AP Bauxite Projects in Scheduled Area

--At Whose Cost & for Whose Benefit?

This is to bring to the kind notice of Dr.Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India and Smt. Sonia Gandhi , Chairperson UPA, certain facts regarding Bauxite Mining and Projects in AP State, which seem to be the root causes for the unrest in Scheduled Areas of Visakhapatnam district.

Bauxite Deposits in Visakhapatnam Scheduled Area

The identified bauxite mining area in AP State falls under Scheduled Area and Reserve Forests. The area where the bauxite hills-Araku Group & Jerrela Group of Chintapalle - are located, is not only notified as Scheduled Area but actually still predominantly in the hands of tribal people.

Since the last elections in 2004, it is the Congress Government which promoted Bauxite Mining & Projects, where the earlier TDP Government failed. The Congress party resistance to bauxite projects while in opposition changed within less than one year of coming to power, while the TDP in opposition has made amazing discoveries of all the ills, these projects will befall on the people.

Deprival of Tribal Land Rights

The strong protection of Tribal Land Rights in A.P was affirmed in the Supreme Court Samatha Judgment of 1997 and prevents any private company from owning or leasing land for mines or industry in the Scheduled Areas, where all bauxite deposits are located.

The Congress Government of AP dubiously circumvented the Tribal Land Rights by signing agreements with private companies, to undertake mining in Scheduled Areas via a façade government company, A.P Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), using what is referred to as "raising contractors"

It will be these contractors, privately owned firms, possibly even by Aluminum Project proponents, who will hire labourers, own & operate mining equipment, vehicles etc and mine & transport the ore to the Refinery located outside Scheduled Area. In short, they will do the actual mining & transport operations, but it will still be claimed that it is Govt. operated, since mining lease will be in the name of APMDC

AP Govt. Choice of Project Proponents

The first MOU was signed in 2005, between Jindal South West (JSW) of the Jindal Group, and the Government of A P. for supply of bauxite ore at a discounted rate The Jindal Group is known to have strong Congress links with one of the Jindal brothers, Naveen Jindal, being an elected MP for Congress in the Lok Sabha

The second MOU was signed in 2007 between RAK, an enterprise of the Government of Ras al-Khaima from the United Arab Emirates, and the AP Government. The precise link leading to MOU of RAK in AP, seems to be the investment made in RAK, by Penna Cements Ltd, owned by A.P. Congress Treasurer Sri.P.Pratap Reddy, who is reported to have interest in ANRAK Aluminum Project.

The way the partners are selected for bauxite projects indicate significant opportunities for personal profit by select politicians and bureaucrats who collaborate closely with the industrialists.

Sidelined Public Sector NALCO

The Public Sector NALCO (National Aluminum Corporation), the country's biggest bauxite miner, with its proven ability to mine bauxite and produce alumina and aluminum, is much better accomplished company, compared to the inexperienced partners chosen by the AP Government in JSW and ANRAK.

What is even more peculiar is that a lot of the problems stemming from APMDC acting as benami miner for the companies could have been avoided if an agreement was signed with NALCO, which is as much a Govt.Company as APMDC & could have operated the mines.

The unwillingness to sign deals with NALCO & instead choosing untested private companies becomes an interesting comment on where the priorities lie? To understand why this is the case, it would seem best to make investigations into the personal benefits that accrue from these projects?

Who benefits from the Bauxite Projects?

. If one wants to mine bauxite in Scheduled area, it will invariably mean displacing tribal communities, cutting down forests, disturbing important watersheds & environment, apart from depriving tribal land rights, At the same time, the right of Tribals to forest titles as per new Forest Rights Act get nullified. But how minerals should be utilized and how to solve the costs of mining in relation to tribal people, forests & environment, have hardly been discussed so far, outside exclusive elite policy forums heavily influenced by corporate interests.

The industrial projects are generally promoted as investments for inclusive development & increased public good .But closer scrutiny of the Mining projects in scheduled areas, reveal maximum benefits are going to particular Private Parties with political influence who manipulate Law in their favour, while the costs of land & resource loss and environmental costs are born by poor tribal people, who are denied the "Rule of Law",

Root Causes of Terrorism

The private monopoly on natural resources such as Land, Minerals, Forests, Water etc, invariably creates economic and social unrest, as it is bound to create a glaring disparity between the Rich and the Poor..

When the deprived lots are denied access to clean air, adequate safe drinking water and soil to meet their basic human needs, we see the rise of a sense of deprivation, hopelessness, intolerance and hatred. The desperate people can resort to desperate solutions.

The Intolerance also has its role. It can, in the name religion or ideology, fan the flames of hate and ignite a belief that terrorism is the only solution to a community's or nation's ills. As a result they may care little about themselves and the people they hurt.

It is the forces of poverty, environmental degradation and hatred that give birth to the intolerance that can lead to fundamentalism and terrorist acts. While fighting against Terrorism, we must also expose the forces that create Poverty & Wide Disparity, Hatred and Environmental Degradation that can lead to an unstable world.

Conclusion

The likely adverse impacts of Bauxite mining & projects on Peoples' Livelihoods, Eastern Ghats, Water Sources, Forests & Environment have generated very wide attention in coastal AP. But the agencies concerned both at Central & State levels, ignored their impact on important water-sheds of Sileru, Tandava Nadi & Goshtani / Sarada and their implications on Upper & Lower Sileru, Tandava, Raivada, Tatipudi, Megadri Gadda etc Reservoirs.

As the mining part of the bauxite projects are in Scheduled areas, the poor people living off the land are pushed to the side. The local people can not be expected to benefit from politically motivated mining projects, which are bulldozed for individual benefits.

This has created unrest in the minds of Tribal Communities of the Scheduled areas of Visakhapatnam, which may trigger terrorist activities in the area. As part of the fight against Terrorism in Visakha scheduled areas, request that clearances granted to JSW and ANRAK projects be reviewed and canceled before it is too late.