‘We want development on our own terms’
Dayamani Barla, Tribal Activist
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URBAN INDIANS are not even trying to understand what the tribals are going through. These days, all major steel companies are eyeing our land and natural resources. All they want is cheap raw materials, cheap labour and huge profits. They dig our mountains, suck minerals from our soil, draw water from our rivers, use tribals as cheap labour and then make huge profits. In the past 10 years, the Jharkhand government has signed 104 MOUs with corporate giants. Out of these 104 firms, 98 are into steel production. If the companies have their way, natives, farmers and tribals will end up losing every inch of their land.
This so-called development has caused huge displacement of the Adivasis. It has been the biggest curse for over 3 crore indigenous natives and tribals. The dams and mines built by companies like SAIL and UCIL have been displacing thousands of tribals for years now. Only 3-4 percent of those displaced were rehabilitated. What hap pened to the rest? Nobody has a clue. The officials just say they don’t know what happened to them.
The sad story of the Damodar river can be a classic case study to understand the monstrous impact of these steel factories. Damodar used to be the lifeline of Jharkhand. But due to excessive mining and industrialisation, the river water has become immensely polluted. Now it is not even fit for bathing and washing, forget about drinking and field irrigation. All the tributaries of the river are also going through the same fate. Ranchi, which once used to enjoy beautiful weather, now boils at around 52 degree C every summer. The farmers are left to face severe droughts every year. All the water resources have reached high toxic levels and forests are shrinking due to excessive deforestation.
We are not anti-development, we are just demanding sustainable development. Development of our land on our terms. The government says that it will rehabilitate the villages and give us good compensation. But we say you can neither rehabilitate our history, our identity, our rivers, our mountains nor can you compensate the loss of our environment with your money. We are saying this development should include development of our culture, language, history, identity, rivers, mountains and the development of our people. We want development of our indigenous people living in their native lands.
As Told To Atul Chaurasia
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