Andhra govt, Centre pushing for Polavaram project, setting aside Dalit, Adivasi rights in scheduled areas: NGO panel

An agricultural field proposed to be acquired

By A Representative
A fact-finding committee, which visited the Polavaram Multipurpose Project-affected villages in Andhra Pradesh recently, has in its preliminary report said that land acquisition for the project is being carried out "without settlement of forest rights of thousands of adivasis as per the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, and the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation (LARR) Act, 2013".
Also noting "problems in the allotment of land for the displaced Dalits and Adivasis, lack of grievance redressal systems, poor rehabilitation facilities and weak monitoring", the committee has said, it can confirm the "numerous complaints of legal and procedural violations, corruption and irregularities in the land acquisition and rehabilitation process."
The committee noted that it is gravely concerned over "the scale of displacement, particularly of Adivasis and Dalits in the constitutionally protected Schedule-V area", adding, "The Central government, along with the Andhra Pradesh government, must assume full responsibility to safeguard the rights and interests of all the affected people, before racing ahead with engineering works of the project."

Jointly organized by the National Alliance of People's Movements, Adivasi Sankshema Parishad, Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruttridarula Union, Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), and the Human Rights Forum, the committee visited villages Errapadu and Reddygudem in Upperu panchayat, as also Vinjaram, Koida, Parentaalpalli, and Singanapalli resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) colonies.
The committee consisted of Prafulla Samantara, recipient of the Goldman Environment Price, 2017; Sharanya Nayak, social activist from Koraput, Odisha; Babji Juvvala of the Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruttidarula Union; Kaki Madhu of the Adivasi Sankshema Parishad, Andhra Pradesh; Meera Sanghamitra, human rights activist; independent journalists Malini Subramaniam, among other.
Following an interaction with chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) and the Union water resources secretary, under whose charge the Polavaram Project is being monitored as a 100% Centrally funded project since 2014, Samantara told news person in Delhi that they have demanded "a full-fledged judicial inquiry into the nexus of middlemen and officials who are allegedly "swindling huge chunk of the rehabilitation money and the state exchequer."

R Shridhar of the Environics Trust, who accompanied him, said, Poalvaram was a classic case wherein "without an unambiguous clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) as per the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, and public hearings in all affected areas, the project works are going ahead with least regard to the enormous scale of social and environmental impacts."
Sanghamitra told newspersons that, as per the records of Andhra Pradesh, 372 villages are slated to be submergence and a total of 1,06,798.63 acres of land in East Godavari and 51,858 acres of land in West Godavari is being acquired for the project. "The Centre, along with the recently constituted Inter-Ministerial R&R Monitoring Committee of Government of India, are legally mandated to ensure that LARR Act and FRA Act are fully implemented before acquisition and submergence".
"As the supreme constitutional custodian of the rights of adivasis in Schedule V areas, and Polavaram being a National Project, the President is directly responsible for the well-being of the one lakh adivasis in the region", said Vimalbhai of the Matu Jan Sangathan. He added, "The Centre must play a very proactive role in monitoring the overall project and not merely the engineering works."
If social worker Bapji Juvvala stated that locally they have "unearthed evidence of numerous instances of corruption, in which many middlemen, officials and political party leaders are involved", with the state government remaining "completely nonchalant", Krishnanaveni of Darbagudem panchayat noted, the state was trying to create conflict amongst adivasis by ‘rehabilitating’ some project affected adivasis on the lands of other adivasis.

Comments

Is vaccine the Voldemort of modern medicine to be left undiscussed, unscrutinised?

By Deepika* Sridhar Vembu of Zoho stirred up an internet storm by tweeting about the possible link of autism to the growing number of vaccines given to children in India . He had only asked the parents to analyse the connection but doctors, so called public health experts vehemently started opposing Vembu's claims, labeling them "dangerous misinformation" that could erode “vaccine trust”!

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

What happens when cricket is turned into 'dharmayudh' between India and others

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* India ‘lost’ the World Cup. Winning or losing is part of the game, but what happens when the game becomes part of the political propaganda and the audiences are not sports lovers but fans who hate others? An Uttar Pradesh daily gave a headline for the final game as ‘dharmyudh’. The game of cricket is being used for political purpose. As cricket is a powerful business in the country, every non-playing dignitary in the game earns much bigger sum than the player.

Justice for Zubeen Garg: Fans persist as investigations continue in India and Singapore

By Nava Thakuria* Even a month after the death of Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore under mysterious circumstances, thousands of his fans and admirers across eastern India continue their campaign for “ JusticeForZubeenGarg .” A large digital campaign has gained momentum, with over two million social media users from around the world demanding legal action against those allegedly responsible. Although the Assam government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has arrested seven people, and a judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court to oversee the probe, public pressure for justice remains strong.

Adani Group declares it will "self-finance" Australian coal mining project: Traditional group registers fresh opposition

By A Representative The controversial Adani Group's Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Queensland, Australia, will be "100% financed" through the Group’s own resources, Adani, Mining CEO Lucas Dow has said. A South Asia Times, Melbourne, report has quoted Dow as saying in Queensland, “We have already invested $3.3 billion in Adani’s Australian businesses, which is a clear demonstration of our capacity to deliver a financing solution for the revised scope of the mine and rail project." Dow Pointing out that "the project stacks up both environmentally and financially", he added, "Today’s announcement removes any doubt as to the project stacking up financially... The Carmichael Project will deliver more than 1,500 direct jobs on the mine and rail projects during the initial ramp-up and construction phase, and will support thousands more indirect jobs, all of which will benefit regional Queensland communities.” The project faces fierce opposition ...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

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 ...

46% retailers don't know non-woven bags offered aren't eco-friendly alternative: Study

By A Representative A new study 'Environmental illusion: The non-woven bag' by the Delhi-based advocacy organisation Toxics Link, has sought to bust the myth that non-woven (NW) bags are an eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags. The study reveals that they are nothing but polypropylene (a form of plastic).

Neglected dimension: Important linkages of social relationships, values to climate change

By Bharat Dogra A very important but neglected dimension of the efforts to resolve climate change and related serious environmental problems concerns the social values and relationships among people. To bring out the significance of this neglected aspect let us examine the response of two different types of societies. First, let us try to compare a society in which family and community ties are strong and close with another society where these are weak, where there is strong individualism and a very high number of single person households or units. In the first society there is more sharing of resources and facilities, so that this society tends to consume less (to meet needs such as housing and various gadgets). In addition there is much greater possibility in the first society to mobilize people for tasks like greening of community places or even household spaces. When it comes to tasks relating to climate change adaptation, it is the societies with close social relationships wh...

Search This Blog