Modi's Swachch Bharat initiative should herald rehaul of refuse disposal systems in our country
Two months ago, Maharashtra environment secretary
RA Rajeev lamented at a workshop that no Chief Minister or Prime
Minister had ever spoken of a litter-free country. As if on cue, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has spoken up. And how.
Modi is the first national-level politician to take up cleanliness as
a national priority. He raised the issue first in his Independence Day
address, then on Teacher’s Day, in Bangalore and even in the US. He will
launch Mission Swachch Bharat on October 2, the birth anniversary of a
person many believe is anathema to Modi.
Never before has such stature been enjoyed by the cause of
cleanliness and sanitation -- issues that are joined at the hip and
translate into health and life at the front end. Sweeping has always
been a lowly chore in India, steadfastly so because of its
unattractiveness as a vote-getting cause.
The solid waste problem in India is immense. Given our resilient yen
for littering and high tolerance for squalor, Modi’s emphatic focus on
garbage removal is not just necessary but essential. If we do manage to
achieve the seemingly impossible target of garbage clearance at the
street and the doorstep, we would have covered the first -- and biggest
in terms of its scale -- stage of the waste conundrum.
There is much more to waste management than collection and dumping.
Without going into the different types of waste or their hazard
potential, the obvious steps in an integrated approach towards a more
civilised and sustainable waste disposal system are reduction of waste,
segregation of waste at source, local composting, treatment, recycling
and re-use. Only the waste left over at the end of this chain should be
incinerated, with an energy conversion component built in if feasible.
Landfilling should be the absolute last option for non-recoverable
waste, and when inevitable, it should be done in a sanitary way, not in
open landfills. Incidentally, Japan has an island, Odaiba, constructed
over a landfill site in Tokyo Bay.
In India, waste management has not evolved as a sector. A PIL by
Almitra Patel against open dumping of waste in 1996 led to the drafting
of rules by a Supreme Court-appointed committee to provide a legal
framework for a range of activities such as generation, storage,
collection, transportations, processing and disposal into a sanitary
landfill, etc.
A detailed report by a technical advisory group set up by the government dwells
on processing and disposal, cost-effective solutions, etc. Yet, most
efforts at composting and treatment are individual and informal. India
has waste-to-energy plants and recycling factories, many of which
recycle waste from countries like Nepal and Bhutan. We also have some
exemplary showcases. Suryapet in Telangana is India’s first
waste-complaint city with zero garbage. Namakkal, a district town in
Tamil Nadu, has privatised its waste management systems, enforces
door-to-door collection with source segregation, vermi-composting of
organic garbage and sale of recyclables. But what is needed is a macro
overhaul enhancing, integrating, and streamlining all the cogs in the
wheel.
To work our way up from segregation to re-use, an architectural
framework comprising the government/local bodies, private sector and/or
public-private partnership, NGOs and public needs to be put in place.
Local municipalities can coerce compliance through a string of laws and
levies on the creation and collection of waste such as a landfill tax,
capping per capita waste generation, penalising certain types of
inorganic waste.
Countries not just in the developed West but even in our
neighbourhood have seamlessly moved to a system of waste reduction.
Dhaka slums have taken to open-air barrel composting and collect $20 per
ton carbon credits. Singapore, which faces land scarcity like most of
urban India, has a recycling rate of over 60 %. In particular, its
near-complete recycling of construction debris holds out hope for a
rapidly urbanising country like ours.
Singapore’s charges for waste disposal disincentivise generation by construction companies.
European Union countries have done better than most in this area. The
European waste hierarchy has five steps: prevention, reuse, recycle,
energy recovery and disposal. Its directives include the principles of
‘polluter pays’ and ‘extended producer responsibility’.
Sweden, which came together as a nation for waste management, sees
waste as a resource and not as a problem. Almost half of its waste goes
into incineration with energy recovery. A world leader in food waste
treatment, its food waste is separated and treated to recover biogas and
bio-fertiliser. Sweden’s landfilling shrunk from 62 % in 1975 to just
1% a year ago. Measures such as landfill tax, ban on dumping combustible
and organic waste, energy tax to make waste-derived energy more
attractive, and lowering of taxes on use of bio-fuels drove the change.
On the other hand, the Flemish region of Belgium, Flanders,
discourages incineration except for waste that cannot be controlled or
prevented. It has one of the best programmes of waste mitigation and
recycling. It recycles and re-uses three-fourths of its household waste
while discouraging incineration. From about five decades ago when open
dumping was common, it has closed most dumping sites.
Landfill and incineration restrictions were introduced in 1998. Half
of its population today is into home composting. The Flanders waste
management agency, OVAM, has developed a tool, Ecolizer, to help an
enterpreneur work out the environmental burden of a product from design,
make, processing, energy use, transport and recycling, thereby enabling
a suitable change in its design. The cost of recycling is integrated
into the product price.
Not technology or economy but a mix of factors woven into the administrative vision, coupled with public will, can deliver the progression to zero waste.
Modi has taken the first giant step by lending his considerable
weight to the issue. It’s a good beginning. On our part, we will have to
retrain ourselves to understand that waste management is not the
exclusive domain of civic authorities. We are equal stakeholders and
should do what we can right away -- reduce, segregate, re-use and
compost at home. The author is a senior journalist based in Mumbai
Saturday, June 21, 2014
It's a joke, not what happened with me. Please!
Several days ago, as I left a meeting, I desperately gave myself a personal search. I was looking for my keys.
They were not in my pockets. A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing.
Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car. Frantically, I headed for the car park.
My husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition.
My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen.
As I scanned the car park I came to a terrifying conclusion! His theory was right. The car park was empty.
I
immediately called the police. I gave them my location, confessed that I
had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.
Then I made the most difficult call of all.
"Hello
My Love", I stammered; I always call him "My Love" in times like these.
"I left my keys in the car, and it has been stolen."
There was a period of silence. I thought the call had disconnected, but then I heard his voice. He barked, "I dropped you off!"
Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me."
He retorted, "I will, as soon as I convince this policeman I have not stolen your damn car."
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Why Indian Muslims must support Prime Minister Modi
Syed Ata Hasnain
Aroller
coaster of an election has led to a result exceeding people's
expectations. For India's Muslim population, the largest minority in the
world, it is more of a shock. Their worst fears have come true,
especially those who view Indian politics from a narrow prism of
ideology and faith. The BJP, the supposed ultra nationalist, right wing,
anti-Muslim party, will rule India with a majority of its own. This was
unimaginable a couple of years ago when the common refrain was the
assumption that the BJP could never go beyond the Hindi heartland and,
therefore, could never secure its own majority.
The
Indian Muslims, confused as they are, by the plethora of political
parties that woo them and treat them as a vote bank, were so thunder
struck by the electoral results that an ominous silence marked most of
their gatherings.
There are a few things that the Indian Muslims must
keep in mind. First, that they are Indians by choice and, therefore,
enjoy the fruits of India's democratic success and stability unlike so
many others in the neighbourhood who share their faith. Secondly, the
Indian political system has matured over 65 years, as has the
electorate. The appeal of narrow issues such as faith and ideology does
not matter as much as the attraction of social and economic progress.
This inevitably happens in multi-faith and multi-cultural societies
where the initial gains of nationhood are selfishly acquired. As systems
mature the common goals and the common good are realised.
The
initial sulk by the Indian Muslims after Independence was a result of
their lack of confidence in their own decision and the initial euphoria
in Pakistan about a land dedicated to the subcontinent's Muslims. The
euphoria diluted over a period of time and today the psyche of an
average Pakistani is reflected in Mahwash Badar's bold article - 'Jinnah
made a Mistake and I am
Ashamed of being a Pakistani' recently
published in a prominent Pakistani blog. She writes: "What analogy do I
draw to represent the utter misery that is being a Pakistani in this
super-power dominated world?" No one puts labels on Indian Muslims when
they travel internationally and no one profiles them in the manner which
Ms Badar describes her countrymen. A prominent US Air Force General
once in a discussion with me online stated: "What, 175 million Muslims
and not one with Al Qaida!" It was difficult for him to understand this.
The Indian Muslims have rarely looked upon themselves in this light
because not many leaders have ever cared to explain to them the distinct
advantages of their Indian label.
There
have been aberrations in the journey since Partition as would be in any
aspiring and dynamic nation. There have also been many success stories
which have helped cement their place in society. They have won adulation
for winning the highest military gallantry awards, given Presidents,
Vice Presidents and Service Chiefs to the nation, achieved the highest
honours for scientific and cultural activities and worn their patriotism
proudly. Why should they then be thunder struck by the simple change of
government which has been elected with many a vote from within their
ranks?
Mercifully,
within a few days of the electoral results the hushed whispers have
started emerging as voices of assent; heads have started nodding and
Indian Muslims are re-emerging from their self-induced perception of
doom. Much of it is driven by aspirations of youth who had the courage
to vote with their minds but also much of it is being driven by people
who were opposed to Narendra Modi but now see in him as their collective
hope for the future. Some introspection is leading to the deduction
that it is scientific temper, education, power of investigation and
living by rationale which will militate against the status-quoist
attitude with which the community has lived for long. They have to be
led into believing that as a patriotic, non-radicalised, proud segment
of the Indian society, they hold out a beacon to the rest of the Islamic
world. This is what the leaders of the Muslim society need to dwell on.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's victory signifies one of the most historic
changes in world history. This has been the largest electoral process
ever to have taken place with a system to monitor fairness and strict
electoral norms. Not many are absorbing the fact that after 30 years
stability has returned to India. Indians had forgotten the meaning of
stability and have now to get used to it. That India could achieve high
growth despite coalitions in power should encourage all Indians about
the positives which augur for the future. The electoral rhetoric is
over. Wishful thinking among India's adversaries would involve the
anticipation of large-scale subjugation and wilful acts against the
minorities resulting in increased antipathy and turbulence in society.
Triggers may be planned to force the minorities to perceive danger to
their safe existence.
However,
a government which has won a single-party majority and commands a huge
majority as a coalition will inevitably leave behind rhetoric of the
electoral process. Governance is too serious a matter to allow it to be
mired in political criticism and minority bashing. Narendra Modi's
emergence should send that clear message to the Indian Muslims. This is
the moment to seize, unshackled from vote banks. Even if they have voted
for other parties that was their democratic right; it does not prevent
them from now strengthening the hands of the most stable government in
India's recent history.
On
the part of the new government no one doubts its intent of taking
united India to the next level. It has received not only a thunderous
approval from the electorate but also an acceptance by an international
consensus that this is the best thing which could happen to India.
Leaders who are decisive, clear-headed and resolute rarely take
decisions against the run of progress and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
appears to fit that bill quite appropriately. Perhaps the 21st century
will still be the Indian century and the chance of giving it that label
in letter and spirit has arrived. The Indian Muslims must not miss the
bus, in fact they should get into it lock, stock and barrel.
The writer retired recently as a Lt.General, having commanded 15 Corps in Srinagar
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
How would I describe Gopinath Munde, who passed away today in a road accident? There are many adjectives that would describe him well but not fully.
There are so many memories of the man, the mind is cluttered. Let me capture some random thoughts here. I have seen him in countless assembly sessions, sitting on the front row, head held back and high, always but always leaning behind in his seat, chest out.
Every few minutes, he would wipe his mouth briskly and comb his hair, yes, comb his hair. This habit stayed with him for years. In the house, he spoke very well and to the point.
As deputy chief minister, he handled home as well. He was surprisingly clued in about internal security matters in a way few have been before or after him. He supported many good cops and bureaucrats much against the wishes of many in the Sena and within the BJP as well. He tried hard to get rid of illegal Bangaldeshi immigrants in the city as it was a major menace to the peace and economy of the state as well as that of the country. However, Mamta Banerjee and Ajit Panja, then in NDA government, intervened and refused to let him move.
There were times I could sense his frustration at the way his hands were ever so often tied behind his back but he would rarely confide in journalists, howmuchever some Marathi journalists like to boast that he did. He was known not to drop too many hints our way and was in fact not as media friendly as many other politicians who were always waiting to vent their grievances and share some meaty gossip about their rivals.
I cannot forget how he reacted to the news of Pramod Mahajan's death. He was shattered. Munde rode on Mahajan's stature all his political life and suddenly he found himself alone.
Though fully capable of shouldering not just his political role but also carving the Maharashtra BJP's political future, he continued to feel Mahajan's loss for a very long time. It was a rare sight to see a seasoned politician like him sobbing like a child at Mahajan's funeral. After Mahajan;s death, Munde supported his family as much as he could. He tried very hard to get Poonam Mahajan a ticket in 2009 even so much as to put his political career at stake for her. But Poonam was a political rookie with an absolutely blank slate. And there was no Modi wave at that time to bail her out.
At a recent Modi rally in Mumbai, the one person on the dais to clap when Poonam Mahajan's name was announced was Munde.
His rivalry with Nitin Gadkari made a lot of sense as the two are temperamentally different and come from different backgrounds. Munde was a grassroots, man about village, politician. He knew where his bread and butter came from, and understood politics but couldnt play it as well for some time after Mahajan's death. Mahajan had always shielded him from the harsh arclights of party politics. So, it took a struggle for Munde to come into his own, but that he did. And how. Faced with Gadkari's rising stature with Modi and the BJP's national brass, he carved out his own niche to the point that Modi made him a union minister as well.
A big loss to the BJP for sure. RIP, Gopinathji.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Post-election trauma for P-p-pa-Rahu and K-k-kajeriwal (the rahu-ketu of Indians):
Tide and Rin have competition from Congress. Itni zabardast dhulai hui hai.
There is a great Rahul Gandhi wave in the country... Everyone is waving him good bye.
Congress: "Rahul-baba, jahan bhi ho, ghar aa jao. Mata aur behen
dono pareshan hai. Koi kuch nahi kahega; sari jimmedari Manmohan-uncle
ne li hai. Jaldi aa jao, bas."
Sonia and Rahul should not resign. Otherwise, Congress may recover.
Manmohan Singh's wife goes to Sonia Gandhi's house... To get the remote control back.
"Why is the mute button worn out?" asks Mrs Singh.
Manmohan Singh went to the vegetable market, the morning following his resignation.
Manmohan: Gobi kitni ki hai?
Vendor: Bas kar, rulayega kya, pagle? Free hai, tere liye. Pehli baar aawaaz suni hai teri!
Manmohan Singh begins work on his autobiography titled, "5 Mistakes of My Life: 2G, 3G, Sonia G, Rahul G, and Rahul G ke Jija G".
Congress ki samasya ye hai ki jo yuva josh Rahul Gandhi me hona chahiye woh Digvijay Singh me hai.
Ab to Congress ke bhi achche din aane wale hain.
ND Tiwari ke baad, Digvijay Singh bhabhi laane wale hai.
Girlfriend: Jaanu, aaj milte hai.
Boyfriend: Kahan milna hai?
Girlfriend: Koi sunsaan si jagah, jaha koi na ho.
Boyfriend: Thik hai, fir ek gante me Congress Head Office me milte hai.
Arvind Kejriwal got more slaps than seats!
Even Tata Nano has more seats than the Aam Admi Party!
Arvind Kejriwal says that Aam Janata has also become corrupt.
Two
glass ceilings got broken in the first two decades of this century: a
black man’s son became the president of the United States – the oldest
democracy in the world and a chaiwala’s son was elected in a sweeping
victory as the prime minister of India – the largest democracy of the
world. A third such occasion is likely in 2016 when a woman just might
become the first ever female president of the US. This is paradigms
being shattered.
If
you want to really celebrate democracy as some in this country are
prone to do simply by seeing one civilian government transition to
another, note the speed at which from mid-1960s both the ‘coloured’ and
the women, and the weak, have been able to find their place in the real
democracies of the world on their merit alone.
No
dynasties, no historical reference of a father or a grandfather having
once been at a position of entitlement – simply the capacity and the
ability of a person (men, women, ‘coloured’) to prove his credentials in
a field of play that is cut-throat competitive and where only the best
will survive.
There are only two
references in a competitive electoral play; the person: his charisma,
charm and magical spell over the people – think Jinnah, Gandhi, Mandela,
and Bhutto; and the performance – think Manmohan Singh when he got his
country some exceptional growth figures under Narasimha Rao, and more
recently, Narendra Modi with his outstanding developmental record in
Gujarat.
Modi romped home with a
strength that was surprising even to him though pundits had already
predicted a wave of change. But what a performance. Kudos to India for
such an election; not a murmur of rigging or absence of fair-play. To
win in such an election and with the margin that Modi has, is simply too
big a landmark in contemporary political history. It was a ‘wow’ moment
for India and the country needs to be applauded for it.
Modi
is a rare combination of the two. He has his spell and a sterling
record of development, aided without doubt by an enabling environment
where the electorate could only rest their hopes on him after others had
betrayed it with dismal performance. He seems a man who can easily
connect with the people. An effective orator, he outshined Rahul Gandhi
who appeared unenthused and listless in comparison.
To
the dismay of many in Pakistan, let me suggest that if Modi gets his
act together, he will take India places. India will change, perhaps
finally realising its dream and potential, as will its polity. India
will never be the same again; this remains my considered opinion. He is
that kind of fellow.
Many in Pakistan
wondered if this was an election lost or an election won. If there was
one factor that played in wooing the voters, it was leadership, or the
lack of it when they disavowed the Congress. That did it for Modi. Modi
appeared resolute, clear headed, focused and decisive; all that Manmohan
or Rahul were not.
Is there a lesson
out there for us and our political class? Especially in our current
situation where not only are institutions entangled with each other,
they are also breaking up within. What is needed for Pakistan too is a
no-nonsense style of leadership that is upfront, owns the problems, and
seems willing and active in doing something about it. Not the kind of
absent leadership that sleeps by the side as the state and the nation
unravel before it.
Statesmanship has
been wrongly understood by this clan. They think sleeping through, or
remaining detached and above the fray is how statesmen are made. There
cannot be another as fallacious a conception. Statesmen are leaders, and
leaders work with their hands. Will Modi spur Nawaz to do better? I
feel the simple relativity of how India propels, and how Pakistan
nosedives under listless, lackadaisical leadership, will be enough
factors to force a change. Of what kind will remain to be seen.
Manmohan’s listlessness was too contagious.
Modi,
however is no goody-two-shoes. He is also characterised as the ‘butcher
of Gujarat’. That will change. He is someone who reads his role well.
What was needed then to appease some at the RSS was then and that helped
him establish his position within the party; but now there is a
different role for him.
The weight of
his victory will help Modi establish his influence not only within the
BJP, but also within the RSS. He is likely to have much greater freedom
of action, as he now goes about establishing himself as a man of
substance in the international arena. He will not be the gung-ho Modi
that we assume, instead he will be deliberate, firm and unyielding in
the way that he charts his and India’s future.
How
might then Pakistan manage him? The first apprehension is will he war
with Pakistan. Here is how it will go. He will begin with an immediate
assessment of what his armed forces will need to gain an assured level
of readiness – armed forces are always short of what they assume is
absolute readiness; remember the nine months that Manekshaw needed
before the 1971 war, or how the Indian army dithered after Mumbai from a
reprisal action.
Modi’s aim will not
be to seek a war. But come another situation like Mumbai 2008, he would
like his military to respond with effect; of that there should be little
confusion. Pakistan will then need to evolve its own plan to first
deter and then respond to such a reprisal. That will put them both on a
slippery slope of escalation dominance.
What both
sides will need instead are measures and processes that will control and
manage escalation, not dominate it. Failing these the spiral down the
stability regime will be rather rapid; consequences untold and
horrendous. It will also help if another Mumbai does not occur. We can
be assured of Modi working hard to find space for an armed retribution
if he was tested with something as horrible as that. It is better to be
prepared than be surprised. And how do you manage him? By simply being
better at what he does. With our current pack, forget it.
Tailpiece:
In a master stroke Modi has invited Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration.
That is enough to test the mettle of Pakistan’s leadership. If Nawaz
goes he will need the acumen to dominate his first interaction with
Modi. Otherwise he is coming back with a clearer enunciation of how Modi
would like Nawaz to respond to his concerns. Devil and the deep blue
sea, is it?
The writer is a retired air-vice marshal of the Pakistan Air Force and served as its deputy chief of staff.
