Poovulagin Nanbargal

Poovulagin Nanbargal (Friends of the Earth) is an environmental organisation based in Tamil Nadu, India.[1] It spearheaded a legal battle against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.[2]

History

Poovulagin Nanbargal started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in the late 1980s, by the Indian Overseas Bank employee Nedunchezhiyan. He was associated with the Amnesty International India.[3] The organisation introduced literature related to environmentalism to the Tamil language. Nedunchezhiyan died in 2006[3] at the age of 48.[4] After his demise, the organisation stopped its activities. In 2008, nine men, including IT engineer G. Sundarrajan and Siddha medicine practitioner G. Sivaraman, regrouped the organisation.[1] When the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) started protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Poovulagin Nanbargal gave legal support to the PMANE.[2] To govern its activities, Poovulagin Nanbargal was registered as a public trust.[5]

Publication

Poovulagin Nanbargal has published articles about ecology, as well as about the Green Revolution in India and its impact on agriculture.[1] In the early 1990s, when India liberalised its economy, the organisation issued pamphlets about the effect of globalization.[3] It has translated environment-related books, including Japanese agriculturist Masanobu Fukuoka's The One-Straw Revolution[1] and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.[3] It has also translated works of Vandana Shiva and Sandra Postel into Tamil.[3]

The organisation publishes a bimonthly environmental magazine called Poovulagu[1] and a children's magazine called Minmini.[6]

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Poovulagin Nanbargal filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court in October 2011 to stop the commission of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.[7] In August 2012, the court accepted the Nuclear Power Corporation of India's assurance on safety of the plant and dismissed the petition. Poovulagin Nanbargal appealed to the Supreme Court of India, but the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court in May 2013.[8][7]

The organisation also filed PILs against the government to stop projects such as the Chennai-Salem Expressway[9] and Neutrino Observatory.[10] It opposed the extraction of hydrocarbon in Neduvasal.[11][12]

Festivals

Every year, the organisation conducts a day-long conference with a millet food festival. In 2012, it conducted Aindhinai Vizha (festival of five landscape), where scholars spoke about the present environmental impact on the Sangam landscape.[1] In 2013, Muneer Vizhavu (festival of water) talked about conservation of water.[1] In 2014, Aimbootham Vizha (festival of five elements) celebrated classical elements as mentioned in the Sangam literature.[13] In 2015, the Pozhuthugal Aaru (six seasons) conference talked about the six seasons in the Tamil calendar.[14]

References
  1. Kannadasan, Akila (8 April 2013). "A network for Nature". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. "Anti-Kudankulam activists to raise protest to next level". The Hindu. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. "பசுமை இலக்கிய முன்னோடிகள்". The Hindu (Tamil) (in Tamil). 22 April 2017.
  4. "'பூவுலகின் நண்பர்' நெடுஞ்செழியன்". Keetru.com. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. "PIL in Madras HC for quashing govt order". Outlook. 4 August 2017.
  6. "To light a spark". The Hindu. 3 October 2016.
  7. "Supreme Court allows commissioning of Kudankulam nuclear power plant". The Telegraph. 6 May 2013.
  8. "Supreme Court moved against HC order on green signal to Kudankulam Nulcear Power Plant". Business Today. 22 September 2012.
  9. "Farmer moves Madras HC against Chennai-Salem expressway". Deccan Chronicle. 5 July 2018.
  10. "NGO challenges green clearance to neutrino project in TN". Deccan Herald. 23 April 2018.
  11. "Political heat rising against Pudukai hydrocarbon project". dtNext.in. 26 February 2017.
  12. "Neduvasal contractor spills shale gas, methane beans - The New Indian Express". www.newindianexpress.com.
  13. "Celebrating the five elements". The Hindu. 3 February 2014.
  14. "பொழுதுகள் ஆறு!". Vikatan. 11 March 2015.
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