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15-21 May, 2012
small world
conservation
The Day of the Ganges Dolphin
Shruti Ravindran

NEW DELHI ~ The Ganges Dolphin—of which an estimated 2,500 remain in India—earned itself a spot in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) ‘Red List’ as an endangered species in 1996. Then, the threats to the species included poaching (for the supposed aphrodisiacal powers of its oil and flesh), and the large-scale hydroelectric projects that were undertaken along the river from the 1950s. The IUCN stated that ‘the diversity and scale of threats’ to the cetacean ‘generally outpaced effort at documentation’, and said there had been ‘a plausible population size reduction of more than 50 per cent between 1944 and 1974’. The IUCN added that its extinction meant the wiping out of its family—an ancient lineage in the order Cetartiodactyla, of which it was the sole representative.

Yet, no task force of experts was dedicated to the Ganges Dolphin’s survival—until now. Patna University is soon opening Asia’s first dolphin research centre. According to reports, the state planning secretary sent a detailed proposal to this effect to the Planning Commission after Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia watched dolphins leaping in the Ganga a few months ago. He offered Central aid for the effort, which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar swiftly welcomed. The Centre will conduct research and conservation activities— to be helmed by Professor RK Sinha, popularly referred to as ‘dolphin man’, of Central University of Bihar.

Professor Sinha, who is chairperson of a working group for dolphin conservation set up by the Central Government and also a member of the National Ganga Basin Authority, knows he has his work cut out for him. Conservation challenges have multiplied at an alarming rate since he wrote his PhD thesis on Gangetic ecology back in 1988. “Declining river flow is the most significant threat to dolphins of the Ganga,” he says, “Besides, various toxic chemicals have entered the river ecosystem through industrial effluents, agricultural pesticides, etcetera. The erosion of habitat due to the declining flow and the high content of toxics in dolphin tissue—these are a matter of grave concern.”

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Take Two
A Letter to Sachin Tendulkar
Some uncomfortable truths about the star cricketer’s fashion sense
Akshay Sawai

Dear Sachin,

Michael Jordan, the you of basketball, is notorious for his poor sense of style today. But in the 1990s, Jordan’s best years as a player, he had the reputation of a natty, perceptive dresser. After matches, while most changed into track pants, Jordan often wore three-piece suits. Someone asked him why he did that. Jordan said he wanted to be at his best for fans who hung around outside after games.

That a famously self-centred, egoistical star like Jordan would go the extra mile for supporters illustrates a few things, Sachin. One, fans matter to stars. Two, if you are a public figure, it matters how you present yourself. Not all athletes need to go to Jordan’s lengths, but they cannot allow themselves to become subjects of derision. Not when they are icons like Jordan, or yourself.

Unfortunately, there is a danger of that happening to you, Sachin. As a cricketer and a person, you have been all class. But the admirable understatement that defines your personality deserts you when it comes to fashion sense. It is a tragedy that the de facto uniform of Indian cricketers—hideous Ed Hardy T-shirts over loud True Religion jeans—is embraced by you too. You also have a fascination for patent leather shoes and belts with large buckles, something one normally sees on villains in B-Grade films. Ya ya, this is a democracy and all that yada-yada and technically you can wear a disco ball if you want to. But as your well-wishers, we would like you to consider one golden rule of dressing—unless he’s a musician, no grown-up man should wear jazzy things. No jazzy, Sachin. Jazzy not cool. Jazzy only for Bappi da. Or Snoop Dogg. Try a more grown-up, discreet style and see your fan following and endorsements burgeon even more.

And the haircut. We know you are excited about it. Months of growing it out. And one day it is the right length for straightening or whatever. The wait must have been as agonising as for your 100th. But here’s the truth. Your original look was better. That picture from Pune, where you are wearing a checked shirt and white aviators and looking a bit like Himesh, has ended the debate. Look, you never changed your natural bottom-hand grip, did you? It worked for you all these years. It’s the same with hair.

Warm regards

 

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Cheap Rides
Parking Privileges
Shruti Ravindran

No matter how many multi-storeyed parking lots get built, random parking continues on our streets. One reason is that illegal parking is not just not penalised, it’s tacitly encouraged by poor enforcement of regulations such as India’s Rules of the Road Regulations, 1989. It’s also cheap. A recent study by Colliers International showed that major Indian metros including Delhi and Mumbai have the least parking charges in comparison with purchasing power parity rates in other cities across the world. Charges in Beijing and Mexico City are five times higher. And they are 60 times higher in Tokyo and London.

Up to 11 per cent of the land in Delhi is swallowed up by subsidised underground, surface and multilevel parking, and much of it goes underused, according to a recent report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). But land allocation still marginalises the needs of the urban poor, with land given over to cars, not buses. The report concludes that it’s unsustainable for parking to continue so heavily subsidised, and that the cost of upkeep should come from car-owners—and that this will only happen with tighter implementation of laws. For instance, it says that Delhi’s newly built ‘automated’ Sarojini Nagar parking lot is used only 20 to 40 per cent of capacity, while cars continue to be parked illegally—and for free—on the side streets nearby.

Vivek Chattopadhyay, deputy programme manager of CSE’s urban mobility team, says, “A total of 27 multilevel structured parking [lots] have been planned in Delhi, with costs varying from Rs 5 to 10 lakh per car parking space.” Without “varying control zones and pricing strategies and city-based planning with area management plans,” he says, “we can end up with more supply and no real change on the ground, as we have seen in Sarojini Nagar”.

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15-21 May, 2012