Online story on Jindal Steel and Power plant in Chattisgarh

Ever since the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out of the state of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, the people of this state fighting against the acquisition of their lands, forests and rivers in the name of Industrialization.

Seventy-nine per cent of Chhattisgarh’s population lives in rural areas and 45% are below the poverty line. With 35% of its geographical area under cultivation, agriculture is the mainstay of its economy. Almost 80% of the working population is dependent on agro-based livelihood, but the irrigated area in the state is only 16% of the total area, according to government figures.

Instead of providing facilities for the development of agriculture sector, here forests, rivers, and fertile farmland have been taken over by flourishing industries backed by an unjust state. For several years, thousands have been displaced despite violent activism by the oppressed. Rivers have been bought and diverted leaving hundreds of villages thirsty and acres of farmland parched. Tribal people, who have roamed these mineral-rich forests for centuries, have been forced to seek employment and adapt to a different way of life as industries continue to encroach upon their lifestyle. Protected forest land has been sold to greedy miners who exploit its riches without considering the disastrous effect of industrialisation on the flora and fauna.

With the state government itching to meet an investment target of US $ 3 trillion by 2010, indiscriminate industrialisation is inevitable. Crucially, access to, use of, and control over, water resources, is becoming an issue in Chhattisgarh and has led to the emergence of people’s movements against government policies on water issues.

The state has been the first in the country to go to the extent of selling rivers such as the Sheonath and Kelo to a private owner who will use it to supply water to industries.

In 1998 in Boda Tikra village in Raigarh district, a tribal woman Satyabhama started her protest fast to oppose the privatization of the Kelo river, on which 10 other villages depended, ended in her death from starvation.

Satyabhama was fighting on behalf of 10 villages which would be affected by a plant belonging to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.

In 1996, JSPL was denied permission to draw water from the Kelo River for industrial purposes as the District Water Utilization Council felt that the river's waters would be inadequate to meet both industrial and drinking water needs of Raigarh town.

However, in 1997, the company managed to secure permission from a state-level committee to construct a check-dam across the river and sink wells to draw more than 35,000 cubic meters of water daily. Nearly 250 families dependent on river fishing saw their catches plummet after the construction of JSPL's check-dam.

Satyabhama’s sacrifice has been forgotten, though what she feared has come to pass. These days the residents of Boda Tikra cannot manage with the bore wells – their major source of water supply now that the river has been depleted -- as they dry up in summer.

This is just the beginning. Industrialists are lining up to pour money into Chhattisgarh in return for extracting a great deal more from it and, in the absence of just legislation and regulation, destroying both its people and the environment.

The fields in the villages of Rabo and Danot, in Raigarh district, have been submerged by a dam built four years ago for the 1,000 megawatt (MW) Tamnar hydel power project of the Jindals. Farmers sold their land to the government, which leased it out to the Jindals for the power project. The farmers were promised jobs but have found only temporary employment.

The Jan Sunwai or public hearing is a mandatory exercise and part of the process to clear projects as required by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Officials analyse issues to be studied and then consult the public. The state pollution control board advertises the day and venue of the hearing so that the public can be present to voice its concerns.

In practice, though, the Jan Sunwai is easily subverted. In the case of the Tamnar hydel project, for instance, the Jan Sunwai was held in inaccessible areas so hardly anyone attended.

Ramesh Agarwal of the NGO Lok Shakti explains that the literacy rate here is just 15-20%, so people are unable to understand everything, and particularly not the highly technical reports. But since it is all on the record, the people cannot claim that they were not told. “It is just a drama so that people can’t go to court in future saying that they were unaware of the environmental and health hazards,” Agarwal says.

In 2002-2003, state government representatives had surveyed the area for the hydel power project and subsequently presented a proposal to the panchayat. The villagers did not sign anything, yet in 2004, the work on the project began without their consent. They realised later that the state had sold off their land by bribing some panchayat members.

“We even visited the chief minister. When they started encroaching on our land, we stopped them from taking the machinery through the village. On October 13, 2004, we started protesting in nine villages. Now seven villages are already submerged,” said Ram Pradhan of Rabo village.

Champibai of Rupunga village was a rebel icon, who protested alongside noted activist Medha Patkar. She sold her land after years of protesting as support for the cause declined. “What could I do if one by one the people who stood by me began to leave?” she asks. She now works as a gardener for the employers she protested against.

A villager from Danot alleges that the sarpanchs, or village heads, and the police connive with industrialists and approve the handover of the land rights to them in return for money. That’s how the Kelo river was sold, they claim.

A resettlement plan was approved by the state government in Danot village but the residents are unhappy with it. “The amount of money that we were given for our land was paltry. Even the chief minister said that we would be compensated handsomely and we had it on paper, but the collector wouldn’t abide by it. The houses they have given us in exchange are very small compared to the ones we had and are in the middle of nowhere,” says a villager.

Almost 110 farmers from 70 villages have filed a case against the government for not giving them just compensation for their land.

According to social activist Ramesh Agarwal of the NGO Lok Shakti, 22 companies operate in Raigarh district in the midst of reserved forests with a population of 3,64,287. Activists have moved the courts since 2004 against the Jindals and others. “We even approached the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court against Jindal Steel and Power Limited. There’s no alternative to the judiciary.”

Over 1.5 lakh people depend on the Kelo river which has been polluted by the industries. Some 70 villages depend on water supplied by tankers that is sold by Jindal. Hand-pumps have dried up. “These people are just beginning to understand the implications of industrialisation without rules. Members of committees appointed by the government to resolve these problems are also on the boards of most of these companies, so there is a conflict of interest,” says Agarwal.

Another centre of resistance is Gare village where villagers are resisting the sale of their land by enduring bullets, baton-wielding policemen and intimidation by industrialists.

Gare lies almost 40 km from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. A coal-based power plant is to be constructed in Gare, but the locals are fighting the project with all their might. Gare is the only village in the district that has successfully resisted industrialisation. In the public hearing or jan sunwai held on January 5, 2008, the villagers were threatened that they would be arrested and jailed if they protested on the streets and blocked traffic.

That did not stop the protests and more than 50 men and women were jailed. But because of the presence of the media, they were released, says Savita Rath, a young activist. The resistance continues to date and though a few have sold their land, most have held out.

There are at least five coal mines and one sponge iron plant in the area, and one coal mine that is seeking to expand. The industrialists, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Jayaswal Neco Ltd, have tried various means to break the movement. Six youngsters who were part of the resistance movement were charged with rape and could not secure bail. Their parents approached the only entity that could exert pressure on the police -- a powerful industrialist who was struggling to establish a base there. The boys were released and their families became the first ones to sell out in 2009.

Polluting factories in several protected forest zones in Raigarh district of North Chhattisgarh. Corruption has led to a steady rise in factories that emit hazardous substances which pollute the environment.


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