By Ranjeet Kumar:
When it comes to survival, culture and religion comes at rescue. They are the same in essence as cultural practices culminate in to religious orders over time. In the tribal state of Jharkhand, the roots of cultural diversity have been threatened by developmental forces of the so-called government policies and missionaries. It has been difficult for the ethnic clans to safeguard their culture, as such isn’t it a crime to devoid individuals from practicing their cultural believes. The culture revere forest as God and when indiscriminately in the name of development the forest are ruined isn’t it a criminal offence of a degree where individual independence is at stake?
When the choice is between breathing and development, one might choose to breathe first. My encounter with the developmental dragon happened to be in my own state of Jharkhand. Where in the name of development what has been witnessed is a chaotic environmental sabotage, be it by the massive mining projects or the widening and construction of highways or by the decreasing water table around. All these issues might look a separate agenda but they are closely interlinked. The agony in my heart grows as they cut the trees along the highway which served as a micro niche for many flora and fauna around. Concretization of the city without any urban planning of ground water recharge and rain water harvesting leaves a critical situation of water runoff thus creating shortage of water; further this has its ecological implications too with no proper monsoon from last two years.
Then what kind of development are we talking of when there is toxicity in air, shortage of safe drinking water and increasing carbon imprints? Can we just imagine what future we have in the state once laden and endowed with natural assets? My concerns were powered by the insensitiveness at the level of society and administration. When the new state came in to being the hopes and aspirations were high but a complete political anarchy has filled people with grief and pity. Dried water bodies, no birds around and more automobiles than the roads can handle creates a perfect platform for the concept “Once up on a time in a state called Jharkhand”.My ideas are only to bring the issues and initiate an intellectual chain reaction so that the issues do not get lost in oblivion. Let us make Jharkhand as well as India a better place to be; its high time, protect or perish.