'President Narayanan has to make sense of conflicting claims to decide who will rule India'

We are on the home stretch. In a week, we will know which political party breasts the tape in the race for power. If the pollsters are to be believed, there will be no clear winner; it means the referee of the great Indian election jamboree, has his work cut out. President K.R. Narayanan has to make sense of the conflicting claims to decide who will rule India. If recent history is any indicator, he will acquit himself well. In just his fifth month as President, the Congress deserted the United Front Government; Narayanan's considered response to the crisis spoke well of his equipoise. Now, as our cover story this week reveals, a harder test awaits him.One of the tragedies of this election has been the conspicuous absence of discussion on vital issues. Politicians have preened before crowds, made personalised attacks on each other, yet shied away from addressing the problems that confront this nation.This week we have focused on one of them. It began with Assistant Editor Samar Halarnkar picking up a two-paragraph government report on receding forests buried in the inside pages of a newspaper and investigating it further. India Today covers on environmental issuesIn the last two years, as governments have fallen, so have our forests. What we uncovered was a depressing, shocking tale of how India's vast natural wealth is being plundered with governmental connivance.Our correspondents helplessly watched giant Olive Ridley turtles die on the beaches of Orissa, visited tribal villages in dense Andhra Pradesh jungles to understand how people still live in harmony with the forests, and spoke to decision-makers and ecologists. But this isn't only about turtles and tigers. Few realise that many of India's rivers originate deep in protected forests. As Halarnkar says: "The number of animals is an indicator of the health of the forests. If the jungles go, so does your water.".preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Perhaps, once the election rhetoric is over and a government put in place such fundamental issues will find some attention.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Mar 9, 1998--- ENDS ---

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'President Narayanan has to make sense of conflicting claims to decide who will rule India'

We are on the home stretch. In a week, we will know which political party breasts the tape in the race for power. If the pollsters are to be believed, there will be no clear winner; it means the referee of the great Indian election jamboree, has his work cut out.

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