Regionalism In South Asia
Where Does SAARC’s Future Lie?

By C. D. Bhatta

THE events and development of the recent months have brought South Asia into the international limelight. This has been accompanied by vigorously renewed interests in studies pertaining to patterns of cooperation and conflicts among the major South Asian countries. The main point to be noted here is that South Asia is still far from becoming a ‘region’ due to inadequate degree of harmony of interests among the South Asian states and the almost perpetual preoccupation with intra-state conflicts and crises leaving individual states with scarce time or resources to work towards regional solutions.

Basically, a region can be defined on the basis of certain specific indicators that confirm its existence. A set of countries in close geographical proximity with each other can be categorised as a ‘region’ when, first and foremost, they have certain commonalities of national interests. These interests could incorporate a whole gamut of social economic, political, cultural, historical, and other factors. Secondly, this set of countries should be sufficiently enlightened so as to understand the significance of placing cooperation above conflicts in the conduct of inter-state relation. This should be bolstered by collective desire to come together on a common plank to create some lasting mechanism for regional cooperation, which lacks in South Asian states, as is evident in years of lack-luster performance by SAARC. Following the conception of the SAARC in 1983 very little has been actually done to promote this sole existing mechanism for collective cooperation in the subcontinent.

Such a lack of ‘region-ness’ in South Asia can also be understood in terms of another related phenomenon, that is, persistence of myriad social, economic and political problems practically in each and every South Asian state. And, such intra-state problems are often either the cause of consequences of inter-state disputes and misperceptions as well. Thus, there emerges an inextricable connection between the internal and external relations of South Asian states with patterns that are further complicated by what has been succinctly explained as the pursuit of ‘order’ welfare and legitimacy.

Since the formation of SAARC, the pace of cooperation among the South Asian nations have not been up to the mark at all. Political and religious tensions scare at the height, particularly between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. To be honest here, every South Asian country is almost perpetually plagued by internal conflicts and crises based on narrow consideration of caste, religion, ethnicity, language, community and the like. This distorts the national integrity/unity and the overall order situation of the affected state or states. Moreover, constant and often excessive preoccupation with domestic problems within and between the South Asian states, have been hampering the sustenance of an environment wherein the basic needs for the growth of regional cooperation are fulfilled. Viewed from either the global or regional perspective, South Asia provides a disappointing picture in every social, economic and political context. This is due to the fact that South Asia is almost perpetually plagued by various intra and inter-state conflicts and crises stemming from myopic attitudes of the largely illiterate masses and the lackadaisical approach of the ruling elites toward resolution of such problems.

Today South Asia is known to constiturte one of the ‘critical regions’ in the world, primarily due to the varying degrees of inter-state disputes and conflicts. While the British imperial rule brought the South Asian countries within a common colonial system, it simultaneously sowed several seeds of discord that continue to plague inter-state relations in the area even today. The difference between India and Pakistan over the two nation theory and between Sri Lanka and India over the nationality of Tamilian are only two of the most outstanding examples in this regard. The final retreat of the British Raj and the ensuing bitterness generated between the ruling elites of the two major South Asian states gravely disrupted the traditional cohesion. Indeed, the historical fact that Pakistan and Bangladesh are the severed limbs of what was once a united India under the Raj bestows a unique complexity to the entire region.

The recent border skirmishes between India and Bangladesh, the contining infighting between Pakistan and India and the ongoing debate between Bhuatn and Nepal over the refugee issue, the irritants in relations between India and Nepal over the open border and other sporadic events have posed a serious threat to the growth of regional cooperation in the region. The deadlock on the SAARC Summit is a classic example that South Asian nations could not reach to the common plank for the growth of the subcontinent.

Tracing Fisheries’ Unknown Past

By Jay Lindsay

SCIENTISTS who hope to learn from the history of fish life prior to the industrial age don’t have the option. That history has never been written.

The best records are centuries old, scattered among sources of varying reliability and often buried in the books of ancient bureaucracies.

Now, a group of historians and scientists plans to put the pieces together to construct the previously untold world history of fishing.

The project will draw from sources ranging from ancient Danish tithing records to Colonial-era commerce books. It aims to fill in the blanks about the species and the men that have filled plates and coffers for centuries.

Project leaders hope compiling the history will help lead to more realistic approaches to regulation today, and offer clues about the collapse of a resource once thought inexhaustible.

"It’s exciting to fill in a picture we’ve been trying to fill in for years," said Andrew Rosenberg, a University of New Hampshire researcher leading the project’s Gulf of Maine study.

The project grew out of a talk between Woods Hole, Massachusetts-based fisheries scientist Tim Smith and Poul Holm, a historian from Southern Denmark University, at a 1999 conference on the history of ocean studies in St. Petersburg, Russia.

It became clear to them that the traditional lack of communication between historians and ecologists wasn’t helping either side. Historians have focused too much on man’s influence on the sea, ignoring nature’s workings, Holm said.

Ecologists, meanwhile, are limited to analyzing trends based on the last 50 years, when they have reliable data about fish stocks.

"We learned a lot quickly, just sitting there," Smith said.

The 10-year history project is funded by a dlrs 1.2 million grant from the Alfred Sloan Foundation, and is part of a larger global study called the Census of Marine Life. It includes seven case studies from global regions ranging from southwest Africa to the Gulf of Maine.

Participants include researchers from the universities of New Hampshire, Washington, and Hull, England, and Southern Denmark University, as well as the U.S. government.

Fishermen and their communities will be studied, but the main focus will be the fish themselves, Holm said.

"We’re trying to look at it from nature’s perspective," he said. "Man has lived off the sea for thousands of years. ... Just as we need to understand mineral resources, you need to understand the resources of the sea."

Longtime assumptions about the fishery could be destroyed along the way.

Regulators, for instance, often imagine that a "pristine" ocean world existed prior to the heavy fishing that began in the 1950s, and they’d like to return the ocean to that state, Smith said. But that pristine state never existed, he said. Natural prey-predator cycles and constant weather changes have kept the system in constant flux, he said.

Historical records could provide a picture of the condition of fish stocks before heavy fishing by man, and result in more realistic recovery goals, Holm said.

Too often, he said, regulators hope to fix what was broken by rebuilding what was never there and ignoring natural cycles, Holm said.

"This is not a house, this is a huge system," he said.

Filling in hundreds of years of history for a mobile, underwater species won’t be easy. The data just don’t exist for some species in certain areas, and numbers are sparse for others, Smith said.

"The game we’re playing is to choose systems where there’s enough information where you can connect the dots, and get a picture," Smith said.

There are numerous examples of ways a historical record can inform regulators.

In New England, for instance, records such as the English "Blue Books," which tracked Colonial commerce and detailed shipping logs from numerous ports, offer a window into the history of the all-important cod.

The reports can give a picture of cod before halibut - a major predator - was almost wiped out in the mid-1800s; how much the cod stock grew; where it was caught; and how high cod populations affected fish such as mackerel, which cod eat.

The information can give regulators an idea of appropriate goals for cod recovery and how various population levels might affect other species.

History can also trace the cod to the Baltic Sea, where its reproduction is believed to thrive on a mix of brackish waters from Russian rivers and salt water from the North Sea.

Because the Danish church required a 10 per cent tithe of a fisherman’s catch, historians can use tithing records to measure the stock’s strength over time, and possibly prove a correlation with the ecological record of those water conditions.

In the Caribbean, trade records show it once teemed with life, as evidenced by the abundance of green turtle shells that were traded in the 1600s. Now, it’s a "blue desert," Holm said.

With more information about what lived there, ecological models can help determine what food was available in the water, and perhaps provide a way to restore some of its former marine life.

UNH maritime historian Jeffrey Bolster, who is also working on the study, said a danger of the research is that it could provide fuel to both sides of the current fisheries debate: one that suggests man is responsible for all of the ocean’s ills, the other that believes man can fix any mess he makes.

He suggests the project can provide a route to a middle way, where the effects of nature and man on the sea are considered in balance.

Aside from any practical application, historians will inevitably understand more about the fishermen and their communities, and learn more about the devastation of fish, he said.

That may be good enough reason for the study, Bolster added.

"Sometimes, you just want to know why," he said.

Another Threat

By Sudha Shrestha

THE noise pollution in different industrial locations in Kathmandu is posing health hazards to the workers. Indoor noise in the industries is caused by the machines and the processes causing impact, vibration or reciprocation movements, friction and turbulence in air or gas streams.

In a paper presented by four Nepalese scientists two years back had shown some grave facts about noise pollution in 30 noise producing industries in the Kathmandu Valley.

The study carried out with the support of the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology focused on different textile, plastic, iron and steel and other noise producing industries. Scientists used an integrating sound level metre NL-05 to monitor the noise levels in these industries. It was found that the textile industries produced the highest level of noise exceeding the permissible noise limit of 90 decibel (dB) for 8 hours exposure. The highest recorded noise level was 120 decible (dB) at the Balaju Textile Area.

According to the federal legislation called Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) beyond 90 decibel the noise becomes a health hazard. This is also the standard set by International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 148 concerning the protection of workers against occupational hazards in the working environment due to air pollution, noise and vibration which come into effect.

A total of 631 workers (191 female and 440 male) were found exposed directly to the noise source during working hours in different industries in the study.

Scientists say, the excessive noise causes many mental and physical diseases among industrial workers, though the effects may not be visible immediately. Deafness, poor concentration, irritation, nervousness, aggressive social behaviour, anxiety, heart disease and high blood pressure are the health hazards of noise pollution. The ultimate effect of noise pollution is the temporary or permanent elimination of the workforce through sick leave or early retirement, and as a consequence, the nation suffers a great economic loss.

In Nepal, however, no consistent studies have been done in this direction, and virtually no attention has been paid towards the harmful effects of noise pollution on the industrial workers. More importantly, there has been no legislation to regulate the indoor noise levels.

According to one senior official, at Balaju Textile Industry much noise is produced as a device of the machines, which are of quite old model, picker hit the wooden parts 180 times per minute.

Indrakush Shrestha, a senior worker working since 25 years told as to how sounds used to be heard as far as Gongobu and Sorrkhute when the machines were newly operated years ago.

"It was irritating then, now we are all used to this noise", he said.

However, the study report along with measures and recommendation was sent to the concerned ministries a year ago but there has been no response from any side so far, Dr. Trinetra M. Pradhananga, a senior scientist said. The report recommended some measures for reducing noise at the source in the industries by technically modifying the machines and process and by these placing of noise producing machinery or equipment with quite alternative like insultating material. Other measures suggested were reducing exposure time of workers in different shifts of the day so that the work can be done without exposure to the risks and provision of breaks during which exposed workers can relax in a quite environment and providing workers in with suitable ear protectors like ear plugs, ear muffs, helmets or other specialised ear protectors. There should be a provision of periodical medical examination of the workers. Scientific research institutes in Nepal should in close cooperation with each other undertake more intensive research on the biological effects of noise pollution, the report says.

Above all scientists have stressed the need for formulating legislation on noise control and the incorporation of specific measuers into the Factories Act for the control of noise in the industries.