Issue Nº377 – News in brief

The Auroville Council has published draft guidelines for the publication of documents and views on the Auronet, the Intranet portal of Auroville. The guidelines are considered necessary to ensure proper use of the Auronet. Reference has been made to a letter of Sri Aurobindo to a disciple, outlining the psychic self-control needed during discussions. These are also applicable to one’s publications on the Auronet. Moderators and a Moderation Support Group will see to it that the guidelines are respected and followed. The Residents’ Assembly will be asked to approve the Guidelines.

Auro e-Books has published a bilingual English-Chinese version of the book “The Spirit of Auroville”. The Chinese translation was done by Anandi Zhang and proofread by Ni Hui, while Olivier Barot took care of the English text and picture selection. All texts in this book have been selected from the works of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The book can be freely downloaded from www.auro-ebooks.com.

Work at the Matrimandir is focused on three projects: the continuing development of the Garden of the Unexpected; the building of the foundation for a group of large quartz crystals in the Garden of Existence; and the construction of a new section of the cobblestone road encircling the Matrimandir gardens. For more information, email: matrimandir@auroville.org.in

Since the start of the seventh year of Acres for Auroville, thanks to donors to Acres for Auroville and Lands For Auroville United, six new Greenbelt plots have been purchased, adding 6.47 acres of rich agricultural land and helping consolidate other land.

Members of the Forest Group and many others Aurovilians are objecting to the partial clearing of the existing forests to allow for so-called Rights of Ways (RoWs) – three-metres wide stretches of open land to lay High Tension and other cables – along the proposed Crown road, the proposed Outer Ring Road and the proposed Radials, as has recently been advised by the Acting Secretary of the Auroville Foundation to the Town Development Council (TDC). The first focus is on the proposed partial clearing of the Bliss Forest which has a rich tree cover and houses the Youth Centre, for the laying of a high tension (HT) underground cable.

The Forest Group observed that the proposed clearing would have an immense impact on Auroville’s afforestation work and the present-day unique character of Auroville in this region and beyond. It would mean the near destruction of unique afforested areas within the Auroville city area and the Greenbelt. In the case of the Bliss Forest, it pointed out that the laying of the HT cable with its required service access along the existing road would be easier, faster and at a similar cost than cutting through the planted area of Bliss and the Youth Centre, as was shown in the Environmental Impact Assessment made by the Forest Group.

The Forest Group informed the Secretary about the ongoing discussions between the Forest Group and the TDC to find common ground with regard to the laying of the HT cable as a first step towards participative planning on issues which have blocked Auroville’s development for a long time. Only if this would not result in finding common ground, the matter would be brought to the Residents Assembly for an informed decision-making process.

The Government of India has agreed to cancel the suspension of all visas other than tourist visas, which means that all Aurovilians abroad who hold an Entry Visa for Auroville can now return.

A decision of the Residents’ Assembly called by the Working Committee on the proposed new Entry Policy failed due to a lack of quorum (10% of adult residents). The Working Committee will soon call for a decision of the Residents’ Assembly on all issues to do with Entry and Exit, e.g. the proposed amendments to the official Entry and Exit Regulations passed by the Government of India; and the two internal documents, the Entry Policy and the Exit Policy.

The Handle Climate Change Film Festival 2020 in Shenzhen, China, awarded Aurovilian Christoph Pohl the Gold Award for his film Ever Slow Green, about Auroville’s forests. The film was given the highest award out of a total of 1,113 films submitted from 90 different countries and Chinese districts. The award was received by a Chinese friend of Lijun, an Aurovilian of Chinese nationality, who also gave Christoph a crash course in Chinese for the beginning of his acceptance speech, which was screened via video during the ceremony.

A study made by Lyle on transfers made within the Financial Service between services/units and between services/units and individuals shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: there were 38% less transfers in the COVID-19 months in 2019-20 than in 2018-19. This analysis does not suggest that external transactions have been similarly affected by COVID-19.

Pitchandikulam Forest has issued its 2019-2020 newsletter which includes: reflective musings on the 47-year old history of Pitchandikulam Forest; the story of a monograph on the Owls of South Asia; a report on Pitchandikulam Forest’s nursery which is responsible for the growing of around 20,000 seedlings a year to help re-establish the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) in Tamil Nadu; a report on the Environmental Leadership and Skill Development Programme for 350 Rural Women; the work of Pitchandikulam Forest in building water retention landscapes and the restoration of the twin lakes of Siruseri Chennai; environmental artwork for Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Bangalore, on a 25-acres ECOZONE; and creating a master plan for an Ecopark/Nature lab and teaching space for practitioners of Restoration Ecology on a piece of land near Ousteri lake. For a copy please email pitchandikulam.outreach@auroville.org.in.

The first cyclone of the season, named ‘Nivar’, made landfall near Marakkanam, north of Auroville, in the early hours of November 26th. Throughout the night Auroville was subjected to storms and heavy rains, with occasional thunder and lighting and some eerie silences in between. The cyclone left little wreckage behind, mainly some uprooted trees which were soon removed by the teams of the Land Board, the Auroville Road Service, Tree Care and other volunteers, while Auroville Electrical Service worked to restore electricity supply.

The term of office of the present members of the Governing Board ended on November 23rd. When this issue went to the press, there was no news about the appointment of new members. Similarly, the appointment of the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, pending since July 2019, is still awaited, as is the appointment of new members of the International Advisory Council, pending since March 2017.

The dry summer has delayed the start of the paddy season at Annapurna, Auroville’s largest farm. Annapurna’s traditional paddy varieties need a growing season of 140-150 days to mature and are season bound. These varieties are grown since they have a nice taste, are more resilient, and grow well under organic conditions. But if sown out of season (September, October) they will not develop properly. Annapurna is also doing a trial with a paddy variety which was developed by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at the beginning of the eighties, specifically for the conditions prevalent at Annapurna; this variety has a shorter growth duration and is not season bound. Annapurna hopes it will give a bit more breathing space in an erratic season like this year’s.