People's Democracy

MAHESHWAR HYDEL PROJECT

MPs Demand Relief, Rehabilitation for Oustees

On May 3, members of parliaments from several political parties, including the BSP, CPI(M), CPI, AGP, SP, FB and RSP, wrote a letter to the prime minister in support of the decision to suspend work on the project of Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited till relief and rehabilitation (R&R) entitlements are completed.

It will be recalled that the ministry of environment and forests has issued a suspension order which was opposed by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Text of the letter to the prime minister is given below.

WE welcome the decision taken by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, suspending the work on the Maheshwar project till the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees/affected persons is brought up to the pace of dam construction as per the terms of the clearance and till the extent of submergence is known. This intervention to ensure prior rehabilitation of the oustees/affected persons will go a long way to constructively address the issue of displacement in development projects.     

We are shocked to learn that the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, instead of welcoming this opportunity to complete the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees/affected persons, has written to you asking you to revoke the order of the MoEF.

The situation of rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees/affected persons has assumed dire proportions and all concerned agencies admit as much. Even the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, in November 2009, had admitted that only three per cent of the oustees/affected persons have been provided house plots and other R&R entitlements. The Shri Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited (fully owned by the S Kumar’s Group) which owns the project, in its reply dated March 9, 2010 in response to the MoEF’s show cause notice, had revealed that while no agricultural land has been given to any oustee/affected person, only 14 per cent had received house plots and a mere  three  per cent  had  received  other R&R entitlements. Allotment of a minimum of two hectares of agricultural  land  was  also  required  by the conditions of the environmental clearance. However, the project authorities by their own admission are yet to even identify agricultural land for the oustees/affected persons. Of the 61 villages whose lands are involved (of these, 22 are those where homesteads will also be submerged), only one has been rehabilitated.

The present situation is that the construction work of the Maheshwar dam is over 80 per cent complete, in clear violation of condition 3(x) of the statutory environmental clearance to the project that required R&R at the same pace as dam construction. Despite this, the MoEF has not used its existing powers to permanently stop the project or revoke the clearance under the Environment Protection Act 1986 but only suspended work till R&R catches up with construction. In these circumstances, we urge you not to take any decision to revoke the Order of the MoEF dated April 23, 2010.

The signatories to the letter were Brajesh Pathak (BSP), Abani Roy (RSP), Barun Mukherjee (FB), Birendra Prashad Vaishya (AGP), Kamal Akhtar (SP), Vir Pal (SP), D Raja (CPI) and Brinda Karat of the CPI(M).