sunita narain's editorial on the public hearing, mining and eia strikes a raw nerve. state after state, village after village, forest after forest, river after river, coastal area after coastal area, india is being carpet bombed by destructive projects ranging from dangerous sponge iron units to mega jolly polluting chemical factories onto bauxitie/iron ore/etc mining.

it seems we need a revolution spanning villages and onto urban areas so that people enjoying life in luxury in urban areas can see the plight that hits at the bottom of the very exisistence of the rural people.

sunita narain sums it up on what will happen next in her para
"What next? My colleague Chandra Bhushan tells me the rest is fairly predictable. The minutes of this public hearing will be sent to the Union ministry of environment and forests. Its expert committee will deliberate, or sit, on the matter for a few months (as it is controversial). Then it will call the company to explain how it will take into account the issues raised by people. An improved power-point presentation will be made by another consultant; more deliberations will follow; new conditions will be laid down. With these conditions, the expanded mine will be cleared, people’s opposition be damned."

and then she hopes this goa case will be different. i have seen many, many cases in which the end result is the same wherein the businessmen is able to 'convince' the elected-turned-now-middlemen politician who then pressurizes the easy going ministry of non-environment and non-forests to look the other way.

i wish this south goa case is different wherein truth will prevail to stop the destructive mining. but hope is fading fast under the present government which seems to unshackle each and every inch of rural india in name of fake development.