In Saurashtra, locals net big fish with RTI, PILs.

Hitarthpandya: Indian Express; Tue Mar 15 2011,

Rajkot : Known as a laid-back peninsula till not long ago, Saurashtra has suddenly become a hot spot where a number of big-ticket projects in the rapidly industrialsing region are facing fire from the locals, who are putting up a tough fight with the newfound power of RTI and PILs.

From Bhavnagar to Kutch, which covers 70 per cent of Gujarat’s 1650-km-long coast, major upcoming projects are staring at an uncertain fate, thanks to campaigns by peasants and fishermen to save their land and the coasts.

Their fight has led to a string of stay orders from courts and notices from the Union Environment Ministry against ventures of big industrial houses.

Be it against the Nirma cement plant at Mahuva in Bhavnagar district, the proposed nuclear power project in Mithi Virdi, the Shapporji Pallanji thermal power project at Kodinar in Junagadh district, the Essar coal jetty near Salaya in Jamnagar district or the Adani group’s Multi-Product Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) and power project at Mundra in Kutch, locals are up in arms.

There have been setbacks for the protestors too the locals administration’s apathy or adverse court verdicts. But these have failed to dampen spirits. They say it’s about their livelihoods and they simply would not give up.

Months after the Gujarat High Court passed a verdict in favour of Nirma, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on March 12 sent a showcause to the group over its proposed cement plant site at Doliya village. The notice came even as thousands of farmers, led by Mahuva MLA Dr Kanu Kalsaria, of the ruling BJP, are marching towards Gandhinagar with the demand that the project be scarpped since it means salinity ingress in the coastal area.

Today, Gandhians like Chuni Vaidya and the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Congress have lent support to the Mahuva movement.

“In 2008, farmers and women drew my attention towards the project. When I studied the details, I realised Nirma cement plant was proposed on a waterbody (Samdhiyala). From there on, I became a part of the agitation,” said Dr Kalsaria.

Earlier, local women led by Kadviben Bhalia and Dhani Shiyal from Dugheri village and supported by farmers like Bharat Shiyal had already uprooted the fencing pillars of the proposed cement plant.

Similarly, the MPSEZ in Kutch has received a showcause by the MoEF for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 1991. And this came after half-a-decade long struggle by fishermen.

“Be it the state or central government, it’s difficult to get your voices heard. The MoEF notice was a result of several representations made during the last four years, both in Gandhinagar and Delhi,” said Bharat Patel, general secretary of the Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti, a local fishermen’s union formed to take on what they consider non-inclusive development.

With promoters Adani allegedly filling up creeks and destroying mangroves, fishermen at Mundra said they were forced to vacate the coastal villages since marine catch was depleting. They fell on RTI to extract information required to put up a big fight.

Government projects like the nuclear power plant at Mithi Virdi near Bhavnagar city too have become a controversy. There, farmers from nearby villages including Jasapar, Khadarpar, Mandva and Mithivirdi have formed the Bhavnagar Jill Gam Bachav Samiti to register their protest. “The fight is not for land. We want to save livelihoods and lifelines,” said farmer Dadu Aata from Khadarpar village.

Farmers say the nuclear power plant would occupy their fertile land famous for horticulture and the plant would threaten the health of the environment and human beings in the vicinity.

Projects like thermal power plants by Shapoorji Pallonji Energy(Gujarat) Limited and Essar at Kodinar and Salaya respectively too have been facing fire from locals.

If youths like Mayur Parmar and Ranjitsinh Parmar, with support from Balu Socha of Samudra Surakha Sangh, have begun an agitation against the SPEL power project, fishermen and boats owners in Salaya are up against the Essar project. Both groups have filed PILs: Kodinar farmers in the Gujarat High Court and Salaya fishermen in the Supreme Court. “How can we sell off agricultural land ? It is and it will remain our life-support,” said Mayur.