By Sajay Laloo
When a child weeps, the mother immediately consoles the child and wipes the tears dry. But when the mother weeps, there is a reason for every child to be worried. Right now Mother Earth in Jaintia Hills, weeps.
There is large scale exploitation and destruction of thick forests in Jaintia Hills. In the name of Industrialization, Nature and Mother Earth are being anaesthetized by various policies of the State Government and the District Council to favour their greed. It’s only greed everywhere. The concept of sustainable development and a secured future for our generations is an alien idea. Where are we heading to?
The definition of Forest is yet to be coined in the Dictionaries of both State Government and District Council. A thick population of standing trees which was once known as “Khlo Narpuh” (Narpuh Forest) is not a forest according to the Government of Meghalaya and the District Council. Hence, there is large scale destruction of standing trees and natural habitats with rampant limestone mining and other mining activities in the midst of Narpuh Forest.
Everyday thousands of metric tonnes of limestone are mined all over Jaintia Hills and several acres of forest lands are destroyed. Several hundred trucks of timber are being smuggled every week from various parts of Jaintia Hills. All these activities are taking place openly and the District Council which claims to be the guardian of soil, forest and minerals in the Tribal areas is turning a blind eye to these and behaves like a tamed tiger.
The indigenous tribals of Jaintia Hills are nature worshippers. For the welfare of future generations their forefathers have preserved several forests and water bodies as sacred ones and no one is allowed to disturb or pollute these places. But, in today’s world, these thick sacred forests and preserved water bodies turn out to be gold mines for the timber smugglers and industries in Jaintia Hills.
Mining is not a new profession to the Jaintia people. The Hon’ble High Court of Meghalaya in its order passed in Balios Swer Vrs Govt of Meghalaya and Ors has recognized the tribal knowledge of mining and allowed only traditional mining of limestone and not anything else as it is more nature friendly and less hazardous to environment. The tribal bodies are well versed with the concept of preservation of forest and environment too. In fact they are the main guardians of nature in Jaintia Hills. For example, Myntdu river which supports the lives of thousands in Jowai town is one of the sacred rivers maintained and preserved by the Tribal bodies in Jaintia Hills. No one is allowed to dirty or pollute the river. There are certain stretches of the rivers where even fishing is not allowed and declared prohibited areas to preserve the rich biological diversity of the river. In Jowai alone there are two Sacred groves – Khlo Blai Chyrmang and Khlo Langdoh. Unfortunately, the efforts of the tribal bodies to preserve rivers and sacred groves is paralyzed day by day as there is no cooperation from any corner.
At the current rate of destruction of forest and other natural habitats and with the ignorance of the District Council to check the rampant mining in the forest areas, one can say that soon Jaintia Hills will turn into a ruined district once inhabited by the Royals. I won’t be surprised to see if one day in my life the rocks in the Great Monolith Park at Nartiang are being auctioned off by some authorities. The condition of the area is highly pathetic and there is no maintenance at all. It seems like we are all ashamed of our predecessors and previous rulers who have built such a Great Wonder of the World and left us with a rich natural history.
The Tribal Chiefs who were once the powerful rulers of Jaintia Hills are now Phantoms of the past stories. They are voiceless, powerless in the hands of the District Council. From being the main foundation and pillars of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India, they are now understood to be simply appointees of the District Council who can be removed at anytime at the whims and fancy of the Executive Committee.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India while passing the Judgment and Order in I.A. NOS. 1868, 2091, 2225-2227, 2380, 2568 and 2937 IN WRIT PETITION (C) No. 202 OF 1995 (Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd. Vrs Govt of India and Ors) has mentioned that National Forest Policy Under para 4.3.4.2 the rights and concessions from forests should primarily be for the bonafide use of the communities living within and around forest areas, specially the tribal. The Policy recognizes the fact that the life of tribals and other poor people living within and near forests revolves around forests and therefore the Policy stipulates vide para 4.3.4.3 that the rights and concessions enjoyed by such persons should be fully protected. Para 4.4 deals with diversion of forest lands for non-forest purposes. Under the said para it is stipulated that forest land or land with tree cover should not be treated merely as a resource readily available to be utilised for various projects, but as a national asset which requires to be properly safeguarded for providing sustained benefits to the community.
Thus, keeping in mind the need for providing sustained benefits to the tribal communities in the area the Hon’ble Court directed the Lafarge (a Cement Manufacturing Company) to deposit a sum of Rs 55 crores and also a royalty of Rs 90 per metric tonne on limestone mined from the areas to the account of Special Purpose Vehicle (an implementation body) for the purpose of development of health, education, economy, irrigation and agriculture in the project area of 50 kms solely for the local community and welfare of tribals. It may be mentioned here that from Lafarge alone, the local families residing in and around Nongtrai Village are getting a remuneration of Rs 7000 each per month currently.
With the ban on coal mining, there is a large scale unemployment and starvation all over the district. Had the same system been adopted in Jaintia Hills too, at least several hundred families would be spared from economic harshness and would not feel the brunt of mining ban at all. There are 8 Cement manufacturing companies in Jaintia Hills. The tribal people of the District are straight away loosing Rs 440 crores and also the Rs 90 royalty per metric tonne from limestone which is their right.
Ultimately, where do we point our fingers at and how do we go about it? Sustainable development and afforestration are the only way out to secure our future. Principal polluter should be taken to task and the permanent settlers and communities should reap the benefit of industrial development alongside preservation of protection of Nature and environment.
The world is a beautiful place. Let us preserve its beauty.