<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Arun Tiwari Vs State of Uttar Pradesh dated 06/05/2024.</p> <p>In the application, the allegation is of illegal mining of soil upto 10-15 mtrs.
Steelmaker POSCO-India on Monday dropped its plan to perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed 12 million tonne per annum mega steel project in Orissa on April 1.
The government's 11th Five-Year Plan initiative to spread micro-land ownership across the country has the potential to help 50 lakh people (or 1 lakh families) to secure land over the next five year
India's states have employed several land reform measures, including reforming tenancy, imposing land ceilings, distributing government wasteland, and allocating house sites and homestead plots. With relatively modest revisions, some of the existing laws and policies can further their original intent of increasing the poor's access to rural land and providing for secure land tenure. But old land reform approaches, such as blind adherence to land ceilings and tenancy reform, need reconsideration.
In the past, research on land distribution in rural India has pointed out that the surveys by the National Sample Survey Organisation have yielded underestimates of the extent of land inequality and landlessness. In a fresh analysis, this paper, using household level data from the 48th and 59th rounds (1992 and 2003-04) of the NSSO, finds that (within the limitations of the data) more than 40 per cent of households in rural India do not own land, as much as 15 million acres is in ownership holdings of more than 20 acres, and inequality in ownership has worsened between 1992 and 2003-04.
The national economy is growing at near double-digit rates but neither industry nor non-agricultural activities in rural India have been able to provide livelihoods for millions of rural workers. It is this failure that underlies the spurt in rural violence that has highlighted once again the issue of the poor's access to land, water and forests. It is gradually being recognised that further deterioration of economic, social and political conditions of the rural poor can neither be arrested nor reversed without a significant policy shift towards a comprehensive land reform programme.
There is tremendous pressure on the natural resources due to increasing population.
A Decision Support System (DSS)on bio-drainage for reclamation of salt affected and waterlogged lands was developed using Visual Basic (VB) protocols. The DSS permits the user to interactively enter input information viz., the area available for plantation, average annual rainfall, initial and desired water table depth, soil type and the plantation type.
The contentious issue of land acquisition for industry cannot be resolved justly without a "precautionary principle' approach that respects livelihood rights. GOING by the number and intensity of protests against displacement under way in numerous States, land acquisition for industrial, mining and infrastructure projects has become India's single most contentious issue. Land is now the main site of struggle as popular movements confront predatory capital, which can only accumulate through dispossession. At stake are thousands of square kilometres of land on which at least a few million livelihoods depend. For instance, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) which have received formal or "in-principle' approval will alone need over 2,000 square kilometre. If the even larger swathes typically involved in mining leases, plots earmarked for industry, and areas claimed by highway development, and above all, by suburban housing
Rehab, clearances a bother in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh. Tata Steel's greenfield projects in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have been delayed by about 12 to 16 months due to issues over land acquisition and resettlement, the company's executives said. The company plans to invest about Rs 90,000 crore in the three projects, which will have a total capacity of 23 million tonnes. Speaking to journalists today on the sidelines of Steelrise 2008, a three-day conference, the company's Chief Operating Officer H M Nerurkar said that all the projects were delayed. Construction work has not started on the first project, which was to go on stream in Kalinganagar (six million tonnes). About 400 families are yet to be re-settled for the project. Equipment costing about Rs 10,000 crore had already been ordered for the Kalinganagar plant, said Amit Chatterjee, advisor to Tata Steel Managing Director B Muthuraman. The project would be spared some cost overruns as the equipment was ordered some time back. Still, the equipment is expected to come this year and there could be penalties if it was not cleared in time from the ports. Nerurkar was optimistic about the construction work starting by March-end. In Orissa, the company is yet to get recommendation for iron ore mines for its project in the state. The state government was assessing the mines that Tata Steel already has there, Nerurukar said. The scenario is no better for the company's proposed five million tonnes plant in Chhattisgarh. According to Varun Jha, vice president, Chhattisgarh project, the first phase is planned to be commissioned by 2011 and the second phase by 2015. But the project has been delayed on account of litigation over mines. About two-thirds of the residents have accepted the compensation package. Investments would depend on when the project would start, Jha said. Addressing a seminar at the steel conference, Partha Sengupta, vice president (corporate services), Tata Steel, who is in charge of the Jharkhand project, pointed out that applications for land acquisitins were made a year and a half ago. However, the state government was yet to announce a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package, which was necessary for land acquisition, he said.
Chhattisgarh, which became a separate state in November 2001, has the richest reserves of minerals in India. It is for the same reason that it is attracting a lot of investors, says the state's Chief Minister Raman Singh. In conversation with Yeshi Seli, the chief minister points out that steel and power projects would be attracting major investments in the years to come. The Tatas had evinced a keen interest in setting up a steel plant in Chhattisgarh but that ran into rough weather. What is the latest on that front? Substantial progress has been made ii the project that the Tatas would be setting up. The land acquisition proceedings have already been completed. And contrary to what some people may want to believe, majority of the farmers have accepted the compensation package. In fact, we are certain that onsite work on the project would begin by the end of February or the beginning of March this year. As far as the farmers are concerned, we have provided a modern and pro-people 'rehabilitation package' to them, which includes alternate agricultural land for those who want to continue with agriculture, instead of accepting an employment in the plant. As you may be aware, Chhattisgarh is rich in minerals and our government has formulated a specific policy of value, addition of our natural resources within the state. Our good quality iron ore, bauxite and lime stone have attracted a number of iron & steel, aluminium and cement industries to invest in our state. We are number one state in attracting investment proposals and have received offers worth around Rs, 10,000 crore. Installation of various industries is in different stages of completion and more than Rsl5,000 crore have already been invested in these sectors within the last four years. There were reports suggesting that L.N. Mittal wanted to set up a greenfield steel plant in your state... There are many Indian and foreign companies that are interested in setting up steel plants in our state. However, till something conclusive is arrived at, it would not be prudent on our part to divulge details for the same. Would your state prefer investment by domestic companies like the Tatas to international majors like Mittal? Projects which are in the interest of the state, be it by Indian or foreign companies, would be offered a level playing field in Chhattisgarh. However, we would look forward to proposals/investments in new technology sectors like it. It is also understood that Chhattisgarh has huge reserves of diamonds and international majors like De Beers were allowed to mine in the state. What were the results of the same? Yes, there are diamond reserves in our state. Regarding De Beers, some of its projects have been recommended by our government to the Centre for granting it prospecting licence. With new projects coming up, there would be additional requirement of power. Is your state equipped with adequate power? During the past two decades, not one new power project was established in our state. However, things have improved now, as thermal power projects with a collective capacity of 500 megawatt (mw) Tiave been established here recently. Also, an action plan has been prepared to make our state the power hub of the country. Accordingly, MoUs have been executed to set up power plants with 30,000 mw capacity, which would be worth about Rsl,35,000 crore. On 1 January 2008, Chhattisgarh became a 'no power-cut state'. Now, we are supplying power for 24 hours in our rural as well as urban areas without any interruption. We have also invested around Rs20,000 crore to improve our transmission and distribution network for quality power supply. How do you ensure law and order for those coming to invest, as there is a huge Naxalite problem in Chhattisgarh? The long-standing problem of Naxalites is not limited to Chhattisgarh alone. This problem will have to be tackled in close co-ordination with the Union government and other affected state governments. I think the efforts taken in this direction are yielding positive results. The worst phase, I feel, is over. People in the affected districts are now fed up with this menace and are voicing their resistance towards Naxalites, which is creating panic within the Naxalites. The state government is in control of the situation and I don't think it will affect the flow of investments in the state.
