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Most industries drawing water ‘unauthorisedly'

Most industries drawing water ‘unauthorisedly'

SATYASUNDAR BARIK

Of the 239 industries, 121 units found to be sourcing water illegally

The State government may be pursuing fast industrialisation for optimum utilisation of natural resources. But, on ground it seems to be altogether a different situation. More than half of the industries are found drawing water ‘unauthorisedly'.

Responding to a series of RTI applications, different circles of water resources department furnished information about water drawal by 239 industries from different sources – groundwater, river and reservoirs. Of these, 121 units were found to be sourcing water unauthorisedly.

Under Panposh subdivision in Sundargarh district, the unauthorised water use is highest among all the divisions. Of the 78 industrial units drawing water from different sources, 60 are found to be violating the norms. Water Resource Department sought police action against only four violators.

The violation is somewhat similar in Sundargarh Irrigation Division, where 44 industries have been drawing water from rivers such as Ib, Satei, Nakti Nulah, and Brahmani Nulah. However, the division has found 28 industrial units indulged in unauthorised drawal of water. FIRs have been lodged against eight units in different police stations. In Bonai division under the same district, 14 industrial and mining units were drawing water unauthorisedly.

In Keonjhar district, where people have been consistently complaining of falling of water table due to intensive mining, 11 out of 14 mines have been taking water illegally. However, the Water Resource Department allegedly never bothered to file a complaint with police.

Agitations

Perhaps due to a series of public agitations and media focus on use of water from Hirakud reservoir, at present unauthorised drawal of water by industries is found to be nil. However, the Main Dam Division, Burla said public sector coal major Mahanadi Coalfields Limited had been fined Rs. 54.32 lakh for illegal water drawal from February 1 and June 30 this year. Another coal mine operator, Global Coal and Mines Private Limited, was accused of illegally drawing water for a period of more than three years from January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011.

The Berhampur Irrigation Division, however, said Jayashree Chemicals Limited had challenged the notification regarding collection of industrial water tax. The company was drawing water by constructing intake in their own land within 30 metre of the left bank of River Rushikulya prior to 1994.

“In a similar Indian Rare Earths Limited near Chhatrapur is consuming 1,14,862 tonne litre per month. The company is not paying any water tax to this division and is reluctant to enter into fresh agreement,” the Berhampur Irrigation Division said in the reply.

During past few years, several public agitations have been built up protesting against drawal of water by industries.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/article2410836.ece

Ahluwalia's sermons

Inflation and the poor

Ahluwalia’s sermons

Devinder Sharma , October 27

Obsessed with the growth figures, the planners have tried but failed to hide the ugly underbelly of India’s economic growth.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been at the helm of India’s planning process for quite some time now. It is during his tenure as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission that India has been pushed deeper and deeper into the quagmire of poverty. With the largest population of hungry in the world, the Global Hunger Index 2010 has placed India in the pit. I wasn’t therefore shocked when I read Ahluwalia blame the hungry for the rise in food inflation. From someone who literally lives in the ivory tower of the Yojana Bhawan, anything can be expected. But what, of course, surprised me was the audacity with which he blamed the poor and hungry in the rural countryside for the rising inflation. Although I hate to say but there can be nothing more stupid than blaming the poor in the villages as if they have started eating more and therefore the pressure on food prices.  A few years back, former US President George Bush had made that ignominious remark shifting the blame for the 2007 global food crisis to the hungry Indians. He had said that the food crisis was because the Indians had started eating more. In an interview, I had then replied that if Indians started eating as much as the Americans do, then probably the world would need to grow food crops on the moon. While one can ignore what George Bush had said, how can one pardon the head of India’s planning process who should know much better. It also reflects on the disconnect India’s Planning Commission has with the existing ground realities. Obsessed with the growth figures that continue to be tossed around with much fanfare, the planners have tried but failed to hide the ugly underbelly of India’s economic growth. Only a few weeks back, India was ranked 67th among 84 hungry countries of the world. Two years back, in 2008, the Global Hunger Index had placed India at 66th position among 88 countries. In other words, India had slipped still lower down the pit in the past two years. I can’t fathom how the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) had placed India in such a low esteem if the poor in the villages had started eating more. Take another international report that was submitted by the Save the Children Fund just a few days prior to the UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that was held in the last week of September in New York. With over 5,000 children succumbing to malnutrition every day, India had once again topped the global ranking. This shocking disclosure is enough to put every Indian to shame. I wonder how the head of Indian Planning Commission can even walk with his head held high. Let me also draw your attention to the 2006-07 report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) which brings out the stark truth. It tells us that the correlation between hunger and economic growth is robustly positive -- more the economic growth, more people go to bed hungry. This challenges the widely held view that economic growth pulls poor out of poverty and hunger. What makes the alarming situation still worse is that ever since economic liberalisation was launched in 1991, the NSSO tells us that cereal consumption has been on a steady decline, with no corresponding increase in the intake of more nutritious eggs, vegetables, fruits and milk. It means hunger has been on a rise and is now more widespread and well-entrenched. So far the feeling was that with the changing food habits, people have shifted from cereals to nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables and milk. This assumption too does not hold true anymore. Cereal consumption  The decline in cereal consumption has more or less followed a steady pattern in the rural and urban areas, and of course, much faster in the rural areas. I don’t think Ahluwalia ever read this report. Accordingly, per capita cereal consumption per month in the rural areas across the country has fallen from 13.4 kg in 1993-94 to 11.7 kg in 2006-07. The decline has been sharper between the period 2004 and 2007 when just in three years, cereals consumption fell from 12.1 kg to 11.7 kg. In the urban centres the decline was from 10.6 kg in 1993-94 to 9.6 kg in 2006-07. In a largely vegetarian society, cereals constitute the single important source of nutrition and therefore its importance in the Indian context is well established. This is still not the real picture. The NSSO survey does not cover the period 2007-08 when the world was faced with an unprecedented rise on global food prices. In any case, the average household expenditure on food shows an increasing trend, but does not translate into more food consumption. It only means food prices have been on an upswing, and the poor are finding it difficult to fill their bellies. The recent price rise had made it still more difficult for the poor to be well fed. Cereal consumption therefore is expected to fall still further in 2009-10, and the impact it must have had on the poor and hungry can be well imagined.

Forest laws openly violated by big companies in Orissa: WSO

Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 : Wildlife Society of Orissa Secretary Biswajit Mohanty today alleged that forest laws were being openly violated in the state by large companies.

Mr Mohanty said several central enquiry teams have already exposed the Orissa government's shady acts of omission and commission in allowing diversion of forest land without following the process of law. 

Forest laws are being routinely violated in the state by large companies with officers actively conniving with them and often turning a blind eye to their illegal activities. 

Mr Mohanty said after violation of forest and environment laws by the Vedanta and POSCO another multi-crore scam involving 168.232 hectares of forest land in Angul District has surfaced.

The WSO secretary, who obtained the information through RTI Act, said suppression of vital information by senior forest officers who failed to report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests the violation of Forest (Conservation) Act,1980 (FC Act) by a large corporate has led to the forest clearance of a huge steel plant worth Rs 10,000 crores.

Mr Mohanty further alleged that several mega projects, involving diversion of hundreds of hectares of forest land have obtained forest clearance in Orissa breaking the law. 

The state forest officials have allegedly connived with such companies and played facilitators instead of being regulators.

Mr Mohanty further alleged that several mega projects, involving diversion of hundreds of hectares of forest land, have obtained forest clearance in Orissa by breaking the law. The state forest officials have allegedly connived with such companies and played facilitators instead of being regulators. Citing one instance, Mr Mohanty alleged that the M/s Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) setting up an integrated steel plant of 6 MTPA capacity and a captive power plant of 1,000 MW at Badkerjang in Angul district was directed not to start any construction work before the forest clearance. 

Out of total 2160.385 hectares land required for the project, about 168.232 hectares covered as forestland has been obtainedEnvironment Clearance in February 2007.

The forest diversion proposal was forwarded to MoEF on August 4, 2008.

However, during the pendency of the application, the company violated the provisions of Forest Conservation Act 1980 which was detected by the local DFO. 

In his show cause notice on October 6,2009, the then DFO, Angul Forest Division pointed out violation of F.C Act,1980 as work had started on non-forest land prior to clearance. The user agency was directed to stop all work.

The WSO secretary further said shockingly, the State Pollution Control Board also ignored the advice of the DFO for further punitive action against the company.The Pollution Control Board failed to inform the MoEF which would have resulted in cancellation of the Environment Clearance.

Mr Mohanty further said the suppression of the violations enabled the company to obtain Stage I forest clearance on March 30, 2010 adding that the forest clearance was illegally obtained as vital material fact and developments subsequent to the filing of the diversion application were suppressed. 

The Steel and Mines Department also chose to remain tight lipped and concealed this fact from the regulatory agencies which shows their involvement,the WSO Secretary said and urged the MoEF to take suitable action under the law. 

He demanded that the Stage I forest clearance should be withdrawn as it was obtained by suppressing material information about violation of Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

The Environmental Clearance should be cancelled as condition no.

A (xvi) expressly prohibits construction activity without clearance under the Forest Conservation Act,1980 has been violated by the Company.

The officers of the forest department and pollution control board who have connived in suppressing the violation information should be penalized as per law by MoEF, Mr Mohanty demanded.

--UNI