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the density of population is very high — that is
large numbers of people live crammed into small pieces of land. The
shelters — especially the shanties in the poorer localities of the
overcrowded cities — are hardly equipped to bear the brunt of
nature’s wrath. So when disaster strikes — the scale of its impact
on human life and property is colossal… like we witnessed when
tsunami struck our eastern coasts in December, 2004 (see
centrespread).
No space to spare
High population density also plays a critical role in the lives of
the other two categories of refugees. How? Let me explain. In a
developing country like India, all ecological niches — deserts,
river basins, humid hill slopes—are occupied by a human group or
community for sustenance. Even the areas that are officially
earmarked as ‘wastelands’ by the government, in reality are heavily
used. They provide fuel and fodder to millions of people. Hence, if
the resources of any part of our land is taken over in the name of
development, it would inevitably lead to mass-scale displacement. In
other words, create more environmental refugees.
But before I tell you more about how the world today is tackling
this swelling rank of ‘the Homeless’, lets stop for a moment. Is
this such a new phenomenon after all..one that began to haunt the
human kind only in the twentieth century? Not really.
History of the
homeless
In his book, A Green History of the World, Clive Ponting,
British historan and academic, raises an interesting question. Why,
he asks, is so much of modern-day Iraq barren desert, when this area
(called Sumer in ancient times) was once hailed as ‘Fertile
Crescent’’? Lush green farm lands drove the economy one of the
world’s oldest civilisations. Did a wicked witch’s magic wand turn
it into acres of dryland? No, says Ponting, Sumerians destroyed
themselves!
How? By over-farming, and in particular by over-use irrigation.
Saturating the soils with massive irrigation systems, the ancient
Sumerians forced huge quantities of salt to surface. This
salinisation ruined the soil for farming (Hmm….sounds kind of
familiar doesn’t it?).
So the Sumerian
farmers who abandoned their farmlands, and moved on in search of
newer pastures — thousands of years ago — were the first batch of
‘environmenal refugees’ that planet produced. (Source:Journey of
Desperation, Brian Hoepper)
The next evidence of the evicted can be traced back to very own
Indus Valley Civilisation over three thousand years ago. Here,
unlike in the Sumerian case, desertification was triggered not only
by irrigation pressures, but also by large-scale deforestation.
Acres of forestland were cut down to make way for the agricultural
fields. And the wood was used to keep the fire in the brick kilns
burning. The end result was severe erosion, that eventually
destroyed the farmlands.
The lethal human
touch
Over the next thousand years similar trends can be identified
various parts of the world — in different time zones, in different
sites — the Roman Empire, China and the Mayan Civilisation (modern
day Central America). The signs are unmistakable. People being
forced to leave their home and hearth because their survival is at
stake! |
