Silent Valley: A Story Of Environmental Justice

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Silent Valley: A Story Of Environmental Justice
by George Zacharia \| 24-06-2018 00:39 0
The Mahabharata is a great Indian Epic. The story is about the fight between Pandavas and Kauravas, teaching us many lessons along the way. In this, the Pandavas as they were on exile, wandered south, into what is now Kerala, until one day they came upon a magical valley where rolling grasslands met wooded ravines, a deep green river bubbled its course through impenetrable forest, where at dawn and twilight the tiger and elephant would drink together at the water's edge, where all was harmonious and man unknown. This forest, later explored by the westerners, who gave it a name because it seemed so silent, without the noise of Cicadas (like crickets). This forest, still stands tall today, as a symbol of environmental justice in India. "Silent Valley" During the extreme summers of 2017, where nearly every river in Kerala went dry, only one had water. The Kunthi river. There are two reasons why the Kunthi river flows all through the year, even during the worst summers. One, it emerges from one of the richest and most biologically diverse tropical rain forests of the Silent Valley. Two, it has no dam obstructing its pathway. Well, there could have been a dam... That was when the story began. In 1978, the then Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, gave conditional approval for construction of a Dam in Silent Valley. This led to massive people movement, along with scientific arguments. The power supply being proposed could have been made similarly by constructing elsewhere which wasn't a biological hotspot. Why Silent Valley is a hotspot? The evolutionary age of the Silent Valley evergreen rainforest is believed to be more than 50 million years. The flora and fauna of this area are quite unique and 23 mammalian species including three endangered species – the tiger, lion-tailed macaque and the Nilgiri langur – have been recorded. The Lion-Tailed Macaque, is the second most threatened primate in the world. This was brought to attention and caught international attention. Focussing attention on the threat to the Endangered lion-tailed macaque, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) passed a resolution to preserve the Silent Valley at its 14th General Assembly held at Ashkabad in the USSR in September 1978. ?The IUCN resolution brought considerable pressure to bear on the Indian Government to proceed cautiously in Silent Valley,? wrote D?Monte. In 1979, Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minster Of India. She was known internationally as concerned for Environment Protection. She did a detailed study encouraging debates and despite suggestions from her colleagues in Delhi and Kerala who supported the Dam, she cancelled the permission and so the Valley was saved! Later it was commissioned to be made into a national park and it was inaugurated in a few years by her son, Rajeev Gandhi, when he was PM. The backbone of the protests of Silent Valley was Massive People Support. People understood the importance of protecting the environment and the forests and biodiversity. They understood the scientific arguments and vouched for it. If nobody had cared for it, a Dam would have stood there now and many of the species would have disappeared. Lets be responsible for our actions and when we get a chance support for Environmental Justice. If you would like to do a bit of a reading, check out my reference, : https://india.mongabay.com/2018/02/01/silent-valley-a-controversy-that-focused-global-attention-on-a-rainforest-40-years-ago/ Also, you can read about the Great Barrier Reef campaign being done to protect the Reef for extra knowledge. P.S. Sorry for the delayed reports. Got caught up with work at college.

Dormant user George Zacharia

8 Comments

Joon Ho Mentor says :
Hello George, it's okay about your delay in submitting report :)
It is important to submit your report and share your stories and thoughts with other E-gen families.
About 'Silent Valley', residents around that area must have felt so awkward and terrified about the ongoing issue. Apart from their willingness to preserve nature, it is also different story for all of us to think about constructing a damn over the area and make use of it.
We need to think about such a public issue around us, and thanks for sharing a story like this for us, George!

Posted 28-06-2018 00:03

Andrew Chikaoneka says :
Good to know about 'Silence Valley'. Thanks for sharing
Posted 26-06-2018 20:03

Gyeongrin mentor says :
Hello George
Thanks for the story of the 'Silent Valley.' The part where the protest of people who knew the importance of this place prevented the dam form being constructed in this area shows that people with the will to protect our nature can actually make a change. Let't do our best for the environment !
Nice report :)
Posted 26-06-2018 12:42

Anishka Jha says :
Amazing story of 'Silent Valley' Mahabharata story is so deep rooted. Thanks for enriching my knowledge of such an evergreen forest and valley in Southern India.
Posted 24-06-2018 22:04