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Feb 24, 2007

Scorched Earth, Burnt-out Lives

All can see the fires in the mountains. But who cares for the fires within me?
— Santhali folk song
Bokapahadi, on the fringes of Jharia mining township in Jharkhand, seems like a place waiting for the inevitable. A row of dilapidated structures — some absolute rubble, others abandoned — sags at one end of the settlement. At the other, deep cracks in the walls of buildings betray the threat the settlement is under. Gases from under the earth pour out of the cracks, enveloping the town in a miasmic sheen. The place would have been a ghost town except for the 2000-odd people that still live here, most living hand-to-mouth, selling coal pilfered from a nearby dump.

Bokapahadi has begun to feel the effects of the subterranean coal fires (SCFs) that plague India's mining belt only relatively recently; elsewhere, SCFs have been raging for nearly a century. With about 70 such fires in an area with vast coal deposits and crisscrossed by hundreds of mine shafts, the situation is headed for imminent crisis.

Studies in Despair: The area near the Lodna mines is one of the worst affected by the fires
Photos: Fahad Mustafa

An estimated 50 million tonnes of coal have been lost to the fires, some of which have raged for almost a century
Jharia is practically India's sole reserve of coking coal, an indispensable component in steel smelting. According to industry estimates, over 50 million tones of prime coking coal have been lost to SCFs over the last century or so. In and around Jharia, the landscape is surreal. Plumes of smoke reach up for the sky, billowing out of the earth. Vegetation here is thin as the heat from below has left the land arid and infertile. A sulphurous stench clings to the surface. At night, the fields acquire an eerie aspect as blue flames dance across their surface, the inferno beneath clearly visible through the fissures coursing over the ground.

The first SCFs in the region were reported in 1916, when the British started systematic coal extraction here, inaugurating an era of reckless mining, frequently blamed for aggravating the fires. However, the public sector Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) — which took charge of the mines in 1971, ostensibly to check malpractice — has not done much better at preventing or containing the fires in the mines.

Coal has been known to spontaneously combust when it comes in contact with air underground. However, SCFs are frequently started and sustained by man-made factors such as the improper closure of abandoned mines. One of the most persistent threats from the fires is land subsidence. As the burning coal turns to ash hollow pockets are created underground, that leave the surface unstable and prone to sudden collapse. Since 1965, this has led to the loss of some 600 structures and the death of more than 400 people. In the last decade-and-a-half, there has been a marked rise in such incidents. The Bagdigi (2001), Gastiland (1995) and New Kenda (1994) disasters were all grisly portents of what could happen if the fires go unchecked. The worst was Gastiland, where 65 miners died when an embankment, weakened by the fires, collapsed and flooded the mines.

What Lies beneath: Fumes escaping from the cracked earth near Bokapahadi

Residents oppose the Jharia Action Plan for their rehabilitation. They fear they are being duped of their lands
SCFs have been known to occur in almost all major coal-bearing areas in the world. Researchers say Australia's Burning Mountain has been burning for over 5,000 years, due to the vast reserves of coal in its peak. However, the only instance of these fires threatening a town comes from Centralia in the US, evacuated in 1980 after nearly 20 years of unsuccessful attempts to put the fires out.

But Centralia had about 11,000 residents. Jharia has four lakh, not counting the people from the coalfields of Raniganj and Singareni, which also suffer from SCFs. India has the highest density of such fires anywhere in the world, together with the largest population to live in scf-affected areas.

Acting on a Supreme Court directive, the government set apart a Rs 5,000 crore rehabilitation package for the residents of Jharia in 2003. Requiring around Rs 350 crore annually, the proposed Jharia Action Plan (JAP) is set to be one of the country's largest peacetime evacuations, next only to Partition. "It's a Herculean task," says PC Bhattacharya, the chairman of the BCCL, which is in charge of the relocation project. "We have to rehabilitate around three lakh people and construct 65,000 housing units."

However, the scope of the JAP is not limited to resettlement alone. What began as a crisis management exercise now shows tangible benefits for the BCCL, as it will leave the coal reserves beneath the evacuated region open to exploitation. The company has been running losses ever since its inception, and now hopes to script a turnaround by tapping the virgin coalfields below the town. An example of its intentions is the case of the Jharia-Patherdih railway line near the Lodna mines, dismantled in 2003 owing to the scf threat. Subsequently, the area was turned into an open cast mine which today is at the centre of a spectacular reversal in the BCCL's fortunes, providing more than a million tones of coking coal annually and netting the corporation an unprecedented Rs 700 crore profit in the last fiscal.

Apart at the seams: Coal smuggling is rampant in the region. For many, it's the only way to survive

The tribal groups once formed the backbone of the movement for Jharkhand's statehood. They are still among its most marginalised
The JAP has run into severe opposition from a section of Jharia residents who believe the BCCL is trying to dupe them of their land. They also claim their properties, private and public, have been endangered in the first place because of the BCCL's careless mining practices. The company favours the open cast method of mining, which means pits are sunk into the ground and successive seams of coal exposed and removed. The BCCL claims that the best grade coking coal is mainly found in the upper reaches of the mines, thereby justifying their use of this method. Nevertheless, open cast mining is notoriously ecologically unfriendly. In Jharkhand, it has laid waste much fertile land, a large part of which was virgin forest. This has seriously impacted the aboriginal and semi-aboriginal tribes that are the natives of Jharkhand, dominant among whom are the Santhals, Agarias and Birhors.

For these tribes, the forests are their entire source of sustenance, and their decimation has meant the destruction of an entire way of life. "The whole identity of the Santhal adivasis is threatened," says Bina Stanis of the Jharkhand-based NGO, Chottanagpur Adivasi Seva Samiti. "Their kin are dispersed, their sacred groves are violated." The worst affected are the women, who have lost the means of independence they previously enjoyed and now depend on the men for their basic needs. "With the whole process of acquiring land for mining being male-oriented, women are left with no role in the new social milieu," says Stanis.

Many times, mining companies simply begin operations without any compensation to the tribes, who are summarily forced off their lands despite the number of laws to prevent the transfer of land belonging to indigenous communities. Protected land in Pachwara, for instance, was sold to the Punjab State Electricity Board in 2002. When the locals protested, the administration tried to silence them by filing false cases against them.

While several tribespeople are forced to the city in search of employment, many remain behind to take up work in the illegal mines that dot the countryside, mostly digging up coal with their bare hands for about Rs 60 to 70 a day. These mines are veritable death traps, claiming the lives of hundreds each year. For their owners, ensuring the safety of those who descend into these dank orifices is of least priority. "Most workers here have little financial backing," says an ex-mine owner. "If they are injured in the course of work, having them treated could mean arrest as the mines are illegal. Mostly, they are simply left to fend for themselves or are buried there." Their deaths go unrecorded, even by the local police, and their families do not get the compensation the state often puts out in cases of mine accidents.

"Illegal mining is more of a social problem than anything else" points out Bhaskar Bhattacharya, cmd, Directorate General of Mines Safety. Illegal mining in the area began when private mining was banned in 1971, and all mines were assimilated into the BCCL. Subsequently, when the prices of coal started spiralling, the abandoned private mines proved a lucrative option for the notorious Dhanbad mafia, which sold the coal at far cheaper rates. "What is really disturbing," says Bhaskar Bhattacharya "is the profile of people involved — children, women, people from the lowest levels of the economy taking up this highly dangerous work, often for paltry sums of money. Go on the roads and you will see bicycles laden with stolen coal."

Increasingly, the people seem to have little other option open for them. The BCCL is in scale-down mode at the moment and is not hiring any new labour. The only other industry in the region, the Sindri fertiliser plant, closed down in 2004. The state also seems to have disowned the tribals, providing little or no water, electricity or healthcare in most villages. Thus, with all other modes of income exhausted, the tribals often take to illegal mining and pilferage from sheer desperation.

The irony is that the tribal groups here formed the backbone of the movement for Jharkhand's statehood. Almost six years after that was realised, they are still among the most marginalised. "Where there is wealth, there is no political health", says AK Roy a former MP and one of the architects of Jharkhand's statehood. "Power is not in the hands of the Jharkhand people."

The fact is that the tremendous benefits of Jharkhand's reserves of mineral wealth continue to remain alienated from its people. The price being paid for development is such that it turns once-proud cultivators into shameless thieves and smugglers.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main27.asp?filename=Cr030307Scorched_earth.asp

Govt should be more accountable

Kolkata, February 23: Human rights activists today voiced their resentment against the "lack of transparency" in the government of West Bengal's functioning. At a seminar organised by Drik India, the activists said the government should be more accountable to the people.

"The government should be transparent in each and every act. The constitutional and civic rights of the people are being violated by the government and the police have almost taken on the role of the judiciary," said activist Kiriti Roy.

Mahasveta Devi, author and activist, pointed out: "The government has ignored the Right to Information Act. It should have taken the people into confidence before beginning to acquire land for industries. "The government also has to inform the people about the proposed nuclear power plant at Haripur," she added.

Another issue discussed was the "shrinking space of freedom of expression and democratic rights in the state", wherein the speakers talked about the controversial Singur and Nandigram issues and ban on the screening of the film, "One day from a hangman's life".

They said the ban imposed on the film shows culture no longer matters as far as Kolkata is concerned, which once has been touted as culture capital of the country.

The victims of the Nandigram violence also aired their grievances at the seminar. Purnima Maiti, who lost her son in the flare-up, said: "We are sleepless at Nandigram and are also scared."

Syed Abdus Samad, convener of Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee and member of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind, said they would continue to voice their protest against the acquisition of land until the government decides not to evict a single plot of land.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=223884

Centre's approves DPR for project in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 24 (PTI): The Centre has approved a Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the Orissa Government on integrated sewerage project for the state capital, official sources said today.

The Central Sanctioning Committee (CSC) of the Ministry of Urban Development considered the project after due technical appraisal by the Central Public Health Engineering organisation.

After a detailed presentation of the project's salient features by a team of Orissa Government officers, the CSC approved the project in its totality on Thursday last, the sources said.

The DPR was prepared in consultation with the IIT, Roorkee and was forwarded to the Union ministry of Urban Development after clearance by the state steering committee headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The sources said that this was the largest additional central assistance fund commitment made by the Union Ministry of Urban Development under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the entire country.

The Centre's total contribution to the project would be nearly Rs. 500 crore.

The project had leveraged funds from the 12th Finance Commission amounting to Rs. 140 crore. Further, the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) would advance a soft loan to the State Government to meet 20 per cent of the project cost, the sources said.

The balance amount would be funded as a grant by the Ministry of Urban Development to the extent of 80 per cent of the cost of the project.

The ministry had earlier approved conservation and management of the historic Bindusagar Lake close to the 11th century Lingaraj Temple in the city and restoration and development of the lake peripery at a total cost of Rs. Six crore.

The sources said the ministry would fund 80 per cent of the project cost, as a grant, under JNNURM. The balance 20 per cent of the cost would be shared equally between the State Government and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The National River Conservation directorate under the Ministry of Forest and Environment had earlier sanctioned Rs. 3.35 crore for the Bindusagar project, the sources said.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200702241322.htm

UGC's plan plenitude

The University Grants Commission chairman, Professor Sukhadeo Thorat, began his career as a lecturer at Vasantrao Naik College, Aurangabad during 1973-75. He later joined Jawaharlal Nehru University. Rising from a humble, Dalit-community background, Mr Thorat has dealt with wide-ranging subjects, including agricultural development and rural poverty. He is enamoured of the ideology of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, architect of free India's Constitution.
A noted academic, Prof Thorat has dealt with many problems ~ of marginalised communities of SCs and STs, the economics of the caste system, caste discrimination and poverty, human development and human rights. In an interview with SANJAY SINGH, Prof Thorat spoke on challenges relating to the status and future of higher education in India, the urgent need to raise Budget spending on higher education, problems of low enrolment at the higher-education level, his roadmap to enhance standards and ensure quality and inclusiveness in higher educational institutes, besides throwing light on contentious issues such as reservation. Excerpts:

Q: What is the status of the proposed implementation of 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central institutes of higher learning?
The UGC specifically deals with the implementation of 27 per cent reservation in 18 Central universities and some deemed universities supported by the UGC. The universities have prepared the plan for implementation as part of the exercise of the Moily committee report. Based on the Detailed Project Report, the financial requirement was worked out and sent to the human resource development ministry. As soon as the ministry releases funds, the UGC will hold a meeting with every university for scheme implementation from the forthcoming academic year. While deciding the implementation for each university, the specific concern of each university will be kept in mind.

Q: You had earlier advocated scrapping of the NET examination for recruitment of lecturers. What has been decided?
The National Eligibility Test has been partially modified and not scrapped. The modified scheme has been communicated. Under this modified scheme, those with MPhil and PhD degrees are exempted from NET for under-graduate teaching and only PhD candidates are exempted from NET for post-graduate teaching. This was done to provide an incentive to students to opt for research degrees and improve the faculty quality in colleges and universities.
In the recent past, after the introduction of NET, the number of PhDs had come down. This is not a good sign. After the exemption announcement for MPhil and PhD, there has been an increase in admissions. It has been noted by the UGC that admissions to MPhil and PhD are taking place in some universities, including open universities, without regard to the quality of admission and the quality of the thesis. So, UGC is preparing a draft policy which will include guidelines for:
(a) Standardisation of admissions for MPhil and PhD in universities through a transparent admission policy;
(b) Improvement in the evaluation of thesis and
(c) Measures to check plagiarism.
This new admission method will be finalised in consultation with universities and put into practice from the forthcoming academic session in colleges and universities so that appropriate admissions are ensured with improved thesis quality.

Q: The Centre is working out the modalities for permitting foreign universities to set up their campuses in India. How will the UGC regulate these foreign institutes? Will they be exempted from reservation?
Yes, the Centre is working on policies for permitting foreign universities to set up their campuses in India. It is too early to say anything about it.

Q. What strategy will the UGC adopt so that higher educational institutes can compete with their foreign counterparts?
It is too early to say anything.

Q: What plans does the UGC have for the next 10 years?
The UGC has prepared a perspective plan for higher education as a part of the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The Eleventh Plan Approach Paper brought out by the Planning Commission focuses on four important aspects of higher education. These are:
(a) Expanding access, to increase the enrolment ratio of higher education from 9 per cent to 15 per cent by 2012;
(b) To provide equal access to socially and economically disadvantaged groups and bring inclusiveness in higher education;
(c) Improve the quality of higher education and
(d) To make extensive use of Information and Communication Technologies in higher education.
First, the UGC, as part of the Eleventh Plan, will develop schemes to enhances the enrolment ratio in higher education through expansion in the enrolment capacity of colleges and universities. Second, for the policy to be inclusive, the UGC has initiated schemes for economic and socially disadvantaged groups ~ SC/STs and girls. The UGC will also develop similar schemes for OBCs and minorities. It will try to provide additional support to universities and colleges where there is a significant number of SC/ST/ OBC and minority students. The UGC will also provide funds to colleges in remote areas, rural areas and in small towns to expand the enrolment capacity where the enrolment ratio is low.
The UGC will have a scheme to equip students from SC/ST/OBC and minority groups, as well as for poor students by introducing a remedial course after students clear admissions in a particular language for main subjects so that they are able to adjust with regular courses. The UGC will also develop a scheme to ensure equal participation of SC/ST/OBCs, poor and minority students and those from rural areas.
Third, to promote quality, the UGC has a programme for promoting excellence in universities, colleges and departments with a potential for excellence, besides autonomous colleges. Special assistance will be given for improvement of infrastructure in the science department.
The question of quality in higher education has come to the forefront after the decline in per capita expenditure on higher education and deceleration in the growth rate of the plan expenditure since the 1990s. The physical and academic infrastructure has weakened in many institutions.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council evaluation of 3,000 colleges and 111 universities indicate that about three-fourth of the universities and 90 per cent of colleges are of B and C grades. We have to bring the B and C-grade universities and colleges at par with "A". The UGC has proposed to the ministry to give special support to "B" and "C"-grade universities and colleges. This would require increase in public expenditure to fill the gap.
To improve teacher quality, the UGC has a scheme to assist faculties through research projects, participation in seminars/conferences and other measures.
Other initiatives of the UGC are to increase the number of fellowships. The UGC has developed a scheme for Central universities, PhD and MPhil fellowships to cover 90 per cent of students without fellowship. This is an ambitious UGC scheme of Central universities which will help students pursue MPhil and PhD. The UGC is also going in for e-governance, including its regional centres, so that the grant-release process is made easier.
The plan is to develop inter-connectivity with all colleges and universities so that everything is done efficiently. The UGC proposes to set up an inter-university centre ~ a body to assist the UGC in research, planning and assessing ~ so that scheme and policy formulation is done in an informed manner.

Q: The President and the Prime Minister have expressed concern over the deteriorating state of science education. What do you plan to do to improve science education in higher institutes? How will you encourage students in choosing science as a career?
Yes, the issue of science education is important. The HRD ministry had set up an empowered committee comprising eminent scientists for promotion of science education. Based on the committee's recommendations, the UGC has taken major initiatives. It has instituted 700 scholarships for MPhil, PhD students in universities and departments with potential for excellence. It has established the DS Kothari post-doctoral fellowship and a research scientists' scheme. UGC, in collaboration with the ministry of science and technology and the ministry of HRD, has a scheme of fellowship and scholarship to encourage students to go in for PhD to improve science research in the country.

Q: There is a demand for increasing the budgetary allocation on education up to 6 per cent of the GDP? When can we expect it?
With regard to the financing of higher education, as a part of the Eleventh Plan, UGC has submitted requirements to the HRD ministry. UGC estimates indicate that if we want to increase the enrolment ratio from 10 per cent in 2007 to 15 per cent in 2012, then the Central Plan Budget on higher education should be increased in the first year from .65 per cent of the GDP to 1.06 per cent of the GDP in 2012.
This will require a minimum of Rs 47,000 crore to a maximum of Rs 75,000 crore to increase the net enrolment by 5 per cent to make higher education more inclusive. If we continue with the present level of per capita expenditure on higher education, keeping in view the historical growth rate, we will be able to achieve a net increase of less than 2 per cent in the enrolment ratio i.e. close to 12 per cent. If the enrolment ratio is to reach the 15 per cent mark, the budget will have to be close to 1 per cent of the GDP.
To bridge the gap between the physical and academic infrastructure, particularly in state universities, suffering due to a decline in public expenditure on higher education, we will have to have a specific strategy to strengthen state universities. For this, state governments will have to take a special initiative. Higher education cannot be neglected due to lack of funds.

Q: Will you have any mechanism to nail institutions and teachers who fail to perform?
The NAAC is entrusted with the responsibility of assessing the quality of colleges and universities. UGC also has its mechanism for it. For instance, of the 14,000 colleges under the UGC's jurisdiction, only 6,000 receive grants because they fulfil the minimum criteria laid down by the UGC. Of these 6,000 colleges, only 3,000 of them have been assessed by the NAAC. All higher-education institutions must be assessed. The NAAC has a proposal to make assessment of colleges and universities mandatory and link grants with the quality of institutions.

Q: What about filling the backlog of SC/ST students' reservation ?
Central universities are trying to fill the backlog. Some universities have made progress. We hope it will further improve in a few months.

Q: Is there a proposal to raise the fee?
This has to be discussed.

Q: Is there any need to empower the UGC ?
The UGC, with its experience and database on the multiple dimensions of higher education, is in a unique position to combine the role of standard maintenance and funding. Having 50 years of experience, it is in a position to develop policies and programmes.

(The author is Principal Correspondent, The Statesman, New Delhi)

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=148048

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