& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Fragile Islands of Maldives

by Mary Lynn Hanley
kilometre tn length
Balmy temperatures, crystal clear water* and pristine sandy beaches ringed by tall coconut palms have made Maldives an increasingly popular tourist haven. So far the government has turned 50 uninhabited Islands Into resorts, separating vacationer* from the general population, which i* Sunni Moslem and of mixed Sinhalese. Indian and Arab stock.
The annual number of vl«l tors ha* reached 200.000 They bring in 880 million in foreign exchange, though much of this goes out again due to the need to Import most of what the tourists require.
There is no acute poverty here", says Mohammed Faras-huddin. UNDP resident representative. "People have their basic minimum requirements" Over 90 per cent of minimum daily calorie intake is met. The adult functional literacy rate is over 95 per cent. Communications are well developed with inhabited island linked by high frequency telephone or radio facilities.
Transport is more of a problem. "Dhoanls". the traditional boats used for fishing and transporting people and goods, regularly travel back and forth among the Islands. Most are privately owned.
Only a few arc mechanized, however, and a trip from Male to some of the inhabited southern islands can easily take five days.
Despite recent advances. Maldives remains one of the countries the UN classifies as "least developed". Yearly per capita income in Male is 81,100. but only 8400 In the outer atolls. At least 90 per cent of the goods consumed are imported, as well as all capital goods.
Apart from a few garment factories tn the south there ts virtually no manufacturing. The only indigenous activities are fishing, agriculture, and cottage industries. There is also an acute shortage of skilled labour, requiring the use of many foreign workers. Nearly 50 per cent of the population is under 15 years of age.
As it is growing at the rate of 3.7 per cent yearly, the number of Maldivians could double within the next 20 years.
Keeping the environment intact for the coming genera Hons is the challenge the gov ernment 1* squarely confronting. "In some of the pro-Ets we have undertaken we ve not been very careful about the environment." says Mr. Soblr. "Sometimes we have been breaking up our reefs and using the coral for building purposes.
"We are now identifying areas where people should not be- taking coral." The reef* provide a home for ball fish and protect islands from waves. Once mined for constructing houses and sea walls, coral takes many years to grow back.
"We also have guidelines on
Atorge Imposing monu ment sits tn the middle of a square "on the island of Male, the capital of Maldives.
It is not a statue of the founder of the country, nor a military hero on horseback Rather, it is the Itkeness of a large tetrapod, or four-pronged butldlng block — the kind used to construct the sea wall which shields the island from the surrounding Indian Ocean.
For Maldives, the oceans Is the greatest threat as well as its greatest asset It provides a basis for the thriving tourist industry, now the largest earner of foreign exchange, a* well as the fish and seafood which sustain the population and constitute the main export. But the water* also hold an ever-present danger
People still talk about the giant waves which engulfed Male In 1987. flooding two-thirds of the capital and causing more than US 840 million worth of damage. Severe storms hit the Islands again this June, rendering 10 per cent of the nation homeless and inflicting damages estimated at 8 30 million.
An even greater catastrophe may be tn the offing for the low-lying archipelago if the worst case global warming scenario comes to pass. Some scientists predict that warmer temperatures could cause ocean levels to rise, since molecule* In warmer water expand and icebergs could melt.
Il this happened, as most of the islands of the Maldives rise only one or two metres above sea level, the country could disappear entirely within the next hundred years
"Some people have asked whether we arc making plans to move our entire population,' says Hassan Soblr, Deputy Minister of Planning and Environment. That is something that we do not look forward to." While international specialists debate tong-term possibilities, Maldives Is concentrating on the Immediate practical matters It has the ability to control.
The government intends to further develop fisheries and tourism, to Increase agricultural production, to train a skilled work force, and to Im prove living conditions. These efforts receive support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Underlying them Is the firm conviction that development and the environment are linked.
Straddling the equator, to the south west of India and Sri Lanka. Maldives is made up of 1.200 small Islands. 202 of which are Inhabited by the nation's 214.000 citizens. While the country extends over 90,000 square kilometres, its land surface ts no more than 298 square kilometres.
The islands are grouped into atolls, or necklaces of Islands surrounding a lagopn. Most are no more than one
waste disposal and the storage -of hazardous wastes." says Mr. Sobir. adding that the government will clear all future public and private sector projects to ensure that they are environmentally sound.
Male and the outer atolls have different development needs. The capital's main problem is its growth. Sixty thousand people are already crammed into an area.of 1.6 square kilometres. Since there Is no more room to expand, the government plans to develop the neighbouring Island of Vilinglll, only a few kilometres away, as a satellite town to take the overflow.
Another problem concerns the 28 tonnes of garbage Male generates each day. A UNDP-funded study conducted by the UN Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT) determined that recycling is not the answer since the bulk of the refuse is non-recyclable household waste.
Instead, garbage will be collected at night, placed into container*, and transported to the airport Island across the lag x n where it will be used as landfill for a planned expansion.
Dumping sites will be closely monitored for any bio-fogica) or chemical seepage.
Johamed Jabir. Chief of Meemu Atoll, speaks for the majority of Maldives' atoll chiefs in naming his priorities. "We want to construct jettie*.' he says. "We must prevent coastal erosion and build water tanks.
We need to deepen island passages." The deeper channels are needed to make the Islands more accessible.
In many part* of Meemu Atoll the lagoon I* *o .hallow that dhoanls must be anchored more than a kilometre from shore, where supplies and pas sengers destined for the Islands are transferred to *mall rowboats
Mr Soblr must weigh the atolls need* against thetr environmental implication*. To make entries for harbour* we
need to blast the reef." he says. "We have guidelines on how much we should do." UNDP is providing several fellowships for environmental studies abroad to train additional Maldivians to make these vital decisions.
Agriculture Is of varying Importance for the atolls. Some islands can support little vegetation beyond breadfruit and pandanus, a sweet, fibrous fruit distantly related to the pineapple.
Others, endowed with better soli, cultivate a variety of fruits and vegetables. Including mangoes, bananas, papayas, watermelons, limes, yams, squash, pumpkins, chiltes, sweet potatoes and taro.
Mohamed Zuhalr, Assistant Director of Planning and Environ-ment in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries credits some gains In production to the UNDP-suppor-ted Integrated Atoll Development Project.
Executed by UNDP's Office for Project Services, it works in both Maldives and the Pacific. "Although most Income still comes from fishing." he says, "we now find some people who are virtually dependent on the soil." The project has also helped to raise consciousness about the need to include vegetables in the diet.
Among the farmers who have benefited from training, seeds and agricultural tool* is Aishath Ada. a resident of the Island of Mulah In Meemu Atoll.
Proudly displaying her giant squash and watermelon*. *he recall* her battle against Insects, which »he was taught to control using natural method* such as treating plants with solutions of water mixed with pounded chilies or tobacco
"We don’t encourage the use of insecticides because of the fragile conditions." *ay* Mr. Zuhalr
Looking to the atolls for a future *ource of skilled labour, as well as for location* for new induktrle*. the government Is
planning to create regional growth centres. "It is very difficult for a small country like ours with minimal or non-existent resources to develop 202 islands for habitation." say* Mr. Soblr.
"We would have to provide generation capacity, waste disposal facilities, telecommunications. hospitals, schools — all this on every tiny dot." Instead they will try to attract people to the larger islands by equipping them with these amenities.
A major fisheries project is already planned for Huvadhu Atoll in the south, said to be the largest atoll in the world. Maldives already exports some frozen fish to canneries in Thailand and the dried Maldives fish" produced by women on the atolls is a highly prized delicacy in Sri Lanka.
But total fish exports of 30,000 metric tonnes a year will be considerably aug men ted by the new project, which will set up additional cold storage facilities for Ihe export of frozen fish.
Estimated costs are 828 million to 830 million, with investment coming from a consortium of donors including Norway and the International Development Assocla tlon. “It has become very expensive because of the environmental concerns," says Mr. Sobir. "We are not allowing any mining of coral for this project. All building materials will have Io be Imported." Also to be provided Is equipment to clean up possible oil spill* from the ahlps that will be coming in to load fish and unload fuel.
Finally, there Is Maldives campaign to Involve the public in environmental protection, notably through the media But while the islander* are putting forth their best efforts to pro teet their fragile ecosystem there I* little they can do about thetr country's tong term fate
— UNDP.