On November 1, 2004 , the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam, paid
a visit to Auroville. Accompanied by the Lt. Governor
of Pondicherry , the Chief Minister of Pondicherry and the
Minister of Education, Tamil Nadu, the President arrived at
the town-hall about 8 pm. where a representative section of
about 60 Aurovilians was assembled. After listening to some
presentations on Auroville and addressing the community, the
President visited the Matrimandir.
Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman
of the Auroville Foundation, welcomed the President on behalf of
the Auroville community and the Auroville Foundation. He
reminded how, in 1980, during the discussion on the Auroville
Emergency Provisions Act, he had addressed the Indian Parliament
saying that Auroville was an arrow shot into the future from
the bow of Sri Aurobindo. "The bow
is the tremendous spiritual achievement of Sri Aurobindo, the
fiery prophet of Indian nationalism and the bringer of the
supramental consciousness. The powerful vision of The Mother
has stood at the roots of this unique multi-national and multi-racial
township. In the 36 years of its existence the Aurovilians
have, through their labour, devotion and dedication, changed
a desert into an ocean of green with at its heart the spiritual
centre, the
Matrimandir.” Dr. Karan Singh ended his welcome
address with a recitation of Sri Aurobindo's poem ‘Rose of
God,' which ends with the line ‘Make earth the home of the
Wonderful and life beatitude's kiss.'
Luigi of Auroville's Future gave
a short introduction on Auroville's work. “We have all come because of the vision of evolution,
of a new force that can change matter and spirit. Mother India,
the land of universal spirituality, is nurturing this unique
project, and there are no words to express the deepest gratitude
of the Aurovilians coming from more than 40 countries who have
received everything from their spiritual motherland.” Luigi
demonstrated how Auroville has grown and has developed a network
of national and international relationships, such as with the
Government of India on various levels, with UNESCO, with the
European Community and, through the city networking project,
with many cities in India and abroad. “Auroville offers itself
as a laboratory for research, studies and experimentation.
Auroville's quest is to create a city fully dedicated to the
future, which then could be recognized by UNESCO as a unique
heritage site of the future.”
The President, aware of the international
seminar on sustainable water resource management held in
Auroville in September, had asked to be informed about salination
of groundwater, in particular about the hydrological modelling
of the saline intrusion in the Vanur aquifer. Gilles Boulicot
from Water
Harvest presented the problems in a nutshell.
After having thanked the President for his inspiring message
for the conference, Gilles explained that the problem of
saline groundwater is not yet properly understood. The system
of aquifers beneath Auroville is complex, and not yet sufficiently
studied. Gilles showed how groundwater level in the Vanur
aquifer, the main aquifer for the area, has gone down from
7 metres above sea level in 1975 to 37 metres below sea level
now. Electro-conductivity tests indicate that the salinity
in 2002 was relatively limited, but that today the entire
area is above the acceptable limit for irrigation and drinking
water extraction purposes. But it appears that the salination
is not caused by seawater intrusion, but rather by a natural
saline aquifer that is situated below the Vanur aquifer. “There is an upward leakage from this underlying aquifer
into the Vanur formation and the cause is rampant overextraction
of water for irrigation purpose,” stated Gilles. “In the period
1981-1990 the extraction was twice the natural recharge. In
the period 1991-2000 the yearly extraction was eight times
the natural recharge. Today the extraction is twenty times
the natural recharge. This is a very serious problem caused
by bad management practices and inappropriate irrigation systems.” Gilles
said that like Pondicherry , Auroville should also be facing
groundwater salinity due to seawater intrusion, but for unknown
reasons, this is not yet happening. “We assume that there is
a natural barrier or a water barrier along the coast that checks
the inflow of seawater. But we do not have enough information
to prove this.” Based on simple models and the data available,
Gilles presented the expectation that already in 2010 one third
of the aquifer would be contaminated, and that the entire aquifer
would be saline by 2050.
Gilles stressed that more studies will be required to determine
the origin of salination and come up with means to battle it.
He mentioned that cooperation between institutions and stakeholders
of the area is required, such as with the Indian ONGC, the
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which did an investigation
in the area about five years ago but which has, so far, not
agreed to share its data. Gilles concluded his presentation
expressing his hope that Auroville will be instrumental to
transform this area into a pilot area for sustainable development.
The third Auroville presentation was given by Tency from the
Auroville Centre for
Scientific Research. He showed how Auroville
has successfully experimented with many forms of renewable
energy and stated that, with the support of the Government
of Tamil Nadu, Auroville could use its experience to make the
bioregion a real example for all renewable energy devices that
are suitable for this region. Showing the waste water treatment
system that Auroville has designed for the Aravind Eye Hospital
south of Pondicherry, which recycles 310 cubic metres of waste
water daily, Tency mentioned that Auroville could also, with
the support of the Pondicherry government, help Pondicherry
to utilise its 10 million litres of waste water which flows
daily into its sewage plant close by Auroville.
“We transformed a barren landscape into a green ocean within
two decades. We believe that with the same energy we can develop
an integrated water management not only for Auroville but also
for the bioregion. And for the future we dream of having our
own desalination plant. Because of our experience in renewable
energy we would like to run such a plant with renewable energy
instead of conventional energy. With support from governmental
agencies we are ready to create an example which can be copied
in other places.” Tency concluded his brief presentation saying
that, in Auroville, perfection in matter cannot be achieved
unless there is also an inner perfection, as without that inner
perfection, humanity will not change.
The President took up on this very
issue. “I have come here
as a pilgrim, for you have a large mission, a mission that
came from Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. When I heard your presentations
how the barren land was transformed into a beautiful place
I was moved and also by your concern for the water and the
seawater ingress. Somebody once said that everything starts
from the inner side, and if the inner side is ok, everything
is ok. For what do you want to be? My answer to this question
from a child was ‘to be a better human being'. And Auroville
probably is the place which creates better human beings.”
The President said that, when he
was flying over Pondicherry by helicopter that morning, he
saw that the shores of the ponds were white and that he was
told that this was salt. Seawater intrusion into the groundwater
is a serious problem for Pondicherry and the President asked
Auroville to help find a solution. “When
you have heavy rains, they do not stop seawater intrusion.
That is the question I have, is there any counter mechanism
so that sea water intrusion does not take place?” He encouraged
Auroville to pursue research and develop groundwater models.
The President also addressed the problem of solid waste disposal.
Stating that most of the water bodies in Pondicherry and Tami
Nadu have been polluted by solid waste, he proposed that for
an effective water harvesting system all solid waste be removed
and used it for power generation. The President showed photos
of two such power plants, one in Hyderabad , the other in Vizag,
which generate 6 MW power from solid waste.
The President concluded his address
by quoting a poet who wrote: ‘When there is righteousness
in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there
is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the
nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace
in the world.'
“Peace in the world is what Auroville
stands for. I was happy to hear your presentations. I will
definitely be with you and you can call me for my help.”
On behalf of Auroville, Aster Patel,
member of the Governing Board, thanked the President for
his encouraging words and his offer of help. “You have used
kind words saying that we are here for a mission. These sentiments
resonate very deeply in us. We have screen-printed some words
of The Mother on a scroll which is presented to you:
India has become the symbolic
representation of all the difficulties of present-day humanity.
India will be the site of its resurrection, the resurrection
of a higher and truer life.
In that effort our work here
in Auroville counts for something but it counts a million
times more if your support continues to be with us,” concluded
Aster.
Before leaving Auroville the President visited the Matrimandir.
In the Matrimandir visitors book he wrote:
“Matrimandir is beautiful
divine creation. When I spent few minutes in the concentration
chamber, I felt time is infinite; something echoed in me;
can I give words to the divine call:
‘Divine beauty, divine
peace, entered into me, and blossoms happiness in my body
and soul.'
A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.”
