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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been...

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been reduced to an annual ritual of tree-planting drives and clicking selfies for social media, though 90 pc of the saplings don’t survive even a day. “Only the government knows where those trees really are,” said Raj sternly. He recalled a "Blueprint of Maharashtra’s Development" he had proposed in 2015, in which he advocated how development without environmental sensitivity is hollow. Justifying, he said that the consequences are visible where roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are hailed as achievements, but even a short spell of rainfall can paralyze entire cities. Referring to recent reports on farmers returning from the fields after 10 am due to the scorching heat, Raj said that the worsening climate crisis has become an everyday reality. Citing official statistics, Raj claimed that extreme heat has caused productivity losses of nearly USD 159 billion and slashing of 160 billion work-hours annually in recent years. He mentioned the World Bank estimates that India’s GDP could plummet by 2.5-4.5 pc while 57 pc of the country’s districts sheltering 76 pc of the population stare at serious climate-related crises. Taking a swipe, he said while the governments boast about growth figures and economical rankings, they are silent on the staggering costs of environmental destruction. He questioned the development model “whether flooded cities, washed-away crops and unbearable summers” genuinely indicate progress. Claiming that Maharashtra was increasingly becoming unliveable for upto 8 months in a year, he said excessive monsoon rains disrupt rural life and urban floods cripple cities, while extreme heat make normal life a torture in summers in both urban-rural areas. Targeting the Centre, Raj alleged that nearly 173,984 hectares of forest lands were diverted in the past 11 years for mining and infrastructure projects to benefit the PM’s single favourite Adani Group. He said that these lands amount to 1,730 sqkm, or equivalent to the area of 16 Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that is spread over barely 104 sqkm. Dissolve state wildlife board: Aaditya Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has accused the Maharashtra government for issuing a permit to carry out mining activity in the sensitive tiger corridor between the Tadoba-Andhari and Indravati sanctuaries housing the big striped cats. In a strongly-worded letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member-Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Thackeray sought his immediate personal intervention, sacking the Maharashtra State Board for Wild-Life (SBWL), revoking the permit, and probe against the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) M. Srinivasa Reddy for the alleged lacunae. Aditya’s two-pager says the permit has been granted for “scientific exploration and excavation/systematic recovery of low-grade iron ore in existing mines in villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round Parsalgondi, in the Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli district”. Last January, Aditya – MLA from Worli – had first raised the issue saying that the proposed mine would create only 120 jobs, including 32 permanent, and the estimated output is pegged at 1.1 million tons in a year. Referring to two letters of Reddy – on April 28 and May 21 – the SS (UBT) leader claimed that in communications to the state government, the PCCF had changed his stance on the issue. Aditya said that in the first letter, Reddy had effectively opposed the government plans for mining activity but in the second letter, he took a somersault, ostensibly due to government pressures or some commercial interests, “the U-turn is disgraceful and detrimental to India’s national interest” – and this abrupt shift in stance must be investigated thoroughly. In view of the contrary stance of the PCCF Reddy, entrusted with protecting the wildlife but failing to defend the NTCA and NBWL, point to serious malfunctioning of the SBWL, and hence it must be dissolved, besides reviewing all its decisions in the past three years, particularly those pertaining to hazardous activities in sensitive areas, demanded Aditya. 444 tigers roam in 11,000 sq.km As per the Status of Tiger Report (2002), and the Maharashtra Economic Survey 2025-2026, the state boasts of 444 tigers prowling in the wild along with other menacing creatures. The state’s total protected wildlife network of 88 Notified Areas of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves - including 6 dedicated to the striped big cats – is spread over 11,092 sq. kms as per current data.

Signal Failure

India’s space programme has long thrived on a careful blend of ambition and thrift. It has sent probes to Mars on a shoestring, soft-landed on the Moon, and readied astronauts for orbit. Yet prestige projects can sometimes cast long shadows. The recent failure of the last operational atomic clock aboard IRNSS-1F, a satellite in India’s homegrown navigation system, has exposed a sobering reality: when it comes to strategic infrastructure, India cannot afford such lapses.


The Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system was born of necessity. During the 1999 Kargil War, the United States had declined to share critical GPS data with India. The lesson was stark. A sovereign nation, particularly one with fraught borders, cannot depend on foreign systems for military navigation. NavIC was meant to correct that vulnerability. It was an indigenous alternative offering both civilian and encrypted military signals with far greater accuracy for strategic use.


Today, that promise looks fragile. With IRNSS-1F’s atomic clocks all defunct, only three satellites in the constellation remain capable of providing navigation services. That is below the minimum threshold required for a fully functional system. Atomic clocks are the beating heart of satellite navigation, enabling the precise timing that determines position. Their repeated failure across the first-generation satellites raises uncomfortable questions about design resilience, testing protocols and long-term maintenance.


Modern armed forces depend heavily on satellite navigation for logistics, targeting, troop movement and synchronised operations. In peacetime, foreign systems such as GPS may suffice. In wartime, they are liabilities. Signals can be degraded, denied or spoofed. A military that cannot fully trust its positioning data is one operating with a lethal handicap.


India’s efforts to rectify these gaps have been uneven. The failed attempt to replace IRNSS-1A with IRNSS-1H in 2017 was an early warning. The second-generation NVS series was meant to stabilise the constellation, but progress has faltered here too. While NVS-01 was successfully launched, the failure of NVS-02 in 2025 has delayed subsequent missions. The result is a thinning constellation struggling to meet even baseline requirements.


All this might have been mitigated with sharper prioritisation. Instead, attention has drifted toward headline-grabbing missions like the human spaceflight under Gaganyaan, and participation in international ventures such as Axiom Mission 4. While these are worthy achievements that signal technological prowess and bolster national pride, they do not substitute for the quiet, unglamorous work of maintaining critical strategic systems.


Space programmes, like defence budgets, must be guided by hierarchy of needs. Strategic autonomy should come first while political optics, however tempting, must come last.


While setbacks are inevitable in complex technological endeavours, the difference lies in how those failures are addressed. We must do a candid reassessment of our programme management.


NavIC was conceived as a shield against strategic vulnerability. Allowing it to atrophy would defeat its very purpose. India has shown it can reach the stars. It must now ensure that, closer to Earth, its foundations do not falter. 


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