By Patricia Mukhim
Not many pay attention to what is discussed in the District Council sessions; only journalists do because they have to report the meaty part of the discussions. Titoswell Chyne, the MDC from Sohra, pointed out that quarrying cannot be stopped arbitrarily because it affects livelihoods. The problem with such assertions by politicians is that they get away with their audacious statements without relying on data and statistics. A similar tone echoed when the Supreme Court banned timber felling for ten years from 1996-2006. There was an outcry that people reliant on lumbering were starving. Of course, no one could produce a single documented proof of the person/persons who were indeed starving. We are well aware that the owners of forests are not the poor and lowly. The owners are the tribal elite who are now in a hurry to get rich while the forests last.
In so many decades, I have yet to hear a single MLA or MDC arguing on behalf of the environment. Others who wax eloquent about culture and speak of, “Ka Mei Ramew,” do so only in their songs. In fact, it has become a Khasi trademark to sing about every problem under the sun and leave it at that. The environment today needs advocates who will step out of their comfort zones and take up cudgels on its behalf.
Every visitor to this state who travels to Dawki via Pynursla is appalled at the massive quarrying that has not just defaced the earth and gobbled up the forests but which might create a scenario where a whole hill will come down and flatten up the whole space. Think of the pace at which this is happening in every part of Meghalaya. Forests are reservoirs of water but one wonders what the State Forest Department is doing other than sitting on its haunches. In fact, the Forest Department seems to oversee deforestation and granting mining/quarrying rights to all manner of people. The Department appears to be working at the behest of politicians and not following the various sections of the Forest Conservation Act.
March 21 is observed as World Forestry Day and the theme this year is, “Forests and Innovation: New Solutions for a Better World.” Alas! Very little is heard about the observance of this day in Meghalaya. Even World Environment Day is observed as a symbolic gesture of planting trees that don’t survive the winters. Everywhere one travels in the Khasi-Jaintia hills, large scale deforestation stares us in the face. But who cares? In this state there isn’t a single pressure group to advocate for forest protection and end the horror of reckless, unregulated quarrying. Why? Why is this subject not sexy enough to be taken up in the way that the Inner Line Permit is? Very often we express great concern about influx and all that rhetoric which is not based on statistics. The non-tribal is the best bogeyman for us. Just raise the issue of the non-tribal as the perpetual exploiter of our economy and create a fear psychosis and you have very sexy politics and many takers. People here don’t reason and don’t have the guts to call the bluff of the so-called pressure groups that survive by extorting the very people they tell others are exploiting this state and its economy. Can there be greater hypocrisy than this?
If we claim to be tribals and indigenous as we proudly love to do, don’t we also know that forests are carbon sinks that absorb greenhouse gases and thereby harbour an incredible amount of biodiversity. We are at a juncture where climate change is not just imminent but is staring at us. All of us are guilty of remaining silent in the face of the gallivanting greed to cut down trees to free the land for quarrying and mining. We are all aware that the loss of forest cover is irredeemable because trees take time to grow to a reasonable height and become carbon sinks.
The death of a senior Forest Officer by suicide has created some consternation amongst his fraternity. They have sought for CBI enquiry. What was the pressure that this officer was under which forced him to end his life? Or did he really end his life? Some of the narratives of those present at the crime scene do not add up. The CCTV was not on. The officer was allegedly ready to leave for Delhi and had asked his driver to come early. What is surprising is that there is no pressure from his community here in Shillong or his place of residence – Manipur to push for a thorough investigation into the case. The officer leaves behind his wife and a young daughter studying in Class 4.
Quite a few in the lower rung of the Forest Department too are feeling the pressure from politicians who acquiesce to mining and other lobbies to declare forests as non-forest lands. Is the Forest Department concerned enough to seek a CBI enquiry? What baggage do the higher officials of the State Forest Department carry with them? Are they committed to their task of saving the forests and other resources of a state they will be leaving soon after their retirement? Do they lead by example in taking hard decisions even if they have to veto their political bosses? I suppose that is asking for too much. But isn’t that what a moral fibre is all about?
A person heading the Department needs to lead by example and have a vision. But as far as the State Forest Department is concerned, it’s a case of wilful blindness. This is living a lie and the worst sort of lie. Its subtle. It avails itself of easy rationalization. Wilful blindness is the refusal to know something that could be known. It is the refusal to admit that the knocking sound means someone at the door. It is refusal to acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room, the elephant under the carpet, the skeleton in the closet.
Most people in government struggle with this dilemma. We tend to generalise that all government employees are corrupt. Not all of them are and they are the few that blow the whistle on corruption. Sample this situation which many officials face on a daily basis. Someone power-hungry makes a new rule at the workplace. It’s unnecessary. It’s counterproductive. It’s an irritant. It removes some of the pleasure and meaning from their work. But they tell themselves it’s all right. It’s not worth complaining about. Then it happens again. They have already trained themselves to allow such things, by failing to react the first time. They’re a little less courageous. Meanwhile their opponent, unopposed, is a little bit stronger. The institution is a little more corrupt. The process of bureaucratic stagnation and oppression is underway and they have contributed by pretending that it was OK. Why not complain? Why not take a stand? If one or two persons do, others equally afraid to speak up may come to their defence. And if not, maybe its time for a revolution. Maybe they should find a job somewhere else where their soul is in less danger of corruption. But to give in to corruption because it’s the easy way out is to sell our souls and we are doing it with our eyes open.
This goes for the short-sighted District Council MDCs too whose task it is to conserve our natural resources; not to exploit them on the plea of creating livelihoods? The way they rationalise and argue on behalf of the quarry owners is because these are the same people who fund elections. How many families are benefitting from the ruthless quarrying? Do the District Councils have any statistics to back up their claims? This is no longer a world where oral claims can win the day. And why do the District Councils not talk about the state of our rivers in Meghalaya? Why are their lips sealed on these non-sexy issues? Why is their attention always focussed on exploiting nature? This bluff must be called out sooner than later. We cannot wait till the forests have disappeared.
Recently this paper did a story of how limestone is about to be mined by corporates in a big way in Assam’s Dima Hasao district adjoining East Jaintia Hills which has the potential to destroy Krem Liatprah, one of the longest caves in South Asia and other heritage caves in the district. We pursued the matter with Jaintia Hills District Council but till date nothing has been done to safeguard this future damnation.
Looks like it’s a free for all as far as the environment is concerned until a day arrives when we will not have water to drink as is happening in other states of India. Beware who we elect as MDCs, MLAs and MPs and who we appoint to positions of responsibility in our state!