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October 12, 2009
It is now clear that the scandal around the Dhamra port is even worse than we had thought. On Friday October 9, even as the construction machinery rumbled on at Dhamra, the Forest Bench of the Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the state government of Orissa asking them to respond in an interlocutory application alleging violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
The application has been filed by conservationists Bittu Sahgal (Editor, Sanctuary Asia), Romulus Whitaker (Madras Crocodile Bank) and Shekar Dattatri (award winning wildlife film maker and member of the National Board for Wildlife) and names the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Orissa state government as respondents.
The core of the case is that the entire port area is on designated forest land, and at no time was permission ever sought from the
Central Government to divert this land for other uses, as required by the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Not only is this a huge legal
violation, it is also becoming clear that various officials in the Dhamra Port Company Limited, the Ministry of Environment and the
Orissa Forest Department have been aware of this for some time!
Despite this, no action has been taken by the state government to prosecute the violation. Shocking, but perhaps not surprising! And neither has DPCL or its owners (TATA Steel and L&T) taken responsibility for this violation.
The cat is out of the bag now, and we will know in a few weeks time what the governments involved – and DPCL and its masters – have to say in their defence. Watch this space for more as the story unfolds!
Posted in Blog, News
| Tagged conservation, Dhamra, forest |
August 20, 2009
On Earth Day, 2009, Kumkum Dasgupta from Hindustan Times, put together a poignant article on the plight of the Olive Ridley turtles.
Nobody knows where they come from and where they disappear to after their arribada (mass nesting) on Orissa’s coasts between January and April every year. But today, as we observe Earth Day, the Olive Ridley turtles are stuck in the mudflats of the development versus environment debate.
The Olive Ridleys are protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, on a par with the tiger. The latest threat to these turtles comes from a deep-sea port at Dhamra, Orissa, being built by the Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL), a joint venture by Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro. While the DPCL thinks that “the port is a central component of the economic development of the state”, the green lobby, led by Greenpeace, feels that the Olive Ridleys might be lost forever thanks to dredging and shipping traffic.
In 2000, despite opposition from environmentalists, the Ministry of Surface Transport cleared the port. The National Environment Appellate Authority seconded the decision. The green signal was given even thoughthe guidelines of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) state that “no ports, harbours and jetties should be planned within a range of 25 km from any important nesting and congregating site.” Continue reading…
Posted in Blog
|
March 26, 2009
A file photo of turtles nesting
“We are absolutely delighted to see the turtles return to Gahirmatha in tune with their annual sojourn after giving the region a miss in 2007-2008 turtle season.” said Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace India. “However, this episode of mass-nesting cannot be used as a smoke screen by port promoters in projecting that all is fine. It would be dangerous to assume so since this nesting does not mean that the turtles and the adjoining ecologically sensitive areas, including the Bitharkanika National Park are safe .Our concerns, shared by scientists, academics and other conservationists over ongoing dredging operations for construction of the Dhamra Port, and its impacts on the turtles and adjoining areas, remain (2). In the absence of any credible and comprehensive assessment of dredging and port construction activities on these areas, the significant ecological threat persists” he added. Continue reading…
Posted in News
| Tagged Arribada, Gahirmatha, nesting, olive ridley turtle, orissa, Tata, turtles |
March 24, 2009
Greenpeace activists blockade the headquarters of the TATA Group, demanding Mr. Ratan Tata halt construction on TATA’s Dhamra port in Orissa, which threatens the endangered olive ridley sea turtles.
Merriam-Webster has this entry under ‘ta-ta’;
Etymology: baby talk-used to express farewell.
That’s apt, considering that the TATA corporation could soon be making us say goodbye to of one of India’s largest marine reserves - Gahirmatha, and with it one of the world’s few remaining Olive Ridley turtle nesting grounds.
Every year, between 200,000 to 500,000 turtles make their way to the mass nesting beaches of Gahirmatha on India’s east coast. This is just about 12 kilometres away from a giant port being constructed by TATA at Dhamra.
TATA is India’s largest corporation and has a growing international empire, with its recent acquisitions of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus and the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
In India, the company’s reputation for social responsibility has been considerably tarnished over the last decade, and its performance on the Dhamra project is one of the reasons. Continue reading…
Posted in Blog
| Tagged Dhamra port, olive ridleys, Tata, tata nano |
March 2, 2009
The magic words “development, economic growth, employment opportunities” are often used as an excuse to muzzle or silence opposition to environmentally destructive projects. I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of hearing this over the last four years, as I’ve followed the Dhamra port trail. Development and economic growth are of course critical, especially in a state like Orissa, and ports are possibly part of this recipe (whether we need an assembly line of ports like bus stops is another debate altogether), but at what cost? Environmental and allied livelihood concerns blatantly dismissed as affordable trade-offs, a distraction at best, or a vested interest at worst. Well, welcome to the Dhamra Port Project!
Four years ago, November 2004 to be precise, the port area was a thriving habitat in itself, covered with Suadea intertidal grass as far as the eye could see. Circa 2009, it’s a scarred patch, on it’s way to becoming a modern development marvel - concrete and steel; never mind the presence of rare species of crabs, frogs and snakes - not to mention turtles offshore - in pristine habitats which they’ve known as home since time immemorial. Continue reading…
Posted in Blog
| Tagged destructive projects, Dhamra, rare species, Tata, turtles, vested interest |
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