The Sustainable Flower Economy - how long?

Each acre of land is fertile for flowers for 7 months of the year, from October to April. During that time it yields a growing amount of flowers as the year progresses, starting from 10 sackfulls per week to over 20 sack fulls each week. Each sackful has about 20 kgs of flowers, and each sells for 100 to 150 rupees, in a good year. So in a good season one could expect from 500 to 700 sackfulls of zafri, basanti and gainda flowers, approximating 10 to 15 tonnes. A revenue which amounts to about 8 to 9,000 rupees per month per acre, probably half of which would count for expenses. A sustainable use of land, and a sustainable livelihood alongisde a clean and healthy environment.

Also in the remaining five months are grown vegetables like cauliflowers, tomatoes, spinach, radish as also melons, 'kakri.' Some farmers also grow wheat and sugarcane.

Its mostly family labour, women who pluck the flowers. Relatives, or neighbors working from 4 to 6 hours per day, besides doing their housework and looking after the children. There would be a man on the field alongside, for often the flowers are sold as they are plucked as buyers line up for the fresh stocks. The flower pluckers seem like a well-knit group on any particular field, who chatter away tales of their day and the chores within. It sounds like a social time. Each field is plucked once a week, the time taken for the plants to bloom again, and 4 to 5 women do the task.

Not everyone who is seen plucking the flowers owns the land. Many also lease it for an annual rate of 10 to 15 thousand rupees each year. It is like a rent, and all inputs, raw materials and profit are of the farmer. Yet land is divided along the river stretch depending on the community living close by. So near the village of Hiranki, about 7 kms from Jagatpur, the farmers are from Haryana and speak Haraynvi. Further down, nearer to Palla village is the village of Jagrolla. This is inhabited mostly by Sikh families and the women on the field speak hard to understand Punjabi. Some farms also seem very affluent since there is always a luxury car like an Optra or a Honda, which is parked there.

The buyers who procure the flowers from the fields often in small lots of 20 to 30 kilos are garland makers, flower sellers, or home flower suppliers. The garland makers seem the most interesting. They would thread marigold garlands and sell them to truckers and tempo drivers to adorn their vehicle bonnets. Each morning, very early, say at 3 am, the farmers take the unsold produce to the Fatehpuri mandi. Here buyers converge from all parts of the city and also outside it. It is the biggest flower mandi around, and all flowers are sold off between 7 am and 10 am. A retail kilo sells at 20 rupees a kilo though, and that is the cost of transportation and the trader margin I suppose.

However the threat of change hangs heavy on the fields now. The Delhi Assembly is debating that all 'rural' land be now urbanized. Changed into concrete and mortar. The Delhi Development Authority is proposing channelising the river into a concrete drain and build on the land on either side of it. Land is priceless in Delhi and flowers redundant it seems. Already it is said that the Government has acquired several thousand acres of land from farmers near Jagatpur village. There are big plans afoot. The Flower Economy may soon be of the past!

The Flower Exchange

I have invited my friends to be part of the residency. If they let me shoot their sink that is. In exchange they receive a poster with this blogsite on it, so that they can visit the river with me. Many of them have never been on the river, infact would not even know how to get there! While flowers flow from the river to the city, wastewater flows from the city to the river.

Ebb and Flow

The place where we had the picnic earlier last week is now under water. There is no land visible, only water. Along with the ploughed furrows. Now rippling waters. What value is the 3 laks per acre land when it is underwater. Land has value only so long it it visible. Such is the nautre of the ebb and flow. Transience. "Its a gamble" says Pratap, who owns this fleeting land, with a smile. he has seen this too long and too often. Maybe that is why there is the basic life he leads along with his family in Jagatpur. Buffoloes for milk, land for fodder, and his own field's grain for food. Complete and independant, almost. Some would say nostalgic and anti-technology. However, this is where the debate starts. What is needed for human life, what we desire and finally what we live off. And then there is that strange phenomenon called 'death!' The beginning of all mystery, of religion, of the search for the elixir of life. Man, nature, live, death, the presence and absence of expereince.

Ofcourse it gets complicated. There should be no doubt. Jagatpur itself is divided into communities of Muslims, Valmiks, Gujjars, all even in this small space have neatly divided boundaries, probably with differing land holdings and number of buffaloes they own. The local economy is propably deeply divided along community lines and power structures. Any afternoon the women can be seen fetching and cutting fodder, cooking, transporting grain on their heads, while men play cards. They have already had a long day in the fields they would argue. Difficult to say wherein lies the truth. How does one then value the Rs 3 lakhs per acre value for land?

Look at the labour in the flower instead. Maybe see their sustainablity of the economy of flowers at 10 rupees a kilo. Scale seems to change many things.

Prewritten script?

Let us not, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expect, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which only too often cancel the first. The people, who, in Mesopotamia, Greece, Asia Minor and elsewhere, destroys the forest to obtain cultivable land, never dreamed that by removing along with the forests the collecting centre and reservoirs of moisture they were laying the basis for the present forlorn state of those countries. When the Italians of the Alps used up the pine forests on the southern slopes, so carefully cherished on the northern slopes, they had no inkling that by doing so that were cutting at the roots of the dairy industry of their region; they had still less inkling that they were thereby depriving their mountain springs of more furious torrents on the plains during the rainy season….Thus at every step we are reminded that we by no means rule over nature like a conqueror over a foreign people, like someone standing outside nature – but that we, with flesh, blood and brain, belong to nature, and exist in its midst, and that all our mastery of it consists in the fact that we have the advantage of all other creatures on being able to learn its laws and apply them correctly.

Nikolai Bukharin

News now!

Politicians have already expressed alarm over the snail-paced preparations for the 1.15-billion-dollar showcase which features former British colonies.

The government plans to build new flyovers to relieve crowded roads, renovate the airport, construct new stadia as well as the Games village that will be converted into a residential complex after the event.

The Urban Development Ministry has said that it has got an environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for building a Commonwealth Games Village near the Yamuna.The Games village, off NH-24, near Akshardham flyover, will be developed on 63.5 hectares and will house about 7,500 sportspersons and officials. UD ministry officials said they would consider making parking lots, media lounges etc temporary structures.

Environmentalists explain that construction on the river bed is inadvisable as the soil is sandy and has low carrying-capacity, a fault line runs through the area on a north-south axis and the area is prone to periodic floods. Further, covering the banks with impermeable concrete would threaten Delhi's largest groundwater recharge zone, they say. Construction would also lead to the channelling of the river, whereby its meandering course will be restricted by steep embankments. While channelling will make more space available for development and construction of the river banks, it will not do much for the river. "Channelling ensures that the amount of water allowed into the river shall never be increased. Any increase will result in the river flooding its embankments." A major reason why the Yamuna is so polluted is that there is not enough water flowing in the river through the Delhi stretch. Construction on the banks would make the river's rejuvenation close to impossible.

At Okhla, Jan 15th

The river has been fenced! All along the bank at Okhla, the site for two years of taking pictures of junk and junkmen, or cobblers and tailors, of fish and fishermen. Now fenced, while on the other side is 'project tiling' happening. In a few months, this has changed. In another few more will change, and then the pictures will have been of 'another time' though they are only months old. Land and its relationship with people on it is changing. Commercial values rule the roost. Where will all the flowers go?

Change is imminent. Of course. But on what terms? And at this pace? Unanchored self. Floating landscape.

The Flower Mandi at Fatehpuri, Jan 15th

Fathepuri even at 8 am is a flurry of activity. The day is already two hours old for the flower sellers, as they lay out their perishable wares in bundles of 10 kg each. 'From the river bank' they say of the Zafris I saw growing yesterday on the waters. The 'Gaindas' come later in April they confirm. "What you see here are not from Delhi but from UP." By 10 am they will be all gone, several tonnes of glorious sunlight yellow flowers, all without stalks and all used for making garlands, for decoration and for some type of auspicious festivity. I wonder how long back is that association, and how flowers came to be part of such events, especially these flowers. I promised myself that I would delve deeper into that question!

The Flower Fields, Jan 14th

Driving from Jagatpur to Palla, enroute are fields and fields of flowers. Looking like marigolds, and called 'Zafri' locally, they are not 'Gaindas' I was told. Gaindas only grow after April. But the flower fields mat the ground with vivid mustard and yellow. Each plant gives a new crop of flowers every ten days, when they are plucked and sold at ten rupees a kilo. Many people had queued up to buy sack fulls of flowers even as the women plucked them off the filed. I talked to them. Some would make garlands and sell them on roadside crossings. A common sight in Delhi. Bus and truck drivers buy them to adorn the bonnets and dashboards of their beasts of livelihood. Others sell them to temple go-wers, the garland with the largest flowers fetching upto five rupees each. Many came here each day to buy fresh flowers. What did not sell at the spot was sold at the Delhi 'mandi' at Fatehpuri.

However the women workers were worried. There was word going arond that the land would soon the aquired by the Govt. For what they asked? This is so beautiful and in any case it floods in the monsoon. Little did they guess that there was this land craze everywhere. Maybe the commonwealth games? I told them to enjoy and live off the land while they can, who knew about tomorrow these days? They were silent. I brought a couple of kilos of these glorious gifts of the river, and returned home, wondering about the future and the changing landscape. Sadly.

River Picnic, Jagatpur, January 9th, 2006

Pic Credits: Khoj/Uma Ray

After days of preparation, the picnic took place on the banks of the river near Jagatpur village. Atul and I had spent many days and evening setting it up, talking to the village elders, organising the food, talking to the boatmen etc. We did not want 50 'sheris' and many westerners to suddenly appear on the river, without warning. The village is a small place, and people misconstrue if not informed properly.

Khoj did the needful inviting and arranging of the transport. While I reached the spot earlier, with a car full of durries, sheets to sit on, packets of food etc. Atul accompanied the bus load of press people and artists who wanted to see a 'clean' part of the river. It was worth it. The river here is quite clean, since it is before it really enters the dense parts of the city and before the first of the 17 drains hit it. Also here the river is very broad, and curves in, giving the impression of almost a sea front. Today the day was cold, and foggy, but there were many birds - waders, ducks, and even some turns.

We had playfully labelled the water bottles with markings of the water pumps on the river and the paper tumblers with a 'warning message!'

A few hours, where the only dissapointment was the non-appearance of the fishermen with their boats (evidently they had gone fishing!), and much conversation and food later, the party slowly packed off and returned in batches. I too, finally loaded my car, and drove back home, releived that the event had gone off without mishap!

Locate the River

Can you locate the river on Google Maps? Try, it is great fun!

The Yamuna in Delhi

The Yamuna River, in northern India, forms one of the most important branches of the Ganges River. Yamuna is also one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Especially in New Delhi,the capital of India and the areas near it.

The Yamuna, which is sometimes called the Jumna River , rises in the Himalaya and flows southeastward for almost 900 miles (1,400 kilometers). It empties into the Ganges at the city of Allahabad. Two canals, one leading west and one leading east, irrigate about 12,000 square miles (31,100 square kilometers) of farmland in the river valley.

Though numerous attempts have been made to clean it, the efforts have proven to be futile. The main reasons for this is due to high density of population living in Delhi, the dumping of untreated water and solid waste into it (mostly illegally), the lax attitude of the government and mismanagement of projects focused at cleaning it. Also the water in this river remains stagnant for almost 9 months in a year aggravating the situation.

Water Quality
Water of the Yamuna river in the Capital is not fit for drinking even after treatment and disinfection, a classification report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said.
As per the CPCB’s best use classification, the quality of water in the river in the stretch between Wazirabad and Okhla was class E, which meant the water was only suitable for irrigation, industrial cooling and controlled waste disposal, the report said.
However, the quality of water as it entered the city at Palla till Wazirabad, from where industrial activity and dense settlements began, was classified C, indicating it was suitable for drinking after conventional treatment and disinfection.

Cleaning Efforts:
Delhi alone contributes around 3,296 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage in the river. The Govt. of India over the next five years has prepared plans to rebuild and repair the sewerage system and the drains that empty into the river. To arrest the river pollution, The Supreme Court of India has been forcing the cleaning of the river and consequently some measures have been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India (GOI) in 12 towns of Haryana, 8 towns of Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi under an action plan (Yamuna Action Plan-YAP I and II) which is being implemented since 1993 by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) participated in the Yamuna Action Plan Phase I in 15 of the above 21 towns (excluding 6 towns of Haryana included later on the direction of the honorable Supreme Court of India) with soft loan assistance of 17.773 billion Japanese Yen (equivalent to about Rs. 700 crore INR) while GOI provided the funds for the remaining 6 towns added later. The second phase of this program YAP II is now in progress from December 1, 2004 at a cost of Rs 624 crore, to augment sewage treatment capacity. However there is great skeptisicm about the utilsiation of the funds and the effectiveness of these measures.

Land use threats
Recently, owing to the Commonwealth games slated in 2010, there are new moves to ‘build’ on the river bed. These constructions include housing, stadiums, sports complexs, roads etc. Large scale demolitions have also taken place of people living on the river banks, and several thousand people have been dislocated. However the river bed is also the groundwater recharge zone of the city, and this activity of converting river bed land into commercial or institutional land is being opposed.

Economy:
The River bank is also a site for several types of livelihoods. Farmers cultivate vegetables, water melons, flowers, sugar cane and wheat here. Also sand from the bed is used for construction in the city, besides boatmen, fisherfolk, pujaris, water carriers also using the river for their livelihoods.

Topography:
Keeping in view the topography, Yamuna catchments upto Delhi is divided in two parts - (1) The upper catchment from source in Himalayas to Kalanaur in Haryana - which com[rises parts of Himachal Pradesh and hills of West Uttar Pradesh and (2) the lower catchment from Kalanaur to odl Delhi rail bridge which consists of West Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

River Yamuna enters Delhi from the northeast near Palla at an altitude of 210.3 meters and after traverse of about 40km. it leaves Delhi at an altitude of 198.12 m near Jaitpur in the Souht. The width of the riverbed varied from 1.5 to 2.0km. in its flow from Wazirabad barrage, a network of seventeen drains joins the river on the West bank during its traverse in the northern parts of the city. Najafgarh and Alipur drains, due to heavy discharge from Sahibi river, inundate a number of villages in Nazafargarh block causing heavy damage to life and property. There was, however, little effect of it in Yamuna river flow. Only one drain joins on the East bank near the old rail bridge.

The flow of Yamuna within Delhi is by and large influenced by discharge from Tajewala Headwork 240 kms upstream. In the event of heavy rain in the catchment area excess water is released from Tajewala. Depending upon the river flow level down stream, it takes about 48 hours for Yamuna level in Delhi to rise. The rise in water level also causes backflow effect on the city's drains. The city also experiences floods due to its network of 18 major drains having catchment areas extending beyond the city's limits.

Flood vulnerability
The city has been experiencing floods of various magnitudes in the past due to floods in the Yamuna and the Najafgarh Drain system. The Yamuna crossed its danger level (fixed at 204.83m) twenty five times during the last 33 years (table 3.1). Since 1900, Delhi has experienced six major floods in the years 1924, 1947, 1976, 1978, 1988 and 1995 when peak level of Yamuna river was one meter or more above danger level of 204.49m at old rail bridge (2.66m above the danger level) occurred on sixth September 1978. The second record peak of 206.92m was on twenty seventh September 1988.

In the recent part, the city experienced high magnitude floods in 1977, 1978, 1988 and 1995, causing misery and loss of life and property to the residents of the city. In Delhi Environment Status Report: WWF for Nature-India (1995), it has been pointed out that since 1978, the flood threat to Delhi has increased. In 1980, a discharge of 2.75 lakh causes at Tajewala resulted in flood level of 212.15 meters at the bund near Palla village in Delhi.

(references: Toxics Link information, New Delhi, , paper by Taranjot Kaur Gadhok, HSMI (HUSDCO), New Delhi, YAP webiste, Tribune news reports, TERI reports, CSE reports)

Alien Waters

The river.
The river is in the city’s margins. It is very dirty, filthy. The city does not need it any more. Its future is pre-configured, the river is ‘dead.’ It will now be cleaned but not like a life giving artery, but a sparkling necklace, adorning a new globality of the city. There was a time when the river was its ecology as the city and the river shaped each other. Now the relationship is only with land, which the river holds in its belly. Violent. Thousands of poor are thrown out, for the new stadiums, temples, bridges and pathways their futures uncertain. Death, the predominant Hindu relationship to life in the cycle of rebirth has a timeless resonance as ashes are immersed in the waters. But what will the rebirth be?

The self.
The self, seeking to recover a relationship in the new alienation as the river becomes a muse and metaphor for a search, within and without. The first bird I saw on the riverbank thirty years ago came back and changed my life as I attempted to regain a personal ecology as a photographer/activist. My organic body now extended by the inorganic body of the city. The river is alive, throbbing in my veins resonating unresolved questions of spirit and sense. The engagement with the triad of the self, the city and the river, becomes a reclamation of the self. I photograph even as I experience other human abandonment. I go back, again and again, endlessly, searching.