Summary of The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement’s Role
The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement’s Role is an article written by famous Indian jurist Nani Palkhivala. It was published in The Indian Express on 24th November 1994. He proposes sustainable development as a permanent means of development to curb the side effects of rapid industrialisation and ruthless exploitation of natural resources. He starts the article by addressing the evolution of the Green movement and how it has succeeded in awakening an environment-friendly conscience in us. He also suggests some major changes to be inculcated in our present administrative and social practices, like adherence to laws related to the conservation of natural resources and voluntary family planning for controlling population growth. He calls these practices essential for a country like India, which is struggling with issues like poverty. The Ailing Planet Class 11 Summary given below will give a clear idea about the article. Visit BYJU’S CBSE Summary for more summaries of Class 11 CBSE English lessons. Students can also go to CBSE Notes for access to notes and learning materials based on Class 11 CBSE English syllabus.
CBSE Class 11 English The Ailing Planet Summary
Nani Palkhivala compares the Green Movement to an extraordinary revolutionary concept that captured the imagination of human beings quickly and entirely. It started more than twenty-five years ago, in 1972, when the first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Humans have adopted a more holistic and ecologically sensitive perspective of the world, abandoning the narrow mechanical view of the previous centuries. The author calls this a change as big as Copernicus’ discovery that the planets, including the earth, actually revolved around the sun.
This consciousness helps us to view the world as an enormous living organism that has metabolic needs and vital life processes. We are like the parts of this being. The earth’s vital signs show the earth as a patient whose health is declining. With the initiative of the Green movement, a number of reformative elements showed up – like the concept of sustainable development that talks about meeting present needs without compromising the needs of future generations.
To remind us of the damages inflicted by human activities on the environment, Nani cites an example of a cage in a zoo in Zambia. A notice placed before it reads ‘world’s most dangerous animal’. Placed inside it is a mirror in which we can see ourselves! He says that man shares the planet with other 1.4 million living species. Apart from these, the author also states that there might be another three to hundred million unnamed living species on earth. He discusses the roles of famous personalities in awakening our consciousness towards the preservation of the environment. Mr L.K. Jha – a renowned Indian member of the Brandt commission, which dealt with ecological issues – had questioned the indifference of the present generation towards environmental issues. The First Brandt report warned that future generations might have to deal with a scorched planet full of deserts.
Mr Lester Brown pointed out in his book The Global Economic Prospect that fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands form the foundation of the global economic system. Human needs and demands impose ungrateful claims on these areas that not only lead to the depletion of these systems but also endanger the various living species that are part of these habitats. The author quotes Dr Meyers, who claimed that the tropical forest is the powerhouse of evolution, to condemn the rapid extinction of several living species.
On the topic of forest depletion, the author provides an alarming figure – forty to fifty million acres of forest land is lost every year. The World Bank had estimated that there is a need for a five-fold increase in the rate of forest planting to cope with the expected fuelwood demand in 2000. Nani Palkhivala now comes to the reasons behind these horrific outcomes in the environment with respect to India. He points out that laws are never respected in India. Even though Article 48A of the Constitution of India mandates the protection and improvement of forests and wildlife, a recent report by the Parliament Estimates Committee presented forest depletion in our country happening at an alarming rate of 3.7 million acres a year. But, the actual loss of forests has been found to be eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.
The author points out that another reason for the environmental tragedies around us is population growth. He presents a brief account of exponential growth in population – the present rate of increase being one million people per day. Nani calls education the best contraceptive as it leads to a fall in fertility with a rise in incomes. Education also leads to improvement in health. He claims that humans cannot be simply sterilised like cattle to lessen the growth, but a certain element of coercion is necessary to regularise voluntary family planning. The population of India, as estimated in 1994, was 920 million, which was equal to the combined population of Africa and South America at that time. The author cites this reference to argue that people in India will die if population control is not given top priority.
The author seems to notice a keen interest in promoting the survival of not only people but also the planet on which they live for the first time in history. He reckons this new vision to bring in the Era of Responsibility – looking at the world as an integral whole rather than as a collection of dissociated parts. He concludes the chapter by quoting Mr Edgar S. Woolward, who took responsibility for excellent environmental performance as a leading manufacturer in the industry. During her tenure as the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher said that no generation had a freehold on this earth. Lester Brown had recognised the world as a place borrowed by us from our children and not as a legacy of our forefathers.
Conclusion of The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement’s Role
The Ailing Planet Class 11 Summary is an eye-opener to the ecological tragedies taking place as a result of a thriving economic system. It introduces the Green movement as an essential mode of reform for all living species. It is not only aimed at sustaining humans comfortably on earth but also at preserving non-human life forms and giving them a safe and secure place to live in. We should look at our planet as a living being, and realize all living beings on earth play an important role in regulating its physiology. It is our responsibility as the more intelligent species to limit our demands and create a world that supports sustainable development in the long term.
Understanding the deeper meanings involved in a piece of writing is very important to have a good grasp of literature. Students can find other articles and materials related to CBSE English for better command over the syllabus. They can also find other related topics like grammar and writing on BYJU’S website.
