I was in Kathmandu last week. An interesting time to be in Nepal as a political observer, watching the Jhalanath Khanal-led government run out of time to cobble together a coalition. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there as a political observer. My task was to meet with the top brass in the government’s Education department. And to try to figure out if an environment programme that has managed to excite and engage school students in India, would work its magic in Nepal, too.
Community Support Programme is a programme with a vision to help various communities in the country who request CSE for technical support. It aims at those communities which do not have access to such technical support and have issues pertaining to environment in their vicinity. The thought behind this programme is that community can best explain its problem, as they are the most vulnerable group of people who bear the repercussions of the harm done to environment. They also do not have any support, due to lack of funds and knowledge, in order to save themselves from the catastrophe caused by mankind. In such cases if any community or a representative approaches CSE, we provide them with proper technical guidance in order to curb further harm to the community that is being done by human activity and environmental consequences of the same.
Note by the Centre for Science and Environment, based on extensive research published in its book, Rich Lands, Poor People: is ‘sustainable mining possible? August 2010
Critiques industry’s reported reticence in sharing its profits with project-affected people. • New Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says the provision of benefit-sharing envisioned in the proposed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2010 is the “first step towards repairing and repaying the damages done to poor communities living on mineral-rich lands”