Public hearing in Bhubaneswar
People’s participation to the fore

The third Public Hearing by the People’s Commission on Environment and Development was held at the Regional Science Centre, Bhubaneswar, on May 1, 1991. The earlier two hearings in this series were conducted at Bangalore and Hardware.

The Public Hearing at Bhubaneswar was attended by more than seventy persons and was presided over by the President of Orissa Environmental Society, Mr. P. K. Dash. Other who took part in the hearing included Mr. Yudhisthir Das, Speaker, Orissa Legislative Assembly, Dr. Ashok Khosla, Secretary-General, PCED, Mr. S. Sunderajan, Development commissioner, Orissa, Mr. K. V. B. pantulu, Chairman, Nalco, Mr. S. Pari, Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment, Government of Orissa, Mr. S. K. Ramamurthy, former Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa, Mr. G. Senapati, former Director-General of Vigilance, Orissa and Dr. B. Murali of Development Alternatives.

In his inaugural address Mr. yudhisthir Das opined that the Public hearing was of prime importance as it would help identify the real problems and suggest solutions. He lamented that forests, the most important segment of environment , were in very bad shape throughout the world.

Dr. Ashok Khosla laid stress n the need and importance of public hearings in enabling a large cross-section of people to express their views on the emerging problems of sustainable development. He felt that the complex dichotomy between resource limits and development aspirations can only be resolved if the public participates more actively in national decision-making. Governmental decision-making was compartmentalised in sectoral departments, without proper co-ordination and had been a major factor in bringing about the present environmental and developmental crisis, he said. Highlighting the role of voluntary organisations in this regard, he expressed the view that development should be seen in the kind of total perspective they are capable of stressing the importance of each nation’s economic context, Dr. Khosla said environmental quality in India can only be protected through development that increases equity, efficiency and self-reliance. Development and environmental protection must go side by side without one endangering the other, he said.

After the inaugural session, Prof. R. c. Das, chairman, SPCPB, Orissa in his approach paper on ‘state of Environmental pollution in Orissa : Problems and Solutions, pointed out the irony that, contrary to popular belief 75% of the toxic wastes polluting the air was from domestic sources, with the industries’ share of pollution being only 25%. Claiming that poverty was the prime pollutant, he dwelt on various examples from Orissa and offered some solutions: constitution of regulatory agencies; choice of proper technology; proper periodical environmental assessment; and safeguarding the cultural practices of the people and at the same time creating awareness among them.

Prof. Radha Mohan, a Global 500 Environment Awardee, in his paper on ‘Forest Degradation in Orissa : Problems and Solutions, struck a sensitive note when he said it might be possible to quantify the forest loss, but it was impossible to quantify the emotional and cultural loss resulting from degradation.

Prof. Mohan regretted that today we only discuss dams, shifting cultivation and industry but conveniently forget many other important aspects that are responsible for the degradation of forests. He identified these aspects : (a) the problem of monoculture; (b) the problem of always devolving resources to the states form the Centre and thereby asking the States to raise the matching grant which ultimately fell on forests (c) the problem of kendu leaf infiltration; (d) forcing drought-prone people to fall back on forests for their survival; (e) pushin the tribals uphill and alienating them from land, thereby forcing them to shifting cultivation; (f) the problem of forest fires; (g) the problem of modernising railways and thereby exploiting the forest; and (h) the problem of reservation of forests which started with the British and ultimately alienated the people.

Dr. P. K. Das in his paper, Conservation of Natural Heritages as the Mainstay of Human Survival, said about 43% of our forest was gradually shrinking and stressed the need for conserving this natural heritage.
In the open discussion, Mr. P.C. Mohapatra of CARE, suggested that maximum utilisation should be made of urban land.
Mr. Devendra Mishra, town planner, cited the case of the Talcher Angul area where industrial pollution was causing great devastation.
Making a point

Mr. S. Pari surprised the delegates by putting off the inaugural candle. He said it was wasting energy and polluting the closed conference room. Calling for strong public participation, he declared: "Everything lies with the people".

Mr. Indubhusan Mishra pointed out that while making welfare programmes the government should also aim at development programmes.

Mr. Artabandhu Mishra described how the State was progressively becoming a wasteland with the indiscriminate use of harmful fertilisers.

Mr. Bijay Patra reiterated that the government should be vigilant enough to check timber cutting. Mr. Sushant Kumar Biswal suggested that trees should be cut only after growing more trees. Mr. Nagendra Kumar Patnaik highlighted the need for checking health hazards that were being created by Jayashree chemicals. Mr. Asit Kumar Patnaik favoured autonomy to villages. Dr. Sabyasaachi Rath (OUAT) suggested that more forestry projects be taken up in Orissa. Mr. Gourie Shankar Mishra lamented that in the face of physical environment, the social environment was being neglected. He cited the example of tribal houses that were replaced by houses constructed under the Indira Awas Yojana. He likened this change to polythene replacing jute bags.

After the hearing the commissioners gave their comments. Mr. S. Sunderajan said incremental forest growth must be properly harnessed. He cited the case of the delicate ecosystem at pradhanpat in Sambalpur. The system was now losing its naturalness. after the clearing of trees, the water flow had gone down. He recommended natural regeneration of forests instead of monoculture.

Mr. K. V. B. Pantulu, Chairman, Nalco, said people and independent sectors should be involved in order to protect the forest. Reforestation should accompany industrialisation.

Mr. K. Ramamurthy, former Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa, emphasized many points: (1) land use planning boards to set up; (2) community development to be revived and Zila Parishads to be set up again; (3) decentralisation has its own shortcomings; (4) every irrigation project should be followed by a drainage system; (5) excessive multiplication of animals should not be allowed in sanctuaries; (6) integrated planning to house all the servicing population; 97) tribals should be allowed to retain ownership of land and lands for different crops identified; (8) alternative energy should be popularised.

Mr. G. Senapati said saw mills were not yet regulated. More and more saw mills were coming up. He expressed his concern that seminars were preaching to the converted in towns whereas these were urgently needed in rural areas to raise environmental consciousness. He also felt that industrial projects were wrongly located. Mr. Dash highlighted the absence of government representation in the hearing despite the fact that government functionaries were important policy makers.

Summarizing, Dr. Ashok Khosla suggested that to deal with the problems of environment, village level committees should be created, not only at the national, but also at the state and district levels.
Finally, Mr. Yudhisthir Das delivered the valedictory address.

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