Fish, Curry, and Dust

In exporting 35 per cent of the country’s ore, mining has used 8 per cent of the state’s richest land mass, and returned just 4 per cent to its exchequer by pocketing the rest.

When ethical and moral values are abandoned in favor of crass consumerism, immersion in total entertainment becomes the new normal. No wonder, little do those who throng the not-so-serene beaches to destress realize that the country’s pimple, as Nehru would call Goa, has been mercilessly squeezed of its natural assets. Consistent political patronage and persistent industrial greed has legitimized grossly reprehensible act of mining as the panacea to all ills. That this largely illegal act is making the land of ‘fish, curry and rice’ to eat dust seems a peripheral concern, if at all. 

At this time when most Goans, like the exuberant middle class elsewhere, have allowed themselves to be wooed by the argument that industrialization is a prerequisite for sustaining the growth appetite, Hartman De Souza comes out with an investigative narrative on the organized loot that has flattened green hills and sucked live aquifers dry in Goa. In exporting 35 per cent of the country’s ore, mining has used 8 per cent of the state’s richest land mass, and returned just 4 per cent to its exchequer by pocketing the rest. ‘Eat Dust’ is a shocking revelation on the appropriation of the state’s economy by private interests who have steady access to the gatekeepers: those who hold state office, and those who could influence it on demand. 

It is an environment thriller, loaded with extreme stories of treachery, gluttony and conspiracy. Ingrate politicians, conciliate bureaucrats and devious media form the familiar star cast, suitably supported by gullible landowners, petty businessmen and tongue-tied priests who create perfect playing ground for mining barons to carve out replica of Grand Canyon in the Western Ghats. Had it not been for the apex court putting a ban on mining in 2012, these actors would have stripped the state of its remaining estimated 1.3 billion tons of ore worth over US$ 6 billion. 

Hartman’s chronicle is a factual blow-by-blow account of what actually happened on the ground – tracing the political route to the story from the time Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, was hand-picked to lead by mining companies, because they recognized both his acumen and his sympathy for their own greater cause. Since then the baton has remained in safe hands, proactive political collusion has perpetuated greed. 

Not to be missed in this socio-anthropological and ecological history of Goa is the story of protracted opposition by handful men and women, who have taken the battle to the heavily guarded mines across the state. Despite intimidation by goons of the mining mafia with support from the local police, the mother-daughter duo of Dora and Cheryl had chained themselves when the barrier to the Dinar Tarcar’s mine was still down, to record their genuine anger against unscrupulous mining close to their habitation. Local opposition has only continued to grow, providing perfect backdrop to the activists pursuing legal proceedings against illegal mines.    

Despite standing for, and contributing to opposition against illegal mining, the author laments the lack of mass upsurge against mining in Goa. Will people in Panjim understand how bad mining is only when they find red dust flowing out of their taps? It seems everyone has been poisoned by a uniform coat of dust, tossed up by the trucks plying ore from the mine to the harbor, that there is nothing that can stop the rot from spreading. On top of it, the mining mafia has carefully quashed any annoyance with promises that are partially fulfilled at any given time. 

More than just hit-and-run kind of reporting ‘Eat Dust’ is courageous writing aimed at bringing information, details of which have either been hidden from the public or nobody had the courage to discover it in the first place.  Written with painstaking details, Hartman has sunk his teeth deep into the story without allowing him to be bullied. What comes out is a narrative that smells of a strange mix of passion and anguish, uncovering the rot that plagues the mining sector – not only in Goa but in the rest of the country as well. 

‘Eat Dust’ should be essential reading for all those who may have even an iota of interest in pretty trees, sparkling springs, and majestic tigers. 

Eat Dust: Mining & Greed in Goa
by Hartman De Souza
Harper Litmus, New Delhi
Extent: 277, Price: Rs 350 

This review was first published in The Hindustan Times on Jan 9, 2016. 

One molecule, many formulations

Of all known liquids, water is probably the most studied and least understood.

The Water Book

Hachette, New Delhi

Extent: 376. Price: Rs 499

                  

How would you fathom a contrasting situation wherein one guy fights crises of water supply at home while a distant friend goes shopping for a fishing gear to exploit the small stream flowing through his coffee farm? Enviable undoubtedly, what is ‘fish out of water’ for one is ‘catch a fish’ opportunity for the other. That is what water does under differing situations, perhaps a grim reminder on its undisputed value for human existence, and more importantly for being human. We seem to value the universal liquid when it is in short supply, but do we understand it well?

‘Of all known liquids,’ wrote the great water chemist Felix Franks, ‘water is probably the most studied and least understood.” Taking cue, Alok Jha has set out to write a biography on this wonder molecule, and has come out with an exhaustive treatise on the subject. Of all mysterious properties of water, the dielectric constant sets it apart from other naturally occurring materials. At an incredible value of 80, its large dielectric constant breaks affinity between other molecules with ionic bonds and earns itself the title of a universal solvent. No wonder, whenever one thinks of a liquid one is thinking of water with a small amount of other things dissolved or suspended within it. Could this be one of the reasons for its omnipresence on this planet?

Water has invented humans, and indeed sustains all other life forms on the earth. Paradoxically, however, a liquid that is part of life is also one of fear and death. Some of the most dreaded creatures live under water, carrying on eternal war amidst them by preying on each other. There is nothing softer and weaker than water, and yet nothing as hard and strong too. Jha journeys through the hydrosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere to capture the nature and properties of the second most abundant molecule in the universe.

Putting the works of several philosophers, chemists and hydrologists into perspective, the author marvels at the way water molecule acts like hawala system of informal cash transaction in transferring energy at impossible speed. Just as hawala system works on trust and word of mouth, so does networks of hydrogen-bonded water molecules in carrying the charge of protons from one part of a cell to another. The Water Book captures all this and much more, but is a trifle too long. While it is a useful addition to water literature, it could be worthy as a textbook.

The Last Drop
Mike Gonzalez & Marianella Yanes
Pluto Press, UK
Extent: 202. Price: Rs 1,357

The Last Drop offers a study in contrast. Focusing on the trade and politics of water, the professor-journalist duo of Mike Gonzalez and Marianella Yanes lament the growing insanity of identifying with bottled water as a social drink – consumed by elegant people in elegant bars. It is no surprise therefore that some nine billion bottles of water are sold annually across the world. The massive expansion of the private water industry, including bottle water industry, is an outcome of neoliberalism’s commitment to the privatization of all public services and public goods.

Outwardly it may seem to be the only way out to address the issue of access and quality, the reality is that big corporations with turnover exceeding US$40 billion annually have contributed literally nothing to the resolution of the water problem. This isn’t surprising when one learns that 34 per cent of water and sewerage privatizations have failed across the world, with as many as 180 cities having re-municipalized their water operations.

Citing real case stories of predatory privatization, from Mexico to Kerala and from Loas to Bolivia, the authors contend that capitalism is anything but blind to ecology. It transforms nature into commodities, homogenizing it into products which can be traded for profit. Calling for a new world water order, the book seeks collective engagement of all small movements in big picture change in favor of water peace, as opposed to the widely publicized prediction of possible ‘water wars’. Simply put, the struggle over water is not only about water, it is also about land and more extensively about democracy and rights.

Examining corporate control over water and the ensuing struggle for water resources worldwide, Gonzalez and Yanes join the activists in saving water from overt and covert privatization. The Last Drop is a grim reminder and a wake-up call to liberate water from the predominant notion that ‘whoever controls water controls society’. Exposing the complex arguments surrounding water, the book makes technical and scientific case for pushing back the market fundamentalism in favor of equity and social justice. All this for a single drop of water.

This review has been published in Current Science dated March 10, 2016.