By Barnes Mawrie
Probably we have not given enough thought to the irony of development. It is true that everybody and every country wishes development for their well-being. Who does not want a better house, better food, better supply of electricity and water, better clothes, better education etc? Which government or country does not desire to generate a stronger economy, better health system, stronger defence system, wider transport network, more effective communication system or greater industrialization etc? Development is what every government works for and every community and family seeks.
However, what is being practiced today in almost all countries of the world is unsustainable development which means a one-sided development or a win-lose formula of development. Because of this formula of development humanity today runs the risk of becoming extinct.
We cannot deny the fact that the ecological woes that we are experiencing today are the results of this tragic formula of development. Climate change for example, has been triggered by the excessive CO2 emission into the atmosphere brought about by fossil fuel burning from factories, thermal plants, thousands of airlines and billions of automobiles. It is true that manufacturing has increased and we are able to enjoy all sorts of products in the market, we can have any brand of automobiles; we can communicate faster and more easily through mobile phones and we can travel all over the world by trains or by flights. Little do we realize that all these advantages and comforts come at a great cost. The tragedy of the Chernobyl accident in 1986 which killed 28 persons and caused thyroid cancer to some 5000 persons and resulted in the evacuation of 350,000 people is still fresh in our minds. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan in 2011 where 154,000 people had to be evacuated outside a 20 km radius is another grim reminder of the high price we need to pay for our craze of development. The recent bursting of the dam in Uttarakhand in February 2021 where 150 persons died and villages were washed down and cultivable land destroyed is yet another example of how development can become a curse for society.
Coming closer home to Meghalaya, we know how unscientific coal mining in Jaiñtia Hills which has profited a few rich families, has brought about environmental disasters to the masses – rivers are polluted and poisoned and fishes are becoming extinct; water is no longer suitable for use, the carbon laden water from the mines are poisoning the paddy fields making cultivation no longer feasible and underground mining caves are like a Damocles’ sword to inhabitants of the region. In fact, if mining goes on in this manner, Jaiñtia Hills will become an ecological disaster in Meghalaya. Besides these, the air is continuously being poisoned by the carbon emitted by huge coal reserves all over the place putting people in danger of getting sick. The innumerable cement factories in Lumshnong are a profit for those big companies while the thousands of poor residents will gradually succumb to pollution-related sicknesses.
The way we understand development today is truly a “penny wise pound foolish” philosophy. Some may make a few hundred crores of monetary gain but in the long run they destroy the very ground on which they stand. The gain they make is short-lived and unreliable while the damage caused is irreversible and fatal. Think of the coal mines in Jaiñtia Hills and in other parts of Meghalaya. How long will they last? Perhaps three or four generations but what will become of the later generations? When the coal is exhausted, what will their posterity live on? By then the place would have become barren, fields would have become uncultivable, rivers devoid of fish, drinking water scarce and breathing air highly contaminated.
Looking at our own city of Shillong, we lament the disappearance of the erstwhile beautiful rivers we had – Wah Umkhrah, Umshyrpi, Umkaliar etc. Development has killed all our rivers and today they have become mere narrow drains carrying the filth of the city. In the name of development we have lost the large expanse of fertile fields of yester-years extending from Polo up to the slope of Mawpat village. Today this particular place has turned into a residential area with buildings mushrooming everywhere. The permanent adverse impact of this would be the disappearance of cultivation and the threat to ground water deposits. In the coming decade we will face the crisis of drinking water shortage.
The rise in temperature which we are experiencing today is a direct result of air pollution caused by CO2 emission through fossil fuel burning. Looking at all these irreversible negative impacts of the so called “development” we realize that we are actually engaged in a process of “self destruction.” Development as we see today is a pseudo-terminology used by the greedy and ambitious individuals, corporates and governments. True development will result when human beings would have achieved a symbiosis with Mother Nature, learning to respect and love her. True development will come when we would have overcome our greed and ambition and try to live with the essentials.
Today the world faces the challenge between development and survival. Many countries in the west have given up thermal power and nuclear power plants because they realize that they are a threat to their own survival. Can we in India or in Meghalaya do the same? As the saying goes “why sunset is more colourful than sunrise? It’s an irony of life saying, “sometimes good things happen in goodbyes.” Perhaps we will ensure our own survival when we would have learnt to say goodbye to the so called development.