Recently the Chief Minister announced that several more cement companies are awaiting licenses for operating in Meghalaya. The question to be asked is whether Meghalaya can take the burden of so many cement companies? Is there another state in this country where cement companies are concentrated in a particular region of the state? Jaintia Hills already has a glut of cement companies (8 in a single district) and many more in the queue. Interestingly no one seems bothered. There are a couple of environmental groups operating from Jaintia Hills but they do not have the clout to bring about a social transformation in a society where people seem to have sold their souls to the cement companies and where the sons and daughters of the soil are themselves exploiting coal from the heart of mother nature thereby destroying the fragile eco-system.
The United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Forum speaks about the need to prevent extractive industries in lands belonging to indigenous people. However, even if industries have to come up for the purpose of development then the UN states very clearly that it is important to apply the principle of ‘Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) whereby those who are most likely to be affected by the industries are adequately protected and compensated and even if they are to be relocated than the rehabilitation package they receive should be sustainable throughout their lives. From what is happening in Jaintia Hills and other coal mining areas of Meghalaya none of this is taken into account. We have the Single Window Agency for clearing such projects which are more concerned about the profitability of the companies instead of the long term impacts on the environment such as the poisoning of rivers and the large scale erosion of soil through reckless mining and quarrying and above all the people!
The Constitution of India is very clear that community rights supercede individual rights and that the state has control over minerals that occur under the earth’s surface. Because Meghalaya is a Sixth Scheduled area, the Constitution allows it certain privileges on the argument that in these schedule areas land belongs to the community and therefore community leaders are more capable of conserving such lands for the greater benefit of the community. This we know is a myth today. In Meghalaya huge tracts of community land have become private land and are leased out to cement companies, perhaps even clandestinely sold to them. We will never know how such clandestine deals are struck unless we go to the root of the matter. This is the most difficult part since private deals are by nature ‘private’ and do not allow for legal intrusion by interested bodies. Surely there has to be a way out. But until then the cement companies and coal mine owners must be held accountable under corporate social responsibility clauses. And CSR is certainly not just donating a toilet here or a bus shed there or doing some petty social service. It means payment through legal channels for the greater good of the community. Will the Government of Meghalaya hold the companies and individuals responsible?