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Dhamra port in violation of the Forest Conservation Act!

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 | 1 Response

Turtles nest; port threat persists : Environmentalists

March 26, 2009

A file photo of turtles nesting

Bhubhaneshwar, India — Greenpeace welcomed the news of return of mass-nesting of Olive Ridley Turtles at Nasi Islands off the Gahirmatha coast. Reports available from the Department of Forests – Wildlife, Government of Orissa suggest that over 100,000 turtles nested en masse at Nasi 2 – Islands (1). The last two seasons have however also witnessed unusually severe erosion of the Gahirmatha Beaches. The length of the Nasi nesting beach has now shrunk to less than a kilometre, thereby significantly reducing the nesting habitat available for mass-nesting of the turtles in the region.

“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 | 4 Responses

Greenpeace files legal notice seeking unconditional apology and damages

March 1, 2009

Bhubaneswar, March 1, 2009: Environmental organisation Greenpeace has served a legal notice for defamation against Oriya daily Samaj, web portal orissadiary.com and the newspaper Nayabati. The notice is in response to a front page article in the Samaj’s Friday February 27, 2009 edition, and a version of the same which appeared on web portal orissadiary.com and in Nayabati on February 28, 2009. The Samaj article had alleged that Greenpeace (and other well known organizations working for turtle protection) have been infiltrated by terrorist elements, who might be considering and planning an attack under the guise of environmental protection. In its notice to the Samaj, Greenpeace has demanded an unconditional public apology and retraction and damages to the extent of Rs. 10 Crores within a period of 7 days, failing which it will approach the judiciary system and courts to seek a resolution on the same.

“It is disquieting that such a libelous and blatantly false article can appear without anyone questioning it. To label organizations working for the protection of Orissa’s environment and wildlife as terrorists or having terror links is not just libel, it is also clearly the work of people who do not have the best interests of the state or the country at heart. We are calling on the management of Samaj to conduct an enquiry into how this article was published, issue a public apology and name the parties responsible”, said Samit Aich, Executive Director, Greenpeace India. Continue reading…

Posted in News | Tagged greenpeace, legal, orissa | Leave a response

Dhamra port controversy: dialogue fails, TATAs refuse to suspend dredging

February 26, 2009

Dredging continues posing irreversible impact on the area.

Bangalore, February 26th, 2009: The dialogue between an alliance of environmental organisations with TATA Steel and other promoters of the Dhamra Port hit a dead end on February 20, 2009, after TATA refused to consider any suspension of dredging work at the port. TATA had earlier committed ‘in principle’ to an independent and comprehensive threat assessment. However, the promoters were unwilling to suspend critical elements of the construction, particularly dredging, which conservationists fear could be causing irreversible harm to the ecology. Suspension of dredging would be fundamental for any scientifically credible and meaningful study to be conducted.

“We find this reluctance to suspend dredging inconsistent with TATA Steel’s commitments to reconsider the project if an independent study were to indicate any environmental threat from the port” said Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace. “It is illogical and dubious science to expect a biological assessment of the area to go on even as large scale habitat alteration from dredging and land filling continues” he added. Continue reading…

Posted in News | Tagged biological threat, Dhamra, olive ridley turtle, Ratan Tata, saltwater crocodile, Tata, Tata steel, tatas, turtles | 9 Responses

TATA shareholders question Dhamra port, company’s environmental performance

August 28, 2008

Gahirmatha's seas are one of the worlds largest breeding areas for the Olive Ridley Turtle. The Dhamra port could signal the end of this habitat forever.

Mumbai, India — Responding to these concerns, Mr. Tata said that he remained committed to reconsidering the Dhamra project if evidence of ecological significance was presented. Ironically, Greenpeace presented this evidence over a year ago via a study done by the North Orissa University (1). The Orissa state government and Dhamra Port Company Limited later attempted to discredit the report by leveling baseless allegations against Greenpeace (2). There was no reply from TATA to the scientific report presented in June 2007. Mr.Tata also attempted to dismiss Greenpeace’s online campaign by saying that the nearly one lakh emails sent were orchestrated. Shockingly, after their offer to dialogue on the controversial issue, Mr. Tata in a sudden turnaround at AGM, when reminded of an open, transparent, and on-record dialogue with him, refused to meet Greenpeace on this issue and said, “…meet Mr. B. Muthuraman or meet our lawyers”. This response summed up the TATA group’s demonstration of a complete lack of environmental sensitivity on this issue. Continue reading…

Posted in News | Tagged Dhamra, ecological significance, environmental group, environmental responsibilities, olive ridley turtle, sanctuary, Tata, tata group, tata shareholders, Tata steel, tatas, turtles | 2 Responses