Brake on development

Expressbuzz, Sept 23, 2010
B G Verghese

The minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh’s order stopping Vedanta Aluminum Ltd and the Orissa Mining Corporation from mining bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills to feed the company’s adjacent Lanjigarh aluminum refinery plant located in one of the country’s poorest districts in the name of tribal interest tends to miss the wood for the trees. It is based on the report of a four-member expert group under N C Saxena set up following adverse findings of the Forest Advisory Committee on Forest Rights Act violations.

Truth often has many dimensions and in some cases the lesser truth may mask the greater. Balance and perspective are thus important. The two reports the minister relied upon contain some sweeping generalizations based on exaggerated inferences that appear to suffer from tunnel vision. The Niyamgiri Hills extend over 250 sq km of which only 7 sq km of one hilltop falls within the proposed mining lease area. Of this, only 3.5 sq km will be mined and backfilled in phases leaving no more than 20 ha of exposed mine face at any time. The Dongria Kondh and Kutia Kondh, who respectively inhabit the upper slopes and valleys of these hills, number less than 8,000 and are classified as primitive tribes. They practise jhum (which means that these are not primeval forests), collect fruit and herbs and live on the margins of subsistence, malnourished, illiterate, isolated. None will be displaced by mining. The laterite hilltops underlain by a hard bauxite pan do not hold rain, sustain little forest and are uninhabited. The removal of the bauxite layer and replacement of the laterite overburden with plantations will, according to the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, actually encourage infiltration, recharge the underlying aquifer and improve the water regime to everybody’s benefit. The Saxena report, however, states that the entire Niyamgiri range may suffer a “major ecological and hydrological disaster”. The very survival of “20 per cent of the Dongria tribals” will be threatened as their habitat will be “severely disturbed” and road construction will bring in wildlife and timber poachers. Mining will destroy a significant tract of forest land leading to economic adversity for the tribals. The charge that the proposed mining area amounts to a cultural invasion of the sacred abode of the celestial Niyam Raja is contested. Earlier accounts would locate this site several km away atop Hundijali Hill. The expert groups worry about biodiversity loss and the impact of the Niyamgiri mine on a proposed South Orissa elephant corridor. They are sharply critical of violations of the Forest Rights Act, the alleged procurement of bauxite from 11 illegal Jharkhand mines and commencement of refinery expansion from one to six million tonnes before requisite settlement of individual and community tribal rights. The allegations misinterpret the law. Enclosure of 28 ha adjacent to the refinery for an approved village plantation is also seen as an illegality. Why were prior approvals and clearances repeatedly granted? The Orissa government’s counter argument is that the Forest Rights Act only came into force with the promulgation of its Rules in January 2008, and cannot be applied retrospectively to prior project clearances, action on which has sometimes been delayed by dilatory bureaucratic procedures in MoEF itself. The Saxena Committee retorts that the FRA was enacted to set right “historical injustices” suffered by the tribal people. But when does history begin? Historical injustices are often best made good by future action. Orissa too wants to industrialise, capitalising on rich mineral resources which the Supreme Court has said are national assets in regard to which tribals have entitlements but not ownership. The Fifth Schedule, PESA, now FRA and the Supreme Court’s seminal Samatha judgment of 1997 show the way towards harnessing tribal justice to national interest. The Saxena Committee’s conclusion follows that deprivation of primitive tribal groups “to benefit a private company” could “shake the faith of tribal people in the laws of the land which may have serious consequences for the security and well being of the entire country”. Quite clearly, the reference is to provoking the growth of Naxalism. The commonly cited causative factors underlying Left-wing extremism are oppression and neglect. Does the Vedanta project fit this diagnosis? Has not this project, though yet in its initial phase, started an indubitable process of transformation and kindled hope? Vedanta will make profits. Why not, if honestly earned and suitably taxed, if a good employer, and a dynamic corporate citizen acting as a development trigger with a commendable record of CSR. A tall order? Maybe. But should this not be the goal rather than adherence to a barren philosophy of touch-me-not-ism?

The Niyamgiri Hills have been untouched for centuries. Yet the Dongria Kondhs remain primitive. Why? Not on account of development but for lack of it. Yes, development often causes disturbance and even trauma. But this is soon offset by good R&R, appropriate compensation, new stakeholder partnership models, attractive income and employment opportunities and a whole multiplier effect. Vedanta is active in skill development, education, health, nutrition, provision of safe drinking water, solar lighting and formation of self-help groups on all of which it has spent over `100 crore. The company is further committed by a Supreme Court order to earmarking 5 per cent of its annual net profit or `10 crore, whichever is higher, for economic and social development of an area within a 50 km radius of the project site and to greening the area through a special purpose vehicle.

Poverty is the enemy of the environment with mounting population pressure. Tens of millions of distress migrants move across India every year for lack of development. The country needs to add 12 million jobs annually to keep abreast of a burgeoning labour force. We need faster and more inclusive and participative growth and the necessary infrastructure to sustain this. To this end, bauxite must be mined and aluminum produced. The combination of bauxite and coal in close proximity enables India to produce cheap aluminum and assume a commanding position in the global non-ferrous market. Those who have ruled the roost so far fear this prospect and have made the Dongria Kondh their mascot. Tribal India must get a good deal and historic justice. It must be enabled to progress. The environment must be enhanced. A right balance must be found. The current impasse affects not just Vedanta or Orissa. Rahul Gandhi’s rhetoric was misplaced. Stop Vedanta in the wrong manner and for the wrong reasons and we may stop India.