Theatre of the absurd

By Hartman de Souza
03 Sep 2010

Niyamgiri and its tribal inhabitants are saved, at least for the time being! But before we begin to sing praise of the government and its minders, isn't it prudent to review the actions and inactions of the same government which remained a mute spectator, even an active facilitator, while destruction of the Niyamgiri hill continued unabated for years?

Dongria Kondh tribals had to struggle for years to convince the world of their rights
Sorry for not breaking this news earlier.I am sure many of you already know it. I was travelling in Niyamgiri the last few days. Yes, Victory at last!! Niyam Raja, the Mountain God will not be harmed by the bauxite miners!! Many thanks to all of you for your support to the cause. The people are celebrating in Niyamgiri. Of course the battle is half won with Vedanta's monstrous refinery still active. Also Vedanta is eyeing other verdant hills in the region. Then justice is yet to be given to Arsi Majhi's family as well as Lado Sikaka. There are other threats as well like branding innocent tribals as Maoists. Then there is a pending case in a green court against Vedanta by the Dongria Kondh. So, we are yet to reach the final destination. But nevertheless, a great victory for all. More power to the people!

An activist writing on Facebook

In naming the behemoth he created Vedanta, harking to a brahminical sage who posited the outside world as being an illusion and as far from reality as Niyamgiri is from his mansion in London, Anil Agarwal plays a cruel joke on us. Not only is his mine, alumina refinery and smelter, ‘maya’, and, vedantically speaking, not there at all either for the Adivasi or misguided activists to see, equally deceptive is the satisfaction that he may have been thwarted in his quest to be the richest Indian on this terribly fragile and far from illusory planet.

Cynics of course now see the decision of the MoEF as little more than a superbly stage-managed spectacle intended to introduce to India and the world, a prince-in-waiting, or, as his party’s spin doctors will have us believe, a knight in shining armour rallying to the cause of this country’s largely ignored if not abused antipodal populations.

To those in tune with the skulduggery afoot, the high-minded posturing of Rahul Gandhi recalls a political cartoon of the 60s showing a well-heeled American tycoon, cigar in mouth, doling coin into the grateful hands of an impoverished African with his right hand while reaching out behind his back with his left hand, to loot a large bag marked with the dollar sign.

Out of decency one must ask whether public memory has become as short as day-old text messages. Whether this country has become so craven it will choose to delete the many anomalies that crop up in this seven year itch when Vedanta (and its beneficiaries) tried to bulldoze their way to the bauxite?

Vedanta’s seven year greed around Niyamgiri had three components, namely, the mining operations, the alumina refinery and the smelter. The refinery project at Lanjigarh was granted approval as far back as September 2004, in all likelihood with the willing consent or even behest of the PMO. There were serious violations in the clearance procedure, a fact challenged by at least three petitioners including the Wildlife Society of Orissa before the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court. The same committee recommended that the environment clearance granted be revoked since it was based on misrepresentation and concealment of information, that the MoEF had granted undue favour to the project and had moreover, approved the project in haste. The MoEF (under D. Raja, now the infamous Telecom minister) opposed the recommendation and prayed to the Supreme Court that the project be approved since there would be no impact on either the tribal populations or wildlife.

Despite this damning report, the Supreme Court approved the clearances since the MoEF itself was keen that Niyamgiri be mined!

The plot now thickens: Vedanta’s smelter plant is located at Jharsuguda and construction on this also started prior to government clearance and approval. A petition to the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) the Delhi High Court saw a cost of 50,000 rupees imposed on Vedanta. But Vedanta’s case, argued by no less than Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress M.P. and party’s senior spokesperson, went under the hammer in 2009, again, somewhat surprisingly, because the MoEF supported the projects, legal warts and all.

In early 2009 Rahul Gandhi had his dress rehearsal in Niyamgiri, promising the same Adivasi bussed in last week that he would not allow mining in Niyamgiri. While he flew off by helicopter to see how the Dalits in UP were faring, on April 28th 2009, the mining project at Niyamgiri was given its environmental clearances by the MoEF.

In June 2009, the clearances were challenged by 25 Adivasi and two other petitioners, including a reputed earth scientists, before the NEAA on the grounds, funnily enough, that Environment Impact Assessment reports (mandatory before any clearance) were prepared two years after the so called Public Hearing on the matter (another farce!).
Hearing for this case was held twice every month over a year and some, by which time Jairam Ramesh had already become the environment minister. Perhaps not fully clued in yet on his Blackberry, the minister maintained there was no need for a Public Hearing and that all environmental concerns were carefully considered. As late as May 2010 in fact, his ministry held before the NEAA that Niyamgiri had been approved after taking due diligence and that it was essential for the development of the area.

In a best case scenario, the MoEF can now only issue show-cause notices to Anil Agarwal and a host of other mining magnates in at least 10 other states. The show will go on. When, as some legal minds are saying, the anomalies may go all the way to the doors of the Supreme Court, fuelling hysterical rumours of suitcases of money changing hands in various cities and countries, where is the reason to smile or, at the very least, believe that justice will prevail?


Moreover, for all the roses thrown at his feet, one must not forget this minister's prevarications, irritability with straight questions, and indeed arrogance when conducting public hearings over the infamous BT brinjals...or the fact that his government and him chose to wilfully ignore the repeated telecast of farmers in Andhra Pradesh (before they were taken off the air) who had already grown the damn brinjals and were proudly thrusting them up to the cameras at the hearing in Hyderabad! Who gave them the seeds pray and why has no one been brought to book?
On the other side is still the Posco project, guilty of violating the laws but now expected to be cleared by the PM himself, the fundamental reason of course, above any law of the land, and certainly above public opinion, is that high-growth-rate India should not frighten away foreign investment with something as petty as environmental 'intransigence'.

Before we pat ourselves on the backs and pop out the corks, there's also the matter of a dam in Andhra Pradesh and the Adivasis there soon to have water flowing above their noses. There's Sterlite in Tuticorin, where, a week or so back, in collusion with the police, activists protesting the project were arrested and detained. There's still Coca Cola in Kerala, contesting a decision that the world and its mother knows went against the company? There's the farcical situation of Goa, where no one, not even the most ardent activists can tell you exactly which mine is legal and which is not, such the legal skulduggery at work, such the impressive technique of throwing activists to the mercy of wolves in the courts.

But then, why should this information be made easily available when you have provision for the RTI, a state-sponsored device intended to keep you from the truth as long as it takes to have illegalities brought within the ambit of the law. In Goa there are over 400 illegal stone-quarrying businesses, but since politicians and their functionaries have a hand in this trade, the government in Goa now proposes to make these quarries legal! They will do this in a court, thumbing their noses at us…
Isn't this the bottom line? Robber barons doling out the money and starting the work, knowing full well the machinery will be put in place to grant them the necessary clearances...

To read more, follow the link :http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1357