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Srikakulam
(Andhra Pradesh): Development versus environment and
livelihood? The tussle is on in the lush green fields of coastal
Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district, bordering Orissa.
Replicating protests and concerns elsewhere in the country, be it
Uttar Pradesh or Orissa, farmers and fishermen here are determined
to stop two upcoming thermal power projects in Sompeta and
Kakarapalli.
Unconvinced by the government's argument that the projects will
develop the backward region, local communities say they are ready
to go to any extent to stop them -- even court death.
"The project can come up only on our dead bodies," P. Kotru, a
leader of fishermen in Kakarapalli in the area, told IANS,
reflecting the anger among locals depending on the Naupada swamp
for their livelihood.
It is in the middle of this swamp, barely 2.5 km from the Bay of
Bengal, that the East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd (ECEPL) is building a
2,640 MW thermal power plant at a cost of Rs.12,000 crore.
A similar project is planned at Sompeta in the district where the
Andhra Pradesh High Court recently suspended a government order
allotting 972 acres to the the Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC)
for developing a 2,640 MW plant.
In Kakaripalla, where locals say the movement is yet to achieve
that milestone of success, the government is accused of branding
the Naupada wetland as wasteland so that it could be allotted for
the plant. They also claim vital information was suppressed during
the public hearing.
Fishermen claim that the project coming upon on 3,333 acres of
land has already affected their livelihood with their catch coming
down by 50 percent in two years. And farmers face inundation of
their 30,000 acre farmland in 59 villages as the project has
obstructed the natural flow of water to the sea.
The relay hunger strike by the villagers at Vadditandra near the
project site has completed 350 days but has gone unnoticed by the
authorities.
The four canals joining the swamp help farmers grow two crops of
paddy and cereal every year while fishermen depend on the ponds
for their livelihood.
The fishermen cooperative society, formed in 1948, has been
getting lease rights for fishing but in 2008 the government did
not renew the lease.
It was only after a visit to similar power projects elsewhere that
the fishermen and farmers understood the project's implications
for their livelihood.
"We will not settle for anything less than scrapping of the
project," A.D. Varjun, Vadditandra panchayat president, told IANS.
The protests in Sompeta, where two people were killed in police
firing in July last year, provided the ammunition.
On Feb 28 this year, three people were killed in Kakarapalli.
Locals say the incident changed their life forever, fuelling anger
and strengthening their resolve.
Ninety-year-old Ananta Manikyamma from the fishing community is
not even in a position to walk. But she was booked for attempt to
murder and had to spend 15 days in jail, all for supporting the
anti-project protest.
It's more than just a livelihood issue.
Environmentalists, who joined hands with the local community, say
the project would destroy the local ecology.
"The swamp plays an important ecological function. It acts as a
way of flood mitigation with fresh water flowing into the sea,
preventing salinity of ground water and thus maintains the
balance," said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE), who accompanied a group of
mediapersons to Kakarapalli.
While locals in Kakarapalli fight on, their counterparts in
Sompeta have got the high court order but say the struggle is not
yet over.
"We are prepared to die for beela (as the water bodies in Sompeta
are called) but will not allow the project to come up for the sake
of coming generations," Krishna Murthy, who is spearheading the
movement told IANS.
He pointed out that the government handed over to the company the
land on a platter despite it having three water bodies providing
livelihood to farmers in over 20 villages.
(Mohammed
Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
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