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.

I am Niyamgiri speaking

I always wear a green blanket
I never face any water crisis
I help in causing rain in Lanjigarh
I have been helping innocent tribals living with me
I am self-sufficient
I never availed help from any government
I have never gone against anyone
I am innocent
And I don’t want to be mined.

-Written By Prafulla Das on August 31, 2010

Living in fear

PRAFULLA DAS

in Kandhamal

The Christian populations of the villages in Kandhamal district fear a repeat of the communal riots of 2008.

PHOTOGRAPHS: LINGARAJ PANDA

MASA DIGAL AND his wife, Sabitri, of Ladapadar village in Kandhamal district, who returned home from Bhubaneswar to farm his land.

MASA DIGAL has not gone to a church or a prayer house since the widespread anti-Christian riots of 2008 in many parts of Orissa's Kandhamal district.

“Religion carries little meaning for me today as my life continues to be full of uncertainties. I am yet to forget the harrowing time we had when we hid in forested hills braving heavy rains and survived without food for days on end – until some of us managed to get out of the district while others took shelter in relief camps set up by the district administration,” said Digal, a native of Ladapadar village in the district.

Digal, whose house was looted by rioters belonging to the majority community while he was hiding in the forests, is yet to muster the courage to lead a normal life in his native village. This correspondent met him recently at Ladapadar when he had come along with his wife, Sabitri, to grow a kharif crop on the small patch of land he owned near his house.

“We do not feel secure in our own homes in the village anymore. That is why I don't feel like leaving Bhubaneswar and coming to my village and living here the way I lived in the past,” he said. After the riots, he lived with his family in a slum in the capital city, more than 220 kilometres away from his village, and earned his livelihood as a daily wage labourer.

Digal was among the thousands of people who fled the troubled district during the 2008 communal violence. Although security personnel had been deployed in the urban areas in the wake of the riots, violence continued in the interior areas. Digal went alone to Bhubaneswar during the riots, while his wife took shelter in her parental home several kilometres away from their village.

A few weeks after the riots stopped following the arrest of a number of people who were allegedly responsible for them, many Christian families in Ladapadar were forced to convert to Hinduism at a ceremony organised by the local unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). However, many of those who changed their religion then practise Christianity now. But peace eludes them.

“We were first attacked in December 2007 following a rumour that VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda was attacked by a group of Christian youth. The village church was badly damaged in the attack. But the violence we experienced in 2008 was much worse,” he added. The church has not been repaired to date. So no prayer could be organised there so far.

There are 25 families in the village, including one that converted to Hinduism several years ago. Many of these families live below the poverty line but are yet to be issued BPL cards. Only four families have got dwelling units under the Indira Awas Yojana to date. The work on the main approach road to the village has remained incomplete for years together.

“The local sarpanch, who belongs to the ‘padma phula party' [party with the lotus symbol, or the Bharatiya Janata Party], pays little attention to our woes. We have not approached the district administration in Phulbani, just 18 km away, for BPL cards, houses under the Indira Awas Yojana, or compensation for the damage caused to our church and homes during the two successive riots, as we feel it would annoy members of the majority community living in nearby villages,” said Kishore Digal, another resident of the village.

LAMBODAR KANHAR, LEADER of the Kui Samaj Coordination Committee.

Most of the residents of Ladapadar have lived outside Kandhamal district after the 2008 riots, which had made Kandhamal look like a killing field. The story is the same in many other villages as well in the district. And peace continues to elude the poor majority who live in their villages now.

Communal violence started in Kandhamal soon after the killing of Swami Laxmanananda in one of his ashrams in the district on the night of August 23, 2008. Hundreds of houses, churches and prayer houses belonging to tribal Christians were damaged or burnt down.

Even though the Maoists claimed that they had killed the VHP leader, the Sangh Parivar preferred to believe that the crime was the handiwork of tribal Christians. Soon communal violence engulfed most parts of the district. Members of the Christian community had to run for their lives. They hid in forests until they could go to relief camps or to distant towns. More than 25,000 people were forced to live in relief camps in the district and in places like Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Cuttack for months together.

Those who failed to escape were killed by rampaging mobs. The exact death toll is still a matter of conjecture. While human rights groups estimate that over 100 people were killed, the State government puts the figure at 38.

Insecurity

Why are the Christian families still feeling insecure in their own hamlets tucked in the forests and hills of this picturesque district? This is because there has been little interaction or exchange of views between the members of the minority and majority communities till date. Very few meetings of the peace committee were held at Phulbani, while attacks on Christian families continued in some areas.

Besides, prosecution of many of those who had indulged in rioting, arson and killing has not been possible for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that the Christians fear to depose before the police or a court against members of the majority community who attacked them and their homes.

According to the Kandhamal police, a total of 828 cases were registered in the aftermath of the 2008 riots in different parts of the district even though filing complaints with the police was a difficult task for the riot victims. The victims say that they are not aware of the fate of their complaints.

The Kandhamal police have so far closed, and have the final report in, as many as 255 cases. Although the allegations made in the complaints were found to be true, the police had no clues, eyewitnesses or evidence to establish the cases and book those involved.

Kandhamal Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar, who has been holding his post since the time of the violence, said that while investigations into 225 cases had been closed, the police had been able to complete investigations and file charge sheets in 410 cases in the two fast-track courts set up for the purpose. The remaining cases were still under investigation, he said.

All cases relating to the 2008 riots were being handled by the district police, while the cases relating to the murder of Laxmanananda and two incidents of rape went to the Crime Branch.

Two separate judicial commissions, both headed by retired High Court judges, were set up to probe the riots of 2007 and 2008. Both have submitted their interim reports, and the final reports and recommendations are awaited.

The fast-track courts have disposed of more than 120 cases until the second week of August; of the accused, 450 have been acquitted and 150, including the BJP legislator Manoj Pradhan, convicted.

The Church and the Sangh

How did the Church and the Sangh Parivar become active in Kandhamal? The vast majority of the people in the district are poor and gullible tribal people who easily accepted any religion or belief that came their way. When Christian preachers first made headway, Sangh Parivar leaders came up with a counter-conversion campaign, said Lambodar Kanhar, the main leader of the Kui Samaj Coordination Committee (KSCC) of Kandhamal. Kanhar, a lawyer in Phulbani, has been taking up cases for members of the Kondh tribe in the district for several years now.

Kanhar pointed out that though the Church and the Sangh organisations were not active in Kandhamal in the post-2008 riots period, the situation in the district remained volatile. Tension prevailed more in the interior areas, he said. “In many pockets, both sides continue to dislike each other and are looking for opportunities to attack each other,” said Kanhar. “The tribal people were neither Hindus nor Christians originally and were leading a miserable life since the government was doing very little for their welfare,” he pointed out.

The majority of the Kondh people are now demanding government intervention to address their various problems. One of their major demands is that the constitutional rights of the tribal people be protected and they be allowed to enjoy reservation in government jobs and pro-poor schemes. Much of their land is allegedly in the custody of Christian or upper-caste Hindu families. Another demand of the KSCC is that landless tribal families be given land rights.

AT NANDAGIRI NEAR G. Udayagiri in Kandhamal district. Many of the displaced families still live in tents.

The riot-hit population blames the Naveen Patnaik government for the poor compensation and rehabilitation packages. The Sangh Parivar criticises the government for “implicating” its men in cases relating to the riots. Kanhar, for his part, alleged that the administration had failed to address the real issues facing the poor. The district lacks food security and does not have a railway link.

A senior police officer from Kandhamal said the district's plight was a complex one. It was one of the less administered regions of the State even during British rule. In fact, until the 2008 riots the district had only three revenue blocks to cater to a population spread over vast areas. When the Chief Minister faced severe criticism after the riots for not taking the problems of the poor of Kandhamal seriously, 12 more blocks were created.

The majority of the people of Kandhamal continue to live in abject poverty. They do not get adequate job opportunities under the various government schemes and just prices for their agricultural and forest produce. Patnaik, however, continues to project a clean and pro-poor image before the people. While entertaining a large number of private companies that have come forward to set up steel plants, alumina refineries, thermal power plants and ports, he and his Biju Janata Dal have been able to run the government without much difficulty primarily because the main Opposition party, the Congress, has been a divided house since he took over in 2000. Despite the various charges against his government – allegedly turning a blind eye to large-scale illegal mining, failing to address the problems of farmers and those facing displacement by industries, and so on – Patnaik has by and large managed to keep the media in good humour by blaming the Centre for all the problems of the State.

Although the BJP was a partner in his government when Kandhamal witnessed communal violence, Patnaik managed to don a secular face by severing his party's ties with the saffron party days before the 2009 Assembly elections.

The government, which described the 2008 violence as an ethno-communal conflict though both the majority and minority communities have tribal and non-tribal populations, has so far failed to bring any perceptible change in the lives of the riot victims as well as the other tribal people and Dalits. It has also not been able to do much with regard to the conflicts over land rights or the issue of reservation.

In the post-riot period, many non-governmental organisations and civil society leaders have also maintained an indifferent attitude towards Kandhamal's problems, including the rise of Maoists. Meanwhile, the National Solidarity Forum, a countrywide platform of civil society organisations, has called for the observation of August 25 as “Kandhamal Day” to express solidarity with the victims and survivors of the violence. With a view to exerting pressure on the Central government, it plans to organise a people's tribunal between August 22 and 24 in New Delhi.

It is high time the State government did something to prevent a repeat of the 2007 and 2008 violence.

Forgotten people

PRAFULLA DAS
in Bhubaneswar

Inflation has impacted the lives of lakhs of tribal families living in the backward regions of Orissa like never before.

AS the sun rises over the green-clad hills in Pipalsahi hamlet under Tikabali block of Orissa's Kandhamal district, Bipra Mallick and his wife, Ambati Mallick, wake up and worry about their day's income and expenditure. How will they sustain the family of six when the prices of essential commodities are rising by the day? Bipra's family has been eligible for 25 kilogrammes of rice at Rs.2 a kg under the below poverty line (BPL) ration card scheme since 2008. Since this is not sufficient for the whole month, he buys more low-quality rice from the market at Rs.16 or Rs.17 a kg.

There is extreme poverty, food scarcity and lack of job opportunities in the area. That was why Bipra sent away two of his young sons to work in a coir manufacturing unit in far-off Kerala about a month ago. The couple, their two daughters, the youngest son and Bipra's widowed mother subsist on the daily wage he earns.

Bipra is a landless agricultural labourer for most part of the year. He also gets work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But since he does not get work on a daily basis and since labour-intensive work, such as building infrastructure, is not undertaken all through the year, he struggles to make ends meet. The rainy season is the worst part of the year for the Mallicks and the other families living in the hamlet as no construction work is undertaken in those months. The hamlet has one pucca house and a few dwelling units provided to BPL families under the Indira Awas Yojana.

DESHAKALYAN CHOWDHURY/AFP

Tribal villagers carry bundles of firewood to be sold in Phulbani town in Kandhamal district.

Bipra's family is not the only one affected by inflation and price rise. Inflation has impacted the lives of millions of poor tribal people living in the backward interior regions of Orissa like never before.

Prasanta Bindhani, a 30-year-old tribal youth of Kambadanga village situated along the Phulbani-Tikabali road finds it difficult to meet the day-to-day needs of his three-member family as he does not possess a BPL card and does not own landed property. In addition to this, he has to find money to buy medicines for his daughter whenever she has an attack of malaria, which is endemic in the region.

Three years ago, Prasanta had applied for a BPL card to avail himself of rice at Rs.2 a kg. But the card has not been issued to him till date. The local sarpanch told him that the authorities had stopped issuing new BPL cards for the past several months.

Rajendra Kumar Gurgi, a sharecropper in Bedasunga village located a few kilometres from the Tikabali block headquarters town, was working in the fields near his home when this correspondent met him. He also does not possess a BPL card, which would have helped him cope with price rise. “I have serious problems in meeting the daily needs of the family. Moreover, lack of irrigation facilities in the region is affecting my agricultural operations,” he said.

Sixty-year-old Patras Mallick accuses the Naveen Patnaik government of thriving on “false promises”. He and his family have been living in a tent in Shanti Nagar, a rehabilitation colony for the victims of the anti-Christian riots of 2008, at Nandagiri village near G. Udaygiri town. Fifty-eight families had fled their villages during the communal violence that broke out in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati. Eleven families, including that of Patras Mallick, are yet to be given land and financial help to build a dwelling unit in Shanti Nagar.

LINGARAJ PANDA

PRASANTA BINDHANI OF Kambadanga village finds it hard to meet the basic needs of his three-member family.

The residents of Shanti Nagar complained that the price rise had affected them badly. “The situation is so bad that whenever work is not available in the neighbourhood we are unable to travel out to get work as daily wagers because we don't have money to buy bus tickets,” a resident said.

Price rise has dealt a severe blow to the 58 families living in the colony particularly because the government has not provided them any land for cultivation. Also, they are not covered under the NREGS or any other employment generation scheme.

In fact, Kandhamal presents a classic example of poverty amidst plenty. It is said to be the richest district in the State as far as forest resources are concerned. But poverty in the tribal-dominated forested region seems to be a deep-rooted malady.

With very little cultivable land and with the virtual absence of irrigation facilities, the tribal people of Kandhamal face severe shortages of food and income. The business community of Kandhamal mainly consists of people from other districts of the State such as Ganjam, Nayagarh and Puri. These traders pay only a small amount to the tribal and non-tribal farmers for their produce, depriving them of an adequate good income.

In 2008, when the district hit the headlines in the wake of widespread anti-Christian riots, it was also identified as an “extremely food insecure” district of Orissa. The “Food Security Atlas of Rural Orissa”, which was prepared by World Food Programme (WFP) in association with the New Delhi-based Institute of Human Development (IHD), said that the rate of food insecurity was higher in Kandhamal than in the districts coming under the backward KBK (Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput) region of the State. Kandhamal has not been included in the KBK region, which receives Central funds under various developmental projects.

LINGARAJ PANDA

BIPRA MALLICK WITH his family at Pipalsahi village in the district. He is unemployed for most part of the year.

The state of uncertainty that has gripped the tribal populations in Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts as a result of the lack of development in every sphere has not spared Kandhamal.

The situation in the region has remained unchanged basically because of a lack of employment opportunities and the dismal functioning of the public distribution system. The administration has failed to issue BPL cards to a large number of poverty-stricken families, adding to the misery of hundreds of tribal families.

The visit to the interior villages and the interaction with the residents made one thing clear: Those in authority who shed crocodile tears for the tribal people and the other economically backward communities are unaware of the ground realities in the tribal areas.

Faced with utter neglect, the tribal people are becoming more and more inclined towards the Maoist ideology. The civil administration seems to be virtually absent in the interior areas of the tribal-dominated regions. The Police Department is, however, more active as the forces are fighting the Maoists.

It is high time bureaucrats running the different departments of the State government started visiting the districts that are far away from Bhubaneswar to oversee the implementation of the anti-poverty schemes of the State and Central governments.

MINERS' PARADISE

COVER STORY

Politics and the pits

Illegal mining, often with political patronage, is making the state lose revenues and millions of tribal residents their habitats and livelihoods.

MINERS' PARADISE

By Prafulla Das in Bhubaneswar

ILLEGAL mining in Orissa was never before as hotly debated as it has been in recent months. Successive governments were always so eager to protect the interests of the companies engaged in mining that reports about illegal mining and smuggling of minerals were never taken seriously. Little action was taken against those who violated mining and forest laws and jeopardised the well-being of the millions who have for generations lived in the mineral-rich regions of the State.

It was in the 1960s, when Biju Patnaik headed a Congress government, that an expressway was built between the mineral-bearing region and the Paradip port, and this road, over the years, has provided the main route for minerals mined in the State to leave the country. Illegal mining caught public attention after opposition parties raised the issue in the State Assembly with some genuine concern in July last year. Before that, scant attention was paid even to the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General about illegal mining.

In the latter half of 2009, opposition parties sent teams to the areas where illegal mining was rampant. It soon became clear that illegal extraction and smuggling of iron ore, manganese and other minerals had been going on for several decades and had assumed serious proportions from the mid-1990s. The past decade saw further escalation in mining activity as the demand for iron ore and other minerals grew in the international market. It also became evident that various departments of the State government had been turning a blind eye to the virtual loot. In the process, the State exchequer suffered immense losses and the local population derived no benefits. Indeed, for the tribal people who had lived on the land for many generations in Keonjhar and other mineral-rich districts, mining destroyed their forest-based economy.

“In terms of indicators of overall welfare, villages closer to the mines have poorer health, education and production assets,” said an independent study.

The State government initially refused to admit that illegal mining was going on in many backward regions of the State where Maoists had gained a stronghold in recent years. But the growing criticism forced Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to order a Vigilance Department probe in July 2009. After that, skeletons started tumbling out of the cupboards of government departments.

Immediately after the probe was ordered, a few government officials and mining company officials were arrested. But by August, vigilance sleuths stopped all arrests despite registering a dozen cases. However, several months after the scam was unearthed, the Keonjhar district police started arresting small mine operators and those involved in illegal mining, storage and transportation of minerals.

The State government's formal admission of illegal mining came only when the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court started its hearings in the case in December 2009. It admitted to the CEC that a large number of mines had been running illegally for years together and that many mining companies had violated mining and forest rules. The admission did not reflect too well on Naveen Patnaik's slogan of transparency.

The CEC hearings, held on December 16, 2009, and then again on February 22 and April 5 this year, came in response to a petition filed in the Supreme Court in October 2009 by Rabi Das, a senior journalist and president of the civil society organisation Odisha Jana Sammilani. (Incidentally, five public interest petitions, filed in the Orissa High Court by concerned individuals seeking a Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) probe into illegal mining, are pending.)

Rabi Das approached the Supreme Court with the plea that the apex court direct the CEC to conduct a fact-finding study of the illegal mining in Keonjhar, Sundargarh and others districts. He sought the appointment of a commission to investigate and study the modalities of illegal machinations to fix responsibility on individuals in the government and outside it and recommend remedial measures that could be implemented immediately by the Centre and the Government of Orissa.

He also requested the apex court to direct the respondents to take effective steps to stop the illegal mining and prosecute the perpetrators, who had been violating the Mines and Minerals (Development) Act, 1957, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and other relevant laws.

The CEC has submitted an interim report after examining the matter in the three hearings, during which former Advocate-General Jayanta Das, counsel for the petitioner, presented the findings of a study conducted by Jana Sammilani, which had found that 155 mining leases in Orissa had no valid authority.

The CEC's interim report said: “Mining activities were going on in a large number of mines in Orissa without requisite approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, environmental clearances, and Air and Water Acts. The mining activities also exceeded the production limit as approved under the mining plans. …A large number of mines have remained operational for long periods of time after the expiry of the lease period because of the delays in taking decisions on the renewal applications filed by the respective mining lease holders and consequently the mines becoming eligible for ‘deemed extension' as provided under Rule 24 (6), MCR, 1960.”

It also said: “A large number of mines are operating in Orissa (also in other parts of the country) after the expiry of the mining lease period. This is being done under the provision of ‘deemed extension' of mining leases provided under Rule 24 A (6) of the MCR, 1960 and is happening because the applications filed for the renewal of the mining leases remain undecided for a considerable period of time after the expiry of the mining lease period. …The ‘deemed extension' clause is primarily meant to deal with contingency situation and to ensure that the mining operations do not come to an abrupt end because of administrative delays in deciding on the renewal applications. This provision is not meant to be availed indefinitely. Moreover, continuing mining over a long period of time without renewal of the mining lease becomes a potential source for serious illegalities and irregularities.”

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that there was a need for a detailed investigation by an independent and competent body as the State Vigilance Department lacked the competent jurisdiction and reliability, especially since the political leadership was involved.

The State government, in its submissions before the CEC on the action taken against those engaged in illegal mining, mentioned the arrests made by the Vigilance Department and said that it had constituted a State-level enforcement squad, and the squad had detected 213 cases since July last year.

The government said that with effect from August 2009, it had introduced newly designed transit passes for use by those transporting minerals from the mining areas to other places in the country and abroad. The government told the CEC that a total of 596 mining leases had been granted to various companies so far, 351 of which had expired.

It informed the CEC that mining activities in 163 mines had been suspended because of the non-compliance of the statutory clearances and other violations. Guidelines regarding the renewal of mining leases had been issued on October 1, 2009. A total of 682 trade and storage licences had been suspended.

However, the State government seems to believe that extraction of minerals drives economic growth and creates jobs for local populations. That unregulated mining benefits only a few is still not accepted by the mandarins in the government who keep sending recommendations to the Centre for grant of mining leases.

In the rush for acquiring mining leases, many new companies were born in the past few years. Many companies, which already had mines in their possession, signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to set up new steel plants. Many of these companies continue to export iron ore and other minerals while their plans for industrial projects remain on paper. Orissa has already signed 49 MoUs for setting up steel plants and MoUs for over 20 coal-based power plants, a few alumina refineries and a port. But the government should realise that those who have come forward to invest lakhs of crores of rupees in these projects are primarily miners whose chief interest will be in extracting minerals.

The Chief Minister has promised action against illegal mining, but many believe that it is now up to the courts to take a final view of the matter and ensure that those who have been looting the State's mineral reserves are punished.

As for the judicious use of the mineral wealth, both the Centre and the State government need to take a fresh look at the mining sector. Those in the government should ask themselves why the vast majority of people living in the mining areas still live in abject poverty.