 |
|
Mr & Mrs Anand Stampede at Mughalsarai |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Batting for hockey Sports infrastructure is the key THE Haryana government’s ambitious announcement of setting up 50 hockey stadia in 50 “villages” is the way to go if hockey is to take its rightful place in India’s sporting firmament. As even a supposedly elitist game like cricket has shown, India’s small towns and villages can be mined for hidden talent that, if shaped right, can grow into world-beaters.
US obsession with Iran
War-time snippets
The poisoning of Punjab Did oil fuel Iraq war?
|
Mr & Mrs Anand THE Patna sessions court’s sentencing of the criminals who led a mob to lynch Gopalgunj district magistrate G Krishnaiya, in 1994, has not come a day too soon. It took 13 long years for justice to be delivered and the guilty to be punished. The criminals involved in the murder of Krishnaiya, who were sentenced on Wednesday, are all politicians: Anand Mohan Singh is a former MP as is his wife Lovely Anand; Akhlaq Ahmed is a former minister; and Munna Shukla is an MLA. There is a ‘Professor’, too — Arun Kumar — in this ring of killers. Of the pack, Anand Mohan, Ahmed and Kumar have been sentenced to death while his wife Lovely along with Shukla, Shashi Shekhar Thakur and Harendra Kumar have been awarded life imprisonment. Although even delayed justice is welcome given the power of politician-criminals to subvert the process of law, it is indeed extraordinary that a case involving an upright officer should have taken so long. The verdict raises several issues, the most important being why the trial and conviction of high profile criminals should be allowed to drag on for so long. Not only are such politicians able to carry out criminal acts but they also remain unpunished for long after the crime has been committed. Isn’t there a way that such trials can be fast tracked, not only in the interest of law and justice but also public life which they vitiate by perpetuating the criminal-politician nexus. Actually, to call it a nexus is deceptive; such characters are essentially criminals who are disguised as politicians. A second important issue is: are our political parties truly unable to recognise these criminals for what they are? Or is it that they are embraced by the parties precisely for the uses they have as criminals? Of course, if such criminals are kept out by the parties chances are that resourceful couples like Mr and Mrs Anand will float their own political party, which they did. Yet, there should be a way to prevent killers and hoodlums from entering politics, instead of letting them in to the public sphere and then agonising over how to eliminate them from politics. For if such criminals are not eliminated from politics, it is certain they will eliminate not just a Krishnaiya but any number of such mortals who are a threat to their criminal activities.
|
|
Stampede at Mughalsarai Although one will have to wait for an inquiry to establish the exact number of casualties and what caused the stampede at Mughalsarai, the country’s biggest railway junction, initial reports say the mishap happened due to the last-minute change of a train’s platform and some 13 women lost their lives. The railway station was crowded due to the rush of pilgrims heading for Varanasi for a holy dip. This called for extra care to handle the situation, but it seems the officials on duty failed to foresee what their sudden decision to change the platform could lead to. The simultaneous arrival of two trains only added to the confusion. The Railways has to display greater sensitivity towards vulnerable passengers: the aged and the handicapped, women and children. They need separate counters, special attention and effective security in trains and at railway stations. Sympathetic, service-oriented staff can guide uneducated passengers who cannot read instructions or train numbers. Simple, clear instructions through a public address system in a language that illiterate, ordinary travellers understand can easily counter rumours and confusion, if any. This is not a very tall order and should not be difficult to implement. The Railway Minister and his team may claim all the credit for earning Rs 20,000 crore profit, but for the ordinary passenger that has not resulted in safe travel, better amenities and cleanliness at the railway stations. Platforms at major stations usually prove inadequate and passengers have to fight for space. For security reasons also, there is an immediate need to decongest platforms by discouraging those who come to see off or welcome their guests. It is doubtful if the Railways is fully equipped to handle an emergency or a terrorist strike. Had the Railways been equipped with an effective crowd management system, the tragedy at Mughalsarai perhaps could have been avoided. |
|
Batting for hockey THE Haryana government’s ambitious announcement of setting up 50 hockey stadia in 50 “villages” is the way to go if hockey is to take its rightful place in India’s sporting firmament. As even a supposedly elitist game like cricket has shown, India’s small towns and villages can be mined for hidden talent that, if shaped right, can grow into world-beaters. It is players from small towns tucked away in this region’s hinterland who first gave Indian hockey a lethal edge — an edge that has sadly been squandered by sports bosses who had everything but the game’s best interests at heart. Nascent talent needs encouragement, quality coaching, and the necessary infrastructural support. The neighbourhood playground has become a vanishing commodity. While something that passes for cricket can be played even in the neighbourhood gully, and many a cricket star has shown that it can even lay the foundation for the eventual setting of world records, games like hockey are more vulnerable. A decent ground and equipment is a must. For an aspiring player to show off his talent, a nearby stadium would be a boon. True support would, however, mean a lot more going with it – a healthy domestic circuit that includes schools, and a network of coaches and players. State governments should be more proactive. The International Hockey Federation has a lot to answer for, and it must start playing an effective, nurturing role. While cricket’s success is by no means solely because of the extraordinary commercial and media support it has received, there is no doubt that governments and sports bodies have been lax in promoting India’s national game. If hockey’s dream triumph has to happen off the silver screen, that has to change.
|
|
The greater the wealth, the thicker will be the dirt. — J. K. Galbraith
|
US obsession with Iran
WASHINGTON: Until the incredibly rude and crude treatment meted out to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his three-day stay in New York, primarily to address the UN General Assembly, one didn’t have an adequate idea of the depth of America’s hatred of the present regime in Iran and of its relentless campaign to demonise the Islamic republic. Never mind abominable headlines in tabloids but the summary rejection by the US authorities of his request to visit “ground zero” of 9/11 was astonishing. At Columbia University manners reached rock bottom. To be sure, Ahmadinejad’s own pronouncements were not calculated to endear himself to the Americans. His denial of the Holocaust, vow to “wipe Israel off the map”, and confident forecast of the downfall of the western world obviously could not win friends, especially in a country where the Jewish community is very powerful. Cartoonists and satirical columnists are still having a field day over his bland claim that homosexuality did not exist in Iran! Rather than give my views, let me quote what Maureen Dowd, the distinguished New York Times columnist, had to say about New York’s “nastiness, jingoism and xenophobia”. “We just can’t stop being nice to Iran”, she wrote. “First, we break up Iraq and hand it over to the Shiites, putting in a puppet who leans toward Iran and is aligned with Shiite militias bankrolled by Iran. Then … President Bush facilitates the takeover of a large part of the country (southern Iraq) by an Iranian-backed militia … and on top of all that, we help build up the self-serving doofus Iranian President into a larger-than-life demon …” Far more important than the rhetorical excesses at Columbia and elsewhere was the visiting President’s firm declaration at the UN General Assembly that the political part of the major dispute between the US and Iran - the Iranian nuclear programme, and America’s unshakeable belief that Iran was building nuclear weapons — was “over”. Only the “technical part” remained, he added magisterially, and this was to be dealt with by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy (IAEA), not by the Security Council or any other organ of the UN. To this American officials’ riposte was that Ahmadinejad alone believed that the Iranian nuclear issue was closed. However, in the Security Council the US could make no headway with its attempt to get harsher sanctions imposed on Iran. Russia and China simply wouldn’t go along. Nor did they pay heed to the American complaint that the Iranians wanted to talk only to IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei because “he is pro-Teheran”. This may well have intensified American pressure on China (and to a lesser extent on India) to use its clout to restrain Myanmar’s military junta hell-bent on crushing the popular agitation for the restoration of democracy with brutal force. America believes that China needs US help in making next year’s World Olympics in Beijing a dazzling success and to maintain security during the games. But while this might influence Beijing’s Myanmar policy, the policy on Iran could be a different story. In the circumstances, it is clear that Israel — which makes no bones about its determination to prevent Iran from going nuclear — is the only ally the US can rely on when it comes to acting against Teheran. The mysterious Israeli bombing of targets in Syria last month, apparently on suspicion that the Syrians were importing nuclear material from North Korea, underscores how concerned and jumpy the Israelis have become. At the same time, the feeling is growing in the American strategic community that while the war news from Iraq dominates the media and most people’s minds it is the confrontation with Iran that has become the “main event” in the region. According to The Washington Post, “Military forces of these two countries are already engaged — America’s openly, Iran’s clandestinely — in a battle for influence over the shattered remnants of the Iraqi state”. Despite its repeated threats, the US seems unable to act. An intensive debate on the subject at the highest levels of the Bush administration remains unresolved. Vice-President Dick Cheney, who wields more power and influence than any of his predecessors, is the strong protagonist of early bombing and destruction of Iran’s nuclear installations. He believes that the bunker-buster bombs would do the trick. Understandably, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with some silent support from the Pentagon, is equally strongly opposed to rash action. She has to worry about international reaction to a war on Iran. Leave alone Russia, China and even India, there would be towering rage in all Islamic countries. Then, there are two very real problems. The first is: What if air power is not enough and ground troops are needed? The US has no additional troops to deploy. On the day Defence Secretary Robert Gates went to Capitol Hill with President Bush’s request for an allocation of $190 billion, General William Casey, the Army Chief of Staff and former top commander in Iraq, warned the legislators that the US Army was “stretched dangerously thin because of the current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere”. Secondly, whatever might happen on the battlefield, an immediate reaction of Iran to any American military action would be to ask the Lebanese Hezbollah to launch rocket attacks on Israel, and Israelis would almost certainly attack Syria that provides support to Hezbollah. This can have incalculable consequences. Under these circumstances it is no surprise that President Bush, who has tried to maintain a balance between the two opposing views, has managed to work out a compromise calculated to “appease” Mr Cheney and other hardliners. Ms Rice has been persuaded to agree to extensive covert action against Iran. The lethal part of this action has been made the responsibility of “proxies”. Pakistan’s ISI, through Jundullahs, is active on Iran’s eastern border. In the Kurdish areas Israel’s Mossad is conducting large-scale operations. The CIA runs the “non-lethal economic warfare”. Meanwhile, Mr Cheney has shifted his ground somewhat. He has started arguing that since Iran is intervening in Iraq, the US should embark on “hot pursuit” of the Iranian forces active inside Iraq. This idea is also under
debate.
|
War-time snippets
ALL those now at least in their early seventies will fondly traverse the Nostalgia Street that Raj Chatterjee has thrown open before them in his “Living through the summer” middle piece. The younger generation will not stop wondering about those far-removed bygone days. A suitable corollary to the above is to remember World War II, the largest and most violent global armed conflict between 1939 and 1945 which touched the lives of one and all. During that bleak war-time period all items of daily use were scarce or just not available. Everything from the humble knitting needles to photo films or even the school requisites were hard to get. Packaged and canned food products, clothes of various types, chemicals like mosquito repellants and other manufactured items were diverted to soldiers in India and the Far-East, leaving very little for the civilians. Preserving vital resources during the war was paramount. Unable to cope with the acute shortage of wheat, many people had started using barley and other grains. Cloth was rationed but available only when the stores received some supplies from the mills. Standing in long queues, people purchased whatever stock had come and felt lucky. Once, when word reached my grandfather that a store had received a small supply of sewing machine needles, he lost no time and dispatched the servant to procure one. But it was denied as the store wanted to make sure that the household did have a machine and the needle would not find its way to the black-market, then rampant. Unfazed, the man carried the Singer Sewing Machine on his head, proudly placed that on the counter and demanded a needle. Since the machine already had a needle on it, the store refused to sell a spare one. Such was the scenario! The war-quality Hercules cycle that my father got for me in 1946 for going to newly joined Hindu College, then functioning from an old rambling building at Kashmere Gate, had black handle-bar, black rims and spokes with no chromium plated parts anywhere. “Get in the scrap: Metals, Paper, Old Rags and Rubber for recycling”, cried large posters on walls mobilising the people. Posters and newspaper ads exhorted and encouraged the people to save fuel and avoid unnecessary travel. “Make it Last” was another slogan. I remember a Pears Soap ad in the newspapers advising people with a diagram not to throw away the thin left-over flake but press it on the hollow of the new cake. Government offices had devised their own ingenious methods to preserve resources. Long thorns from kikar trees were used in place of common metal pins. It had become a common practice to use the same envelope again and again. This was done by repeatedly pasting address bearing slips across the flap and the envelope. Well, these sketchy recollections just mean a step into the past - the past that is still covered by the memories, as I said, of those now at least in their early seventies. |
The poisoning of Punjab IT is now being realised the world over that there is a definite relationship between the economy, the environment and biodiversity. Growth in the economy is misdirected if the environment and biodiversity becomes a casualty in the process. Punjab is the best example of it. The state is facing an “ecological backlash” which is a finding of none other than that of the state government’s official agency, known as the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology. Punjab is a predominantly agricultural economy that has been in the limelight for its certain distinctive features. However, not bothered about adverse consequences to the state’s environment because of applying certain questionable means, farmers continue to make irrational and excessive use of chemicals in the form of fertilisers and pesticides, and have been resorting to over-exploitation of land and water resources to enhance production. They have been burning paddy and wheat stumps. Recently, New Scientist magazine reported that Asia’s ‘Brown Cloud’ is causing significant warming (Between1970 and 2005, Punjab’s temperature has gone up by 1 degree Celsius and its humidity level during paddy season remains very high) in the region leading to faster melting of Himalayas’ glaciers. The magazine also reported that South Asia languishes under a thick brown haze for much of the year. Punjab is a part of South Asia. Certainly, it has been contributing to the thickening brown haze over-hanging South Asia. How? By way of burning paddy, wheat straw and the like. It will be appropriate to recall two incidents. On October 12, 2002 , people in Punjab and Haryana witnessed what they described as a strange phenomenon, though it was of their own creation. As vast areas of both states plunged into darkness at noon, people were forced to switch on their lights. Why did that happen? Experts stated that the phenomenon was caused because of the burning of paddy straw in fields. Every year in October one finds thick rolls of smoke curling upwards in the atmosphere from paddy fields and in April from wheat fields. In 1999, a US satellite warned the Meteorological Department of India that a big aerosol of smog (smoke and fog) was hanging over Punjab. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had indicated that a vast blanket of pollution was stretching across the north west of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Alarm bells pressed by various international agencies have not stopped farmers from burning paddy and wheat stubbles. Punjab produces around 23 million tonnes of paddy straw and 17 million tonnes of wheat straw annually. Most of it is burnt in fields. And even farmers in the neighbouring Haryana also follow the Punjab pattern as far as burning wheat and paddy straw in concerned. Emissions from paddy contain 70 per cent carbon dioxide, which takes several decades to disappear from the atmosphere, and 0.66 per cent methane and other heat trapping gasses that in the process cause danger to the ozone layer. Apart from the emission of a large amount of suspended particulate matter and gases, it causes health hazards like respiratory, skin and eye diseases. Extensive and intensive agriculture-related activity in this region is a contributor to green house gases that cause climate change. Needless to say, burning of wheat and paddy straw has contributed to the loss of soil fertility. Excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers adversely affect the environment and human health. Excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizer has affected the quality of soil. Fertilisers cause soil, air and water pollution also. The gases emerging from ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide not only vitiate the air but also lead to ozone layer depletion. Concentrations of higher level of nitrate has been found in sub-soil water. Various studies conducted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Punjabi University, Guru Nanak Dev University and other reputed institutions have come out with findings that deadly chemicals, including pesticides and heavy metals, are percolating in the soil and various water bodies. From soil these are finding their way into plants including vegetables and crops like wheat and paddy. Effects of sewage irrigation of vegetables and crops near main cities and towns at various places have been found harmful. Level of metals like lead, nickel and cadmium, which are harmful for human health, have been found above the prescribed limit during tests of vegetables and other crops. The cotton belt is facing high incidence of cancer cases. In 2005, PPCB conducted a study to check the level of pesticides in river waters. Residue of pesticides and harmful bacteria was found in almost all the main rivers. Level of pesticides was highest in the Sutlej. Use of pesticides is highest in Punjab. It is near 925gm per hectare. In other states it is not even 50 per cent of Punjab. Several studies conducted by various institutions have found the residue of various pesticides in human beings, milk, water, vegetables, cereals, butter, and animal feed at levels not safe for human health. The Centre for Science and Enviornment (CSE) New Delhi in 2005 tested human blood samples in the cotton belt of Punjab. It found very high levels of pesticide residues in human blood. That led to a huge controversy in official circles. The first scientist, perhaps, was Prof P.K. Chattopadhyay of Punjabi University, Patiala, to indicate the presence of pesticides in human blood in Punjab. In the 1990s he got tested the blood of some persons involved in the spray of pesticides in fields. Higher range of methyl parathion was detected in most of the blood samples. There has been a 5 per cent per acre fall in the yield of various crops in recent years. The cropping pattern of wheat and paddy, which requires high level nutritional inputs, has depleted the nutrient contents of soil. Organic carbon and phosphorus levels has gone down severely in the soil. High doses of nutrients, especially nitrogen, has to be given to ensure adequate production levels. Punjab accounts for 10 per cent of the total fertiliser consumption in the country though it has only a little over 2 per cent of the cultivated area of the country. In Punjab, per hectare use of fertilizer is near 200 kg whereas nationally it is 90 kg per hectare. The loss to the state’s biodiversity is immense. The population of birds has gone down tremendously owing to reckless use of pesticides in fields. Peacocks, parrots, sparrows, crows, quails are becoming a rare sight. Wily foxes, which were a common sight a few decades ago, have almost disappeared from the countryside. Disappearing of natural predators has led to a high incidence of repeated pest attacks. It is time to wake up to save Punjab from environmental and health-related disasters. |
|
Did oil fuel Iraq war? Allegations that the US Bush administration was driven to invade Iraq by a lust for the country’s oil have been part of the anti-war movement’s narrative since even before the war’s first shots were fired. The image of a White House hijacked by a cabal of former oil executives who steer foreign policy to advance Big Oil’s interests gained credence as disillusionment from the war grew. This idea is being reinforced by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose memoir hit bookstore shelves in September. “I’m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows – the Iraq war is largely about oil,” wrote the man dubbed “The Oracle.” As long as such allegations came from Michael Moore, they could be brushed aside, but echoed by Greenspan, one of Washington’s most influential yet least controversial figures, it’s time to expose the charge to serious scrutiny. As director of an organisation dedicated to reducing America’s dependence on oil, I would be last to deny the toxic influence oil dependence has on America’s foreign policy, its international conduct and its selection of friends and allies in the Middle East. There is no doubt that since the 1945 meeting between President Roosevelt and Saudi King Ibn Saud, the United States has been militarily committed to the stability of the Persian Gulf and time and again has used its muscle to guarantee the supply of oil from the region. But while there is no gainsaying America’s oil dependence, attributing oil motivation to every U.S. activity in the Persian Gulf is a gross extrapolation. While proponents of the view that “it’s the oil, stupid” offer little evidence to support their claim, the evidence to the contrary is ample. Take, for example, the report of the 2000 National Energy Policy Development Group, also known as the Cheney Report. This policy paper, composed by no fewer than eight Cabinet members, reflects the pre-9/11 mindset within the Bush White House on how to achieve energy security. Yet it has almost no mention of Iraq and its oil reserves. The opposite is true: The report warns against concentration of world oil production in one region and calls for the United States to diversify its energy supply away from the Middle East. Despite the involvement of Saudi nationals in the 9/11 attacks, the Bush team did not contemplate invading oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Instead, it chose to invade Afghanistan, the country with the least amount of oil in Central Asia. Furthermore, the administration decided to end the decades-long American military presence in Saudi Arabia, a country that produces five times as much oil as Iraq, and move U.S. bases to Qatar, which produces one-tenth as much as Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, which essentially has run out of oil – a questionable move for a nation whose supposed main driver was oil. The administration’s actions before the 2003 invasion of Iraq raise another question. At the time, Iraq was exporting hardly any oil and was under a strict sanctions regime that prevented international companies from investing in its ailing oil industry. For profit-driven companies such as Exxon and Halliburton, the sanctions were an impediment to business, and they lobbied the administration to review them. The last thing they wanted was the uncertainty associated with war. Yet since his inauguration in early 2001 and up until the war’s start in March 2003, President Bush was persistent in maintaining the sanctions regime, providing competitive advantage to non-American companies bidding for Iraqi oil. Bush’s decision to go to war against the interests of Big Oil rather than lifting the sanctions pokes a huge hole in the Iraq-is-about-oil narrative. Before the war, the United States imported very little oil from Iraq, and oil stood at $30 a barrel. Today, only 4 percent of U.S. oil imports come from Iraq, and oil is at $80. With 160,000 American troops in Iraq, America’s oil companies are nowhere to be seen. Russian and Chinese companies are enjoying the spoils of war. If the “Iraq is about oil” cohort is right, and Iraq was truly about oil, then US failure there is even bigger than we thought. But it isn’t. Oil played at best a supporting role in the decision-making process that led to the war, and the notion that Bush was oil-driven deserves a decent burial. Greenspan’s statement has only one significance: It serves as a painful reminder of the administration’s failure to provide a compelling explanation for why the US is in Iraq. And in the absence of such explanation, even oracles can get confused.
By arrangement with
|
|
Delhi Durbar A miniscule section of the BJP is keen that the firebrand sanyasin and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti is brought back into the party, before some crucial assembly polls early next year. Though there are few takers in the party for their view, they point out that when the BJP was holding its Nation Executive meeting at Bhopal in September, Uma had quietly parked herself in Delhi and did not embarrass the party by holding a parallel rally or a press conference in the Madhya Pradesh capital. Bringing Uma back would help the BJP a great deal as she has the potential to damage the party’s prospects. But this minority is not ready to come out on record fearing isolation in the party. Sources in that camp also indicated that more than isolation, it is Uma’s unpredictable nature they fear the most. Rita’s challenge Having delayed the appointment of a new PCC chief in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has not made things easy for the new incumbent. UP remains in the spotlight not only for the number of MPs it sends to Parliament but also
because it is the home state of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. With the possibility of an early Lok Sabha poll, the new UPPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi finds her task cut out. Though elated at her elevation, Joshi realises the enormity of the task before her in the state where the party organisational structure is weak. The party’s recent reshuffle would also result in some leaders facing a lot of pressure on their time. AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, for instance, has to find time to listen to party workers from Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. It may not be easy as Congress leaders from Haryana and Punjab do not mind coming to AICC on the smallest pretext. Mahatma in Rome More than 300 people paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Piazza Gandhi in Rome on the Mahatma’s birth anniversary on October 2. Deputy Prime Minister of Italy Francesco Rutelli, India’s ambassador to Italy Rajiv Dogra and Sandro Gozi, President of the Indo-Italian Friendship Society of the Italian Parliament were among those present. Over the last one year, the universal message of Mahatma Gandhi has been celebrated in different forms in Italy. A life size bronze statue of Gandhi was put up at a prominent location in Genoa and a school has been named after the Mahatma in Narni. The function held at Piazza Gandhi in Rome was the largest ever in living memory and it was for the first time that the Italian government was represented at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister. Earlier, in a letter to Dogra, Rutelli recalled that while the world associates September 11 with the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York, but the date September 11 should also be remembered for the anniversary of Gandhi’s first satyagraha in South Africa. “In this age of tension, Gandhi’s words and actions provide inspiration and comfort,” Rutelli observed. Gandhi’s favourite bhajans were sung by a mixed group of Italians and Indians at the function.
Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, Prashant Sood and Rajeev Sharma |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
During the past four decades, Punjab has marched ahead on the economic front but it has also lost a lot in the process. But the damage caused to the state’s environment and biodiversity during the economic growth is yet to sink in amongst Punjab’s decision makers and a vast section of its people.