Protest held off Vizag coast against gas expansion
The Hindu | V. Kamalakara Rao | Nov 08, 2024
Counterparts hold similar protests at Palghar near Mumbai, and off the Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea
As many as 100 people, including fishermen and tribals, held an innovative protest in 10 fishing boats in the sea as part of the ‘Asia Day Against Gas Expansion’ against the activities that are against the objectives of the Paris Agreement that combats Climate Change.
Mines, Minerals & PEOPLE (MM&P), an NGO, organised the protest on behalf of international organisations Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), Asian Energy Network, Don’t Gas Asia, and Don’t Gas The South, on the Bay of Bengal along the Visakhapatnam coast.
Speaking to The Hindu, MM&P chairperson Ravi Rebbapragada said, “We held the protest on the Bay of Bengal along the Visakhapatnam coast. We are members of international organisations, and similarly along the west coast, at Palghar in Maharastra, and some places in Gujarat as well, similar protests were held against the activities that affect the environment and go against the objectives of the Paris Agreement.”
Apart from local fishermen, tribals from Borra Caves and other parts of ASR district also participated in the protest by holding placards in the 10 boats in the sea, Mr. Ravi added.
“The Paris Agreement is an international treaty that aims to limit global warming and help countries adapt to climate change. It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on December 12 in 2015, and entered into force on November 4, 2016,” Mr. Ravi said.
“World leaders of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is an international treaty among countries to combat dangerous human interference with climate change, have stressed the need to limit the global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century,” he said.
“Even as the world is facing a climate change-induced crisis year after year, gas projects continue to rise at a pace faster than how countries must reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This prompted us to launch the protest against the expansion of the gas projects with placards saying ‘Stop Gas Expansion’, ‘Stop Financing Natural Gas’ & ‘No to Gas & LNG’. However, the solution is renewable energy. Gas is not a transition fuel. Fossil gas is harmful for the planet, toxic to humans, and expensive. So, don’t gas the south,” Mr. Ravi said.
- Published in Environment, Forest & Climate Change, News, Samata in News
Karnataka: Odisha family rescued from bonded labour in Hassan, factory owner arrested
The News Minute | 05 July, 2024
The plight of the Putel family came to the attention of Holenarasipura officials through social media after their videos were posted by an NGO on the micro-blogging platform X.
A family of four who had been forced to work as bonded labourers at a brick factory in Hassan district in Karnataka were rescued by Revenue Department officials on July 2. The brick factory owner Sathish was arrested by the Holenarasipura police on July 4.
According to the police, the rescued family, Mokardaj Putel, 35, his wife Urmila Putel, 27, and their two children, aged 11 and 5, hail from Balangir district in Odisha. They had migrated to Mandya, Karnataka, three years ago in search of employment. Initially working in a brickmaking unit in Mandya, the family moved to Jodi Gubbi village in Holenarasipura taluk of Hassan, lured by the promise of better wages and an advance payment of Rs 17,000 from Sathish.
Sathish had promised the family Rs 800 for every 1,000 bricks they produced daily and provided them with shelter and cooking supplies. However, they were not paid for their work over the last three years and were not allowed to move freely or visit their native place.
The plight of the Putel family came to the attention of Holenarasipura officials through social media after their videos were posted by an NGO on the micro-blogging platform X. Tahsildar KK Krishnamurthy, along with other officials, rescued the family and relocated them to a post-metric hostel of the Social Welfare Department in Ambedkar Nagar, Holenarasipura.
According to Labour Inspector Yamuna, the family will be sent back to Odisha only after they have been registered as bonded labourers. “The Revenue Department is in the process of declaring them as bonded labourers. Once they are registered as bonded labourers, they will be rehabilitated by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department. Their bank accounts will be opened and we will need their identity proof,” Yamuna said. She added that the family does not have any identification documents, which has slowed the process.
Sathish, the brick kiln owner, faces multiple charges under sections 143 (trafficking of a person) and 146 (unlawful compulsory labour) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, sections 16 (punishment for enforcement of bonded labour), 17 (punishment for advancement of bonded debt), and 18 (punishment for extracting bonded labour under the bonded labour system) of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, and section 3 (prohibition of employment of children in certain occupations and processes) of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act.
According to The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, a bonded labourer is a person who is forced to work under certain conditions. A primary condition is debt bondage, where the individual is compelled to work as a result of any pre-existing debt or obligation. This can include work without wages or for nominal wages, or work to repay an advance or loan taken by themselves or their family. Bonded labour also encompasses situations where the labour or service is given due to coercion, and the person cannot freely leave the employment.
The Act specifically addresses cases where the debtor, or any of their family members, are forced to work as a result of a debt, and their freedom to move or to seek alternative employment is restricted. It also covers conditions of labour that are exploitative or harsh, and situations where the amount of the debt is such that it is virtually impossible to repay, leading to a state of continuous bondage.
- Published in News, Samata in News
AAL going for production shortly?
The Hindu | Sumit Bhattacharjee | 09 Feb, 2022
Activity picks up at plant, power plant trial run held
Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL) which was set up in 2014 with an investment of around ₹6,000 crore at Rachapalle in Makavarapalem mandal of Visakhpatnam district, is yet to go into production. The plant was set up with an installed capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year, but with the cancellation of G.O. 97 by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and the company failing to get a linkage for bauxite ore, the operation of the plant has been stalled. Now there are strong rumours that the company is gearing up to start production and it is learnt that initially February 5 was the date given but it had to be postponed to a later date. (more…)
- Published in News, Samata in News
Nimmalapadu’s protracted struggle: Despite legal win, 3 Andhra tribal villages fight to save land from mining
Down to Earth | Shagun | Jan 29, 2022
Villagers near Andhra-Odisha border are fighting the state for calcite reserves two decades after securing Supreme Court victory
In 1997, the residents of Nimmalapadu, a village in Andhra Pradesh, achieved the unthinkable: They won a legal battle against the state government and a private company to save their village from mining.
The Supreme Court overruled a 1993 Andhra Pradesh High Court order in favour of the state government, it declared that only people belonging to the Konda Dora tribe and their cooperatives can exploit the minerals in Fifth Schedule areas and that private mining here, even with government backing, is illegal. (more…)
- Published in News, Samata in News
Vijayawada: Disquiet in Agency areas over violation of SC orders
The Times of India | Feb 18, 2020
VIJAYAWADA: The disquiet among the Adivasi community in the tribal regions of Visakhapatnam has been rising in recent months as the state government appears to be turning a blind eye to critical rulings by the courts, including the Supreme Court, on the rights of Adivasis to their land.<!–more–>
One important ruling on the rights of the Adivasis was given by the Supreme Court in July 1997. In its judgment filed in the lawsuit brought by Samata, a non-governmental organisation, the apex court declared null and void the transfer of land in the scheduled areas and also upheld the Forest Protection Act of 1980.
“The Supreme Court decision, which has since been called the Samata judgment, is by far the most progressive of rulings, but unfortunately its efficacy has been steadily diluted in AP and other states,” says Ravi Rebbapragada, who is the executive director of Samata, which had brought the lawsuit against the AP government. The Samata ruling had allocated 20% of the net profit to the local area development councils in the states, but somehow that order has been followed more in the breach than in practice, Rebbapragada claimed.
The AP government has also been tardy in enforcing laws pertaining to the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which governs the laws in Adivasi land. “While the AP government has not given any licence for mining of bauxite in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam, it has allowed the mining of laterite, which is also illegal. More importantly, the government has been allowing plains people to illegally set up so-called tourism projects in Agency areas like Lambasingi, Paderu and Anantagiri,” Rebbapragada alleged.
“The Adivasis are even not paid minimum wages. They are treated like slaves by owners of guest houses and hotels and other attractions in these places,” Rebbapragada said.
Apart from over-exploiting the fragile ecology of the Agency areas, tourists have made a mess of the region with rampant littering. “Dallapalli has been almost drowned in single-use plastic bags and other litter, which has not been removed by the administration, making it clear that it wants to exploit the Agency areas at the expense of the Adivasis who have been living in the region for generations, eking a living out of the forests,” he added.
The alleged continuing onslaught on Adivasi rights has prompted them to get together to launch an agitation for the protection of the Fifth Schedule rights. The community held a massive show of strength in Paderu on February 12 which was attended by over one lakh people. A joint action committee of the Adivasis has also requested the AP government to resolve their issues at the earliest.
According to EAS Sarma, a former Union expenditure secretary, Adivasis’ land was being commandeered illegally by plains people on the pretext of setting up hotels in Anantagiri, Paderu and Lambasingi .
- Published in Adivasi, News, Samata in News
शिड्यूल एरिया में गैर आदिवासी को खनन लीज का हक देना गलत : विश्वनाथ
Dainik Jagran | Feb 18, 2020
संविधान के जानकार विश्वनाथ सिंह सरदार ने कहा कि झारखंड उन दस राज्यों में शामिल जिसमें भारतीय संविधान की पांचवी अनुसूची लागू होती है। इसलिए शिड्यूल एरिया में खनन लीज और जमीन अधिग्रहण के लिए ग्राम सभा की अनुमति जरूरी है। ग्राम सभा की अनुमति के बिना शिड्यूल एरिया में खनन अथवा उद्योग नहीं लगाया जा सकता है। इसके लिए ग्राम सभा होना जरूरी है। शिड्यूल एरिया में किसी कीमत पर गैर आदिवासी और कारपोरेट को खनन पट्टा नहीं दिया जा सकता है। इस सम्बंध ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने भी आदेश दिया है। विश्वनाथ सिंह सरदार सोमवार को राजनगर प्रखंड के चंवरबांधा गांव में ग्रामीणों को संविधान में उल्लेखित उनके अधिकारों एवं नियमों की जानकारी दे रहे थे। उन्होंने कहा कि शिड्यूल एरिया में किसी कीमत पर गैर आदिवासी और कारपोरेट को खनन पट्टा नहीं दिया जा सकता है। अगर इस क्षेत्र में खनन करना है तो सरकार खुद या फिर ट्राइबल की सोसाइटी बनाकर यह काम कर सकती है। उन्होंने कहा कि राज्य में समता जजमेंट कड़ाई से लागू होना चाहिया। मौके पर उनके साथ वीरेन पाल, झामुमो के केंद्रीय सदस्य हिरालाल सतपथी, रुद्रप्रताप महतो आदि उपस्थित थे।
- Published in Samata in News
Growing influence of Gujarat’s Satipati cult ’caused’ Jharkhand Burugulikera killings
Counterview.net | Feb 10, 2020
A civil rights organization, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM) suspects that “growing influence” of Satipati cult, started in Gujarat, exhorting people to boycott government schemes and elections, on one hand, and religious practices of Adivasis, on the other, may be behind the recent killing of seven persons in Burugulikera village, West Singhbhum district, Jharkahnd. (more…)
- Published in Adivasi, Samata in News
10,000 people charged with sedition in one Jharkhand district. What does democracy mean here?
Scroll.in | Nov 19, 2019
Adivasis say they are being hounded for invoking the Constitution to protect their land rights.
After Haryana and Maharashtra, we travelled to Jharkhand where state assembly elections will be held in five phases starting from November 30. In Khunti district, an hour from the state capital, Ranchi, Adivasi villages are debating whether to boycott the elections as part of a protest movement called Pathalgadi, which literally means the laying of stones. (more…)
- Published in Samata in News
एसीसी सीमेंट कंपनी को एफ-3 का नया लीज देने का जमीन मालिकों ने किया विरोध
दैनिक जागरण: नवंबर 02, 2019
चाईबासा : अखिल भारतीय क्रांतिकारी आदिवासी महासभा के बैनर तले एसीसी सीमेंट कंपनी चाईबासा को एफ-3 का नया लीज की स्वीकृति के विरोध में राजंका, कोंदवा, दोकट्टा व चालकी के आदिवासी जमीन मालिकों ने बैठक कर विरोध जताया। विरोध के बाद राष्ट्रपति, मुख्य न्यायाधीश व राज्यपाल के नाम आवेदन बनाकर जिला प्रशासन के माध्यम से भेजा। महासभा के केंद्रीय अध्यक्ष जॉन मिरन मुंडा ने बैठक को संबोधित करते हुए कहा कि राज्य सरकार कैबिनेट की बैठक कर टोंटो अंचल के एसीसी सीमेंट कारखाना चाईबासा-झींकपानी को एफ-3 का नया लीज की स्वीकृति 63 एकड़ 26 डिसमिल भूमि का लीज बंदोबस्ती किया है। जिसका जमीन मालिक विरोध करते है। हमारा आदिवासी बहुल क्षेत्र संविधान का 5वां अनुसूची के तहत पेशा कानून (ग्रामसभा) और समता जजमेंट का निर्णय ही मान्य है। जिसका अनुपालन नहीं हुआ। (more…)
- Published in Samata in News
10 million miners exposed to silica dust, 50% suffer from deadly silicosis, ministers told
counterview.net | Oct 05, 2019
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| Anand Yagnik speaking at the Gujarat consultation |
By Our Representative
A recent seminar in Delhi, held in the presence of two Union ministers, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, has been told that a whopping 10 million workers working in the mining sector are exposed to silica dust, with 50% of them suffering from silicosis, a deadly incurable lungs disease. (more…)
- Published in Samata in News