Our nightmare their reality

Day of dread

We have been dreading this day since the last ten years. We finally got the notice today. It said simply “By the powers vested in me by the Girijan Government Land Acquisition Authority, you are hereby directed to vacate your house within 30 days of this notice and hand over your home and land to the representative of the Draconian Girijan Governor”. The small print went on to give details of the meager compensation that would be paid and the office we should contact for assistance in relocation and rehabilitation. We have lived in Pandurangapuram for half a century and this has come as a shock. My friends in MVP colony, Kirlmpudi, Daspalla Hills have all got similar notices.

Not suitable for homes

The past few decades have seen rampant mining of our hills and also massive acquisition of lands for industry in the foothills and rural areas. Land for growing food has become scarce. Much of the food is imported. Industrialists and big business have managed to dilute the Coastal Regulatory Zone laws and have occupied the entire coastal areas. Due to pollutants being discharged into the waters the seas have become poisonous and fishing has become unprofitable. Recent gas finds in the coast of Vizag has resulted in several gas handling terminals coming up on the coast and the area is no more suitable for residential use.

Transfer of wealth and power

The Girijans who were once poor have now become rich with royalties wrested from the mining companies and precious stones industry. Bolstered by gobs of money they have been winning elections and have made their way into mainstream politics. On the legal front Girijans have come into positions of power in the judiciary. Several bills favoring the Adivasi community have been passed in parliament and indeed our constitution has been changed to favor sections of society. The Adivasis are now the movers and shakers of Indian society. While they have become rich and powerful rapidly their rural and tribal lands are destroyed. The elderly tribesmen remember the days when their land was green, where water was flowing everywhere and the weather was salubrious. Now their rich children keep them in air-conditioned homes in front of 100 inch LED TVs.

Advantage Adivasis

Imported food and water is tilting the balance of trade. The Girijan finance minister has mooted the idea of taking over several large cities in the plains to grow food in. The plan is to acquire parts of the city, raze all the buildings to the ground, uproot all the foundations and rejuvenate the earth for growing crops and vegetables. They intend to dig up vast fish breeding tanks to meet our protein needs. The bill has been passed in the parliament and in the state assembly without much objection as most MLAs and MPs are now all from the single largest political party known as Adivasi Advantage Alliance (AAA).

The nightmare

Now they are at our doorstep. We can hear the choppers overhead. At night their searchlights illuminate the neighborhood. Huge earth moving machinery has moved into different parts of Vizag. A black armored vehicle announces that it is time to vacate our homes. Busses have lined up nearby ready to shift us to our new homes next to the bauxite mines in the hills. We are told that we will be provided employment shoveling the caustic soda and lime laced red mud discharge from the bauxite mines. Free gumboots, gloves and masks will be supplied. Folks from the less populated areas such as Maharanipeta, Waltair Uplands, Pedda Waltair, Kirlampudi and MVP Colony are the first batch to be moved. Other areas will be evacuated soon. As they are herded with their trolley bags into the busses, the men are stoic, the wives are resigned to their fate and the children are crying. Elderly parents are numbed with shock; they are unable to understand what is happening to their lives. One wrinkled 80 year old woman turns back and takes a last long look at her home since she was a child. Tears gather in her eyes, how could this nightmare happen?

A reality for some

Don’t worry my friend it is not real, it is indeed a nightmare. The point is that the nightmare is real for some folk. Those who are poor, those that do not have political clout or legal knowledge to protect their rights will be thrown out of their familiar surroundings and be asked to relocate. It has been happening for decades. Some have been re-located three or four times in their lifetimes. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in a report submitted to the Lok Sabha in 2008 observed, “Notwithstanding Act and regulations to control alienation of tribal land, tribal people are being alienated from their land in the name of development and due to insufficient amount given to them for their land, they migrate to other places in search of livelihood.”

Getting pushed around

This won’t bother us city folk much. After all we are the actual citizens that drive the Indian economy. We are in positions of power to influence policy decisions. We call the shots. And tribals are looked upon merely as an obstacle for development. The fact is that these Tribals have paid the highest price for national development because their regions are resource rich: 90 percent of all coal and around 50 percent of the remaining minerals are in their regions. These indigenous peoples who constituted 8% of the total population of India make up 55% of the total displaced persons due to development projects. Historically nearly half a crore tribals have been displaced in our modern history on account of mega developmental projects like dams, mining and industries.

No economical or environmental sense

So every time we read about getting into the tribal areas for mining we must remember the harm that we will cause to make a few politicians and industry fat cats happy. In the case of bauxite mining it makes the least sense because the international price of aluminium has crashed from around $ 1,950 to $ 1,650 per ton and it costs $ 1,800 to produce the stuff. Doesn’t it make more sense to produce Toor Dal which was selling at $ 2,300 a ton till recently? It is tastier than aluminum and our lands will be safe.