there was a real funny comment by our opposition leader and veteran politician l.k.advani. i quote
"Hailing Naveen Patnaik as an honest chief minister, BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday said the BJD supremo's honesty is the biggest asset to the party and role model for politicians of the country."

of course the orissa chief minister is a veteran politician and a re-elected chief minister. but beyond that if you dig deep, you will have a government that has pretty much sold of orissa to mining companies lock stock and barrel.

from outskirts of orissa to central orissa, most of the projects that is being proposed is not only huge polluting but also virtual destroyer of natural resources and loot of tribals.

from niyamgiri hills being partitioned off to the UK based industrial group, to the hirakud dam being siphoned off to industries to kalinganagar disaster - this government has done it all.

and the sad truth is it also gets 'a biggest asset' from a national leader. of course if given a chance mr.l.k.advaniji will also called the gujarat chief minister the greatest human rights activist of india.

yee hoo sailor,
cast your oar afar
let the ship
travel straight super

yee hoo captain,
we got a problem,
for in the recent storms
all the sailors goners

when oil has shot up, inflation before and after climbing up uncontrollably, an administration that is focused on manaic growth for the rich and maniac destruction for the marginalised and ecosystem acts like the captain of the ship that has been torn apart in storms.

while launching the solar lantern project our honorable prime minister says
"The Prime Minister asked Minister for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar to come forward with a comprehensive action plan for new and renewable energy development in consultation with State governments."

well, dear oxford educated reformist prime minister. we got a problem houston. this renewable policy should have come years ahead, this renewable policy should have propelled india like a leader in solar/wind like germany/spain, this renewable should have been give maniac push just like the push being given for the deadly nuclear energy.

well captain, the ship is in a wreck now with rich people alone surviving the titanic. how steerth we forward?

see this scenario.

a woman born and bought in a western country and married to probably one of the most powerful families in the world and who is now running india's oldest politicial part of india.

the region, one of the most neglected in india. lying in the heart of north east, assam is a critical state of india but seldom cared for by babu's of delhi except of course when fake development is needed in terms of building monster dams

the audience, one of the least cared audience. the farming community which has been plagued by huge farmer suicides.

and what does she talk. she could have talked about farming issues, about fertilizer policy, about farmer suicides, about her government policies on agriculture, about ground water policy and of course along with usual political talk of greatness of the present government.

but she talks nuclear!!!! yes, she wants nuclear energy so that inflation can be curbed and farmers benefited. OMG!!! ma'm you have probably come to the wrong meeting.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that the country should realise the importance of nuclear energy in view of the increasing oil price at the international level and its fallout.

india's inflation is due to careless monetary and fiscal policy of the central government that promotes growth at maniac speed seldom caring about the marginalized sections of india and the nuclear power plants will NOT curb inflation by any means as india's electricity is not produced by oil but by dirty coal.

i think somebody at policy level has gone insane in madam's inner circle because the top management of present government talks only 2 things which are a) nuclear deal and b) high oil prices. and after talking of course, they go back to their usual self of promoting fake development policies that crush the majority of rural poor, farmers and marginalized sections of society.

how clueless can the finance minister of india be?
how idealess can the harvard educated high flying corporate darling be?
how visionless can the man from a prestigious chettinad family be?

as clueless as his idea of 'price band mechanism' idea. so our dear finance minister wants consuming countries (especially the oil guzzling countries like america and oil-subsidiy-for-the-rich countries like china and indai) to 'guarantee' a price range so that oil producing countries can supply at the same price.

vowww...the only finance minster in the world to propose socialism for oil trading!!!!

and the finance minster goes further to slam the speculators saying they are responsible for the huge price increase and he further goes into idealess territory as he mentions the demand for oil has not increased in last 12 months. does he not know that,

a. supply is so tight that demand outstrips supply on a daily basis by 1 to 2 million barrel
b. continuous disruptions in nigeria is adding to the misery
c. iraq just came to pre-invasion level in oil production
d. in spite of saudi's i-will-supply-2 million barrels-more-daily shouting, not even 10% of that 2 million extra has been pumped
e. huge subsidy in india and china making new car owners care a damn about gas sipping cars and on top of that without any policy at all to wean away from oil dependency.

compare this to britan's prime minister and american energy secretary both of whom pointed out correctly the supply side rather than the oft repeated speculative side.

but underneath of all the talk of our finance minister lies the brutal tragedy that inflation has gone to double digits!!! and this finance minster has ignored controlling inflation big time and his fiscal policies has been promoting fake development projects that make the wealthy more wealthy and the poor and middle class more poorer and this finance minister's own cabinet has been ruthlessly pushing policies such as SEZ's, ignoring lakhs of farmer suicides, the list is endless...

now our finance minister, like our prime minister who hides under the india america nuclear deal whenever he wants to divert attention, has the oil bogey man to complain.

i can tell this strongly. nobody can beat india's politician who can bluff their way on a daily basis throughout their political career. whether you are an educated politician or a local dada who became a big time politician, this bluffing keeps on coming on a daily basis.

when they have to be in school
studying and sharpening their brains,
hammering maths and science,
building a grand vision

they are in the roads begging
or they are in auto shops cleaning,
and they are in day labour jobs
screwing their future.
(young children in rural andhra working on mango industry. as indian state and several state government show zero focus on education, little children's future goes plunging to zero).

manmohan singh government does not know what to do. consider this in last 5 years,

* the government had no clue on the oncoming inflation which is now a monster 11%. that's not a spelling mistake. the government was relentlessly pushing fake development that was making the rich more richer and ignoring the crucial core inflation which is now biting poor and lower middle class big time.

* lakhs of farmer suicides ignored fully and his pet finance minister comes and throws thousands of crores as dog bone as though the foundation of farming can be fully rebuilt!!!

* fake development policies like SEZ screwing up farmers in a big way and tribals from orissa to kerala being thrown out of their land in name of mining and dams.

* education, rural health, etc are in doldrums like never before as the state has become a corporate stooge rather than protector of people since reforms started and has been expanded relentlessly without human face.

* many other fiasco's like fake mining policy, total abuse of environmental impact assessment, total twisting and smashing of coastal management zone guidelines, etc.

the crown jewel and the biggest mask for this government fake talk, is the nuclear deal with america. you know whenever you ask your son/daughter about their repeated mischief, they used to divert attention big time.

similarly this government in order to divert people attention, talks full load of crap of nuclear deal as though it is manna from heaven.

one thing is clear. talk fake talk all the time and change the topic when things don't work. the present government headed by oxford educated prime minister and harvard educated finance minister are classic examples of this.

john mccain, is an ultimate war hero. as a prisoner of war and highly decorated war hero of vietnam war, few politician can have such a stellar background.

but john mccain is now john mcsame. under assault from obama's change rhetoric that has captured americans from all walks of life, john mccain takes the route of mcsame and wants offshore drilling.

offshore drilling in california and florida especially will screw up the pristine coasts that are so crucial to wildlife and tourism and on top of that the oil from the coasts will barely be able to feed the american oil addiction.

we need truth. we need honesty and we need a leader who can tell in your face that you are oil addicted and so face the high price of oil. if you want to avoid oil, demand public transport, take public transport, car pool, cut your 100 mile weekends every week and live within your oil budget.

but john mcsame seems to have morped into a typical indian politician. politician who change colors as and when they want and talk the false talk whenever they want.

we want the war hero john mccain and not the bush twin john mcsame.

even the word funny cannot convey the comedy that is going on in the name of development. let's look at this.

the union minister of state for forest and wildlife (moef i guess, but hindu says its forests and wildlife), says that his ministry is joining hands with 'private parties' for growing trees on their land to achieve 30% green cover by 2012.

forget now the fact that india pristine forests are under huge assault to various types of illegal mining, fake dams and encroachment, tigers under death spiral, etc. but our minister, who obvious watching lot of comedy tamil movies, says as below

"With afforestation having taken place on almost all forest land, the Ministry was planning to increase the green cover by planting trees on private land."

in the same hindu, from his own state of tamilnadu, people are opposing mining of iron ore in and around reserve forest area.

funny became very very funny (and very very dangerous) i guess. on one hand the minister jokes but on the other hand his own party run state government is deadly serious in bringing destruction to people in name of mining.

nowadays in modern, democratic india the job of the government is to be the servant of the industry. well, officially and constitutionally the job and role of the government is to be the protector of the people, giving people access to good education, quality health, maintaining communal peace, providing clean water for drinking, etc.

but in modern india, the role of the government is to 'facilitate' land acquisition policy for big mega industries which wants land dirty cheap and also want land irrespective of whether the land owners want to sell it or not or irrespective of whether the proposed industrialization will bring clean jobs or dangerous mining kind of chaos.

but who cares. if you want to go by tamilnadu government smooth words wherein they are promising to acquire land for tata's in tuticorin for a huge mining project, then the role of the government is 'to protect and serve the industry'. that too rich industries.

Senior government officials said though the state would not directly buy large tracts of land on behalf of the steel major, it would ensure that the acquisition process was smooth for Tata Steel to do so on its own.

We will also help Tata Steel by buying small bits of land to let them aggregate continuous land area of 10,000 acres (for mining)," said a senior state official.

development has been turned upside down in india wherein the industries are treated as though they are the poor and the poor rural people who depend on agriculture are as the rich and hence i guess the role of the government is in top reverse gear!!!

kerala, as we know, is called god's own country. with its amazing culture, its rich arts background, its famous temples, mosques and churches and its lovely beaches and the amazing (but abused) western ghats forests - kerala has it all.

of course kerala has some more things too. it has the notorious endosulfan pollution and deaths in kasargode, it has the proposed abusive athirapilly hydel dam in chalakudy river, it has the dam mongers threatening to mow down silent valley national forests and it has got the crowning jewel of them all in eloor.

a beautiful island close to the nearest city of cochin, this island could have given a run for the money for an excellent tourist spot in which the majestic periyar river and the arabian sea giving its magic touch. but this island of eloor is giving its own residents, many tens of thousands, a run for their lives.

tehelka has a story on the harmful factory run by our very own government of india (hindustan insecticides limited - hil) which manufactures the harmful ddt chemical that has been banned in almost all developed countries.

when we cook in our homes, we worry about the cost of the produce, the time it is taking to cook, the next hotel to go on the weekend, etc. but when somebody cooks in eloor, they worry about deadly pollution.

I DON’T MAKE my omelette from local eggs as they smell of pesticide,” says carpenter TV Gireesh as he stands outside India’s only DDT-manufacturing factory.

nice isn't it?

you might want to catch up on one side of india. the side that is represented by big flying industrialists. nytimes has the story on ambani here.

you also might want to catch up on the other side of india. an india whose idea has been lost in name of fake development. whereas mindless and ruthless and dirty industrialization bulldozed by rich industrialists and their political cronies have unleashed an virtual war on poor peasants, tribals and other rural marginalized sections.

"Why take away fertile, multi-crop lands for industrialisation, is the question several farmer communities are asking, in the absence of any meaningful dialogue with a government that has signed MoUs with over 45 steel producers. The Posco steel plant requires 12,000-15,000 crore litres of water. According to the MoU, the Government of Orissa will ensure all permissions and infrastructure for drawing and use of water from the Mahanadi barrage at Jobra. If implemented as per project reports, an 87 km pipeline will draw the waters allocated for drinking and irrigation needs of erstwhile undivided Cuttack district, now Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack."

the posco project (and many such like posco project) projects the ugly side of india, especially the ugly side of indian government, the ugly side of rich industrialists and the ugly side of cricket crazy/bollywood crazy clueless indian media.

stories like posco abound in india and there are many posco's within reliance too wherein bulldozing using ruthless tactics to acquire land, to pollute the land and to destroy nature and the poor who depend on these vital ecosystems like the villages of Dhinkia and Paatana (just barely 125 kms from the capital city of bhuaneswar) are seeing.

well, stories like this don't come in newyork times. but stories about real india never come out either.
(villagers of Dhinkia and Paatana just 125 kms from orissa's capital city is facing complete displacement and grab of their land - all in name of mindless and dirty mining proposal from posco.)

the festering narmada wound continues relentlessly. see the mail from medha patkar below on the major breach in the main narmada canal.

the biggest glaring fake development project in india stabs gujarat in the chest day in and out and the after effects still linger.

------------------

From: medha@narmada.org <medha@narmada.org>
Date: 12 Jun 2008 09:58
Subject: [narmada_andolan] Huge Breach in SSP Narmada Main Canal, Corrupt and Callous Construction Exposed
To:

Narmada Bachao Andolan
12 June 2008

Dear friends/comrades,

There has been a major breach in the Narmada Main Canal yesterday, affecting
villages in Mehsana district of Gujarat. We have been saying all along that the
Canal system as it is envisaged and constructed will not be a life line but a
death noose on people's life and livelihood in Gujarat. Government of Gujarat
do not heed this as they are too engrossed is distorted visions of development
and prosperity through such mega systems. Not only the rampant corruption and
poor construction quality, but also the lack of scientific command area
environmental assessment (in real terms) will continue to severely disrupt
village life and farmer's livelihood in Gujarat. While industries and cities
may gain advantage to some extent, it will be at the expense of the other. Mr.
Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister will have to answer for this huge
loss to the public exchequer and people's lives.

Some government officials have claimed that it is a natural disaster! What
nonsense!!! This development induced disaster is a criminal offence on the part
of the government and they are fully accountable. At this time we are reminded
of the recent earth quake in China and the resultant danger caused to
people's lives due to dams over there.

Along with the people of Kevadia Colony in Gujarat who are about to be
negotiated and forced out of their habitat in order to beautify and make the
Dam area a tourist spot, we pledge solidarity with the affected people of
Mehsana and demand immediate relief and Just compensation for what they
suffered.

This is at least the third time that the main canal is breaking, showing the
huge corruption and callousness with which the canal is constructed, speeding
it up for political mileage. The contractor-bureaucrat-politician unholy nexusis responsible for this terrible calamity. For your recollection, our pressrelease during the 2004 breach is given far below.

Regards,

Ashish Mandloi, Medha Patkar, Champalal

-----

NBA Press Release
16 August 2004

Sardar Sarovar Dam Overflows as Main Canal Ruptures:
Earthquake also registered near reservoir

While the dam overflow has gained international headlines, it has been little
reported in the press that on the morning of August 3rd, the Narmada Main
Canal-the "lifeline of Gujarat," which is supposed to bring Narmada waters into
the state-was severely breached and broken in two places. Near Bhorda and Moti
Uni villages in Pav Jetpur Taluka, nearly 50 metres of canal caved in due to
pressure from flood waters coming from the cross-cutting Heran River. The
floodwaters are supposed to flow under the canal to the western side through a
tunnel, which became blocked with silt. As a result, the floodwaters crashed
through the Main Canal, submerging villages Bhorda, Mota Uni, Rajbodeli,
Moradongri, Chundheli, and Panej, causing crores of rupees in destruction of
houses and standing crops.

On the night of August 10th, yet another breach occurred in the Narmada Canal
near Kadi, sending water into ten villages (in Viramgam and Dholka Talukas,
Ahmedebad District), and forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people on tractors
during the night. The flooding was the result of a burst check dam on the canal
after heavy rains for the fifth consecutive day.

This past week's pouring monsoon rains has called into serious question both
the safety of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, and the integrity of its claimed
benefits. On August 6, 1 lakh cusecs of water began tumbling over the newly
raised 110.64 metre dam wall at Kevadia Colony, Gujarat. In less than four
days, the water level had risen from just below 100 metres, to the dam-topping
113 metres. This alarming and uncontrollable deluge of water prompted the
Gujarat government to put three districts-Narmada, Bharuch, and Vadadora-on
high alert and prepared for the possibility of an evacuation. In Bharuch, the
government obtained rescue boats and life-jackets and asked for a column of the
army to be sent to the potential disaster zone. Luckily, the water level has
temporarily stabilized at over 112 metres. However, the monsoon season is far
from over and rains continue to fall heavily in the catchment area.

This serious rupture in the Narmada Main Canal-which could take months to
repair-means that, contrary to the boasts of Chief Minister Modi and the Sardar
Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. (SSNNL), no water will be reaching beyond this point
in the canal, and certainly won't provide relief to drought-prone areas or
rejuvenate North Gujarat rivers anytime soon. Furthermore, it is clear that
this breach on August 3rd, and the subsequent inability of the government to
divert floodwaters into the canal, was partly responsible for the dangerous
situation that emerged on August 6th, with the overflowing waters of the dam
threatening downstream villages.

In yet one more alarming occurrence, yesterday, August 11th, an earthquake of
3.4 on the Richter scale was felt in the town of Sondwa in Alirajpur District
of Madhya Pradesh, an area coming under serious submergence by the Sardar
Sarovar reservoir. The tremor, coinciding with the greatest-yet impoundment of
water behind the Sardar Sarovar Dam, suggests the possibility that it was
reservoir induced-a phenomenon known to happen with large dams in seismically
active areas. Geologists have pointed out that the Sardar Sarovar is located in
a seismically active zone, and questioned the project's safety. As the
reservoir gets bigger-with the governments trying to push the dam up towards
its full planned height of 138.64 metres-the danger of an earthquake causing a
catastrophic break in the dam wall will increase.

Thus, under the test of a strong monsoon, the Sardar Sarovar Dam is revealing
not only its destructiveness of upstream villages, but also its unreliability
and dangerousness for the downstream villages of Gujarat. An inquiry must be
made into the safety aspects of the dam, including the building practices that
led to the canal rupture, and the dangerous overflow. The NBA maintains that in
addition to its unacceptable social and environmental costs, the dam is
technically flawed and unsafe, and should not be built beyond its present
height.

Yogini Khanolkar

Ashish Mandloi

how about getting SLAPPed if you tell anything against the pesticide pollution of india. how about gettting SLAPPed if you talk about the massive health damage in Padre, Kerala due to endosulfan. how about getting SLAPPed if you point out the end to end damage in the food chain due to indiscriminate use of pesticides.

that's what precisely is happening to Sunita Narain and CSE. and that's what will happen to anybody who protest against the industry and the governments over the fake development policies.

from manjunath, to binayak sen to piyush to CSE - all those who people who oppose (in a peaceful and democratic way) will be either eliminated or SLAPPed.

way to go india. development truly is a SLAPP in the face of the poor and the marginalized and those who oppose the fake development policies of india.

the india government is proposing new mining policy - nmp 2008.

instead of using the word proposing, it should be called 'india government is bulldozing its new mining policy'. after all when it comes to destructive mining all over india (and world), the indian government basically is proposing destructive policy to facilitate destructive mining.

downtoearth has a very good article on this and some shocking facts from it are,

* nmp -2008 ignores the fact that mining in India is not only about minerals and a simple ‘dig and sell’ proposition, it is about tribals and backward castes and their land and livelihood alienation. It is about poverty, backwardness and Naxalism.
* it is also about deforestation and biodiversity impact, water security and pollution.
* majority of India’s minerals lie beneath its forests. The top 50 mineral-bearing districts alone account for about one-fifth of the forest cover of the country. Some of the most dense and biologically rich forests are in these districts.
* These districts are also tribal-dominated and among the poorest in the country. Eighty per cent of these districts are affected by Naxalism. These districts are where some major rivers originate and flow through.

basically what the ultra capitalist congress led government is proposing is that 'yeah let's open india's crucial forests and throw away the tribals and let the multinational companies mine and mine and mine gleefully'.

welcome folks. welcome to the dastardly concept called 'development' in india. development for the rich and more and more destruction for the ecology and the people who depend on it. the national mineral policy 2008 is a classic case of how bad things have become.

business standard ran a series of articles on the dam slam of north east. you can find it here on dibang project and here on the damn dam projects of arunachal pradesh and here on lower subansiri project.

for several decades, north east india was mostly not-in-india, but way and behold, indian policy makers found a 'jewel' in north east india in name of hydro power and now they are pushing all means to bring the 'jewel' to india.

i guess the not-in-india people would have loved to stay so but unfortunately we need 'development'. don't ask what that means in this case where traditional communities are being uprooted, huge ecosystems torn down, environmental impact assessment faked and many other irregularities perpetuated.

oh yeah, all we need is development.

ibnlive, on the world environment day last week, had a story about water woes of hyderabad.

the city of lakes is now a city of sewage lakes. not only hyderabad but many cities (chennai, delhi, mumbai, nagpur, kanpur, you name it) are just like hyderabad.

local water bodies which can satisfy all of the cities water issues has been converted to sewage dumps and water is piped from rivers several hundred kilometers away and typically this piping is being done by ruling party contractors who make a killing in cement, construction, piping, labour, etc.

no wonder, water woes of urban areas of india is beyond control. of course there is another word for this. development that is.

aha, there you go. finally after getting hit in the stomach due to continuous and willful ignoring of inflation, our honorable prime minster talks sense. common sense that is.

“I urge every citizen to conserve energy at every step, every minute of the day.”

that's right mr.prime minister. any country that depends on oil for its development will bite its dust as oil prices surge beyond limits due to supply crunch (apart from speculation).

i think you are the leader of india. so why urge. why not demand? why not lead? why not pass laws that rewards conservation and penalizes waste? why not push public transport in massive way? why not tax single passenger car occupants on congested roads? why not have bus only roads/lanes in congested cities of india? why not make solar mandatory for upper middle income families in cities of india? why not demand all government building should have strong green building codes? why not...

dear prime minister, you have been very late in urging. in fact you are so asleep by the rhymes of fake development you cannot see that you are the leader of india who has take care of india's marginalized and india's fragile ecosystem on which depend hundreds of million of poor indians who are not visible to your eyes or your urging.

as the ill planned and destructive athirappilly hydel dam gets relentlessly pushed by kerala government, what arundathi roy remarks in the proposed dam site is very apt.

“When agitators get tired, they (authorities) revive projects. Nothing should stop you from preventing the Athirappilly project.”

lie, lie and lie
till its enough
in the face

hit, hit and hit
till the last
blood drips

fool, fool and fool
till everybody is made
into a fool

blame, blame and blame
everything on those who
talk sane.

the ideas, as arundathi points out, is to make you really tired by talking again and again about fake development and pushing the destructive projects through various means including illegal and forceful means.

when it comes to money involved in these kinds of projects important things such as ecology, people's livelihood, wildlife and forest laws, tribal rights are smashed to dust. that is development that is happening in india.

even as our SEZ minister, aka commerece minister, tom toms how 'benevolent and gracious' this idi aminisque government is while trying to snatch lands of farmers in name of development, a set of 13 farmers stood in an election in andhra pradesh.

hindu has the story here. this group of farmers contested election and was one of the main reason for the defeat of the sitting MLA who obviously did nothing to prevent the 'benevolent and gracious' land snatch.

the only demand of these group of 13 farmers was “we get our lands back, we get our lives back.”

indeed that is the demand of several million people who have been royally screwed by the biggest scam in the history of independent india.
(Jadcherla 13, the group of farmers who contested andhra pradesh assembly elections. the sad face of india)

abhishek behl leads the tourism operators for tigers india program. he has very good piece in tehelka on sustainable tourism and how toft works. in his 2 para's he sums it up.

India has some of the world’s most staggering and beautiful wildlife. It harbours 15 different species of wild cats and over 1,200 species of birds. The Indian peninsula, housing one of the richest diversities of life forms on earth, is a veritable Eden. Today, it is under siege like never before and yet, remarkably, it survives in all its diverse forms — from the high mountains of the Himalayas to the rich tropical forests of the Western Ghats; from the deserts of Thar to the cloud forests and swamps of Eastern India and the Sal and teak forests of Central India.

Wildlife tourism brings millions of dollars of revenue for the Indian travel industry and yet, only a tiny, negligible fraction is reinvested in conserving the very parks visitors plan to visit. So, the next time you take a safari, do make sure that your choices have been responsible and that they benefit the destination that you have enjoyed visiting.

india's forest and wildlife wealth can be used as a sustainable way in generating employment for its many million who live in and near forest areas. instead indian government is busy mining and destroying its wealth. not only as tourism sources, india's forests are major source for majority of rivers of india. with even a short sighted vision this is very visble.

but in name of fake development, we have a blind vision. anything like this will be useless for policy and law makers. show them a huge digger or bulldozer and they eyes glow in smile. for they know the contractors and mining companies are coming with boat loads of cash asking for permission to destroy in name of fake development.

'JALAARAVAM'

(THE CALL OF WATER)

NATIONAL CONVENTION

3rd and 4th JUNE 2008

'ATHIRAPPILLY SATYAGRAHA CROSSES 100th DAY'

Organised by

Chalakudy River Protection Forum & Athirappilly Action Council

SN TRUST AUDITORIUM CHALAKUDY

Program Schedule

3^rd June 2008

9.30 – 11.15 a.m. Inaugural Session

Presidential Address Prof. Sarah Joseph

Inauguration Dr. Sukumar Azhikode

Main Speakers Arundhati Roy

Smitu Kothari

Dr.P.S.Panickar

Leena Davis

Prof. Sobhindran

And other prominent personalities

11.30 - 1.00 pm. Artists Session (will continue parallel with the

Sahyadri session)

Canvaasil Othungaatha Athirappilly

(Athirappilly - beyond the canvas)

11.30 – 1.15.pm.Session: Sahyadri Samrakshanam

Inauguration Kumar Kalanand Mani

Speakers Prof.M.K.Prasad

Pandu Ranga Hegde

Dr.Sudhirendar Sharma

Dr.S.Sankar

1.45 pm – 3.p.m. Poets Session

Kavi Sadas

3.00 – 6.30 pm. Activists Session: Samara Sangamam

1. How to take forward Athirappilly

Campaign

2. Peoples' and Environmental Movements

from South India share their experiences

7.00 pm. Jalarathritapas by Jayan Pattathu (will continue

till 7 a.m. on 4^th June)

7.30 pm onwards Mulapaadum ravu (Bamboo music)

by Unnikrishnan Pakkanar

4^th June 2008

9.30 – 11.00 a.m. Students 'River Parliament'

11.00 – 3.00 pm Technical Sessions (will continue after lunch)

1. River Basin Planning

Moderator Dr.Sudhirendar Sharma

P.S.Gopinathan Nair

K.J.Joy

Dr.Abey George

Dr.A.Latha

2. Energy Planning

Moderator P.S.Gopinathan Nair

C.R.Neelakantan

Dr.Abey George

S.P.Ravi

Open Forum towards consolidation

3.00 – 5.pm concluding Session: 'JALAARAVAM'

JANANGALIL NINNUM

SARKARILEKKU

('The Call of Water'

From the People to the Government)

Inauguration Sri. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan

(Former Water Resources Minister, Govt of Kerala)

Presentation of

Report

Main Speakers Sri. Varghese George

(National Secretary, Janata Dal)

Political Leaders

Social Activists