Angry villagers damage approach road to Posco site

PRAFULLA DAS

The agitation against land acquisition for the Posco steel plant intensified in this seaside gram panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district on Sunday, with the villagers damaging an approach road to the area earmarked for the project.

Led by Abhay Sahu, chairman of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, which has been spearheading the protest since July 2005, more than 150 people from different hamlets in Dhinkia went out with spades and other tools and damaged the ‘kuchha' road leading to the project site from the Paradip port, which is a few km away.

The PPSS activists decided to damage the road, which runs along the coastline, after the Chairman of the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and the Director-General of Police took the same road to reach the site on Saturday.

The IDCO plans to make the road a ‘pucca' one as it will act as an approach route to the 4,004 acres earmarked for the Posco's steel plant and captive port near the mouth of the Jatadhari river.

“We will continue our agitation peacefully. We will not hand over an inch of land for Posco in our locality at any cost,” Mr. Sahu said.

Talking of the visit of the DGP and the IDCO Chairman to the area, Mr. Sahu said: “It clearly shows that the State government is readying for applying force to evict people from their land and homes.”

Land acquisition

In August last year, the State government halted the land acquisition process after an order from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. But after the Ministry granted conditional environmental clearance recently, the government is now planning to resume land acquisition after giving an assurance to the Ministry about the people claiming to be dependent on the forestland.

But the villagers are in mood to allow the government to resume the work; they have erected six bamboo gates at the entry points of their gram panchayat to prevent officials, Posco employees and the police from entering their hamlets.

Exploring an ancient kingdom

PRAFULLA DAS
in Bhubaneswar

Buddhist relics unearthed during recent excavations in Jajpur district of Orissa lead scholars to identify Radhanagar as the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kalinga.

PHOTOGRAPHS: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT 

A rock-cut elephant found during the excavations.

ORISSA is already known for its rich Buddhist heritage. Now its importance in ancient history is all set to mount. Experts believe that the recent discovery of Buddhist relics by archaeologists of the Orissa Institute of Maritime and South-East Asian Studies can solve many unanswered questions pertaining to the location of the capital of Kalinga, the Buddha's visit to the ancient kingdom, and Emperor Asoka's work in the land where he fought a bloody battle in 261 B.C., known as the Battle of Kalinga.

A pillar bearing floral designs, at Deuli.

Buddhist stupas, inscriptions, pottery and terracotta remains dating back to the third century B.C. have been dug up in Dharmasala block of Orissa's Jajpur district. The area is close to the well-known Ratnagiri-Udayagiri-Lalitgiri Buddhist complex. The excavations were carried out after obtaining a licence from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Epigraphists of the ASI had deciphered the inscriptions and confirmed the findings, said State Culture Minister Damodar Rout.

"The excavation led to an amazing discovery in the field of ancient history, which could solve many puzzles of Indian history in general and Orissa history in particular, and may add new chapters in the annals of history," a beaming Rout said while announcing the findings recently.

Debraj Pradhan, Secretary of the Institute and director of the excavation project, said that the excavations had brought to light the fort of Tosali, the royal headquarters of Kalinga, at Radhanagar village in Dharmasala. The Asoka rock-edicts near the Dhauli hills near Bhubaneswar say that Tosali was the royal headquarters of Kalinga during the time of Asoka. But Tosali had not been identified till date. Though scholars tried to identify Tosali with Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar, no inscriptional evidence to buttress the arguments could be found.

A pendant found in Radhanagar. It has 'Tisa' inscribed on one side. Tisa was a brother of Asoka who stayed back in Kalinga after the great battle and, like his illustrious sibling, embraced Buddhism.

"The unearthing of several inscriptions and other corroborative evidence clearly proves that Radhanagar was the capital city of Tosali,'' Pradhan said. A senior ASI expert has deciphered the inscriptions as `Tosali Nagara', `Tosali Nagar' and `Tosali', and they are datable to the third and second century B.C.

The inscriptions tell the tale of a lost era. One of them says: `Kalinga rajna go'. Unfortunately, the remaining portion of the potsherd, which might have revealed the name of the Kalinga king, could not be retrieved. Experts now believe that the name of the Kalinga king during the Kalinga war might have started with `Go' or `Gu'.

The recent findings may also lead to the tracing of the exact venue of the Kalinga war. Yuddha Meruda in Korei block near Dharmasala seems to be the place where the historic battle between the forces of Asoka and the king of Kalinga was fought. Yuddha Meruda, a vast expanse of land on the bank of the Brahmani, seems to fit the descriptions of the battle. Until now, it was widely believed that the battle was fought on the banks of the river Daya on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Archaeologists are excited over the uncovering of the actual site of the Kalinga battle because Yuddha Meruda is not very far from Radhanagar.

From the archaeologists' point of view, what is significant is that all the 10 Asoka stupas have been discovered within a radius of 10 km. This matches with the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang's accounts (A.D. 629-645), which say that the Buddha had visited the region where Asoka constructed 10 stupas.

Excavation work is in progress at Langudi, Tarapur, Kayama and Deuli. Excavations will also be carried out in Neulpur, Kantigadia and Vajragiri to unearth the remaining stupas.

Terracotta potsherds found among the ruins in Radhanagar.

The ancient texts say that Emperor Asoka constructed these stupas to commemorate the Buddha's visit and preaching.

The current excavation has led to the unearthing of square stupas made of laterite blocks, burnt bricks, railing pillars, cross-bars and so on. Besides, pottery and terracotta remains of the Asoka period have been found in these hills.

Earrings found among the ruins in Radhanagar.

The excavation at Tarapur has led to the identification of the Kesa stupa. It has also been discovered that the stupa was built with a donation from Bhikhu Tapusa. The Buddhist texts say that the Kesa stupa is the earliest stupa. Two pillars, discovered at the site, carry the inscriptions `Kesa Thupa' and `Bheku Tapusa Danam'.

According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, two merchants from Ukkala, on their way to Madhyadesa with 500 carts, met the Buddha on the last day of the seventh week after his enlightenment at Bodhgaya. They offered him rice-cake and honey. The Buddha gave them eight handfuls of his hair, which they later deposited in a stupa in their native Ukkala. The stupa came to be known as Kesa stupa (kesa meaning `hair'). It is now presumed that the place was a centre of attraction as early as the lifetime of the Buddha and that the Buddha visited the locality on the invitation of Tapusa and Bhallika, his first disciples.

Asoka might have chosen to construct 10 stupas in and around Tarapur as the Kesa stupa constructed by Tapusa during the sixth or fifth century B.C. possessed strands of Buddha's hair. Another reason was easy riverine communication, surrounded as the place was by rivers such as the Brahmani, the Kelua and the Sagadia.

The remains of a stupa at Deuli.

In one of the railing pillars found at Kesa stupa, the word `Kalingaraja' is inscribed. The pillar is broken and the remaining part of the name of the king is missing. The Kalinga monarch was probably a Buddhist and he might have made some endowment to the Kesa stupa, Pradhan said.

In another railing pillar, the inscription in Oriya is `Gupata Khandagiri Parikshya', meaning `secret Khandagiri where experiments are made'. Five great poets in 15th and 16th centuries have vividly described the sacredness of Gupta Khandagiri, Pradhan pointed out.

Rock-cut bench found in the Kayama hills.

The excavation at Kayama hill, on the right bank of the Kelua river, towards the north of the great fort of Tosali, has resulted in a series of discoveries. The rock-cut elephant at Kayama is a unique piece of Kalinga art and was probably erected by Tisa, the brother of Asoka who stayed back in Kalinga after the war. The anatomical features of the elephant are perfectly to the scale.

The name `Tisa' is also inscribed on a rock-cut bench situated towards the north of the Kayama elephant. Tisa, who became a Buddhist, desired to stay in Kalinga with his preceptor Dharmarakhita. Asoka constructed a Vihara, named Bhojakagiri, for his brother.

Remains of pillars found at Tarapur.

A royal pendant found at Radhanagar has the name Tisa inscribed on it. The pendant, made of semi-precious stone and rectangular in shape, has `Sadabhu Tisa' written on one side and the figures of the sun and the moon, a Swastika and the Buddhist symbol on the other sides. The pendant is considered to be a unique symbol of a royal personage who believed in all faiths.

The Orissa Culture Department may be thrilled over the uncovering of the Buddhist heritage, but it is yet to get its act together on saving the relics from plunderers. In recent years, the Buddhist heritage in the district has faced threats from local contractors who carry out illegal quarrying in the hills, to extract red soil and stones that are used for laying asphalt on roads and for building houses.

Burnt bricks found in the Kayama hills.

The local administration, despite efforts from time to time, has not been able to keep the plunderers at bay. The authorities have to take the matter seriously to ensure that the rich Buddhist heritage is protected. Maybe the government should declare the area protected.

Anti-Posco villagers hold rally at Dhinkia

Prafulla Das

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Agitators plan road blockade today

Leaders, activists express shock over MoEF's decision

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BHUBANESWAR: A large number of villagers who have been opposing land acquisition for the proposed 12 million tonne capacity steel plant project of Posco-India Private Limited in Orissa are now in no mood to give up their struggle already in its sixth year.

A day after Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh granted conditional clearance to the company's steel-cum captive power plant and a captive minor port, hundreds of men and women came out of their homes to attend a protest rally in Dhinkia area of Jagatsinghpur district on Tuesday and reiterated their resolve not to part with their land and livelihood sources to make space for the steel mill.

The villagers, who came to the rally venue raising slogans against Mr. Ramesh and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, decided to create roadblocks from Wednesday in their attempt to prevent the entry of land acquisition officials, police and Posco employees into the site earmarked for the proposed steel plant.

The meeting was convened by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, the outfit which has been spearheading the anti-displacement agitation since the Naveen Patnaik government signed the memorandum of understanding with Posco for the steel project way back in June, 2005.

The leaders of different political parties, including the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Forward Bloc, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and many social activists participated in the rally and expressed their solidarity with the agitating villagers.

The leaders and activists expressed shock over the MoEF's decision to grant conditional clearance to the project even though land acquisition work for the project had been stopped as per its orders in August last year.

President of the Sangram Samiti Abhay Sahoo, who blamed Mr. Ramesh for “acting like a corporate agent,” announced that the villagers would not part with their land at any cost. The campaign against the project would be intensified and taken to the State and national level soon, he added.

The farmers, betel vine growers and fishermen in three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang have been demanding since the signing of the MoU that the State government should shift the project to any other location to save their homes and livelihood sources.

Before the MoEF's latest order, there had been several clashes involving those opposing and supporting the project as well as the police, who had lathi-charged the villagers opposing the project on several occasions. Similar clashes cannot be ruled out if the administration attempts to acquire land in the coming days.

Mixed response to Ministry clearance for POSCO

Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR: Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh's order granting conditional clearance to POSCO's controversial steel plant project, along with a captive minor port project of the company, evoked a mixed response in Orissa on Monday.

While POSCO-India Private Limited and the Orissa Government welcomed the order, Opposition parties and the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organisation opposing land acquisition for the project, expressed shock over the development.

“We welcome and accept, with humility and gratitude, the decision of the Minister of Environment and Forests. We fully appreciate the concerns of different stakeholders on the sustainability of environment as well as the livelihood of affected people,” said G.W. Sung, Managing Director of POSCO-India Private Limited.

“We are committed to taking sustainable green initiatives and effective measures for conserving the land and marine environment of the area. We are also committed to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for the project-affected people through implementing the R&R [Relief and Rehabilitation] package sincerely.

“As a responsible corporate citizen of India, we will continue to work for the welfare of the local community and plough back a part of earnings for CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] after the operations commence,” Mr. Sung said in a statement issued here.

Reacting to the Ministry's order, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his government would study the conditions and see what could be done. “On the face of it, it seems to be good news,” he said.

Renewal of MoU

Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty welcomed the order saying that the implementation of the POSCO steel project would open a new chapter in the history of industrialisation in Orissa.

He added that the State government would soon renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that it signed with POSCO in 2005. The MoU had expired in June last.

Mr. Mohanty also expressed hope that the Orissa government would soon resume land acquisition for the project in Jagatsinghpur district.

The work was stopped in August last following a Ministry order saying that the transferring of forest land had to be stopped till all the processes under the Forest Rights Act had been satisfactorily completed.

‘Shocking'

“The conditional clearance accorded to POSCO by the Central government is shocking,” said Jual Oram, president of the Orissa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

PPSS president Abhay Sahu announced that the villagers who were not willing to part with their land for the steel project would intensify their agitation in the coming days.

An all-party meeting will be held on Tuesday to decide the PPSS' future course of action, he added.

Villagers await decision on Posco plant

Prafulla Das

Stir likely to be intensified if project gets green signal

BHUBANESWAR: With the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests set to take a final decision on the proposed steel plant project of Posco-India Private Limited on Monday, Orissa villagers facing displacement have decided to intensify their agitation if the Ministry order went in favour of the company.

That a majority of villagers in the three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Gadakujang and Gobindpur in Jagatsinghpur district were apprehensive appeared clear on Saturday.

“Going by the reports reaching us from New Delhi, we are apprehending that the order might go against us,” said Prashant Paikray, spokesperson of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organisation which has been opposing establishment of the proposed steel plant of Posco since 2005.

The land acquisition work for the proposed steel mill in Jagatsinghpur had been stopped by the Naveen Patnaik government on the orders of the MoEF, following a report of a panel set up by the Centre indicating violations of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act.

Two separate reports

Subsequently, another Central panel headed by the former Secretary of MoEF, Meena Gupta, had also submitted two separate reports raising environmental issues along with the alleged violation of the Forest Rights Act.

According to Mr. Paikray, the PPSS has decided to hold a public meeting in Dhinkia on February 1 to decide their future course of action in the light of the MoEF's decision that would be announced on Monday.

‘Coordination'

“After the February 1 meeting, we will try to develop coordination between all people opposing the project and carry forward our agitation to demand withdrawal of the project from the State if the MoEF order supports the company,” Mr. Paikray added.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources hinted that the MoEF might come out with a decision to strike a balance on the whole issue and not pass a harsh order against Posco the way it had done in the matter pertaining to the mining of Niyamgiri hills to extract bauxite for the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium Limited and expansion plans for the refinery.

Whatever the MoEF decision, the Posco project was likely to face more hurdles in the coming days as different groups of people were opposed to establishment of the plant in Dhinkia, the company's proposed captive port at Jatadhari river mouth close to the site earmarked for the steel mill, sourcing of water from Mahanadi and Hansua for the project and proposed mining of iron ore from the Khandadhar mines in Keonjhar district.

NHRC takes serious view of poverty in KBK region

Prafulla Das

It seeks status report on implementation of welfare schemes

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The commission's two-day camp sitting concludes

The panel discusses various issues with officials

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BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the prevalence of poverty, food scarcity and malnutrition in Orissa's backward Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi (KBK) region, and directed the State government to effectively coordinate and implement various schemes for the region.

The commission also directed the State government to place before it a status report on the implementation of its recommendations about welfare schemes, including public distribution system, health and special security schemes. Addressing a press conference at the end of a two-day camp sitting here, its Chairperson Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and members Justice B.C. Patel, Satyabrata Pal and P.C. Sharma said they heard a number of complaints about alleged farmer suicides, alleged starvation deaths, vacant posts of doctors and teachers in the KBK region.

They were unanimous in their view that there was strong evidence of malnutrition in KBK region despite implementation of a series of welfare schemes under the Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP) for the eight KBK districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Nawarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir and Sonepur.

The commission, which discussed the issues of poverty, unemployment, deprivation, hunger, starvation and malnutrition in the KBK region in a separate session with officials of the State government , expressed serious concern on the food security of the poor people who had been left out of the BPL (below poverty line) list.

Ration cards

The commission also directed the State government to send a detailed report on the issue of bogus ration cards in the KBK region and action taken against corrupt officials. The commission, which has been monitoring the situation in the KBK region for the past several years, would continue to do so in the days to come, they said. Giving details of a specific case, Mr. Justice Balakrishnan said they had sought explanation from the Health and Family Welfare Department of the State government about vacant posts of doctors in the KBK region.

Apart from dealing with cases from the KBK region, the commission also heard a series of cases from other parts of the State, including some relating to custodial deaths and violation of human rights of those displaced by different industries including that of Tata, Vedanta and POSCO.

Shadow of ryots' plight on New Year celebrations

Prafulla Das

They are still waiting for compensation for damaged crops due to unseasonal rains

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State yet to finalise guidelines for payment of compensation to sharecroppers

Package announced by the Chief Minister only a ‘deception': Congress MP

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— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Bisika Behera, a sharecropper of Samantarapur village of Ganjam block, trying to retrieve whatever she could from her inundated field near NH 5 in Ganjam district on Saturday. The Central team that visited Orissa to ascertain the loss of paddy crop due to unseasonal rains has observed that considerable loss has been incurred.

BHUBANESWAR: Millions of farmers across the State were still waiting to receive compensation money for the extensive damage of their crop due to unseasonal rain, and Youth Congress activists were admitted to hospital during the day as their condition deteriorated while taking part in a fast-unto-death dharna in the city demanding a better deal for the rain-hit farmers. But hundreds of leaders, Ministers and activists belonging to the ruling Biju Janata Dal, who seemed to be blissfully ignorant of the increasing unrest among the farmers, thronged the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here to greet him on the occasion of New Year on Saturday morning.

Many senior government officials and officials of the State police also made a beeline for the Chief Minister's residence and presented him bouquets of flowers and greeted him. Similar was the scene at the State Secretariat and residence of the Ministers and senior bureaucrats with people, primarily ruling party politicians and businessmen, reaching with bouquets to renew their association with the powers that be. A host of politicians, including the Chief Minister, also visited the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri to seek the blessings of the deities.

Officials in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department of the State government admitted that disbursement of compensation money, as per the Rs. 902 crore special package for farmers announced by the Chief Minister on December 18, had not started in any of the affected districts till date.

Furthermore, the State government had also not finalised the guidelines for payment of compensation for the damage of paddy crop to the sharecroppers.

Meanwhile, president of the State unit of the Youth Congress and Lok Sabha Member Pradeep Majhi, who was also taking part in the fast-unto-death dharna that entered into its third day on Saturday, criticised the BJD government accusing it of turning a blind eye towards the plight of the farmers when farmer suicides were increasing by the day in the wake of the crop loss.

Mr. Majhi, who charged that diverting agricultural land for industries was a priority for the BJD government, said the package announced by the Chief Minister was only a “deception”.

As regards the BJD's criticism of the Congress-led alliance government at the Centre, Mr. Majhi said it had become a practice for the Chief Minister and BJD leaders to blame the Central government without rhyme or reason.

In another development, leaders of different Opposition parties and activists of various civil society organisations staged a dharna near the Raj Bhavan under the banner of All Odisha Coordination Council for Protection of Farmers. A delegation of the activists also submitted a memorandum to Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare urging him to intervene in the matter and ask the Centre and the State government to ensure payment of adequate compensation to the rain-hit farmers at the earliest. They also demanded that all farmers' families should be included in the list of families living below the poverty line.

Under pressure

PRAFULLA DAS
in Bhubaneswar

The Naveen Patnaik government is facing court strictures and opposition criticism for irregularities in grant of mining leases.

S. SUBRAMANIUM

Naveen Patnaik. He had a clean image when he first came to power in 2000.

WHEN Naveen Patnaik stepped into his father Biju Patnaik's shoes and donned the mantle of leadership of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to become the Chief Minister of Orissa for the first time in March 2000, he was seen as a crusader against corruption. In his initial years in power, he did live up to the expectations of the voters who had rejected a disgraced Congress regime to bring the BJD to power. He removed several Ministers who faced charges of corruption, making the public believe that he was providing a clean and transparent administration. But now, in his third consecutive term as Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik is feeling the heat that he himself generated against his political rivals a decade ago.

“Moneybag industrialisation” and “Vedanta Janata Dal” are some of the epithets that greeted the BJD when the winter session of the State Assembly opened on November 23. The Opposition accused the government of protecting the interests of corporate houses, ignoring the protests of the common people against the loss of land and livelihood owing to unplanned industrialisation.

Accusing the government of large-scale corruption in various deals, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators said Naveen Patnaik should take moral responsibility and step down in view of the Orissa High Court order quashing the land acquisition process for the proposed Vedanta University. The Anil Agarwal Foundation was to establish the university over 8,000 acres (one acre = 0.4 hectare) of land near Puri. A Bill to establish the university, which was passed in the Assembly in July 2009, is waiting for the Governor's assent.

The Opposition also blamed the government for allowing Vedanta Aluminium Limited to set up a one million-tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. Vedanta even started work to increase the annual capacity of the refinery to six million tonnes by bending rules. The irregularities committed by the company were detected by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in August, and directions were issued to deny it permission to extract bauxite ore from the Niyamgiri hills for use in the refinery. The MoEF also ordered it to stop the expansion work of the refinery.

Naveen Patnaik has been facing strong criticism from various quarters for not acting upon a report of the State's Lokpal (ombudsman) on alleged irregularities in the acquisition of land for the proposed Vedanta university. In an order passed on March 17 on a complaint alleging illegal acquisition of land, the Lokpal recommended a moratorium on the project until the Anil Agarwal Foundation converted from a private company to a public company.

The Lokpal also recommended the appointment of a competent authority “to thoroughly investigate and inquire into the deal in question from its beginning so as to find out the person(s)/public servant(s) responsible for advancing the cause of the Foundation in haste without compliance of various laws by the Foundation”.

“The plea of the public servants concerned that having the interest of the State in mind they acted in good faith and rendered all assistance to the Foundation is not acceptable though from various circumstances of the case it appears that they were victims of circumstances, having been influenced by a representative of the Foundation or having been pressurised by other quarters,” the Lokpal observed.

Matters became even more complicated for the Chief Minister when the High Court judgment came on November 16 on the controversial land acquisition for the university project.

Disposing of a bunch of public interest petitions, a Division Bench quashed the land acquisition proceedings and directed that “the possession of the acquired land shall be restored to the respective land owners irrespective of the fact whether they have challenged the acquisition of their lands or not”. “On restoration of the possession to the land owners, they shall refund the amount received by them as compensation or otherwise in respect of their lands,” the court ordered.

The Bench observed that “the action of the State government in issuing the impugned notifications is void ab initio in law on account of the fraud played upon the State government by the beneficiary company by misrepresenting the facts and made it to believe and act upon the same to exercise its powers to acquire the vast tract of lands in its favour for which they are legally entitled to and therefore the action of the State government in exercising its power for the purpose other than vested in it, amounts to legal mala fides.”

It also quashed the grant of government lands to the beneficiary company under Rule 5 of the Government Land Settlement Rules with a direction to the State government to resume the lands given by way of lease.

The government had issued notifications for acquiring over 6,000 acres of land spread over 18 villages in favour of the company. The land acquired included 605.87 acres belonging to the Sri Jagannath Temple Management Committee and 702 acres of government land.

PTI

CONGRESS MLAS HOLD placards opposing the land acquisition for Vedanta university, inside the Assembly in Bhubaneswar on November 23.

In his reply on November 25 to an adjournment motion moved by the opposition in the Assembly on the alleged favours shown to the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the Chief Minister said that appropriate steps would be taken in accordance with the law on the court verdict.

Criticism is also growing against the BJD government for allegedly favouring POSCO-India Private Limited, which tried to obtain a mining lease for its Khandadhar iron ore reserve in Sundargarh district and also planned to acquire 4,000 acres of land to set up a 12-million-tonne-capacity steel plant. The company planned to establish its own private port near the proposed steel plant, about 12 km from the Paradip port.

Setting aside the government's recommendation to the Centre to grant a prospecting licence to POSCO, the High Court observed that the mineral policy of the State was in a total mess and that the government had adopted a policy “to suit favoured parties”.

In July, the MoEF asked the State government to stop acquiring land for the POSCO steel plant project in Jagatsinghpur district after a committee from the Centre pointed out violations in the Forest Rights Act. The issue has not been resolved as the MoEF is yet to take a final decision on the matter.

MINING SCAM

The Naveen Patnaik government is also facing criticism over the multi-crore illegal mining scam involving many mining companies. After the scam came to light in 2009, the State government ordered suspension of 246 leases of mines that had been operating without the statutory licence for several years.

Although the State Vigilance Department is investigating some of the illegal mining cases and has registered cases against several government officials and mining companies, petitions seeking a CBI probe into the scam are pending before the High Court. In a public interest petition before the Supreme Court, the petitioner has sought, among other things, a direction for prosecution of all those found involved in the illegal mining activities.

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), in its interim report to the Supreme Court has pointed to the large-scale irregularities. “Mining activities were going on in a large number of mines in Orissa without the requisite approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, environmental clearances, and the Air & Water Acts. The mining activities also exceeded the production limit as approved under the mining plans,” it observed.

Senior journalist Rabi Das, who has moved the Supreme Court over the mining scam, is of the view that illegal mining is still rampant in Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts. “The country has lost huge natural resources and forest wealth owing to rampant illegal mining in the State,” he said.

Despite the mounting pressure, Naveen Patnaik is trying to put up a brave face. The State government has signed about 90 memoranda of understanding involving an investment of about Rs.7,00,000 crore in sectors such as steel, thermal power, alumina refineries and ports. All these industries need large tracts of land, forest land, water and mines, which require approvals from various levels of administration. Since politicians and bureaucrats play a key role in such a situation, allegations of payment of bribes to flout the rules are mounting.

“Orissa is witnessing moneybag industrialisation. All the MoUs that the Naveen Patnaik government has signed, including the ones with Vedanta, POSCO, Jindal, Mittal and Tata, should be reviewed and the violations of rules should be detected,” said Bijoy Mohapatra, former Minister and senior BJP leader.

Season of melas

PRAFULLA DAS

The winter months are packed with religious and cultural festivals and fairs in Orissa.

PTI

Small fancy boats offered by devotees during the Boita Bandana Utsav on Kartik Purnima day on November 21 at the Bindusagar pond near the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar.

COME winter (November-February), and Orissa, the land of gaiety, gears up in a big way to attract tourists from all over the world. The magnificent Rath Yatra of the Puri Jagannath temple, which takes place in the lunar month of Ashada in June-July, is followed by the Dasara and Deepavali festivals. And the season of celebration begins in right earnest. There is an old saying that the people of Orissa celebrate 13 traditional festivals in 12 months.

Orissa is a melting pot of religious and cultural traditions. To showcase this diversity, the State government and various cultural groups organise several events.

The classical dance Odissi is the highlight of the Konark dance festival, which is attended by cultural troupes from other parts of the country, too. A fortnight after Diwali in October-November, which coincides with Kali Puja, a major religious event after Durga Puja, religious tourists from across the State take part in the Boita Bandana Utsav, also known as the Kalinga Bali Yatra in the coastal districts, on Kartik Purnima day, the full moon day in the lunar month of Kartik in November/December. Miniature boats in different sizes and colours are set afloat in the sea, rivers or other water bodies as part of the celebrations. The festival commemorates the rich maritime heritage of the sadhavas (traders) from the coastal State, who had sailed to Bali, Java and Sumatra (now in the Indonesian archipelago) to establish business ties.

ASHOKE CHAKRABARTY

GIVING FINISHING TOUCHES to an exhibit for the tribal fair in Bhubaneswar.

Coinciding with the Boita Bandana Utsav is the Bali Yatra fairs in the millennium city of Cuttack and the port town of Paradip. Lakhs of people attend these annual fairs. Hundreds of stalls selling a variety of goods and cultural shows in the evenings are the major attraction of the yatra. Bali Yatra is followed by the Puri Beach Festival between November 23 and 27. The coastal city of Puri is a major tourist attraction all through the year, but the beach festival draws bigger crowds. The Departments of Tourism and Culture and associations of hotel owners and tour operators have joined hands to make this cultural event, which includes beach parties, rock concerts and dance shows, a success.

This event is followed by the Konark Dance Festival at Konark, 30 kilometres from the pilgrim city of Puri. The majestic 13th century Konark Sun temple on the Chandrabhaga beach provides the backdrop for this festival of classical dances in which dancers and dance troupes from different parts of the country participate. The annual festival held in an open-air auditorium between December 1 and 5 attracts a large number of tourists and dance lovers from outside the country. This festival is billed as the country's second biggest dance event after the Khajuraho Festival organised by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Another major event in December is the Toshali National Crafts Mela in Bhubaneswar, which showcases the arts and crafts of the country. A visit to the fair between December 15 and 27 will give the tourist an opportunity to see the artisans at work in their respective stalls.

As the winter chill continues to grip Orissa, the temple city of Bhubaneswar becomes the venue for three major festivals – the Kalinga Mahotsav, a national festival of martial arts on the foothills of the Dhauli peace pagoda on January 10 and 11; the Mukteswar Dance Festival, a festival of Odissi dance at the Mukteswar temple complex from January 14 to 16; and the Rajarani Music Festival from January 18 to 20.

BISWARANJAN ROUT/AP

THE RATH YATRA in Puri.

The State-run Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar also organises a national Odissi dance and music festival. Started a few years ago, the festival has become an important event for Odissi dancers across the country.

The Gopalpur Beach Festival at Gopalpur-on-Sea in December; the Lok Utsav, the lone annual festival of folk arts in the western Orissa town of Sambalpur in the first week of January; and the Chandipur Beach festival are some other major tourist attractions during the winter months.

Similarly, the annual festivals hosted by the District Councils of Culture have added another dimension to Orissa's cultural calendar. Parab in Koraput district, Mondei in Nabarangpur and Malyabanta in Malkangiri are some of the enchanting extravaganzas. The Vedavyas Festival held in the steel city of Rourkela in November is an important addition to the list of cultural fairs.

The Adivasi Mela, an annual seven-day tribal festival, is held in Bhubaneswar starting January 26. People representing 62 tribes put up their stalls on the lush green exhibition ground, popularly known as Adivasi Padia. Apart from the exhibits, which range from tribal cuisine to art, the mela provides a platform for tribal dance and music. Many fairs are organised starting from Makar Sankranti in mid-January in different parts of the State.

MUCH TO OFFER

Religious festivals such as Laxmi Puja in Dhenkanal and Kendrapara districts, Kali Puja in Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, and the world-famous Dhanu Yatra in Bargarh district attract a large number of tourists. Dhanu Yatra, which is held in what is considered the largest open-air theatre, presents the story of Krishna. The cast mainly comprises local people. The huge potential of the festival, however, has not been exploited.

A number of organisations in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, such as Srjan (Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra annual festival of dance and music), the Orissa Dance Academy (Dhauli Festival of Arts) and the Bhubaneswar Music Circle (an annual National Music Festival and the Kharavela National Festival on the foothills of Khandagiri-Udayagiri hosted by the K.N. Memorial Foundation) hold cultural events. The Gunjan Dance Academy also organises a series of dance and music festivals.

The Konark Dance and Music Festival, which was started by the veteran Odissi exponent Gangadhar Pradhan at the Natya Mandap of the sun temple in 1986, remains a major cultural event. It is held in February.

The number of cultural festivals has increased in recent years with many private organisations and big companies coming together to organise them. The growing interest of corporate houses in sponsoring cultural events is, however, facing criticism from many artists who are reluctant to accept the patronage of companies that are facing opposition from the people in the interior areas of the State.

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A PERFORMANCE AT the Mukteswar Dance Festival.

Going by the number of festivals and fairs, it is clear that Orissa has much to offer. But the potential for tourism has not been marketed adequately in India and abroad.

Despite making frequent announcements that it plans to introduce a new policy to give a boost to the tourism industry, the State government has done nothing in this direction. As a result, the sector seems to be growing without much government support. Hotels have started coming up in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Paradip. But many big hotel projects are still awaiting implementation.

The sun temple, the second important tourist hub of the State, still lacks proper tourist accommodation. Poor infrastructure continues to make Konark a day-time tourist spot. The Chilika lake, the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia, has huge tourism potential but again lacks infrastructure. The government has been focussing its energies on the capital city, Bhubaneswar. The authorities are hopeful that the tourism industry will overcome these handicaps. The Department of Tourism and Culture is going ahead with plans to organise more festivals. One such is the Chilika Mahotsav, which will be held from 2011.

There is no denying the fact that Orissa has been witnessing some development in the fields of industry and education. The State has a large number of institutions imparting technical and professional education. But tourist footfalls have been fewer, mainly owing to a lack of road/rail/air connectivity to a number of pilgrim centres and cultural hubs in the interior parts. It is time the State government developed tourist infrastructure in the interior districts.

Ailing Orissa

PRAFULLA DAS
in Bhubaneswar

Contaminated water sources and the virtual absence of health care claim dozens of lives in the State, now in the grip of cholera.

COME monsoon and the backward regions of Orissa are in the grip of water-borne diseases. This year too has been no different. According to official figures, 150 people had died of cholera and diarrhoea in the State as on September 15. Unofficial reports put the toll at more than 250. The reasons for the recurring phenomenon are not far to seek: contaminated water sources and the virtual absence of health care. To make matters worse, a large number of posts of doctors and paramedical staff in government hospitals are lying vacant.

According to officials in the Health and Family Welfare Department, cholera deaths were reported from Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Keonjhar districts. A sudden increase in the number of deaths was noticed in early July. The number has been growing steadily since then, with Rayagada being the worst hit. The official death toll in the district was 40 as of mid-September; unofficially it was 115. Significantly, 49 sanctioned posts of doctors in Rayagada are lying vacant. Many deaths in inaccessible areas in the affected districts have not been officially recorded.

A large number of those who are affected are tribal people who live in hamlets that have no approach roads. Safe drinking water is still a dream for thousands of families here who fetch water from forest streams and rivulets. The fact that there are scores of defunct tube wells in the interior areas of the State speaks volumes about the callousness of the administration. Even as water-borne diseases spread to new areas in the second week of September and deaths continued, the Naveen Patnaik government claimed that the situation was under control.

Even as Oriya television channels aired visuals of tribal people crying over the bodies of the dead and people carrying the sick to hospitals in distant places, Health Minister Prasanna Acharya paid a two-day visit to Rayagada district, on September 14 and 15, to take stock of the situation. On the first day of his visit, two more deaths were reported from Taladal village of Kashipur block in the district.

As in the past years, the State government woke up from its slumber only after the media started reporting diarrhoeal deaths from different parts of the State and the Regional Medical Research Centre in Bhubaneswar confirmed the incidence of cholera in Rayagada.

The government apparently paid little attention to the centre's advice on the measures required to avert an outbreak of cholera. The suggested measures included chlorinating drinking water sources in areas prone to contamination and providing drinking water closer to workplaces of the people, said a senior researcher at the centre.

The Chief Minister held a meeting to review the situation. Teams of doctors were sent to the worst-hit areas in the district. The government announced an incentive of Rs.200 to people who would bring cholera patients to hospitals at night.

Review meetings

Review meetings were held at various levels, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were urged to help in the process of providing medical attention to people. Efforts were also made to carry out an awareness campaign to make people adopt hygienic practices and draw water only from disinfected wells and tube wells.
But the government came under fire from the opposition parties as many tube wells still awaited repair in the worst-affected blocks of Rayagada district – Kashipur, Bissamcuttack and Kalyansinghpur – even after the Health Minister's visit.

The Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Bhupinder Singh, and other leaders of the Congress, who visited different areas in Rayagada, held the government responsible for the deaths from cholera and diarrhoea. It is apparent that non-availability of safe drinking water, lack of awareness about sanitation among the tribal people, and non-implementation of the total sanitation campaign are the main reasons for so many deaths.

Stock response

All the opposition parties blamed the State government for ignoring the problems of the tribal people in the interior areas. But even as hospitals, dispensaries and health camps remained crowded with patients and many were unable to reach hospitals owing to intermittent rains and the lack of roads, the government had the stock response that all possible measures were being taken to contain the spread of water-borne diseases.

Finally, the administration was forced to deploy the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force to transport patients to medical centres from inaccessible areas such as Madhuban in Gudari block of Rayagada. But the last-minute efforts seemed futile when news of deaths began to pour in from distant villages.

The administration did not even have the manpower to distribute bleaching powder, saline, halogen tablets and ORS (oral rehydration solution) packets in the worst-hit areas of Rayagada.

Significantly, the NGOs had not reached the cholera-hit villages even after the government's appeal to them to join medical teams. Some NGO leaders were busy soliciting help from various funding agencies even after the epidemic had claimed a large number of lives. It appeared as if they simply could not venture out of urban areas without ensuring the flow of funds. The same had happened in 2007, too.

The Orissa Adivasi Mahasabha, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), staged demonstrations to protest against the government's failure to contain the spread of cholera.

More than 2,000 people had died of diarrhoea in the State in the past five years, said Chambru Soren, its organising secretary. He said that when the government was making tall claims about tribal development, the death of so many people due to cholera was criminal.

This is not the first time that Orissa has seen so many deaths from cholera and diarrhoea. In 2007, the State government admitted to the death of at least 178 persons in Rayagada, Koraput, Kalahandi and Gajapati districts by September 4. Unofficial reports put the toll at over 300 that year.

Rayagada, which has been badly hit by diarrhoeal deaths in the past, was in the news in 2001 when many people died of malnutrition and hunger. People in the district eat mango kernel and other inedible items during the monsoon months when they face severe shortage of food. Life becomes miserable for them because there is no work in the season.

Rayagada is not the only district where food insecurity and lack of proper health care affect the lives of scores of people. This is a common feature in several other places, particularly the seven districts in the backward Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region.

Significantly, it is not just that the administration at the district level has failed to implement various development projects in the interiors of Orissa; the State government has also failed to contain the Maoist menace in these regions. The government has apparently been busy processing the applications of big corporate entities in order to make recommendations to the Central government to grant them leases to mine bauxite, iron ore and coal.

Corporate leaders who were camping in the State had little concern for the suffering people whose land and hills they were planning to mine.

People's victory

PRAFULLA DAS
in Lanjigarh

Vedanta will not be able to mine the Niyamgiri hills for bauxite, and for the Dongria Kondhs the MoEF decision is a major victory.

THE August 24 decision of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) refusing to allow mining in the Niyamgiri hills jointly by the Orissa Mining Corporation and Sterlite Industries (India) Limited, a Vedanta Group company, has given a boost to the movements against displacement of people and illegal mining and land acquisition for various mineral-based industries in violation of land acquisition rules, mining laws, laws pertaining to protection of the environment, conservation of forests, safeguarding of wildlife and the rights of tribal and non-tribal populations living on forest land. Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, where Vedanta Aluminium Limited has established an alumina refinery, has been the nerve point of these struggles. The Ministry withdrew the stage-II clearance it had granted for mining in the Niyamgiri hills.

Thousands of primitive Dongria Kondh tribal men and women living in and around the Niyamgiri hills in Lanjigarh are happy that the Vedanta group will not now mine the hills, which they worship as their living god, for bauxite. They are also determined to oppose any further attempt by the State government to help the company source bauxite from any other hills nearby to run its alumina refinery. They are demanding that the refinery be closed down to protect the area from environmental pollution.

The agitation by the Kondh tribal people started in 2003 after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone for Vedanta's one-million-tonne-capacity refinery at Lanjigarh. Organisations such as the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti and the Green Kalahandi kept on questioning the blatant violation of laws by the company when it went ahead with the construction of its refinery. The construction of a conveyor belt from the refinery up to the hills at a time when no clearance for mining had been obtained was strongly opposed by the people and the organisations. The matter was also taken to court. However, the State government refused to lend an ear to the agitators.

Vedanta claimed it had not violated the Forest Conservation Act, the Environment Protection Act or the Forest Rights Act. The State government endorsed its stand whenever the matter was raised by Opposition parties or people's organisations. The company spent lavishly to sustain its campaign with the slogan that it was in Orissa to mine happiness for the people. Even when committees set up by the MoEF or the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court pointed out irregularities and violations of laws, the company managed to keep up its own campaign. However, the decision of Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, gave a severe jolt to its plans.

Incidentally, the State government had approved Vedanta's refinery expansion plans (from a capacity of one million tonnes per annum to six million tonnes) days before the MoEF decision, and that too when the company was yet to get clearances for mining bauxite for its refinery in the State and was running its plant with bauxite ore sourced from Jharkhand and other States.

Mining and politics

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has come out strongly in support of the company and denounced the MoEF decision as being “anti-Orissa”. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's visit to Lanjigarh two days after the MoEF decision has made the BJD angrier still.

Rahul Gandhi described the decision as a victory for the tribal people, in his address to a rally organised by the Orissa Pradesh Youth Congress to celebrate the day as Adivasi Adhikar Divas (tribal rights day) at Jagannathpur village in the foothills of Niyamgiri. Asserting that he was not against industries, he said that “genuine voices” of the common people should not go unheard. His Lanjigarh trip may have been a part of his party's larger strategy to reclaim the tribal vote bank, but it was certainly a big hit with the Dongria Kondhs. Indeed, during his visit to Lanjigarh in 2008, he had told the tribal people that he would be their “sepoy” in Delhi. This time he promised them that his work as their “sepoy” had just begun.

As Rahul Gandhi addressed the Dongria Kondhs in Lanjigarh, the BJD's youth wing staged a demonstration in Bhubaneswar alleging that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre was creating hurdles in the path of Orissa's industrialisation. The party also announced plans for a rally in Lanjigarh on September 3. Indeed, the MoEF decision on Vedanta is not the only cause of worry for the BJD and its government. The MoEF has also questioned the violation of the Forest Rights Act in the area earmarked for the proposed 12-million-tonne-capacity steel plant of Posco India Private Limited, the Indian arm of the Korean steel-maker Posco.

Members of Parliament of the BJD staged a demonstration in New Delhi alleging that the MoEF was out to show a favour to the Andhra Pradesh government in implementing the Polavaram (Indira Sagar) irrigation project on the Godavari. Although Jairam Ramesh had written to Naveen Patnaik stating that the clearance for diversion of forest land was subject to compliance of several conditions by the Andhra Pradesh government, several BJD MPs joined a demonstration organised by Oriya students in New Delhi against the Centre's “anti-Orissa” stance.

Why is the BJD so angry with the Centre? Apparently because Naveen Patnaik's government has been caught on the wrong foot, what with the violation of various laws by Vedanta and Posco India Private Limited and the growing opposition to many industrial projects in the State. After the MoEF's order against Vedanta, hundreds came out to oppose the State government's plans to hand over the Khandadhar mines in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts to Posco. While Niyamgiri is the source of the Vanshadhara and Nagabali rivers, Khandadhar is the source for the majestic Brahmani.

Tribal and other populations opposing displacement have announced plans to challenge the alleged violation of various laws by projects such as the Tata steel project in Kalinganagar and the Posco project in Jagatsinghpur. Conservationists have come forward demanding action against government officials, particularly those in the Departments of Forest, Mines, and Revenue, who have been allegedly protecting the interests of various companies.

Orissa's industrialisation has run into trouble primarily because the State has not been equipped to cope with the large number of investment proposals in sectors such as alumina, steel, thermal power, ports and education. The proposed Vedanta University of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, promoted by Anil Agarwal, chairman of the Vedanta Group based in the United Kingdom, has faced stiff opposition from local residents near Puri. The foundation has been given the go-ahead to establish a world-class university over 3,200 hectares of land. A law to facilitate the university project has been passed in the State Assembly.

Land acquisition has become a major issue with the State government signing memoranda of understanding with various companies without consulting the people who will be displaced to make space for the proposed industries. The poor rehabilitation of the thousands of families displaced by both private and government-run industries in the past decades has added to the fears of those facing displacement.

The use of force to suppress anti-industry agitation and the branding of agitators as “Maoists” has also been a cause of concern for those trying to protect their land and homes. An attempt by the police to brand Lado Sikaka, a leader of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, as a suspected Maoist in the wake of Rahul Gandhi's visit to Lanjigarh faced criticism from various quarters.

The State government's backing of plans for diversion of huge volumes of water from the State's rivers to run privately owned industries is facing opposition, too. There are not many takers for the Chief Minister's assurance that not a drop of water meant for agriculture will be diverted to industries. In the 10 years that Naveen Patnaik has been in power, his government has signed MoUs for 49 steel plants, 27 thermal power plants and several others for ports, alumina refineries and other industries. Those opposing displacement and violation of environment laws and the Forest Rights Act have demanded that the government set up a panel of experts to review the ongoing industrialisation process.