POLICE FIRING ON ANTI-EAST COAST THERMAL POWER PROJECT AGITATORS OPDR F.F.C. REPORT

POLICE FIRING ON ANTI-EAST COAST THERMAL POWER PROJECT AGITATORS OPDR F.F.C. REPORT

Srikakulam, 6^th Mar, 2011 : On 28-02-2011, at Vadditandra Village in the north coastal part of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, police opened fire on the agitators fighting against the East Coast Thermal Power Project. To enquiry on the incident, OPDR appointed a fact finding committee. On 5^th and 6^th March, 2011, the committee visited Vadditandra, Kakarapalli, Telugupenta, H.N.Peta, Nagiripenta, Antlavaram, Vaddivada, Akasa Lakkavaram, Seeravanipeta etc. villages and enquired the people of these villages, members of movement committee, the tahsildar of Santhabommali Mandal, the revenue divisional officer of Tekkali, Police officials, the family members of the deceased, the injured people and found certain facts :

1) Supreme Court’s judgment pronounced that “All tanks, ponds, canals, rivers, sea coast etc., are the sole property of the people. Government, on behalf of the people, is a trustee only to protect these natural resources. These are all for the public utility without any hindrances. State Government should not privatize any one of the above public property. As per the Electricity Act 2003, “establishing thermal power projects in cultivating agricultural lands” is prohibited. It is known that wet lands and fertile lands that yield two crops a year are shown as dry lands on record by the Govt. officials and the company and acquired permission to the Bhavanapadu Thermal Power Plant from the Central Government.

2) The claim of the Company that the thermal power project was built in 1240 acres, which was totally a Govt. land is absolutely false. In fact the Company occupied 3333 acres and brought into vogue that it was bought from APIIC.

3) Treating people, agitating peacefully since 200 days, as criminals, and the police from the lowest cadre to the highest official in chorus stating that ‘firing was opened only for self protection’ is travesty of truth. The police killed and the police themselves judge the act as for self protection. Then what for the courts and laws? The claim of the police that only rubber bullets were used is anotherfalsehood. The spinal injury of Bathini Barkaiah occurred only by iron bullets.

4) Why police took thumb impressions on blank papers from the family members of the deceased, Jeeru Nageswara Rao and Seerapu Yerraiah ?

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It is clear that the police used both rubber and iron bullets. Two persons who were injured by iron bullets died, where as the remaining are tossing between life and death. Those who were hit by rubber bullets were left with serious injuries. The smoke bombs used by the police were out dated by 2002 itself. People with in 100 mts. were injured due to smoke bombs.

Law says that the permission of the District’s Highest Executive Magistrate is required by the police to take such action against the agitating masses.

The police, even with the least discretion for children, women and the old, lathi charged and opened fire as if they were fighting with the enemy, burnt houses and fodder (dry gross).Jeeru Nageswara Rao received seven bullet injuries in genital region where as Yerraiah had injuries on hand, and on the left lower chest, killing them and the spinal injuries of Barikaiah show clearly that firing was opened with an intention to kill.

5) The tampara tank extended over 3000 acres approximately is a source of livelihood to the people. 540 fishing families live depending on this tank. Since 1945, they are paying

lease to the Government. Thousands of families earn their food by selling the gross (Tunga – used for the roofs of thatched houses) grown in the waters of the tank. 20000 acres of land is irrigated under this tank directly or indirectly, apart from fulfilling the drinking water requirement.

6) In spite of the Govt’s. order to pay compensation not only to those who lost their cultivating lands, but also to those that lost their livelihood, none was paid compensation. Neither the Thermal Project owners, nor the Government have concern in this regard.

People loosing their livelihood, cultivating lands and shelter, all united and agitating peacefully against the Thermal Power Project, fighting for their ‘Right to Live’ is absolutely justified and constitutional.

7) 70% of power in the country is generated through thermal projects. Because of the pollution caused thermal power Projects should not be established in future.

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In Andhra Pradesh10000 M.W. power is obtained from various resources, deficit is just 3000 M.W. But, the Govt. gave permission to 35 power plants, with a projected generation of 40000 M.W. Though the Govt. is not disclosing the purpose of this disproportionately high generation of power, it is known that the power will be utilized

in the petroleum and petro-chemical industries, to be established in the coastal area. Both are highly polluting industries. Thermal power projects in the state burn 1 lakh tons of coal per day, resulting in pollution of water, soil and air. If 4 C. increase of temperature is added to the existing atmospheric temperature, the Himalayan snow melts resulting in the increase of water levels in the sea up to 6 feet, submerging all the coastal regions permanently leading to the death of millions of people. The Govt. has dedicated itself to transform the state into an ocean of pollution. The capitalist system, dependent on foreign countries is being implemented by the Govt. subsequently lead to such anti-people practices.

In our country 13000 M.W. power only is generated through wind mills- 4900 M.W. in Tamil Nadu, 2900 M.W. in Maharashtra, 1500 M.W. in Karnataka where as our state is generating a meagre 136 M.W. power through wind mills. We need to concentrate on wind power (Wind Power in China 25000 M.W, America 36000 M.W., Germany 25000 M.W) It is highly necessary to think off alternative power generating resources like tydal and solar energy.

We request all the democratic forces to come on to a single platform, leaving all the district territorial and regional differences, to fight against the disastrous industrialization, which ultimately converts the state, an ocean of pollution.

Demands :-

1) Rs.20.00 lakhs to the deceased and Rs.10.00 lakhs to the injured must be paid to the families immediately.

2) The criminal cases imposed on 315 people of various villages must be withdrawn unconditionally and those imprisoned must be released immediately.

3) Criminal cases must be filed on the police officers, that are causative to the death of Jeeru Nageswara Rao and Seerapu Yerraiah and be prosecuted under IPC Section 302.

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4) The environment permission issued to east coast thermal power plant must be cancelled. The pre-existing tank must be restored.

5) A criminal case must be filed against the revenue officials and Company owners, for misleading the Central Environment Department with their false report stating cultivating lands as dry lands and be prosecuted.

6) Names of the share holders, board of directors, details of shares they hold and how could they get these shares etc, must be revealed immediately.

7) New houses must be constructed and given to the people of Vadditandra village that lost their houses. People who lost household utensils, cloths, food grains etc. must be given adequate compensation and new ration cards must be issued to those whose houses were burnt.

F.F.C. Members :-

1) Ch.Sudhakara Rao, State President, OPDR.

2) V.Narayana Reddy, OPDR Organizing Secretary &

Advocate, Hyderabad.

3) Chayaraj, Poet, Writer, Janasahithi.

One private party has cornered most of Andhra Pradesh coastline- Demand for a comprehensive investigation-EAS Sharma

E.A.S.Sarma Visakhapatnam

14-40-4/1 Gokhale Road March 6, 2011

Maharanipeta

Visakhapatnam 530002

Tel. Nos. 0891-6619858/ 9866021646

To

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Subject:- One private party has cornered most of Andhra Pradesh coastline- Demand for a comprehensive investigation

I have come across a highly disturbing report on the above subject in one of the local language news papers today. I have enclosed a copy of the same for your ready reference. Someone could translate it into English for your perusal.

During the last five to six years, private agencies have scrambled to get command over three national resources, land, minerals and access to the sea through the coastline. Unethical politicians and civil servants have colluded with them to make it possible.

The case in point is the way some political leaders have handed over large stretches of the AP coastline to a single family at a throwaway price and with an “exclusive” right over it. The same family has taken control of the other two scarce national resources, namely, land and minerals, in a fairly significant measure. All this has happened with the State government openly contravening its own law, the AP Infrastructure Development Enabling Act, 2001 (Act No. 36 of 2001) that made it mandatory for the State government to go through the competitive bidding procedure for allotting resources for all mega projects.

This is a case of gross defiance of the Directive Principles enshrined in sub-clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 the Constitution that read as follows.

“The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing

(b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;

(c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment”

The coastline is in the nature of a public resource and the government can at best be a trustee for managing the same on behalf of the people. Alienation of such a public resource, I am afraid, goes counter to the Doctrine of Public Trust, a judical principle well established by the courts in India and elsewhere.

In the Indian conditions, the maximum requirement of a typical port is perhaps 25 to 30 kilometres. Visakhapatnam, a major port in operation since 1930, has a coastline of hardly 15 km. In Andhra Pradesh, in the name of developing “non-major” private ports, the political leaders have grabbed most of the coastline and allotted the lion’s share of it to one family. Smaller but fairly sizeable stretches have similarly been allotted to the other favoured private parties on a nomination basis.

AP has a coastline of 975 km, out of which 346 km has been handed over to a single family, operating with different names from three different locations. These three ports are Krishnapatnam, Vanpic and Machlipatnam, all promoted by a single family. The State’s leaders have not only allocated the coastline but, in the guise of “Port Exclusive Zone” (similar to SEZ?), the water front extending over thousands of hectares. This is unheard of in terms of the sheer magnitude of the plunder of a scarce national resource like the sea coast. I am told that a similar modus operndi is being adopted in the other States as well.

I am aware that the so called “major ports” are at Item 27 of the Union List whereas the so called “non-major ports” are at Item 31 of the Concurrentn list. While the distinction between the two is no longer clear, it has been misused by the State’s politicians to plunder the nation and its water front.

I believe that the case of one family cornering the State’s coastline to the detriment of the public good represents a scam comparable to the 2-G and S-Band spectrum cases. From the public’s point of view, I demand that the Central government intervenes in the matter and takes such action that would put a stop to this loot and save the country’s limited coastline. I have the following suggestions for your consideration.

1. The proposal to enact the Indian Ports Act by merging the existing Major Ports Act, 1963 and the Indian Ports Act of 1908 should be quickly transformed into an Ordnance and promulgated with immediate effect to empower the Central government to step in and save India’s coastline from these unethical marauders trying to grab the coast to aggrandize themselves and their political associates
2. Restrict through the Ordnance the limit of the coastline to 20-30 km per port with no exclusive rights.
3. Constitute an inter-disciplinary team of investigating agencies including CBI, Enforcement Directorate, CBDT, RAW and others to trace the funds of the family in question to ascertain its domestic and external investments, especially its links to the tax havens abroad in Mauritius, Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and so on. My letter of January 13, 2009 already referred to such clandestine investments.
4. This family has apparently obtained many other mega projects pertaining to mining, thermal power plants, metro projects etc. The investigation cited above should be comprehensive enough to cover all such projects that have come up in violation of AP Infrastructure Development Enabling Act, 2001 (Act No. 36 of 2001) as far AP is concerned. It is suspected that this family has links to projects in the other States of India and even other countries.
5. The same team should look at similar plunder of the national resources in the other States as well.
6. In all these cases of moneys stashed abroad, it is possible that there are serious national security implications that need to be investigated

The ongoing proceedings before the Hon’ble Supreme Court on black money may have direct relevance to the cases I have mentioned above. The quantum of black money stashed abroad by these families is a direct index of the magnitude of corruption in politics and the severity of crime committed within India. It is not confined to tax evasion. It is much more than that. The government seems to take shelter behind the bilateral tax treaties to hide the names of the owners of the black moneys in foreign banks. Such tax treaties cannot condone the concealment of the facts when the moneys involved also represent the much larger crimes committed by these anti-social elements.

Mr. Prime Minister, I hope you will acknowledge the receipt of this letter and proceed on the lines suggested above. Delay of action in such matters will amount to abetment of these offences on the part of the government.

Regards,

Yours sincerely

E.A.S.Sarma

Former Secretary to GOI

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E.A.S.Sarma

14-40-4/1 Gokhale Road

Maharanipeta

Visakhapatnam 530002

Mobile: 91-9866021646

Website: http://eassarma.in

Review of Bhavanapadu TPP of ECEPL by EAC should not be an Eye-Wash !-Capt J.Ramarao

Review of Bhavanapadu TPP of ECEPL by EAC should not be an Eye-Wash !-Capt J.Ramarao

Further to letter dated 01-03-2011 regarding Bhavanapadu TPP, this is to bring to your kind attention, the preemptive efforts of ECEPL to dilute the review, by giving front page advertisements in the News Papers stating that they have complied with all Laws & Regulations, all Permits and Clearance obtained, submitting a factual report to EAC on steps taken in full compliance of stipulations and to demonstrate that there have been no violations of any condition whatsoever etc .

Why Review by EAC at this Stage ?

Time and again the suppression of facts & ground realities by the project proponent and the concerned State Govt agencies, just to hasten the formality of getting EC, had been brought to the notice of EAC, MOEF and the State Govt, both before EC was granted and there after. But unfortunately the EAC ignored all the representations, including the observations of its Sub-Committee regarding the ground realities about Naupada Swamps and recommended the project for E.C and MoEF had chosen to issue the EC for the project by its Letter dated 2-4-2009 and remained silent spectator there after.

In the 17 th Meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wild Life held on 22-12-2009, under the chairmanship of the Minister for E&F, the site inspection report of Dr.Asad Rahmani and Dr, Asha Rajvanshi had clearly stated that Naupada Swamps area was an excellent habitat for Migratory Birds and was classified as IBAS. It also stated that the entire area of the project, starting from the approach road to the project site is marshy land and the EIA Report ignored Bio diversity of the area.

The National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) in its order dated 30-08-2010 observed that even after leaving 500 acres of land in southern portion, the remaining area, was still found to be a marshy. The Authority also observed that various reports in this regard, including that of sub-committee of EAC were found to be incorrect. The EAC and in turn the MOEF has relied on these reports for granting E.C for the project.

Justice Delayed - Justice Denied

After a lapse of nearly two years and Police Firing on 28^th February 2011, leading to killing of two and injuring many innocent, peaceful & unarmed protestors, and a question was raised in Parliament on the subject, the MOEF reacted to the situation, as if it is a fresh case. If only the MOEF had been sensitive, responsive, proactive and not yielded to political pressures, the unfortunate incident could have been avoided. As long as we do not have an independent and autonomous Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for strict enforcement of Environmental Law, we will continue to be terrorized and be the victims of GDP oriented Development and Corporate Terrorists.

Review by EAC is Irrelevant

As the EC granted by MoEF to Bhavanapadu TPP,is based on misleading information, and suppression of the ground realities , the EC is liable for cancellation in accordance with Paragraph 8 (vi) of EIA Notification of 2006.What useful purpose will be served by taking up review of compliance of conditions of E C by the EAC which is a party for recommending E C based on incorrect / misleading reports/ information? It will only result in further delay.

Swift and Decisive Action Required

The E.C granted to Bhavanapadu TPP at the present location, based on incorrect reports as observed by NEAA,, be cancelled by MOEF which is the competent Regulatory Authority, after giving a personal hearing to the Project Proponent, and following the principles of natural justice, with out delaying further by going through the process of EAC Meeting which has become irrelevant now.

The G.O.Ms.No 1108 of 15-09-2008 allotting Govt Wetlands to the project be cancelled by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in compliance with Hon’ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 28, January, 2011 in Civil Appeal No.1132/2011 with regard to Common Lands.

Necessary penal action be considered & initiated in accordance with Sections 15, 17 and 19 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, against the Officials responsible for suppressing the ground realities & submitting incorrect reports in respect of the project.

Protests against Kakaraplle firing incident

Dear all,

State wide protests were held by NAPM, APVVU, HRF, and many other civil society groups yesterday on 1st March 2011.

Hyderabad -

· NAPM organised a dharna at Dharna Chowk in Indira Park. Well known Singer and Telengana Activist Gaddar, MLC Chukka Ramaiah, Vasanta Kannabhiran, S.Jeevan Kumar (President of HRF), Veda Kumar, and many other activist friends and members of NAPM have attended the Dharna. Media persons too attended in full strength. Jeevan explained about the situation which led to the firing on 28th February. Gaddar expressed his shock and his connection to Srikakulam. Chukka Ramaiah said that these were the winds of revolution coming from Srikakulam. Dr. K. Babu Rao, spoke of the need to rethink about Coal based Energy. Ramakrishna Raju Convener of NAPM convened the Dharna and spoke about the various actions taken by NAPM on this issue. NAPM demanded for an immediate withdrawal of police force, cacellation of the project, punitive action against the revenue officials, Collector and SP who were responsible for the events, and also demanded for a Judicial Inquiry on the issue. Gaddar and other eminent personalities have proposed to visit Kakrapalli very soon.

· APCLC conducted a protest in solidarity for the people of Kakrapalli at Ambedkar Statue near Tankbund.

Srikakulam -

· An all party action committee called for a Bandh in Srikakulam district which was successful especially in Srikakulam town, Tekkali, and Sompeta.

· Paryavarana Parirakshana Sangham of Sompeta movement, visited the affected villages and supplied them with food, medicines and clothes to the affected families.

Visakhapatnam -

· CPI, CPM, CPIML(ND), CPIML(Liberation), APKIMS conducted Rasta Roka at Maddelapalem NH5 junction in Visakhapatnam City.

· Federation of Traditional Fisherfolk did a Dharna in front of the Collectorate in Visakhapatnam and demanded for the Dismissal of the Collector and SP and Cancellation of all Thermal Power Projects in Coastal Areas.

· Fisher folk submitted memorandums to Tehsildars in Nakkapalli and Paykaraopet Mandals, asking for the withdrawal of police force and withdrawal of cases filed against the villagers.

· APVVU-NAPM did a dharna from 10-5 in Anakapalli, after which they took out a rally and submitted a Memorandum to the Tehsildar.

Mahboobnagar-

· APVVU-NAPM did a rally and went to submitted a memorandum to the MRO, but since the office was closed, they stuck the memorandum to the office doors.

Nellore -

· Jana Vigyan Vedika and APVVU conducted a Candle Light Vigil in Nellore town. Activists from Anantapur too joined in.

Chittoor -

· In Pileru, APVVU-NAPM took out a rally and submitted a Memorandum to the Tehsildar.

Kurnool-

· In Kurnool too, NAPM-APVVU took out a rally and submitted a Memorandum to the Tehsildar.

West Godavari-

· A press meet condemning the killings of Kakrapalli was organised by Babjee of APVVU.

Prakasam -

· In Naguluppalapadu Mandal, the Thermal Vidyut Vyatireka Porata Samiti did a Rasta Roko at the Naguluppalapadu Junction. They then called for a Bandh in the mandal which was complete with shutting down of all offices including post offices.

Karimnagar -

· NAPM members of Godavari Khani will under take dharna and rally on 1st March 2011.

NELLORE. Jvv and other organisations like APCLC and NGO s lit candles on evening of 1st march.Hundreds participated.Apart from demanding no more power plant constructions , each victim of Kakrapalli should get 20 lakh compensation.Dr. G.Vijaya kumar