It was in the mid 1960s that the Sri Aurobindo Society in Pondicherry, India proposed Mirra Alfassa, to whom the people of the Ashram knew as The Mother, the concept of Auroville and that such a township should be started. She gave her blessings. The concept was then put before the Govt. of India, who gave their backing and took it to the General Assembly of UNESCO. In 1966 UNESCO passed a unanimous resolution commending it as a project of importance to the future of humanity, thereby giving it full encouragement.

On 28th February 1968 some 5,000 people assembled near the banyan tree at the centre of the future township for an inauguration ceremony attended by representatives of 124 nations, including all the States of India. The representatives brought with them soil from their homeland, to be mixed in a white marble- clad, lotus-shaped urn, now sited at the focal point of the Amphitheatre in Auroville. At the same time the Mother gave Auroville its 4-point Charter and the universal eco-city came into being.

However, after the death of The Mother in 1973, problems arose and work slowed down. It is said that The Mother had declared before her death that the township will never be complete until all the negative energies in the people involved doesn’t go away. The township is now being designed as a complete eco-city.As per the plan, the city area with a radius of 1.25 km. is to be surrounded by a Green Belt of 1.25 km width. As a zone for organic farms, dairies, orchards, forests, and wildlife areas, this belt will act as a barrier against urban encroachment, provide a variety of habitats for wildlife, and serve as a source for food, timber, medicines etc. and as a place for recreation. Inner to this, lies in the four sides, four zones viz., the larger Residential Zone, Cultural Zone, Industrial Zone and the International Zone.

At the center of the township, lies the Matrimandir an unfinished golf-ball-like giant globe covered with golden discs. It is conceived as “a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s inspiration for perfection.” Peace Area, comprises this Matrimandir and its gardens, the amphitheatre with the Urn of Human Unity that contains the soil of 121 nations and 23 Indian states, and a lake to help create an atmosphere of calm and serenity and to serve as a groundwater recharge area.

Paper and metallic currency is not used in Auroville. Instead, residents use electronic cards which connect to their central account. Visitors, however, are allowed to pay in cash. The population of the township is constantly growing, but currently stands at around 1,700 people, of whom approx one-third are Indian. According to Sumandeep Singh, an architect from New Delhi, a trip to Auroville completely changed his life. He is not just impressed with the way the entire barren landscape has now been converted into lush green forests, but also cannot stop talking about the spiritual confidence that has now been imbibed into him and the undying positive energy that makes the socially responsible person that he now is. Last heard, Mr. Singh was designing a plan to provide drinking water at the BRT bus stands - a noble act - amidst the scorching heat of Delhi!

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…or so the media has us all believe.

About two weeks ago, the Government of Delhi, India unveiled the much hyped Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), previously popular here as the High Capacity Bus Corridor (HCBS) and the construction for which had been on for the last few months. The little under 6 Km BRT stretch that is now completed and is being trial run came at the cost of some lives (accidental deaths) and at the reported cost of about 3,000 heritage trees of Delhi. The dedicated bus lanes invited mixed reaction from the public; with the car users complaining about having to spend more time on the road now than before and the bus riders being annoyed with the bus-stands being displaced to the middle of the road. Poor design and lack of coordination between different stake holders further worsened the situation. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the media has taken on itself to narrate the “failure of BRT story” with much fervour.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Delhi is the brainchild of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi’s Traffic Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) and has been executed by RITES Ltd., a Govt. of India enterprise. The Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) a “special purpose vehicle” set up by the Govt. is supervising the Project. Clearly then, the Project does not have a single master: probably leading to the mess. The BRT stretch now requires over 70 traffic marshals, 35 traffic policemen and 20 transport department officials for enforcement.

However, it is not just poor planning and lack of coordination that is leading to the mayhem on the corridor. The people using the corridor are to be equally blamed. While the authorities are trying their best to ensure people drive in the lanes meant for the type of vehicle they are using, motorists are violating every rule in the book. The cycle lane is the worst hit and sees more motorcycles, scooters and auto-taxis than cycles. The BRT needs a disciplined traffic to work best, and Delhi unfortunately does not relate much to the latter. Halting on the road to take a call, changing lanes without signaling, over-speeding and jumping signals isn’t something too uncommon in the city. In fact, it is this very discipline now required to maintain on the road, that has been irritating many.

Apparently, the media has initiated a “scrap BRT campaign” of its own! Ever since the first trial run, images and footage of cars waiting forever, motorcycles scattered around the signals, pedestrians not knowing where/how to go; have been put up on the front page/prime time by several media houses. What is unfortunate is that the media seems to have ignored the large number of people who have benefited from the launch of the BRT. While some 1.2 lakh people using their personal vehicles may facing problems and hating the BRT, more than double this number of people using buses have not complained. Rather, they have not been heard.

To gain some experience, I myself took a ride on the entire strecth of the BRT. It felt good, the journey was much speedier and the same bus that used to crawl on the road was at a speed that would not have ever been possible without the corridor. The new low floored buses that have been around for some time added to my pleasant experience. Minus the AC, the experience came pretty close to what it feels when one travels in the Delhi Metro!

Next day, I took my car on the same route, got stuck at all signals - with an empty lane on my left - that had buses zooming pass by me. Then, I realized why all the irritation, disgust and hatred was for!

Last Sunday, Yahoo! unveiled its Earth Day initiative - aiming to divert mountains of landfill trash by using its green pages - to link people who are getting rid of some extra stuffs with others who may want that stuff. Yahoo! also announced its partnership with various reuse groups with a global outreach and is now working to convince its large number of users to join these groups, one of them being the Freecycle Network(TM).

The mode of operation of these reuse networks is that they create city based online groups and communities of users who then offer and request items and also arrange for pickup. In an attempt to make more and more users join such groups and to increase online participation, Yahoo! had decided to hide hundreds of earth-friendly prizes in reuse groups across the globe. These will be given away on ‘first replied first sent’ basis and the goodies even include, among other interesting stuffs, a smart car!

“Our mission is keeping things out of landfills. Junk only becomes junk after it no longer has any use. It is amazing what things people find uses for”, Deron Beal who had started the Freecycle group in 2003 remarked after partnering with Yahoo! The partnership is but obvious for the fact that Freecycle and other similar networks communicate via Yahoo! groups and other forums that require community mails.

“This is something people can do not just on Earth Day, but every day. Everyone has something they’d like to give or get. Green doesn’t have to cost more; it can be free”, Erin Carlson, Director, Yahoo for good declared to the world.

Or as Freecycle.org puts it, it’s all about changing the world - one gift at a time! The Planet seems to have had a good Earth Day this year. Apparently then, every Planet has its day!

Click here to find a local reuse group around you.

See also:

Green Options: Got Stuff? New Site Will Help You Reuse it

Green Options: Five Simple Steps for Going Green in College

Crafting a Green World: Upcycle!

More than two decades ago, in the early hours of 3rd December 1984, tonnes of a toxic gas Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal, killing 3,800 people on the spot and injuring thousands more. Declared as one of the worst chemical disaster in history by Greenpeace, the incident left hundreds of thousands suffering from chronic exposure. Contaminated groundwater around the plant area still continues to affect people with various diseases.

What is to be noted here is that the Union Carbide plant, which was lying shut back then was a sitting volcano. And this fact had been reported by local groups working in the area about an year before the disaster struck. What is also to be noted here is that almost all of the safety measures that would have avoided the fatal incident by neutralizing the toxic gases had been shut down as a measure of cost cutting.

Today, twenty four years after the incident took place, the toxic mess that was released into the surrounding environment still remains. Some say that the people who died on that very day were fortunate. For the people who were exposed to the toxic gases and survived, led a life worse than death. Union Carbide - declared absconding by the Government of India has been taken over by DOW Chemicals. It has now returned to India under that brand and is planting more time bombs like Bhopal in different parts of the country. Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide in India during the time that the Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place, and who was flown out of India days before being declared absconding, lives happily in his house at Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York.

And various Departments of the Government of India are now inviting and facilitating the entry of Dow Chemicals (also referred to by some as Carbide Chemicals) into the Indian market. While it took a petition to stop Dow Chemicals from being able to recruit engineers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), people wondered what would it take to stop the Government from being involved with Dow.

A few weeks back, over 50 people took a month long Bhopal to Delhi march or Padyatra of 800 km to come to Delhi and urge the Prime Minister to deliver justice. Five of these are children and more people are joining them in their campaign, which is based out of Jantar Mantar - a structure now famous as a protest site. School children, famous writers, eminent personalities, political leaders have all visited the protest and the movement has gained momentum. But will justice be delivered. Someone said justice delayed is justice denied. In my opinion, justice delayed this long is actually a crime in itself.

Now why did I not talk about the tree plantations of which I was an integral part, or the discussion at the American Center where I, along with Dr. Matthew Sandelands (Second Secretary, Environment, US Embassy, New Delhi) and Dr. M.A. Khalid (Dy. Director and Associate Professor at the Institute of Global Warming and Ecological Studies) was the panel member. And not even about the Bird Watcher’s Camp in the Himalayas which was my source of environmental data generation during my Masters dissertation. Well, because as fate would have it, I am myself a victim of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Barely a few months old then, I am told if we had delayed in moving out of the house even by 10 minutes, we would have faced the same fate as many others. It’s scary, I know.

The marchers have submitted a letter to the Prime Minister of India with 20 questions. These include queries like what measures have been taken to ensure medical care to victims of the tragedy and why the government has not taken any steps to prosecute Union Carbide? They now await a response.

According to Kenneth Westrick, fonder and CEO of 3TIER, “India has the elements needed to prove that it is possible to leapfrog fossil fuels and fully integrate renewable energy projects into a country’s energy portfolio. He further elaborated on his statement by informing that India has good wind resources in its southern and western states, tremendous potential to tap into solar and hydropower, a government commitment to explore renewable energy sources and a market of more than 1 billion people – including 420 million people with no access to electricity.

Of the total number of villages in India with no access to electricity, it can said with absolute certainty that close to 40% of these cannot be electrified using fossil fuels. Thus, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower can play an even greater role by electrifying remote parts of the country. “As the most densely populated country in the world with many villages that have no electricity, there is strong demand to augment the power grid in India,” said Steven Cashen, 3TIER’s Director of International Marketing Development. “3TIER will work closely with developers to assess and forecast potential wind, solar and hydro energy projects.” explained Cashen.

3TIER uses its knowledge about weather, climate and their impacts on weather-driven renewable energy resources to help developers make better decisions about their investments – before, during and after projects are built. The Archean Group, an India-based wind energy developer and Independent Power Producer (IPP) and a large conglomerate of businesses spanning various interests as ores and minerals, coal, common salt, industrial chemicals, shipping and ship building and alternate energy resources has already signed an agreement to use 3TIER’s FullView Assessment™. The latter is a powerful tool that provides highly customized information about specific wind or solar resources at any global location scalable from project sites to entire countries. The group proposes to set up large-scale wind energy projects in India, for sale of power to the grid and for captive consumption by its group companies.

“With the rapid growth of the renewable energy market, developers are looking for the quickest way to find information about potential project sites, as well as how to maximize their energy production,” Cashen said.  “India’s anticipated growth and commitment to developing renewable power sources is a powerful combination to providing a viable solution to bring power to those without.”

Declaring the emerging economy of India to be the future of the world, Mr. Gore asked for greater participation by all Indians in the efforts to combat climate change and secure a safer tomorrow. He also called for raising global consciousness to a higher level to address several of the so-called political challenges being faced in different parts of the world today. Developing the capacity for a vision and building a moral authority are essential to taking action together as a civilization. That according to Mr. Gore, is also the need of the hour.

The presence of the dual climate crusaders - Al Gore and Dr. R.K. Pachauri throughout the training Program left a lasting impression on many, including myself.

The Climate Project - India (TCP-India) is being setup as an independent organization. It presently enjoys deep support from the JSW Foundation and is actively seeking support from a broad base of Indian Business and Philanthropic organizations.

Barely a month later on April 3rd 2008, the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the U.S. announced the establishing of a Center for Green Livelihoods in India for partnering with civil society organizations to explore ways of creating a robust dialogue towards developing a green economy. Mr. Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club also announced a new $100,000 “Green Energy and Green Livelihoods Achievement Award” to recognize “outstanding environmental success in India” by civil society organizations – non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, small businesses and labor unions working at the grassroots level in India.

Stephen Mills, Director, International Programs at Sierra Club, who was also a facilitator at the TCP/Al Gore Climate Change leadership Program mentioned above, had emphasized the need to encourage the green work being done in India during the leadership program itself. In a press release announcing the launch of the Sierra Club’s India chapter, he clarified that the new India initiative will in no way lessen the vigor of the Sierra Club’s U.S. campaigning to push both the American public and the government to drastically reduce America’s over consumption of natural resources,”

Sierra Club’s ‘I’m here to save the planet’ batches distributed by Stephen Mills during the Climate Change program gained much popularity and were worn by young and old alike!