1. Bauxite mining: legal tangle upsets APMDC’s plans
3. CPM demands cancellation of GO auditing PwC
4. Mining: CAG says State lost over Rs. 500 crore
5. Green Bench for mining cases
6. Plan to set up 10 MW thermal power plant
7. Haryana sets auction dates for mining in Aravalis
8. Orissa to keep Sasubohumali bauxite mines with OMC
9. Court rules in favor of Mosaic mining near Peace River
10. No end to illegal diamond mining in Zimbabwe
11. Minn. lawmakers look at new mining restrictions
12. Illegal Mining Threatens Liberian Rainforest
13. Provincial court hears illegal gold mining, poisoning case
14. Energy blog digs up bad news for Nunn uranium mine foes
15. Should mining be a national priority?
16. Eco leg-up: Green Bench for HC
17. Call to strengthen Tribal Act
18. Child rights writes to police
19. Beach beautification plans will not take off
20. Indigenous people stuck in the middle in Colombia
Mining – India
Bauxite mining: legal tangle upsets APMDC’s plans
Santosh Patnaik
| It wants to supply ore to two refineries coming up near Vizag |
While Anrak Alumina Ltd. has investment plan of Rs.9,000 crores for its alumina complex, Jindal South West Alumina Ltd. will set up a 1.4 million tone refinery at Boddavara in Vizianagaram district. Anrak, in which Ras Al-Khaiamah, a constituent of UAE, has major stake, will have its refinery in Makavarapalem mandal of
The National Environment Appellate Authority has posted the case challenging the clearance given for mining in Jerella block to supply the mineral to Anrak through the APMDC to February 23. The APMDC’s mining application to extract ore from Anantagiri is yet to get forest and environment clearance.
Two writ petitions filed by the CPI (M) in the Andhra Pradesh High Court were clubbed on Wednesday and a Division Bench gave the government two week’s time for filing a counter.
CPI (M) MP M. Babu Rao and Araku ZPTC member K. Surendra filed a petition in the appellate authority, accusing the government of not holding public hearing on October 3 in the affected villages. Instead, they alleged, the hearing was conducted at Chintapalle by suspending public and private transport and preventing tribals from attending it by creating a curfew-like situation.
Big fraud: Samata
Samata, an NGO fighting against mining in Scheduled Areas, was also in the process of seeking legal action to press for nullification of the October 3 public hearing.
“It is a big fraud and we are taking appropriate legal action,” said Rebbapragada Ravi, executive director of Samata.
Around 1,700 project-affected tribals had already petitioned the Central Government not to allow mining in the Scheduled Areas as part of a campaign by the AP Girijan Sangham.
“The environment clearance for mining is obtained under pressure notwithstanding the fact that there is no mandate from tribals in gram sabhas as per Panchayat Extension in the Scheduled Areas Act.
“Pattas have not been distributed to tribals cultivating forestlands in the affected hamlets as per the Forest Rights Act,” CPI (M) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao said.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/21/stories/2009022159850500.htm
PSU stakes mines claim
ANKUSH SINGH
Earlier, the PSU had requested the Jharkhand government to consider its application for the prospecting licence. N.K. Nanda, the director (technical) of the NMDC, in a letter to secretary of mines and geology S.K. Satpathy, has stated that in their petition to the apex court the PSU has prayed for a grant of stay on the operation of the earlier court interim decision.
NMDC had submitted two applications on April 18, 2007, seeking mining licence for the Ghatkuri reserve in
The mining secretary was also informed through the letter that the NMDC was the first applicant that sought the Ghatkuri lease.
The Ghatkuri mining area is spread over 22,337 sqkm and has six private players vying for it.
The NMDC has pointed out that the firm’s interest would be affected if the government’s proposal and private parties’ plea to provide mining leases to them is accepted. It has also been pointed out that the Ghatkuri mines were reserved for PSUs under reservation notifications issued in 1962, 1979 and 2006.
BJP legislator from
“It would be better if the government takes back its earlier notification in which areas were reserved for PSUs only and then invite fresh applications form all private or public sector companies,” he claimed.
The Ghatkuri mines issue made news when the former Shibu Soren government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that it would allocate the better part of the reserve to six private players with proposals to set up steel plants, bypassing over 150 other applicants, including five PSUs.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090221/jsp/jharkhand/story_10568508.jsp
CPM demands cancellation of GO auditing PwC
21 Feb 2009, 0515 hrs IST, TNN
charges in the Satyam scam -- to decide the royalty for bauxite ore supply in Visakha agency.
The CPM district committee has also demanded a CBI inquiry into the state government's
approval of PwC granting royalty to Jindal and Anrak companies much against the expert committee's suggestions. The government had issued GO 222 (dated 13-09-2008) entrusting PwC, the authority to decide upon the royalty.
CPM district secretary Ch Narsinga Rao alleged that though the high-power committee had recommended no royalty to the companies, the government had accepted the PwC recommendations of 50 per cent royalty to Jindal and Anrak firms. "With this move the private companies would benefit to a large extent, while the AP Mineral Development Corporation, the supplier of bauxite ore, would be on the losing side," he affirmed.
The CPM leader alleged that the government has colluded with the companies for commissions. He demanded the immediate cancellation of GO 222 and CBI inquiry into the episode. "Otherwise, we would intensify the anti-bauxite agitation with the help of tribals," he said.
Mining: CAG says State lost over Rs. 500 crore
Special Correspondent
Bangalore: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India has said that the State Government failed to collect compounding fine totalling Rs. 106.01 crore from mine owners and others engaged in mining for not obtaining permission for diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.
In its report on revenue receipts for the year ended March 31, 2008, presented to the Legislative Assembly, the CAG said cross-verification of the information obtained from the Department of Mines and Geology with records of the Revenue Department revealed that permission for diversion of land was not taken by mine owners.
The CAG said the Revenue Department incurred losses amounting to Rs. 103.08 crore in the form of conversion fee that was not levied for diversion of agricultural lands.
It said the Departments of Commercial Taxes and Stamps and Registration lost revenue totalling Rs. 331.77 crore on account of non-levy/short levy of tax, interest, penalty and revenue foregone during the year.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/21/stories/2009022152340400.htm
Green Bench for mining cases
Staff Reporter
The cases may directly or indirectly be concerned with the protection and improvement of environment and prevention of hazards to human beings and other living creatures, plants and property and has bearing with pollution control. All these cases have been withdrawn from the Circuit Benches of Dharwad and
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/21/stories/2009022162110800.htm
Plan to set up 10 MW thermal power plant
21 Feb 2009, 0329 hrs IST, TNN
LUCKNOW: After inviting private concerns to set up coal fired thermal power plants, the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) is toying with the
idea of setting up a solar thermal power plant in the state. The 10 MW plant, to be set up by a private company, is likely to come up in Unnao district.
Additional managing director, Narendra Bhooshan, in a letter sent to Aswani Kumar, director, ministry of non-conventional energy sources, government of
According to the letter, M/s Power Cube Pvt Limited has indicated their interest in setting up a 10 MW plant in Unnao and have submitted their application for processing and finalising the power purchase agreement accordingly.
This would be the first such plant in the state once the UPSERC gives its nod to the power purchase conditions put forth by UPPCL. The commission had scrutinised the conditions on February 11. A final decision is yet to be taken on that regard.
The plant would work on the principle of conversion of sunlight into heat to boil water and turn a turbine to generate the electricity.
Chairman-cum-managing director, UPPCL, Navneet Sehgal said that the corporation is committed to encouraging the non-conventional sources of energy in the state. The corporation, had earlier asked the sugar mills owners to focus on energy production through bio-fuel. The mills, he said, would be given incentives and the problems faced by the mills would be solved.
UPPCL sources said that the power produced in the plant would be purchased directly by the corporation for being put into the northern grid. Small though, setting up of such a plant may herald a new era in the power production in the state which has largely restricted itself on conventional and exhaustible energy sources.
Haryana sets auction dates for mining in Aravalis
21 Feb 2009, 0414 hrs IST, Abantika Ghosh & Dipak Kumar Dash, TNN
in
Accordingly, the Haryana department of mines and geology issued auction notice on February 17 — eight days before the issue is taken up by the HC on February 25. This seemingly brazen move would indicate a presumption of the court decision as well as the officials' determination to carry on with mining which, according to experts, is wrecking the ecosystem of the Aravalis.
It's not known whether Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has acquiesced in the auction move or not, although certain reports in local papers claim that he has. Speaking to TOI on Friday about the dried up lakes in
A number of expert teams, including a Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), have recommended that the entire
According to the notice issued by the mining department, the auction would take place on March 3. Already the current lease holder Som Sethi has claimed that mining would begin next month at these two mines. According to local activists, his men are claiming that ``money can buy anyone'' and no one can stop mining from resuming.
The notice for ``extraction of stones'' in these two mining areas has reduced the total area for mining from 267 hectares to about 110 hectares. This is despite senior mining officials admitting that in some places — in fact in ``almost all of Sirohi'' mining has already reached the sea level, the maximum permissible depth.
Apart from the HC, the Supreme Court too is taking up the Aravali mining case in the second half of March. Asked what the hurry was for issuing the auction notice, M P Sharma, mining engineer said: ``There is no stay of the court in this.'' This is contrary to the court's order for a status-quo after the expiry of lease on these two mines.
The base price for Khori has been fixed as Rs 109.68 crore and that for Sirohi is Rs 8.96 crore. Asked how Sirohi, when it has already touched sea level could take another two years of mining Sharma said: ``We don't expect Sirohi to last more than three months.'' It's another matter, the CEC has observed that these mines were already ``over-exploited''.
Director of mines and geology Arun Kumar, who has issued the auction notice admitted to TOI over phone from
The extent of exploitation in the twin mines has been underlined time and again. On June 23, 2006, a committee comprising Bhure lal, Valmik Thapar and A K Biswas visited the mines and submitted a report with 10 pictures of the devastation. TOI has accessed that report that unambiguously recommended stopping all mining activity since it was ``not being carried out in a scientific manner'' and ``reclamation of the area from environmental degradation is a very difficult task.''
The report had recommended that an impartial natural expert should evaluate the impact and should be asked to create a scientific plan. Till such time it is done, ``court should consider to stop all mining activity''. The committee had reported that the ``contours and elevation of the Aravali had almost disappeared'' as the ``excavation was done in a merciless manner'' which resulted in ``overexploitation of the mining site''.
It also charges the state government officials and the local monitoring committee of portraying a ``rosy picture'' that has ``no relation with the ground realities''. According to the report, in 2001 when the lease was given, 6 lakh ton mineral was removed; in 2006 the figure stood at 55 lakh.
CPCB too had submitted a report listing disturbance of air quality, land degradation, depletion of ground water due to alteration of drainage pattern, road degradation and noise and vibration problem as some of the major concerns in the area.
``State government is playing to the hands of only powerful few and to benefit them ignoring large interest of locals and twin cities of
Orissa to keep Sasubohumali bauxite mines with OMC
PTI reported that the Orissa government has decided to keep Sasubohumali bauxite deposits with the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation.
Official sources said that Sasubohumali bauxite mines have a reserve of about 81 million tonne of the metallic ore, having an average grade of 40.38% of aluminium oxide and 2.63% of sillicon dioxide.
While a large number of firms were eyeing Sasubohumali, Mr Naveen Patnaik CM of Orissa had asked the steel and mines department to recommend OMC's name in order to avail prospecting license as well as mining lease.
Mining – International
Court rules in favor of Mosaic mining near Peace River
By Kate Spinner
Published: Friday, February 20, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 20, 2009 at 12:26 a.m.
The judges recognized the mine could cause environmental damage to
Lawsuits challenging the DEP's permits have kept Mosaic from starting any new phosphate mines for nearly a decade. The court ruling clears one hurdle for the company, but it still needs federal and local permits to break ground.
After years of legal battles dating back to 2000, the DEP handed Mosaic a permit for the Ona mine two years ago, prompting lawsuits from Charlotte, Lee and
Opponents claimed the permit did not protect the Peace River and
The Peace River is a regional drinking water source and
The suit, filed in
Mosaic eventually plans to expand the Ona mine to 21,000 acres.
Judges Charles Davis and Craig Villanti sided with the DEP, citing laws that do not require the state to consider such cumulative effects.
"DEP never has to engage in a cumulative impacts analysis, regardless of the fact that each of these incremental impacts may be adding up to ultimately have a significant adverse impact across the basin as a whole," Villanti wrote.
Also, the judges cited laws that consider phosphate mining important to the "continued economic well-being of the state and to the needs of society."
Richard Mack, Mosaic's general counsel and executive vice president, issued a press release saying the ruling validates Mosaic's "commitment to responsible stewardship of
Mosaic still needs a permit from
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090220/ARTICLE/902200350/0/SPORTS
No end to illegal diamond mining in Zimbabwe
2009-02-20 19:20:00
However, in
Reports during the past three months talked about attacks by the army of
Other reports speak of large volumes of
Two smugglers arrested in
A woman recently arrested in
Evidence mounts that
According to KP statistics,
At current per carat averages, this could have a very high market value. Nobody knows whether this stockpile remains intact, and there are worries that some of it may have been used as barter for weapons and other imported goods.
NGOs say this reflects badly on the Kimberley Process, designed to halt trade in conflict diamonds. If the enforcement of regulations leads to human rights abuse and indiscriminate extra-judicial killing, this is little better than the problem the KP seeks to end.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/No-end-to-illegal-diamond-mining-in-Zimbabwe-15357-3-1.html
Minn.
Couldn't they just put the poisonous by-product in the drinking water like they did
The proposed mining site, which sits in a region dotted with lakes and streams that empty into
Companies have mined iron ore in northeastern
"This is not like iron mining. When there's runoff in iron mining you have rust. Sulfide mining leads to something much more difficult to clean up," said state Rep. Alice Hausman, a Democrat from
As the state's first such mining project moves closer to completing its environmental review process, Hausman and other state lawmakers are moving forward with legislation that they say would help Minnesota avoid the long-term negative environmental effects other states have experienced.
The legislation would come with stricter rules on financial assurance — the money a mining company has to have available so that if it leaves or becomes bankrupt, government won't be stuck footing a cleanup bill.
The legislation would also require a mining company to establish ahead of time that when the mine closes, water flowing from and through the site won't need to be treated before emptying into the waters where Minnesotans fish, canoe and watch wildlife.
Too often, environmentalists say, old mines are left in such a dirty state that they need to be treated forever.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/39991462.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUjc8LDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
Illegal Mining Threatens Liberian Rainforest | |
| By Scott Stearns | |
West Africa's second-largest rainforest is under threat from illicit mining and hunting according to one of
As part of the Upper Guinean rainforest ecosystem, Sapo is home to more than 700 kinds of animals including threatened species such as the African Golden Cat, the Liberian Mongoose, and the White-necked Rockfowl. The 1,800-square-kilometer preserve stretches from marshland near the coast of southeast
Years of civil war in
"
Nyenkan says park rangers lack the training or equipment to properly shield the park from outside encroachment. He estimates there are as many as 20,000 people living inside the protected area cutting timber, fishing, grazing cattle, and clearing ground for planting. Many search for diamonds and pan for gold in the
"We've been in the park for a number of years now. We mine gold and diamonds. And some other minerals," said Liberian Garpu Pajebo, who lives in the national park with his family.
"We don't have nowhere to go. And the government says they want to come and take us from the park. We are doing this business to bring up our future. And we need to live, so that is why we are doing this business."
The former rebel fighter says he moved to the park because he could not find a job elsewhere.
In a country were the United Nations estimates some 85 percent of people are unemployed, Liberian officials are working with donors to provide alternative sources of income for people living in the park, including fish farming and ecotourism.
"So it's not a matter of moving security men to run after people in the park. It's about addressing some of the major concerns for which people are now into the park," Jerome Nyenkan said.
While Nyenkan says the government understands its responsibility to create jobs, he says it also has the duty to prevent people from spoiling this unique ecosystem to preserve it for future generations.
"When this desecration of the park continues unchecked, the
Conservationists say Sapo is part of a biodiverse corridor that is home to the highest number of mammal species in the world including the Diana monkey, black-and-white Colobus, and the western chimpanzee.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-20-voa57.cfm
Provincial court hears illegal gold mining, poisoning case
Written by Thet Sambat
Friday, 20 February 2009
Three men deny accusations in Preah Vihear that they poisoned local people, livestock and water supplies in illegal gold mining operation.
THREE men appeared at Preah Vihear's provincial court accused of poisoning livestock and local water supplies with chemicals that they used for illegal gold mining operations.
The men, who first appeared in court last week, were summoned after the provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy brought the case against them.
"I filed a complaint against the three men because I believe they were destroying natural resources by using chemicals to mine gold," said Sam Leang Ny, the director of the department.
Sam Leang Ny said the chemicals used in the makeshift mines were responsible for killing about 100 buffaloes and calves within a few months, and poisoning local rice paddies and lakes, which made local residents ill.
"I have evidence and witnesses. It is not only us that have complained, but also villagers and local authorities," Sam Leang Ny said.
Denials from the accused
Appearing in court last week, two of the suspects claimed they had permission to build the gold mines. The third - Ny Him - denied involvement.
"I was in court on Thursday and I told the prosecutor that I did not operate these gold mines. I just sent machines there at the end of last year," Him Ny told the Post Tuesday. "So I am not worried because I haven''t done anything wrong. It was done by other people."
Prosecutor Keo Sim said Tuesday that the other men - Pen Soung and Mao Simoun - denied the allegations.
"They told me they did not use chemicals and that they had permission from relevant officials [to build the mines]," he said. "It is their explanation, but I am continuing to investigate."
Local rights group Adhoc previously accused Ny Him of running illegal mining operations in the past two years.
Energy blog digs up bad news for Nunn uranium mine foes
A very long and very wonky post at The Oil Drum explores the possibility of a uranium shortage, coming as soon as 2015, that could cause serious problems for nuclear power plants and for those fighting new uranium mining efforts in Nunn, a tiny northern Colorado community north of Greeley.
The jury is still out with wildly competing analyses. Some experts argue there’s plenty of uranium worldwide. Others express concern that a contract to purchase uranium from dismantled Russian bombs that expires in 2013 provides an estimated 50 percent of American nuclear power plant fuel. Those decommissioned nuclear warheads create about 10 percent of the nation’s electricity.
But the pressure will build quickly to step up mining efforts to meet projected shortfalls:
Clearly, if we were to develop better mining techniques that have acceptable pollution levels and can be used in a wider range of sites, then our ability to extract uranium resources would be improved. As far as I can see, development of additional techniques has not yet happened. Recycled bomb material has been flooding the market for almost twenty years now, keeping uranium prices low. This has deterred investment in better techniques for extracting uranium, both by companies and governments.
The shortfall in supply that seems to be headed our way will be coming very soon — as soon as we become unable to find sufficient recycled bomb material to fill the gap between nuclear reactor needs and current year production, which could be as soon as 2013 (or sooner, if world financial difficulties interfere with imported Russian bomb material before then).
If we need new mines, we should have started years ago, since there is a lag of up to 10 years before a new mine begins operation. If we need new mining techniques, research on these should have started even longer ago. While there may be a whole lot of low level uranium resources “out there,” if we don’t have techniques to economically extract them and also keep pollution in bounds, the resources are not very useful to us. We may someday develop new techniques, but in the meantime, we are likely to have a large supply gap.
Supply-and-demand market forces often dictate that low supplies drastically increase commodity prices. With uranium trading at $47 per pound this week, off from its 20-year high of $135 per pound in 2007, the profit motive is very likely to build to expand domestic mining operations.
http://coloradoindependent.com/22031/energy-blog-digs-up-bad-news-for-nunn-uranium-mine-foes
Should mining be a national priority?
Published: Friday | February 20, 2009
One weakness in Jamaica's national policy-planning process is that it is not integrated. We have a Planning Institute of Jamaica, but it does not plan sector policy. The tourism ministry prepares the Tourism Master Plan, the mining ministry prepares the National Minerals Policy and the environment ministry prepares the National Watershed Policy, among others.
It really is a turf war, with each so-called 'national' plan stating its ministry's claim for precedence and dominance over the others. Each plan seeks to zone our small island into fiefdoms: watersheds, resort areas, national parks, mining and prospecting areas, forest reserves, and the like; and of course, there are big overlaps and use conflicts.
The same area can be zoned for mining, tourism, agriculture, environmental protection and housing at the same time and all cannot happen at the same time.
The ministry that wins the battle and gets the spoils is the most powerful, the one with the strongest legislation, the one with the biggest money running behind it.
Mineral exploitation
For the past two weeks, I have been commenting on a document with the oxymoronic title The National Minerals Policy: Sustainable Development of the Mining Industry, drawing on the analysis of fellow environmentalist Wendy Lee, executive director of the Northern Jamaica Conservation Association.
The minerals policy is a good example of an attempt at hegemony by one sector over the others, for it puts mineral exploitation above all else, including food security and the protection of water resources. When a healthy forest is stripped bare and the minerals underneath are removed, that land is now rendered unsuitable for almost all other uses. It will take centuries for ecosystem functions to recover.
No tourism can take place on the scar created on the landscape - no nature hikes, no birdwatching. According to the Mining Act, mining companies are required to 'restore' the land, but you cannot replant a natural forest, and all they do - when they do it - is plant grass. The hope is that the land can be converted from forest watershed into agriculture, but the truth is that most often the land is not 'restored' at all!
When this is pointed out by (clearly bad-minded) environmentalists, rather than penalising the mining companies for breaking the law and breaching the conditions of their mining leases, the Government exempts them from having to keep the law.
Instead of being required to comply, companies have been given permission to ignore the law. The National Minerals Policy is silent on this incestuous relationship, which probably means that the Government intends to continue it.
The national Minerals Policy claims that "policy conflicts have been avoided by aligning the provisions of this policy with those of the draft Watershed Policy and the policy for the National System of Protected Areas". This claim is false. There are many, many areas of policy conflict between mining and other areas. But wherever a choice has to be made between mining and some other activity, it is the minerals sector that will prevail. Big money runs behind mining!
Cost-benefit analyses
I can think of no justification for the primacy of mining, especially over forest conservation and agriculture. When our bauxite resources are depleted we will still need water to drink and food to eat.
Those responsible for national planning should conduct a full comparison of alternative land uses (e.g. agriculture, tourism) as well as ecosystem services, biodiversity, cultural heritage, housing, recreation, and intangible values such as health. Cost and benefit analyses of mining must include the increased costs of treating Jamaicans for sicknesses caused by mining and refining, as well as the resulting devaluation of human capital and loss of productivity.
The Minerals Policy calls for a public relations campaign to convince the public that mining is a good thing. Why does the industry need a public relations campaign?
If it is so beneficial, why aren't the benefits obvious? And why should taxpayers pay for this propaganda?
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090220/cleisure/cleisure2.html
Other News – India
Eco leg-up: Green Bench for HC
21 Feb 2009, 0612 hrs IST, TNN
BANGALORE: A green Bench: this could well be a first in the legal history of the country. Providing legal space for green concerns, the Karnataka
High Court, in a notification on Thursday (February 19), announced the setting up of the Bench to exclusively deal with environmental issues. The high court which receives plenty of appeals on issues like mining, water, forest and lakes, can now speedily dispose of cases as they will directly come under the purview of this special Bench headed by Chief Justice P D Dinakaran. The Bench will hold its sitting in the principal Bench at Bangalore.
The cases pertaining to the environment
pending in other circuit Benches of the HC will also be transferred to this Bench.
The notification says that all the writ petitions related to grant of lease/licence of mines and minerals, or government, private and forest lands which are concerned with the protection and improvement of environment and prevention of hazards to human beings, other living species, and have bearing with pollution control, will now be dealt by this Bench.
The first issue that will come up before this Bench on February 24 is mining-related petitions in which an inquiry has been sought into the alleged Rs 150-cr mining bribery scam.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Eco_leg-up_Green_Bench_for_HC/articleshow/4164427.cms
Call to strengthen Tribal Act
First Published : 20 Feb 2009 03:00:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 20 Feb 2009 11:57:38 AM IST
PALAKKAD: The national conference on cultural diversity, technology and development which concluded here has stressed the need for the incorporation of more provisions in the Tribal Act-2006 and the Wild Life Protection Act so that the land allotted to the tribals was not alienated or grabbed by others.
Under the Tribal Act-2006 each tribal family was to be allotted two hectares of land. Speakers at the meet felt that only when the tribals are allotted sufficient land in their traditional habitat that they would feel at home.
The meet pointed out the example of the 200 families belonging to the Cholanaicker tribes who li ve in caves. They need to be provided alternative means of livelihood.
Says former Kirtads director and secretary of the L K Ananthakrishna Iyer International Centre for Anthropological Studies (AICAS, P R D Mathur, who had studied the lives of the fisherfolk in 40 fishing villages of Kerala in 2006-07: “ the fisherfolk who adopted the traditional method of fishing continue to be backward economically and were steeped in debt.
He points out that compared to the Hindu community fishermen, the Latin Catholic fishermen had adopted newer technology and there was a marked change in their living conditions,”.
He said that though there were cooperative societies for the welfare of the fishermen, they failed to live up to expectations. Therefore, the government need to write off their debts and provide them the necessary help to adapt to new technology for improving their income.” The meet felt the need to survey the non-tribal population residing in tribal/forest areas and initiate action to conserve the forest and tribal rights in these areas.
It recommended that false certification of non-tribals as tribes should be verified.
The rights of the common people should be protected in an ethical manner to avoid conflict between the rights of the population.
There is the need to empower the tribal people by creating awareness among them. More importantly, the meet felt that the tribal community should be trained and developed by educated and trained persons from the community itself. There was also the need to depute more people to serve among tribal people from government and non-governmental organisations.
The meet also recommended that the exploitation of tribal people should be prohibited by law. Former KAU vice-chancellor T Madhava Menon felt that the tribal rights under the Forest Act can be implemented without hindrance to the cultural diversity of the tribal people.
Child rights writes to police
21 Feb 2009, 0558 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has sent a notice to the commissioner of police, seeking information about
the 2,503 children who had allegedly gone missing from the capital between January 1, 2008 and February 17, 2009.
The DCPCR has also sought a detailed report from the police within 15 days about the inquiries and investigations carried out in order to trace these children. The figures were first highlighted in TOI on February 18.
In addition, the commission, chaired by former police officer Amod Kanth, also asked the police to furnish a report regarding the system that has been put in place to investigate missing and kidnapped children on a day-to-day basis.
"The action of both the government and the police in resolving the problem has not been adequate. The situation is serious and therefore, demands urgent action,'' said Kanth at a press conference.
The commission sent the notice to the police commissioner after taking cognizance of media reports. Kanth added that copies of the notice had been issued to all concerned DCPs of the districts, the joint commissioners and also for the information to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
"The DCPCR has asked Delhi Police to look into each case, conduct preliminary inquiries and register cases of kidnapping and abduction within the meaning and provisions of sections 361-374 of the IPC and to take legal action under Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children Act), 2006, Child Labour Act, 1986 and Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956,'' Kanth said.
The commission also debated the need to constitute a separate helpline for the missing children as has been proposed by the commissioner of police, Y S Dadwal.
"We already have a national-level statutory helpline, 1098, which is operational in Delhi. In the period that is being probed, this helpline received information of about 1,719 missing children in the capital. For each child, an official entry was made at the concerned police station. Hence, there is a need for all special agencies, including the Delhi Police and the ministry of women and child welfare to come together and popularise this helpline even more,'' claimed Kanth.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Child_rights_writes_to_police/articleshow/4163403.cms
Beach beautification plans will not take off
21 Feb 2009, 0445 hrs IST, Julie Mariappan, TNN
CHENNAI: The much-hyped beautification of Thiruvanmiyur and Besant Nagar beaches will not take off. The district Coastal Zone Management
Authority (CZMA) has rejected the Chennai Corporation's proposal, citing coastal regulation zone rules.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by the director of environment last week. District environmental engineer of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is also the convenor of the CZMA that rejected the proposal under section 2 (XIII) of the CRZ notification, 1991, that prohibited "dressing or altering of sand dunes, natural features including landscape changes for beautification for recreational and other purposes."
The projects costing Rs 7.8 crore was shelved in October last following protests from local residents and environmentalists over the construction in the high-tide line, which is against the CRZ notification. A red-faced civic body was left with no other option but to approach the CZMA for approval, which it has now rejected.
"CZMA has been extremely careful in its approach as the stakeholder in the project is a government body. Spot inspections found that the project was taking shape in the sand area of the beach and not on the landward side. This was against the norms," an official closely associated with the inspection told TOI.
According to the plan, Elliots beach from Besant Nagar Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue on the eastern side of Ward 152 in Mylapore zone had to be beautified at a cost of Rs 3 crore, with non-slippery interlocking tiles along a 850-metre stretch, an elevated sand area for walkers, lawns and fountains on the sands. Among the plans were a yoga centre, a children's play area, parking lot, modern toilets, a multi-purpose play court, an amphitheatre, police booth and 2.5 km of an oblique floating corridor on Tiruvanmiyur beach at a cost of Rs 4.8 crore.
No sooner was the project kicked off, environmentalists and locals protested against the move, citing CRZ rules. "We raised objections even at the conceptual level, but to no avail. Now with the CZMA dubbing the project illegal, action has to be taken against the officials who authorised the construction. It demonstrates that the government does not care for the rule of law or opinion of the citizens," said Nityanand Jayaraman, an environmentalist.
It seems the local body has to abandon the construction of two gallaries and a fountain on Eliots Beach and restore the natural sandy space. Incidentally, there is a growing demand to take a relook at other beautification plans as well. "It seems the Marina beautification package is also illegal. When the corporation schools lack basic infrastructure, there is no need to shell out such huge money to build structures in violation of rules," says Chandrasekar, a resident of Kalakshetra Colony.
Indigenous people stuck in the middle in Colombia
20 February, 2009, 11:15
The Awa indigenous group is caught between warring guerrillas, militias and an army mired in crisis over extra-judicial killings.
Defenceless and isolated, they are at the mercy of armed groups fighting over drug-trafficking routes, power and politics.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has been accused of killing 17 members of the Awa indigenous group. A Human Rights Watch reports the bodies show signs of torture, and include two minors.
“These cruel killings violate the most basic principles of human decency and dignity,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
The killings took place in Nariño in south-western Colombia, on February 4, according to a witness who managed to escape. The UN High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR) has called for a government investigation into the massacre. However, this will be difficult to implement. Department Governor Antonio Navarro said: “It is a difficult jungle area, filled with anti-personnel mines and with a very aggressive guerrilla force.”
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