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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
'''Poovulagin Nanbargal''' (Friends of the Earth) is an environmental organisation based in [[Tamil Nadu]], India.<ref name="thehindu1">{{Cite news |url=http://m.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/a-network-for-nature/article4594605.ece |title=A network for Nature |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=28 August 2017|date=8 April 2013 |last1=Kannadasan |first1=Akila }}</ref> It spearheaded a legal battle against [[Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant]].<ref name="thehindu">{{Cite news |url=http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/antikudankulam-activists-to-raise-protest-to-next-level/article5032106.ece |title=Anti-Kudankulam activists to raise protest to next level |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=28 August 2017|date=17 August 2013 }}</ref>

== History ==
Poovulagin Nanbargal started in [[Chennai]], Tamil Nadu in the late 1980s, by the [[Indian Overseas Bank]] employee Nedunchezhiyan. He was associated with the [[Amnesty International India]].<ref name="thehindu2">{{Cite news |url=https://tamil.thehindu.com/general/environment/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%88-%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF-%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D/article9656895.ece |title=பசுமை இலக்கிய முன்னோடிகள் |date=22 April 2017 |work=[[The Hindu (Tamil)]] |language=Tamil}}</ref> The organisation introduced literature related to [[environmentalism]] to the [[Tamil language]]. Nedunchezhiyan died in 2006<ref name="thehindu2" /> at the age of 48.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keetru.com/index.php/2010-05-07-09-25-04/06/8309-2010-05-07-09-54-31 |title=‘பூவுலகின் நண்பர்’ நெடுஞ்செழியன் |publisher=Keetru.com |date=7 May 2010 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> After his demise, the organisation stopped its activities. In 2008, nine men, including IT engineer G. Sundarrajan and [[Siddha medicine]] practitioner G. Sivaraman, regrouped the organisation.<ref name="thehindu1" /> When the [[People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy]] (PMANE) started protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Poovulagin Nanbargal gave legal support to the PMANE.<ref name="thehindu" /> To govern its activities, Poovulagin Nanbargal was registered as a [[Charitable trust|public trust]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/pil-in-madras-hc-for-quashing-govt-order/1116650 |title=PIL in Madras HC for quashing govt order |date=4 August 2017 |work=Outlook}}</ref>

== Publication ==
Poovulagin Nanbargal has published articles about [[ecology]], as well as about the [[Green Revolution in India]] and its impact on agriculture.<ref name="thehindu1" /> In the early 1990s, when India [[Economic liberalisation in India|liberalised its economy]], the organisation issued pamphlets about the effect of [[globalization]].<ref name="thehindu2" /> It has translated environment-related books, including Japanese agriculturist [[Masanobu Fukuoka]]'s ''The One-Straw Revolution''<ref name="thehindu1" /> and [[Rachel Carson]]'s ''[[Silent Spring]]''.<ref name="thehindu2" /> It has also translated works of [[Vandana Shiva]] and [[Sandra Postel]] into Tamil.<ref name="thehindu2" />

The organisation publishes a bimonthly environmental magazine called Poovulagu<ref name="thehindu1" /> and a children's magazine called Minmini.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/To-light-a-spark/article15082896.ece |title=To light a spark |date=3 October 2016 |work=The Hindu}}</ref>

== Legal cases ==
After the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], Poovulagin Nanbargal filed a [[Public interest litigation in India|public interest litigation]] (PIL) in the [[Madras High Court]] in October 2011 to stop the commission of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.<ref name="telegraph">{{Cite news |url=https://m.telegraphindia.com/india/supreme-court-allows-commissioning-of-kudankulam-nuclear-power-plant/cid/297442 |title=Supreme Court allows commissioning of Kudankulam nuclear power plant |date=6 May 2013 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> In August 2012, the court accepted the [[Nuclear Power Corporation of India]]'s assurance on safety of the plant and dismissed the petition. Poovulagin Nanbargal appealed to the [[Supreme Court of India]], but the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court in May 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://m.businesstoday.in/story/sc-moved-against-green-signal-to-koodankulam-nuclear-plant/1/187999.html |title=Supreme Court moved against HC order on green signal to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant |date=22 September 2012 |work=Business Today}}</ref><ref name="telegraph"/>

The organisation also filed PILs against the government to stop projects such as the [[Chennai-Salem Expressway]]<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/050718/farmer-moves-madras-hc-against-chennai-salem-expressway.html |title=Farmer moves Madras HC against Chennai-Salem expressway |date=5 July 2018 |work=Deccan Chronicle}}</ref> and [[India-based Neutrino Observatory|Neutrino Observatory]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/ngo-challenges-green-clearance-neutrino-project-tn-666203.html |title=NGO challenges green clearance to neutrino project in TN |date=23 April 2018 |work=Deccan Herald}}</ref> It opposed the [[Kaveri delta coal-bed methane project|extraction of hydrocarbon]] in [[Neduvasal]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dtnext.in/News/TamilNadu/2017/02/26005025/1028079/Political-heat-rising-against-Pudukai-hydrocarbon-.vpf|title=Political heat rising against Pudukai hydrocarbon project|date=26 February 2017|website=dtNext.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2017/sep/14/neduvasal-in-tamil-nadu-contractor-spills-shale-gas-methane-beans-1656944.amp|title=Neduvasal contractor spills shale gas, methane beans - The New Indian Express|website=www.newindianexpress.com}}</ref>

== Festivals ==
Every year, the organisation conducts a day-long conference with a [[millet]] food festival. In 2012, it conducted Aindhinai Vizha (festival of five landscape), where scholars spoke about the present environmental impact on the [[Sangam landscape]].<ref name="thehindu1" /> In 2013, Muneer Vizhavu (festival of water) talked about conservation of water.<ref name="thehindu1" /> In 2014, Aimbootham Vizha (festival of five elements) celebrated [[classical elements]] as mentioned in the [[Sangam literature]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/celebrating-the-five-elements/article5646315.ece |title=Celebrating the five elements |date=3 February 2014 |work=The Hindu}}</ref> In 2015, the Pozhuthugal Aaru (six seasons) conference talked about the six seasons in the [[Tamil calendar]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.vikatan.com/juniorvikatan/2015-mar-15/special/104424.html |title=பொழுதுகள் ஆறு! |date=11 March 2015 |work=Vikatan}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Environmental organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:1980s establishments in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Organizations established in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Organizations with year of establishment missing]]

Poovulagin Nanbargal - Revision history

imported>Radio-Somewhere at 20:01, 24 June 2021