By H H Mohrmen
In Meghalaya like anywhere else in the World it has become a routine affair or a formality to celebrate World Environment Day. This year since the day falls on Sunday, all government functions were either observed a day earlier or postponed, to adjust to the convenience of the officials. We adjust to our convenience even on an important issue as the protection of the environment. This is the general attitude of people all over; we do not take the environment seriously as we only celebrate the day to suit our convenience.
We put it off; we say we’ll do it tomorrow or ask, ‘What I can alone do anyway?’ We assume that if a single individual pollutes or litters it will not make any difference at all, so we continue with what we are used to doing. But the most unfortunate situation is when we feel helpless and see no hope around and conclude that since we are in a minority we can’t do anything at all to protect or preserve the environment.
In more than two decades of campaigning for protection of the environment, we were threatened; our meetings were sabotaged, we were forced to stop what was meant to be a private meeting because mine owners gheraoed the place where the meeting was supposed to be held. And I was even detained in the police station for, “speaking for those who cannot speak- the forest, the animals and the nature.” At times we also are frustrated yet we continue to advocate for the cause and try to make people see the light – that rat hole mining is illegal. In fact in Meghalaya, any kind of mining as such is detrimental to the environment and the future prospects of the society, because we still do not have any mechanism to regulate and monitor the activities.
We were up against the odds not only because the miners or the mining lobbies were against us, but even the government was against us. It all started when people were fed with false propaganda. Common people were made to believe that since mining is a customary practice of the tribals the state was exempted from the purview of any central mining laws and regulations. This lie was allowed to continue for more than four decades. The popular but false urban legend that was doing the rounds for more than forty years was that the former MP G.G. Swell was able to convince the central government to exempt the state from the purview of any Central government mining regulations. We were made to believe that since the state falls under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and we have a unique land tenure system, so Meghalaya remains outside the purview of any Central mining laws or Forest Acts.
But the NGT ban on rat hole mining proved all that assumption wrong and our common held position that mining in Meghalaya is illegal because it has violated all mining and environment laws of the country stand vindicated. Now after the NGT had granted the request of the coal mine owners to temporarily exempt them from the ban and allow them to transport the extracted coal is over, the question is what next?
To our utter surprise, instead of compelling the government to come up with policy to regulate mining in the state, we saw numerous organizations making a bee-line to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the state capital to request him to intervene and do something to lift the NGT ban on coal mining from the state.
How can we expect the NGT to lift the ban if there is no effort from the state to set right the wrongs? The NGT banned rat hole mining because it is the main cause of water pollution in many rivers in East and West Jaintia hills, yet many organizations are seeking PM’s intervention to lift the ban in spite of all the damage that has been done to the environment. According to media reports one of the organizations which managed to get audience with the Prime Minister is the Synjuk ki Waheh Chnong East Jaintia hills and the issue of ban on rat hole mining was the main agenda of the organisation’s meeting with the Prime Minister.
The Frontier Chamber of Commerce (FCC) under the leadership of P.D. Chokhani, Sajjan Kumar Tharad, O.P. Agarwala, K.K. Jhunjhunwala, J.P. Agarwala and Manoj Agarwala which had also submitted a memorandum of demand requesting the PM to intervene and see that the NGT ban is lifted.
FCC claims that ban or coal mining is an impediment to the overall development of the state, but the question is whether the proposed overall development of the state in the FCC trajectory also includes the people who live downstream of the dead rivers. How can we expect development in those areas when the rivers which are the lifelines of the region are all dead? Who among the leaders of the FCC had ever made a visit to the village in the downstream of the dead rivers? How can the state achieve overall development when a section of the society had lost their very means of livelihood because the water in their rivers is polluted?
If overall development of the state is the real focus of FCC, then instead of requesting the PM to find out ways and means to lift the ban on mining, it should first impress upon the PM to advice the central pollution control board to find out ways and means to reclaim all the dead rivers polluted by coal mining. But, if the FCC is talking about the overall development of the state, and at the same time demands that the PM see that the ban is lifted only proves that FCC is selfish and it is only concerned about the interests of the business community of the state capital only.
Another organization which met the PM was the Confederation of Industries of Meghalaya (CIM) led by its President Banwasri Lal Bajaj. This organization also submitted a memorandum to the PM requesting him to see that the supply of coal; which is the key mineral for cement production is not affected. CIM’s president also stated that more than 5,000 crore was invested in setting up the cement industries in the region and if NGT ban on coal mining continues then it will definitely have a drastic effect on the companies. The president of the organization also claimed that the cement industries in the region are providing direct employment to over 10,000 families in the state.
Claims of providing employment to the locals is one, but proving physical evidence that the companies had really employed large numbers of local people in their respective plants is another thing. In the first few years since the industries started operations they were provided with tax holidays and huge subsidies from the government. The question is whether any of the cement plants share the information of the benefits that they derive from such policies with the public?
The question is how much subsidy has the companies received since inception? And how much have they given back in return? But the most pertinent question is a detailed account of how they execute their Corporate Social Responsibility in the region or in the state? The state and its people have the right to know and if the companies are really fair and transparent in their operations they should make all the information public on where and how they spend their CSR. What has been done to the exhausted mines or coal quarries is another important question?
Why do the major cement companies have their corporate offices in Guwahati and Kolkata and not in Shillong, Jowai or Khliehriat? The other question that needs to be asked is what is the status of all the caves in the Narpuh area? Is it safe for anybody to enter the caves or isn’t it true that all the caves in the Lumshnong area have been damaged by limestone mining? So while we celebrate the World Environment Day let us also ask ourselves these difficult and uncomfortable questions.
The inconvenient truth about mining in Meghalaya is that despite mining having caused irreparable damage to the environment, yet we continue to lobby for mining as if nothing has happened. To what ends greed? And must the indigenous people of Meghalaya pay the costs for the profits made my these shark companies?