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Chutka Locals to disrupt public hearing for nuke project on the Narmada


Chutka ( M.P.), May 23, 2013

Pheroze L. Vincent. The Hindu 

Villagers staging indefinite dharna in Chutka village on Thursday to protest against the Public Hearing by District Administration for Nuclear Power Plant at Chutka village in Mandla disstrict of Madhya Pradesh on Friday. Photo: A.M.Faruqui
THE HINDU Villagers staging indefinite dharna in Chutka village on Thursday to protest against the Public Hearing by District Administration for Nuclear Power Plant at Chutka village in Mandla disstrict of Madhya Pradesh on Friday. Photo: A.M.Faruqui

Residents of four villages, which are supposed to give way for a nuclear project, are expected to picket a public hearing at Chutka on Friday. The 1400 MW power project by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is planned over 497.73 hectares in Narayanganj tehsil, roughly 400 km east of Bhopal.

Many of those participating in the agitation, have already lost their homes and pastures to the Bargi Dam on the river Narmada in 1984.

When The Hindu visited Chutka village, where a large tent is being set up for the hearing tomorrow, almost every hutment had “Cancel the public hearing, we don’t want nuclear power” painted in Hindi in front. Chutka is predominantly populated by the Gond tribe, who’s main occupation in growing lentils, corn, maize, mustard and staple Gond millets like Kodo (Palspalum scrolaiculatum) and Kutki (Panicum sumatrense).

The “parmanu” or nuclear plant was the main subject of discussion among guests leaving a wedding in Dhan Singh’s house. His wife Umedhabai, said that there was nothing for her family in the nuclear project. “We know how to farm, not to work with machines. After the government removed us from mother Narmada’s lap, we prepared these fields with our blood and sweat. Now they want us to give this away. It is better to kill us.”

At the village square, around forty villagers under the banner Chutka Parmanu Sangharsh Samiti (CPSS) have been protesting since May 21. They have also staged protests in Jabalpur, the divisional headquarters and in the capital Bhopal, this month. They are supported by the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), The CPI-ML (KN Ramachandran group) and the CPI.

After the Centre cleared the project in 2009, protests began. In 2010, survey teams were denied entry to the village and the gram sabhas of Chutka, Kunda and Tatighat villages passed resolutions against the project. After the district administration served a land acquisition notice, the protestors have handed over their memoranda of dissent to the administration and the governor.

The protestors are demanding that the Environment Impact Assessment report be given to them in simple Hindi. The report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Pune, in English was released last month with a summary in Hindi. They say that they will physically prevent the public hearing and face police canes, if they have to.

“The hearing will give legitimacy to this illegal attempt to take away our lands. How can we understand all this technical details. We are being tricked into losing everything we have for a project that will destroy the river and our livelihood,” said Nauratan Dubey, secretary of the CPSS.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has recruited and trained 40 youth to canvass in favour of the 1400 MW project. An exhibition bus highlighting benefits of nuclear energy has also been doing the rounds. Advertorials by Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous central body, have appeared in local Hindi dailies this week.

District Magistrate and Collector Lokesh Jatav told this reporter, “We want this to be inclusive… NPCIL has take groups of villagers to visit Tarapur Atomic Power Station near Mumbai. You must understand that the kind of rehabilitation and resettlement package offered today will be much better than the Bargi oustees got 30 years back.”

He added that at least 3,500 jobs will be created for locals. The administration is currently identifying trades in which 1,000 youth can be trained. The residential complex of NPCIL employees will also create a demand for local farmers.

Prem Singh Kudape, a man with his infant son at the protest, said that he does not want a job in the nuclear plant. “They are all contract jobs. Land is permanent. Even after we were sent away in 1984, undeserving people took away the jobs.”

The area falls under seismic zone 3, a high damage risk area. In 1997 an earthquake which recorded 6.2 on the Richter scale hit the area. Mr. Jatav allayed fears of a Fukushima like disaster saying that the government’s experts could not be wrong and they were willing to consider all objections to their report.

Gulzar Singh Markam, vice president of the GGP which commands the respect of adivasis in the region, said, “If it is so safe, let them build it in Bhopal by the Upper Lake. It can power the CM’s house.”

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Son molests Dalit girl, father sets her ablaze in Madhya Pradesh #Vaw #WTFnews


Last Updated: Sunday, May 19, 2013,
Zee Media Bureau

Bhopal: In a shocking incident, a 15-year-old Dalit girl was set afire by a youth’s father whose son was arrested by police on molestation charges filed by the victim.

Reports indicate the Dalit girl suffered 90 percent burn injuries and is battling for her life at a hospital in Bhopal.

The teenage girl was molested by the youth when she had gone out of house for some work, following which her family lodged a FIR against the accused.

Enraged with his son’s arrest, the youth’s father reached at the girl’s place on Saturday and poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze.

The police have registered attempt to murder case against the person.

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Gandhian activist arrested in MP, adivasis up in arms


Bhopal, May 17, 2013

 

Staff Reporter

 
A file picture of Gandhian activist Madhuri Krishnaswami who was arrested for fighting against the injustice meted out to adviasis in Madhya Pradesh.
The Hindu A file picture of Gandhian activist Madhuri Krishnaswami who was arrested for fighting against the injustice meted out to adviasis in Madhya Pradesh.
 
 

Madhuri Krishnaswamy, a leader of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) – which works for health and labour rights in the south-western Madhya Pradesh – was sent to judicial custody for a fortnight, on Thursday. Ms. Krishnaswamy, popularly called Madhuri Ben, and four others were summoned by Judicial Magistrate First Class D. P. Singh Sewach in Barwani on Thursday for a 2008 case of rioting and assaulting a public servant.

The police, in fact, had filed a closure report for lack of evidence, but the court took cognizance of the testimony of plaintiff Vijay Chouhan and summoned the respondents. Only Madhuri Ben appeared and was sent to Khargone Women’s Prison after she refused to seek bail. Two of the four others are already on bail. The others are expected to be arrested soon.

In 2008, Madhuri had alerted health and police officials after a tribal woman was forced to deliver her child on the road, after been evicted from a primary health centre by the compounder Mr. Chouhan. He also filed the case against the JADS, was suspended only to be reinstated later.

JADS activists picketed at six police stations in Barwani district on Friday. Union rural development minister was also in the district for the Congress’ Parivartan Yatra. “We told him that arresting the person who exposed the government is injustice. He said he spoke to the chief secretary. We also told him that we are only getting Rs. 22 to 26 as MNREGA wages (instead of the stipulated Rs. 100). He did not say anything,” Harsing Jamre of the JADS told The Hindu.

District superintendent of police R. C. Burra told this reporter, “We had to arrest her as the court ordered it… He (Mr. Jairam Ramesh) asked about her and we gave him all the details of the case.”

Ms. Krishnaswamy is scheduled to appear before the Chief Judicial Magistrate on May 30.

She was served a show-cause notice of externment from the district administration, last year, which accused her of preventing officials from doing their duties. This came after she protested against the death of a tribal woman after 27 hours of labour without medical help. Mr. Ramesh had then too written to chief secretary R. Parasuram to intervene.

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Controversy looming large over Chutka nuclear project


Shashikant Trivedi  |  Bhopal  May 15, 2013 Last Updated at 09:23 IST

Upcoming project in MP to displace local tribal population; proposed site in highly seismic zone near Kanha National Par

Locals of Mandla district will once again raise their voices against 1400 MW NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited) Chutka project which is coming up in highly seismic zone, near Kanha national park and adjacent  to one of the least polluted river Narmada. State government officials have already issued land acquisition notices to local people, almost all of them are tribal, and have slapped a NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) report which is Greek to them.

The district administration has called a public hearing on 24th of this month to invite claims, objections and suggestions suggestion on the project that pose risk to rich diversity and more importantly pre-historic evidences of human civilization in the area. Members of Chutka Parmanu Sangharsh Samiti, have demanded immediate cancellation of the meeting and threatened to stage dharna from 20th of this month if their demand is not met.

NEERI has readied environment impact assessment report on the project.  On the other hand district collector told BS that all formalities and documentation procedures have been completed and there are people who want this project to come up.

Interestingly, when world is debating safety of nuclear power project after 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, Jabalpur-Mandla belt also experienced an earthquake on 22 May 1997 of 7 magnitude on Richter. The epicenter of this earthquake was at Kosamghat –hardly 20 kilometers away from the proposed site.

According to Navratan Dubey, secretary of Chutkha Parmanu Sangharsh Samiti, the district collector handed over the NEERI report on 21 April 2013 to them and gave one month period to study it. “Entire report is in English and is in scientific terms, how can villagers study it and come up with even suggestions? He asks, “The NEERI took two years to prepare it and they want us to analyse it in one month. We have demanded the district collector to give a Hindi version of the report and a time of two months so that villagers can understand it. It would be impossible for them even if they are in favour of the project,” Dubey said, “We will launch our protest from 20 of this month if they do not listen to us. We want the public hearing to be cancelled.”

Villagers of Chutka, Tatighat, Kunda, Bhaliwara and Patha are in the core area of the project. Villagers are more enraged as they have already been displaced due to Bargi dam on Narmada River. The project site also falls under the scheduled area.

The district collector Lokendra Singh Jatav told BS telephonically from Mandla, “We have given them enough copies of the NEERI report in Hindi and enough time. There are people who want development and they are in favour of the project, we will go ahead as per schedule. We have already issued land acquisition notifications and few with vested interest are opposing it.”

Though the project is yet to come out of the drawing board, the district administration has issued notices under the 1994 land acquisition Act. Members of Chutka Parmanu Sangharsh Samiti also allege that district administration officials are forcefully moving ahead without taking them into confident. “They have not taken permission from gram sabhas and ignored decisions and resolutions of villagers in contrast to the fact that Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, has vested all rights on deciding developmental activities to the gram sabhas,” said Rajkumar Sinha, who is fighting for rights of oustees of Bargi dam. He is advising villagers on Chutka Parmanu Sangharsh Samiti on environment and other issues.

The samiti members said they were already displaced when the Bargi dam on Narmada River was conceived. “We are strictly against the project as we do not want to move for another project,” Dubey added. The district collector was not available for comment. However the district collector clarified that all legal and documentary procedures have been completed.

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Shehla Masood murder case: CBI court summons two witnesses


TNN | May 14, 2013,

INDORE: Special CBI court in Indore has on Monday issued summons to two witnesses, including Sanjay Gupta, industrialist friend of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bhopal South, Dhruvnarayan Singh and an official of Reliance Communication Deepak Yadav, in connection with the RTI activist Shehla Masood murder case.
Sanjay Gupta and Deepak Yadav were supposed to appear in court on Monday as witnesses of CBI, but they failed to appear before Special CBI court of Anupam Shirvastav. Miffed at their absence, the court issued summons to both asking them to appear on next hearing on May 30 and 31. Also, the court has asked CBI to present its list of witnesses during the next hearing. On earlier two occasions too, CBI’s witness had failed to appear in court.Defence counsel, Sunil Shrivastav, alleged that CBI is delaying the case. “In last one year, only 11 witnesses’ have been produced in the court out of 150 listed in the charge-sheet. In this way, it would take 15 years to complete the hearing and till then accused will be behind the bar,” said Shrivastav.

Shehla Masood was killed in August 2011 in front of her house when she was about to leave for office in her car.

Police arrested Zahida Parvez, Saba Farooqui, Saqib Danger, Irfan and Tabish in connection of the murder and all the accused are right now in jail in Indore as under trial.

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Do not oppose bail of 63 Naxalites, Buch panel to Chhattisgarh


May 8, TNN
BHOPAL: Committee set for reviewing the cases ofundertrials languishing in Chhattisgarh jails, has so far recommended the state government that it should not oppose the bail plea of 63Naxalities who have been in jail for more than two years.

However, the committee is not aware whether any of these 63 naxalities were released or not. The committee headed by former chief secretary of state Nirmala Buch was constituted as a part of deal between Naxalities and state government against the release of abducted Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, in May 2012.

The first meeting of the committee was held on May 3 last year, the day when the abducted collector was released by Naxalities, the committee’s sixth meeting was held at Bhopal on Monday.

“It is a standing committee and its purpose is to review the cases of undertrials who are in the jails for 2 years or more. So far we have reviewed 235 such cases and have recommended that government should not oppose the bail pleas of 110 such undertrials. Out of these, 110 a total of 63 were naxalities,” chairperson of the committee Nirmala Buch told TOI.

“176 cases were reviewed till the fifth meeting of the committee, out of which we recommended the government for not opposing the bail pleas of 71 after the review”, she said. “11 out of the 71 got bails, 10 were acquitted, 32 bail applications were not opposed by government but were rejected by courts,” she said.

“The rest 14 undertrials didn’t apply for bail in court,” Buch said.

Now, after the sixth meeting where we have reviewed 59 cases, we are recommending the government for not opposing the bail pleas of 39 such under trials which includes 21 naxalities, she added.

In all there are around 990 undertrials in Chhattisgarh jails who have been in captivity for two years or more years. We will review the next 100 cases in the meeting which is scheduled in July this year, Buch said.

 

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Shehla Masood Case : 2 accused denied bail by special CBI court #RTI


Press Trust of India | Updated Apr 16, 2013 a
Indore: A special CBI court on Monday rejected the bail plea of two accused in the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood. Saquib Ali `Danger‘ and Tabish Khan, the alleged shooters accused of executing the murder in 2011, were refused bail by Judge Anupam Srivastava. The accused had filed the bail applications in December 2012 and the court completed hearing the arguments on them by defence lawyer and CBI prosecutor last week.

Rejecting the plea, the court said it is not prudent to grant relief to the duo considering the seriousness of the crime they have been accused of committing and also given the complexities of the case. Five people are on trial for the murder of Masood who was shot dead outside her residence in Bhopal on August 16, 2011.

Besides Saquib and Tabish, the other accused are interior designer Zahida Parvez, her associate Saba Farooqi and Irfan, an alleged contract killer hailing from Kanpur. All the accused are in judicial custody since their arrest.

Shehla Masood murder: CBI court rejects bail of accusedFive people are on trial for the murder of Masood who was shot dead outside her residence in Bhopal on August 16, 2011.

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Hearing on bail plea deferred in Shehla Masood case #RTI


TNN | Apr 13, 2013, 01.26 AM IST

INDORE: Special CBI court on Friday deferred order on bail application of two accused in RTI activist Shehla Masood murder case till April 15. Accused Saqib alias Danger and Tabish had filed application and final hearing on application was completed on Wednesday. Cops had arrested Zahida Parvez, Saba Farooqui, Saqib alias Danger, Irfan and Tabish in connection with the murder of Shehla Masood. All the accused are in jail for past several months as undertrials. Earlier, bail applications of accused were rejected by the court.
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Bhopal protesters knock on Dow Chemical’s door in Mumbai – Videos


Author(s):
Akshay Deshmane
Issue Date:
2013-4-10

Demand clean up of toxins in soil and water around Union Carbide plant, production of absconding corporation officials before Indian court

image

Pic- Kamayani Bali Mahabal

Godrej Business District Pirojshahnagar in the eastern Mumbai suburb of Vikhroli had some unusual visitors on Tuesday. They were not well-heeled business professionals but hundreds of poor women, children and men, shouting slogans and carrying placards and posters which denounced Dow Chemical International Private Limited for its apathy towards the victims and survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Nearly 200 protesters from Bhopal who had survived the Bhopal gas disaster, including many children born after the accident who are experiencing severe health complications due to toxic contamination in the erstwhile plant’s vicinity, demonstrated outside the office of Dow Chemical, demanding that its parent company in USA clean up toxic contamination from soil and ground water in and around Union Carbide’s abandoned factory. The protesters also demanded from Dow Chemical that owns Union Carbide produce the absconding corporation charged with culpable homicide before the Bhopal court [1].

Having received advance intimation about the arrival of protesters, the company officials had made additional security arrangements and called in the police. “Officials from our senior management had asked us to reinforce our security with additional personnel, add more personnel to the Godrej’s private security that looks after security in the premises and called in the police also. This helped in preventing the protesters from entering the building. Only a small delegation of five protesters was allowed in to meet the officials at the company’s reception briefly and by 2-2:30 pm they had left,” said a member of Dow’s private security.

Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action was one of the five members who went in for the meeting. “We gave them our memorandum of demands and they responded saying that the senior management of the company will be informed about it but gave no time frame in which the demands will be addressed or responded to,” said Sarangi.

Demonstrators included women and children who have chronic illnesses from drinking local ground water contaminated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals [2]  from hazardous wastes recklessly dumped by Union Carbide. The protesters expressed dismay over Dow Chemical’s continued business in hazardous chemicals in India.

Nawab Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha said that following its takeover of Union Carbide in 2001, Dow Chemical is responsible for the horrific birth defects and other health damages caused due to ground water contamination.

Balkrishna Namdeo of Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha pointed out that Dow Chemicals is yet to pay additional compensation for deaths and health damage caused by the Dow subsidiary in the December 1984 gas disaster. “In 1989, Union Carbide had paid compensation only for 3,828 deaths whereas the total number of deaths has crossed 25, 000. Likewise, compensation has been paid for injuries to 102,000 persons while the actual number of persons injured by the disaster according to the state and Central governments is 568, 293.” (see Bhopal gas leak: curative petition downplays number of deaths[3]; SC refuses to restore stiffer charges for Bhopal disaster accused [4] and Union Carbide refuses more compensation to Bhopal gas leak victims [5]).

For those affected by the accident, there may be some hope for justice. Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action informed that in response to her organisation’s application, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal will soon summon the Dow Chemical’s authorized representative from USA and ask it to show cause why it does not produce its full subsidiary Union Carbide that is absconding from charges of culpable homicide for the last 21 years.

 

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Shehla Masood case: court reserves order on bail pleas of two accused


My Friend Shehla Masood

My Friend Shehla Masood

Press Trust of India  |  Indore  April 10, 2013 

The special CBI court today reserved its order on the bail applications of two of the accused in the Shehla Masood murder case — alleged shooters Saquib Ali ‘Danger’ and Tabish Khan — till April 12.

Judge Anupam Srivastava reserved the order after hearing the arguments by defence lawyer Pradeep Gupta and CBI’s senior prosecutor Atul Kumar.

The accused had filed the pleas in December.

Advocate Gupta had argued that the trial was underway for over a year and would go on for long, so the accused be given bail. But prosecution argued that final arguments were yet to take place and the bail applications could be considered afterwards.

Five people are on trial for the murder of Shehla Masood, an RTI activist, in Bhopal‘s Koh-E-Fiza locality on August 16, 2011: Zahida Parvez, Saba, Saquib Ali Danger, Irfan, and Tabish.

Zahida Pervez, an interior designer, is accused of conspiring to kill Masood.

 

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