Please sign the online petitions below to express your solidarity and support for the actions proposed by the Environment Ministry in the show cause notices
Petition for action against Mundra Port and SEZ
Petition for action against OPG Power Project

* If you face any difficulty in signing the petitions, please mail us on mass.kutch@gmail.com

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Rann villagers up ante over Power Grid construction


Express News Service Posted online: Mon Jan 10 2011, 04:33 hrs
Ahmedabad : Around 200 fishermen have submitted a memorandum to Kutch District Collector M Thennarasan over the construction of a kutcha wall on the creek near Surajbari in connection with the laying of grid lines for a power plant in Mundra. They have said the government agency — Power Grid Corporation is carrying on illegal work which threatens their livelihood and also violates environment laws.
Surajbari is located near the Little Rann of Kutch and the local fishing community at Cheravadi village has used this creek — the biggest in that area — for fisheries and prawn farming, for which the government has issued them licences.

Bharat Patel, general secretary of the Machhimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangthan (MASS) said: “The power plant in Mundra is owned by the state government and will be run by a private company. Now, a government agency has started laying a kutcha wall on the side of the creek to set up the grid lines. This will affect the livelihood of the fishermen, because the wall construction will dry the other side of the creek, and make it impossible to carry on fishing activities.”



He added: “This wall has been constructed to prevent the entry of water in the creek area during high tides and also to cut down on costly technology for the transportation of construction material to lay the grid lines. This makes things easy and cost-effective for the power company, but has posed danger to the livelihood of the fishermen. This is in violation of the environment laws since the area falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and mandatory permission is required before carrying out such activity in the creek area.”

In their memorandum, the fishermen said they have not been able to go fishing for at least 15-20 days due to the wall construction. Patel added that the district collector is yet to redress their complaint.

Thennarasan could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Patel said they will explore legal option if construction does not stop soon.

Gujarat High Court (HC) advocate, Anand Yagnik, who is providing them legal help, said if the issue is not resolved soon, they will move a petition in the HC.

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To sign an online petition to support the Kutch Fishworkers' demands, click on http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40325.html

Friday, January 7, 2011

Adani projects: Eating into the sea?

The ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being constructed by the Adani Group in Gujarat's Mundra is under the Environment Ministry's scanner after allegations that illegal construction in these have illegally reclaimed the fragile seashore. NDTV reports. Click on the image below to see the video.


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/adani-projects-eating-into-the-sea/186058?cp

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Adani port: Damaging the coast

One of India's infrastructure projects, the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone, owned by the Adani group has been slapped with a show cause notice by the environment ministry for violating the CRZ notification. NDTV looks at the damage done. Click on the image to see the video. Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/adani-port-damaging-the-coast/185246?cp