C-da, Good points. *** In Europe and in the USA, private property rights are cornerstones of their governmental systems, where the state may not take or devalue or destroy private property values without fair market compensation. Even in the case of eminent-domain, where the state is empowered to take property from private owners to build large public projects, must pay adequate compensation, at fair market rates. Abuses to the concept of eminent-domain in the USA has resulted in a nationwide backlash in recent months, leading to many states making new laws to prevent or revoking older ones that allowed private property to be taken forcibly, albeit with compensation, for private development.
*** Different nations have different circumstances and one-size-fits-all
solutions never worked. Inside India different regions' and communities'
circumstances and needs are vastly different from each other. What may work one
place may not elsewhere, and in dramatically different ways.
Umesh
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>--what are your solutions?
*** Why does SG Vombatkare have to give solutions? What is the democratic
state
there for?
Furthermore, why does dam building HAVE to be the ONLY solution?
> Maybe stop dam/road construction everywhere in the world
*** A dam built in the USA flooding unpopulated areas, or desert country may
not have the same degree of destruction involving people's lives as in India,
where people's lives are integrally intertwined with the rivers, economically
and culturally, spreading centuries. So to compare a dam project in the USA or
remote Russian territory with a mega-dam would be comparing apples with oranges.
In Europe and in the USA, private property rights are cornerstones of their
governmental systems, where the state may not take or devalue or destroy
private property values without fair market compensation. Even in the case of
eminent-domain, where the state is empowered to take property from private
owners to build large public projects, must pay adequate compensation, at fair
market rates. Abuses to the concept of eminent-domain in the USA has resulted
in a nationwide backlash in recent months, leading to many states making new
laws to prevent or revoking older ones that allowed private property to be
taken forcibly, albeit with compensation, for private development.
*** Different nations have different circumstances and one-size-fits-all
solutions never worked. Inside India different regions' and communities'
circumstances and needs are vastly different from each other. What may work one
place may not elsewhere, and in dramatically different ways.
At 7:33 PM +0000 11/25/06, umesh sharma wrote:
is this the main reason for the outrage -- what is the solution? Maybe stop
dam/road construction everywhere in the world. No workable solution given by
anyone!!! Just listen to problems! --what are your solutions? ***People who
are displaced due to mega-projects, howsoever "compensated", can never view the
State favourably, even though the project is stated to be "for public good" or
"in the national interest". This is because the affected people naturally feel
that they should not be forced to pay in terms of their property, livelihood
and their way of life for the benefit of some other groups of people. In our
northeastern States, there is already much social and political turbulence, and
pressing ahead with this project cannot in any manner ameliorate the present
precarious situation maintained by military and police force. On the other
hand, it can only exacerbate it.
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Here is a man, far from Tipaimukh, raising his voice, with the courage of his
convictions. Do we, who are from the region, have ours?
cm
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Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:31:57 +0530
Subject: [WaterWatch] Fwd: URGENT APPEAL
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S G Vombatkere <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Nov 23, 2006 8:06 AM
Subject: URGENT APPEAL
To: oPRIME MINISTER Manmohan Singh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: jjECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >, jjFRONTLINE <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]>, jjOUTLOOK INDIA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, jjMAINSTREAM < [EMAIL
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< [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "oMIN of ENVIRNMT Minister, T.R.Baalu" <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]>, oMIN of ENVIRNMT < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
BY E-MAIL
Major General
S.G.Vombatkere, VSM (Retd)
475, 7th Main
Road
M.E (Struct), PhD (I.I.T), F.I.E (India), C.Eng
Vijayanagar 1st Stage
E-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MYSORE - 570 017
Tel : 0821-2515187
23
November 2006
My dear, respected Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh,
I write with deep concern about the contentious Tipaimukh Hydroelectric
Project on the confluence of Tuivai (Mizoram) and Barak rivers in Manipur, for
which you are scheduled to lay the foundation stone on November 25, 2006.
Surely you are aware that there is considerable local opposition to the
Project because of displacement of large numbers of people, and loss of their
livelihood. Apart from that most important and entirely valid reason, the
irreversible ecological damage that will certainly result due to submersion and
change in the water flow downstream of the proposed dam will impact first on
the poor people of the region.
The conduct of the environmental public hearings without giving full freedom
to people to voice their objections to the project has not been in the spirit
of justice or democracy but rather, has been a sham exercise by centre and
state officials to satisfy the letter of the law but not its spirit. You may
not be aware that the Public Hearing in Churachandpur on November 17, 2006 was
held behind closed doors, allowing only a select few to participate, and that
the venue was surrounded by armed security personnel while massive protests
were held outside the venue. The public hearing held on November 22, 2006, in
Tamenglong, Manipur, was not much different with regard to the intention of the
officials. No doubt your office will receive the message that the Public
Hearings were conducted normally and that there were a few minor objections
that were answered on the spot, so that you may go ahead and lay the foundation
stone. I am therefore sure that your advisors would have
told you that your laying this foundation stone (which, incidentally, will
make the decision about the project a fait accompli) is completely in order,
and that you will get kudos for bringing development to distant Manipur. But do
please note that until environmental clearance is granted, it will not do the
onerous post of Prime Minister any credit if you lay the foundation stone or in
any other manner legitimize the project.
People who are displaced due to mega-projects, howsoever "compensated", can
never view the State favourably, even though the project is stated to be "for
public good" or "in the national interest". This is because the affected people
naturally feel that they should not be forced to pay in terms of their
property, livelihood and their way of life for the benefit of some other groups
of people. In our northeastern States, there is already much social and
political turbulence, and pressing ahead with this project cannot in any manner
ameliorate the present precarious situation maintained by military and police
force. On the other hand, it can only exacerbate it.
As you are doubtless aware, before taking a decision with such far-reaching
adverse consequences on the livelihoods and lifestyles of Indigenous Peoples,
an expressed and informed consent from the people of such villages is
necessary. In the current case, such consent has not been taken, and in many
cases it has already been denied. Do please verify this.
The proposed 390-metre long, 162.8-metre-high dam with installed capacity of
1500 MW of power generation, will result in the total submergence of a large
number of villages. This will affect more than 275 sq km of cultivable lands
and a total population of about 60,000. Majority of those permanently displaced
will be from the Zeliangrong and Hmar indigenous peoples who will be deprived
of the right to their land, livelihood, culture, forest and water. It would not
be unfair to ask where these displaced people and people whose livelihoods are
made unviable (with no skills other than their farming practices) will go if
not to the slums of towns and cities? It is highly unlikely that they will say,
"We happily give up our today for the prosperity of urban people who need
electric power, and God bless India! Bharat Mata ki Jai!"
The struggle against the dam, based on substantive issues, is intensifying
and it will not do Manipur or India any great good by forcing a project onto
these people to satisfy corporate interests. I will only mention the main
issues without elaborating on them. They are:
· Undermining the rights of indigenous people.
· Contentious benefits from the project.
· Irreversible environmental damage
· Impacts on downstream Bangladesh, complicating international
relations.
I therefore appeal urgently to you to not lay the foundation stone, but on
the other hand get briefed about the true situation on the ground by actually
meeting affected people, since your official channels of information are NOT
reliable to convey the mood of the people. Officials themselves sit in offices
and get information and reports that they would like to hear, and these are
passed up the official channels to your office. It is not for nothing that
Gandhiji travelled (3 rd Class!) all over India to feel the people's pulse. I
need hardly mention that your name will be on that foundation stone as a
constant reminder to the people of the region of the gross injustice that the
country's highest executive has perpetrated upon them.
With respectful regards,
Yours faithfully,
Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd)
--
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Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park,
(Washington D.C. Metro Region)
MD 20740
1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep
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