Inertia on Central report on eco-destruction prompts Adanis to say ship recycling "not in eco-fragile zone"

Land reclamation at Mundra

By A Representative
Gujarat’s most powerful industrial house, Adani Group, has declared that the proposed ship recycling facility to be set up next to the Mundra Port does “not fall in any eco-fragile zone”, nor has it received any instructions from the Government of India regarding objections raised by the committee headed by top environmentalist Sunita Narain’s report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which has charged the Adanis with serious violations of environmental norms by the group along the sea coast of Mundra in the recent past.
The statement – which suggests increasing confidence in the group that the environmentalists will not be able to harm their business interests – comes amidst increasing view among Gujarat-based environmentalists that the Government of India (GoI) or the state government are not doing enough to stall Adanis’ movement towards destruction of mangroves forest, haphazard reclamation land by “removing” half-a-dozen creeks, useful for fishery activities, and kick-starting construction of certain facilities at Mundra Port and SEZ ahead of GoI environmental clearance.
The Adanis’ tough defense of the proposed ship recycling facility has been made in a letter by Mahesh Pandya of Paryavaran Mitra, which has made an important representation against the ship recycling project before the Environmental Public Hearing held in Mundra on July 30. Justifying reclamation, the Adanis said in the letter, “It is important to mention that the proposed project area is developed on land which is reclaimed as part of the West Port development as approved under the Water Front Development Project of the MoEF.” Significantly, “reclaimed” land leading is also a major point of contention by the Sunita Naraian committee against the Adanis.
The statement claims, the location has been “cleared” by the MoEF, saying, “Location considered for the proposed project is well within the operational areas of the Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZL). This aspect was discussed with the MoEF and accordingly finalized…” It does not stop at that. As for concern regarding waste disposal for treatment at the ship recycling unit, it underlines, “APSEZL is member of the Nandesari Environment Control Ltd (NECL) as well as Saurashtra Enviro Projects Pvt Ltd (SEPPL). We will give preference for sending wastes to SEPPL.”
Pointing out that “all care will be taken” for the environment, the Adanis further claim, they will be using “newer technology in the ship recycling industry which will certainly be helpful to change the image of practices being followed in breaking activities”. They add, the project will in fact “contribute” to “economic development, employment generation, infrastructure growth, income generation, improvement in quality of living standard”, especially of the “fishermen and their families by providing all kinds of support to sustain their livelihood” – all of which are a matter of major criticism by the local social organizations and NGOs.
The statement has sounded alarm bells among NGOs and social organizations, as they feel it only suggests how lukewarm the MoEF and the state government have been to their concern over the destruction to the environment caused by the Adanis in the region while construction the port, the SEZ facility and the power unit. Sounding the alarm, Paryavaran Mitra has shot a strong letter asking the MoEF to implement the recommendations of the Sunita Narain committee and not grant environmental clearance to the proposed ship recycling project. The letter says, in accordance with the committee’s assessment urgent steps should be taken to “repair the damage and harm done by the company” and also take “prompt legal action” against it.
The letter, written by Mahesh Pandya, particularly expresses concern that the Adanis have still not heard anything from the MoEF on the Sunita Narain committee. It quotes the Adanis’ letter as saying that till date they “have not received any communication from MOEF regarding the committee report.” It regrets, “The committee submitted its report in April 2013, and in spite of our repeated request for implementation of the committee report, neither the MoEF nor the state government has taken any action against the company till date.”
While expressing his dismay, Pandya emphasizes, “The company has been a habitual violator of environmental laws and already has adversely impacted environment at the coast of Mundra, which has suffered a lot in the past and will continue to do so with such industrial activities. In view of the above and the company’s background, I request you not to grant environmental clearance to such disastrous project and take legal action against the company at the earliest.”

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog