Dr. Balaji Srinivasagopalan is the Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu. As the Director of Environment, he was instrumental in launching of the National Green Corps (NGC) in Tamil Nadu Schools and implementation of CRZ regulations in coastal areas of the state. He led Care Earth’s research team that worked to augment green cover in Greater Chennai Corporation.

Dr. Balaji is currently the FAO, Rome’s Regional Forestry Expert and, Chairman, ABS Committee of the National Biodiversity Authority, Government of India. He also serves as Care Earth Trust’s Scientific Advisor. He guides the Trust’s efforts to reconcile conservation and livelihood issues in the Moyar Landscape, specifically working to support enterprises in Sathyamangalam.

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Balaji Srinivasagopalan IFS talks with Marie Banu about the impact of COVID-19 on biodiversity.

About your interest in IFS and interesting postings?

I belong to the 1981 batch of Indian Forest Service (IFS). I had interest in greenery and plants during my childhood and then pursued my masters in Botany. Before joining the service, I was not very much aware of the variety of work the Indian Forest Service offers, but and after my exposure to diverse forests in East India, North India, South India, and J&K during training, I found it to be an amazing career. Looking back, I have put in more than 35 years of service with satisfaction and a sense of achievement. I always cherish memories of working in the beautiful district of The Nilgiris, as the District Forest Officer (DFO) initially and later as the Managing Director of TANTEA, the largest public sector tea company in Coonoor providing decent livelihood for about 5000 Sri Lankan repatriates. One of my challenging assignments was as the DFO Sathyamangalam when we had to encounter the elusive sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan.

Can you tell us about your tenure in Satyamangalam?

I served as the DFO Sathyamangalam during 1987-90. Forests of Kollegal and Chamrajnagar forest divisions on Karnataka and Sathyamangalam, Erode and Dharmapuri divisions on Tamil Nadu side are inter connected. Veerapan was familiar with interior forest routes over 25 Square Km in this stretch and had access to the tribal hamlets. One of my able Range officers, V.Chidambaram was shot dead by Veerappan on July14,1987.

From then on, we were chasing Veerapan. I had an excellent forest striking force lead by a committed Forest Range officer C Badrasamy. In one such encounters our team seized a record quantity of 17 tonnes of sandalwood at Makkampalayam. It was a challenging period for our team, but our staff was motivated and we dealt with the situation quite well. Veerapan was elusive but due to our vigilance he didn’t venture again into Sathyamangalam division during my tenure.

Your experience with Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) and your research work?

I was Dean (Forestry) in Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore from 1995 to 2000. This was also one of the most rewarding periods as I completed my PhD under the most distinguished father of green revolution, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan.  During my tenure, the Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam did exceedingly well in education and research and attained numero uno position among forest colleges in the country.

I am proud to say that over 60 of my students got in IFS during this period and serving different states with distinction. I had an excellent team of Scientists involved in 32 national and international research projects. My Thesis was on the impact of people’s participation in enhancing the Biodiversity of forests in terms of flora, birds and butterflies.  My findings were later published as a book in 2003 titled ‘Joint Forest Management for Biodiversity enhancement’.

Later in 2010, when I became the Chief Conservator of Forests and Project Director of Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project, I ensured that such biodiversity monitoring was undertaken in project sites.

Has biodiversity gained positive impact due to COVID-19?

Yes. There is some improvement due to COVID-19 lockdown. Perhaps this will give us a bench mark on the level of water and air quality that could be attained, when there is no human interference. The air quality has now improved substantially across the globe – in Wuhan and also in Delhi. This is because there was no traffic, no industrial activity and no smoke from the agricultural fields. Delhi air is cleaner with 80% reduction of its normal pollution level before lockdown as per the data available.

In Chennai, the air quality shows improvement with less SPM (suspended particulate matter) and oxides of Nitrogen levels. The COVID-19 lockdown period has given a respite to people living in T Nagar, Royapuram and Tondiarpet areas from usual air and noise pollution. The Adyar and Cooum rivers as well as the beaches have also turned cleaner. We should bear in our mind to keep our neighbourhood clean and desist from polluting our waterbodies.

After all, the human beings are the main culprits in polluting the environment. When their movement is not there, the nature is able to heal itself and looks much healthier and happier.

What are the challenges you think would remain post COVID-19?

There are challenges in all sectors – social, economic and environment. It may take some time to get back to normalcy – could be six months to one year or more. In our urge to speed up economic growth, we should not adopt methods that will pollute the environment. Industries especially thermal power plants and Cement industries to reduce their carbon emission and adopt much more cleaner processes. Tamil Nadu is a leader in both wind as well as solar energy. We produce more than 8,500 megawatt of power and we can feel proud that 50 percent of our energy requirement at present is met through wind and solar power. This augurs well for environment and should be further augmented.  

Economy will develop after this recession. Post COVID-19, development may focus on job led growth in areas such as organic agriculture, value addition of agriculture and forestry products, promoting MSME, scaling up service industries in tier II cities, infrastructure development and Real estate development. GDP is important but it is not the only thing. Sustainable development should be our approach, and it should lead to better livelihoods for people. We need to grow, but not at the cost of sustainable development. As you know, economic growth and development are not one and the same. Development takes into account the social consideration and equity aspect.  We need development that is equitable and sustainable. In this way, we will grow without compromising the ability of the future generations to grow.

What are your suggestions for people post COVID-19?

Every one of us should have environmental consciousness and reduce our carbon footprint. At individual level, we should reduce consumption and follow our ancient wisdom of reuse and recycle so that Earth’s resources are optimally utilized. We should also be conscious of energy consumption in our homes.  We can reduce energy consumption by choosing energy efficient equipment and solar water heaters. This will bring down our individual electricity bill and prove to be good for the country and environment.

Similarly, I would consider mainstreaming environmental considerations in industries, transportation, and real estate to reduce their carbon foot print as this is essential for the post COVID-19 sustainable economic development.

 In our anxiety to develop fast we should not sacrifice our environment. Let us green our mind before greening our land. As COVID-19 lockdown has seriously impacted poorer sections of the society, any development initiative aimed at coming out of this recession should be equitable and environmentally sustainable.

What Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1944 is relevant even today: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”