Sometimes you must ask the owners of Cidade de Goa "When will you stop purging of Goa's mineral wealth? When will you let people in Colamb, Advalpal, Pissurlem breath air free from its mining dust? When will huge mining pits be restored to its natural glory? How much of Goa's forest it is going to destroy? How many more water bodies it is going to run dry? How many more criminal cases it is going to file against protesting villagers? How many more court cases it wants to open against Colamb villagers? How much wealth it has already got from mining plunder of Goa? What is the limit of its greed?" Remember you have a duty and a responsibility to ask these questions at least.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Theatre of the absurd
Hartman de Souza writes after visit to Niyamgiri. Please click here for the links.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mopa airport: Uncovering Underdevelopment in the Garb of Development
“
Is the Government not robbing the natural resources of the people of Mopa? Like the capitalists, is the Government not guilty of trading on the natural habitats of the people? The conversion of the agricultural land into an airport will certainly bring huge dividends to the Government at the cost of displacing the simple people of Mopa and the surrounding areas by alienating them from their livelihood. How sustainable is this conversion of the natural source of livelihood into a Babu culture of the bureaucratic driven revenue leaking source of Jobs to the locals? How much revenue will stay for the people of Mopa who at present are the masters of their own destiny while they practice agriculture in their lands? Will it not amount to surrender of this autonomy and embracement of a slavery that comes in the garb of an Airport? What jobs will the airport offer the poor unskilled and illiterate people of Mopa? Hence, the discourse that the airport will develop the people is a false propaganda. It offers nothing less than death and destruction of the people of Mopa.
This propaganda of development has invented the underdevelopment of the
The underdevelopment engineered by the Government in the grab of development exposes the hypocrisy of the so called am admi Government. The development that leaves behind the local am admi is indeed clearly anti-people and is rightly resisted by the people. If Government really wants to develop the
It is even amazing why the opposition that roars like a lion on every other issue in the assembly chooses to remains a silent lamb when it comes to Mopa airport? The silence of the opposition is indeed disturbing. Equally disturbing is the double speak of pro-Dabolim MLA who had almost won his seat by politicizing the Mopa airport. All these leaders seem to have joined the league and the ranks of the hungry predators. It is unfortunate that our chief minister and his forty thieves are busy plotting the underdevelopment in the guise of development. Why cant the politician both ruling and the opposition take a leaf from book of Mamta Benerjee who drove underdevelopment that came to visit Sigur under the guise of the industrial plant of Tata Nano? Goans refuse to be fooled by the propaganda of development. The architects of underdevelopment who hide their vicious plot under the cover of development are finally exposed. We refuse to accept their pseudo-development and re-claim our right to say NO!
Walter D’Souza
Rachol Seminary
When the Pernem villagers boycotted ZP elections
Mopa Vimantal Pidit Xetkari Samiti in March 2010 gave a call to boycott Zilla Parishad elections in Goa. It was a historic call like none before. Very few occasions the citizens has resorted to such a drastic measures as this one. The content of the letter written to the electoral officer is reproduced here:
04/03/2010
To,
The Chief Electoral Officer of Goa,
Panjim, Goa
We, the villagers of Varkahnd, Cansarvanem, Chandel, Amerem, Halli and Poraskadem hereby declare that we shall boycott the forthcoming Zilla Parishad elections, and all future elections, as the existing electoral process spells doom for all of us. This process does not provide any hope for the basic survival of the beleaguered residents of our villages, who are threatened with total displacement by the political parties who are monopolizing the electoral process currently in force.
The Mopa Vimantall Piditt Xetkari Samiti strongly condemns the present election process and the resultant political setup, where there is no space for the politics of the poor and the deprived majority. Both the National parties are only interested in graft and corruption and the voice of the poor is completely snuffed out by them. In our case, a huge land scam engulfing the entire taluka of Pernem, in the name of Mopa International Airport , is being pursued by both congress and BJP, who are together ensuring that the masses are not allowed to have any chance for representation in this election process. using tonnes of ill-gotten money in brazen display of of corruption, the two parties bribe the helpless electorate so that the elections are reduced to a farce of the most serious nature. The failure of the Election Commission of India to stop the all-pervading corruption in the election process is a fundamental cause of the acute distress being faced by the electorate today and for the brazen violation of the Constitution of India by a few rich and powerful persons. The Election Commission of India has failed in its primary duty to ensure that free and fair elections are held, thereby endangering the very foundation of our great democracy.
We therefore demand that all ongoing and future elections in the State of Goa be countermanded since the current process is completely undemocratic and leaves no space for the voice of the common people. Unless you exercise your Constitutional duties and stop the corrupt elections practices used by the present Political Parties, the Constitution of India remains only a false promise as the Nation rushes towards complete destruction.
Thanking you,
Sd/-
Sandip Kambli
(Secretary)
Tel: 9923486841
C.C. : (1) Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi - 110001.
(2) The Chief Minister of Goa
(3) The Leader of the Opposition, Goa
(4) M.L.A. of Dhagal Constituency of Goa
Attack on Vanxim defender
18 May 2010
To,
The Superintendent of Police,
(North Goa)
Porvorim, Goa
Sub: Threat to my life
Dear sir,
I have to bring to your kind attention the incidence which happened at the meeting venue place Vanxim (Ilhas) inside the Church compound on the 16th day of May 2010 at 5.30 pm.
The dignitaries present for the meeting were:-
Our MLA (Pandurang Madkaikar), The Appellant (Mr. Mahendra Gaunekar), Agent of Mr. Mahendre Gaunekar - Mr. Philip D'Mello, Sarpanch Mr. Tulsidas Kundaikar, panch Mr. Manuvel Furtado, Panch Rama Bomkar and all our villagers.
The meeting was conducted in an unorganised manner without any appropriate agenda.
The meeting was addressed by our MLA Mr. Pandurang Madkaikar, and he asked the gathering regarding the upcoming project which was not disclosed to our villagers by our incapable Panch.
Through the print media and the internet we learnt a lot of things which have taken place without the knowledge of the people of this soil.
Very unrosy picture was presented in the media about our village in order to gain grounds under the pretext of development.
Awareness was created, among the villagers about the illegal sale of land of the island by vested interests.
This was the time we all came forward and collected a lot of evidence which was presented to them at th meeting, like forged documents, thumb impression of uneducated people by ransom and cheating.
On the pretext of only buying the agricultural land and redeveloping their houses are made homeless.
As I was presenting these documents as evidence the Panch who felt he would have been exposed jambed along with his file over my documents; without having any regard to the chair.
I tried to remove my hand which was below his documents but he aggressively rushed towards me and smashed his file on my face in front of the dignitaries and the entire public present there without having any respect for woman.
Looking at his father's behavior (Panch) Manuvel Furtado his son (Jervis Furtado) acted in the same behavior. He came charging on me and warned me with dire consequences with the following words "Tuka Hagach Jivem Marta and Hangasoruch purtam" (will kill you and bury here). In the action the following happened even further: jervis Furtado came threatening towards me by showing his fist at me and raisin his hand.
And to my good luck the villagers came to my rescue.
Lots of racist comments were made regarding my past generation right from my grand father to my father late Ligorio Silveira who was the Panch for 15 long years which was very embarrassing and hurting (Racism seems it is still existing in Goa).
All these remarks were passed by Panch Manuvel Furtado which has to be dealt with.
I personally lodge a complain against the racism, against the Panch Manuvel Furtado and also to the threat given to my life by Jervis Furtado and Philip D'Mello (agent of Mahendra Gaunekar) as he follows me wherever I go.
I am looking forward to know the action against such such a disastrous behavior towards women and her respect to live in today's society.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(Maggie Silveira)
P.S. This is a serous case involving criminal intimidation and threat to kill yet Goa Police has not even registered FIR even after completion of three month for the offence. This is the safety provided to women by the State. Police are obviously dancing to the tunes of land mafia such as Gaunekars and powerful politicians such as Madkaikars. The point is will Goa police allow themselves to be dragged into inaction even after citizens complain? Will Goa Police also then collude with these kinds of mafia and get the entire police force into mafia category? How can a threat to kill a citizen go unheeded by Goa Police?
Vanxim island sale out: The eight Sale Deeds
The archdiocese of Goa 'Church', Former Goa opposition leader who successfully campaigned against merger of Goa into Maharastra in 1967 opinion poll Dr.Jack de Sequira's son-in-law Ajit K. Sukhija are amongst those who sold Vanxim Island to Mahendra Gaunekar.
AND WHEREAS the 81.10 Acres of the Schedule Property was purchased by the First Party in terms of eight Sale Deeds all registered in the office of of the Sub-Registrar, Ilhas, North Goa whose details are as follows:
(i) Sale Deed dated 11/02/2006 registered as Doc.No.518 executed between the Patriarchate of the East Indies ('Church') and Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein in respect of an extend of 1,85,125 square meters (45.76 acres) of land, which is more fully described in Item No.1 of the Schedule hereunder;
(ii) Sale Deed dated 27/04/2006 registered as Doc. No. 1232 executed between Mrs. Maria Cecelia Laurina Alice De Braganza Fernandes E D'Mello represented by her constituted attorney Mr. Ronnie Joseph D'Mello and Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein in respect of the 50% share of an extend of 5050 square meters being 2525 sq. meters of land in Sy. No. 10/7, which is more fully described in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(iii) Sale Deed dated 23/11/2007 registered as Doc. No. 3203 executed by Mr. Ronnie joseph D'mello and another in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein in respect of an extent of 5050 square meters being 2525 sq. meters of land in Sy. No. 10/7, which is more fully described in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(iv) Sale Deed dated 24/01/2007 registered as Doc. No. 316 executed by Sri Hector Caridade Fernandes and others in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein in respect of 12/16th share in a total extent of 50,300 square meters of land in Sy. Nos. 10/1 and 13/1, which is more fully described in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(v) Sale Deed dated 08/05/2007 registered as Doc. No. 1378 executed by Mrs. Lily Ethelvina Fernandes E Abreue and others in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein, in respect of an extend of 2/16th share in 50,300 square meters of land in Sy. Nos. 10/1 and 13/1, which is more fully decribed in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(vi) Sale Deed dated 20/11/2007 registered as Doc. No. 3147 executed by Mrs. Lilia Sergia Correia E Abreue and others in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein, in respect of an extend of 1/8th share in 50,300 square meters of land in Sy Nos. 10/1 and 13/1, which is more fully described in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(vii) Sale Deed dated 16/02/2008 registered as Doc. No. 611 executed by Mr. Ajit K. Sukhija in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein in respect of an extend of 82,275 square meters of land in Sy. Nos. 9/2, which is more fully described in Item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
(viii) Sale Deed dated 18/12/2007 registered as Doc. No. 3420 executed by Mrs. Sacremento D'Mello and others in favour of Mahendra Gaunekar, the First Party herein, in respect of an extent of 5425 square meters of land in Sy. No. 5/11, which is more fully described in item No.2 of the Schedule hereunder;
AND WHEREAS the First Party, ever since the date of their purchase, has been in peaceful possession and enjoyment of the aforesaid extents of Item Nos. 1 & 2 of the Schedule Property and has applied for mutation in the name of the First Party;
Vanxim island saleout: how Rs.30 crores are getting paid to Mahendra and Sonali Gaunekar
This is extracted from pages 44-45 of the Joint development agreement dated 14/8/2009 between Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt Ltd (Rajeev Chawdary) as second party, Tuscan Consultants and developers Pvt Ltd (Rajeev Chawdary) as confirming party, Ozone Propex Pvt Ltd (Mr. S. Vasudevan), and the First party consisting of Mahendra Gaunekar and Sonali Mahendra Gaunekar:
6.2 The Security Deposit of Rs. 30,00,00,000/- (Rupees Thirty Crores Only) is paid to the first party, in the following manner:
(a) A sum of Rs. 25,00,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Crores) has been paid to the First Party as follows:
(i) Rs. 2,00,00,000/- on 15.07.2005
(ii) Rs. 1,00,00,000/- on 23.12.2005
(iii) Rs. 5,00,00,000/- on 31.03.2006
(iv) Rs. 3,00,00,000/- on 23.08.2006
(v) Rs. 2,00,00,000/- on 03.10.2006
(vi) Rs. 2,00,00,000/- on 28.12.2006
(vii) Rs. 3,00,00,000/- on 19.01.2007
(viii) Rs. 4,00,00,000/- on 12.04.2007
(ix) Rs. 3,00,00,000/- on 16.04.2007
and the First Party does hereby acknowledge the receipt of the same.
The total financial implication of this agreement is limited to 30,00,00,000 (Rupees Thirty Crores only)
(b) The balance sum of Rs. 5,00,00,000/- (Rupees Five Crores only) shall be payable upon completion of the acquisition of the entire Schedule Property by the First Party and perfecting the title to the same.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tar balls sent Goa beaches on a toss
The big disaster of tar balls being washed on the shores of goan beaches is very disasterous, this sticky if come in contact with the skin doesnt go off easily.
Yesterday 31/8/10 the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum called the collector south Goa Mr G.P.Naik to inform him that hardly few people are sent to clean up and he replied that he will inform concerned dept but till late 31st evening no one extra came forward, except a few fire dept personnel who did some work but did not come today as they were instructed to go for tree cutting elsewhere.
Mrs Judith Almeida of the CCCF pleaded with people to come forward and help in the beach clean up, students from Infant Jesus came forward to help along with few volunteers from the Colva village and started the clean up today . As per Judith more people should have come forward to help as it is a big disaster and will affect the tourism industry in a big way , people have invested in hotels and other tourism related ventures but even they had not come to help.
Disaster management cell in Goa seems to be non existent as they did not take the situation under control and people of the village had to do the work, even the panchayat members were not to be seen except for one lady panch member.
Yesterday the labourers brought by some govt agencies dug holes in the sand on the beach and filled it up with the tar , they were later stopped by CCCF volunteers , there was no expert from the govt side as to advice and instruct these men who were sent as to what was the nature of work.
Madonna Almeida
Letter to President on Nuclear Disaster Liability Bill & Lessons from Chernobyl
Her Excellency,
Mrs. Pratibha Patil
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi – 110 004
Date: 1st September, 2010
Subject- Nuclear Disaster Liability Bill & Lessons from Chernobyl
Your Excellency,
This is with reference to the passage Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 25th August and August 30, 2010 respectively and how “In the end, we all live near Chernobyl”.
Pursuant to my application to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and written and oral testimony to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests regarding environmental hazards from radioactive radiation and nuclear wastes, now that Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have passed the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, I solemnly and earnestly urge you to send the Bill back to the Parliament and the Union Cabinet for reconsideration.
On behalf of ToxicsWatch Alliance and public interest groups and individuals who are deeply concerned about the possible devastation of human life and ecosystem due to nuclear disaster, nuclear radiation and nuclear wastes, I respectfully ask that you order an open and transparent review of how nuclear power installations including uranium mines have been operating in the country before proceeding with new nuclear power plants. A White Paper on the current status of nuclear installations is a must for undertaking future operations.
I submit that the legal design of the Bill is flawed as it favours nuclear suppliers and nuclear exporters and the victims. Except for the appointment of Claims Commissioner as provided in clause 9 and the constitution of a Nuclear Damage Claims Commission as provided in clause 19 to adjudicate and award compensation for nuclear damage within a period of three months, there isn’t any other feature in the Bill that will protect the interests of the victims of disaster.
I submit that Union Cabinet must be asked to take steps to prevent the human cost of industrial disasters by recommending unlimited liability for companies in both Nuclear Liability Bill and the proposed Companies Bill, 2009. A beginning can be made by making these legislations victim centric and legal-artificial persons accountable to our legislatures. Neither Nuclear Liability Bill nor the proposed Companies Bill, provide for tracing the Companies or suppliers which become invisible or hide behind corporate veils after disasters or may not be in business after that.
I submit that before deciding on this pro-supplier Bill passed by the Parliament due to an unholy collaboration, Hon’ble President must consult experts like Dr. V. Maitreyan, an oncologist, former Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests and currently Member, Rajya Sabha. Dr Maitreyan was trained by Dr. Robert Peter Gale, the world renowned medical oncologist who did bone marrow transplants on the Chernobyl nuclear accident victims. In his speech on 30th August in the Parliament he quoted Dr. Robert Peter Gale book "Final Warning -- The Legacy of Chernobyl" saying nuclear accidents happen, "In sum, accidents happen. This is why the nuclear industry continues to insist upon laws limiting its liability for damages arising out of nuclear accidents". At the conclusion of the Chapter, Dr. Gale says: "As for Chernobyl, it may be that the greatest contributions made at Hospital Number 6 were not the lives saved but the lives lost. For the failure to save lives demonstrated how deadly nuclear power can be and how helpless the world is when radiation rages wild. In the end, we all live near Chernobyl."
I submit that incidents such the leaky valves and malfunctioning of pumps and fuel bundles had almost shutdown one of India's first nuclear reactors at Tarapur in 1973, as has claimed been claimed by The Week magazine in one of its recent cover stories have remained outside the parliamentary scrutiny. "In September 1973, the inevitable happened. The malfunctioning of pumps, valves and fuel bundles at TAPS (Tarapur Atomic Power Station) led to the radioactive levels rising far greater than those laid down by the International Commission for Radiation Protection." The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had summoned Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Homi Sethna and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Director Raja Ramanna to convey her "acute concerns" on the matter. "Eminent scientists, both pleaded with her not to pronounce what would have been a death sentence on the credibility of the country's nuclear programme," the report said quoting Ashok Parthsarathi, then the Scientific Assistant to Gandhi. A High Powered parliamentary team should be given the task of examining such pitfalls so as to incorporate lessons from them in the Bill.
I submit that Union Cabinet should agree to set up a committee to study the effects of nuclear damage on India before rushing through the Bill. This Committee should consist not only of nuclear scientists and engineers, but also economists, agricultural scientists and public health experts. As has been admitted by the Government of India that, “in a sense the elected political class of the country let down the victims of Bhopal," because we did not have adequate liability laws, the passage of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill appears to be doing the same again through this “insurance for the protection of suppliers and operators in the case of a nuclear accident” and through signing Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage although there is no need for India to join it which has been ratified by only four out of thirty nuclear power countries.
I submit that many other countries have unlimited liability, capping the liability of the operator of the plant at a very small level of Rs.1, 500 crores is uncalled for. The Government of USA forced BP to set aside an amount of USD 20 billion in an escrow fund to settle claims. Indeed a serious nuclear accident will have consequences that are much more severe than this oil spill. Does Government of India believe that Indian lives and property are less precious than lives of those of citizens of USA? The total liability for each nuclear incident remains capped at 300 million SDR, that is, Rs.2122.40 crores or $455 million as per clause 6 (1). The amount is less than even the Bhopal settlement of $470 million, which has been acknowledged as grossly inadequate by the Government itself. Such cap on liability will also have an impact on the safety of nuclear installations in the country. This is because the cost of a single nuclear reactor can be as high as Rs.30,000 crores as in the case of the reactor planned at Jaitapur by AREVA, a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva near Paris.
Consequently, the cost of a reactor can be 20 times the maximum amount of liability. It means that it might be cheaper for the operator to take the risk of paying the maximum liability than to spend, say, 10 per cent extra in adding safety features to the plant. The Bill passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha includes a right of recourse for the operator but the liability of the supplier is limited to Rs.1,500 crores which is the maximum third party damage that the operator will have to pay. The supplier may sell a plant for Rs. 30,000 crores but will be liable for a maximum of only 5 per cent of that amount.
It is submitted that the preparations for the visit of President of United States of America (USA) occupied Union Cabinet so much that it failed to consult the secretaries of ministries/departments of government of India on the draft nuclear liability bill. The Parliamentary Standing Committee referred to how secretaries of ministries of health & family welfare, agriculture, labour & employment, food & public distribution, etc. who were ignored in the drafting of the Bill as a very serious lapse of the Union Cabinet. Starkly enough, none of the concerned Chief Secretaries or Chief Ministers of the relevant states been consulted either. The Parliamentary Standing Committee, therefore, recommended that “the government should consult all such ministries/departments which are even remotely concerned with the provisions of a proposed legislation", the same has not been done. Not only that the submissions of secretaries of home ministry, water resources, ministry of health, agriculture ministry, department of food and public distribution etc have not been incorporated by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Notably, Secretary, ministry of health said, “Since the response system to deal with any kind of emergency of such type, the hospitals are not well-equipped, it is natural that mortality and morbidity due to multiple burn, blasts, radiation injuries and psycho-social impact could be on very high scale and medical tackling of such a large emergency could have enough repercussions in the nearby areas of radioactive fallout. She also mentioned that in the entire bill, there is not a single clause which speaks about taking health care during radiological emergencies. It reflects only about payment of compensation due to health impacts of such radiation. She suggested while setting up nuclear plants consideration may also be given to the fact that there should be a hospital having trained doctors near such establishments and arrangements should also be made for free treatment of people who are affected by serious nuclear fallout." She confessed that “her ministry is nowhere to meet an eventuality that may arise out of nuclear and radiological emergencies.” Similar testimonies from secretaries of other ministries provide a chilling and prophetic forewarning.
In compliance of the suggestion of Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee during my testimony on August 3, 2010 and pursuant to my written submission dated July 7, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) had specifically drawn the attention of the committee with regard to the narrow definition of the word 'installation' and conflict of interest ridden existence of the AERB. In a letter to the committee dated August 12, TWA has highlighted the backdrop of the deliberations on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill. TWA has questioned the merit of centralised power stations given 35-40 percent transmission and distribution loss from power grids. The Secretary, financial services, ministry of finance submitted before the committee that "any increase in premium of insurance will lead to increase in the cost of production of electricity for nuclear power. It is argued that higher the liability limit higher will be the insurance premium and subsequently higher will be the cost of electricity production." It has been noted in the Rajya Sabha that as far as the cost difference between hydro, thermal and all the available options vis-à-vis nuclear electricity is concerned, the cost difference is 1:3. If the objective of wanting to generate 40,000 MW of nuclear power in the next two decades is considered, the cost difference between conventional and nuclear electricity would be more than Rs. 3,00,000 crores (Rs. 3 lakh crores) . This amount can build 20,000 hundred-bedded modern hospitals all over the country and 2.5 lakhs of Navodaya Vidyalayas with boarding facilities for 100 students all over the country.
Testimony after testimony before the committee had asked for deletion of the word terrorism from the bill but the same is not reflected in the committee's report despite the fact that Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar categorically stated, "under different layers of protection, nuclear assets including nuclear installations are being protected through defence. However he admitted that absolute and fool proof protection cannot be guaranteed for any nuclear or other assets in the country during peace or war." Exceptions for acts of terrorism can easily be used by the supplier and the operator to wash their hands off any nuclear disaster.
I submit that section 46 of the Bill suggests that existing criminal laws can be used only against the operator. The existing criminal laws, including section 304 and section 304A of the India Penal Code should be applicable to the supplier as well.
Earlier responding to the question about the need for Indian Parliament to pass a liability agreement in the matter of nuclear cooperation with US, the prime minister said: 'We will do that. Our Cabinet will be taking a decision. I do not see any difficulties in honouring our commitments.' He said so in an interview conducted by EG Weymouth, editor-at-Large of Newsweek treasured on Prime Minister’s website on November 16, 2009.
The reason for such tearing hurry and nervousness in passing Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill can be traced to the visit of President of United States of America to India and in a press release from the Indian Embassy in Washington which notes, "The historic bilateral cooperation agreement for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the 123 Agreement that we signed two years back provided for reprocessing of US obligated nuclear material in an Indian national facility under IAEA safeguards." A letter written by the then Foreign Secretary to the US Under Secretary on 10th September, 2008 says, "India also recognizes the importance of establishing an adequate nuclear liability regime and it is the intention of the Indian Government to take steps to adhere to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage." This letter was quoted in Rajya Sabha on 30th August, 2010. Further evidence is visible, in an interview on 10th March, 2010 the US Secretary of State says, "Our interests are to ensure that the Bill that is ultimately enacted is complaint with the international standards in this area which is a Convention on Supplementary Compensation. That is our chief interest." That is why the clause 7(a) in Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, where it says explicitly, "If there is an explicit contract between the operator and supplier....". This merits high level of parliamentary scrutiny. These are certain things which still required to be considered, keeping in mind the plight of those persons who are, finally, going to be the sufferers if some nuclear disaster takes place. The press release from Washington observes, "The government of India has already designated two sites for nuclear power plants to be established in cooperation with the US and the companies of the two countries are now engaged in discussions" as a follow up of the Strategic Dialogue and the meeting of the CEO's Forum prior to the visit of President Barack Obama to India in November, 2010.
I submit that the influence of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)’s draft of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill and Union Cabinet’s preparations for the visit of Barack Obama, President, United States of America to India in November, 2010 did provide sufficient time to dwell adequately on even the submissions of secretaries in the event of a nuclear disaster of the Chernobyl type. The Union Cabinet has ignored that since 1980, the United States of America has not added a single megawatt of nuclear power in their country taking lessons from The Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
I submit that in order to complete the journey which the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had undertaken to USA five years ago most concerns have disregarded due to the role of FICCI which is the largest and oldest business organisation of the country claiming to be a "non-government, not-for-profit organisation" with direct membership from the private as well as public sectors, including MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 83,000 companies. Clearly, with the passage of this Bill FICCI’s efforts on its own and on behalf of the multinational nuclear companies have succeeded despite India’s exemplary poor safety record with no database of radioactive radiation victims who appear to be deemed collateral damages for ‘development’ any cost based on nuclear power at any exorbitant cost.
In such a grim context, Hon’ble President may consider sending the Bill back to the Parliament for recommending re-consideration, formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee sans conflict of interest to examine the current liability regime for nuclear disaster in the world besides constituting a high-powered trans-disciplinary independent experts committee to study true economics of nuclear power at leisure so that present and future generations and their ecosystem doesn’t suffer due to the myopia of FICCI, Union Cabinet and their unsound business sense.
Thanking You
Yours Sincerely
Gopal Krishna
Founder-Convener
ToxicsWatch Alliance
New Delhi
Mb: 9818089660
Website: www.toxicswatch.com
Blog: toxicswatch.blogspot.com
Cc
-Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Government of India & MP, Lok Sabha
-Mr Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary, Indian National Congress & MP, Lok Sabha
Vedanta's violence on workers in Orissa
Following the government order on scarpping of the Niyamgiri mining project and indictment of Vedanta for carrying out expansion work of its refinery at Lanjigarh without permission, more than 5000 workers were suddenly retrenched yesterday by L&T, the contractor for carrying out Vedanta's construction work.
On being served the retrenchment notice - verbally - the workers demanded their backlog payments’ and compensation to which the company did not heed. Workers then went on to stage a strike. It is reported that demands and downright denials led to a violent situation, in which there was some damage to the plant properties. Then the police accompanied by vedanta goons attacked the demonstrators and beat them up mercilessly... More than hundred workers are injured with bleeding heads, broken limbs, and internal injuries. Hundreds of workers have been arrested and, as reports coming from Lanjigarh this morning suggests, are being further beaten up in the police station.
Some backgrounder and facts:
1. I had interviewed more than two dozens of workers on camera last February and they had said that not a single worker is given an identity card; even many of them did not possess any entry slip (roll card).
2. The original address of most workers was distorted on record so that in case of any accident or retrenchment or any other such thing, the company could prove that such person did not exist at all, and that they could not be challenged legally.
3. Most workers complained the payment was much less than promised/stipulated besides being very erratic.
4. Workers felt trapped as their backlog payments were huge and could not even leave the job even if they wanted to.
5. Safety measures were almost non-existent and the workers always did their job taking great risks.
6. There had been many deaths inside the plant in accidents, which were not reported outside.
... and so on.
The present situation calls for intervention by the media and legal experts. Since the company cannot go on with the expansion work now after being slammed officially and publicly, there has to be ways for the workers to get their rights... and not such a raw deal as being dumped, then beaten up and arrested.
in solidarity,
subrat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
