Undermining welfare

In Kashipur today, a no-holds-barred contest is on between old adversaries: tribals and `industrial development'. PRAFULLA DAS reports.

TO THE casual visitor, scenic Kashipur block in Orissa's remote Rayagada district could seem like a paradise. But reality is far different. A no-holds-barred contest is on between old adversaries: tribals and `industrial development'. The cause: the region's rich bauxite reserves.

Matters came to a head on December 16 when three tribals were killed in police firing at Maikanch village. A deep divide runs through the local community. The tribals are opposed to bauxite mining and the proposed alumina plant while the non-tribals support ``development''.

At Kucheipadar village, where resistance to the alumina project first began since land acquisition started in 1995, the people's opposition has only gained strength over the years and the gap between those against giving up their land and homes for the plant and the authorities have grown wider. The opposition has even spread to villages which are not directly affected.

That resistance to the project has gained support among the tribals was evident when the Prakrutika Sampada Suraksha Parishad (PSSP), which is spearheading the anti-alumina agitation, organised a road block in the area on December 20. The programme drew a sizeable tribal population.

``Why should the tribals always pay for development? We will not allow the alumina plant to come up in our area. If the project comes up, first we will lose our land and homes and in the long run it will destroy the area's ecology,'' said Mr. Bangaru Majhi, president of the PSSP and a resident of Kucheipadar.

``We will not allow anyone to snatch away our right to the water, land and forests around us. If the Government is keen on our development, they should provide us with better irrigation facility, schools and healthcare,'' said Mr. Shyamaghan Majhi.

Contrary to the administration's claim that those opposed to the project had never come forward for a dialogue, the PSSP members charge that the authorities had not given them the right information on the project. ``When survey work is going on in the entire area, how can we be sure that only a few villages will be affected,'' asks Bhagaban Majhi, another PSSP supporter.

The alumina plant in question is to be set up by Utkal Aluminium International Limited (UAIL). The company's 20 per cent share is owned by Indian Aluminium Company which has since been taken over by the Birlas, and of the remaining share, 45 per cent is owned by Hydro Aluminium of Norway and 35 per cent by Aluminium Company of Canada.

Construction of the Rs. 4,500-crore export-oriented unit was to begin by 2001-end and it was to be commissioned by 2005, according to Mr. B.K. Otta, general manager of UAIL. But as the resistance is growing after the Maikanch firing incident, the project is running way behind schedule. The UAIL, which has already invested a huge sum on construction of an airstrip and other infrastructure, had obtained environmental clearance for the project from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1995 and the bauxite mining lease was handed over to it by the Orissa Mining Corporation in November, 2000.

The company, through the State Government, has already acquired 2,115 acres of private land to meet its requirement and is getting another 712 acres of Government land. The acquisition of private land, spread over 24 villages of Kashipur block, was completed in April, 2000, and compensation money was paid to the people after the UAIL deposited it with the Government.

According to Mr. Otta, all the 147 families of Ranibeda village and the hamlets of D. Korol and Kendukhuti, who would be displaced for the construction of the plant, have taken payments for both their agricultural land as well as houses. Though they have not been shifted, sites have already been identified in the nearby area for their rehabilitation.

Of the 157 families of Kucheipadar who would be losing a total of 124 acres of agricultural land, 84 have taken compensation from the Government. But the remaining families have not responded to the Government notices for collecting payment for their land. They are opposed to the project and are not collecting the money, says Mr. Otta, while claiming that over 90 per cent of the people in the area are in support of the project. The people of Maikanch are not going to be affected by the project at all, he adds.

The UAIL's claim that the project had support from the majority is also supported by the Rayagada District Collector, Mr. D.P. Das, and the all-party committee formed by the district units of the BJD, the BJP and the Congress. The politicians allege that Agragamee - a non-government organisation working in Kashipur for the past 20 years - was instigating the tribals to oppose bauxite mining.

On its part, Agragamee has clarified its stand saying that it had nothing to do directly with the tribal opposition to the project. However, it supports the demand of the tribal people in Kashipur. ``The stand of the tribal communities in the region against giving up their land and homes for mining is within the constitutional rights guaranteed to them under the Vth Schedule of the Constitution,'' Mr. Achyut Das, Director of Agragamee, has clarified in a recent letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik.

Mr. Das has urged the Government to invite the leaders of the movement to a round table meet to understand and address the problem and to suspend all mining and industrial activities pending an agreement with the people on the further development measures for the region.

On the other hand, the all-party committee says work on the UAIL project should not be stopped. ``If the UAIL project is shelved, other companies which have already evinced interest to set up similar plants in Rayagada and adjoining Koraput district may drop their plans,'' says Mr. N. Bhaskar Rao, president of the BJD's Rayagada district unit. The Government should taken immediate steps to resolve the issue, he says.

The State Government has ordered an administrative inquiry into the police firing. The people of Maikanch say the action was planned, while the police say they opened fire when they were attacked by the tribals from all sides. The police claim they had gone to Maikanch to investigate an incident of December 15 in which Mr. Bhaskar Rao and his supporters were assaulted by the villagers when they went to hold a public meeting. But the tribals say the police had come to the village to suppress their resentment against the politicians who were favouring the alumina project.

Even in the past, the tribals' voice of dissent has largely gone unheard. But tribals in Kashipur are proving to be tougher customers. The deadlock, therefore, continues.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Where big can be bothersome
Next     : Retreat, reconciliation?