Re: [HasiruUsiru] Re: Karnataka State Action Plan Climate Change: consultations with stakeholder groups/ individuals [1 Attachment]

[Leo Saldanha]

Dear Shankar,

All those you copied in your mails and I copied in my response are seasoned campaigners and familiar with the ways of the government and will surely not think of my comment as emerging from despondency or frustration. I am never one to surrender to cynicism.  If anything, my mail would have picked their interest and probably propelled them to do more in holding government functionaries accountable, not less. We need to engage less discretely and more proactively and publicly on such matters. Which is why I am copying your response and this reply of mine to all that I originally posted to. (For, when you responded to envtl_justice, almost all would have known anyway.)

eSG will be bolstering enough participation in every venue to probe deeply what exactly the govt has done on climate change, and force them to do more, publicly, transparently and in a honest manner in tackling the real issues, and not get away with postcard and sticker strategies.

Please encouRage DFEE/KSPCB/EMPRI to use the report we produced on environmental decision making in Karnataka in order to also account for decision making gaps that now exist in tackling climate change realities. It was, after all, paid for with public money and the government is accountable to the public.  And, we believe it makes pretty strong legal and rational arguments for reform.

Best wishes,

Leo

PS: I have added some of the lists back to this email, as it is in public interest to transact such matters as publicly as possible.  

PPS: I ask my friend Suri to share this exchange with all his colleagues in the State Wildlife Board.

On 18-Jan-2015, at 10:33 am, Shankar Sharma <shankar.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Leo,

Thanks for your quick response.

Many of the issues you have raised are known to me and many in the group; some from your own posting. I and many others in the group acknowledge the genuine concerns raised in your mail.

My own take on such issues is:

1. Do we (the civil society groups and individuals) have any option other than continuing to draw the attention of our authorities and leaders to the existential threat fast evolving due to the accelerated deterioration of our environment; and sincerely hoping that some day (sooner than later) some one in the decision making process will be able to persuade the others to take rational policy decisions?  I would like to continue to be convinced that there area good number of rational thinkers in the decision making levels, and that it is only a question of time before they get the opportunity to act decisively. 

2. It is not that none of our authorities have the societal welfare at their focus.  On the contrary I would say that it is only because of many dedicated people our society has the semblance of an order. But the complex equations governing our society seem to have posed serious hurdles in acting decisively. I would also like to be optimistic that things would start change rapidly for better.  I find it hard to believe that the situation will continue as it is for many more years, with so many youths getting concerned about the future.  

3. I also sincerely believe that various reports, such as the ones you have referred to, will be found beneficial / critical to the society and will be acted upon.  If such reports were not at all prepared, they cannot be hoped to be of help any time in future. 

4. I have no reason to believe that the decision by KSPCB / state govt. to have effective public hearing on CC is not due to the conviction to act rationally.  All indications I have got so far tells me that  effective public hearing will be held, and exhaustive report will be shared with the state govt. The benefit of such reports is that there will always be many recommendations which can be implemented without much difficulty at much less cost to an organisation or to the state. I shall be happy even if some of our recommendations can lead to better status of our environment.

With these words may I request that we all make sincere efforts once again, make rational recommendations and strengthen the efforts of KSPCB management to take our recommendations to the state government; and most importantly do not loose hope ?  Many committed individuals like you and very many NGOs like yours have been rendering yeoman service to our society for decades despite many disappointments.  Is it not true that it is only the eternal hope which is driving these entities?  What will this world be without hope?

May I also suggest that we do not spread our despondency around?  I would have appreciated if you had marked your mail only to few people, instead of copying it to everyone in my original mailing list. People like you and I, will continue to march on despite many set backs or disappointments, but our views should not deter others (who may be less committed /convinced) from acting positively. We need more and more people to think and act positively on these issues, don't we?

I hope not many people in my original mailing list will be negatively influenced by your frustration, and turn away from the consultation process. 

I look forward for an effective consultation process which, hopefully, will lead to similar efforts from other departments/state govt. agencies, and in other states too.

Regards

Shankar Sharma

On 18-Jan-2015, at 2:14 am, 'Leo Saldanha, ESG India' l...@esgindia.org [HasiruUsiru] <HasiruUsi...@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

[Attachment(s) from Leo Saldanha, ESG India included below]

Dear Shankar,

Thank you for taking this initiative and sharing with us all the details of the consultation KSPCB intends to hold in formulating a plan for Karnataka in tackling pollution, environmental degradation and climate change.  You are right that such a consultation across the State has been rare, especially coming from the Government. But there have been efforts in the past that have been far more robust and gone to levels of consulting at taluka and gram sabha levels.  Still, the current process is welcome.

While it is indeed necessary to acknowledge the sincerity with which this consultation is being held state wide, it is in the scope of the effort that I have some serious concerns.  I find it necessary to share some details fo recent events that are critical to shaping Karnataka's environmental policies.

As you are probably aware, when Mr. Sridharan was the Principal Secretary of DFEE, he enlisted Abhayraj, Bhargavi and I through EMPRI to review the quality of environmental decision making in Karnataka (in particular of the State Environmental Clearance Committee), and over the past decade.  In right earnest, senior staff of EMPRI and us consultants approached the task, accessed 447 clearances in various sectors that had been accorded with great difficulty (including, rather shockingly, EMPRI having to RTI DFEE for documents), visited 10% of them randomly across various sectors and across the State, and produced a detailed assessment of the status of environmental decision making in Karnataka, and presented an array of recommendations for much needed reforms.  The report is about 600 pages (about 200 pages of analysis and recommendations) and is accessible at: http://www.esgindia.org/campaigns/bajpe/press/karnataka-scraps-state-environmental-cle.html  

For a year's effort by three researchers, backed by several more from ESG, and for an effort that took almost a year, we were paid about Rs. 2.5 lakhs (and the complete settlement has not yet been done).  But money is not the issue, for we actually would have done it even if we were only asked to:  the task was so critical to securing the ecological security of our state for present and future generations.  When we presented the report to the Government, Mr. Sivasailam was Principal Secretary DFEE.  He accepted the report and assured us that as defined in the TOR, Public Hearings would be held state wide on the report, its findings critically examined on the basis of feedback received, and the outcomes would influence reform.  In fact dates were also fixed for Hearings durign February 2014. 

While we waited for the Hearings to take place, Mr. Sivasailam and Mr. Kaushik Mukherjee, Chief Secretary, for reasons best known to them, banned the release of the Report to the public, cancelled all the Public Hearings, and also cancelled the very forum of environmental decision making in Karnataka: State Environment Clearance Committee (that which assesses all projects that aren't considered in the EIA NOtification framework).  Besides being utterly disappointing, this shocked EMPRI, us, and various others who had hoped an honest appraisal of the Report's findings would finally, possibly, stem the rot in DFEE and KSPCB. And the rot has set in way deep and all the way to the top.

AS the report was banned from publication, we approached Mr. Madan Gopal, who had taken over as Principal Secretary DFEE now, and sought his intervention in setting right, what we considered a major wrong. The response we got was bureaucratic: that it is difficult to overrule and over come a predecessor's decision.  We urged him to go to the Chief Minister, the Environment Minister, and do what he can to ensure this extensive effort was not trampled and discarded because it revealed that most investments in Karnataka are not reviewed diligently for their environmental impacts, and this includes massive projects like Jindal, most mini-hydel projects (several operated without even forest clearances), Biocon, Volvo, etc. etc.  (the Annexures to the report speak to the extensive nature of violation of environmental, forest and pollution control laws).  When we compared these investments with those cleared during GIM, there was a pattern.  Most of the project cleared in GIM had hardly been reviewed for their environmental impacts, and yet had been commissioned.  it was clear economic and other considerations had comprehensively suppressed any possibility of social and environmental impacts being considered as relevant at all. What was worse, Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of Environment Departments had presided over decisions that seemed rather highly suspect.  All this has been documented.  So it is no surprise the report was banned from publication.

As researchers who led the exercise, Abhayraj, Bhargavi and I felt morally bound to share the outcome of the exercise, in which taxpayers money had been spent, with the wide public, and thus decided to share the  the report online on the ESG website.    This was also in keeping with the terms of our contract with EMPRI, that the report must be shared with the wide public. It hurt us deeply to see how much our research colleagues at EMPRI were disappointed that their efforts had be so wasted.

Why I share this now because I feel the current effort of securing the state from the exigences of climate change is quite difficult unless we stem the rot in our environmental decision making system. Because of the mess in decision making, almost non-existent regulation of violations, industrial and infrastructure projects and mega project builders operate with impunity.  Consequently, pollution is recklessly expanding in Karnataka (and visibly so), environmental degradation along industrial and urban areas is quite extensive and all this is hurting people who depend on nature and natural resources, and soon will all of us.  I  fear the State is not at all serious in addressing the crisis at hand, and find it my Constitutionally mandated obligation to say as much, if not more.  

I also say all this in the context of the Union Government actively considering the TSR Subramanian Report, which, in my considered opinion, leaves little for us to worry about: the nature of "reforms' proposed will commodifying nature, recklessly allow for diversion of forests to non-forest purposes, and actively encourage corporations to loot our natural resources and pollute at will.  This because most, if not many,  regulatory systems will be made meaningless and instead, reliance will be placed on "utmost good faith" of an investor to promote societal interest over profit (I truly wish our society was such that we could rely on  policies honed on "utmost good faith").  Without going too much about it, as much has already been said or is being said on the report, I point to a critique Bhargavi and I have written about the Subramanian Report, and it is accessible at: http://www.esgindia.org/resources/reports/press/indian-governments-high-powered-committe.html.  I hope this would also be taken into account in the impending state-wide consultations by KSPCB.

My very best wishes for a New Year of hope.

Leo

PS.:  I have added to the discussion, Madan Gopal, Vaman Acharya, Senior EMPRI staff, as also Bhargavi and Abhayraj, and several others who would be interested in this process



Shankar Sharma wrote:

Dear all,

Greetings to you all for a healthy, happy and environmentally better New Year.

Consequent to the formation of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the state action plans on Climate Change (KSAPCC), the Climate Change cell of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) plans to hold a series of consultations with stakeholder groups/ individuals in different parts of the state on the action plan required to mitigate and adapt to the fast evolving Climate Change.

National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was prepared in 2008. 

http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/Pg01-52_2.pdf

 

EMPRI prepared a Karnataka State Action Plan on Climate Change (KSAPCC) in 2011.

http://www.empri.kar.nic.in/Karnataka-SAPCC-EMPRI-TERI-2012-03-22.pdf

I am assisting KSPCB in the overall coordination of such consultation process and preparation of a detailed report on recommendations.

The objective of such consultations are to elicit opinion of the stake holders on actions needed to minimise the pollution (of air, land and water) impacts in particular, and to the state’s overall developmental imperatives keeping in perspective the Climate Change in general so as to contribute effectively to the state's action plan on Climate Change. The following major areas of focus are identified in this regard. But other areas of concern from CC perspective are not excluded.

 

1.      Water and sanitation

2.      Land use and planning

3.      Waste management

4.      Air quality

5.      Transportation

6.      Industries

7.      Energy

8.      Agriculture and horticulture

9.      Forestry and biodiversity

10.   Urbanisation

 

On the basis of such stake holder consultations and internal studies a comprehensive report of action plan will be prepared, and shared with the state govt. so as to make the state's action plan on climate change people centric and inclusive.

 

Process

Interested stake holders are requested to participate in such consultation process by sending their written feedback to KSPCB on how the pollution impacts can be reduced, and on other issues of importance in adapting and mitigating to the Climate Change at the state level. Stake holders are also requested to participate in stake holder consultation meeting at different places as mentioned below. Stake holders can send their feedback to KSPCB preferably through an e-mail, OR through a paper copy before the consultations day.  They are also requested to register well in advance their interest to participate on the consultation day. 

 

While efforts will be made to provide opportunity for everyone present on the consultation day, the preference for oral feedback will be given to those who register their interest in advance. Depending on the number of participants 10 to 20 minutes time can be allotted to individual presentation on the consultation day. 

The tentative dates for such consultations are as follows:

1. Mysore : 30.1.2015

2. Madikeri : 31.1. 2015

3. Mangalore: 6.2.2015

4. Karwar:  7.2.2015

5. Bellary: 20.2,2015

6. Gluberga: 21.2.2015

7. Bijapur: 22.2.2015

8. Shimoga: 27.2.2015

9. Tumkur : 28.2.2015

10. Dharwad : 12.3.2015

11. Belgaum: 13.3.205

12, Bengaluru : 17th, 28th, 26th and 27th March

I am not aware of any other public consultation process such as this either within the state or in other state on the subject of CC.   Whereas most of us are concerned about the implications of the fast evolving CC phenomenon, we did not have any say in what the STATE does. Hence this is a good opportunity for the civil society groups / individuals to contribute to the state's action plan, which can be expected to have long term impacts. 

If you are interested to participate in this consultation process please let me know early (your preferred place of consultation meeting) so that the details of the exact date and venue can be conveyed to you.  Since this process is meant to elicit feedback from the invited people/ groups/ institutions only in the first phase, please convey your interest to my mail id.  You can expect a formal invitation from the office of KSPCB nearer to the date of public consultation.

This mail is sent in advance so as to enable you to prepare the written feedback in detail along with information on: issues/concerns, best practices, published references, useful data, recommendations, traditional knowledge of relevance etc. This consultation process can also be seen as an opportunity to express our concerns on the deteriorating status of Western Ghats in particular and the overall environment in general, including the critical environment of the beautiful but threatened coastal areas. 

In case you are unable to be present on the consultation day, you can send your feedback to KSPCB with a copy to me.

Can we hope to see participation by a good number of environmentalists/ concerned citizens, and an effective consultation process leading to a better environment not only in the state but in the entire country? 

Please also let me know if there are others who may be interested to participate in such a process.

Regards

Shankar Sharma

Power Policy Analyst
# 1026, 5th Main Road, E&F Block, Ramakrishna Nagara
Mysore, Karnataka, India - 570022
Phone: 0821 2462333 & 94482 72503
shankar.s...@gmail.com
shankar_s...@hotmail.com

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." - Thomas Edison in conversation with Henry Ford, 1931

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

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Leo F. Saldanha
Environment Support Group
[Environmental, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives]
1572, Intermediate Ring Road
Banashankari II Stage
Bangalore 560070
Tel: +91-80-26713559~61
Voice/Fax: +91-80-26713316
Email: l...@esgindia.org
Web: www.esgindia.org
Blog: leoonpublicmatters.blogspot.com

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