India Mining Roundup

Published by MAC on 2005-11-10

A draft Environmental Impact Assessment notification was issued by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on September 15th, 2005.

This seeks to change the requirements and stipulations regarding Environmental Clearance procedures for industrial or developmental projects. The text of the draft is available at http://envfor.nic.in. The EIA Notification threatens to fast-track the setting up of environmentally damaging projects by limiting public participation and increasing the discretionary powers vested with the Ministry and State Pollution Control Boards.

The EIA Notification has been drafted in close consultation with industrial lobbies and trade associations and repeated complaints by citizens' groups have been set aside on the pretext that it impedes industrial development.

Between the new and disastrous National Environment Policy currently with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the draft EIA Notification, the Ministry of Environment has finally thrown all of India's natural resources open to plunder by industries and the construction lobby.

A petition to the Minister of Environment and Forests with some of the key concerns with regard to this notification is pasted below

To: Mr. A. Raja

Minister of Environment & Forests
Rm No. 423,Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India

10 November, 2005

Sir: We, the undersigned, are deeply disturbed by the undemocratic and secretive manner in which the MoEF has conducted itself, and are writing to call for an immediate freeze on the issuance of the DraftEIA Notification, 2005. We trust that you would have already received the representations sent by many people, some of us included, to protest against the content and mode of preparation of the NationalEnvironment Policy.Your Ministry's repeated proclamations about transparency, public participation and decentralisation notwithstanding, the Draft EIA Notification reflects only the aspirations of industrial lobbies, and not that of communities, local Government bodies and public interest organisations.The Draft leaves the public with few tools or fora to influence industrial or development proposals impacting them. The draft notification proposes to weaken provisions guaranteeing access to information and public participation, relax clearance requirements on industries and activities with serious potential for environmental damage, and increases discretionary powers to the Ministry and State Pollution Control Boards without concomitant increase in their accountability.

Coming as it does in light of a demonstrable, and perhaps willful,failure by the Ministry of Environment to grant clearances in keeping ith the letter and spirit of the EIA Notification, the proposed draft Notification is nothing short of malafide, and requires to be set aside. The draft Notification also exposes the extent of influence wielded by industrial lobbies and trade associations vis-à-vis citizens, citizens groups, NGOs and local Government bodies.Industry's concerns are taken on board proactively, whereas the people's concerns are seen as impediments to investment and development.We, the undersigned, demand:

a) An immediate freeze on the issuance of the EIA Notification, 2005b)

An independent review of the performance of the EIA Notification,1994, with a view to assessing the strengths, weaknesses, loopholes,institutional failures and reasons thereof associated with the implementation of the Notification.

c) Initiation of a fresh round of consultations with citizens,citizens groups including NGOs and community organizations, local Government bodies and State Governments, to re-engineer the EIA Notification taking into account the independent review and comments below, and with a view to enhancing informed public participation in environmental decision-making.

Broadly, our objections to the proposed Notification can be summed up as follows:

1. Complicated, Poorly Drafted: Drafted in a hurry, the proposed EIA notification does not even have paragraph numbers to allow for easy critiquing. The language is convoluted and the recommended procedures complicate the clearance process rather than simplify it.

2. Pro-Industry; Anti-Environment: The reengineering process and the subsequent draft notification are guided almost entirely by recommendations of the Govindarajan Committee on Investment Reforms, constituted by the previous NDA government, and proposals made as part of the World Bank-funded Environmental Management Capacity Building Programme. The explicit and sole objective of the process and the draft EIA notificationis to expedite clearance mechanisms to assist investors. Environmental protection and public participation do not seem to be a priority at all.

3. Limits Public Consultation by a) Restricting access to Public Hearings.The draft notification prevents people who are not local residents from participating in public hearings, thereby eliminating the possibility of participation by public interest organisations, public interest scientists and engineers, professionals and advisors to communities in public hearings. The public hearing should be kept open to "persons" as defined in the EIA Notification, 1994.b) Allows for unjustifiable cancelling of public hearings:The proposed notification provides for the cancellation of public hearings in the event that local conditions are not conducive for hearing the views of the public in a free and fair manner. Oftentimes, such vitiated conditions are orchestrated by the project promoter and the State Government or district administration who wish to keep the public from attending the public hearings. This gives district administration and regulators unwarranted discretion in calling off public hearings, even while orchestrating the conditions to justify their cancellation. The State and District Administrations should be made to create the conditions required to hold the public hearing and solicit public comments.

4. Dilutes Due Process on Environmentally Damaging Activities: a) Caves in to builder lobby pressure: Despite widespread public outcry over the role of unregulated construction over the Mithi River in the Mumbai floods earlier this year, the new draft Notification further eases regulatory and siting requirements for buildings within cities. Only buildings larger than 100,000 square metres require Central clearance, and construction greater than 20,000 square metres require State clearance. Earlier, all buildings generating more than 50,000 litres/day of sewage or housing 1000 persons required EIA and clearance under the Notification. To put that in perspective, according to accepted norms, construction projects covering an area of 14,000 square metres would be capable of housing 1000 persons or generating more than 50,000 litres/day of sewage. We oppose this dilution because it would exempt more than 90 percent of all building projects from the purview of the Notification.b) Deregulates polluting industries such as sponge iron factories, exempting them from Central clearance. c) Exempts Industries within Industrial Estates. Individual units coming up inside dedicated industrial estates with prior environmental clearance will not be required to obtain individual environmental clearance. This exemption has been suggested on the unscientific pre-supposition that cumulative environmental impacts of an industrial estate can be estimated without any idea about the specific quantum and nature of raw materials, the processes employed and products manufactured by individual units within the estate.

5. Expert Committees Lack Experts: The Expert Appraisal Committees to be constituted at State and Central levels no longer have social scientists or ecosystem experts. The Committees are to be loaded with technocrats – a breed whose worldview is often in contradiction with sustainability, and far removed from the realities faced by the country's poor. Expert Committees should include social scientists, ecosystem experts, public interest lawyers and social/environmental activists of renown.

6. No action on licensing of consultants.The world of EIA consultants is a seamy one characterised by fly-by-night operators and established names that do a slick job of saying what their client wants them to. There is no check on the quality, integrity and veracity of claims made in the EIAs, and no liability on the consultant. This issue was to be resolved by the MoEF and was noted as an agenda point for discussions. However, the proposed EIA notification contains no language to hold consultantsliable for their EIA reports. This lacuna has to be remedied.

7. Inadequate use of internet. The proposed notification continues to propagate an archaic system to access information wherein many information, such as project EIA, will be sent to interested persons upon request. In the interests of transparency and expeditious project evaluation, the Ministry and state/Union Territory regulators must put up important project related documents on the websites. Such documents must include: TOR for EIA, Complete EIA and summary, proceedings of Public Hearing, Results of Appraisal, Clearance Conditions etc. Regulators must be held accountable for failure to disclose.

Sincerely,

1. Rachna Dhingra, Bhopal Group for Information and Action
2. Rashida Bee and Champa Devi, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
3. Shahid Noor, Bhopal ki Awaaz
4. Irfan Bhai, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Samiti
5. R. Sridhar, Thanal
6. Manju Menon/Kanchi Kohli, Kalpvriksh
7. Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk (The Other Media)
8. Shweta Narayan, Community Environmental Monitoring
- and others

Bauxite mining will affect tribals badly

Human Rights Forum, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

November 03, 2005

Mining of bauxite in the tribal tracts of this district will seriously affect the livelihood of the adivasis, apart from negatively impacting the water security in the hills as well as the plains, according to the Human Rights Forum (HRF).

A team comprising HRF General Secretary K Balagopal and Secretary V S Krishna toured the mandals of G K Veedhi, Araku and Anantagiri for two days recently and spoke to people of nine villages spread over six panchayats.

These habitations were located in the vicinity of the Sapparla, Chittamgondi, Galikonda and Rakthakonda groups from where bauxite was proposed to be mined by the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed this July between the Andhra Pradesh government and the Jindal South West Holding Ltd, a part of the Jindal Group.

The HRF functionaries alleged that the APMDC was acting like a 'benami' of the Jindal group in order to circumvent protective legislation for tribals and this was against the Supreme Court judgment which had laid down that lands in Scheduled areas cannot be transferred to non-tribals.

Mr Balgopal and Mr Krishna pointed out that mining for bauxite would also lead to displacement of adivasi communities like Khond, Nooka Dora, Bagata and Manne Dora. Some of them would be suffering multiple displacements as they had moved into the hills of the Visakha Agency due to projects in the erstwhile Koraput district of Orissa. They would again be forced to abandon a habitat that gave them land for farming, adequate water and forest for sustenance.

They termed as eyewash the government's assurance of 10,000 jobs for adivasis in the event of mining. ''The open-cast mining is a highly mechanised process and not labour-intensive. The few jobs that would be available will require skilled personnel and adivasis will lose out. The record of the government on such assurances in the past has also been appalling,''they added.

The HRF urged the government to immediately cancel the MoU and instead intervene effectively in providing healthcare, educational facilities and farm inputs to the tribals.

Mittal eyes Anglo American's mining assets

Dominic O'Connell, The Times (UK)

October 30, 2005

LAKSHMI MITTAL, Britain's richest man, is understood to be considering snapping up some of the mining assets put up for sale last week by Anglo American, the FTSE 100 mining group.

Mittal, who last week triumphed in the battle for Kryvorizhstal, the Ukrainian steel producer, with a $4.8 billion (£2.7 billion) bid, is understood to lead a list of companies queuing to register interest in the range of assets slated for disposal by the world's third- largest mining group.

Mittal's steel empire, the world's biggest, is hunting for iron-ore mines to feed its mills. It recently completed a $9 billion deal in India that will give it access to the high-quality ore mines in the state of Jharkhand.

Anglo has hired UBS, the merchant bank, to handle its strategic review.

Last week Anglo announced that it would consider the sale of its gold, paper and packaging and industrial minerals - which includes ferrous metals that would be of interest to Mittal.

Analysts said the disposals could together fetch more than £6.7 billion.

The proceeds are likely to be returned to shareholders in the form of a special dividend or share buyback.

One trophy asset that has been put on the block is Tarmac, the UK aggregates group. Analysts speculate that likely bidders include Hanson, the FTSE 100 building-materials company, and that it could even attract bids from private-equity players.

The Anglo American break-up is an important step for the mining group. It includes plans to reduce its 51% stake in Anglo Gold Ashanti, one of the oldest parts of the famous mining combine.

Tony Trahar, Anglo's chief executive, said the company could either sell shares, or allow its shareholding to fall below a controlling stake by not buying into any new issues of shares by the gold-mining company.

Anglo has not yet quite cut its ties with Tarmac. It said the British company would be sold if margins did not improve.

Bankers said the Anglo break-up - probably the most far-reaching restructuring in its history - was part of a trend away from conglomerates.

"You are seeing more and more pressure on diversified companies to focus on fewer activities," one source said.

Government embarks upon a transparent mining policy

Newindpress

October 31, 2005

BHUBANESWAR: The Government has decided that mines would not be leased out to companies, which do not set up plants in the State.

The new mining policy, which has been finalised, has put restrictions on the use of mineral resources from mines in the State in outside plants. The new policy will be placed in the coming session of the Assembly.

Minister for Steel and Mines Padmanabha Behera said that the mining policy would have to be accepted by the Cabinet before going to the Assembly. He admitted that efforts are being made to place the policy in the Assembly.

Sources said that adequate provisions would be made in the new policy to restrict export of ore by companies, which have already been leased out mines by the Government.

The State Government had come in for criticism from Opposition political parties for not announcing its mining policy.

The clause in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Korean major Posco by the State Government allowing swapping of iron ore had sparked off a controversy with even the BJP, the alliance partner of BJD, taking exception to it.

A mining policy has become all the more necessary as the Government has signed MoUs with 36 companies including Posco for establishment of steel plants in the State.

According to sources, all these factors will be addressed in the new policy by the Government.

Guidelines have been formed for renewal of mines. This is for the first time the State Government has formulated a policy basing on the mining policy of the Centre.

A high level official committee headed by Chief Secretary Subas Pani has already approved the policy on October 22. The Minister said that the policy will be accepted by the Cabinet soon and placed in the Assembly starting from November 21.

Government embarks upon a transparent mining policy

Newindpress

October 31, 2005

BHUBANESWAR: The Government has decided that mines would not be leased out to companies, which do not set up plants in the State.

Sources said that adequate provisions would be made in the new policy to restrict export of ore by companies, which have already been leased out mines by the Government.

The State Government had come in for criticism from Opposition political parties for not announcing its mining policy.

A mining policy has become all the more necessary as the Government has signed MoUs with 36 companies including Posco for establishment of steel plants in the State.

According to sources, all these factors will be addressed in the new policy by the Government.

Guidelines have been formed for renewal of mines. This is for the first time the State Government has formulated a policy basing on the mining policy of the Centre.

Posco move to reduce project oustees

Dillip Satapathy, Business Standard

October 28, 2005

Bhubaneswar - In a move aimed at keeping the number of oustees on account of its mega steel plant at Paradip to the minimum, Korean steel giant Pohang Iron & Steel Co.

(Posco) has decided to redraw the project site map by keeping certain thickly populated villages out of the plant boundary. 'Our target is to keep the human displacement within 1000 to 1200 people ie 200 to 300 families', said Ryu Ho Chan, team leader, Posco India project. This is considerably lower than the original calculaton that about 4000 families or 20,000 people will be displaced by the project. Posco proposes to set up its plant in an area of over 4000 acres of land near Paradip. It also needs another 1500 acres to construct the township. The area originally demarcated for the project encompassed a number of thickly populated villages.

In order to mollify opposition to the project by locals on grounds of displacement, the company had decided to redraw the site map excluding certain villages to reduce the population of the project displaced. "We have undertaken fresh survey work using satellite images. There were some thickly populated villages within the original site map. However, our aim is to avoid densely populated areas to keep displacement minimum", Ryu observed. Villages threatened by the project including Gobindpur, Dhinkia and Nuagaon had maximum population and in the reworked site map some of these villages will not be affected. Displacement has emerged as a major cause of concern for the company, as it is aware of precedents where several mega projects in the state have been stalled due to Protests against displacement. Some of the projects either have been completely shelved or are still hanging fire due to such local agitation include the mega steel project of the Tata Steel at Gopalpur and the Rs 4000 crore alumina refinery of Indal at Kashipur in Koraput district, both conceived in the '90s.

Meanwhile, sources said that Posco intends to formally submit its application for alienation of land soon. The company has submitted its application for mine prospecting license last month. It has sought allocation of Thakurani and Khandadhara mines in Keonjhar district. The state government is committed to allot mines with 600 million tonne iron ore deposit to the company in the MoU signed earlier this year.

Youths oppose Posco deal

Statesman News Service

Oct. 30. 2005

BHUBANESWAR, - The lull in opposition to the Posco project was broken by a group of highly motivated youths who undertook a padayatra from the villages which are to be affected by the proposed project and reached Bhubaneswar yesterday.

Coming together under the banner of Deshpremi Abhijan, the youths were backed by social activists some of whom belonged to the extreme Left parties. The padayatra had commenced on 18 October from Gdakujana village with the Nabanirmana Samiti and Yuva Bharat, CPI (ML) and others participating in it.

The youths held street side meetings against the project and covered several areas of Trilochanpur, Paradip, Kujang, Ersama, Tirtol, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack before reaching Bhubaneswar yesterday.

What is the meaning of development - does it mean losing our life, livelihood and natural resources, they questioned. Carrying placards which read " stop the plunder of resources", "Posco Hatao, Orissa Bachao" , these youths demonstrated before the Posco office here. Leaders like Aksyaya and Sivaram addressed a gathering in front of the Posco office and alleged that the state will lose crores of rupees if the plant came up and Paradip Port would be rendered sick. "We will be robbed of our agricultural land, betel vines and homes and all we will become daily wage earners with one decimal homestead land given to us as compensation," they charged.

Contrary to the official claims that only a few thousand people would be affected by the project, the village youths said more than 20,000 will be affected. They emphasized on the environmental damage caused by such mega projects.

They burnt copies of the MoU between Posco and the state government. Later in a memorandum addressed to chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik, the agitators demanded the immediate scrapping of the project.

It may be noted here that Posco's proposed steel plant, dedicated port and power plant project have evoked widespread protests from almost all political parities baring the Biju Janata Dal. Even the BJD's ruling partner - the BJP has expressed strong reservations against some of the provisions in the MoU. Meanwhile, the South Korean company has gone ahead with its preliminary work by registering a company in India with its headquarters here and also submitting applications for prospecting licence for iron ore bearing areas - Thakurani iron ore mines and another area in Keonjhar district.

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