ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
To
Shri Hemant Soren
Chief Minister
Government of Jharkhand
Ranchi
Chief Secretary
Government of Jharkhand
Ranchi
Smt Annapurna
Devi
Minister, Water
Resources Department
Government of Jharkhand
Ranchi
Chairman
Experts Appraisal Committee (Industrial
Projects)
Union Ministry of Environment
& Forests
Government of India
New Delhi
Shri Ajay Kr. Mishra
Chairman
Jharkhand State Pollution Control
Board (JSPCB)
Government of Jharkhand
Ranchi
Date: January 31, 2014
Subject-illegitimacy of July 2005
MoU between Jindal Steel & Power Limited and Government of Jharkhand for steel
plant in Asonbani, Potka and postponement of the scheduled public hearing on
January 29, 2014
Sir,
This is with reference to the Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) between Jindal Steel & Power Limited and Government
of Jharkhand for establishing a steel plant in Asonabani, Potka signed July 5,
2005 and the postponement of the scheduled public hearing for environmental
clearance on January 29, 2014. 
JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal, Arjun Munda and Hemant Soren (Photo: Prashant Mitra, The Telegraph)
Having read the text of the MoU
signed in July 2005 when Shri Arjun Munda was the Chief Minister, Government of
Jharkhand and the summary of the EIA report dated November 2013, my submission
in this letter is based on the perusal of these documents and my conversation
with the villagers.
I submit that the public hearing
itself would have been fake because the detailed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
report prepared by Delhi based EMTRC Consultants Private Limited was not made
available to the villagers. I have learnt that the villagers have been
demanding cancellation the project itself from the very outset. They were
seeking cancellation of the public hearing at Panchayat Bhawan ground that was
to take place from 11 AM onwards on January 29.
I was there to attend the
scheduled public hearing for environmental clearance. I learnt that Shri Sudhir
Kumar, Member Secretary, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) has
issued a notice on January 28 announcing the postponement of the scheduled
public hearing for environmental clearance for proposed Greenfield Integrated
Steel Plant at Asanboni, Tehsil Potka, District East Singhbhum, Jharkhand.
I submit that the notice dated January
28 reveals that it emerged because of a letter from East Singhbhum
administration. This letter seems to have been necessitated because of strong
opposition from the villagers.
I submit that in this conflict
between the company and the villagers, the government should protect the rights
of villagers and not the company else present generation of villagers of the
region will never ever forgive the treachery of the politicians of the ruling
party and officials who are duty bound to protect people’s interest and
corporate interest.
I attended the scheduled public
meeting of the villagers from Birdha, Asonbani, Lalmanoharpur, Digarsahi,
Ghatiduba, Tilapmura, Gopalpur, Chatro, Govindpur and others on January 29. I
learnt about the project from Shri Kumar Mardi, Smt Sonaka Mahato, Shri Manoj
Rajak and members of Bhumi Raksha Sangharsh Samiti. Besides me there were social
activists like Mrs Dayamani Barla, Dr Mithilesh Kumar Dangi, Sangram Hembram, Om
Prakash, Mansi of Visthapit Mukti Vahini and Manish Jha of Aam Aadmi Party who
expressed their strong opposition to the proposed steel plant. The ongoing
struggle of Bhumi Raksha Sangharsh Samiti is focused on the protection of their
land for future generations from the clutches of the company whose only motive
is profit at any human and environmental cost. Such projects disturb
inter-generational and intra-generational equity.
I visited Ghatiduba and Asonbani
on January 29 to attend a public meeting. I wished to inform you that when I
reached to attend the public meeting I noticed that the villagers were holding
banners with slogans against the proposed steel plant of Jindal Steel &
Power Limited. The following slogans of Bhumi Raksha Sangharsh Samiti merit
your attention:-
1) Jindal ka MoU radd karo (Cancel the MoU
with Jindal)
2) Jun sunwai radd karo (Cancel the Public
Hearing)
3)
Kheti hume
khilati hai
Company hume khati hai (Farming feeds
us, company eats us)
4)
Kheti hume
khilati hai
Company hume rulaati hai (Farming feeds
us, company makes us weep)
5) Hume company nahi,
anaaj chahiye (We don’t need company, we
need food grains)
6) Gram Sabha ka ullanghan nahi chalega
(Violation of Gram Sabha will not be allowed)
7)
Taka paisa
chaar din
Zamin thakbo chiro din (Currency and
money is only for four days, land is forever)
8)
Kisan ko
kheti ka haq mile
Jindal ko laat mile (Farmers should get
the right to farm, Jindal should get a kick)
9)
Lena hai na
dena hai
Jindal ko bhagana hai (No give and take,
Jindal must be made to flee)
10)
Jan-Jan ka
naara hai
Factory nahi lagaana hai (Every
citizens’ slogan, factory should not be established)
These slogans illustrate unequivocal
opposition to the proposed project of the Jindal’s company. Only the gullible and
those of easy virtue can believe that the proposed project is in the interest
of the people of Jharkhand. The villagers openly challenge the claims of the
government based on cost-benefit analysis. They hold that the documents
manufactured for the purpose are bundle of lies.
I submit that the following inconsistent
facts which emerge from the MoU and the summary of the EIA report dated
November 2013:-
·
MoU in question states that there will be an
investment of Rs 11500 crore to set up a steel plant of 50 lakh ton/year. Summary
of EIA report states that there will be an investment of Rs 21260 crore to set
up a steel plant of 60 lakh ton/year. This is quite an arbitrary increase.
·
MoU states that there will be a requirement of
3, 000 acres. Summary of EIA report states that there will be a requirement of
1778 acres of which 1332 acres of land is a one crop private land, 372 acres is
Government land and 73 acres is forest land-on addition it is found to be 1777
acres. It is quite manifest that the stated land requirement is arbitrary,
motivated and an engineered act of land grab with complicity of officials and
politicians from the ruling and opposition parties.
·
Summary of EIA report states that there are
villages like Birdha, Asonbani, Lalmanoharpur, Digarsahi, Ghatiduba, Tilamura,
Gopalpur, Chatro in this 1778 acre land but there are only 75 houses. This is
inconsistent with even what the voter list reveals.
·
Summary of EIA report states that during
construction 4, 000 people will get work for 48 to 60 months, which is approximately
4-5 years. Is it a sufficient reason for the villagers to hand over their land
which has fed them for generations and will feed the future generations?
·
Summary of EIA report states that during
operation of the factory about 6, 000 people will get direct jobs and 7500
people will get indirect jobs in which local people will get priority. The fact
is that 1777 acres of land has fed millions of people in the past and can feed
millions in future unlike the proposed plant which offers jobs only to a few
thousand people.
·
Summary of EIA report states that the company
will spend Rs 1063 crore as part of Corporate Social Responsibility, Rs 1200
crore for environmental management and Rs 120 crore for pollution control. The company’s
proposal itself is an irresponsible act fraught with potential for huge
environmental damage and environmental diseases.
·
Summary of EIA report states that there will be
water requirement of 3270 m3/hr (26.85 MCM/yr). In other words there is a water
requirement if 32 lakh 70 liters of water/hour from Chandil reservoir. They
will use bore wells also for the same. It reveals that it has already received the
clearance from the State Government for the same. Under the Companies Act, 2013 it is provided
that companies can give up to 7.5 % of their annual profits to political
parties as donations. It appears that the decision of signing of the MoU and
the grant of clearance for huge water consumption is a consequence of the quid
pro quo in which ruling parties in the state government in the previous regime
and the current regime have a role. This has made the ruling parties callous
towards the interest of the villagers of the current and future generations. The
water withdrawal is proposed to be undertaken from Subernrekha river. This
undermines the carrying capacity of the river and will pave the way for its
drying up creating water crisis for blind corporate profits. The 470 km long
Subarnarekha, a rain-fed river has been the lifeline of tribal communities
inhabiting the Chhotanagpur region. There is an urgent need to undertake a
cumulative impact assessment of industrial projects on the river to protect its
continued existence. It may be noted that geologists have underlined that
Subarnarekha is drying up. The Experts Appraisal Committee should visit the
source of the river near Piska/ Nagri, 30 km from Ranchi and examine the path
Subarnarekha travels through Ranchi, Seraikela, Kharsawan and East Singhbhum
district.
I submit
that besides EAC and Jharkhand Govt, given the fact that Subarnarekha flows
through Paschim Medinipur district in West Bengal for 83 kilometres and in
Balasore district of Odisha where for 79 km and joins the Bay of Bengal near
Talsari, the neighboring states of West Bengal and Odisha and all the concerned
State governments ought to examine the health of the river and make appropriate
recommendations to save the river from further exploitation by factoring in the
cumulative impact assessment study.
I submit
that it is revealed in the MoU that the company’s project is likely to meet
additional water requirement through borewells. Its adverse impact also merits
serious attention. In addition the company proposes to develop mines for iron
ore of 32.5 crore tons (325 million tons), coal of 77 crore tons (770 million
tons) and lease for manganese for captive use for 30 years.
I submit
that until this is done and the cumulative impact assessment study of the
Subarnarekha river basin is undertaken and examined, there should be a
moratorium on industrial projects dependent on the river.
I submit that the land in
question cannot be given to the company as it will constitute violation of the
CNT Act and Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Potka area in East
Singhbhum district is densely populated by Adivasis as such it is fully covered
under 5th Schedule area and also CNT Act in the constitution of India. This
seems to be a case of building an industrial complex usurping historically
fertile fields of Potka through collusion of the ruling and opposition parties and
officials.
I submit that Jharkhand's Potka
villagers are right in stating that company's proposed project in the Vth Schedule,
CNT & PESA Area is illegal.
I submit that it does not take into account the facts the proposal is violation of the PESA Act as per which the gram sabha’s consent is required. PESA extends panchayat laws to areas that have been included under the Vth Schedule of the Constitution. The PESA is aimed at safeguarding the traditional rights of the tribals to natural resources. The MoU violates those rights. The State Govt’s promises in the MoU are contrary to the interest of the adivasi villagers. These promises expose the anti-people and anti-environment character of the government.
I have learnt from the villagers that the MoU by the State Govt and the complicity of the political parties is an assault not only on land and natural resources but also adivasi society and culture.
In view of the above, the MoU
with the company should be cancelled and villagers need be sincerely assured
that their right to land and their right to livelihood will be protected in the
face of rampant corporate onslaught on natural resources in the State.
Thanking You
Yours faithfully
Gopal Krishna
Convener
ToxicsWatch Alliance
(TWA)
New Delhi
Mb: 09818089660
E-mail: gopalkrishna1715@gmail.com
Web: www.toxicswatch.org
Cc//
Chief Minister, Government of
West Bengal
Chief Secretary, Government of
Odisha
Chief Secretary, Government of West
Bengal
Shri Avinash
Kumar, Secretary, Water Resources
Department, Government of Jharkhand
Smt Alka Tiwari, Secretary, Department
of Forests and Environment, Government of Jharkhand
Dr. Mahendra Mahto, Member
Secretary, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB)
Shri K
Shrinivasan, Administrator, Subernarekha Multipurpose Project, Government of
Jharkhand
Commissioner, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur
Shri Vinod Singh, MLA, Jharkhand
Shri Arup Chatterjee, MLA,
Jharkhand
Shri K C Mardi, Convener, Gaon
Ganrajya Parishad
Sri R. N. Choudhary, Regional
Officer, Jamshedpur, JSPCB
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