The death of an elephant in her prime after she had consumed plastic garbage, has shocked the country. Authorities must regulate and wherever possible ban the wasteful use of plastics. People must learn to be responsible and not litter wildlife regions with waste
A poignant photograph that appeared in some newspapers recently was that of a young calf, her tiny trunk gently probing an elephant — her mother, lying prone on the ground, urging her to get up. But the mother, an elephant in her prime, is in no position to respond. She is dead — killed by ingesting plastic garbage. This tragedy occurred in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The post-mortem revealed huge piles of waste — including polythene bags, aluminum foil and wrappers in her abdomen, in all probability from litter left behind by pilgrims during the recently concluded two-month long Sabarimala pilgrimage. The elephant succumbed, after prolonged suffering, to constipation and intestinal blockage. She could not digest the plastic in her intestine, nor take any food…and met a slow, painful death by starvation.
This incident raises two issues: That of religious sites and gatherings within our ‘protected areas’, and the tremendous, fatal impacts of litter, particularly plastic, on wildlife.
Many of our ‘protected areas’ and other wildlife habitats have places of worship within them and millions of pilgrims trample over the last of our pristine forests every year. laws don’t permit such unrestricted access in reserves, but who is to stop, monitor or regulate the pious as they throng our forests and may lop firewood, cook, camp, litter, defecate desecrating and disturbing prime wildlife habitats. Cooking or carelessly dropped matches may cause forests fires that can quickly spread and destroy swathes of forest. Poachers and timber smugglers too are also known to use these opportunities to gain access to remote habitats. With the increase in pilgrim traffic, the number of vehicles peaks, at times causing fatal accidents to wild animals. In seasons like summer, sudden influx of people in large hordes restricts access of wild animals to scarce waterholes and important feeding sites. The onus of managing such crowds usually falls on the short-staffed Forest Department causing crucial activities such as protection to get neglected at a time when the reserve is very vulnerable. let’s examine one or two cases, to understand the impacts.
An ancient Shiva temple at Srisailam within the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve is visited by several lakh pilgrims every year. This peaks during Maha Shivaratri and Ugaadi in the months of February and March causing heavy traffic on the road to Srisailam. The road cuts through prime tiger habitat and the presence of breeding tigresses has been documented close to it. Though traffic is banned between 9 pm to 6 am and speed-breakers slow down vehicles, there is constant pressure to remove the speed breakers and ease the night traffic ban. Also, it has been proposed to expand the road into a four lane highway, the impacts of which will be disastrous.
Another example is the proposed ropeway over Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary to connect the temples on Mount Girnar in Junagadh, Gujarat. The ropeway would have drilled through the nesting site — the only site in the State that has recorded a recovery of the critically endangered long-billed vultures that have shown a steep decline of over 97 per cent in recent times. The proposal has currently been halted on grounds of the threat to endangered wildlife.
The issue is sensitive, as it concerns religious sentiments. It is complex, for as a society we revere nature and all forms of life. Indeed it is this sentiment that has played a key role in conserving wildlife in India. It may be argued too, and rightly so, that the temples have existed before the forests acquired legal cover, but the problem is that shrinking forests and booming human populations have titled the scales and the temples are no longer small shrines but expanding structures, at times the centre of a thriving local economy around them.
This is not meant to be disrespectful to any religion, nor mock or undermine faith. But the fact of the matter is, that unfortunately, most of our pilgrim towns are overrun with filth, scarred by haphazard construction where safety takes a backseat, sometimes with disastrous consequences — as witnessed in the Badrinath tragedy. Holy rivers have been reduced to gutters, and forests with ancient temples that were once pristine, are buried under litter. The gods are sacred, but so are the rivers and forests that surround the shrine. Their sanctity demands respect.
let’s look now at the impact of garbage on wildlife: The impacts of plastic waste on marine life are well documented. Simply put, the ocean is the world’s garbage dump. A conservative estimate indicates that the oceans contain 157.5 million tons of plastic, 80 per cent of which is dumped from land, and the rest off ships, rigs etc. Plastic usually breaks down into smaller pieces, and mimics the prey of several marine species, causing them to ingest it till it blocks their digestion, causing slow death by starvation. Sea creatures get entangled in plastic and may get choked or suffocated. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, over one million seabirds and 1,00,000 marine mammals and turtles are killed as a result of plastic ingestion or entanglement. let me narrate the story of a sperm whale that was washed up on Spain’s southern coast last March. A post-mortem showed a stomach full of plastic waste: 40 pounds of 59 different kind of plastic items, including transparent sheets, polythene bags, rope, hosepipes, flower pots, spray canisters, etc. It died…killed by the plastic that block its intestines,
The situation off the Indian coast is no better. The Hindu on February 8 carried reports of a green sea turtle trapped in a plastic mesh of nets, bags and other debris near the Valiathura sea pier, which was rescued, and released by researchers from the Valiathura-based Friends of Marine life. However, the report goes on to cite fishermen who say that “more than fish, it’s plastic that gets caught in our nets.”
India generates, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, 56 lakh tonnes of plastic waste annually. At best, about 40 per cent of this is recycled. The rest is largely uncollected and remains littered, finding it in landfills, dumped conveniently away from urban sight in ‘remote’ villages, forests, rivers or seas. Most of the plastic is generated, of course, from urban centers.
That plastics kills domestic animals, is well recorded, it has sullied rivers, seas, soils, forests, risking all life forms. Toxins from plastics have entered the food chain, threatening human health.
Can we, or the planet, really afford thisIJ It’s time for us to get serious about moving beyond plastics, particularly in packaging products. Biodegradable alternatives to plastics exist in virtually every form of their usage. It isn’t just banning and regulation of wasteful use that are the need of the hour — these exist on paper in some parts of India, their implementation questionable — it’s time for us as a society to stem our dependence on it.
(The writer is trustee, ‘Bagh’ and a former member of the National Board for Wildlife)