what is mining sector in india.

one line answer: mining is all loot and run.

this is the most exact answer anybody can give to the rowdy, uncaring and abusive mining sector in india.

2 questions in the interview sum it up. the sector does not care about sustainability, environment and people. it abuses all laws of human environment just to make fast buck. no wonder, the mining regions are the poorest and destroyed regions of india and those mining regions are the ones that host rich biodiversity and tribal traditions.

who cares? when it comes to development, only the well heeled urban area 'industrialists' from which these mine owner comes benefit. all others face the brutality of mines.

Is mining incompatible with environment? Is there a way out?Mining is required. But the regulatory mechanisms have to be sound. The Minerals Conservation and Development Rules, for example, are too vague. The Indian Bureau of Mines, for instance, surveys all 3,000 mines annually but each year finds the same number of violations. There is no policy on closure of mines. People won’t sacrifice their lives just for national development.

Is there such a thing called good mining?

No. There can only be well managed mining — Sesa Goa, for example — to reduce impact on environment.

pathrakadavu is hogging all the limelight. a clever strategy on part of kseb - that is to push pathrakadavu while athirapally struggle hots up - to create more pressure on the dam building side, pathrakadavu has been suddenly revived and obviously the intention is to build the dam without bothering about the destruction it is going to cause.

hindu report had a site location of the valley. a pristine place which harbours forest and animal species that are millions of years old. it will be a huge tragedy for kerala and the world if such an important biodiversity is smashed in name of fake development of just to generate 70mw of electricity to feed the mindless urban consumerism.
(pathrakadavu site location close to silent valley national park, kerala. 'mindless' will be a misnomer when it comes to proposed dam that is being planned here)

what to do with the rowdy, most of the times illegal, corrupt mining sector in india to work as per human and environment norms. "Making India's mining sector socially and environmentally viable" written by sunita narain attempts to answer this.

this essay is 'the best' cover story i have read in a very long time. each and every para tackles the question of mining and its effects on human and environment and as the first para aptly puts it,
I learnt an important lesson on my travels in Orissa’s Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts. One, the people of one of the most resource-rich areas of the country were also some of its poorest; and, two, this was because their land contained minerals that were important for industrial growth.
Blacksmith institue lists regions of orissa as the most polluted in the world. from blacksmith website,
Chromite, a heavy metal used in the production of chrome metal and chromium, was discovered in India, in 1949. Today, about 97 percent of the nation’s deposits are found in the mineral-rich earth of the Sukinda Valley, Jajpur district, and it is the home to one of the largest open cast chrome ore mines in the world. Over 30 million tons of overburden (leftover rock after ore-removal) litters the surrounding areas and the Brahmani river banks. This area is flood-prone resulting in significant contamination of the waterways.

when it comes to development that the learned, educated and US-lived orissa chief minister brutally pushes, he very cooly pushes the massive environmental and social costs of this indiscriminate mining. assuming he had continued living in america and assuming he had got into some senior american government position and pushes such policy in america, he would have been taken to task by the pollution control agency, the courts and the people.

alas india is not america.

(chromite mines of orissa. one of the most polluted and poorest regions of orissa has taken the brunt of fake development that is being propagated in india)

when it comes to yamuna, what is the cost of flawed process, bloated work and hyped up self pride.

yamuna is probably the most polluted river when it comes to urban delhi. we should officially called yamuna in delhi as yamuna sewage instead of yamuna river.

sunita hits the bulls eye when she says as below,
Speaking at a function for release of CSE's latest publication, "Sewage Canal: How to Clean the Yamuna", Ms. Narain said: "There is obviously something fundamentally wrong in the way we are managing our river cleaning programmes. Our planners believe in spending money without understanding the connection between sewage and its disposal and river pollution."

as suresh babu of cse puts it aptly,
Speaking about the Yamuna, the Deputy Coordinator of CSE's River Pollution Campaign, S. V. Suresh Babu, said: "The Yamuna has become dirtier, and so have the towns along its stretch. The Yamuna's 22-km stretch in Delhi is barely 2 per cent of the length of the river, but contributes over 70 per cent of the pollution load."

surely when it comes to sustainable development of india, the score is 0-100 (0 that is sustainable and 100 that is polluted and unsustainable).

our politicians are debating whether it should be india rising, india shining, etc. it actually should be india unsustainable or india polluting. and that pollution and unsustainability comes at massive cost to 80% of the rural india with a tiny fraction of urban elite benefiting.
(filth, sewage, thrash in yamuna behind taj. surely india shining is only for a section of the people and not for our ecosystem and people who depend on those. images copyright of koshyk)

the report from the dfo (district forest officer) on the proposed pathrakadavu project was scathing. this destructive hydel dam project that will generate around 2.8% of kerala's electricity (70mw of additional power to existing 2500mw) will be fatal for silent valley national forests, kunthipuzha tributary and bharatpuzha(nila) river.

in india, when it comes to development, destruction is the preceding word as india officials and politicians throws all environmental laws to the dust and india's upper middle class grins on the more luxury they are getting oblivious to the fact that massive destruction is happening every day to our vital ecosystems.

( On the bed of the Bharathapuzha in Kerala. The river, which once had a perennial supply of water, now goes dry immediately after the monsoon months. The latest fancy project on kunthipuzha tributary will be last nail in bharatpuzha coffin).

hindu hits the head with this small writeup on earth day.

when it comes to earth, environment, sustainability, pollution control, corporate accountability, etc - our industries are first to jump high and tell that they are the greatest in terms of these important parameters.

but the reality is that their own dirty factories do the just opposite of this. factories left dirty, just to bulk up the profits of the management.

the earth day picture illustrates this in a subtle-but-smash-in-your-face way. frothing effulents from industrial units in Nacharam Industrial Area empty into the nearby Nalacheruvu Lake near Uppal in Hyderabad. like patancheru, eloor, cuddalore, ranipet, bhopal, and all across india - frothing effluents is what mother earth takes in everyday leading to devastation of local water sources, destroying of agriculture, killing of local bio diversity, polluting the basic breathing air, etc.

when it comes to environment, our industries are first in line to tell they are clean. but the truth is that their factories are first in line to destroy the environment.

(FROTHING EFFLUENTS from industrial units in Nacharam Industrial Area empty into the nearby Nalacheruvu Lake near Uppal in Hyderabad on Sunday, even as the world observed `Earth Day'. Locals say the free flow of industrial effluents has contaminated not only the lake but also the entire groundwater in the area.)

when sunita narain, it stays written - strongly at that.

her latest editorial on goa is a slap on those ill-educated people who tom tom that mining is crucial for india as it benefits people in terms of job, benefits our gdp for growth, benefits the government in terms of revenue.

in one para she shreds the wrong facts that is being touted by sections of media, politicians and industrialists.

It is clear that the stakes are high. Today, even if we assume prices of iron ore at $50 per tonne, mining companies in Goa would have made a neat $1.15 billion last year. All the miners pay to the state is royalty, calculated on each tonne mined. Even if we assume the highest rate of royalty, the state government would have earned $5 million or just peanuts if we compare it to what private companies are raking in. Clearly, there is no public benefit in this business. Only costs.

india's development comes at a huge cost to large section of people who depend on environment and goa is a basket study in this. goa, like the rest of india, can choose which path to go. the path of sustainable development or the path of looting, thrashing and destroying of environment in name of development.
(mining sector is probably one of the worst sectors in the red tag industrial sector when it comes to wilful pollution, mass destruction of environment, forcible eviction of marginalised people including tribals, etc. the words like sustainable, communities, modern technologies to eliminate pollution, acknowledging the brutal impact of mindless mining on environment, etc are unknown to this sector. the above image shows a mindless mining instance in goa)

it seems kerala cabinet has cleared (albeit secretively without giving any information/publicity) the pathrakkadavu hydel project very close to the silent valley national park, kerala.

the marginalised and always bullied forest department has quickly shot of its protests. kerala forest protection staff association is also registering its concern and protests.

silent valley national park is probably tens of millions of years old and one of few untouched areas in the western ghats and also crucial source of kunthipuzha river.

this project site at which salim ali - india's legend on bird's - launched the fight against the original dam (probably one of the initial dam struggles) which was a monster on its own.

hindu had a good editorial on this brutal project.

with the athirapally project facing strong protests in kerala, the government is embarking on another destructive and unwanted adventure in another mindless dam building spree.

as the hindu editorial correctly points out there are many ways to improve and sustain the power system of kerala. but with wrong policies, short sightness, the fake development bandwagon is sharpening the knives to destroy what is probably one of the pristine and crucial eco system in the entire world.

please stay tuned as this blog tracks this sudden and secretive development.

the latest issue of sandrp, has scathing stories on the narmada waters coming out of the SSP dam.

this project, a brutal one - probably the most brutal of them all -, has been repeatedly touted as the golden project of india by development mongers.

but day after day, skeletons keep on tumbling out of this unsustainable project. the shocking latest reports that says that water has been diverted from drought prone regions to industries.

i guess, industries are probably the new struggling sector of india. so only they are given land (forcibly acquired) at throw away price, water given free, forests and mountains opened up so that they can rape these natural resources.

well, when it comes to development of india, looting in name of development is a common thing.(the mammoth narmada SSP dam. a brutal project displaced hundreds of thousands of people amidst fake EIA's, world bank pullout, delays, false propaganda and state brutality. even now continuous abuse is taking place on this unsustainable project)

greenpeace india launched 'ban the bulb' campaign.

a very needed and important campaign. indeed we can save huge amounts of electricity (as per greenpeace it is 10,000 mw and as per sandrp report it is around 5000 mw)

if karnataka households shift to CFL it can reduce the karnataka load shedding issues upto 60%. indeed in whole of india there can be a huge boost to reducing pollution to reducing carbon emissions apart from saving good amount of money since CFL has a longer shelf life compared to the normal bulb.

we need urgently the 'ban the bulb' campaign to grow more to pressurise the government to wake it up from its deep slumber when it comes to sustainable development.

the statement of kerala's electricity minister on the athirapally project is funny.

as repeatedly highlighted in this blog, athirapally is a classic example of how brutal development of india is being pushed in name of growth, jobs, progress. and that too growth, jobs and progess only for a section of the society.

as per the minister, kerala govt will 'take care' of all issues arising out of the project and hence the project can come. indeed many examples in kerala, even with kadar tribals, have shown that consecutive governments do not care once they put a monster unsustainable project in place.

indeed that has been the case in whole of india. arundati roy has given a good summary of project displaced people and their plight in her mega head turning essay titled 'greater common good'.

she summarises it aptly below as
"India lives in her villages, we're told, in every other sanctimonious public speech. That's bullshit. It's just another fig leaf from the Government's bulging wardrobe. India doesn't live in her villages. India dies in her villages. India gets kicked around in her villages. India lives in her cities. India's villages live only to serve her cities. Her villagers are her citizens' vassals and for that reason must be controlled and kept alive, but only just."

indeed athirapally is also one of the casting stones for the elite of the cities so that they can splurge on electricity as if it is their birth right.

please find the press release from river research center on the athirapally project.

Athirappilly Hydro Electric Project

Expert Committee on River Valley and Hydro Electric Projects makes site visit and holds sitting with affected people

Five Members of the Expert Committee on River Valley and Hydro Electric Projects, the Committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests that recommends Environmental Clearance to river valley projects made a site visit to the proposed Athirappilly project and impact areas and held public interaction with the people during the 12 ^th and 13^th April 2007. Dr. P.G.Sastri (Retd.Professor), the Chairman of the River Valley Committee was accompanied by Prof. S.Chanda, Dr. Satya.P.S.Kushwaha, Er. R.K.Khanna and Dr.S.Bhowmik (Member Secretary).

The site visit on 12^th April that started at 10.15 a.m in the morning from Thumboormoozhi, culminated at 6.30 p.m at Pokalapara, the Kadar tribal settlement facing displacement. The Committee was accompanied by the Chairman, KSEB and other top officials, officials from the Kerala Water Authority, Irrigation, Eco Tourism and Forest Departments, Member Secretary, Kerala State Pollution Control Board and members of Chalakudy River Protection Forum. The Committee visited the key sites; the Chalakudy River Diversion Scheme (CRDS) site where the major irrigation project is located, the Kannankuzhy stream where the water would be released after power generation 7 km downstream of dam site, the Athirappilly waterfalls and eco tourism area, the Vazhachal rapids, the Vazhachal Kadar tribal settlement, the proposed Dam site and the Pokalapara tribal settlement. The Committee gave a patient hearing to the grievances raised by all the complainants, spending atleast 2 hrs at each spot.

A large number of problems and impacts related to the project were raised by the public throughout the site visit. The impact of flow regulation on irrigation and drinking water resources for the 19 panchayaths and 2 municipalities in the downstream area was the main topic of discussion at Thumboormoozhi. The members of CPF pointed out how the flow regulation would impair the operation of the CRDS scheme already working under low efficiency. The people demanded the KSEB to return the CRDS to pre 1990 situation when the Poringalkuthu HEP upstream was operating as a base load Power station and steady release of water was ensured.

At Kannankuzhy near the dam project site office, the Committee was greeted by the Athirappilly Vana Samrakshana Samithi members including women and children with posters of 'Abandon Athirappilly project' who were concerned about the future of the magnificent Athirappilly waterfalls and their tourism related livelihoods once the dam is constructed. They told the Committee that the project would take away the sheen from the waterfalls and reduce it to trickles.

At Vazhachal, the Committee gave a patient hearing to Geetha, the Kadar tribal volunteer, who had filed the PIL in the High Court of Kerala in 2005 challenging the WAPCOS EIA. The WAPCOS EIA had incorrectly depicted the location of their tribal residential school and omitted the Vazhachal settlement even without visiting the settlement! Actually the settlement of 58 families is located just 400 m downstream of the dam site. The significance of protecting and preserving the hunter gatherer Kadar tribes as a primitive tribal group and their habitat with just around 1500 individuals remaining on earth was pointed out. When questioned by the Chairman of the Committee as to what compensatory measures were required by the settlement when the dam would be built, the united response from the tribals gathered at Vazhachal was, "We do not want any compensation. Drop the dam project".

At the dam site, a brief background on the uniqueness of the area and the river in terms of riparian flora and fauna, elephant movement from Parambikulam to Pooyamkutty forests, the exceptionally high fish diversity and the several studies pointing towards the high conservation value of the forests and the need for raising the status of Vazhachal Division from its present Reserve Forest status was provided to the Expert Committee.

At Pokalapara Kadar settlement located in the proposed reservoir backwaters area, the same response as at Vazhachal was echoed. Though the KSEB tried to convince the Committee and the tribals that they would be given jobs as skilled labourers during the dam construction, Thankamma a senior citizen from the Settlement responded quickly that, "We have lost trust in the KSEB who have not kept any promises given to us all these years". "We have been displaced several times for dams in the upstream without any compensation, jobs or proper rehabilitation," she added. The deep rooted mistrust towards the KSEB was clear from her words.

The Committee did not receive a single representation during the entire site visit supporting the project. However, there was widespread complaint that the site visit and the public interaction was not properly publicized or informed to the people by the KSEB. Moreover, the venue of public interaction for 13 ^th April was kept 60 km away from the dam site so that the affected people cannot attend it.

The Public Interaction on 13^th April saw a large turnout of people from Athirappilly grama panchayath, surrounding grama panchayaths, voluntary associations, environmentalists and the KSEB officials and media persons. The program which started at 10.30 a.m lasted till 4 p.m. in the evening. Apart from the five Expert Committee members, Dr. Sharma, former Director, KFRI and the Chairman of KSEB along with other State Department officials also listened to the people. Renown environmentalists, Prof. M.K.Prasad, presently Director, Information Kerala Mission and Dr. V,S,Vijayan, presently Kerala State Biodiversity Board Chairman, famous left thinker and energy analyst Prof. M.P.Parameswaran and social activist C.R.Neelakantan were among those who raised objections to the project being implemented. The 2006 Public Hearing panel members, Leena Davis (President, Chalakudy Block Panchayath), Sandhya Unnikrishnan ( former Athirappilly Grama Panchayath President) and Vijaya (Member, Athirappilly Grama Panchayath) expressed their deep dissent at the manner in which the Hearing report was manipulated by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board.

The public stance of opposing the project taken by the left ruling Athirappilly GP President Kanchana, a Kadar tribe herself, became the most significant event of the day. Geetha, the tribal leader from Vazhachal, representatives of the Vana Samrakshana Samithi from Athirappilly, representatives of local self governments Merchants Association representative, , downstream farmers, were among the others who raised their concerns about the impact of the project on their water needs and livelihoods. River Research Centre pointed out the violations and manipulations involved in the Clearance process from 1996 onwards and Convenor of the Chalakudy River Protection Forum demanded that the KSEB should take the responsibility of responding to the various queries raised by the people regarding the project.

Two officers from the KSEB, four grama panchayath representative and a District panchayath member spoke in favour of the project.

The Committee expressed its satisfaction in having heard the people's voices and remarked that the Athirappilly issue is a 'pointer towards dam construction in India'.

The Committee recommendation is awaited.

Report by A.Latha and S.Unnikrishnan

hindu continues the coverage of the the river valley committee visit to the project location @ athirapally. as the committee visits the project site, it should be pretty clear to them that people, especially those whose lives and livelihoods will be destroyed, are saying no to the destructive dam.

as the athirapally and other hundreds of cases across india shows, destruction is not welcome in name of development of a few.

the editorial by sunita narain aptly titles as 'dont fix is government fix'. in wheat, paddy, cotton, she brilliantly analyses the 'dont fix' attitude and may we add the 'dont care' attitude of the government.

all the government cares is to 'develop' the 'developed' and feels that governing is a pain, all we have left is farmers suicides.

kerala, usually okay, with its social parameters, also seems to be developing a dont care attitude towards its farmers. the result is thousands of tonnes of paddy lying un utilised. the result huge loss of the agricultural output.

when it comes to development, 'dont care' and 'dont fix' is the attitude of the government.

aidindia email alert told a damning story of santhal adviasis of jadugoda (india's nuclear mining site).

i just reproduce the first para and leave the rest for you to read from above link.
The soil of Jadugoda in the Jharkhand region has provided uranium to run the Atomic Energy program in the country and develop Nuclear capabilities, but the Santhal aadivasis of this region are dying a slow death by uranium radiation. It is a living death that compels people to suffer till their last breath. It is a death the reality of which is being denied by all Government agencies. In the region of the uranium mines, in villages such as Chatikocha, Dumardeeh, Telaitaand, Echada, Bhatin, and Lipighututu, 45 of every hundred women are suffering from spontaneous abortions. The children are dying. Most of the children are becoming physically and mentally handicapped. People are not living beyond 65 years of age. No one wants to marry the girls from this area. The girls who did get married are being abandoned for their inability to bear children. Under the influence of radioactivity, physical malformations, cancer and pulmonary diseases are assuming demonic dimensions.


jadugoda, exemplifies, the mindless pursuit by india of dangerous nuclear plants, the very plants that people of western countries have resounding rejected for past 3 decades.

the athirapally hydro electric dam issue take another saga with the river valley committee visiting of moef visiting the project site.

we had run a campaign to the river valley committee to stop approval for this destructive project.

couple of weeks back, an umbrella of ngo's petitioned the government and gave a press release to stop the project.

this project from start till now has been an abusive one on all fronts namely eia, public participation, openness and honesty, sustainability, etc

no wonder athirapally is a classic example of development gone wrong in india, where brute force bulldoze development is the order of the day - a development that benefits only the elite of india.

(whereas the majestic athirapally falls beautifully unaware of the impending destructing to its soul.)

samata, an ngo, based in andhrapradesh has announced local community efforts to highlight the destruction of proposed bauxite mining in eastern ghats mountain regions of andhra pradesh.

eastern ghats forest ranges are very crucial rain water and river water system for millions of people. from samata,

"The bauxite-rich hills act as a vast sponge soaking in the rainwater and retaining it, thereby recharging the streams and rivers flowing in the region.

The water is then used to meet the needs of the plain areas. The hills rich in bauxite are found in the Eastern Ghats extending into Orissa from our State," he stated.

kalpavriksh has stated in a study titled `Undermining India', that bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam would adversely affect the river systems of the Gosthani, Machkund, Sileru and Sarada.

why would we care. after all monteary growth and development for a few in india is of paramount importance than rivers, rain water ecosystem and mountain ranges of tribals. right?


(eastern ghats is very crucial for millions of people in terms of riverwater system, rainwater system, tourism, livelihood for tribals, etc. proposed bauxite mining in eastern ghat region will surely kill these vital parameters. destruction in name of development is the mantra of new india. above picture shows the majestic eastern ghats ranges in vizag and below picture shows eastern ghats ranges and agricultural activity nearby.)

icici bank efforts to cut down on paper is really laudable one. coupled with that banks such as icici should push consumers to receive statements only online, go green in their bank buildings, go smart in their electricity usage, fund more green projects involving community participation rather than brutal red tag industries, etc

but interesting banks like icici pose like good guys when it comes to environment. but on the back end side they beef up their retail portfolio by financing projects that literally screw up the livelihood and environment on which thousands of poor rural people live.

esgindia says that international finance corporation along with icici is considering funding of expansion of a paper mill that is doing massive and grave environmental injustice by pollution the majestic and crucial kali river.

funnily let us see the statement of Dr Nachiket Mor, Deputy Managing Director, ICICI Bank as quoted in the article:
Dr Mor pointed out that there were two broad approaches to the issue. First, to frame rules — do's and don'ts to ensure environmental protection — on the basis of which project finance will be made.
The second approach is to take a stand as `do whatever you want, but it will cost you to go against environment protection'.
Dr Mor said that his personal sense was that the second approach might be more practical. He said that one of the means of putting a cost on any assault on environment was to develop a carbon trading market within India.

i think these should be called, dr.mor's icici law on environment protection. as long as a weird thing such as carbon trading market exists it is okay for industries pollute, screw up and destroy the environment and it is okay to fund such projects.

on a footnote, cseindia has pointed out in their cover story how flawed cdm is in india.

but hey, when it comes to development, all we need is reasons to justify the destruction that is heaped upon our environment and rural people.

india's sad state of natural resources can be best exemplified by kerala.

kerala, a stunning place, for which its rivers, backwaters, forests, etc is very crucial not only for living purpose and also for income generation.

but indiscriminate assault on the natural pillars of kerala which are the rivers, backwaters, forests, coastal region is taking a heavy toll.

many million keralites like chennaities, are now dependent on tanker water. it is sad commentary on how negligent the rulers of kerala has been.

when kerala's natural resources can be nourished and well kept, it is the opposite plundering that is happening.

when it comes to development, only thing matter seems to be money for even if it means destruction of our very basis of life


(rivers like pampa above are very crucial for kerala's water and tourism needs. but as the hindu article points out in this post, abuse of these rivers has been a major contributor for degradation of kerala's environment)

i nearly tipped and fell from my chair.

the news said that the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have entered into an agreement to share information of Climate Leaders Programme, an eco-protection initiative being implemented in the US currently.

i dont' follow EPA work in america. but i can tell this much. EPA's initiatives in climate change issue is very much lagging. When EPA has to be a leader in climate change issue (one of main contributors for greenhouse gas emissions is america) it is a laggard.

and now you combine EPA's dubious climate change work with the careless, polluting, devil may care attitude of indian corporates when it comes to environment - you have a sucker punch of 2 devils dancing a dirty dance.

CII has repeatedly ignored, brushed aside, rallied, lobbied against environmental protection in india. for industries in india that are in red tag zone (leather, textile, dyes, chemicals, cement, etc) environment is nothing but a useless thing.

and to partner with such an entity will make utter non sense even for basic environmental issues and to partner with them for huge issues like climate change will be fruitless. let CII acknowledge that its member industries have to do much more on environment protection, local community involvement, nourishing of local resources rather than looting environment, then such a partnership will be useful.

i was pleasantly surprised and hugely shocked by this story.

a $10 billion mining project being stopped because of the reason that of the discovery of tiny, blind spider-like creatures at the site.

are australians crazy? $10 billion is a lot of money and it can be used for further development/projects in australia.

are the australians.....

let me stop you right there.

australians are not crazy. they are realistic. if this project was in india and the new species had been discovered on massive mining site, i would know what precisely would have happened.

1. officials and politicians will deny plainly such a new species have been discovered at all.
2. they will tom tom that $10 billion is a huge investment for 'development' of india.
3. the tribals whom have been displaced mercilessly out of that mine area will be working as coolies in the mine and would have been ordered to keep the mouth shut.
4. press, especially the one's who profess truth and honesty, will have been bought over with goodies and their reporters will write article after article telling how important this $10 billion dollar project is for india.
5. as the mine is being digged, it would have polluted the nearby water bodies and our netas and press will dutifully tell that 'all' steps are being taken to contain pollution and make sure the local wildlife is 'taken care' of.
6. india's neo rich will write emails telling that no way we can sacrifice the $10 billion dollar project as it is very vital 'for their development'.
7. the regulatory and monitoring agencies will simply turn a blind eye and deny that ever such a species was indeed discovered.

well..that is india in short. and that's the difference between india and developed nations wherein rule of the law is of paramount importance and not rule of the ruler.

mumabi, as we all know, is a great city. its people are great, it has never said no to anybody who comes there seeking a living, its bollywood industry, although a poor copy of hollywood movies most of the times, gives employment to vast number of people, etc.

there is a famous saying which tells that 'if you are going to mumbai for a living, then you wont sleep a night with an empty stomach'.

but knowingly or unknowingly, the same mumbai is an energy guzzler. with its voracious appetite of wasting energy, its unsustainable buildings built without a single thread of green concepts eats up more energy than the state of kerala.

and this development is very unhealthy for maharastra coastal regions which is getting slammed in name of coal power plants.

and the article says as below,
But this stopgap recourse could prove costly in the long summers to come. And if the power firms fail to buy power by Tuesday, Mumbai could well be powerless for an average of 30 to 45 minutes every day.

too sad.. 45 minutes a day without power is too sad for mumbai. but much sadder and saddest is the pollution that is slamming maharastra coast via coal power plants that gives electricity to mumbai.

mumbaikars has to act asap to cut down their electricity needs and go natural via trees, shrubs, plants, etc in their homes/apartment, involve in massive conservation exercise, tell that electricity is a privilege and not a birth right. unless they do that the electricity guzzler that is mumbai will be a electricity monster very very soon.

(dahanu power plant in maharastra. power plants like these massively pollute local environment hitting the very livelihood's of thousands of fishermen, farmers, etc. but who cares, when it comes to development, electricity to unsustainable cities is of prime importance)