A Message Of Hope

India has ruined her cities and towns through unplanned development and proliferating slums, caused by mass migration from the villages. The countryside also has been systematically denuded of its forest cover and this together with un-sustainable farming practices has exhausted the groundwater.

There is however still hope left in some of us who are clear about the possibilities for a sustainable future.

The following are the main environment related ideas which the Nataraja foundation subscribes to. All the work that we do . either on our own projects or for Indian Government agencies / NGO’s seek to promote these ideas through specific projects :

1. Main Energy Sector Ideas:

• India can lead the world in clean energy if we seek an answer to the question “How do we transition India from a 400 Million Middle class to a 600Million Middle class without ruining the environment ?“.

• The new Energy Industry will evolve independent of the Refining and upstream industry and this will happen sooner than anyone expects, driven in the main by the integration of VLSI technologies and Energy. Please click on “ The Technology Velocity Concept in Clean Energy project Design “ to view a presentation that brings out these ideas.

2. Rural & Small Town Housing and Architecture:

• The rural and small town economy, where 66 % of India resides can be transformed through low cost , yet extremely elegant architecture. To give this process a huge push the Nataraja Foundation has designed “ The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject “. This large project will, when fully commissioned in 2020 , add a rupee equivalent of US $ 400 Billion to the rural Indian economy, where 80 % of the 30,000 New schools will be built. The project is currently under consideration of the Indian Government.

• The Training of Rural masons and imparting to them skills in low energy construction materials and vernacular architecture has the capacity to transform the way our people live in the villages. The Nataraja foundation will be executing a small pilot project to provide proof of concept. We have already started the land acquisition process in this regard.

3. Restoration of Ecosystems in Rural Areas and Forests:

   • Un-sustainable agricultural techniques and wasteful use of electric pumps has resulted in water tables falling from 150 feet to over 900 feet over large parts of rural India. We therefore urgently need to go in for rainwater harvesting on a truly massive scale.

   • It is possible to revive public interest in restoration of tree cover by spreading awareness about the economic benefits of restoring tree cover. The Nataraja foundation has a few innovative schemes under the PPP route to involve local village communities in large plantation and afforestation initiatives. We also plan to introduce exotic varieties of flora into the environment.

   • A number of species on the endangered list can be revived through innovative programmes aimed at re-introducing selected species into the environment. The Nataraja foundation is in talks with environmental groups with the objective of aiding the spread of certain species within environments to which they were previously native.