People's pressure? GPCB mining cancellation 'notice' to top cement unit in Gujarat

By Sagar Rabari*
Environmental Clearance (EC) was given to Ultratech Cement Co Ltd for limestone mining in villages Talli and Bambhor of Talaja taluka in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat on January 5, 2017. EC was issued ignoring, overriding and undermining opposition from local farmers to mining activity in the area. The mining in these two villages covers an area of 193.3268 hectares (ha), while the entire project is spread over an area of 1,715.1311 ha.
In the process of seeking EC, the company declared that there is no national park, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve, tiger reserve, Ramsar site and the wildlife corridor in 10 km radius of the mining site.
In reality, the letter of the deputy forest officer, Bhavnagar, stated: “As per Ministry of Forest & Environment, Gujarat Government Notification WLP-1107-572-G1 Dated 18.05.2007, this area has been declared as Greater Gir (Bruhad Gir)”.
In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by Bharatsinh Popatbhai Vala, the office of the Range Forest Officer, Wildlife Range, Talaja, Forest Colony, Opposite Jafari school, Gopnath Road, Talaja, stated that three lions and 8-9 leopards live in the Talaja taluka forest range. Details of the compensation amount paid to the owners of cattle killed by these animals was also attached.
The company conceded in its own hald-yearly report (Chapter 2, point 2.4.4 pp 61) that the entire mining operation in 1,715 ha would provide employment to only 30 persons. Clearly, the Gujarat government of Vijay Rupani has not cared about 30,000 persons, who would be rendered jobless as a result of the project.
Mining would have led to salinity ingress, threatening the highly fertile area and its people, who are mainly farmers. There are dehydration plants in the area which earn nearly Rs 1,000 crore in foreign exchange -- which would have to shut down. The Rupani government appears merely interested in safeguarding the interests of a corporate house.
Condition No 6 of EC clearly states:
"Transport of minerals shall be done either by dedicated road or it should be ensured that the trucks/dumpers carrying the mineral should not be allowed to pass through the villages. The Project proponent shall ensure that the road may not be damaged due to transportation of the mineral; and transport of minerals will be as per IRC Guidelines with respect to complying with traffic congestion and density."
The above condition has been brazenly flouted. An inspection report of the Bhavnagar regional office of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in July states that the company supplies limestone to the cement unit via dumper trucks through village roads -- not constructed a separate road.
In response to the representation by me via email and letter dated October 15, 2019 to the Bhavnagar regional office of the GPCB carried out another inspection on October 21, 2019 at 18:00 hours, and found that the limestone was being transported by the company via the village road, which is a breach of EC conditions. As per the condition of EC, limestone transportation has to be carried out via a dedicated road.
The responsibility to ensure that the conditions of EC are adhered to and that they are not being violated lies with GPCB. I have learned that such inspection was carried out earlier too and reports were made, and the company accepted this in its half-yearly report. If so, why EC has not been cancelled?
Now I have learned that under provisions of Section 31-A, GPCB has issued a show cause notice to the company on November 6, seeking an answer as to why mining should not be stopped in Talli and Bambhor villages.
Who is behind this? Despite people’s protest, such open flouting of norms and conditionalities cannot happen without political patronage. As widely reported, protesting people were brutally beaten up in police stations because of the political patronage enjoyed by the corporate house.

Protesting Gujarat farmers clash with police

Despite the corporate house’s acceptance of the breach of EC conditions, why is a deaf ear and a blind eye turned to it? Why is it not being probed? Is the pro-corporate government trying to make money over people’s bodies? If the heavy vehicles and dumper trucks accidentally kill an animal or a human being, will the chief minister personally take responsibility?
The chief minister is responsible for safeguarding the interests of the people. He has to answer as to what action he is contemplating against the company. He ought to and must write immediately to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to cancel EC given to the company.
Whose interests is the Rupani government safeguarding? Corporates’ or peoples’? It appears that the government is acting as a representative of the corporates at the expense of the people and their interests. It is allowing corporates to flout all laws and conditions even as peoples’ lives and occupations have been endangering.
The way in which the government is protecting the interests of the corporate house/houses raises doubts whether politicians’ own interests are somehow associated with the corporate house. Running a business is not a crime if it is done with adherence to due process.
But therhould be no conflict of interest. If the chief minister or his cronies are partners of the company or are receiving huge election funds from them, so be it, but they have no right to break laws and take lives.
This entire episode raises serious issues with regard to corruption and mineral theft. To prove that it is above board, the state government should immediately order the police stations concerned to take necessary steps against the movement of trucks through the villages, it should inform MoEFCC to initiate immediate steps to cancel EC, and a case should be registered against the company for illegally carrying out mining. The company should be made to pay penalty.
The government should institute a commission to inquire into the legalities involved – whether mining is done according to the terms and conditions of EC, whether the company has mined more minerals than was stipulated and whether royalty on the total amount of mined mineral has been paid. The inquiry commission should submit its report within a month.
If the company has mined more mineral than the royalty paid, the the government's department of mines and minerals should register a case of theft against the company.
---
President, Khedut Ekta Manch, Gujarat

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