Tag: Climate change

O’ Pir Panchal

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After remaining invincible and impregnable for centuries, the mighty Pir Panchal is witnessing enormous developmental activity for a new expressway, a challenging railway line and most of the dam-fed hydropower projects involving an investment of tens of thousands of crores. At places, this is triggering the fragile range to cave in at the cost of homes and livelihoods of age-old villages, a situation that experts believe could have been avoided with better pre-feasibility studies and sophisticated project implementation, reports Masood Huassin
Land subsidence literally took away a number of house and left many cracked and unsafe in a Duksar village of Sangaldan on February 19, 2023. Image: Social Media
Anticipated for years, finally, the increased incidence of land subsidence and sinking in the Pir Panchal Mountains is Jammu and Kashmir’s new normal. The young fragile and unstable mountain range separating Kashmir from the rest of the world is in news frequently as the slopes housing small habitations for centuries are caving in.
On February 19, 2023, around 16 structures of Duksar Dalwa (Duksar Dal), a hamlet almost 45 km uphill from Ramban, suffered serious damage as the land caved in. It crippled road connectivity between Gool and Ramban where almost 500 meters developed cracks, tripped the electric supply and snapped the water supply. Three homes developed cracks forcing authorities to shift the impacted population to safer areas.
Officials said while they are working overtime to resume power and water supplies, they are also improving the Dharam-Salballa road to make it an alternative supply route to the “literally disconnected” area. In the sinking village, the official encouraged the residents to move swiftly to safer spots. For residents, however, the gradual 3-day sinking was a painful watch of their life earnings slowly cracking up and becoming black holes over hills.
It started with a crater that widened to almost 500 meters during two nights, making almost everything around unsafe, unstable and life-threatening. A mosque, Darsgah, the village seminary and the village graveyard were destroyed. Residents quickly exhumed a recently buried body and laid it to rest at a “safe” place.
Officials who visited the spot said the village’s agriculture fields were rendered useless, pushing residents into poverty. They lost homes and their livelihoods too.
The Duksar erasing came less than a fortnight after Doda lost a cluster of houses to a similar instance on February 3, 2023. Located on the foothills on the road to Kishtwar near Thathri, nearly 35 km from Doda, the volunteers, residents and government officials had to quickly shift 117 members of 19 families as the patch of slope housing the Nai Basti cluster gave in within three days. A total of 21 structures cracked and became unsafe.
Horrific Tunnel Collapse

The last horrific tragedy took place on May 19, 2022, when the workers were digging into an adit (minor access to the T3 tunnel) near Khooni Nalla at Ramsu’s Makerkot area. It collapsed over them killing ten workers including two local residents and eight Nepalese labourers. The tragedy struck during the day amid incessant rain but still, only two persons could be rescued alive.
SDRF working to recover the bodies of nine labourers who were trapped and killed in an adit collapse on Jammu Srinagar National Highway in May 2022.
The workers were on the challenging stretch of the national highway between Digdole and Khooni Nallah, which is otherwise notorious for frequent landslides and shooting stones due to fragile geology. It was part of the twin-tube tunnel that would connect Digdole to Panthyal and was implemented by Ceigall India Limited in a JV with Patel Engineering Limited. (The contractor has been imposed a heavy fine.)
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) that has taken over the Jammu Srinagar national highway from Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a few years back, is constructing at least five tunnels to bypass the highway’s 3-km “killer’’ stretch from Panthyal to Makerkote. Tunnel T3 is part of this intervention.
Unlike the rest of the highway, the 36-km Banihal Ramban stretch has been the most challenging one and that is why it is still under implementation. On this stretch are six “killer spots” located on a 14-km road stretch and NHAI intends to spend Rs 2000 crore to manage this. Implementation of this would offer some safety from frequent halts owing to shooting stones at Marog, Panthial, Digdol and Battery Chashma.
Triggering Instability
Implementation of these projects is triggering crises for the localities living around them. As many as 13 houses in Sujmatana village near Ramsu were literally devastated. The round-the-clock blasting for the tunnel projects and cutting work made these houses inhospitable after they developed cracks. Most of them have left their unsafe homes and migrated elsewhere. Though officials are looking into the crisis since 2017, it is yet to be settled.
On August 4, 2022, 36 families had a providential escape when their Bassan village in Reasi became the casualty of sinking and erosion at the same time. Without any notice, landslides carried down boulders and muck that crashed the houses and put the agriculture fields out of sight. It was so abrupt, villages said, that they had no time to take their belongings along.
A Duksar family in front of their cracked single room home in February 2023. The village was made unsafe by land subsidence.
Officials admitted that almost 60 kanals of land sank as another 400 kanals patch was rendered useless. Almost all the fruit trees, mostly walnut and apricot, were engulfed in mud. Almost 200 meters of a PMGSY road was also downthrown by around 25 meters from its actual alignment.
The earlier worst case was reported from Dalwas when on March 28, 2020, the residents fled when their homes and fields were literally buried by landslides. Almost 40 households were impacted.
The village has been there for ages and never experienced any such threat. Then one day it literally disappeared. Residents alleged that being away from Srinagar and Jammu, deep into the mountains they hardly were reported. At one point in time when they wanted to protest, authorities invoked Covid19 concerns to prevent it.
Response Protocol
Over the years, the government response has remained unchanged. Once the reports land that spots are sinking, they as the first quick reaction, send cops, paramilitary, SDRF and revenue officials to oversee and, in most cases, extend help in quick evacuations. In stage two, the respective Deputy Commissioner writes to geologists and the Department of Geology and Mining and, off late, to the Geological Survey of India, who rush their experts to these spots. In the subsequent few days, they study the local rock formations and submit reports, part of which goes to newspapers and by and large the files get closed.
At the same time, files start rolling about relief and rehabilitation. It takes its own time. In many cases, people who lose their homes and livelihoods are yet to be properly rehabilitated.
Invariably, the policymakers and the administrators avoid two vital ingredients of the story – the assessments that the local populations make about the crisis they land in and the wider angle that remains unchanged across the Pir Panchal range.
Resident Assessments
Affected populations are unwilling to accept that these crises are natural. They see them as man-made disasters. Raqeeb Wani, a former Sarpanch of Daskar Dalwa told The Telegraph that his village’s erasing is directly linked to the construction of two railway tunnels downhill, that would link a 3km rail track between Sangaldan and Chaddi. He attributed it to the “continuous blasting” that loosens the soil and adds to the instability of the mountain.
The Reasi Railway Bridge is a crucial link between Banihal and Katra. It is one of the world’s highest bridges railway, much higher that the Eiffel Tower Photograph: Asrar Sultanpuri
“A few years ago, we had a similar disaster in Sangaldan a few years ago when an entire market caved in,” Wani was quoted as saying. “That also was owing to the railway project.”
In the case of Dalwas, for instance, a former lawmaker from Ramban Ashok Kumar Dogra said the “unscientific planning” of the widening of the national highway is responsible. “The highway authorities started excavation of the road from beneath the village without raising any wall on the side of the village. As no concrete measures were taken by the NHAI to protect the village and debris was also disposed of at the same place, the tragedy was bound to happen and the houses collapsed and the village sank,” Dogra told Outlook. “I will not call it a natural disaster. It was the unplanned construction that destabilised the soil of the whole area, leading to its sinking.”
Right to A Road
Pir Panchal mountain range has remained literally invincible and technically impregnable for centuries. It took decades of thought process and a lot of resources to lay a foot track between Jammu and Srinagar, to have an alternative to Mughal Road. Known to history as the Banihal Cart Road, it was difficult and always retained by Dogra despots as a private route. It remained inaccessible to people till 1922. Till the Jawahar Tunnel was inaugurated, the road would pass over the Banihal pass, the abandoned remnants of which still exist.
This made Kashmir rely on the Jhelum Valley Road (JVR) as the main highway.
A Caravaan of tongas – horse driven carts, on the Jhelum Valley Road: an undated photograph
Work on JVR started in 1880 and was formally thrown open in September 1890, when Maharaja Partap Singh was driven through from Baramulla to Kohala. The construction of this gigantic road project was implemented by a major British Indian contractor M/S Spedding, Mitchell & Co and was overseen by different British engineers at different stretches. While General de Bourbel oversaw everything as the Chief Engineer Kashmir, it was Alexander Atkinsonmanagedmost of the road up to Chakoti (on the other side of LoC now) and a few parts on the Kashmir side; Farrant was in charge of construction between Chakotiand Baramulla; as EG Hebbert supervised its completion in November 1889. Resources apart, it cost too many lives. Between Chakoti and Baramulla, 54 Pathans were killed in four years. Besides, 20 lives were lost to snake bites.
Post-partition, the Banihal Road became arterial and pressure built with a surge in population and demand in Kashmir. For seven decades, this road bore the brunt of all the pressures of travel, demand and consumerism and gave in. The rise of the Kashmir apple added another pressure factor so did the security requirements.
Finally, a stage reached that the health of the national highway was directly linked to the economic well-being of Kashmir. This paved the way for the decision by the Government of India that distances need to be reduced and the highway must be improved so that commuters do not end up spending a day on a 300-km highway.
More than a decade after the first spadework, it is emerging as one of the best roads. There are three major tunnels that have skipped dangerous patches while reducing distance and uphill driving: a set of four small tunnels near Nandni with a combined length of 1.4 km; 9.2 km Chenani-Nashri tunnel has bypassed a gruelling uphill drive and 8.5 km Banihal-Qazigund tunnel is going to tame dangerous Banihal Pass forever.
Distance has dropped from 300 to 270 km and the travel time from 12 to around 5 hours. But the Banihal-Ramban stretch remains a challenge. Earlier, it was merely a technological crisis, now it is a serious ecological issue.
These villagers were fortunate in comparison to the Sadal hamlet of Udhampur which was buried under a massive mudslide at noon on September 6, 2014. Following incessant rains for many days, it triggered massive floods in Kashmir and the rest of the erstwhile state. As many as 41 residents from 65 households were killed by the wee hour mountain collapse that brought an almost 30-foot-thick blanket of rafted rock fragments mud, sludge and rubble.
Almost 225 residents from 48 households who somehow survived the tragedy moved to another village and are still struggling to pick the threads of their lives. Though life has returned to the village, they are still fighting for an electric supply line and the rebuilding of the school building.
An Upcoming Railway
The road is just not the only thing that is happening deep inside the Pir Panchal mountain range. While the road is being upgraded, there is a railway project in an advanced stage of implementation.
Unlike the road that is being laid over the foothills not far away from the old alignment that also followed a foot track of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the railway track is passing through a virgin area, part of which has not seen even a bus. For making rail reach Baramulla from Udhampur, the 272-km project is going to cost a whopping Rs 37012 crore of which more than ninety per cent has already been spent.
A Train Moves on a Banihal Baramulla railway track after heavy snowfall in Srinagar,
The rail is already chugging between Udhampur and Katra (25 km) since July 2014, Baramulla to Qazigund (118 km) since October 2009; and Qazigund to Baramulla (18 km) since June 2013. This leaves the most challenging stretch of 111 km between Banihal and Katra to be implemented.
However, the cost of the track does not define the project. It is the work that details the challenge. Nearly 119 km of the entire track will pass through 38 tunnels, the longest of which is 12.77 km long.
What is interesting is that in the 111-km Banihal – Katra track, 97.42 km are tunnels and most of the rest are bridges. Railway officials have to do 163.82 km of tunnelling in total – 66.4 km are escape tunnels – to make the track possible. For making these tunnel spots accessible to men and machines, there is a network of 205 km of roads, which remain busy round the clock.
This track will have 37 bridges – totalling 7 km in length, including the iconic Chenab Bridge, which is tipped to be the highest railway bridge on earth. While this bridge is ready, the current focus is on the first cable-stayed railway bridge on Anji Khad.
With thousands of people working deep inside the mountains with basic cutting and blasting machinery a lot of activity is generated.
There were dozens of instances in which the portions of various tunnels collapsed resulting in either changing the alignment or repairing the damage and restoring the tunnel. In July 2006, an almost 3 km long tunnel on the Udhampur-Katra track gradually started sinking after massive soil swelling on the two ends making it unusable and thus delaying the project. Northern Railways later hired an Austrian consultant, Geo Consult International (GCI), to salvage the project after many years of delay. The causes of the damage were visible to even the then Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said he saw “a river flowing under the tunnel”.
A number of tunnels between Katra and Sangaldan witnessed “abnormal” water discharge making construction a challenging task. In Sangladan, the managers were shocked when they saw a 500-meter track between two tunnels actually missing one fine morning. Reported in 2006, it destroyed a vast stretch of land on a slope housing as many as 100 structures besides over 400 meters of the road connecting Mahore and Gulabgarh.
In 2016 summer of 2016, authorities shifted 124 families – almost the entire village of Dharam, after the vast patch of land that housed the hamlet caved in within three months. Though the officials attributed it to natural reasons, the residents linked the unprecedented situation to the ongoing work on the railway line passing close to the village.
Oceans In Gorges
Piercing the Pir Panchal mountains for smooth, faster and better communication is just not the only thing happening in the region. Owing to the mighty Chenab, the region is Jammu and Kashmir’s powerhouse. More than 90 per cent of the hydropower potential is restricted to the region owing to the availability of water and enough space to construct dams within the mountain gorges. This has led to a situation where the region holds a massive amount of water in its dams.
Dam Looks Like A Little Ocean. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
The region’s tryst with power generation started late last century with the implementation of the 900-MW Salal power project in Reasi in 1978. The project’s 1.45 million cubic meter dam has created the Salal lake which has the capacity to retain more than 28 million cubic meters of water.
Then came the 390-MW Dul-Hasti Power Project near Kishtwar. It was followed by the 900-MW Baglihar power with 1.8 cubic meters of the dam and an additional reservoir capacity of 39.5 cubic meters – a facility that has created a huge water body in the mountain gorges between Chanderkote belt and Thathri to the extent that certain localities and infrastructures had to be relocated. Quite a few people still live in the highway town of Pul Doda.
The region has many other power projects at different stages of implementation. These include 850-MW Rattle, 100-MW Pakal Dul, 624-MW Kiru, 540-MW Kwar, 800-MW Bursar, and 930-MW Kirthai-II. This is an investment of tens of thousands of crore in mountain gorges on a single river within a river length of fewer than 100 km.
Baglihar is the only project that Jammu and Kashmir’s fully-owned JKSPDC owns. Chenab Valley Power Projects Ltd, a joint venture between JKSPDC and NHPC, India’s hydropower giant, is implementing four power projects – Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar and Karthia-II. Salal and Dul Hasti owned fully by NHPC and Ratle is being executed under a fresh JV with JKSPDC in which the latter holds 49 per cent stakes.
Stakes apart, hydropower stations are gigantic projects. These need huge spaces for water storage – even in the case of run-of-the-river schemes, and a lot of tunnelling. All projects have main tunnels, both head race and tail race, and then there are a lot of additional adits and small tunnels for servicing. Even though most of the tunnels and the dams are concrete structures, having such critical infrastructure usually triggers soil erosion and soil swellings too often. The 110-km Batote Kishtwar road has been ailing for all these years. Never in a year could it operate for all 365 days.
Cause versus Consequence?
Science has fundamentally opposed the idea of correlating causes with consequences especially when there is no plausible explanation. In the case of the Pir Panchal region, however, there are striking correlations. For most of recent history, land sliding has been happening around the national highway only. However, in the last decade, land subsidence is a routine and it is happening at all places where developmental activities are going on.
Bhaderwah town and its surroundings are witnessing “region-exclusive” tremors almost every year. In August 2022, there were 21 tremors, reaching up to 3.9 on the Richter scale. Such summer tremors have been there in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In fact, 2013 was harrowing as the earthquakes touched 5.8 on the Richter scale.
Land patches are caving in at spots closer to some kind of major developmental activity. This is as true with railway projects as it is in road widening projects. Certain spots caved in because works were implemented without a detailed study.
In Sangaldan, for instance, when the railway track collapsed, it was pointed out by geologist Prof GM Bhat that it had been built “on a fossil slide”, which failed to withstand the weight and crumbled down. “We knew it for decades but we were never consulted,” Bhat said. “In this part of the Himalayas, rock types change after every half a kilometre.”
A respected geologist, Bhat insists that developmental activities can take place in any space that is as fragile as Pir Panchal but it needs adequate pre-implementation study and proper implementation mechanism.
“In the four-laning of the highway, the crisis would have been manageable had there been least vertical cuts,” Bhat said. “Impounding so much of water (in power projects dams) within a small patch has the potential of inducing earthquakes.” He insists that the managers of the water projects must ensure better maintenance of the tunnels or these could become a serious crisis in future.
Bhat, however, sees society also going unruly. “In Banihal near the Mahu Mangat side, a hillock is a completely populated town now,” he said. “Has anybody tried to verify where the waste goes? Are we expecting a major crisis in the coming days when the hill will cave in because of seepage?”
As workers started working on an adit tunnel near Khooni Nalla in Ramban. a hillock collapsed killing 10 labourers, two of them from Ramban on May 20, 2022.
The region is a risky belt given its fragile geology. The upcoming railway line is built over three major active geological fault lines: the Main Boundary Thrust (between Udhampur and Katra), the Muree Thrust (between Baglihar and Sangaldan) and the Panjal Thrust (between Digdol and Mahu Mangat). “I never say railway tracks cannot cross fault lines but I believe that had local expertise been involved, extensive fieldwork would have reduced the costs and perfected the alignment”. Entire Jammu and Kashmir is classified as seismic zone-V, the highest earthquake-prone area. CAG has already done a thick report on the resources that were wasted because of the geological surprises that erupted after various rail projects were implemented. Parts of the alignment were changed and completed works were abandoned.
A woman carrying her chid looks at the home they once owned in Uri. The home was destroyed on October 2005 earthquake that almost flattened a vast belt straddling the Line of Control.
A fault line actually passes through the centre of the Baghlihar dam and most other reservoirs are very close to the fault lines underneath. “A dam burst will be worse than the earthquake itself,” Bhat, who retired recently after heading the University of Jammu’s Geology Department for a long time, said. Interestingly, the area is reporting an increased incidence of cloudbursts, seen as an indicator of climate change. “One major cloudburst near a dam can trigger unprecedented devastation.”
One such cloudburst on July 28, 2021, almost decimated Honzer, a hamlet concealed within inaccessible mountains of remote Dacchan, killing 26 residents. The bodies of almost 18 of the victims were never found.
Many geologists who studied Dalwa fall attributed the land subsidence to water seepage, and extensive cutting of steep slopes. They have suggested a robust urban land use plan, a prerequisite for any activity, especially in hilly areas.
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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 10, 2023
High Seas Treaty secured after marathon UN talks

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More than 100 countries reached agreement on a United Nations treaty to protect the high seas, following marathon talks at U.N. headquarters in New York that ended late Saturday.
The High Seas Treaty will put 30 percent of the planet’s seas into protected areas by 2030, aiming to safeguard marine life.
“This is a massive success for multilateralism. An example of the transformation our world needs and the people we serve demand,” U.N. General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi tweeted after the U.N. conference president, Rena Lee, announced the agreement.
The negotiations had been held up for years due to disagreements over funding and fishing rights.
“After many years of intense work under EU leadership, countries agree on ambitious actions,” Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, said in a tweet. “This is major for the implementation of the COP15 30 percent ocean protection goal.”
The European Commission said the treaty will protect the oceans, combat environmental degradation, fight climate change and battle biodiversity loss.
“For the first time, the treaty will also require assessing the impact of economic activities on high seas biodiversity,” the Commission said in a statement. “Developing countries will be supported in their participation in and implementation of the new treaty by a strong capacity-building and marine technology transfer component,” it said.
“Countries must formally adopt the treaty and ratify it as quickly as possible to bring it into force, and then deliver the fully protected ocean sanctuaries our planet needs,” said Laura Meller, a Greenpeace oceans campaigner who attended the talks, according to a Reuters report.

The treaty will enter into force once 60 countries have ratified it.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 2, 2023
‘Rice Can Now Be Grown Without Stagnant Water In A Field’

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A teacher, researcher and innovator, Dr Jameel A Khan’s expertise in developing drought-tolerant varieties has helped address climate change challenges. Currently serving as Programme Manager at C-CAMP, one of the respected addresses for cutting-edge research and innovation, the young scientist reveals his learning curve and the contributions he made to the agricultural science
TheNewsCaravan (KL): What are the new goals in agricultural sciences for increasing production?
DR JAMEEL A KHAN (JAK): During the green revolution of the 1960s, there was a growing demand for increased food production due to a rapidly growing population. MS Swaminathan employed genetics knowledge to meet this demand and address the issue of food scarcity. One of the strategies employed was to cultivate short-stature crop varieties instead of tall ones, as the tall ones had a tendency to fall over, causing crop loss. This strategy successfully addressed the issue of lodging and increased food production. As the population continues to grow, biotechnology will become a key area of intervention in agriculture, aimed at meeting the demands of the next green revolution.
KL: So what is the status right now?
JAK: While current agricultural yields are stable, there are still major challenges such as droughts, pests and diseases, and post-harvest losses. Improving storage technologies and addressing these issues will help meet the food needs of both current and future populations. Approximately 40-50 per cent of food production is lost due to factors such as drought, heat, salinity, and floods. To address these issues, biotechnology has a significant role to play in finding solutions for these challenges and reducing post-harvest losses.
KL: Before we go into your accomplishments and research can you offer us details about your learning curves and challenges faced during your career journey?
JAK: I started my educational journey at New Convent, Gogji Bagh, Srinagar where my teachers instilled in me the importance of thinking big and pursuing my dreams. After completing the 10th standard, I decided to study BSc in Agriculture at SKUAST, Jammu. I then went on to secure a seat for a Master’s in Plant Biotechnology at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore by qualifying for the national level exam JNU-DBT. Initially, I had intended to follow in my brother’s (Er. Muneer Khan) footsteps and pursue a career in engineering, as he had studied at SSM. However, I decided to forge my own path when I went to a counselling session and ended up being selected for BSc Agriculture, my parents were astonished but happy.

Eventually, I did a PhD in the same field. I was the sole individual from Kashmir to secure a PhD in UAS-Bangalore at that time.
I was determined to do something innovative in my research and this led to the start of my journey in innovation. Throughout my academic journey, I faced challenges but my determination and hard work helped me secure my place in the field of Plant Biotechnology.
KL: What were the key takeaways from your PhD?
JAK: Research can be as brief as a one-page publication, as evidenced by Watson and Crick’s research on the structure and model of DNA, which won a Noble Prize. This just goes to show that the length of scientific research can range from being short to extensive, like discussions on black holes. The human genome, which can be measured in megabytes and terabytes, contains vast amounts of information that we are now able to comprehend. Similarly, research on genes related to human traits such as appearance (eye colour and height) and behaviour (intelligence, addiction, and even depression) etc., are influenced by gene expression. Researchers are understanding which genes are responsible for these traits. For example, if I wanted to select intelligence, I would look for someone with genes that express high intelligence.
In the realm of plant research, we divide the phenotype into visual and performance aspects, as we observe how plants perform under biotic and abiotic stress, such as water scarcity in agriculture, particularly in rice cultivation. It takes about 2500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice, from growth to consumption. By reducing water consumption in rice cultivation by just 10-20 per cent, we could make a significant impact on humanity. Rice can now be grown without stagnant water in a field, thanks to the research I have been a part of.
During my PhD, I worked on exploring the phenotypic and genotypic factors affecting plant growth and productivity, specifically focusing on rice cultivation. I developed a technology for root phenotyping and utilized German technology at the ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management. This was a major milestone as it was the first platform of its kind developed in India and I made it available to other scientists by not patenting it. My aim was to make advanced technology accessible to farmers at an affordable cost.
My research also involved studying the genes that express high levels of root growth and analysing the correlation between gene expression and phenotype. By combining both phenotypic and genotypic information, I was able to gain a better understanding of the factors affecting plant growth and productivity.
I also looked at the impact of abiotic stress, such as water scarcity, on agriculture and specifically rice cultivation. I found that a significant amount of water is required for rice growth and that reducing water consumption by just 20-25 per cent can lead to a big step towards sustainable agriculture. Our laboratory developed a rice variety called aerobic rice that utilizes deep roots to absorb water from deep soil, thereby saving 20-25 per cent of water compared to traditional rice varieties.
Overall, my PhD research aimed to improve our understanding of the factors affecting plant growth and productivity and to develop practical solutions to reduce water usage in agriculture.
KL: Is this rice variety being grown anywhere?
JAK: At present, the government of Katakana has already approved the growing of this rice cultivation. Our technology is ready for any future water scarcity and is proven to be effective. We have taken a thorough approach to this technology, even down to the genetic level, to ensure that farmers can access the aerobic rice variety ARB6 (BI 33) whenever they may need it in the future.
KL: Does aerobic rice BI 33 require specific ecology for growing?
JAK: ICAR has a policy of multi-location trials, which must be completed before any new variety of rice can be approved. Recently, Tamil Nadu scientists conducted research on drought-resistant varieties, with BI 33 outperforming all other varieties in the trials. This variety has now been approved, after having passed all tests.
KL: How does it work on a yield?
JAK: Despite a 5% drop in yield, the comparison between aerobic rice and rice grown in water is not applicable here. We are instead comparing how rice will be grown using technology in the future when water scarcity becomes more severe.
KL: Will this technology ever suit growing rice in Kashmir?
JAK: Kashmiri people rely heavily on rice as their main source of food, and the agricultural sector is always looking ahead to anticipate potential needs and address potential issues. In the case of a water scarcity crisis in Kashmir, science and technology are prepared to mitigate any potential losses in yield. Scientists are always looking forward, anticipating the needs of the future, and this is what drives the research and development of new technologies–even if it may seem out of reach at the present moment. For instance, Elon Musk’s ambitious plans to take humans to Mars or the Moon demonstrate the potential for future technology to make the seemingly impossible a reality. In this way, my own work falls in line with this outlook, searching for solutions that may open up new possibilities.
Dr Jameel A Khan (Agriculture)
KL: With immense success in your field of research, why you changed your career path?
JAK: I have always been passionate about technology and its potential to innovate and create a bigger, brighter future. With a background in agriculture, I wanted to be part of the Agrotechnology revolution that is currently taking place in India. My experience has enabled me to understand how technology can be used in the most effective ways, and I am eager to use my knowledge to contribute to the industry.
Also, the recent initiatives in Agritech and the focus on agriculture accelerators in the budget proposed by the Government of India indicate that research must be effectively adapted and implemented for real-world applications. This emphasis on agriculture accelerators in the budget is a clear sign that the government is actively pursuing work that can have tangible impacts on the agricultural sector, which could have a significant ripple effect throughout the country. We at C-CAMP have been forefront runners in such research and innovations.
KL: What are the present projects you are working on?
JAK: At the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) in Bangalore, we are part of the Bangalore Life Science Cluster (BLiSC) and have three major institutions and top bio incubators. C-CAMP has been awarded the best incubator of India across all sectors, owing to our expertise in life sciences, be it biotechnology, agro technology, health technology, or any other industrial biotechnology. We also received an award during National Startup Day as the best Ecosystem Enabler in India. We feel proud to contribute to bioeconomy in India. We provide the handholding for the latest technologies that a startup or an individual innovator is working on.
I handle multiple programs, the basic objective is to assess the proposal, considering its scientific acumen, financial theme, and future innovation in technology. We provide a grant of Rs 50 lakhs for eighteen months to help develop a product and mentor the startup with proper guidance for early-stage innovators.
I work on a programme where we train innovators to find a relevant problem and make a venture out of it. In this programme along with a monthly fellowship of Rs 50,000, a kick-start grant is given. Young innovators in Kashmir should consider applying for this programme.
At C-CAMP, I also work with the Centre of Excellence in Agriculture with the objective to identify gaps in agriculture. We were successful in handholding startups that are making a national impact, for example, Krishitantra.
KL: What are the innovations taking place in agriculture? Is there any contribution from Jammu and Kashmir in Agrotechnology?
JAK: Agriculture is undergoing a transformation due to the introduction of innovative technologies. Indoor vertical farming is one of the most popular advancements, as it increases crop yields and reduces the negative impact on the environment. Farm automation technology is also becoming increasingly popular, as it automates the crop or livestock production cycle. In addition, livestock technology is being used to monitor health and increase productivity through wearable sensors. Other innovations that are expected to hit the market include agricultural robotics, artificial intelligence in agriculture, and the use of drones. All of these technologies are helping to make agricultural processes more efficient and effective.
The Vice Chancellor of SKAUST-K has been a great mentor to me and has taken a number of new and innovative initiatives at the university. In Kashmir, it can be difficult to get acceptance for new ideas and advancements, but many universities like SKUAST have taken steps to bring about change. I also met the VC of Kashmir University and the DIQA Director, I could see the enthusiasm to work on innovations.
There are many innovators who have applied for these projects, and I have taken on the role of mentor, as I feel that it gives me a chance to give back to the community. We also have the JK Scientist programme, which helps students to get accepted for doctorates and PhDs.
I take this platform for productive collaboration with C-CAMP for making impactful innovations in life sciences.
Ifra Reshi processed the interview

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February 17, 2023
Joe Biden: EU conservative hero

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Joe Biden’s European friends may be miffed about his climate law.
But the U.S. president’s America-first, subsidy-heavy approach has actually gained some grudging — and for a Democrat unlikely — admirers on the Continent: Europe’s conservatives.
Within the center-right European People’s Party, the largest alliance of parties in the European Parliament, officials are smarting over why their own politicians aren’t taking a page from the Biden playbook.

Their frustration is homing in on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — a putative conservative the EPP itself helped install. Officials fear they have let von der Leyen lead the party away from its pro-industry, regulation-slashing ideals, according to interviews with leading party figures.
Biden’s law has now brought their grumbling to the surface.
On Thursday, a wing of EPP lawmakers defected during a Parliament vote over whether to back von der Leyen’s planned response to Biden’s marquee green spending bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Their concern: it doesn’t go far enough in championing European industries.
Essentially, they want it to feel more like Biden’s plan.
The IRA was an “embarrassment” for Europe, said Thanasis Bakolas, the EPP’s power broker and secretary general. The EU “had all these well-funded policies available. And then comes Biden with his IRA. And he introduces policies that are more efficient, more effective, more accessible to businesses and consumers.”
A bitter inspiration
European leaders were blindsided last summer when Biden signed the IRA into law.
Since then, they have complained loudly that the U.S. subsidies for homegrown clean tech are a threat to their own industries. But for the EPP, ostensibly on the opposite side to Biden’s Democrats, the law is also serving as bitter inspiration.
“It’s a little bit like in the fairy tale, that someone in the crowd — and this time it wasn’t the boy, it was the Americans — pretty much pointing the finger to the [European] Commission, and saying, ‘Oh, the king is naked?’” said Christian Ehler, a German European Parliament member from the EPP.
Viewed from bureaucratic, free-trading Brussels, Biden’s climate policy looks more sleek, geopolitically muscular — and, notably for the EPP, more appealing to voters on the right than anything actually coming out of the EPP-led Commission | Oliver Contreras/Getty Images
Under the EU’s centerpiece climate policy, the European Green Deal, the European Commission, the EU’s policy-making executive arm, has doggedly introduced law after law aimed at squeezing polluters from every angle using tighter regulations or carbon pricing. The goal is to zero out the bloc’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Biden’s IRA approaches the same goal by different means. It is laden with voter- and industry-friendly tax breaks and made-in-America requirements. Viewed from bureaucratic, free-trading Brussels, Biden’s climate policy looks more sleek, geopolitically muscular — and, notably for the EPP, more appealing to voters on the right than anything actually coming out of the EPP-led Commission.
For some, the sense of betrayal isn’t directed at Washington, but inward.
“We learned that we lost track for the last two years on the deal part of the Green Deal,” said Ehler, who is using his seat on Parliament’s powerful Committee on Industry, Research and Energy to push for fewer climate burdens on industry. “We are in the midst of the super regulation.”
The irony is that Biden and the Democrats probably wouldn’t have chosen this path were it not for Republicans’ decades-long refusal to move any form of climate regulation through Congress.
The IRA was a product of political necessity, shaped to suit independent-minded Democratic senators such as Joe Manchin of coal-heavy West Virginia. If Biden and his party had their druthers, Biden’s climate policy might have looked far more like the Brussels model.
Let’s get political
As party boss, Bakolas is preparing the platform on which the EPP — a pan-European umbrella group of 81 center-right parties — will campaign for the 2024 EU elections.
He is also flirting with an alliance with the far right, meaning the center-right and center-left consensus that has dominated climate policy in Brussels could break up. Bakolas advocates “a more political approach.”
“We need to do the same [as the U.S.], with the same tenacity and determination,” he said.
One big problem: It’s hard for the European Union, which doesn’t control tax policy, to match the political eye-candy of offering cashback for electric Hummers (something Americans can now claim on their taxes).
“Can Europe, this institutional arrangement in Brussels … act as effortlessly and seamlessly as the American administration? No, because it’s a difficult exercise for Europe to reach a decision … but it’s an exercise we need to do,” said Bakolas.
Within the center-right European People’s Party, the largest alliance of parties in the European Parliament, officials are smarting over why their own politicians aren’t taking a page from the Biden playbook | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
In other words, the EPP is looking to emulate Biden’s law — at least in spirit, if not in legalese.
The conservative thinking is beginning to coalesce into a few main themes: slowing down green regulation they feel burden industry; using sector-specific programs to help companies reinvest their profits into cleaning up their businesses; and slashing red tape they say slows already clean industries from getting on with the job.
EPP lawmaker Peter Liese said he had been “desperately calling” for these red-tape-slashing measures. He was glad to see some in von der Leyen’s contested IRA response plan. But Liese and the EPP want more.
“We can have an answer of the two crises, the two challenges, that we have: the climate crisis and challenge for our economy, including the IRA,” said Liese.
Green groups and left-wing lawmakers argue the EPP is simply using the IRA and Europe’s broader economic woes as a smokescreen to cover a broad retreat from the Green Deal. In recent months the party has blocked, or threatened to block, a host of green regulations proposed by the Commission.
“This is like trying to put on the ballroom shoes of your grandfather and trying to do a 100-meter sprint,” Green MEP Anna Cavazzini told Parliament on Wednesday.
Bakolas rejected that.
He said the party had finally woken up to the need to set a climate agenda that better reflected its own, center-right, free-market ideals.
“What the IRA did,” he said, “is to ring an alarm bell.”

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 16, 2023
In from the coal: Australia sheds climate pariah status to make up with Europe

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Europe loves the Aussies again.
Australia was, until recently, an international pariah on climate change and a punchline in Brussels. But a new government in Canberra coupled with Europe’s energy and economic woes mean a better relationship is now emerging — one that could fuel Europe’s transition to a clean economy, while enriching Australia immensely.
“Europe is energy hungry and capital rich, Australia’s energy rich and capital hungry, and that means that there’s a lot that we can do together,” said Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.
A little over a year ago, relations between Australia and the EU were in a parlous state. The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison had reneged on a nuclear submarine contract — a decision the current government stands by — incensing the French and by extension the EU. Equally as frustrating for many Europeans was Australia’s climate policy, which was viewed as outstandingly meager even in a lackluster global field.
The election of Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — whose father was Italian — last May brought a change in tone, as well as a new climate target and a trickle of policies designed to cut greenhouse gas pollution that heats up the planet.
Those moves were “the entry ticket” to dealings with Europe, Bowen told POLITICO in Brussels, the second-last stop on a European tour. “Australia’s change of climate positioning, climate policy, has changed our position in the world.”
That’s been most notable in progress on talks on a free trade agreement with the EU. Landing that deal would be a “big step forward,” said Bowen. Particularly because when it comes to clean energy, Australia wants to sell and Europe wants to buy.
Using the vast sunny desert in its interior, Australia could be a “renewable energy superpower,” Bowen argued. Solar energy can be tapped to make green hydrogen and shipped to Europe, he said.

European governments are listening closely to the pitch. Bowen was in Rotterdam on Monday, inspecting the potential to use the Netherlands port as an entry for antipodean hydrogen. He signed a provisional deal with the Dutch government to that end. Last week, Bowen announced a series of joint investments with the German government in Australian hydrogen research projects worth €72 million.
It’s not just sun, Australia has tantalum and tungsten and a host of minerals Europe needs for building clean tech, but that it currently imports. In many cases those minerals are refined or otherwise processed in China, a dependency that Brussels is keen to rapidly unwind — not least with its Critical Raw Materials Act, expected in March.
According to a 2022 government report, Australia holds the second-largest global reserves of cobalt and lithium, from which batteries are made, and is No. 1 in zirconium, which is used to line nuclear reactors.
Asked whether Australia can ease Europe’s dependence on China, Bowen said: “We want to be a very strong factor in the supply chains. We’re a trusted, reliable trading partner. We have strong ethical supply chains. We have strong environmental standards.”
But Australia has its own entanglements.
Certain Australian minerals, notably lithium, are largely refined and manufactured in China. Bowen said he was keen on bringing at least some of that resource-intensive, polluting work back to Australia.
While its climate targets are now broadly in line with other rich nations, the rehabilitation of Australia’s climate image jars with its role as one of the biggest fossil fuel sellers on the planet.
Australia’s coal exports, when burned in overseas power plants, generate huge amounts of planet-warming pollution — almost double the amount produced annually by Australians within their borders. Australia is also the third-largest exporter of natural gas, including an increasing flow to the EU. At home, the government is facing calls from the Greens party and centrist climate independents to reject plans for more than 100 coal and gas developments around the country.
But how many of Bowen’s counterparts raised the issue of Australia’s emissions during his travels around Europe? “Nobody,” he said. “We are here to help.”
Antonia Zimmermann contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 8, 2023
Dutch PM Rutte wants EU to play it frugal in face of mega US subsidies

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Don’t inject fresh money into the European Union — just reform national policies, says Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
That’s the best way to prevent EU industry from getting wiped out by U.S. companies under Washington’s major new green subsidies scheme, Rutte told a group of journalists at the office of the Dutch embassy to the EU in Brussels on Tuesday.
“There’s so much money at this moment in the system,” Rutte said shortly after meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. He also argued for deeper reforms, stressing how some European countries spend so much on their pension systems — “all money you cannot spend on innovation and green tech.”
Rutte is often viewed as the key leader of the so-called “frugal” group of European countries, comprised of like-minded fiscally conservative nations. The group, which also includes Denmark and Sweden, has been reluctant to increase national contributions to EU coffers — at least until the coronavirus pandemic forced them to partly adjust that line.
The discussion among EU decision-makers on how to preserve the bloc’s industrial base is taking place ahead of a meeting of EU leaders next month as the U.S. moves to roll out a $369 billion industrial subsidy scheme to support green industries under the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
The U.S. legislation has stoked fears about consequences for European industry and sparked calls to revisit rules on state aid. Another concern is that such subsidies put the EU’s single market at risk by conferring an outsized advantage to countries with larger fiscal capacity, such as Germany, which have more space to financially maneuver.
Rutte, who was recently in Washington to visit U.S. President Joe Biden, said: “There are a number of consequences to this Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — but unintended.” The IRA “forces us to think about how we organize ourselves” to remain competitive, he added.
On the one hand, he sees U.S. attempts to meet climate targets as a positive development. On the other hand, he pointed to risks to having a level playing field, like with electric mobility. “Companies might shift investments from the EU to the U.S.,” he said, parroting a much-repeated fear.

But EU subsidies should remain unaltered, Rutte argued. Regarding calls to adapt to the IRA by changing EU aid rules, he conceded: “I can accept some changes as long as they are limited.”
Rutte was clear on his belief that no fresh EU money should be put on the table. “I mean, not grants, but even not loans,” he said. “There’s so much still around” — for example loans in the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centerpiece of the EU’s pandemic recovery plan.
A draft of the text that leaders would seek to agree on at their upcoming European Council meeting hints at opening up new sources of EU funding. The draft, seen by POLITICO, makes calls “to take work forward building notably on the success of the SURE programme,” referring to the EU’s loans-based program to support employment floated by Rome and others.
Rutte stressed that he would not like to see this proposal in the text, which will be discussed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday.
On the question of whether he’d be in favor of a new SURE program, “My answer would be that we have serious doubts,” he said.
Barbara Moens contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 24, 2023