Why we need NGOs like Greenpeace - the coal mining example
The attack on NGOs based on a mysterious report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which no one appears to have read, appears to be a case of intimidation sponsored by vested interests! Little bits of the "report" are being leaked into the media implying that NGOs are "anti development" and "anti national". That they get money from abroad with the intention of destroying our country!
This part about foreign funding is a sham because a respected NGOs gets funds legitimately through normal financial channels and provide full data to the government about their sources. In fact the banking formalities for NGOs is much more stringent than those imposed on business houses.
In sharp contrast several dubious corporations and politicians channel vast amounts of money into their coffers by dubious means. Isn't the mining industry getting any foreign funding? How else do you explain companies like "ANRAK" (RAK stands for Ras Al Khaimah) - a middle east company - being given the red carpet welcome by Andhra politicians during YSR's rule to come and (illegally) mine our Agency hills near Chintapalli for Bauxite?
Greenpeace is no pushover and Indians are not fools to believe such nonsense and here is why:
Let us take this report in The Hindu on 19th June 2014. Look at the points mentioned in the green box. It says that the IB claims that the following industries are being targeted by Green Peace: COAL, GM FOODS and PALM OIL.
While I wish to comment about all these points, in this post I will talk about why we need to keep a careful eye on coal mining industry and why NGOs play an important part in keeping us safe.
COAL MINING
Why we should protest shabby coal mining practices:
Coal can be extracted by "Surface Mining" or "Underground mining".
Most coal is found in well forested environmentally sensitive areas. In the case of "Surface Mining" the top soil is removed along with lakhs of old trees, plantations, water bodies, agricultural lands and villages where our rural citizens lived for several centuries. Whatever is in the path of the coal digging machines is completely removed. This goes on for several decades and some mines are worked on for more than a century. The coal pits keep expanding like a giant wound on the surface of the earth. When the coal company is done with the land the important productive top soil is gone and what is left is unfit for human use and as habitable as the surface of Mars.
Meanwhile when it rains, the mud that has become exposed washes into the damaged streams and rivers, carrying with it pollutants that makes the water unfit for human use. Any mining activity needs millions of liters of water. The problem is that the very areas that supplied us with water becomes barren due to the coal mining. Consequently the mining industry takes the water from far off projects that were constructed for getting water for agriculture and for our reservoirs. The irony is that mining not only reduces the ability of the land to trap and give us water, but adding insult to injury, they take away the water that has originally promised to agriculture and human need
Underground mining involves digging a smaller portion of the surface and extracting the coal from underground leaving the surface alone. Sounds good but this is prohibitively expensive and we should be ready to spend lots more on coal and consequently on the electric power that it generates. If you crib about electricity costs, forget about the environment. Another problem with underground mining is that with the bottom of the ground dug out the top layer sometimes simply sinks and collapses. The industry calls this phenomena as "subsidence". The other dangers are that large quantities of methane - a greenhouse gas - trapped underground can suddenly come to the surface. There is no win-win situation here.
The human displacement issue.
Lakhs of farmers, auto rickshaw drivers, cobblers, barbers, livestock holders, forest dwellers, people who depend on non timber forest produce are all displaced (by intimidation) with a pittance as compensation. They drink up their compensation money at belt shops and wander off into cities, work as labourers and live under over bridges in abject poverty for the rest of their lives. The generations that come after them also live a desperately precarious life working at menial jobs that barely keep them alive.
There are established good practices for rehabilitation of the displaced people but they are never good enough. The villagers are gullible and settle for less than the best possible deal. If land is given in place of land taken, the compensation land is far way from where these villagers grew up and they can never take root in a new place again. Politicians and local goons enter the stage and muddy up everything. Compensations are delayed and commissions are kept aside when payments are made. It is a sorry mess.
WE WANT COAL BUT FOLLOW THE BEST PRACTICES
There are several scientific methods of mining coal to minimize the impact on the land and environment. The correct process for open cast or surface mining followed by advanced coal producing countries involves careful removal of the top soil what the industry calls "overburden" and reusing it to fill the pits from where the coal was removed. Since it will be a long time before the overburden can be reused they are landscaped and planted with many times the number of trees that were originally there. After the mine has yielded the coal the top soil is to be back filled into the mine pits and made ready for reuse by future generations. Other methods would be to strip mine the coal fields so that as one strip is mined the overburden is kept alongside ready for refilling.
BUT INDIAN MINING INDUSTRY IS CYNICAL
There are several good practices, but we have an all pervading "Parva Ledhu" or "Chaltha Hai" culture. Our coal companies will avoid good practices because they want to keep the cost of production down. They are there to make profits ... don't care about the land, don't care about the forests, don't care about the people that live there ... just make profits and live happily ever after in London or New York or Sydney. The Government bodies that are supposed to keep an eye on the industry and protect common citizens are compromised, they do not give a damn about us. They don't bother about best practices (what the hell is that?)
Our mining industry put out nice sounding statements, takes out corporate ads about their great CSR efforts, they hold forth on good mining practices and saving the environment etc but the reality is different. They simply don't give a damn. That is why we need NGOs to keep a watch on these mining companies. If no one spoke up we the people would suffer.
To be continued...
In my next post I will talk about GM foods and Palm oil and why we need NGOs to keep an eye on those industries as well. Many of you will not agree with me, that's OK, just leave a comment on my blog with your views. I will really appreciate that.
This part about foreign funding is a sham because a respected NGOs gets funds legitimately through normal financial channels and provide full data to the government about their sources. In fact the banking formalities for NGOs is much more stringent than those imposed on business houses.
In sharp contrast several dubious corporations and politicians channel vast amounts of money into their coffers by dubious means. Isn't the mining industry getting any foreign funding? How else do you explain companies like "ANRAK" (RAK stands for Ras Al Khaimah) - a middle east company - being given the red carpet welcome by Andhra politicians during YSR's rule to come and (illegally) mine our Agency hills near Chintapalli for Bauxite?
Greenpeace is no pushover and Indians are not fools to believe such nonsense and here is why:
Let us take this report in The Hindu on 19th June 2014. Look at the points mentioned in the green box. It says that the IB claims that the following industries are being targeted by Green Peace: COAL, GM FOODS and PALM OIL.
While I wish to comment about all these points, in this post I will talk about why we need to keep a careful eye on coal mining industry and why NGOs play an important part in keeping us safe.
COAL MINING
Why we should protest shabby coal mining practices:
Coal can be extracted by "Surface Mining" or "Underground mining".
Most coal is found in well forested environmentally sensitive areas. In the case of "Surface Mining" the top soil is removed along with lakhs of old trees, plantations, water bodies, agricultural lands and villages where our rural citizens lived for several centuries. Whatever is in the path of the coal digging machines is completely removed. This goes on for several decades and some mines are worked on for more than a century. The coal pits keep expanding like a giant wound on the surface of the earth. When the coal company is done with the land the important productive top soil is gone and what is left is unfit for human use and as habitable as the surface of Mars.
| No re-forestation done after mining |
Meanwhile when it rains, the mud that has become exposed washes into the damaged streams and rivers, carrying with it pollutants that makes the water unfit for human use. Any mining activity needs millions of liters of water. The problem is that the very areas that supplied us with water becomes barren due to the coal mining. Consequently the mining industry takes the water from far off projects that were constructed for getting water for agriculture and for our reservoirs. The irony is that mining not only reduces the ability of the land to trap and give us water, but adding insult to injury, they take away the water that has originally promised to agriculture and human need
Underground mining involves digging a smaller portion of the surface and extracting the coal from underground leaving the surface alone. Sounds good but this is prohibitively expensive and we should be ready to spend lots more on coal and consequently on the electric power that it generates. If you crib about electricity costs, forget about the environment. Another problem with underground mining is that with the bottom of the ground dug out the top layer sometimes simply sinks and collapses. The industry calls this phenomena as "subsidence". The other dangers are that large quantities of methane - a greenhouse gas - trapped underground can suddenly come to the surface. There is no win-win situation here.
The human displacement issue.
Lakhs of farmers, auto rickshaw drivers, cobblers, barbers, livestock holders, forest dwellers, people who depend on non timber forest produce are all displaced (by intimidation) with a pittance as compensation. They drink up their compensation money at belt shops and wander off into cities, work as labourers and live under over bridges in abject poverty for the rest of their lives. The generations that come after them also live a desperately precarious life working at menial jobs that barely keep them alive.
There are established good practices for rehabilitation of the displaced people but they are never good enough. The villagers are gullible and settle for less than the best possible deal. If land is given in place of land taken, the compensation land is far way from where these villagers grew up and they can never take root in a new place again. Politicians and local goons enter the stage and muddy up everything. Compensations are delayed and commissions are kept aside when payments are made. It is a sorry mess.
WE WANT COAL BUT FOLLOW THE BEST PRACTICES
There are several scientific methods of mining coal to minimize the impact on the land and environment. The correct process for open cast or surface mining followed by advanced coal producing countries involves careful removal of the top soil what the industry calls "overburden" and reusing it to fill the pits from where the coal was removed. Since it will be a long time before the overburden can be reused they are landscaped and planted with many times the number of trees that were originally there. After the mine has yielded the coal the top soil is to be back filled into the mine pits and made ready for reuse by future generations. Other methods would be to strip mine the coal fields so that as one strip is mined the overburden is kept alongside ready for refilling.
BUT INDIAN MINING INDUSTRY IS CYNICAL
There are several good practices, but we have an all pervading "Parva Ledhu" or "Chaltha Hai" culture. Our coal companies will avoid good practices because they want to keep the cost of production down. They are there to make profits ... don't care about the land, don't care about the forests, don't care about the people that live there ... just make profits and live happily ever after in London or New York or Sydney. The Government bodies that are supposed to keep an eye on the industry and protect common citizens are compromised, they do not give a damn about us. They don't bother about best practices (what the hell is that?)
Our mining industry put out nice sounding statements, takes out corporate ads about their great CSR efforts, they hold forth on good mining practices and saving the environment etc but the reality is different. They simply don't give a damn. That is why we need NGOs to keep a watch on these mining companies. If no one spoke up we the people would suffer.
To be continued...
In my next post I will talk about GM foods and Palm oil and why we need NGOs to keep an eye on those industries as well. Many of you will not agree with me, that's OK, just leave a comment on my blog with your views. I will really appreciate that.
Comments
Should we not mine bauxite available with us or should we import Aluminium spending costly foreign exchange ? There are pollution and environment regulations in place which should be strictly followed.It is as simple as that.