Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the vast sprawls of squatter settlements on urban fringes.
Many become indebted to ruthless bosses and spend the
rest of their lives virtually enslaved.
An important point to note is that as India' is popula-
tion increases, every project displaces greater numbers of
people. The Narmada River project is only one of many .
The Sardar Sarovar in Gujarat will flood out 193 villages in
Madhya Pradesh. All the associated works will displace an
estimated 200,000 people. More than half are scheduled
tribes. Thousands of people have marched in protest, but
the waters continue to rise as the project continues.
India is one of the world' is largest dam-building
nations, and estimates of those displaced by large dams
in India in the last 50 years vary from 21 to 56 million
people. Around 40 percent of these are
adivasis
—tribal
people. The government claims that 30 percent of India' s
food production increases can be directly related to
improved irrigation from dam projects.
Cheap electricity attracted a number of industries
into this once-stagnating region. Urbanization and
industrialization increased with clusters of cities focusing
on power plants. The area around Chandrapura became
a primary growth pole at the expense of some of the
other industrial centers. Devised initially to control
floods, the DVC has stimulated industrial development
in one of India' s most heavily populated regions.
South Bihar is one of the richest areas of India in
terms of raw materials such as coal, iron, bauxite, and
mica. These minerals have been systematically exploited,
first by the British, then by Indian industrialists such as
Tata, as well as the Indian government with money from
the WB. The results have been lucrative for these outside
developers but disastrous for the region' s inhabitants and
the environment.
Mining displaced thousands of poor people. For
example, Tata Iron and Steel displaced nearly all the
original inhabitants to make room for its massive complex
at Jamshedpur. Other consequences are deforestation,
soil erosion, and groundwater pollution. In addition, the
bulk of government expenditure is plowed into indus-
tries producing consumer goods for the urban wealthy
and upper-middle classes.
The industrial region around Jamshedpur straddles
the borders of four states: Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, and
Madhya Pradesh. Development has bypassed or nega-
tively affected millions in this otherwise poor tribal re-
gion (see Figure 8-1). In the 1980s people began to
organize politically . Ultimately , a separatist movement
emerged. Protesters advocated a new state to be called
Jharkhand. Jharkhand was created in the year 2000.
Ganga Ma Is Sick
Ganga Ma
—Mother Ganges, 1,560 miles (2,510 km)
long--is the ancient symbol of creation, preserva-
tion, and destruction. Its sacred waters emanate the
powers of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (Figure 8-19).
But it has become fouled with the profane evils of
poison, death, and disease. More than 400 million
people depend on its monsoonal waters to flood
their fields with nutrient-rich silt. By 2030, there
could be as many as a billion people living within
its reach. However, an increasingly sick river could
spell catastrophe.
Microorganisms that break down organic
wastes require oxygen. Biological oxygen demand
(BOD) is the measure of this need. Imagine how
much BOD is needed to destroy the harmful com-
ponents of the raw sewage of more than 30 cities,
nearly a hundred towns, and thousands of villages.
Although sewage comprises most of the waste
material, industrial waste is far more dangerous
(Figure 8-20).
Chromium and organic wastes from tanneries,
bleaches and dyes from textile factories, thick goop
from sugar processing, toxic farm chemicals (many
of which are banned in the United States), sludge
from oil refineries, human ashes, body parts, and
whole bodies—all become part of the sacred river.
An estimated 35,000 bodies a year are brought
to the sacred city of V aranasi alone for cremation.
But the required sandalwood is expensive. Many
bodies are only partly burned. Others are simply
placed in the river by the devout.
Pollution worsens as the Ganges makes its way
to the Bay of Bengal. The World Health Organiza-
tion standards for drinking water call for no more
than 10 coliform counts per 100 milliliters. In
V aranasi, coliform counts are as high as 100,000.
T Typhoid, cholera, and viral hepatitis are common
here. In this region, one person dies of diarrhea
every minute. Amoebic dysentery , gastroenteritis,
and tapeworm infections are part of the lives of
millions. About 150 factories are lined up along
the Hooghly River at Kolkata. These contribute
30 percent of the waste present in the mouths of the
Ganges. An experiment showed that fish put in the
water upstream from Kolkata survived only five
hours.
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