In order to use tenanted land for setting up of projects for community or public purpose, the Goa government has introduced the Goa Land Use (Regulation) Bill, 2024 seeking amendment to Section 3 of Goa Land Use (Regulation) Act, 1991 so as to specify in the Right to Fair Compensation …
The proposed revision of the coal ministry's rehabilitation package may have raised the hopes of people displaced by coal mining projects, only to shatter them again. Given the reluctance of the state governments to dole out more money for rehabilitation, there is little hope of the proposal coming through. Details …
THOUGH Singrauli's thermal power plants have affected the availability of potable water in the area, studies show they have contributed only marginally to the high levels of dust and gaseous effluents there. None of the wells in the area supply potable water that meets official Indian standards. Water from wells …
AN ENVIRONMENTAL and socioeconomic survey of Singrauli was commissioned in May 1988 by the National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) and executed by the French public sector corporation, Electricite de France International. Indian voluntary and environmental groups working in the area protested against being left out from the assessment team and …
WITH THE World Bank sanctioning a $400 million loan to the National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station (SSTPS) has received a fresh lease on life -- but only just. USA, Germany and Belgium abstained from voting at the bank's June 29 meeting, citing environmental reasons. …
AS ONE of the most ambitious blueprints for energy and industrial development takes shape in Singrauli, the inhabitants of the region are sinking deeper into misery for they know a new project always means another displacement for them. In 1960, when the Rihand dam was built on the Son river, …
Why have some World Bank members opposed the NTPC loan on environmental grounds? Our plants meet almost every Indian emission standard, which was a bank conditionality. If we can be trusted with projects worth $9 billion, we can be trusted to look after the environment, too. The Environment Defense Fund …
BIPUL Adak is a puzzled man. "Why does the government flout its own rules?" he asks of the move to set up a thermal power plant on rich, fertile agricultural land near Calcutta. Disregarding environmental guidelines, the West Bengal government allowed the privately owned Calcutta Electric Supply Corp (CESC) to …
COMPROMISE and concession were reportedly the guidelines prevailing at the first-ever talks between the government, represented at the highest levels, and the leadership of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) on the controversial Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Participants described the discussions on the future of the Rs 13,500-crore, multipurpose SSP as …
What are your reactions to the government finally agreeing to your demand for talks on SSP? It's a big step forward for NBA to have brought the government to the negotiating table after two abortive attempts. We are fully confident these discussions will culminate in a review of the project. …
Did you do anything to stop your hut from being demolished? What could I have done against the state's strong-arm tactics? There was a 1,000-strong police force in Manibeli at that time, more than 100 of whom came with labourers to raze my hut. I was not there when they …
Narmada Maiya (Mother Narmada) is a curious mix of reportage, diary, report, and analysis on the much-debated Narmada Valley dam project. Originally written in Marathi in 1990, it has now been published in Hindi. The book attempts to cover a wide range of facts and figures on the Narmada project, …
AUTHORITIES at Dudhwa National Park are wallowing in smugness at the ease with which they evicted tribals who occupied forest land near the park. Boasts Lakhimpur-Kheri superintendent O P Singh, "Without even raising a baton, we deported the encroachers to Bichhia." Sixty-two tribals were arrested. Although the deportation exercise went …
The Union government has made yet another feeble attempt at a dialogue with opponents of the Rs 13,000-crore Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Union water resources minister V C Shukla was forced to heed the demands of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for a comprehensive review of the project after its …
I heard in Baroda on June 2 that the authorities were planning to demolish Keshubhai's hut. That night, some of us sneaked past the police cordon around Manibeli and entered the hut. Around 11 am on June 3, some 100 police surrounded the hut to demolish it. But when we …
The Narmada Bachao Andolan, which wants a revaluation of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), says the review team should consist of pro-dam and anti-dam groups. The Prime Minister or the minister for water resources should lead the pro-dam group, which should include officials from the states concerned with the project …
January 30, 1989: Official Secrets Act imposed on 10 villages around the dam site; 18 protesting activists and 500 villagers arrested. February 22: Medha Patkar and 8,000 others arrested near dam site. May 18, 1990: Armed police beat up people in 17 Madhya Pradesh villages that would be the first …
AFTER struggling for eight long years against the massive Narmada dam, the people of the valley are still caught between the devil and the deep blue sea -- in this case, the threat of submergence on one hand, and a repressive government machinery on the other. The doughty anti-Narmada crusader, …
Undeterred by a police crackdown and the threat of submergence, protestors in Manibeli have refused to leave. Last year, the rising Narmada waters had come close to submerging the village. This time, Manibeli will be the first village in Maharashtra to be submerged by the monsoons now that the height …
In a significant ruling in April this year, the Gujarat High Court clarified its stay on the eviction of inhabitants in the Sardar Sarovar project catchment area also prohibits removal of villagers on account of floods during the coming monsoons. In a recent hearing of a public interest petition filed …
"RANTHAMBORE is like a leper's pock mark on this district," says a senior citizen of Sawai Madhopur, the town near which this important national park is located. The comment sums up the disdain in which many Sawai Madhopur residents hold the park. It also puts into doubt the government's nature …
