Nagpur's dilemma: coal or metropolitan region?

Rich coal deposits in areas around Nagpur have thrown a spanner into the proposed development plans of the Nagpur Metropolitan Region. The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) has been working overtime the past few months on developing the metropolitan area, on the lines of Mumbai and Pune metropolitan areas. In a letter addressed to NIT chairman Pravin Darade, chairman-cum-managing director of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Dinesh Garg, has asked NIT to seek no-objection certificates from WCL before sanctioning any layout under the regional development plan because of rich deposits of coal in areas like Hingna, Saoner and Kamptee, which fall within a 40 km radius of Nagpur city.

‘Forest department is the encroacher’

Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act was enacted 15 years ago. Do you feel helpless because it has not yet been implemented? As the minister of panchayati raj, my first job is to remind people about the existence of PESA. If need arises I can go for further legislation to ensure that states comply with the provisions of PESA. For this, I will talk to chief ministers and ministers in charge of panchayati raj activities. Interviewee:  V Kishore Chand...

A march to highlight land struggles in India

Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, this year is going to witness a new movement. Activists belonging to a non-profit, Ekta Parishad, will undertake a Jan Satyagraha Samwad Yatra to highlight the ongoing land and livelihood struggles across the country.

MIHAN forced solution comes undone

It was a meeting which promised to draw the final curtain on land acquisition for the MIHAN special economic zone (SEZ) in Nagpur, Maharashtra. But it led to another round of conflict between residents and authorities, belying official claims that the problem, hanging fire for the past several years, has been resolved.

Nepal needs SEZ booster for its floundering economy

It is eight years now since the Nepal government mooted the idea of introducing special economic zones (SEZs) in the country to boost its sagging exports and attract foreign investment. To this end, the SEZ Bill was tabled in Parliament two years ago, but it is yet to be approved. As a result, SEZs remain a concept on paper.

Energy V Environment

Matters reached a head earlier this year when the prime minister assured the power ministers’ conference the government would decide within a month about power projects which were ready in all respects except for environment clearance. At a meeting convened by the prime minister’s office, the Kayamkulam project in Kerala was the only one granted clearance. The rest were returned for further clarifications. The meeting, at a later date, drew up an action plan to decide the fate of 33 projects.

Lessons from Kakarapalli

We were standing at the edge of what looked like a swamp—grass and pools and streams. On one side was heavily barricaded land with high walls, barbed wires and armed security. A board read: East Coast Energy, Kakarapalli. This was where a bloody battle had taken place a few months ago. People protesting the takeover of their wetland were shot at and three lost their lives. Now the site of the 2,640 MW thermal power plant is under siege—locked and in court.

Is new land bill up to mark?

Even as farmers protest land acquisitions across India, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) unveiled the draft national land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement bill. Released on July 29, the bill promises higher compensation to land owners and incorporates comprehensive rehabilitation package for even the landless people affected by takeovers. The draft has also introduced certain safeguards against forcible land acquisition for private companies.

Now land acquisition stir in Punjab

A FARMER was killed and about 30 were injured on August 2 when police lathicharged farmers opposing land acquisition by the state for a power project in Punjab’s Mansa district. Private company Indiabulls Power Limited is planning to set up a 1,320 MW thermal power project on 357 hectares (ha) belonging to four villages.

Letters

What bamboo costs