The Politics of Land & the Besieged Lot # #
|
|  Yüklə 144 Kb.
|
Land Rights vs. Industrial Acquisition Industrial revolution, which made a colourful and dreamy entry, is turning out to be the worst form of human development. The steady economic growth of industries with active support from the state machinery is directly proportional to the unchecked exploitation of masses. Most of them belong to marginalised communities such as Dalits, Adivasis, women, working class, etc. Though during the pre-independence struggle “factory to the workers” prominently came on to the national agenda, nowhere in India had we witnessed this agenda being implemented in the post-independence era. Resultant displacement, migration, repercussion of workers, loss of land and livelihood, pilfering state revenue, forest resources, etc. has outgrown to monstrous level.28 With the concept of Planned Development, planned mining was introduced in 1951. The Private Sector and the Public Sector were clearly demarcated giving the Public Sector a bigger role in India’s mineral wealth. There was spectacular progress in Indian Mining Industry from 1947 to 1985 when mineral production grew by about 120 times. The Indian peninsular has had a varied and complex geology, as a result of which rich mineral endowments covering a variety of mineral types are found. Mining and metallurgy have always played an important role in India’s history and can be dated back to pre-Harappan period from 4,000 to 2,500 BC. For 3,000 years India was the only known source of diamonds.29 In India, as in most Asia-Pacific countries, exploitation of land for mineral resources has a long history involving abuse and plunder. India’s Five Year Plans have focused on mining to achieve ‘development’, demanding the forfeiture of people’s lands for ‘national prosperity’. Most mineral and mining operations are found in forest regions, which are also the habitat for Adivasi (indigenous) communities. India is a vast country and as such the history and status of mining varies between regions. Mining projects vary from rat hole mining, small-scale legal and illegal mining, to large-scale mining – most of which has been historically managed by the public sector. Since the introduction of private sector participation in the 1990's, a number of mining related community conflicts have arisen with far reaching consequences.30 Mining industry gives employment to a large proportion of the industrial workforce. But are the developments in the mining industry in keeping with national interests? This draws a lot of controversial aspects related with this issue of mining at large. Hence an attempts on various aspects related with the overall outlook on this question of industrialization and mining with respect to the policies and legal aspects of the government, Constitutional and other rights of the people, situation of some of the communities in mining areas as well as the action of the state in relating with certain specific cases of violence against the people needs to be discussed.
Chhattisgarh is the richest State in terms of mineral wealth, with 28 varieties of major minerals. Chhattisgarh, along with two other Indian States has almost all the coal deposits in India, and with this the state has planned the power hub strategy. All the tin ore in India is in Chhattisgarh. A fifth of iron ore in the country is here, and one of the best quality iron ore deposits in the world is found in the Bailadila mines in south Chhattisgarh, from where it is exported to Japan. Rich deposits of Bauxite, Limestone, Dolomite and Corundum are found in the State. The State is lucky to have large deposits of coal, iron ore and limestone in close proximity, making it the ideal location for the lowest cost of production. All doors for private participation in the mining sector are widely open in Chhattisgarh. The State’s Mineral Policy, 2001 has created conducive business environment to attract private investment in the State, both domestic and international. Procedures have been simplified. At the same time the state is willing to provide resources and manpower having trained in tailor-made programs in geology, geophysics, geochemistry, mineral beneficiation, mining engineering, etc. The State is ensuring a minimum lease area with secured land rights so that investors can safely commit large resources to mining projects. For surmounting the long-drawn out process of getting mineral-related leases, at the State level, quick processing of applications is given top priority. For major minerals under the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, where approvals are required from Government of India, the State Government is helping in strong advocacy to get such approvals quickly. Sarguja, Raigarh and Bilaspur districts are the coal zones in Chhattisgarh. It is estimated that more than 72 thousand acres of land have leased out to SECL for coal mining, by which hundreds of villages have already been affected. Bastar and Durg districts have some of the rare quality of steel in the world. Nearly 20 thousand acres of land have been occupied for mining steel in Bailadeela and Dalli Rajhara area of these districts. Heavy deposits of limestone are also found in Chhattisgarh region. In an area of three districts itself, i.e. Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur, there are 10 big factories of all big industrial houses and with many more small ones and its auxiliary units. Most of these have been established in the last 15-18 years. Huge diamond deposits in Devbhog (Raipur) and Bastar are also in the eyes of the MNCs. In all for cement industry 2990 acres, 14530 acres for rice mills, 7665 acres for steel industry, for ferry alloys 940 acres and 285 acres for re-rolling mills have been already acquired in the area. Apart from these 18652.377 acres of lands has been rendered on lease for other mining purpose. Therefore land acquisition followed by the adverse impact on the people is a major issue in Chhattisgarh.31 There is a cement factory run by Ambuja group (formerly by Modi group), which has the largest production capacity in Asia. Its total capacity was 10.46 lakhs in 1992. But to produce that they have engaged only 300 workers. 24 years ago Tata had put up a cement factory in Jamul near Bhilai. It had a production capacity of 4 lakh tons and the number of workers are 1800. In Janjgir-Champa district alone, 16 new MoUs for power plants have been signed by the state government. An approximate estimation of 48000 acres of land is required for these, which includes establishment of plants, establishment of ancillary units, dumping space for overburden, fly-ash, colony development for staff, etc. For all these projects coal will be brought from Jashpurnagar, Raigarh and Korba districts. Water would be drawn from Mahanadi, Maand, Sheonath and Kelo rivers. Between 2005 and 2007 Jindal alone had applied for the prospecting licence (PL) and mining licence (ML) for 6110.95 sq km and another 1559.172 hectare (3852.66 acres) in Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Rajnandgoan, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa, Raigarh, Jashpur and Surguja districts. The minerals in this are iron ore, limestone, dolomite, coal, diamond, precious & semiprecious gemstone, etc. All these regions and districts where Jindal has applied for mining licence falls within Adivasi areas. It also means several hundred million tonnes per annum of solid wastes and fly ash will be indiscriminately dumped on land. These would contain heavy metal constituents that will eventually leach into both surface and ground water regimes over the years, making the water unfit for human and animal consumption as well as damaging to all other forms of life. Health consequences will inevitably follow; they will now have started, since it takes a number of years for the leachates to penetrate fresh water sources. So far the people are concerned the situation is grim. They are pushed beyond the margins and the space is further withering. Usurpation of thousands of acres of land is a usual phenomenon of all mining and industrialisation process. Women are the most pretentious in this process, as they bear triple burden. They remain as the unobserved recipient of all these misfortunes. Due to automation and mechanisation even the employment opportunity provided by these industrial houses disappeared in the course of time. Health in general in these areas and more specifically occupational health is another area of severe concern. Education for the children of the already battered strata has become a distant dream.
Four years back we did a survey of Vedanta’s bauxite mines in Mainpat and Daldali. At Mainpat, the biggest single bauxite mining complex in Chhattisgarh, we met around thirty Adivasi workers, un-helmeted, clad in shirts and sarees under a blazing sun, as the lateritic overburden was blasted. They then moved in with a few iron rodes and hammers, to break and sort the ore before loading it by hand onto waiting trucks. The same story is that of the workers in the Daldali mines of Vedanta. Virtually all Vedanta’s bauxite miners are contract labourers. Those we met at Mainpat informed us that, on a good day they can earn just over 60 rupees (less for women), for delivering one ton of ore. In Daldali it is different story since the rates are different for different group of people. Those who could bargain better rates get better and those who couldn’t bargain it to their level are the lost ones. Particularly the Baigas couldn’t bargain to the extent of the Gonds. However it won’t be more than 60 rupees per person per day. Again in Mainpat their habitations are small thatched hovels, perched over the quarry, deprived of electricity and adequate water. “There’s only one hand pump to serve 150 families,” a young Adivasi woman worker, Mati Shahu, told us. “The company provides no medical facilities and if someone is injured we have to take them ourselves by taxi down to the plains”, continued Mati. Villagers at another site complained that, day and night, the silica-laden dust from the mining blew into their windows, covering walls and floors. In Bodai-Daldali of Kabirdham district, which again is another of the mining areas of Vedanta, in typical fashion, Baigha inhabitants from the first of four Adivasi settlements in the project’s pathway have been ejected from their homes, without due legal process, and dumped on the plains in the heart of a nonAdivasi community. They had to leave behind their crops.32 In June 2005, Vedanta’s contract labourers at Mainpat went on strike against the appalling conditions to which they are subjected. On July 18 2005, another 2500 contract workers at the Vedanta’s Korba expansion project 200 km further north, went on strike to protest a worker’s death on duty. They reportedly smashed the windows of three vehicles and set a company ambulance on fire, accusing the management of being casual in their demand for security equipment. A Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader claimed that eight workers have died at Vedanta’s expansion work site during the previous 12 months. On July 19th 2005, police baton charged the striking workers, injuring seven, instead of consoling the family of the deceased that has four children.33 Employment issues are of deeper concern in mining areas. Dalli-Rajhara is an iron ore-mining town. It meets the total iron ore requirements of the Bhilai Steel Plant. In Dalli-Rajhara, the Rajhara mechanized mine has been running since 1958. The preparations for mechanizing the Dalli mine began in 1977. By 1978 the situation of mechanization became even more clear and lucid, when at deposit no. 5 in Bailadila mines, 10000 labourers were rendered jobless at one stroke. All resistance was crushed. 10000 huts were burnt down, numerous women raped, and labourers fired upon. The orgy of mechanization forced nearly 10000 labourers to face the desperation of hunger. A growing argument was that machinery in question was produced in Russia and was therefore socialistic, progressive machinery – however it did not mitigate the grim fate of these labourers.34
This state, carved out of Madhya Pradesh, is both rich in its forest and mineral wealth. The state has heavy deposits of iron ore, coal, limestone, bauxite, dolomite, tin ore, gold, etc. and is also rich in the deposits of precious and semiprecious stones like diamond, corundum, alexandrite, garnet, etc. Chhattisgarh produces 25% of the total iron ore production of the country. The main iron ore producing areas are: Bailadila, Raoghat and Dalli-Rajhara. The main bauxite producing areas are Phutka Hills, Main Pat, Samri Pat, Keshkal valley and Maikal ranges. The state is also a huge producer of limestone and dolomite and is being targeted for diamond prospecting and mining in a big way. Diamond are reported from in Payalikhand and Behradih villages of Deobhog area of Raipur and Tokpal of Bastar district. These are present in the form phenocrysts in kimberlite-like volcanic rocks. The main coal producing areas are: Korba Colliery, Hasdo- Rampur Colliery, Mand-Raigarh Colliery, Vishrampur Colliery, Lakhanpur Colliery, Tatapani-Ramkola Colliery, Jhilmili Colliery, Sonhat Colliery, Jhagrakhand Colliery, Chirmiri-Kurasiya Colliery.35 The following areas within the state containing different minerals are being looked at for future exploitation: Deobhog in Raipur district and Tokpal in Bastar district has been identified for the exploration of Diamond; Bijapur in Bastar district for Corrandum; Saraipali of Mahasamund district for Gold and Tin (Cassiterite); Bailadila, Raoghat and areas in Rajnandgaon district for iron ore; Jhanjhar, Meru, Durg, Bhaupratapur, Kondal area of Kanker district for gold; Renger, Markanar, Vasanpur area of Dantewada district for tin; Chhirahi-Newari, Saradih, Garrabhata and Patharkundi village of Raipur district and Sakti area of Janjgir district for limestone. In addition 500 lakh tonnes of high grade dolomite has been found in Lagra-Madanpur in Champa-Janjgir district; 5 lakh tonnes of metal grade bauxite in Dorima (or Barima) of Surguja district; 220 lakh tonnes of coal has been identified in Hardi Bazar-Kertali in Korba district; 170.4 lakh cubic metres of flagstone having different shades and colours has been demarcated in revenue land of Chitrakot and Matkot area of Bastar district; clay and Banded heamatite quartzite (BHQ) in the Balod area in Durg district.36
In recent time a new tendency is observed among the corporate houses to appropriate farmland. Instead of engaging the state in acquiring land, the corporate house has started buying land directly from the farmer. This trend is widely seen in some of the areas of Janjgir-Champa district where the corporate house directly bought land from the farmers. In fact the latest amendment in the LAA bill to be tabled in the parliament consists of some of these aspects. The proposed amendment says that land acquisition wouldn’t be the responsibility of the government. 70% should be directly either acquired or bought by the company itself. State’s responsibility would only be limited to provide 30% of land either through acquisition of public land or by transferring government land in favour of the company.
The mining areas have a huge overlap with the forest and Adivasi areas in the state and the increasing mining activities and allied industries have had a tremendous negative impact on these. An ongoing study by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) looking at ‘Forest cover in metal mining areas’ shows some revealing statistics. In the Bastar district, one of the biodiversity rich areas of Chhattisgarh, out of the 13,470 ha area under leases for iron ore mining, 11,657 ha is covered by forests.37 This of course indicates the forest within the actual lease, but the impact on the forests, biodiversity and the communities dependent on this region due to ancillary impacts of mining extends far beyond the actual lease area. Conflicts over industrialization and particularly mining in Chhattisgarh have existed for more than five decades in different forms. In earlier days it wasn’t taken to be conflicts as such, but only as immediate questions related to the question of inadequacy. The standpoints of trade unions were also only one-dimensional related to increment in wages or related matters of labourers. It could never address the entire questions mining in totality. Moreover mining has been strongly presupposed as a major means of industrial development contributing to the state economy. So how a means of development could be understood as a conflict is another point. Over the course of time the very definition of state and its economy has changed.38 Very first impression on reading the Chhattisgarh mineral policy – 2001 is that it is meant for increasing private participation in the mining sector by creating conducive business environment to attract private investment in the State. For realizing this administrative procedures have been simplified and all impediments are well taken care by the state. Except the Forests Conservation Act 1980, that the state feels to be a big problem all other obstacles are slowly removed off.
For some time the question of forest, people and displacement have been striking our ears every now and then. It has become the buzzword in media circles, movements, people’s organisations, NGOs, etc. Whenever there is a new development, particularly a new project being launched by the state in connivance with international agencies such as the World Bank, ADB, or even the corporate sector – with respect to the Indian forest, this again comes to us as a massive destruction move. Displacement in the name of forest conservation, protection of forests and wildlife and removal of people from reserved/protected forests has become a common feature to the forest based communities. In many places one could find lots of cases of multiple displacements as well. This could be widely observed in different parts of India, particularly after the interim order in the case of Godavaraman Thirumalpad vs Union of India (W.P 202 of 1995). This is case has given a new turn to the conflict situation. Forests, the nurturer of thousands of Adivasis and other forest workers, are also under inspection of the corporate investors. The government along with the forest department has been engaged in dispossessing the forest-based communities under the pretext of forest conservation and wildlife protection. Currently the situation is that almost 17 lakh acres of land has been demarcated as protected area for the sake of wildlife conservation, where people face the threat of eviction. According to government sources there are more than 250 villages with a population above 35000 standing at the brink of dispossession. The majority of them are Adivasis and other unprivileged strata. Adivasis living inside the forest are almost bonded labourers of the forest department.39 In Chhattisgarh 10 major projects have already been completed, for which 257032.585 acres of land have been lost. In all 238 villages have been affected by these dams and their rehabilitation has not yet been done. In addition to this there are 30 medium projects affecting 123 villages, for which 32745.13 acres of land have been acquired. Further there are 8 projects in pipeline and 6 medium projects have been proposed affecting 150 villages for which c acres of land is to be occupied. Majority of the land lost is either forests land or fuelled the destruction of forests. These are the statistics in 2000 when the state was about to be created. This chart has probably grown much higher.40 Another major reason of forest destruction is the mass felling of trees for commercial purpose. In many areas of Chhattisgarh there are cases of coop felling of trees and this happens through the forest department. Powerful lobbies of timber contractors, politicians, bureaucrats are actively operating the illegal felling. One major case of similar character in which the Adivasis were deceived was exposed in Bastar. This case drew a lot of attention and a CBI investigation was ordered. In fact the case was filed in the Supreme Court against a large number of people and due to the positive intervention of the court some of the government officials were also suspended.
All water sources originate from the indigenous land and the indigenous people have no say in the entire question of rights over water. Clearly, the intention of the Government is to establish market principles in the operation of the water sector, depoliticizing the sector by creating an independent tariff regulatory body. The country needs to urgently recognize that so long as we persist in spreading Green Revolution-type agricultural development to all regions, there will be no relief from the growing water crisis. In the last 15-20 years, there have been several developments that aided the privatization of water. Bottled water became easily available in local markets. An expose by a non-governmental organization showed bottled water defaulting on the requisite quality standards, thus bringing into the open the darker side of privatization. The entry of global corporations brought a fundamental shift in the nature of water privatization. The players are mainly multinational corporations who have the backing of the World Bank, which in turn wields enormous influence over governments and policy-makers. The private players are therefore in a position to control whole cities and whole sections of the rivers. In Chhattisgarh as per quick estimates, the state would require a hefty investment of about Rs. 9,651 crores to fully develop the estimated 43 lakh ha of its irrigation potential as against the existing irrigation potential of 13.37 lakh ha. A similar situation exists in the urban water sector also. For example the Municipal Corporation of Raipur has proposed an urban water scheme costing Rs. 397.42 crores to meet the water requirements of the city till the year 2031.41 Again Chhattisgarh is the first state in India where the then Madhya Pradesh government had leased out in 1998 a 23.6-km stretches of the Sheonath River near Durg town, to Kailash Soni, a businessman, on a 22-year renewable contract. Soni prohibited local people and fishermen in the area from using that stretch of the river in order to supply water to his big clients - the water-intensive industries in the region. Given the manner in which the contract was formulated, Soni could get away by saying that he had not privatized the river but was providing a service to the people. The former government headed by Ajit Jogi however, decided in April 2003 to cancel the contract with Soni's Radius Water Company. However the Radius Water Company threatened to file a suit against the government after which the decision was taken back. In a similar manner there are similar cases where the water is being taken off the public domain and being deployed into the hand of corporate sectors in states like Orissa, Jharkhand, Kerala, etc.42 Though undeclared almost in a similar fashion the government has leased out part of Kelo to Jindals in Raigarh. A similar plan is well set on card to deal with industrial water demands by carving out small length of other rivers such as Mahanadi, Maand, Kharun and other extents of Sheonath. Officially, 19 water privatisation projects are in different stages of implementation in India at present but unofficial accounts put the figure at 40. The 19 projects under implementation are in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim.43 While eight of them are being run by French corporations, the others are by Japanese and Australian concerns. The Indian market is estimated to be worth over $2,000 million. Major global corporations including the top three global water giants Suez and Vivendi of France and RWE-AG of Germany, have shown interest in the Indian market. These three corporations control over 70 per cent of the water systems in Europe and North America. Vivendi has operations in 90 countries around the world, and Suez in 120. Together these water corporations are targeting four areas within the water sector: water and waste water services, water treatment, water-related construction and engineering, and innovative technologies.44 An obvious case is Rajasthan where water will be supplied to the towns of Jaipur and Ajmer from the Bisalpur dam. The ADB, which is involved in the project, has absolved itself of all responsibility by telling the affected communities living near the dam site that it is not funding the dam but only taking the water and supplying it to the cities. While the ADB encourages full cost recovery and managerial efficiency for water resources, experts in developing countries warn of the consequences for the poor, who are already squeezed by the vagaries of an inflationary economy. Much of this privatization spree has been facilitated by the Urban Development Ministry, which released a set of guidelines for the State governments encouraging them to move towards “private partnerships”. These guidelines are in tune with half a dozen reports produced by State governments and the World Bank that outline the blueprint for privatizing the country's water.45 While the Water Policy has de facto redefined water rights and undermines the community’s rights of people, this has never been debated in Parliament, which is the only body, which can legislate on resource rights. The Water Policy is therefore a subversion of the Constitution and a hijack of the peoples’ natural rights to water as a vital resources needed for sustenance. This is a surreptitious attempt to establish the Principle of Eminent Domain in water, which was always peoples' resources, in place of the Public Trust Doctrine that define the role of the state with respect to natural resources, the collective wealth of the people. Creation of an El Dorado orbits around the industries in India. |