21 Displacement, Resistance and Collective Mobilization

Contents

1. Objective

2. Introduction

3. Learning Outcome

4. Tehri Dam Movement in Uttaranchal

5. Narmada Bachao Andolan

6. Nagari Movement against Land Acquisition in Ranchi

7. Nandigram Land Acquisition Movement in West Bengal

8. People’s Movement against Uranium Mining

9. Conclusion

10.References

1. Objective

In this module, you will learn about the resistance movements of displaced people related to development projects like construction of mega irrigation dams, mining, power plants and infrastructure development projects in India. Displacement of large number of people in many of the development projects undertaken in the country since Independence has become a matter of intense public scrutiny. In this module, we will however deal with only certain well known people’s resistance movements.

2. Introduction

The gigantic urge of development activities saw man reaching to such a threshold where their endless craving results in the exclusion and underdevelopment of their fellow brothers. Every development project requires large chunk of land and other resources, which can be easily available and grabbed in the remotest rural and tribal part of the society, and hence the planners generally fall back to these areas. Consequently, the victims of industrial development overtly lose their dwelling and livelihood and covertly their culture, civilisation and bonding with the natal place. The condition becomes more pathetic when the project-affected persons (henceforth PAPs) are not even consulted before, during or after the whole process. Ironically, they remain ignorant and unaware about their future and oscillate between hope and despair (Verma 2012). At times, with great amount of expectations, they dream hefty package from the rehabilitation agencies and on un-accomplishment of wishes and desires, they show intense resentment. This swiftly brings our sharp attention towards the process governing the planning of such development projects and its underlying limitations in the form of resettlement and rehabilitation at the level of policy, planning and administration. There are many instances of collective mobilization of displaced people in independent India. What Nehru called ‘the temples of modern India’ (Oommen 2008: 76) later became a major issue of concern for stakeholders. These movements made it clear that for successfully implementation of these projects, we must closely follow key components of sustainable development and social change.

In this module, we would discuss five widely known instances of movements of displaced people.

3. Learning Outcome

This module would acquaint you with domestic resistance against mega project which was projected as ‘temple of modern India’. People’s responses against mega projects in the post colonial period have become one of the most prominent phenomena on the social, cultural and political picture. There has been much greater displacement and many more struggle after independence, because investment strategies for economic progress envisaged by India’s five year plan entails changes in the use of land, water, forest and other resources. These have also led to irreversible changes in the lives of millions who are displaced or otherwise deprived of access to the resources that are their livelihood.

4. Tehri Dam Movement in Uttaranchal

4.1 Origin and Objectives of the Project

Dams are the biggest agents of displacement in India; as a result there have been movement against them for a long time. Among the first to be recorded is the Mulshi Peta dam constructed with major capital investment by the British with the collaboration of Tata Electricity Supply Company in 1918. Fifty two villages of the Mulshi Mahal were submerged and thousands of acres of the fertile land lost to it. Consequently there was widespread unrest among the masses. That led to a major agitation which continued for four years from 1918 to 1922. The central part of the Himalayas in India is a target for many large number of development activities, be it river valley projects or infrastructure development. The Garhwal Himalayas in the state of Uttarkhand is the location of the Tehri dam project. This massive dam is located at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Bhilangna rivers, in the foothills of the Himalayas. The dam was expected to produce approximately 2,400 MW of electricity and be able to provide enough water to irrigate a quarter million hectares of land (Kedia 2008: 121).

4.2 Issues Leading to Movement

There were many unexpected or unplanned consequences of the Tehri dam forcing the effected people to launch the protest movement. One the major issue was that a number of project-affected people were not initially included in the list of beneficiaries for compensation or R & R package. This was argued to be a major loophole in the R & R policy particularly concerning the communities on the east side of the reservoir. There were many communities living along the slopes of the reservoir, which extends for 42 kilometres along the Bhagirathi and 25 km along the Bhilangana Rivers (Joint Expert Committee 2011). The Tehri dam was always perceived as threat by the local population who consider the river Bhagirathi not only as a means of livelihood, but have religious, cultural and emotional ties with it for generation.

Second, even those who received compensation were not happy with it because land and monetary compensation policies were inadequate and frequently implemented on an ad hoc basis, often depending upon officials and political parties in power. Existing policies were frequently changed without retroactive provision to close the gap between earlier compensation and the current provisions. Families who were fully affected, defined by resettlement authorities as those who had lost more than 50 per cent of their due to the project, were offered acreage and other monetary compensation. However, those who had lost less than half of their land were offered only monetary compensation deemed equivalent to the amount of land acquired for the project. Resettlers were given Rs 12,000 for each acre of irrigated land acquired by the government, or Rs 6,000 for each acres of uncultivated land acquired – a compensation that was considered grossly insufficient and strongly opposed by those displaced.

Third, consequences imposed on the communities located around the reservoir were not initially addressed by the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) policy. One of the most immediate consequences created soon after the reservoir began to fill was a disconnection of travel routes and transportation. Old Tehri Town served as a hub and source of immense resources for the surrounding towns and villages. The filling of the reservoir, therefore, reduced their inability to access necessary facilities, such as health services, education, markets, and the like. This disconnect has created a perpetual burden of posterity on the surrounding people. A lack of access to educational facilities, specifically higher education, has become a common problem for the communities surrounding the reservoir. Education facilities were submerged by the reservoir and specifically Old Tehri Town was a hub for higher education. All these have put these communities at a big disadvantage as the young generations found it more difficult to access schools.

Fourth, a lack of transportation and efficient travel routes also prevented easy access to district headquarters, health systems, markets, and so many other everyday necessities for the communities of Tehri. Being cut off from local markets has caused inability to sell or buy perishable cash crops. This has affected ability of PAPs to sustain their livelihoods. The increase in price of all goods because of transportation costs has caused large amounts of out-migration of people particularly from the eastern side of the reservoir abandoning their homes.

Fifth, Development-induced natural hazard is another impact of the Tehri dam project. Landslides are as such one of the major devastating natural hazards and annual catastrophe for Mountain inhabitants and downstream population specifically in Himalayan environment. Additionally, frequent changes in the water level of reservoir of dam depending on the season and production of electricity became a threat. During peak electricity demand, the reservoir level is very low and some of the submerged lands and villages are exposed. But, during the monsoon season, the reservoir gets filled up leading to excessive release of water. Along with flood, this has led to increased instability in the slopes all around the reservoir and created new dangers for the surrounding villages and towns.

Finally, there is general perception and consensus that THDC did neither make appropriate planning nor monitor the areas around the dam site. This has led to continuation of environmental, social, and economic problems for many regions in the Tehri district. More rigorous and in-depth planning and involvement of local people in such planning were required in the beginning of the project. Instead, there were charges of corruption, mismanagement and apathetic approach against the THDC authority. All these contributed to the rise of a powerful protest movement in the area.

4.3 Tehri Movement Leadership and their Strategies

The Tehri Baandh Virodhi Sangahrsha Samithi (TBVSS) was founded by veteran freedom fighter Veerendra Datta Saklani. The major objections include seismic sensitivity of the region, submergence of forest area along with Tehri town and so on. The TBVSS filed a petition under Article 32. It contended inter-alia that-

The dam was seismological risky posing several threats to downstream settlement like Haridwar and Riishikesh.
The state has no right to sanction such project for temporary benefits, which would permanently alter land use.
The dam life would not be more than 20 years due to silting up.
The risk far outweighs the benefit.

The Supreme Court held that the Government of India could not be said not to have applied its mind nor has it failed to consider the relevant aspect of safety and dismissed the petition (Rao 2013: 1558).

According to Suderlal Bahuguna, a noted environmental activist and a leader of the struggle against Tehri dam, ‘the dam was built in the tears of the people of project-affected region and in return the oustees got nothing except miseries and suffering’. He sat on fast unto death but after prime minister’s assurance to review the project, Bahuguna ended his fast. Despite such assurance, construction went on, though at a slower pace.

After a 74 day hunger strike in 1996, Suderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist, forced government to set up a review of the seismic, environmental and rehabilitation aspects of the projects. The Hanumantha Rao Committee submitted its report and recommendations in 1997. The government has failed to implement most of the committee’s recommendations, especially those concerning rehabilitation and resettlement.

4.4. Consequences of Movement

The protest movement made Tehri a major environmental issue at the global level. The poor marginalised people could express their voice against the powerful state and its organs. Yet, the project could not be stalled and it got completed in 2002 and its hydroelectric plant became operational in July 2006. Nearly 5,200 hectares of land is lost to the reservoir. Since its inception, the Tehri Dam, because of its ecology and geo-physical features, became highly controversial (Meher 2011:150). It was subjected to numerous lawsuits, demonstration, and hunger strikes by the project affected people as well as the social activists. The government infamously neglected to fulfil the most basic resettlement and rehabilitation requirement. The relocation of more the 100,000 people from the area has led to protracted legal battle over resettlement rights and ultimately resulted in the project’s delayed completion. Interestingly, the Tehri Dam movement has again become alive when a major flood disaster out broke in recent times in Uttarkhand. People continue to raise their voices and blame the hydro power project in Chamoli. The Tehri Dam reservoir gobbled up the beautiful town of Tehri.

One of the most immediate consequences created soon after the reservoir began to fill was a disconnection of travel routes and transportation. Old Tehri Town served as a hub and source of immense resources for the surrounding towns and villages. The filling of the reservoir, therefore, reduced their inability to access necessary facilities, such as health services, education, markets, and more. This disconnect has created is a perpetual burden of posterity on the surrounding people. Often the stakeholders who are left out of development conversations are the local people who are directly impacted by development. Instead, local stakeholders need to be integrated into the policymaking and implementation processes. The traditional livelihoods and culture need to be taken into consideration when development plans are being created.

5. Narmada Bachao Andolan

Whose are the forests and the land?

Ours, they are ours.

Whose the wood, the fuel?

Ours, they are ours.

Whose, the flowers and the grass?

Ours, they are ours.

Whose the cow, the cattle?

Ours, they are ours.

Whose are the bamboo groves?

Ours, they are ours.

Narmada Bachao Andolan song

5.1 The Origin and objectives of Narmada Valley Dam Project

The Narmada is India’s largest westward-flowing river and is of immense religious and cultural importance to the people living on its banks. It is also the subject of the largest river development project in the world, the Narmada Valley Project, which envisages the construction of thirty large and hundreds of small dams along its length. The Narmada projects are the epitome of unsustainable development. Two of the largest proposed dams, Sardar Sarovar and Narmada Sagar, have been under construction since 1961. The government of India came out with a plan to construct a series of dam over the Narmada river. The Narmada Valley Development plan is the most promised and most challenging plan in the history of India.

5.2 Issue Leading To Movement

According to Narmada Bachao Andolan, the dams forced the displacement of about a million people and affected many more, largely poor peasants and tribal (Meher 2011: 151). They also caused immense ecological damage through the inundation of forests, including prime habitats of rare species. Resettlement and compensation had been totally inadequate and there was not the remotest prospect that the displaced people, the ‘oustees’, would not be adequately resettled, nor that the ecological damage could be compensated for. There were also real doubts, borne out by the experience of large dams elsewhere in India, that the dams would really yield their projected benefits of hydropower, irrigation and drinking water. The project was set fair to become another human and ecological ‘development tragedy’.

In 1978, the Narmada Tribunal approved the Narmada Project and final planning and the work started. With regard to the treatment of the displaced population, the Narmada Tribunal made it mandatory for the state of Gujarat, as the primary beneficiary of the project, to provide land for land to those displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam. While the Narmada Tribunal’s Final Order aimed to alleviating displacement, it only guaranteed compensation for legal landowners. Many dam affected villages, including tribals who lacked formal land ownership rights, were kept outside the purview of such benefits.

In December 1979, the Narmada Tribunal’s final award came into effect, and finally in 1987 construction began on the Sardar Sarovar dam. Problems soon emerged with Gujarat’s resettlement policy, which formally sought to award each eligible family settling there at least five irrigable acres, housing, and various entitlements to facilities. In reality, there was not enough land available for distribution; amenities were substandard; and settlers had difficulty integrating with host communities. As a result, though 196 families had accepted the resettlement offer, many settlers ended up returning to their homes, which were already partially submerged, because of the waters from the river flooding the banks. The Sardar Sarovar Dam and Narmada Sagar were expected to displace more than 250,000 people. Obviously, the major agenda of this movement was proper resettlement or the rehabilitation of affected people.

5.3 The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) Leadership and their Strategies

In India, which has seen the construction of over 1000 dams in the last four decades, tribal populations have been particularly affected constituting 40 to 50 per cent of those displaced (Bhatia 1991). It is expected that the Sardar Sarovar Dam alone displaced nearly 320,000 people in the state of Gujarat (35,000 families, two-third of who are tribals). In addition to the gross discrepancies between costs and benefits of dam construction, Gill (1991:1) has argued that ‘the land likely to be submerged behind a dam could be supporting a distinct culture, with a language, custom and tradition that are unique to the location’.

In Gujarat, nineteen villages, whose submersion the Sardar Sarovar dam ensured, formed the Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini in 1982, a youth protest group. The group engaged in protests and initiated court action, ultimately forcing the government of Gujarat to offer a more generous resettlement package. Narmada Ghati Navnirman Samiti established in 1986 and Narmada Ghati Dharangrastha Samiti in 1985 merged to form the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in 1989. Under the leadership of eminent environmentalist Medha Patkar, all the dam protesting groups from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra merged and became the most well-known Narmada River NGO.

The NBA quickly became a national organization with 150 branches. The displaced population in Maharashtra was completely composed of adivasis. In Madhya Pradesh oustees were primarily adivasis, however two-thirds of those displaced were Patidars, a wealthy landed class that typically exploited the landless adivasis. Funding for the NBA came primarily from the Patidar members and from a related group called Sayhayog, an association founded by Medha Patkar of professionals who contributed 2% of their annual income to the cause of developing an alternative developmental path for those displaced by the submergence of their villages.

The NBA leadership initially sought to verify the claims regarding the benefits that would flow from the construction of the dams. Along with Medha Patkar, social activist Baba Amte provided moral leadership to the cause to preserve the Narmada River. In December 1990, Amte along with 5000 protestors began the Narmada Jan Vikas Sangharsh Yatra, marching over a hundred kilometres from Barwani to Gujarat border. On January 5, 1991, Baba Amte began a “Dharna upto death”. The most popular slogan of the NBA were Vikas Chahiye, Vinash nahin and Koi nahi Hatega,Bandh nahi banega.

5.4 Consequence of Movement

The Narmada Bachao Andolan has continued to engage in various forms of direct action even as it pursued its legal remedies. The Court however did not give judgment in their favour. Yet, the NBA activists went on organizing and participating in public meeting, rallies, march, demonstrations, fasts, dharna, and satyagrahas. These activists had three aims: first, to demand proper rehabilitation, second, to demand the termination of the project altogether, and third, to seek legal recourse to suspend construction. Though the NBA could not achieve the goals for which it had so tirelessly fought, its victories against the mammoth odd have earned it the reputation of being one of the most dynamic mass movement.

6. Nagari Movement against Land Acquisition in Ranchi

6.1 Origin and Objectives of the Land Acquisition

Urbanization and infrastructure related projects are the biggest agents of displacement in India. They have an adverse impact on thousands of people as they deprive them of their livelihood, social and cultural system, and push them into abject poverty. Some project affected persons have protested against infrastructure development while others have accepted it but have fought against inadequate rehabilitation packages. People’s responses against infrastructure in the post colonial period have become one of the most prominent phenomena on the socio-cultural and political picture (Kumar 2013: 107). The anti-infrastructure development movement, comprising the displaced or mostly the tribal has got a boost by an active support from the diverse groups. In Ranchi people resisted the construction of Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi (IIM-R) and the National University for Study and Research in Law, Jharkhand (NUSRLJ), where forceful land acquisition was going on for this project.

6.2 Issue Leading to Movement

State Government was acquiring fertile land without people’s consent for development of infrastructure project. It was alleged that the State Government had allotted 227 acres at Nagari, under Kanke block for IIM-R and the NUSRLJ without adequately compensating them. Activists of the movement argue that

1. The tribal people of Nagri look upon their land, inherited from their ancestors, as their Mother. It is ‘she’ who gives them identity and makes them custodians of herself. She cannot be bought or sold. The tribals, nurtured by her, can only love and protect her. 227 acres of rich ancestral and fertile tribal’s land under the government scanner is their only source for survival. Execution of the ambitious government projects will leave them motherless, landless and jobless.

2. The people of Nagri refused cash compensation in 1957 and continue to do so even now. They refused even to discuss it with the high-power committee, since they believed that money can never replace their land, and sustain their lives, culture, and identity. They seem to have learned from the terrible experience of their brethren elsewhere who had exchanged ancestral land for cash.

3. The Jharkhand government, on the other hand, is guided by the elite. They see land only as a commodity to be exploited for maximum profit. The proposed project will deprive Nagri and its people of their forest, agriculture, water sources and cause much ecological damage. Besides, the intention to provide higher education to the locals through these institutions is seriously doubted. It is to be feared that such institutions do not educate or serve the purpose of the poor; rather, they widen the gap between poor and rich. The question being asked is: why should higher educational institutions be established on poor peoples’ land and not on the land of the rich?

4. The Jharkhand government continues its effort to coerce the poor villagers to give away their land for a pittance. The whole process is arbitrary, without genuine concern for the people, and therefore illegal and immoral.

Earlier in 1957-58, when the state government wanted land for Birsa Agricultural University, indigenous people resisted against acquisition of fertile agricultural land without their consent. And when the state government finally acquired 227 acres at Nagari, the villagers kept on protesting and refused to accept compensation on the plea that the land being acquired was purely fertile agricultural land and they did not want to part with the property which was their sole source of the sustenance (The Hindu 2012).

6.3 Nagari Movement Leadership and their Strategies

Affected people started organising under the banner of Nagari Chaura Jameen Bachao Shangharsh Samiti (NCJBSS). The indigenous people chosen 9th June 2012, the Birsa Munda Martyrdom day, for the Raj Bhawan siege, began the march in the morning. The three Kilometre long rally kept the residents of Kanke Road besieged and as it reached Raj Bhawan at 11 AM. Traffic was blocked for more than seven hours. They activists said that if the government wanted land for academic purposes, there were stretches of wasteland around villages where campus could be developed (Kumar 2013: 109). Why does the government want to ruin the agricultural land?

The tribals at the rally brandished traditional weapons like bows and arrows, pharsa, axe and sickle and the women put on men’s attire, in keeping with the famous custom of Jani Shikhar (women in a hunt).

After the seven hours siege, Governor Dr. Syed Ahmed invited a delegation of villagers led by tribal leader Dayamani Barla for talks. But the government unilaterally deemed the transfer of land as final, while the villager cried foul. On the same plea, the government recently told the high court that the land belonged to it, since compensation against the land had been deposited in Ranchi treasury after the people’s refusal to take compensatory money. But protesting people denied this. Governor was not in a position to say much on the issue. The five-member panel headed by land reforms minister Mathura Prasad Mahato was asked by the former chief minister Arjun Munda to hold talks with the Nagri villagers and submit a report about the status of land acquisition and protests. The meeting of a high-level committee with villagers of Nagri to settle the dispute over land acquisition ended without any outcome. The villagers have been opposing the acquisition and were not prepared to part with their plots even after getting significant amount of compensation. The villagers, who were called for a meeting with the minister to resolve the deadlock, walked out of the gathering without even hearing the proposal of the state government to increase the compensation further. The matter finally reached Jharkhand High Court which instructed the state government for multiple dialogues with protesting villagers.

6.4 Consequences of Movement

After the intervention of High Court of Ranchi, the Government had agreed to give adequate compensation package to protesting villagers and government agreed to transfer IIM-R out of Ranchi. The movement has brought the indigenous people into the mainstream and increased the bargaining power of the people who were affected by projects.

7. Nandigram Land Acquisition Movement in West Bengal

7.1 Origin and Objectives of the Project

In the name of development for “state interest”, the West Bengal witnessed a gigantic industrialization and development plan involving the exploitation of its natural and human resources. Large-scale industrialization started with opening of port at Haldia in Purba Medinipur. Large numbers of industries has been set under public and private sector units. The state government has proposed for mega chemical hub and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nandigram in Haldia region. In early 2007, the West Bengal government sought to acquire over 10,000 acres of cultivated rural land in Nandigram under East Midnapur district.

7.2 Issues Leading to Movement

The people of Nandigram depend on agriculture and fishing to support their families. This area is highly productive in cultivation of khesari pulse and vegetables. The Nandigram region has the legacy of Tebhaga Andolan and a turbulent history dating back to the pre-independence time. But the issue of losing their homes and agricultural land for mega chemical hub has become a do or die situation for the local people (Kumar 2007: 45).

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front coalition government sought to acquire this land to allow the Indonesian industrialists, the Salim group, to construct a chemical hub (The Hindu 2007). Land acquisition had been increasing in India since 2005, when the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act was passed for the purpose of attracting investment from national and multinational corporations. The country then witnessed several protest movement against the neo-liberal policy of the central government. Peasants of Nandigram also opposed the acquisition move, and during 2007 successfully resisted the government attempts to do so.

More striking is the fact that the Left Front won the 2006 assembly elections principally on the plank of industrialization. The left leaders of the state floated the slogan ‘Agriculture is our base and industry our future’ during the election campaigns and naturally considered the unprecedented electoral victory as a sign of people’s support for the government’s drive for industrialization. Peasants of Nandigram also voted for the CPI (M) party candidates in that election. But when they were told to part with their land, the environment got filled with mistrust.

There were several reasons for the peasants to act in such a way. First of all, there was an environment of anti-land acquisition sentiment in the air in several parts of the country including the state of West Bengal (Bhattacharya 2007). The opposition political parties, particularly Trinumul Congress, made use of such sentiment to launch movement. The failure of the earlier industrial projects to provide gainful employ to the land oustees in particular became clear. Second, there was serious doubt about the willingness of the state and the industrialists to provide relief and benefits to the victims. The earlier stories of betrayal have haunted them. Thus, in 1972, seven bigha of land was acquired by the state government from seventeen farmers at Nandigram in undivided Midnapore district for the construction of the Nandigram Health Centre. The then chief medical officer of the district had promised the farmers in writing that each of them would be given compensation, besides jobs. The health centre finally came up in 1982. But the authority did not take the responsibility to rehabilitate the affected farmers of Nandigram who now run tea shops or other small shops to earn their livelihood (The Statesman 2007: III). Third, some of the peasants of Nandigram were earlier evicted from Haldia when the port was built there. But the jobs promised were not given (McConnochie 2007: 41). Obviously, the question that became prominent among the peasants is: how many times one would become a refugee? Fourth, rumours also played an important role in spreading social unrest (Ibid.: 42). Such rumours were supported by official documents leaked from the Haldia Development Authority (HAD) office. One such document had revealed a list of 38 mouzas to be acquired. Finally, the HDA served the notice of land acquisition without creating any consensus on the issue. As a result, the location of the acquisition notice on 3rd January 2007 became a first site of clash between the people of the Nandigram and the police. Forceful land acquisition, police atrocities and violent counter armed actions by CPI (M) cadres made the situation worse.

7.3 Movement Leadership and their Strategies

The growing awareness among the communities who face displacement has give rise to a wide range of protest movement in Nandigram (Swain 2014: 90). The people’s determination not to give away their lands full of paddy, coconut and palm trees, ponds and fisheries for the two SEZs upcoming in Midnapore was supported by all the opposition political parties. The Ganaunnayan Janadhikar Sangram Committee, an alliance of 22 peoples’ organizations was earlier formed in 2004 when 5000 acres of land, mostly of Muslim farmers, was to be acquired for the Salim Industries in ‘Bhangad’, on the outskirts of Kolkata. The same committee, with state wide coverage, took up the issue of Nandigram and the struggle began. A peaceful struggle in this region known for the historical contribution to the freedom movement and Tebhaga movement, picked up quite fast and with a clear perspective.

On January 6th 2007, a Nandigram based Bhumi Ucchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) came into being to oppose land acquisition. It was formed out of existing groups that were opposed to the acquisition. It also included local representative of political parties like Trinamul Congress, Congress, SUCI, and others. Interestingly, the bulk of the support came from dissatisfied CPI (M) supporters. Many of the BUPC leaders were in fact former CPI (M) leaders in 2007. Even though BUPC was not led by any particular leader, Mamata Banerjee, the leader of TMC, and other political party leaders including prominent Bengali intellectuals openly came forward to support the movement and oppose atrocities by police and CPI (M) cadres.

Gradually BUPC started enjoying considerable support at Nandigram and those few opposed to it were driven away from the place. A large number of landless labourers and sharecroppers strengthened this movement. They were convinced that land acquisition would also affect them negatively.

7.4 Consequences of Movement

The killing of innocent people including children and women made the CPI (M) led government unpopular and the government had to abandon the project altogether. The movement also provided impetus for launching another anti-land acquisition movement at Singur. It was later recognised by some eminent CPI (M) leaders that forceful land acquisition including police firing and violent reaction by its party cadres in Nandigram was a big mistake (Cernea 2008: 24). Interestingly, this movement had forced the government to stop the process of land acquisition and alternately create land bank to initiate industrialisation. The Nandigram victory proved to be the turning point for TMC in West Bengal’s contemporary political history. The once invincible Left Front lost heavily to the electoral front developed by Mamata Banerjee.

8. People’s Movement against Uranium Mining

8.1 Origin and Objects of the Project

Jadugura is known to be a “Land of Magic” to the people living there. It is a Ho and Santal populous village. Yet, on this rocky shining land, Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) decided to establish Uranium mining industry. After opening of mining, this district witnessed massive expansion of various activities related to the production and uses of Uranium, such as mining and processing of Uranium Ore, production of nuclear fuel and production of atomic power. But all such ‘development’ did not benefit the people of this area, especially indigenous people. Contrarily, their lives and very existence was threatened in various ways by such development.

The UCIL has taken over five villages belonging to the indigenous people for setting up the mines, the processing plant, colony and the township at Jadugura. According to 1961 census, the total population of these villages was 2,047 of whom 47.1% belonged to ST, mainly Santals. Interestingly, many families were displaced from their ancestral lands due to the construction of mines and mills at Bhatin and Narvapahar earlier. They have not been properly resettled till date and not even got full compensation for land. Thus, many communities are being broken up in the name of development.

8.2 Issue Leading to Movement

The major issue of this movement was displacement and rehabilitation of tribal people due to the construction of Uranium mines. UCIL in Jadugura has constructed tailing ponds for dumping mining waste materials. The first pond was constructed in Tilaitand village and when it was filled they made a second one. When it reached to saturation point they planned to construct third tailing pond in Chatikocha village, which is adjacent to the Tilaitand village. Chatikocha was once a prosperous village; the indigenous people of this village had a good yield from their fields that produced crops twice a year. The forest is nearby and the villagers enjoyed the forest productions. This village gave shelter to the people when they were displaced for the construction of Jadugura mines.

In 1985, the UCIL management sent a notice to the villagers of Chatikocha that they were going to take their land for construction of third tailing ponds. There was no reaction to this notice and thereafter in 1994 another notice was served to Chatikocha villagers that UCIL management has acquired their land and they should come to UCIL office for claiming compensation. Except a few, most of the villagers refused to claim compensation. They refused to accept meagre compensation and put some demands before management which were not accepted.

On 27th January 1996, a day after the republic day, the UCIL management with the help of Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and Bihar Police entered Chatikocha village and without prior information started bulldozing the houses of the villagers. They came at 11am, at the time when most of the male members of village were out for work or in the forest leaving behind at home only women, children and elderly members. Locked houses were bulldozed without even bothering about the presence of any individual. After bulldozing the houses, their agricultural fields levelled and even their sacred places of worship and graveyard were not spared. This forced demolition terrorised the villagers to such an extent that they were dumb struck for some days.

8.3 Movement Leadership and their Strategies

The question of displacement and land alienation is so acute in Jadugura that the people of this area had set up their own displaced persons organisation called “Jharkhand Adivasi Visthapit Berojgari Sangh” (JAVBS). The office of JAVBS is in Chatikocha. The UCIL management and district authority planned this operation christened “Desert Storm” on a day when they knew that the office bearers of the JAVBS are miles away in the district court regarding some other cases. On the second day, they continued to level the village, and the villagers watched in agony as all that they owned and possesses, all their life sustaining goods being crushed to dust.

On the third day of ‘Desert Storm’ people from the nearby villages came in huge number under the leadership of JAVBS and the women slept before the bulldozers, raising slogans. “Give us rehabilitation or send us to heaven”. After this protest UCIL management stopped levelling for some time. Meanwhile parliamentary election came and Chatikocha became the ideal spot for the Jharkhand politicians to come and gave emotional speeches. The UCIL management and the district authority apologised to the Jharkhand Politician, as “it was a mistake” and agree to pay the adequate compensation in near future.

The JAVBS leadership did not accept it as a mistake rather they came forward openly condemning the statement being made by the UCIL. It is a tactic of the UCIL management and the district authority to expedite the process of displacement and to pressurise the villagers to accept the meagre compensation”. According to Dumka Majhi secretary of JAVBS, UCIL will have to close their mining operations as both the tailing ponds are saturated and if they wait for the process of rehabilitation to take its course, the construction of third pond would be delayed so they bulldozed the village in order to avoid that situation”.

Chatikocha people are active participants in the JAVBS and Jharkhand’s Organization against Radiation (JOAR) and they are ready to carry their struggle till justice is done. Accepting the inevitable fact that displacement cannot be completely stopped they put forward a set of demands before the UCIL authorities on behalf of villagers for their lands and proper rehabilitation. The leadership of JAVBS has given a memorandum to the District Commissioner of East Singhbhum, with a list of demands (Kumar 2013: 262). These demands are as follows:

(a) Since the spirits of our ancestors have been disturbed and the whole community now felt threatened and the remedy by which it could be resorted out is by performing a marang jati bonga ritual or animal sacrifice. So those among the management and local authority who were involve in the destruction of the village will have to visit the sacred grave of the village and beg forgiveness and arrange for the performance of the marang jati bonga.

(b) Immediate compensation for demolished houses, which was done without prior information.

(d) Without proper rehabilitation there should not be any kind of displacement.

(e) Each displaced person should be given a permanent job in UCIL.

(f) The UCIL should come out and pronounce publicly regarding the consequence of the radioactive waste disposal on the habitat of Jadugura.

(g) District Commissioner should give each displaced person displaced certificate.

(h) UCIL should give priority to indigenous people of Jadugura in company job.

UCIL management refused to accept these demands (a memorandum submitted to DC by JAVBS on 22.02.96, P 2, 3). As a result of which the people decided to approach the judiciary to ensure their movement from being brutally crushed by the state power. The Ranchi Bench of Bihar High Court in 1996 advised the people and district administration to sort out the problems in an amicable manner. Thereafter, a meeting was arranged wherein the District Commissioner of East Singhbhum told the people that they should accept the compensation offered by the district administration. Responding to the suggestion the people told that:

The rate of compensation fixed by the Government was a decade old. Therefore, it should be revised according to the present land rent in the region.
They would like to set the rehabilitation models themselves that could be conducive to live and up to their social and cultural expectation.
The authority should tend a note of apology for the desecration of sarnas (sacred groves for worship) and sasandiris (burial places of their ancestors).

When the District Commissioner declined even to comment on their demand, people walked out of the meeting. After a year of lying low, the UCIL management quietly commenced the work in the tailing pond construction from the beginning of February 1997. People decided that work should be stopped immediately and they started blocking the roads. Every day men and women were being arrested, since the arrested women were released in the evening whereas men were sent to jail, the women decided to take the responsibility for the movement and told their men folk to stay behind. There was an enthusiastic participation by the tribal people from all the villages around and women started to cook and have their food on the blockaded road itself. There were also encouraging expressions of support and solidarity from other Jharkhand people’s movement in the region. Fortunately, the tribal traditional Majhi Parganait leadership solidly stood by them and the Dium Pargana (Chief of the whole Santhal people) vowed that he would do anything to protect the land and the self-respect of his people. This was an encouraging factor for the movements;

After widespread agitation and condemnation, the UCIL management agreed to give attention to the demand presented by the people. Several sessions of meetings were held with people’s representatives and some points they were agreed upon are —

(a) The UCIL management and the district administration agreed to provide free house sites to each displaced family in a plot to be acquired by the government.

(b) Rs. 65,000/- will be given to each displaced family to construct a house of their choice.

(d) The company management agreed to identify those persons who have been affected by radiation and to treat them at its own expenses.

The UCIL then promised that it would provide the details of radioactivity to the people at regular intervals. But the fact is that it has not kept its promise till date.

JOAR has resisted any further land acquisition for uranium mining and attempted to educate the people about uranium waste and its implications on health and environment. The affected people have got humiliated in the hands of both the state machinery and the UCIL management. Whenever the people came out in open to express their grievance, the authority swung into action in the name of “law and order” and “disruption of production” in the UCIL. Another way of harassment is implicating people in legal litigation by filing false cases against them so the people is being dragged to far away judicial courts, spending money and time. This was an effective way to divert the attention from the core issue.

JOAR opposed the dumping of radioactive waste in the area near by the habitations of the indigenous people. The demands that JOAR is putting before the UCIL management and the district administration are as follows:

(a) All the villages around the already existing tailing ponds should be resettled at the safe distance and complete rehabilitation should be made.

(b) All the families whose active-working members have either died or became incapable and the families, which have children with serious physical and mental disabilities, should be adequately compensated and the company should provide medical aid to them.

(c) The company should set up a public dispensary manned by medical personnel qualified to treat radiation related diseases and it should function under the direction of the traditional adivasi leadership of the majhi.

(d) International norms and standards for dumping radioactive waste should be observed.

(e) Bringing radioactive waste into Jadugura and dumping them in indigenous people village should be stopped.

(f) UCIL should adopt international safety standard.

Neither district administration nor UCIL management paid any serious attention on these demands till date. The indigenous people of Chatikocha and JOAR have been carrying their prolonged movement against Uranium mining and its disastrous consequences against heavy odds including financial crises of their family.

8.4 Consequences of Movement

Although UCIL management has given employment to the some adults of the affected families and distributed fund to a few victims for building houses, it has done nothing else. Rehabilitation is yet to take place but the work on building the third tailing pond has completed. Now they are busy in raising boundary of tailing pond so that waste materials of pond would not mix with village stream. Some villagers were admitted to the UCIL hospital for radiation related disease. The UCIL has not made any plan to provide job opportunities to the displaced persons who have lost their agriculture land, which is the main source of their livelihood. The outsiders take most of the better-paid jobs in the project. After the establishment of company there has been a continuous swelling of outsiders in the area as it is evident from the fact that tribal population in Jadugura has been falling since 1981.

The indigenous people who lost their land due to displacement have been turned into cheap casual labourers. Their living conditions are miserable. They live in tin sheds in the UCIL colony. The people are not facilitated with civic amenities, except the drinking water. JOAR has however started running a school with hostel and dispensary facilities on its own for the disable children who are affected by uranium mining. The tribal people might not have achieved all their demands, but gained consciousness and unity of the tribes by forcing the powerful government and UCIL management to talk about ‘development’: these are no mean achievements.

9. Conclusion

The movements discussed in this module clearly expose the failures of the stakeholder to plan development programmes in such a way that human displacement is minimised, the PAP are properly rehabilitated and gains of developed are equally shared. The process of displacement and rehabilitation itself needs to be more humane, and this is best achieved if it is planned and executed in consultation with the affected people. Perhaps most heart-rending is the predicament of those who are forcefully displaced and are not rehabilitated as they do not possess any document to claim compensation. These unseen people are not recognised as project affected people for being eligible to benefits of rehabilitation and resettlement. Often the rate of cash compensation paid is so meagre that people fail to buy another land with the money. Moreover, poor people fail to utilise cash gainfully because several sociological reasons. If an agricultural land is converted into industrial location, the state or its agencies should calculate the compensation by keeping in mind the price of the latter. Attempt should also be made to compensate in non-cash term which are more sustainable. Factors like loss of attachment to a land, the cultural alienation that follows, the energy and cost that people have devoted for several decades to develop a land – are not considered by the displaced agency. As it is difficult to find much unencumbered land in India, the scheme of land-for-land cannot also be materialised. Ironically, project affected people have little faith on the state for providing proper rehabilitation and resettlement. In certain context, the agonies of the displaced people are picked up by the Maoists to launch anti-state armed struggle. It is high time for the Indian state to take a lesson from its past failures and stress on democratic norms to carry out its agenda with humane touch.

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Official Documents

JAVBS Demand. 1996.

JOAR Demand. 2000.

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