India and Brazil - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 185

after his retirement, less dedicated officials and Army officers took it over,
abandoning its ideals and leading to corruption. Often they saw their role
as easing the Indians out of the way so timber and oil companies could
take the land. Sometimes they resorted to murder. By 1967 this became
too much even for the military junta that ruled at the time. It abolished the
SPI and replaced it with FUNAI. The new agency was an improvement,
but not perfect as Indians continued to suffer and find themselves dispos-
sessed. On one hand, the government protects them, but at the same time,
it continues to build roads, construct dams, and promote agribusiness.
Far to the south, the city of Curitiba claims the title of the world's green-
est city. It has been an innovator since the 1970s, when it converted a busy
downtown street into a pedestrian mall. The mayor, Jaime Lerner, feared
merchants and automobile drivers would object, so he accomplished the
transformation over a weekend. Because garbage collection was so bad
in the slums—favelas—that the city offered rewards to residents who
would bring trash to central pickup points. The narrow alleys made regu-
lar collection impossible, and impoverished residents were simply dump-
ing it in nearby rivers and fields. The people got bus passes and football
tickets. Fishermen were paid by the pound to fish for rubbish. The city
set up recycling plants that employed homeless people and alcoholics.
Floodplains were purchased and converted to parks with lakes that could
absorb floodwater. Lerner tackled the need for mass transit. The first pro-
posal was for a subway system, but this would have cost $100 million per
kilometer. A light-rail system would cost only $10 million a kilometer, but
the cheapest was buses. The mayor championed articulated buses running
on dedicated lanes. Routes extend throughout the city so that no resident
is farther than 400 meters from a stop. 9
CONCLUSION
India has had some dramatic instances of popular demonstrations. The
Chipko of Uttar Pradesh literally hugged the trees they were trying to pro-
tect. More generally India has a long tradition of protests and demonstra-
tions, but these were usually tied to political goals like independence, and
not to environmental issues. Indians are enthusiastic voters. With over
700 million eligible to cast a ballot, elections take weeks. Worldwide, envi-
ronmentalists tend to come from the middle class, and many Indians are