In a victory of sorts for the agitating farmers of Mahuva who are currently marching towards Gandhinagar, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on Saturday, stopped all work on the Nirma cement plant.
In a victory of sorts for the agitating farmers of Mahuva who are currently marching towards Gandhinagar, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on Saturday, stopped all work on the Nirma cement plant.
The ministry has also issued a show-cause notice asking why the environment clearance given to the project under the Environment Protection Act should not be revoked, and work on the plant stopped permanently.
The ministry has allowed a personal hearing for Nirma on March 16 or 17 before making the stoppage of work permanent.
The cement plant is under construction at Samadhiyala Bandhara near Padhiyarka village in Mahuva Taluka of Bhavnagar district in
Gujarat.
Nirma was given environment clearance for the project in December 2008. Following this, farmers from the village, led by BJP MLA from Mahuva Dr Kanubhai Kalsariya, launched an agitation against the plant.
The protesting farmers said that the land, which was shown as 'wasteland' by Nirma and the state government to get environmental clearance, is actually a special freshwater body (bandharo) constructed to control salinity ingress from the sea.
This freshwater body supplies water to their farms for irrigation and their livelihood would be ruined if the plant and the subsequent mining in the area were allowed, the farmers claimed.
A report submitted last month after a detailed site visit by the expert committee constituted by the MoEF to look into the farmers' charges, has supported their argument. Based on this, MoEF has directed Nirma to "stop the implementation, including construction work, of the project with immediate effect" and, until further orders, to avoid any further damage to the wetland.
Minister of state for environment and forests (independent charge) Jairam Ramesh refused to comment on the notice. Dr Kalsariya, though elated about the news, was guarded in celebrating it.
"We of course welcome the environment ministry's notice, but this is not the end of the struggle. Nirma has not been asked to move out yet. The padyatra to Gandhinagar will continue as it is as much about the state government's blind industrialization policies," he told DNA.
The development, on the one hand, has caused jubilation among the protesting farmers who are currently on a non-violent 'satyagarha' called 'Jal, Jameen Jungle Bachao Padyatra' from Mahuva to Gandhinagar. On the other hand, it is seen as a big letdown for the Narendra Modi government who was pitching for the industry, and has been marketing Gujarat as an industry-friendly investment destination through the Vibrant Gujarat investment summits.
Director-general of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain, who visited the site earlier said, "How can we allow desecration of water and the life it gives? Will we allow the right to a common water body to be abused? This is a fight for life. The environment ministry's decision is significant in this case. It lays down the ground rule and sets a precedent -- that there will be zero tolerance when it comes to takeover and destruction of water bodies."
Former finance minister Sanat Mehta who has also lent his support to the cause says the work in the factory at Mahuva has stopped since the last four days. "The yatra will go on as the state did not play a role and there is still scope for Modi to play the right role. The main point is if it was a wetland why was it kept hidden?" he says.
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