Action Alert- Stop another planned #Uttarakhand- Challenge drowning of 2 lakh population in the Narmada Valley

 

Challenge drowning of 2 lakh population in the Narmada Valley

 

Dear saathi,

 

We are writing to you amidst a situation of extreme urgency. The two lakh population of adivasis, farmers, fish workers, potters etc. in the Narmada valley – in the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the 245 villages require your immediate support to save their lives and livelihoods.

 

Reportedly, the state governments have submitted reports of ‘complete rehabilitation’ to the R&R Sub Group of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) and the NCA is to take a final decision on the 2^nd of July at Indore, regarding permission to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from the present 122 mts to final height of 138 mts.

 

Thousands are yet to get land, thousands more alternative livelihood, fishing rights, house plots at R&R sites and other amenities and entitlements. Corruption worth, 1,000 crores is under judicial investigation. Major environmental non-compliance has been exposed by MoEF’s expert committees’. In such a situation, drowning the 2 lakh population in the living village communities would be a human massacre, worse than the painful Uttarakhand disaster.

 

Please intervene to stop the political conspiracy to complete the dam by violating all laws and judicial dicta, when only 10% of its claimed benefits have been realized and the financial, social and environmental costs have increased ten-fold. Please find enclosed our press release, which describes the situation in detail.Please do immediately write to the PM, Water Resources and Social Justice Minister and others to act by law.

 

With sincere regards,

 

Medha Patkar (09423965153)        Mukesh Bhagoria (09826811982)

 

Meera (09179148973)            Kailash Awasya (09009147868)

 

 

 

Contacts:

 

Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, Government of India South Block, Raisina Hills, New Delhi 110 101 Fax: 011-23019545, 23016857 E-mail: manmohan@sansad.nic.in

Kumari Selja, Minister, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India Shastri Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Marg, New Delhi

Ph: 011- 23381001 and 011-23381390
Fax: 011-23014432, 011-23012117
E-mail: min-sje@sb.nic.in andpsmsje@gmail.com ;Shri Harish Rawat,

Minister,

Ministry of Water Resources,

Sharam Shakti Bhawan

Rafi marg

New Delhi-110001

Office: 11-23714200 , 11-23714663 and 11-23711780

Residence: 11-23791352

Fax: 11-23710804 (O) and 11-23793184 ( R)

E-mail: minister-mowr@nic.inMs. Sonia Gandhi

President, United Progressive Alliance

10, Janpath

Fax: 011-23794616 / 23014481

E-mail: soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in

Shri Afroz Ahmed
Director,
(Rehabilitation and Impact Assessment),
Narmada Control Authority,
Narmada Sadan, Vijay Nagar, Indore.
Fax: 0731-2554333
E-mail: dir.rehab.nca@nic.in
afrozahmad@hotmail.comShri Sudhir Bhargav,
Chairman, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Sub Group (SSP) and
Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Government of India
Shastri Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Marg,New Delhi

Ph: 011- 23389184 ; Fax:011-23385180
Email: secywel@sb.nic.in ,

secywel@nic.in

Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan
Chief Minister,
Government of Madhya Pradesh,
Vallabh Bhawan,
Bhopal, M.P
Fax: 011-2441781
E-mail: cm@mp.nic.inShri Prithviraj Chavan,

Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Phone +91-22-22025151,22025222

Fax: 022-22029214,

23633272, 23631446

Email:

chiefminister@maharashtra.gov.in

Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam

Minister for Forests, Rehabilitation and Relief Works, Earthquake Rehabilitation,

E-mail: Min_Forest@maharashtra.gov.in

Office Ph: 91 22 22025398 and +91 22 22024751

Residence Ph: +91 22 23635688 and +91 22 23632748

Mantralaya, Mumbai.Shri Milind Mhaiskar, IAS

Secretary, Relief Commissioner,

Project Director

Relief & Rehabilitation

NAB

14th Floor

Ph: 22025274

sec_r&r@maharashtra.gov.in

   

 

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===============================================

National Alliance of People’s Movements
National Office : 6/6, Jangpura B, Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014
Phone : 011 26241167 / 24354737 Mobile : 09818905316
Web : www.napm-india.org

Facebook : www.facebook.com/NAPMindia

Twitter : @napmindia

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—
This mailing list is for dissemination of news and views on the communities struggles in India defending their land, water, air, rivers from hungry predatory corporations, policy formulations, announcements on struggles, action alerts and request for support.

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Huge rally of Narmada dam oustees in Bhopal

• NBA PR: 28th June 2013Jeevan Adhikar satyagraha and Upwaas begins with demand for rehabilitation and resettlement

  Thousands of oustees affected by the Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Upper Beda and Man dam demonstrated in capital city Bhopal today and began their Satyagrah. Despite continuous rain in the entire Narmada valley, over 8000 men and women displaced persons have reached Bhopal to camp here for the next 5 days. The affected people demand that all the oustees of these dams should be rehabilitated and resettled with land and all other entitlements, and the injustice being wreaked on them for decades be stopped. Shri Alok Agarwal, senior activist of the Narmada Bacahao Andolan along with 4 men and women oustees have started their fast for 5 days in this “Narmada Jeevan Adhikar Satyagraha and Upwaas”.

  Thousands of oustees marched from Yadgaar –e – Shahjahani Park through Moti Masjid, and gave a Memorandum to the Chief Minister in front of Kamla Park, and then moved to Neelam Park to begin their satyagraha and upwaas. For five days during the “Narmada Jeevan Adhikar Satyagraha and Upwaas”, Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Shri Alok Agarwal, along with Omkareshwar dam oustees Sakubai and Kalabai, Maheshwar dam oustee Bhagwati bai, and Indira Sagar dam oustee Shri Kishor Chauhan would be on fast and they have already begun their fast.

  It is noteworthy that as per the common R&R Policy of the Government of Madhya Pradesh for the oustees of the Omkareshwar, Indira Sagar, Maheshwar, Man and Beda dams, the oustees have to be allotted land and other benefits of the R&R Policy, and resettled well before submergence. But there was no compliance with the R&R Policy, because of which the oustees reached a pitiable state. In its Order and judgment dated 11.05.2011, the Supreme Court gave a finding that the State Government had not offered land to even a single oustee, and had not fulfilled any of its obligations under the R&R Policy, because of which 89% of the displaced farmers could not purchase any land. The Supreme Court directed that the R&R Policy must be strictly followed for all these dams. However the thousands of oustees of these dams have been denied their rights under the R&R Policy, especially the right to be allotted land with a minimum of 2 ha. of irrigated land.

  Recently, the State Government has announced a grant of Rs. 2.5 lakhs to the landless families of the Omkareshwar dam. But the condition that the landless families would have to break their houses by the 15th of July in the middle of the monsoons in order to obtain the grant was both inhuman and impossible. It is clear that this condition must be immediately set aside. It is also noteworthy that the additional package of Rs. 2 lakhs per acre announced by the Chief Minister for the farmers of the Omkareshwar dam is not for an entitlement of 5 acres or at market value of land. Because of this, the displaced farmers will not be able to purchase land for land with a minimum of 2 ha. of land, as per the R&R Policy.
  The State Government has also not provided any land for the landholders or grant for the landless families of the Indira Sagar, Maheshwar, Man and Veda dams, and these rights remain to be provided.

  The oustees of these dams have lost their homes, villages, lands, and culture and have been completely pauperized. Their demand is:
  1. The farmers of the Omkareshwar, Indira Sagar, Maheshwar, Man and Beda dams must be provided land to the extent of land acquired, with a minimum of 2 ha, of land, or they should be assisted to purchase these entitlements.
  2. Every landless family of each of these dams should be provided Rs. 2.5 lakhs, and a time period of 6 months after providing this grant for the purchase of productive assets.
  3. All R&R entitlements to be provided before submergence and displacement.
  4. Those persons who have lost lands, but whose houses have not submerged, their houses should be acquired and the concerned families rehabilitated.
  5. The 41 villages of the Indira Sagar project whose back-water survey has not been carried out, the back-water survey must be done, and the necessary lands and properties acquired and the villagers rehabilitated and resettled.
  6. People of New Harsud resettlement site are suffering enormously because of lack of employment. Immediate arrangements for their employment must be made.
  7. The lands of five villages of Dewas namely Dharaji, Kothmir, Narsinghpura, Nayapura and Guwadi who are affected by the Omkareshwar dam must be acquired and the villagers rehabilitated and resettled.

  Thousands of oustees are resolved that they will take their rights and entitlements at any cost. Their slogan is that “Give us rehabilitation and land. Else empty the dam.”

  Alok Agarwal Sakubai Ram Vilas Rathor
  Omkareshwar Dam Indira Sagar Dam

  Radhubhai Bana Bai Govind Rawat
  Maheshwar Dam Upper Beda Dam Maan Dam

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Press Release- Decision to raise Sardar Sarovar Dam height illegal

29^th June, 2013

 

Decision to raise height of SSP illegal and political conspiracy

Central Authorities cannot permit drowning

of 2 lakh population without rehabilitation 

The decision to permit raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from the present height of 122 mts to the final height of 138.68 mts, as per the news published in the Times of India, has been taken by the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Sub Group of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) on 26^th June. This is supposed to have been done on the basis of the reports by the 4 states, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, confirming, that ‘rehabilitation is complete’. All this is absolutely unbelievable and unacceptable since there are more than 40,000 families in the 245 villages in the submergence area spread across three states, but the maximum (193) are in Madhya Pradesh alone.

 

There are at least 4,000 families in M.P. and about 1,000 in Maharashtra who are yet to receive alternative agricultural land as per the eligibility. Thousands of landless including agricultural labourers, fish workers, potters and other artisans are yet to get an alternative source of livelihood as per the state policy and Action Plan, endorsed by the Supreme Court. Those at the resettlement site in Gujarat or Maharashtra or at a very small percentage in M.P. are certainly not rehabilitated, till date, as there are hundreds of families without full land, as per entitlement or amenities, yet to be attained.

When huge corruption through a massive scandal of about 5,00 to 1,000 crores, misappropriated by officials and agents in rehabilitation is under inquiry, by Justice Jha Commission, appointed by the High Court for the past 5 years, there is no way that M.P. can approve the fake rehabilitation. M.P. has allotted land only 21 families till date, that too in the past two months, while 4,000 + remain to attain their due, many of whom are cheated through fake land registries. These include hilly adivasis habited in the Satpuda and Vindhya ranges, who are to be taken special care of as per the policy and judgements. Maharashtra too is still searching and locating land to establish R&R sites, more and Gujarat’s oustees are also awaiting declaration, allotment of land and / or amenities in the original villages as well as resettlement sites.

The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and all the Supreme Court’s judgements, (1991, 2000, 2002, 2005) and the last interim order that has clearly directed full and fair implementation of the NWDTA, are to be violated once again, is there is any raise, in the dam height,  at this stage. Flooding the villages, where life is on with pucca houses, shops, markets, schools, temples and mosques and lakhs of trees will be a gross injustice, against law and contempt of court. The Prime Minister himself had given a written commitment to the Apex Court on 17^th April, 2006 i.e. on the 21^st day of fast in New Delhi, that all the families upto 122 mts were not rehabilitated while that height was sanctioned and that rehabilitation would be complete within 3 months i.e. by June, 2006. The same has not yet happened and hence there could be no permission granted for further work at the dam.

 

Moreover, not one, but many committees of MoEF and the latest chaired by Shri Devendra Pandey have clearly concluded based on the documents and data that almost all the conditions in the environmental clearance are not fulfilled, but violated. Be it Gujarat on the non-compliance of CAD Plans, or Maharashtra and M.P. with targets and plans on protective / preventive measures, compensatory afforestation, health measures for all the three states.

It is, therefore, obvious that any clearance granted is only a result of political expediency. Mr. Narendra Modi since, last few months had been raising SSP issues publicly to blame or challenge the UPA Govt, which is succumbing to these pressures unnecessarily and unjustifiably. When Gujarat doesn’t have its canal network ready and not built beyond 25-30% over the last 30 years, what is the need to raise the height and fill more water to drown the valley? Why can’t the MoEF and the Narmada Control Authority under the Ministry of Water Resources compel Gujarat to complete execution of all environmental measures and building of canal network phase-wise and thereby utilize the already ponded waters?

 

The issue is politicized with nearing of 2014 elections, no doubt but people’s lives and livelihoods being at stake, we can’t allow such a heinous crime to be committed by flooding houses, communities, fields, and forests any more, not till all legal pre-conditions are fulfilled. We warn the NCA not to clear the raising of the dam height and also warn R&R Sub – Group to withdraw its decision. The people of the valley will compel these authorities to comply with law and are prepared to fight it tooth and nail.

Surbhan Bhilala            Devram Kanera          Kamla Yadav            Kailash Awasya

 

Ghokru            Ranveer Tomar         Shannobehan    Madu Machuara   Medha Patkar

 

Phone: 09179148973 / 09423965153

 

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#India -Bhopal gas victims take out rally and demand “no Justice, no Vote”

29th June 2013

By TCN News,

Bhopal: In an attempt to awake political parties from there stupor, today several hundred gas victims staged a rally from Ganesh Mandir, Chhola to Bhopal Bus Stand for their long standing demands of compensation, punishment of guilty individuals and corporations. In the upcoming elections of state and central government, Bhopal gas victims have resolved that they will only vote for those political parties who will ensure their compensation and end the continuing injustices against them. Residents from J.P. Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Kainchi Chhola, Risaldar Colony and Rajgarh participated in this rally and shouted slogans “No compensation to Gas Victims, then No Vote of Gas Victims”, “No Justice, No Vote”.

Several residents of J.P. Nagar, Kainchi Chhola and Rajgarh have painted slogans “Compensation First, Second Vote” on their houses. “This time we will tell representatives of political parties visiting our communities that first secure our compensation and then ask for vote”, says Anees Qureshi from J.P. Nagar who lives right across from the Union Carbide factory.

Several gas victims believe that this is the right time to get answers from political parties towards resolving the lingering issues of compensation, punishment of guilty, medical and social rehabilitation. “This time we will only vote for that political party which ensures compensation and justice for Bhopal gas victims and we want to see result before the elections not after,” says Premlata Chowdhary of Kainchi Chhola,

In March 2013, five organization working among the survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster had written a letter to dozen political parties seeking their response and support to their 8 demands on additional compensation for the gas disaster, correction of figures of injury and death caused by the disaster, cleanup of contaminated soil and ground water, compensation for injuries and birth defects caused by toxic contamination, setting up empowered commission for rehabilitation and stopping Dow Chemical from doing business in India till it presents Union Carbide in the ongoing criminal case on the disaster. Except Aam Aadmi party, none of the parties have bothered to respond to the demands of gas victims.

Gas victims participating in this rally appealed to gas victims living in 36 wards to make judicious and strategic use of their power to elect candidates so that that the lingering issues of the disaster are resolved in their favor. They also said that similar rallies should be taken out by all gas victims in their own communities, Paint slogans on houses and shops, and question all the political representatives that come in their community on what steps they have taken in ensuring there compensation from the state and central governments.

Photo Credit: Sanjay ‘KunKun’ Verma

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#India – Mumbai is 2nd-most crime-prone city, despite drop in cases in 2012 #Vaw

142.3% Rise In Robberies In City, 63.5% Spike In State

V Narayan TNN

Mumbai has gained the dubious distinction of being the secondmost crime-prone city in India, if one goes by the number of cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The data, recently released by the National Crime Records Bureau, shows that 30,508 cases were registered under the IPC in 2012, making Mumbai second only to Delhi, which had 47,982 cases.
In 2011, Mumbai actually saw more cases registered, 32,647. But the city had ranked third then behind Delhi and Kochi, which saw 47,212 and 34,658 cases, respectively.
The 6.5% drop in cases registered in Mumbai in 2012 can be mainly attributed to fewer cases filed for theft, burglary, dacoity, hurt, death by negligence, attempted murder, kidnap, abduction, cruelty by husband and relative, cheating, rioting and counterfeiting.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra continues to remain the second-most crime-prone state in the nation, even though it saw fewer cases registered in 2012. The figure dropped from 2.05 lakh in 2011 to 2.03 lakh. Madhya Pradesh, which has topped the chart since 2010, saw 2.2 lakh cases in 2012. Tamil Nadu was third with 2 lakh cases.
Several crimes saw a spike in Mumbai as well as Maharashtra, but none more so than robbery, which went up by a huge 142.3% in Mumbai and 63.5% in Maharashtra. There were 467 robberies in Mumbai in 2011, which went up to 1,131 the next year. In Maharashtra, the number rose from 4,249 to 6,949.
Other crimes that saw a rise in Mumbai included crimes against women (rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment), as reported by TOI on June 15, and also murder, culpable homicide, dowry deaths, breach of trust and arson. Maharashtra saw more crimes against women, dacoity, death by negligence, culpable homicide, attempted murder, cruelty by husband and relatives, cheating, breach of trust and riots.
Experts and police said higher awareness in Maharashtra leads to more crimes being reported and higher statistics. Deputy commissioner of police (Zone V) Dhananjay Kulkarni said a developed state sees more reporting of crime and better response by the police. Former IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh said, “In Maharashtra, there is less refusal to register a crime. That is why even though Maharashtra may be a more peaceful state than Bihar or UP, or even West Bengal, it would have more cases.” Joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy echoed such views.
Both Kulkarni and Singh also cited rapid urbanization and population density in cities as causes of crime. “For semi-urban and rural India, cities have gradually come to signify prosperity, a better quality of life, higher income, a modern lifestyle and facilities. In their quest for the seemingly ideal life, people are increasingly migrating to cities, leading to an imbalance in supply and demand and basic resources,” Kulkarni said.

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#India -No jeans, mobile phones for Brahmin girls: BJP MP #Vaw #moralpolicing #WTFnews

We are under attack from Western culture, our culture doesn’t teach us to wear jeans,’ BJP MP Raghunanandan Sharma tells Rediff.com‘s A Ganesh Nadar.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Raghunandan Sharma has come up with the following suggestions to check crimes against women: Girls should not be allowed to use mobile phones before marriage and women should not wear jeans.

Sharma — a member of the Rajya Sabha and vice-president of the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh [ Images ] unit -expressed his views at a meeting of Brahmins in Ratlam district on Sunday.

The BJP MP termed mobile phone usage by students, particularly young girls, as a big menace and the genesis of other evils.

Sharma lambasted girls wearing jeans, saying it was the attire of American cowboys and in no way gelled with Indian culture.

Sharma, who was born a year before Independence, told Rediff.com on Tuesday, “I don’t know what the problem with you journalists is. I was at my samaj meeting. It was a meeting of my society of Brahmins.”

“I am a representative of the Brahmins and I am their leader. I was trying to suggest ways to improve my society. The advice was only for Brahmins, not for the country.”

“I was speaking not as a MP or a BJP leader, I was speaking as a Brahmin to other Brahmins. I have my ideas of improving my society, what is your problem?”

“We are under attack from Western culture, our culture doesn’t teach us to wear jeans,” Sharma added.

“I have every right to tell my society of Brahmins how to dress, not to use mobile phones and whatever I think is good for my society.”

“Nowhere did I suggest that I am trying to change the country, change my party’s views or change my state’s views. This was advice only for my people and meant only for them

 

#India – Assam tops 2012 list of custodial deaths in India #Prisonerights

Pranjal Baruah, TNN | Jun 15, 2013,

Surprisingly, the NCRB did not record a single case of police custodial death in Assam in 2011.

GUWAHATI: In a major embarrassment for the state, the National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) figures for last year have listed Assamas having the highest numbers of police custodial deaths. “Last year, 11 persons who were in police remand died in lock-ups in Assam. Though autopsy, case registration and magisterial enquiries were conducted in all the cases, no policemen were chargesheeted or convicted in these cases in 2012,” said the NCRB report.Andhra Pradesh came second in the category with five such cases, followed by Maharashtra with four deaths, as recorded by the national agency. A total of 38 such deaths were recorded in the country last year.

Surprisingly, the NCRB did not record a single case of police custodial death in Assam in 2011. Andhra Pradesh was in first position in 2011 with 11 cases and Madhya Pradesh second. Maharastra stood in the third in 2011 as well.

Assam Police, who are embarrassed and under fire because of the report, have demanded a rechecking of the figure published in the NCRB report. “We are concerned, but we first need to go through the details of every case thoroughly,” said Assam Police chief J N Choudhury.

Concerned about the matter, former police chief Hare Krishna Deka said that Assam Police should take the matter seriously and act promptly. “There should be a thorough study of the cases by the CID, which should prepare a detailed report citing reasons behind the incidents and measures to prevent it. Besides, the top brass of the state police should also make surprise visits to police stations to check any wrong action by police officers on lock-up inmates,” Deka said.

The former DGP added, “Moreover, we need to find out whether or not the magisterial inquiries were completed. These probes and their follow-up actions should be very prompt.”

Earlier this month, the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) ordered a magisterial enquiry into the custodial death of one Palash Baruah at Jorhat Medical College Hospital while he was in judicial custody. Palash was lodged in the Jorhat District Jail.

As per an Asian Centre for Human Rights report, ‘Torture in India 2011’, stated that a total of 14,231 persons, or an average of more than four persons per day, died in police and judicial custody in India between 2001 and 2010
.

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#India – Marriage officer humiliates HC woman lawyer #Vaw #WTFnews #Womenrights

Manjari Mishra, TNN | Jun 15, 2013,

7

How can you think of getting married at this age? The officer told a shocked Nirmala, who charging him with objectionable and unwarranted conduct.

JABALPUR: What has age to do with marriage? Plenty, if one happens to be a woman in Madhya Pradesh. Only, senior lawyer in MP high court, Nirmala Raikwar, learnt it the hard way.

When, along with her friend and fiance Ramesh Raikwar (younger in age incidentally), she appeared before additional collector and marriage officer, Jabalpur, Sheelendra Singh, with her application for a court marriage, Singh publicly not only remonstrated her for choosing to tie the knot when she was already past her prime and also mocked Ramesh over his poor choice for a bride.

How can you think of getting married at this age? The officer told a shocked Nirmala, who charging him with objectionable and unwarranted conduct, has filed a complaint in the court of judicial magistrate first class even as MP High Court Bar Association has taken up her cause. Narrating the incident to TOI, Nirmala said that she had applied for a civil marriage on March 3 and notices were served thereafter on March 12. On May 24 she, along with Ramesh and her junior colleagues, arrived in the office of the marriage officer for fulfilling the formalities.

“Singh examined me closely and demanded to know my age. It was not a very polite question and I said the age is mentioned in the documents lying on the table, please check it out,” Nirmala said.

Bar association demands action, warns of agitation

Bar association has demanded action against Singh and warned that lawyers’ would launch an agitation if the issue was ignored by authorities.

Meanwhile, admitting that the additional collector had no business to behave in such a manner, Jabalpur divisional commissioner Deepak Khandekar said he was probing the matter and would take action if allegations were found true.

 

#India – Farmers boycott land acquisition hearings for Chhindwara SEZ, Madhya Pradesh

Author(s): Aparna Pallavi , Down to Earth

Date:Jun 14, 2013

Villagers refuse to part with land; object to individual hearings, land acquisition by dubious means

Farmers and landowners protesting against land aquisition at the PWD guest house in Saunsar (Photo: Mukesh Badge)

Around 150 farmers from eight villages in the Saunsar tehsil of Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh gathered at the guest house of the public works department (PWD) on Thursday and staged a protest. They were aggrieved by the individual hearing process adopted for land acquisition for a proposed special economic zone (SEZ) in the area. June 13 marked the first of the many individual hearings scheduled with the district collector to hear objections of farmers to the SEZ, which the farmers boycotted.

The process of acquisition of land for a multi-purpose SEZ developed by Nagpur-based Chhindwara Plus Developers Limited has been going on in the Saunsar tehsil of Chhindwara district since 2007, say farmers. Ramesh Kumre, land acquisition officer and sub-divisional magistrate, Pandurna,  says around 1,800 hectare (ha) of land has already been acquired in the area by following procedures under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Around 269 farmers and other land owners in the eight villages have refused to part with 430 ha of land which is still required for the SEZ, says farmer Bhaskar Tekade of Satnoor village. In April this year, a land acquisition notice was issued to the panchayats, following which representatives from the various villages went to district collector Mahesh Chowdhari to submit their objections. Chowdhari refused to accept it, says Shyamla Sanyal, owner of a small gun-powder factory in Satnoor. “On April 30, which was the last day for submitting objections, we had to take a bus-load of people from the villages and staged a demonstration before the objection was finally accepted,” she says.

Notices were issued to the villages, asking farmers to register their objections at individual hearings scheduled on different dates between June 19 and June 22. As late as the night of June 11, farmers from three villages were issued fresh notices, asking them to attend hearings on June 13 and 14. This last move, says Sanyal, “is totally unacceptable. When we asked the land acquisition officer the reason behind the change in dates, he said that he had other appointments on the previous dates. This is no way to hold hearings on such crucial issues.”

Legal procedures sidelined

At the protest, farmers protested against individual hearings, accusing the administration of trying to divide the community. “It is illegal to call people for hearings on different days,” says advocate Aradhana Bhargava of the people’s organisation Kisan Sangharsh Samiti who is providing legal support to the agitation, “The administration should have held a public hearing under the proper sections of the law.” She also says that land acquisition by government agencies is legal only in case of lands acquired for a public purpose. “Why is government aiding a private project proponent?” she asks. The notices also said that if farmers failed to turn up on the given date, the administration would take a suo-moto decision, which again is totally illegal, she says.

Farmers at the meeting submitted a memorandum to the land acquisition officer stating that they do not wish to part with their land and that the administration should not issue further land acquisition notices to the people. It was signed by 150 farmers and other land-owners, says Sanyal.

Land acquisition officer Ramesh Kumre confirmed that the hearing had been cancelled because farmers turned up in a group instead of individually.

Deceit and coercion

Farmers complain that no legal procedures were observed in the land acquisition process. “The land acquired earlier has been obtained through dubious means,” Tekade told Down To Earth. “Mostly poor and marginal farmers were targeted through touts, and were relieved of their land for as little as Rs 40,000 to Rs 3 lakh per ha. More than 50 per cent of the farmers whose lands were taken want their land to be restored to them.”

Dubious means were used to get the consent of panchayats, says Satnoor sarpanch Reemaji Dethe. “In February this year, the gram panchayat secretary got my signature on what he said was a routine document. Since I had joined just a month earlier, I did not know the procedures and signed where he asked me to sign. Later I found out that it was a document saying that the gram panchayat consented to the land acquisition,” says Dethe.

“Farmers and small industry owners have been issued threats by the project proponents. Goons are being used to quell protests,” says Sanyal.

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Birth defects from Bhopal rise again #dowchemical #unioncarbide

 

Charity warns of worsening situation 28 years after disaster.

London :-Full page advertisements in British newspapers at the weekend claim that horrific birth defects are increasingly common in the Indian city of Bhopal, 28 years after it suffered the world’s worst industrial disaster.
There was a spate of birth defects among women who were pregnant when a leak of deadly gas from a pesticide factory owned by US-based Union Carbide killed thousands in a matter of hours on December 3, 1984.

Children are now being born dead and malformed in numbers not seen since then, claim the advertisements placed by a British charity, the Bhopal Medical Appeal.

The advertisements show pictures of severely malformed or brain damaged children and the text says: “Some injuries are too harrowing to show, like the eye engulfed by a raw tumour that left a small girl in agony until it finally killed her.”

The charity, which funds two clinics in Bhopal, has also funded a “huge, rigorous study covering more than 100,000 people exposed to gas, to poisoned water, and to both.

“The work is almost finished. Results have to be confirmed and analysed but indications are that many families have been poisoned twice, first by Carbide’s gases, then by contaminated water.

“In poisoned areas birth defects are occurring at rates many times the Indian average.”

The advertisements say that after the gas leak, the Union Carbide plant was abandoned with the lethal pesticides still inside, while nearby were lakes of toxic waste, despite fears that local water supplies would be affected.

As early as 1999, a Greenpeace study found many wells contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals. The same contaminants were in the blood and breast milk of women living downstream from the factory.

In 2006 doctors visiting the affected areas found almost half the children they examined were brain damaged. Since then, the charity says, the situation has worsened.

The damaged children get no government help, it claims, and “Union Carbide and its owner Dow Chemical say the dumped wastes, poisoned water and human pain are nothing to do with them.”

Union Carbide says it has “worked diligently to provide immediate and continuing aid to the victims and set up a process to resolve their claims – all of which were settled 21 years ago.”

It adds that in 1998 the Madhya Pradesh state government took full responsibility for the site. The state government maintains it has gone to great lengths to organize “systematic relief and rehabilitation in the disaster area.”

Source: ucanews.com

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