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By Kanchi Kohli Protests against the 1,000 MW thermal power plant in Tamnar village, Chhattisgarh, continue, even as the mandatory public hearing that is part of the environment clearance procedure turned out to be a sham. The proposed dam and the diversion of the river will submerge lands, and seriously impact the livelihoods of local communities
 On October 7, 2005, thousands of women and men gather at a public hearing organised at the block office in Ghargoda tehsil, Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. This is a mandatory public hearing that’s part of the environmental clearance procedure for the second phase (2 x 250 MW) of the 1,000 MW thermal power plant in the village of Tamnar, Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, proposed by Jindal Power Limited (JPL).
Just as the public hearing began, however, local activists demanded it be cancelled because, firstly, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and its executive summary had not been made available at the five designated places prior to the hearing. And, second, the public hearing panel had no knowledge of the procedures prescribed for a public hearing of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 1994.  When local activist Ramesh Agarwal asked whether members of the panel were aware of their role and the prescribed procedures, four panel members boycotted the hearing. They, it seems, had seen neither the EIA nor its executive summary before the hearing. When this was pointed out to them, along with the fact that the public hearing could not proceed under such circumstances, the four panel members decided to step down.
Logically this would have meant the cancellation of the hearing, as the panel that had to send in its recommendations to the central government was incomplete. But district collector R S Vishwakarma thought otherwise and went ahead with the hearing. There then did not seem to be any other choice but to file objections. Villagers, local activists representing groups like the Raigarh Zilla Bachao Sangharsh Morcha, Jan Chetana, Lok Shakti, etc, supporters from outside Raigarh, including social activist Medha Patkar, filed their written and verbal objections to what had taken place. Representatives from the affected villages of Tamnar, Salihabhata, Kunjemura, Pata and Libra brought up the main livelihood issues concerning villagers in the region. They stressed that the plant’s expansion would impact agricultural as well as grazing land. Local activists also submitted a technical critique as part of their objections, highlighting the problems of air pollution, flyash, groundwater-depletion, etc. The critique, put together by Sanjeev Ghotge, notes: “Due to the operation of the 500 MW expansion, the utility will abstract 52,368,000 million litres of water per day. This quantity is equivalent to the drinking water requirements of 238,036 households, assuming rural norms of water supply at 40 litres per day. For the entire 1,000 MW operation, this is equal to loss of drinking water for 476,072 families, or nearly 5 lakh families, or a population of 2.75 million. This will lead to a drinking water crisis of wide-ranging proportion.” If we dig deeper into the history of the project, for which the public hearing was organised, we come up with a host of illegalities. Environmental clearance for the first phase of the project was granted on September 24, 1997. According to the EIA notification, clearance is granted for a period of five years. This would have expired in September 2002. No fresh process for seeking clearance was undertaken. Construction activity at the Tamnar site is going on full swing, oblivious to the fact that the date of environment clearance has expired. Meanwhile, JPL is applying for clearance of the second phase, for which the October 7, 2005, hearing had been organised. The Tamnar thermal power plant also required forest clearance, or the diversion of 177.542 hectares of forestland, to construct a reservoir and an 18-metre-high dam to provide water to the plant. Construction activity here includes diversion of the Kurkut river in order to build the dam. The need for forest clearance is mandated by the Forest Conservation Act of 1980; it was clearly specified in the 1997 environmental clearance letter which specified that construction activity could not begin unless clearance was granted. Forest clearance was only granted on August 8, 2005. However, in complete violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the conditions specified in the environment clearance letter, JPL began construction of Tamnar and also started diverting the Kurkut river at Rabo village. In October 2004, truckloads of mud were brought into the village, trees were chopped down and the mud dumped into the river. This led to angry protests by the villagers whose natural surroundings, lives and livelihoods would be seriously impacted by the building of the dam and the river’s diversion. Land too would be submerged. Unfortunately, by the time the villagers were able to stop the work, JPL contractors had already filled half the river. It was only after the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s intervention that the work stopped. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board and divisional forest officers were all informed of the situation at various points of time. And JPL surely knows its clearance has expired. But, till date, construction at the Tamnar site continues and a communication tower stands tall in the village of Rabo. Instead of taking action against the violations that took place during the first phase, a public hearing for the second phase takes place and gets recorded! There are various dynamics and pressures at play at the village level. Local activists say that on October 6, 2005, a meeting was held at Rabo with the intention of convincing the villagers to accept construction of the dam and prevent them from attending the public hearing on October 7. The meeting included current member of the legislative assembly Satyanand Rathiya, in whose constituency Rabo and Tamnar fall, the district collector, superintendent of police, sub-divisional officer, Gharghoda, as well as representatives from JPL and members of the police force. It was in such an atmosphere that the villagers were asked to accept construction of the dam and negotiate compensation. What is one to make of all this? Why are the concerned officials not taking any action? Are the stakes too high, or the political pressures too strong? The Ministry of Environment and Forests should be able to throw some light on the issue... The determined women of Rabo It was a rainy afternoon in July when a bunch of us reached Rabo village, Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. The forests surrounding the village were lush and green, sparkling in the monsoon showers. Rabo is a unique village. Beautifully designed houses lined both sides of the road on which our jeep was travelling. This was not quite the ‘typical’ village I had in mind. I still remember the smiles of the women of Rabo, who, despite our late arrival on the scene, were full of excitement. They couldn’t wait to take us into their forests, show us what they were so angry with, and tell us what they wanted. One by one, five women got into our jeep greeting us with their bright smiles. It was pouring. We wondered whether we should get off and walk (and get drenched) or continue to sit cooped up in the vehicle and wait for the rain to stop. There was no way the jeep would be able to traverse the muddy, grassy track. The rain lessened a bit, and we all decided to get out. Umbrellas in hand (they were not much use!), it was our dupattas that came to the rescue. One woman held my hand, asked me to take off my sandals and walk with her while she told me her story. In October 2004, Jindal Power Limited (JPL) had brought truckloads of mud into Rabo village, chopped down trees and began dumping mud into the Kurkut river. By the time the villagers managed to stop them, the JPL contractors had filled half the river. Nine months later, the impact was still evident. The woman who was helping me wade through almost waist-deep water said: “We had no clue that this is what would happen when the trucks came in. What will we do if our agricultural lands are submerged; where will we go? We are going to do our best to stop this work.” I heard her out, and couldn’t say much. I had no magic solutions to offer, although I wish I did. I know their struggle is going to be difficult. The industry is not going to stop at anything to forge ahead with its plans. At the strategy meeting, after we returned from the forest, the women barely spoke. They sat behind the men. But I distinctly remember their determined faces, ready to take on the world. The little I spoke at the meeting was only after looking into their eyes to draw strength, as talking at meetings is certainly not my forte. Strangely, this is something I do till date when I feel disillusioned. Close my eyes and think of the women of Rabo. And, as I draw courage, I hope they do not give theirs up. | (Kanchi Kohli is a member of Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group and is based in Delhi) InfoChange News & Features, October 2005
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