Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, defence project in North India's Mewat: Forest dwellers feel totally "sidelined"

Jats of Mewat

By Ashok Shrimali*
People of the Mewat region of North India are feeling the pinch of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which includes a rail corridor stretching between Alwar in Rajasthan and Panipat and Meerut via Delhi in Uttar Pradesh.
With plans simultaneously underway to develop the whole region -- a protected forest area -- as a tourism spot, on one hand, and a major military industry industrial complex, on the other, the region has already created a flutter among the area's forest dwellers.
A historical region of Haryana and Rajasthan states, the loose boundaries of Mewat generally include Mewat District of Haryana and parts of Alwar, Bharatpur, and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan.The region roughly corresponds to the ancient kingdom of Matsya, foun.ded in the 5th century BCE.Though the district is in the National Capital Region (NCR) and just 20 km from Delhi airport, it has largely remained undeveloped.
A senior activist Guman Singh of the Himalay Niti Abhiyan, who recently interacted with the forest dwellers, however, says, "Several gram panchayats, which are part of the region, have protested against the refusal to consult them and hold gram sabha before laying down any of the proposed projects."
What is worse, he says in a report he has sent to Counterview following his visit, is that, "the defence production project is being implemented on a 850 hectares (ha) land by the the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) without people being aware of its detailed project report (DPR) or the environment impact assessment (EIA)."
In all, according to him, "40-odd villages on a 12-km hilly stretch of Aravalli mountain range, where more than 65,000 people live, will be affected." The gram panchayats to be affected include "Jajor, Kithur, Kholbas, Pahada, Mehrampur, Ghasoli and others", he says.
Singh claims, "There is no provision in law which empowers DRDO not to consult local people before coming up with a project, especially in a forest area. The decision to transfer forest land, at the very first site, appears to be illegal."
The locals, says Singh, told him that a "missiles project has been approved for the 850 ha set aside for the DRDO, which is proposed to cost around Rs 16,000 crore. Yet, there has not been any environmental nod, nor have been people told about the project, not even how they would be rehabilitated. It would seem as if the Forest Rights Act does not exist for region, or that the Supreme Court judgements need not be implemented for the project."
Meanwhile, forest dwellers of the region have begun to organize themselves to start a movement against the government decision to "develop" the region through various projects. There have been interaction with the authorities following a meeting on August 15 with the participation of 30-odd panchayat chiefs and 500 local people's representatives.
Singh says, "I learnt at one of the meetings that the panchayats have in their possession all the necessary papers which suggest that the area is a protected forest, one reason the 850 ha cannot be transferred to the DRDO, yet the authorities are refusing to listen."
According to Singh, the area consists of a big portion of cattle grazing land, where as many as 4,000 cows graze. "Animal husbandry is the people's main occupation. There are large number of ponds in the area, which help recharge water in the nearby regions. All this is now under threat", he adds.

---

*Gujarat based senior activist

Comments

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Advocacy group decries 'hyper-centralization' as States’ share of health funds plummets

By A Representative In a major pre-budget mobilization, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), India’s leading public health advocacy network, has issued a sharp critique of the Union government’s health spending and demanded a doubling of the health budget for the upcoming 2026-27 fiscal year.

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s views on religion as Tagore’s saw them

By Harasankar Adhikari Religion has become a visible subject in India’s public discourse, particularly where it intersects with political debate. Recent events, including a mass Gita chanting programme in Kolkata and other incidents involving public expressions of faith, have drawn attention to how religion features in everyday life. These developments have raised questions about the relationship between modern technological progress and traditional religious practice.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria* Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027. However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: Akbar to Shivaji -- the cross-cultural alliances that built India

By Ram Puniyani What is Indian culture? Is it purely Hindu, or a blend of many influences? Today, Hindu right-wing advocates of Hindutva claim that Indian culture is synonymous with Hindu culture, which supposedly resisted "Muslim invaders" for centuries. This debate resurfaced recently in Kolkata at a seminar titled "The Need to Protect Hinduism from Hindutva."

Drowning or conspiracy? Singapore findings deepen questions over Zubeen Garg’s death

By Nava Thakuria* For millions of fans of Zubeen Garg, who died under unexplained circumstances in Singapore on 19 September last year, disturbing news has emerged from the island nation. Its police authorities have stated that the iconic Assamese singer died while intoxicated and swimming in the sea without a mandatory life jacket.

Search This Blog