is an open book

      IX. POLICY AND ADVOCACY

      Ekalavya Foundation

      Prof. KPR Foundation

      Conservation of Eastern Ghats

      Karma Bhumi

      Gods can protect their environment

      Biodiversity

      Good should pervade

      Entrepreneurship

      Service through Government

      X. GEO SPIRIT

      Earth leadership emergence

      Earth Leadership for Children

      Geo Spirit being

      Earth Leadership

      Enlightenment, Nature and Spirituality

      Beginning of Geo Spirit meets

      Geo Spirit Center

      Earth Leaders Commune

      Science and Spirituality

      Bodhi the Buddha

      Geo Spirit Retreat

      Happiness

      Consciousness

      Mindfulness and consciousness

      Who am I ?

      XI. SERVE THE WORLD

      Initiative into service

      Preparing for service

      Falling in the manhole

      Kamatipura, Mumbai

      Confession

      Leaders in Politics

      I

      Climate Resilience and Disasters

      1

      Building resilience and coping with disasters

      Coming from a semi-arid environment, the floods occur less frequently due to heavy and continuous rains. This is mainly because the drainage system trained for a quantity of water flows from the usually expected rainfall is unable to cope with the excess rainfall. Floods occur especially along the banks of the rivers and streams and more often in the low-lying and plain areas.

      I observed the floods that occurred in Hyderabad which are not major as the floods that occur along the coastal areas. The 1997 floods are memorable to me, as I traveled to different parts of the city to observe.

      I went into the eye of the cyclone that occurred and entered through Kavali town in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Could see the destruction caused to the railway line, uprooted trees, damaged roads, breached tanks, rivers in spate, marooned villages, rescue and relief measures, coping of the poor and vulnerable people, dead people and animals, etc. The memories still linger in my mind afresh.

      I have studied two major flood prone areas in India, i.e., the banks of Godavari River, Khammam area in Telangana State and the banks of Kosi River or Koshi River, Madhubani area in Bihar State. Kosi river is also called the river of sorrow. The Kosi River is a river between Nepal and India which starts at Triveni near Barahkshetra in Nepal to Indian plains. It is one of the largest tributaries of the river Ganga.

      Mr. Ramesh Babu of EFICOR invited me to study both the areas on two different occasions. These studies made me more sensitive to the communities vulnerable to the floods. The people face many hardships during the floods.

      While studying a few flood-affected villages, I visited a house, and I still remember the photo of Emanuel hanging on the wall inside a hut, who lost his life in one of the floods of Godavari River that occurred. The family still continued to live on the banks of the same river and depends on the river for their livelihoods. In India, the rivers are revered as the Goddess by the name of the same river. After visiting some of the villages on one side of the river, I was crossing the river over a local wooden boat. I saw a young girl jumping into the river waters and started swimming. Her freedom and smile is still frozen in my mind. In the unknown depth of challenges in one’s life, one could remain afloat and be happy. Their family is very poor, and they have only a makeshift house on the sands of the Godavari River. Nature is beautiful, being with it makes one’s life joyful.

      In these villages, the relief shelters are built in a high place. They are usually double storied structures with RCC roof. The high raised tube wells or hand pumps are a source of water during the floods. They appear very strange, but they yield relatively safe water for the people.

      The EFICOR organisation has empowered the communities to the disaster preparedness very well. They have created sub-committees and trained the people in leadership to address the challenges in the event of a disaster on warning, rescue, first aid teams, relief, rehabilitation, etc.

      The historic floods of Krishna River that occurred in Andhra Pradesh state in the year 2009 are the worst in the last 100 years. Dr. G. Chandrashekar Reddy was in the control room along with experts to avert the disaster during the floods and was involved in the decision making. The process was documented in the book Managing Historic Flood. I was one of the key contributors to this book.

      Mr. M. Shashidhar Reddy was the vice-chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), New Delhi, India. It is the apex body on disasters management in India, with the Prime Minister as the Chairperson. He has invited me to contribute for the NDMA Guidelines on Urban Flooding in India. I have contributed partly to the guidelines.

      2

      Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods

      Being involved in the implementation of climate change and adaptation projects, I could study and understand the impacts of climate change. Climate change is an inevitable global phenomenon affecting especially the lives of rural poor in developing countries. Increase in temperatures, change in the number of rainfall days, spread and quantity, has direct and indirect impacts. Small and marginal farmers with about 2 hectares of land or less are the worst affected and highly vulnerable people. It causes distress migration of the landless agricultural labourers and the marginal farmers. Traditional rural livelihoods are disturbed and rendered unsustainable and redundant. There is greater need to adapt to prevent life from being condemned to poverty, scarcity and disease.

      Climate change is not just a meteorological phenomenon as usually considered mainly under the scientific studies. There is a broader definition that includes the scenarios dependent on various other influencing factors like meteorological changes consistent over a long period of time, socio-economic situation including the population growth and poverty, political environment and policies, etc.

      One need to acknowledge that there are considerable changes happening in the rural areas like change in rainfall pattern and quantity; less availability of water in the surface water bodies; deterioration of the quality of water; ever depleting groundwater resources; lack of vegetative cover; biodiversity loss; traditional knowledge on farming and management has become redundant; forced adaptation to changing situations; and continuous exploitation of natural resources.

      In the above context, the rural people should cope and adapt to the changes. For which there is a greater need for awareness and capacity building; access to technologies and knowledge to cope with changing situation. Farmers should become smart by adopting technologies for decision making; the government, organisations and civil society should play greater role; crop insurance or index based insurance in agriculture sector should be made mandatory; crop holidays based on the predictions backed by scientific evidence or modelling; legislative measures on usage of water resources ensuring water use efficiency using technology; opportunities for livelihoods diversification to cope with climate change should be created; there should be efforts for holistic ecosystem revival; and in activities there should be an aspect of mitigating climate change.

      The percentage of urban population is growing globally. However, the rural population in developing and underdeveloped countries constitute high proportion, and these countries are highly vulnerable to climate change.

      3

      Going to Himalayas

      This was just after submitting my Ph.D. thesis in 1999. I got a job as Resource Scientist, Head of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in a company called TriCAD in Hyderabad. Although I had very less experience on the software use, they gave me the job based on my subject knowledge. There were about total 25 people I was supposed to lead. Initially, I enjoyed, but after few months, I started feeling bored. Forcing the team to digitize point, line, and shape, setting targets to them, became routine and boring. Within 5 months’ time, I could submit 10 significant projects, some of them were pending since a long time. I was also involved in the Remote Sensing projects. One day, it happened that Dr. Rama Krishna, who was a subject expert, just returned from Ground Truth work in some part of the Himalayas. He has shown some of the photos from the field, with great joy. The very moment I felt, I should be there in the Himalayas too.

      It was almost 5 months that I was in this job. By now, my defence for the Ph.D. was also over, and I was awarded the Ph.D. degree. I prepared my Resume and started searching for a way. I remembered Mr. Ravindra, who worked in the Uttarakhand for sometime. I called him and met him at his house. He was known to me for some time and used to have lengthy discussions on developmental issues. I shared my interest in going to the Himalayas and asked if there was any chance to get an assignment. He said that the Chamoli Earthquake of a magnitude of 6.8 occurred in the early hours of 29 March 1999 in the Uttarakhand State in the Himalayas. Peoples Science Institute (PSI), located in Dehradun is interested in doing a research study and they are looking for a person to lead the investigation. And he said that your qualifications are suitable for this assignment and would get the job. As he already knows Dr. Ravi Chopra, the Founder and Director of PSI he said that he would inform him. Mr. Ravindra asked me to immediately prepare myself for the job and go and meet Dr. Ravi Chopra. I went to Delhi, met Dr. Ravi Chopra at Gandhi Peace Foundation premises. Had a brief discussion about the Research Study and he liked my qualifications and attitude. He said we will go together to Dehradun and I could join the job. I felt very happy. On the way, he shared about the organisation and how he has started. He was a good friend of Mr. Anil Agarwal and one of the founders of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi. He was instrumental in writing the first Citizens Report of CSE. By evening we reached Roorkee area, and he explained about the Terai region as we climbed the hills. I could see the alluvium with round quartzite boulders on the way. The road is winding, and by night we reached Dehradun.

      Next day morning I signed the agreement, and I was given the position of Research Scientist. My team included Dr. Tyagi, Dr. Rajendra Singh Kataith, and Ms. Deepthi, Mr. Madhu, Ms. Usha and others were also there to provide support in the field area.

      Dr. Ravi Chopra with a white beard, wearing a T-shirt and knickers looked like a combination of sage and youth. The Peoples Science Institute (PSI), was in Vasant Vihar, Dehradun. This was a colony. To discuss with any of the employees, he used to take for a round of walk in the colony, the time used to be spent efficiently. PSI had many projects, and at least 30 employees were working full time. Young students for their internship used to come from different parts of India and abroad. One building was hired for our stay, and we used to have a great time with so many enthusiastic researchers from different places and disciplines. I had good time meeting so many people. Once on Rakshabandhan day, I prepared sambar and rice for the whole office, everyone liked it so much, and we had a great time. I stayed for some time with Dr. Rajendra Singh Kathaith, and every week we used to invite someone from the office for lunch or dinner. We also used to go to their places for eating.

      My work on the Chamoli earthquake was an intensive research work. Visited parts of the Tehri, Chamoli, and Rudraprayag districts in the Himalayas. A very memorable experience it became.

      4

      Nature’s fury- Cyclone

      The intensity of rainfall, the occurrence of cyclones and depressions have increased in the recent years. I was leading the project called ‘Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change’ that focused on disasters, vulnerability and resilience aspects.

      I heard on the radio about the intensification and the destruction caused by the rains due to the cyclone on 29th October 2005. Kavali in Prakasam district was mentioned as the point of entry of the cyclone. There was an intense depression between October 26 and October 29. The rains flooded 194,423 ha (480,430 acres) of crop fields and inundated many rail lines. Across Andhra Pradesh, 1,045 houses collapsed, and the rains killed at least 100 people. Living in Hyderabad, I have never experienced a natural disaster caused by rains or floods.

      I don’t want to be an armchair specialist without understanding the implications of natural disasters. Immediately, I decided to visit the area. It was around 11:00 a.m. At first, I asked the driver Mr. Ramu whether he was willing to come with me into the cyclone.

      Mr. K. Siva Prasad gave the permission although it was not our project area. We took a jeep with four-wheel drive. I have taken my cameras and biscuits for the emergency.

      By the time we reached Vijayawada highway, it was already dark. The traffic was high and so the road jam. There was water in pools all along the road. As we had the jeep, we could conveniently take the rough path next to the road and overtake many vehicles stranded. We heard the news of Valigonda rail disaster which was close to the place we were traveling. A flash flood swept away a small rail bridge, and Delta Fast Passenger train moving on it derailed at the broken section of the line, killing at least 114 people and injuring over 200 people.

      By the time we reached Nalgonda town, it was already late night. Stayed there in a small lodge and there was no power due to rains. We started our journey early morning towards Kavali. On the way we saw people catching fish in the streams, fish tat escaped from the tanks due to overflowing.

      After entering the Prakasam district, the destruction was more visible. Saw a vehicle with three dead bodies in it. In the rains, the driver did not anticipate the depth of the water along the roadside ditch and swept into it. All the people drowned.

      At a distance we saw a village marooned by water and in motorised boats, they were being supplied the food and water. Saw a floating dead body in the water close to the road. Some people were seen on the rooftops.

      Saw the hanging railway lines, as all the material underneath swept away. The movement of trains was suspended on this route. After reaching Kavali we saw a place where the people evacuated from low-lying areas were given shelter. Their condition was very bad. Saw a pregnant lady and many children. It was very congested. Some people were found cooking on three stone biomass stoves outside the shelter. Felt the need for efficient biomass portable stoves for such emergencies to support communities during such disasters. I wanted to see the Bay of Bengal Sea. There was water everywhere. With some difficulty, we could go to the Buckingham Canal. The bridge over the Buckingham Canal connecting the sea was breached. It is an old canal made for navigation purpose along the coastline, but now no more in use.

      As the boats there were not in operation, some men suggested us to walk through the canal. The water was about 3 to 4 feet depth. We waded through the waters holding the cameras up above the water level. Reached the other shore more than half drenched. As the cyclone already passed the sea it was calm and beautiful. It has cleansed the shores and looked so fresh. There I was half submerged statues of the Hindu Gods. I asked the people, they said that before the arrival of the cyclone they prayed the gods and the sea for less destruction. The gods (statues) have also become victims of nature’s fury. Having seen the beautiful sea, I felt it was worth taking all the risk.

      While returning at Badvel, Kadapa District, we saw the breached Badvel tank in Kadapa district. People have pulled two pieces of the cement-current-poles across, and they were crossing the flood waters precariously. The roads were also breached at many points all along. Otherwise, they need to travel ten kilometres extra, people take risks for shortcuts. That was a great experience to understand natural disasters in action and resilience of the community in negotiating with the challenges. Nature’s fury reminds from time to time the importance of preventive measures.

      When I visited the sea shore, saw these half submerged idols placed by the people and prayed before the cyclone

      5

      Thin line between life and death

      I went Kabul, Afghanistan to work as a Team Leader for a project called Developing Climate Change Scenarios for Agriculture of Afghanistan in August 2016.

      When I communicated with my colleagues and well-wishers about Kabul visit, many of them told me not to go. As it is a high-risk place due to terrorism and political instability. I told them that this was an excellent opportunity for me to contribute to Afghanistan through this project. I said risk is always there, a road accident could be worst and it can happen anywhere on the earth.

      A few days before going, I started searching the google on Afghanistan to learn more about the people, culture, geography, economy, etc. But, I could see only the videos of war. It appeared like I am watching an English war movie. I also saw a bomb blast that happened a few days before in Kabul city where more than 100 demonstrators were killed by detonating a highly charged vehicle at a traffic junction. The pictures were disheartening.

      I went to Delhi to get my visa at the Afghanistan Embassy. It is sometimes tough to get the visa. I was given a tourist visa for one month only.

      On 5th June 2016 I started my journey from New Delhi Airport to Kabul. At the immigration, the customs official by looking at my passport and the visa said are you going as a tourist to Kabul and gave a smile. I said yes.

      It was a cloudy sky, next to me was a doctor traveling to Herat via Kabul. He wanted to do MD from an Indian medical college. He shared a lot about Afghanistan to improve my understanding. He told me if the sky is clear without clouds, it means we are flying over Afghanistan. Afghanistan is an arid and semi-arid country with less rainfall. Yes, I could see the clear sky as we approached Kabul. I took beautiful pictures of the Hindu Kush mountains as the plane descended to land. He came along with me to the parking lot and helped me to find my vehicle. I liked the neat, clean Airport.

      I greeted the driver and got in with the luggage. The driver was gentle and spoke with me in Urdu. He started the music, the songs were from Bollywood Hindi Movies of 1970’s and 1980’s. It was so soothing and pleasant.

      As usual, I started taking pictures using my mobile phone camera. I saw the beautiful trees on the roadside also saw the huge marriage/function halls. At one of the places on the way I saw two young ladies traditionally dressed. They stopped the moving vehicles by raising their hands as a command and crossed the road. I liked courage of those young girls.

      I reached the hotel in Shar-e Naw at around 4 p.m. This hotel was very close to the Indian Embassy and other important government offices. There were four barricades (or swing gates) before I could reach the hotel. I crossed at least 20 security men with machine guns and other automatic weapons, before I reached the last security check. First, they informed the reception about my details, only after confirmation they let me pass through the last security checkpoint. There were three bulletproof doors to cross. The security with AK47 guns checked all the contents in my suitcase. I had great relief after clearing all those security checks as I never encountered such a security in my life.

      I went to the reception area and was given a room on the third floor. It is a hotel with five stories in a rectangular shape. There is a beautiful courtyard in the middle. I liked watching the bonsai pomegranates grown in the flower pots. As it was spring, the temperature was normal for me and it was comfortable.

      My office was just opposite this hotel, so I need not go to any other place for work. Strategically the

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