There is no "development" without displacement. Never there was, since the current vision of "development" took shape.
Jawaharlal Nehru had called the big dams and mega steel plants the "temples of modern India". Hardly any one has kept a count how many lives had been sacrificed at those temples. The singular achievement of the Narmada Bachao Andolan is that things have changed since. Now the invisibles have gained visibility Those unheard of have gained voices. Human beings no longer silently line up at the gateways of these temples to become sacrificial lambs. The portals of power, however reluctantly, have to take note of them and their grumbles. Sukla . http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20100407/1238/tbs-mining-firms-must-make-locals-shareh.html Mining firms must make locals shareholders, says ministry Wed, Apr 7 05:07 AM The mines ministry, in a unique move, has proposed that companies that receive a mining lease will from now have to mandatorily make people residing in the project area stakeholders. Companies will need to offering at least 26 per cent shares through the promoter's quota. "After intense deliberations, our ministry has decided to add a new clause to the new Draft Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, which mandates the lessee to respect the rights of the resident and suitably compensate him by legally binding him to allot free shares equal to 26 per cent in the company through the promoter's quota in case the holder of the lease is a company, or, an annuity equal to 26 per cent of the profit after tax in case the lease holder is a person, on account of annual compensation," a top mines ministry official told The Indian Express. Whats more, the ministry, at the behest of mines minister B K Handique, has also mandated that mining leaseholders "provide employment or other assistance in accordance with the rehabilitation and resettlement policy of the concerned state government," the official said. Realising that identification of the project affected families was an onerous task, which required objectivity and transparency, the new clause specifies that the "state government through the gram sabhas or district councils or panchayats as the case may be, shall identify the families affected by the mining operations, directly or indirectly, before the commencement of such operations, and the leaseholder concerned shall institute a mechanism and ensure appropriate benefits to such identified families." "One thing needs to be clearly understood — that the main intention of the compensation is to ensure that the affected families do not get classified as the Below Poverty Line category, by protecting the existing levels of monthly income earned by the them and for improving their incomes and quality of life," he reasoned. Even after termination of a reconnaisance permit, prospecting licence or a mining lease, the concerned state government after giving the person holding traditional rights of the land due opportunity, assess the possible damage, to the land by such operations would determine the compensation to be paid by the leaseholder. Determined to ensure total compliance of this provision by the lessees, the ministry has prescribed stiff penalties. "In case the licencee or lessee, as the case may be, fails to pay the compensation within three months of its determination, the state government may on application, either forfeit the security deposit and make payment there from, or may recover the amount, and may also declare the licensee or lessee ineligible for the purposes of any concessions," the new provision says. However, in case the lessee and the person holding occupation or usufruct or traditional rights mutually agree on the compensation through a communication in writing addressed to the officer appointed by the state for the purpose in a prescribed manner, the state could decide accordingly. Priyadarshi Siddhanta On 7 April 2010 14:35, Kabir Arora <[email protected]> wrote: > > What is happening in this country? Nuclear and Thermal Power plants for > Konkan and further more whole coastal belt. Dams for all Himalayan Rivers. > Mining in the central & North East Indian belt. Why are we not having > development without displacement. Is the administration and people of this > country have gone crazy. Not too sure where will this take us! > > > http://sites.google.com/site/dissentmatters/home/opinions/andar-se-solid > > Andar Se Solid? > > In Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, the largest and fastest of the > five rivers of the state, enters the Indian subcontinent from Tibet, where > its source the Mount Kailash stands tall. Call it Langchen Khambab > (Tibetan), Satadru (Sanskrit) or Sutlej, as it is commonly known, this river > is a mad torrent, especially in the rains. Its size, speed and sound > resonate in the Himalayan landscape and makes the human spirit feel > vulnerable, apart from filling it up with reverence for this creation of > nature. Tales of how buses and trucks that have accidentally plummeted > down the hill roads, and into this mammoth river, have disappeared instantly > never to be found again are sure to be heard if one is driving around in the > upper reaches of the Sutlej Valley. But the power of technology led by > infinite greed has attempted to tame the wildest creatures on the planet. > > The first noose around the river’s neck, also known as the first temple of > modern India, was tied in the 1950s. The Bhakra Dam, the world’s highest > gravity dam was built at Bhakra village in Himachal Pradesh, just before the > Sutlej enters Punjab, at a height of 740 feet submerged. Fishing, > agriculture and forest based livelihoods of more 40,000 families were lost. > The river was channelised to feed the power and irrigation needs of the > northern states to usher in the Green Revolution. After five decades, even > as the fallouts of the miracle called Green Revolution are unravelling > themselves in the form of an agriculture crisis, the heavy environmental and > social costs of damming the Sutlej itself remain unaccounted for. > > Cut to the new millennium and the coming of a new technology called “run of > the river”. The new catch phrase of the decade when the ‘climate change’ > crisis finally registered in the mainstream psyche, is ‘green technology’, > with the hydropower revolution leading the way. Causing little or no > ‘displacement’ run-of-the-river projects are the answer to India’s power > crisis, we are told. > > On the Sutlej which is estimated to have the potential to generate 10,000 > MW of power, the oldest of the three operational ‘run of the river’ projects > in Kinnaur, was the 1500 MW hydro-power project called Nathpa-Jhakhri. At > Nathpa village the river is diverted into a tunnel. For several kilometres > after, the violent flow of the Sutlej is reduced to a trickle. The river > comes gushing out into the valley at Jhakri, a few kilometres later, where > the power house has been built. Gone are the tall dams, the deep reservoirs > and the colossal submergence areas. Gone along with all this is the river > itself. And gone also is the relative stability of, the fragile Himalayan > mountains, which are being relentlessly dynamited and tunnelled to create an > alternative refuge for the once free flowing river. > > Residents of Kinnaur started off as silent witnesses to the ravaging of the > Sultej. The state rhetoric of development and the power of money was > over-whelming, the impacts and implications too distant. The Kinnars, a > scheduled tribe, inhabit this large and sparsely populated district with a > population of 78,000 in 80 villages. The creamy layers who made good of the > reservation policy of the government have mostly migrated out of the region. > For those left behind the main source of livelihood lies in nature’s bounty > - the forests, covering more than 70% of the landscape. The dominant > occupation is horticulture based on apple cultivation and collection of > forest produce - the most profitable being the chilgoza or pine nut which is > abundant in the wild. It was only about 6 years ago, after three projects > had been constructed that implications became evident at least to the more > astute people of the area. That the floodgates had been opened, with more > than 15 more projects under various stages of planning, and that these would > soon encroach on the forest resources and hence on local livelihoods on a > larger scale, was recognised in the wake of Nathpa-Jhakri and Jaypee’s 300 > MW Baspa II project at Sangla. > <http://sites.google.com/site/dissentmatters/home/opinions/andar-se-solid/Rally%20in%20Kinnaur%20against%20hydropower%20projects%20on%2026th%20november%2009.jpg?attredirects=0> > > But the project that played a critical role in turn around of local opinion > on hydropower plants has been the Jaypee group’s 1000 MW Karchham Wangtoo, > the largest private power project in India. While only 31 families actually > lost their lands in it, Karchham Wangtoo has become one of the most > controversial projects for several reasons, the most prominent being the > state repression of the local people’s agitation and the extent of > environment violations committed by the project proponent prior to and > during the construction. > > The Environment Clearance public hearings for the project, in 2003, had to > be repeatedly postponed after the company failed to make the relevant impact > assessment studies available in the local language. Despite objections and > protests the Environment Clearance to the project was granted. By 2006 the > movement had gained some momentum and on 9th December 2006 people of the > affected villages rallied to Wangtoo as per the wishes of the devta (their > local deity) to set up a symbolic shrine and vow that work on the project > would be stalled. Section 144 had already been declared by the local > administration here to stop any kind of public demonstration. When the rally > reached the site, Kaksthal, the police lathi-charged and fired at the silent > procession injuring several people. Key leaders of the movement were > arrested. After demands for inquiry into the incident a committee was formed > for the same and despite reports that the District administration was > responsible there has been no action by the HP government in the matter till > date. > > The repression at Wangtoo succeeded in diffusing the local movement and the > two villages, Sapni and Kanhai, who lost 1650 bighas of land in the project, > were the first to back out of the struggle, giving an NOC to the project. 6 > villages under which the Karchham Wangtoo project’s 17 km. tunnel passes > through, but whose lands were not being acquired for the project, were not > even considered as affected and neither were NOCs sought from them. > > Along with these villages about 8 villages on the left bank of the river > are being affected as a result of the construction activity today. More than > 800 petitioners from these villages are now fighting a legal battle for > compensation for the impact of the tunnelling which has led to drying up of > natural springs (the only sources of drinking water and irrigation for apple > orchards) and punitive action against the company for violation of tribal, > environment and forest laws. > <http://sites.google.com/site/dissentmatters/home/opinions/andar-se-solid/Jayp%20dumping%20along%20baspa%20river.jpg?attredirects=0> > > The struggle of the Kinnauras against Jaypee is far from over, even as the > project is close to commissioning. The 70% jobs that were promised to the > locals in the project have not been given. Compliance conditions that were > part of the Environment Clearance granted by the Environment Ministry have > been violated blatantly and muck from the tunnel has been disposed all along > the river bed. > > The transmission line being set up by the company, from Kinnaur to > Abdullahpur is being opposed by 4 panchayats. On 9th December 2009, after a > news item appeared in a leading English daily about the permission to axe > 15000 trees for the Jaypee transmission line, the Shimla High Court gave a > suo-moto notice to the Additional Chief Secretary, Forests and the > Conservator of Forests. The alternative of laying the line on the right bank > of the river was not adequately explored, even though much fewer trees would > have been chopped if that was done. Apparently the company had refused the > Forest department’s proposal to revise the plan to shift it to the right > bank because of the costs involved. > > Locals claim that the company has encroached on 400 bighas of forest land > for setting up its stone crusher. While initiating construction on the > crusher, which operates adjacent to the main link road to a village, no > separate clearance had been sought. The ex-District Collector (DC) had also > raised this issue. The matter was taken to the High Court but the new > Collector filed an affidavit in support of the company. The Jaypee group of > companies wield a great deal of influence with the Himachal government - > bureaucracy and political parties alike. With an investment over 10,000 > crores the company is building a 3 million tonne integrated cement plant, > India’s largest private Hydropower project and the first thermal plant (of > Himachal) in the state. All three projects face local opposition as well as > litigations for series of violations. > > For a company whose activities include mining the earth and hollowing > mountains, ‘Andar se solid’ seems a bit inappropriate as a promotional tag > line. Its irony leaps out at us when ‘accidents’, like the one on 14th > February 2010 at the Karccham Wangtoo project site killing six labourers, > occur. A landslide at Kaksthal, where work on the project’s tunnel alignment > was going on, sent boulders falling on the workers colony situated below. > > And coming back to the Sutlej - If all the planned hydro projects > materialise, more than 90% of the river will be dammed and tunnelled by the > end of the next decade, rendered totally fugitive. > > -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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