Letters to The Editor — May 6, 2025

Letters to The Editor — May 6, 2025

letters to the editor

New textbooks

Gone are the days when children had the luxury of open grounds. In the world of today, children are in the vicious grip of the online world. There is so much competition that children are often over stressed. Their faces are a picture of worry and we need to make every effort to bring back their smiling innocence. Children grow physically and mentally through play, and what better way than traditional games (“New NCERT textbooks for Class 7 to introduce students to traditional games, cultural activities”, May 5).

Balasubramaniam Pavani,

Secunderabad

On NEET

Many students faced stress during the NEET UG 2025 examination. At the centre at Government Dhanvantri Ayurved Medical College, Mangalnath Road, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, checks were delayed. There was a power outage and with no backup, students found it hard to read and write.

Jiya Bairagi,

Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Nicobar Islands

This has reference to D. Balasubramanian’s article, on “‘Development’ at the cost of Nicobar Islands” (‘Science’ page,. May 4). It is time scientists and governments trust that ‘nature has prescribed’ sort of limitations on areas and locations for forests, non-forests, hills, plains, water bodies on earth’s surface. The same ‘Mother Earth’ blessed ‘man’ with enough freedom to alter them to a wide extent and to use her resources to his advantage. In fact this made it possible for him to advance to this age from prehistoric times. But, unknowingly, greed and jealousy forced him to cross all limits. Now he is facing perplexing situations such as air pollution, dangerous sea-water levels, unbearable temperature and climate variations and ozone-layer-ruptures. Compensatory measures are more talked about than adopted.

Human activities leading to the degradation of the environment are no new phenomena in India. Exploitation of earth has reached a point of no return. Encroachments into government land and regularisation of such illegal actions later are continuing. Forests have mostly been the targets. Political patronage is obvious. All political parties have their share of the sin. More unacceptable is the direct involvement of governments in such activities. While they call it ‘development’, it is often wrongly prioritised, under-defined or undefined. Vote-bank politics and corruption rule the area, despite nominal opposition by some leaders of vision, sincerity and integrity.

Coming to the Nicobar Islands, the proposed land for urbanisation is to be made available by deforestation is sure to adversely affect ecology, flora and fauna. Any over exploitation would be suicidal. I feel the tribal population needs to be considered separately. I am for bringing them to mainstream citizenry. Their rights need not be confined to forests. In the ongoing Andaman-Nicobar forest ‘utilisation’ programmes, while steps can be taken to bring the forest dwellers to mainstream, it looks safer to leave the forests themselves untouched. Deforestation, if at all essential, should be limited to improving the living conditions of tribesmen. If the tribal area to be utilised for any project is around 5% of total forest area, it looks tolerable. It is for the government to ensure that Empowered Committees give unprejudiced and far-looking reports on the matter. It is hoped that the ‘anthropologists and experts’ include people of wide knowledge and differing opinions, and not merely government supporters. Rights of tribal and other traditional forest dwellers have to be redefined. The Madras High Court judgment, relocating 495 families of a village situated close to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, on payment of ₹15 lakh each in compensation, has lessons in environmental protection. So far we have little intention of reaching out to the isolated human group. Modern society has a moral obligation to bring up isolated tribesmen on a par with the self-styled civilised groups. An effective approach needs to be devised. Education, training in agriculture and other new activities, involving in helping the administration, imparting healthy habits, relocating have to be attempted more sincerely. In the long run, it looks right to devise policies and programmes to bring the natives in the Island to modernity. This shall not be treated as the extinction of Great Andaman-Nicobar. After all man has the history of getting civilised from the ages of forest dwellers and habits thereof to the present times. No one, whether in Andaman or Amazon or elsewhere, shall be denied this growth, call it by ‘civilisation’ or any other names. This is not to mean that their language, culture, arts, literature and uniqueness shall be altogether destroyed. Whatsoever possible shall be preserved in appropriate forms. I remember a resident of Andamans, Biju, who said, with confidence, that there are no criminals there. He elaborated the circumstance by adding that no one could escape from the island after committing crimes. The islanders would be satisfied if the government of the mainland would provide them with core facilities for human life such as drinking water, shelter, educational institutions and health and old-age care. Destroying the whole forests in the islands and bringing lakhs of people from the mainland to live there would prove foolish and futile. Import of civilization this way would lead to extermination of forest folk. So far, the indigenes appear habituated to the ills of civilisation only. As one leader highlighted, ‘conservation has to take into account the concerns of nature above all other considerations’.

P.R.V. Raja,

Pandalam, Kerala