Apr 24, 2011, 06.31am IST TNN

Mazhar Ali , TNN 29 July 2009, 01:10am ISTPrint Email Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: |

CHANDRAPUR: It appears that Chandrapur citizens have finally realized what loss they will sustain if the mine of Adani Power Limited (APL) is allowed in the core forest area of Lohara near Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). Their strong opposition to the proposed mine was reflected in the total response to a strike call given by conservationists, social organizations and political parties collectively on Tuesday.

The movement to oppose the proposed mine that was underway since one year gained fresh momentum after conservationist Bandu Dhotre began a fast unto death from July 20 before the district collectorate. As the agitation progressed, people in every section of the society understood the importance of preserving Lohara jungle and soon, support began pouring in to the satyagraha started by Dhotre. As his hunger strike entered the 9th day on Tuesday, bandh was called upon unanimously by supporters of Dhotre.

Three major political parties including Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena backed it. The bandh call evoked 100% response and traders in Chandrapur did not open their shops in the main market in the morning. Education institutions too declared holiday and students reaching the schools and colleges were turned back. Even petrol pumps and cinemas were kept closed. However, emergency services such as hospitals and medical shops remained open. No effect of the bandh call was seen on the attendance in government offices and banks.

Several groups of Congress and Shiv Sena supporters, along with those of conservationist organizations, were seen parading along the streets, closing the few shops and institutions that defied the bandh call. Streets and markets wore a deserted look in the afternoon following the bandh call.

Former Congress MP Naresh Pugalia, who was first among the political leaders to declare full support to Dhotre's agitation said, "I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to revoke the permission to all coal blocks allocated around TATR, including Lohara coal block given to APL. The allocation in the core forest area threatening the existence of the tiger is in stark contrast with the policy of union ministry of environment and forests. While I have detailed the disastrous consequences of mining in the forest around Tadoba to PM and other concerned authorities, I will personally take up the issue with them when I reach Delhi."

In light of the fact that Lohara forest acts as a tiger corridor and allowing mining in this rich wildlife habitat will disrupt ecological balance to a disastrous extent, Pugalia has demanded for CBI probe about how APL managed to get coal block allocated in core jungle area. He is likely to fly to Delhi on Wednesday to take up the matter with the authorities concerned.

Meanwhile, support continues to pour in for Bandu Dhotre. On Tuesday, office bearers of Chandrapur Bar Association met Dhotre and declared their full support against the proposed APL mine in Lohara.

"Now, traders, industrialists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, conservationists, ex-forest employees and, most importantly, the common man, stands with me in the fight against APL. The district collector repeatedly tried to pursuade me to give up the fast, claiming that the matter is concerned with union government and there is nothing left to be done at the district level. However, I will not budge till the union coal ministry cancels the allocation of the coal blocks," said Dhtore.

Parvati Chaudhary from Nakoda village lives just about a hundred metres from the local cement factory.Two weeks ago,her 50-yearold husband died of chronic respiratory distress.She alleges that he suffered from asthma for over six years due to exposure to the dust from the plant. Chaudhary is party to a public interest litigation filed by her neighbour Samuel Sundar against the cement company for pollution caused by its new unit.Chandrapur goes into a brand new decade hacking and coughing from the effects of the past.It claims to suffer from many chronic ailments.The sharp-eyed and what big business calls the troublemakerssay its because the town is in a mineral-rich region.It is home to Maharashtras only super thermal power station,coal and limestone mines and sponge iron and cement plants.Its air is so polluted a thick smog routinely reduces visibility to just a few feet every morning and evening.The factories say theyre not to blame,its the townsfolk themselvesevery winter,almost every home burns coal in an open angeethi or local burner.
The smoke from the domestic coal burners may be a factor.But what of harmful gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide,emitted from industrial units.Till now,theres no reliable data on groundwater pollutants but experts say that fluoride from the limestone mines is affecting the water quality.Dr Mahesh Gulwade and Dr Ashok Wasalwar,joint secretaries of the state-level and local chapters respectively of the Indian Medical Association,claim that at least 10% of their patients now suffer from respiratory diseases such as asthma,upper and lower respiratory tract infection,bronchitis,pneumonia,intestinal diseases,skin and eye diseases and even lung cancer.
Paediatrician Dr Gopal Mundhada is president of the Chandrapur Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and points to the most obvious indicator of severe water pollutionfish are dying in the Wardha and Erai rivers near the city.Industries (707 in all) either do not run effluent treatment plants and the electrostatic precipitators or run them only for a few hours to save on electricity bills.They dump effluents in the river.The Pollution Control Board does nothing beyond seizing their bank guarantees,ranging between Rs 1 and Rs 10 lakh,which is peanuts looking at their turnover worth many crores, he says.Environmentalist Bandu Dhotre recalls how even NASA has warned of the possibility of acid rain in Chandrapur district due to rising pollution levels.But the government is still allowing new industries in.
Suresh Chopne,an environmental activist and president of Green Planet Society points to a 2006 study conducted by the zilla parishad,which revealed that 10% of 23,000 screened persons suffered from respiratory disease.The break-up was as follows:
19% asthma
20% bronchitis
17% tuberculosis
19% acute respiratory distress.
There has been no comprehensive follow-up study ever since.Chopne got hold of this information using the Right To Information Act.But he is not triumphant,just downcast.Things wont change until the local and regional leadership takes the issue seriously, he warns gloomily.

Coal mining threatens tigers in Maharashtra reserve Proposals for mining in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve are pending at New Delhi for environmental clearance. Conservationists have warned against proceeding, while the state’s politicians are for the mining.

Coal mining to choke tiger reserve "We are staring at a disaster," says Mukesh Bhandakkar, a field assistant with the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). If the mining proposals get the nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), India should better forget tigers. Mukesh’s fears do not seem exaggerated. The wild cat’s future could only then be a caged existence like that of the three cubs. "I fear the new tiger family will meet the same fate too," says Mukesh. Junona’s wilderness may be lost forever.
As many as 21 new opencast coalmines are threatening to transform Chandrapur city and district into one big coal quarry and overburden dumping ground. Four of these, argue conservationists, would cut the crucial tiger corridors that link the north and south Chandrapur forest divisions. Three of the four captive mines – Lohara-Lohara Extension, Lohara (west) and Agarzari – are in buffer zone of the TATR.
If the proposals get the MoEF nod, the TATR would be rendered an island, where tigers would perish within years. A tiger requires approximately 10 square km of territory to exist, and if that space shrinks, the wild cat doesn’t breed; something that only nature could explain. Currently, tigers from TATR have vast stretches of corridors to go places in north and south Chandrapur divisions during the breeding season. If the mines come up several kms of corridors would be snapped east-west forever.
The first one to come to the area is the Adani Mining Company, a sister concern of the Adani Power Company that has bagged 1750-ha of captive coalmine blocks in Lohara (west) and Lohara extension for its thermal power project in Gondia. Part of the Wardha valley coalfields, the blocks bear an estimated 170 million tons of coal deposits, of which 140 Mt is extractable. Man and machine would go to the depths of 350 metres to extract the coal round
the clock. Already, the Lohara village, which would be acquired for the project, is ready to move with hefty cash compensation being offered by the company.
Nitin Desai, western India head of the WPSI, says that every single tiger left with now is a percentage of the population; Chandrapur has 80 tigers. The mining projects are only going to negate all that conservationists did for years, he points out. "The fact that there’s a tigress with three cubs four months old apart from other wildlife indicates that it’s a flourishing tiger habitat. At what cost are you handing over such inviolate forests to the mining projects then?"

Company ready to minimise impact, damage may be irreparable In a presentation that the Adani group made on December 22, 2008 before the forest officials and NGOs in Nagpur, the former admitted to the destruction through direct and indirect impacts. The presentation was based on the Environment Impact Assessment study. The company noted that the project would destroy forest and the habitat of wild animals, which include of tigers, leopards, sloth bear, wild dogs and some 70 other species. The Lohara forests have a measured density of 0.7-0.8, forest officials say. This, in the forest conservation parlance, is sacrosanct – you cannot touch it.
Sanjeev Dokey, the general manager of Adani Mining, says the company is open to all that would help reduce the impact of mining activity. "The mine life is 40 years; we are dividing it into two halves. We’ll dig western side first and start filling the mined area by the overburden simultaneously, so that no more than 800 hectares of area is under use at one time," he argues.

Fact file: Chandrapur District is home to Maharashtra’s nearly 60 per cent forest By 2007 census, there are over 80 tigers in the protected and reserve forests of the district, about 8-9 per cent of the existing tiger population of the country 21 new coal mines are in pipeline in the district apart from 10 existing ones.
Three of these open cast mines are in buffer zone around the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, one of the last remaining havens for Indian tigers.
The allotted coal blocks sit on TATR buffer zone, or reserve forest that is a rich tiger corridor linking north and south Chandrapur forest divisions.
It has an estimated 300 species of trees and about 70 wild animals.
The biodiversity that will perish is irreplaceable and invaluable.
The Lohara and Lohara (Extension) blocks are allocated to the Adani Mining Ltd as captive source of proposed thermal power plant to come in Tiroda, Gondia.
The Rs.1200 crores project over 1750-ha of forest (with an estimated 0.7 and 0.8 density) will be one of the biggest opencast coalmine in the country.
The company has got a lease of 40 years with an ultimate working depth of 350 metres.
The mine has estimated 140 million tones of extractible coal deposits and a total of 170 million tones of geological reserves.
The company will pay Rs.170 crore in compensation for the forestland.
Murli Agro has bagged the adjoining 700-ha Lohara East coal block, which, if cleared by the MoEF, would along with the Lohara West snap the tiger corridor and kill the last remaining forest reserves.
The coal block in Agarzari spread over 700-ha of forest has been allotted to the Maharashtra State Mining Company (MSMC). It will be an extension to the existing Padmapur coalmine, which has already destroyed vast stretches of forest.
Mines will not only snap the corridor forever, it’ll render the TATR an island; it means a quick death of tigers and other extinct flora and fauna in the zone.
The company would regenerate the mined area immediately, he explains, and adds that not the entire area would be required for mining activity. While admitting that the rigorous round-the-clock mining activity would not only destroy the forest wealth, but also impact the wild life habitat, the Adani Mining Company has shown its commitment to reduce the impact and go to any extent to do conservation.
"The company," Dokey had said during the public hearing in Lohara last year, "is equally concerned, and a detailed survey of flora/fauna and wildlife management from reputed organization, Environsearch Pune has been undertaken. The report of wildlife management will be finalised in consultation with the chief wildlife warden, Maharashtra state, and further it will be submitted to the MoEF for the further decision." Only, there won’t be any forest or wild life left to manage.

Key politicians and officials are in support The issue has also exposed powers-that-be and local politicians, the MLAs and the MPs, who first bitterly opposed it, but later dropped their anti-project stand.
The chairman of the Maharashtra State Mining Corporation (MSMC) and former MLA from Chimur, Avinash Warjukar, believes power, steel and cement are the top priorities before the country. "Unless you give coal fuel to these sectors you can’t generate employment. It’s time we decided if man is important or tiger."
The allotment of coalmine blocks bang in the sensitive buffer zones around the TATR to companies having the backing of powerful politicians has come as a shocker to the conservationists. The open and vocal support to some of these companies, particularly to Adani Mining Company, by Maharashtra forest minister, Babanrao Pachpute, only deepens the fear of the nature lovers.
Pachpute is evidently in favour of the projects. "We’ll do our best to reduce its impact," he told a meeting of conservationists last month in Nagpur, where he openly backed the Adani project and issued a veiled warning to the conservationists to toe his line. The minister instead set up an informal study committee to recommend steps to reduce the impact of mining.
But a top forest official, admits on the condition of anonymity: "If the proposed coal mines get clearance, na bachega bagh, na rahega jungle." His concern: "Even if you pay crores of rupees in compensation for the trees lost or wildlife killed, you can not recreate this forest, which is not man made but a nature’s gift." The biotic interference has grown to such extent that forest won’t grow in the future.
Not all government-controlled bodies are toeing the minister’s line. In a written reply to a query under the RTI Act filed by Swanand Soni, convenor of Ekjut, a local platform of 25 environmental groups, the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) said on 3 December 2008 that the environmental damage that the mines would cause would be irreparable. It will also create huge amount of pollution, which, in the district, has already reached hazardous levels.
"At best they can build a garden but can’t recreate forest wealth and wild life, which is only the nature’s gift," says Soni. He however adds that Ekjut is not opposed to any project or a company, but merely activity in tiger tracts. "We have no objection if the government allots them mining blocks at some other place that does not fall on forest land," he says and adds that the company should finalise its report on impact on wildlife pre and post-mining activity in consultation with some of India’s best-known experts given the gravity of the issue. "You can’t bank on the opinion of only wildlife warden when the issue is of such gravity and covets a decisive policy direction."
Past experience and environmental clearance rejection is basis for hope
Experience however is that forest conservation and mining don’t go hand in hand. The Padampur coalmine, along the Agarzari block allotted freshly to the Maharashtra State Mining Corporation (MSMC) in Chandrapur is an example. The mining has destroyed huge tracts of forest along the TATR boundary apart from dramatically increasing the biotic pressures on the other reserve forests.
Ekjut has demanded that a comprehensive study be undertaken to gauge the impact of all the 21 mines on forests, bio-diversity and human settlements. Soni says the cluster of mines would cut one contiguous forest corridor into several patches, which eventually would perish with the growing biotic interference. "All the country’s experts must study the combined impact of all the mines than the impact of just one mining project of the Adanis," propose the Ekjut members.
Conservationist Bandu Dhotre warns: "Destruction of these forests by the mines will set the ecological time bomb. We’ll lose forever the only oxygen cylinder." That’s not all. The mines would eventually destroy Asia’s only teak germ-plasm bank, started 40 years ago, with about 300 varieties of teak plants. If conserved, India would be able to clone all the teak varieties 60 years from now.
Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, Chandrapur’s frontline conservationist and thinker, says the issue is not local; it’s global, and most importantly, national. "India will have to decide now. Either we protect forests or go ahead with the irreparable destruction of something that only nature can create."
He warns generations would be haunted by an ecological disaster following the destruction of forests. "It’s not just the tiger’s." What’s at stake is ecologically rich forest with an
irreplaceable, invaluable biodiversity, which can’t be valued in cash. The allotted blocks are home to over 300 species of centuries-old trees, official data shows. Some of the trees are such that they can’t be re-planted now due to changing climate and growing human interference, forest officials say.
The conservationists are ready for a protracted battle with the government and the private companies. They have hope from two precedents.
One, exactly ten years ago, the MoEF had rejected the ACC Ltd’s proposal of the Lohara (East) coalmine, the 700-ha forest block now allotted to Murli Agro Ltd adjoining the proposed coalmine of the Adani group. Refusing to issue the crucial environment clearance, the MoEF had then said: "The proposed Lohara (East) coalmine project falls close to the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary and Tadoba Tiger Reserve and would adversely affect the wildlife and bio-diversity of the area."
Two, Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, had in the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties dropped the Bhopalpatnam and Silent Valley projects, for the reason that they would destroy the vastly rich bio-diversity that man could not recreate. Three decades on, conservationists wonder if her vision could come in handy to save the wild cat from near extinction. Or push them into a caged existence forever. ⊕ Article By: Jaideep Hardikar, who is a Nagpur based journalist
For the wild life lovers and conservationists, the news could not have been more heartening. Junona, a tiny hamlet 15km east of Chandrapur tucked in the old and pristine forests of the district, has got a new tiger family: a tigress with three cubs; and if the villagers are to be believed, the robust male (perhaps the father of the cubs) is keeping the company.
a few months back, three abandoned two-month-old cubs found in the same jungle had to be shifted to the Nagpur zoo where they’ll now spend rest of their life in cage. There’s no news of their mother still. But the new family of the wild cat brings hope for the country’s fast-shrinking tigers. This is the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), and that’s where the happy news ends. In a matter of days, the last of tiger havens could be disturbed and eventually destroyed to pave way for the nation’s still unmet thirst for electricity. This jungle sits on rich coal reserves, about to be mined.

Times of India, The, Jul 28, 2009 | by Pinjarkar, Vijay
NAGPUR/CHANDRAPUR: The Congress and Shiv Sena have for the first time come out in the open against mining activity by the Adani group at Lohara near Tadoba. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too had announced its decision to oppose the proposed coal mines. All three parties have also declared their full support for the Chandrapur bandh call on Tuesday.
The bandh call has been given by citizens and traders following unruly and forceful removal of Bandu Dhotre, president of Eco-Pro, to the government hospital on Saturday. Dhotre, who was discharged on Monday, is on a fast-unto-death to oppose the Adani mines. His fast is now into its eighth day.
The cops and district administration are allegedly under pressure from a section of NCP ministers who support the Adani mines. Though, president of Chandrapur district NCP Rajendra Vaidya too has announced his support to the bandh. "People's feelings will be honoured," he said.
Talking to the TOI, ex-MP Naresh Pugalia questioned the viability of Adani mines. "Near Pench Tiger Reserve on NH-7, even four-laning work is being opposed because of wildlife presence. However, the same aspects are not being considered while allotting coal blocks near Tadoba," the senior Congress leader pointed out.
"Not only Adani, I'm opposed to the cluster of open-cast mining activity threatening to come up near Tadoba. I've already apprised the President, prime minister and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and will personally raise the issue when I meet them soon. I'll not allow a single tree to be felled for mining," Pugalia said. "Why does the government want over four lakh people of Chandrapur to suffer pollution from the mines?" he asked.
Earlier, Chandrapur BJP MP Hansraj Ahir and Congress Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar had already apprised Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh about the issue. Now senior Congress leaders Shantaram Potdukhe and Pugalia have joined the anti-Adani movement. Many traders and citizens body has hailed the stand taken by Pugalia.
Dr Gopal Mundhada, president of Chandrapur IMA, said, "Although medical professionals come under emergency services, we will support the bandh by the traders. Doctors are already spreading awareness by telling people about the health hazards of mining. The bandh will be a tool to tell the government that we don't want mining. I hail the stand taken by Pugalia."
Chandrapur district Shiv Sena chief Balu Dhanorkar announced full support to Dhotre. "What Dhotre is doing is correct. Shiv Sena has got a representation from environmentalist Seema Sahu and others. We'll back the bandh on Tuesday."
Meanwhile, Pugalia urged the PM to order a CBI probe into how Adani managed to get the coal blocks in Lohara. The officials concerned should be punished for the mess and mismanagement, he said. For Reprint Rights: timescontent.com

TNN, Jul 29, 2009, 04.35am IST

-- (Credit: APARNA PALLAVI) MPs ask Manmohan Singh to prevent coal mining near tiger reserve



politicians cutting across party lines have opposed coal mining near the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. Till recently they were pushing for fast-tracking clearance to the mining project proposed by the Adani Enterprises.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, members of the Parliament (MPs) from Vidarbha said the proposed Lohara coal mining project in Chandrapur district will devastate the tiger reserve and requested the Central government to give it a second thought.
Political support to the project waned in July in the face of fierce public protests. Environmental activist Bandu Dhotre started a fast-unto-death on July 20. Dhotre's hunger strike gathered support from about 100 environmental organizations that staged protests, including mass head tonsuring and writing letters to the President of India in blood. On July 28, eight MPs from Vidarbha, including the Chandrapur MP Hansraj Ahir earlier supported Lohara mine, wrote to the prime minister demanding that the project be cancelled. Dhotre called off his strike on August 2 after Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh assured no project would be cleared without considering its effect on wildlife and environment.
Dhotre said he will continue his fight. "If the government clears the project, it will face stiff public opposition," he said (see 'Clearing forests for coal', Down To Earth, December 1-15, 2009).
Sudhir Mungantiwar, legislative assembly member from Chandrapur city, said political opposition to the project grew after two facts were revealed: One, a similar coal mining project was turned down in 1997 because underground mining (to minimise damage to the environment) is not possible in Lohara. Two, Adani is the biggest coal importer in India; it supplies coal to the Maharashtra government at an exorbitant rate. "Why can't it use the imported coal for its own power plant instead of mining for it?" he asked.

Times of India, The, Jul 8, 2009 | by Pinjarkar, Vijay
NAGPUR: Bandu Dhotre, founder president of Eco-Pro, a group working for conservation of environment & forests, has decided to launch fast unto death' to oppose proposed coal mining activity by Adani Power Limited (APL) in Lohara core zone near Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). The fast will be launched from July 20 in front of Chandrapur district collectorate.
This is for the second time that Dhotre will be launching fast. Earlier, he was on satyagraha stir during the winter session in Nagpur to oppose cluster of mining activities around Tadoba. The agitation was withdrawn after forest minister Babanrao Pachpute had promised to come out with a justified solution to the issue. On Tuesday, Dhotre said Pachpute, instead of rejecting the Adani mines proposal outright, is determined to clear it and is allegedly mounting pressure on forest officials to do the needful. "If the proposal is cleared, it will lead to destruction of over 13.50 lakh trees in 1750 hectare forest area, which acts as a corridor for wildlife, specially tigers," Dhotre cautioned. Dhotre, who was accompanied by social worker Umesh Choube and his lawyer Neeraj Khandewale, threw light on all the aspects right from man-animal conflict, pollution, geological threats, forests and wildlife. He said, the study group constituted by Pachpute on Adani mines is an eyewash as it has been formed to mitigate the damage but not to oppose the mines around TATR. "I will not withdraw my fast untill permission to Adani and other mines proposed to come up near Tadoba is not cancelled. During winter session, Pachpute misled me. This time I'm not going to budge from my stand," Dhotre told TOI. The allotted mines in Lohara (east) and Lohara (west) had already been rejected earlier to ACC and Nippon by the government in 1999. Dhotre got a shot in arm after Choube also joined his stir against Adani mines. His lawyer Khandewale said, "We are planning to move contempt plea against forest officials who are rushing to clear the Adani proposal. The high court has suo motu taken cognizance of Dhotre's petition against Adani mines. The matter is subjudice and hence officials should not move the proposal ahead. Forest conservation and mining cannot go hand-in-hand."