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'The UPA government is targeting Odisha'
Biju Janata Dal MP Jay Panda tells VAIBHAV VATS that a biased Centre is blocking Vedanta's projects in his state
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Why is the BJD plugging for the Vedanta mining project?.
There is a growing feeling in Odisha that the UPA government is targeting it. In the past few weeks, three major projects have been blocked. There was POSCO, Vedanta, and now questions have been raised about Vedanta University. This smacks of hypocrisy because in Andhra Pradesh, they have cleared the Polavaram project even though it submerges villages in Odisha. It's quite clear that rules are being applied differently.
Why does the BJD continue to back Vedanta against the poor?
How come there is no BJD programme for the affected tribals?
You can't say that the BJD is anti-tribal. The party's vote share among tribals has been growing. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken steps for their development.
You say that the Centre is biased against Odisha. What is the basis for this allegation?
It's not just my perception. It is a feeling shared by many in the state. The reasons could be political. If you take a snap poll, the answer will be obvious.
Can you explain why Odisha has become a hub of illegal mining?
Illegal mining cases have cropped up all over India. In Odisha, strict action has been taken, arrests have been made and officials have been detained. There is the MMDR Act, which governs mining in the country. The problem is that the activists and the Centre seem to think that the MMDR Act doesn't exist.
If action has been taken, then why have similar violations committed by Vedanta been ignored?
I'm not going to talk specifically about Vedanta. The Supreme Court cleared the mining project, so I don't know what violations you are talking about.
Why has the environment ministry then slammed Vedanta's disregard for tribal rights?
Laws must be properly applied, but not in a hypocritical manner. The Saxena Committee report explicitly says that the Odisha government will not apply the Forest Rights Act properly. You can't make such assumptions. In the Polavaram project, it has accepted the AP government's claims without fuss.
Why the obsession with Andhra Pradesh?
We cannot leave Andhra Pradesh aside because the Polavaram project affects villagers in our state. The Forest Rights Act hasn't been applied in this case.
Why are you worried about Rahul Gandhi's proposed visit to Niyamgiri?
Not at all. He is welcome to go anywhere.
Why did Patnaik rush to meet the prime minister?
The chief minister wanted the prime minister to ensure that Odisha will be treated fairly.
Odisha is now considered the sickest state in the country. Is the BJD's anti-poor approach a reason for the state's slide?
In the past few years, Odisha has seen the single largest improvement in the levels of child malnutrition in the country. Our economic growth rate has eclipsed the national average for several years now.
Is growth the same thing as development?
Is bringing down malnutrition in children not the same as development? Please do your research properly.
PHOTO: SHAILENDRA PANDEY
| OPINION | KASHMIR OPINION |
Vedanta is the first. There are many more
Scores of projects have been cleared on the sly. All of them need to be scrapped
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THE NC Saxena Committee's forthright findings on Vedanta and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's equally prompt decision to cancel the clearances for the company's projects reveal the large-scale fraud and deceit that characterise most of the so-called development projects in India today. If the minister were to apply the same standard as Vedanta to the other projects surreptitiously cleared by his ministry during the past few years, it is doubtful if any of them can stand the test.
The Saxena report has highlighted that the Central and the state governments have openly colluded with the company to (i) violate the forest laws, (ii) give a go by to the government's constitutional obligation under the Fifth Schedule to enforce the rights of the Dongaria and Kuntia tribes, (iii) ignore the government's constitutional responsibility under Article 48A to protect the environment, (iv) ignore the symbiotic link between the tribes and the ecology and threaten to disrupt that link without remorse and (v) marginalise two constitutional institutions, namely, the Gram Sabhas and the Tribal Advisory Council. What the government did to please the company would adversely affect the future of the tribes in the hills, as well as the lives of the people in the plains, for centuries. There cannot be anything more perverse than this. Such a tainted process can never lead to development in its true sense.
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The two mine-cum-alumina-refinery projects in Andhra Pradesh, one of the Jindals and the other of ANRAK, are similar to Vedanta in many respects. The clearances given for these projects should be quashed straightaway and the downstream jetty project put on hold. The same is the case with the iron ore mining projects in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and the other states. The clearances given to commercial power projects in ecologically fragile areas in this state, such as East Coast Energy's at Bhavanapadu, Alfa Infraprop's at Komarada, Hindujas' near Visakhapatnam and similar projects in Prakasam district, need to be reviewed before they cause loss of livelihood and destruction of the ecology.
It is not as though the MOEF is unaware of the ecological vandalism going on in the name of development projects through the country today. In each and every case, civil society activists have brought the facts to the notice of the MOEF and repeatedly appealed in vain to its officials at every stage of clearance, not to give a green signal. The promoters of most companies enjoy support from influential politicians and officials. That explains why instances of human rights violations committed by them with impunity are often winked at.
THE EIA procedures are faulty. The public hearing process has become a farce. The deliberations of the Expert Appraisal Committees have become ritualistic, only meant to clear the projects at any cost. Corruption and deceit have become a rule rather than an exception. Jairam Ramesh has a hard task to perform, if he were to revamp the existing appraisal system. I hope what he did in the case of Vedanta would set a healthy trend of what he is going to do next.
I hope the officials of the Central and state governments and Vedanta itself would be prosecuted for defying the law of the land, disrupting the lives of the tribals and endangering the ecology of the region.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Palash Biswas
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http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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