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R&R clearance for the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) Project by Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Letter of Secretary, National Commission of Scheduled Tribes to The Secretary, (Irrigation and CAD Dept.) on R&R clearance for the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) Multi-purpose Major Irrigation Project, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
R&R clearance for the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) Project by Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Shri Satish Chandra,
Secretary (Irrigation and CAD Department),
Government of Andhra Pradesh,
Social Welfare (LTR) Department,
A.P. Secretariat,
Hyderabad.
(Fax: 040-23450666)
Sub: R&R clearance for the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) Multi-purpose Major Irrigation Project, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
Sir,
This is in the context of your letter No.42137/Maj.1(2)/06 dated 16th January, 2006, and the discussions held in this Ministry on 21st January, 2006, on the above subject. The following information may kindly be sent to enable us to accord clearance to the R&R Plan:
(1) As stated by you, both in writing and orally, almost the entire area that will be submerged by Indira Sagar Project {274 villages out of 276 covering 23320 Scheduled Tribe families which constitute about 48.6 per cent of the Project Affected Families (PAFs)}, falls in the Scheduled Areas of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The criteria for declaring any area a Scheduled Area under the Fifth Schedule include, as you are aware, preponderance of tribal population, compactness and reasonable size of the concerned area. These characteristics will undergo permanent changes due to the displacement of such a large Scheduled Tribe population, and physical obliteration of extensive tracts of land. In case the ST population which is displaced is settled in a non-Scheduled Area, the various protections available to Scheduled Tribes in Scheduled Areas will not be available to them, making their conditions even more vulnerable. Besides, the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (PESA), inter-alia, which provide control and management over natural resources such as minor minerals, water bodies, etc. to the Panchayati institutions and political protection in terms of reservations in elections to Panchayats and other bodies, would also no longer be available to the displaced persons. Such large scale displacement might even have an impact on the necessary to first comprehensively assess the impact that such displacement would have on the population mix of the Scheduled Areas concerned and the protection that the Scheduled Tribe families, both those remaining within the Scheduled Areas and those who will be settled outside, will get or be deprived of. The resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced families may have to be considered within the Scheduled Areas itself, to prevent the impacts mentioned.
(2) Land constitutes the most important resource for Scheduled Tribes, providing tenurial security and sustenance. Cash compensation, no matter how generous, cannot provide the same security and can easily and quickly be frittered away. "Land for land" compensation as proposed by the State Government is, therefore, extremely important. The displaced Scheduled Tribe families also need to be made stake holders and beneficiaries of the development that is being undertaken in the Scheduled Areas. The "land for land" compensation should, therefore, be provided within the command area of the project. It is understood that the State Government is considering this. This may please be confirmed and details provided.
(3) Section 4(1) of the PESA provides for consultation with the Gram Sabhas before acquisition of the land for development projects in Scheduled Areas, and before resettlement or rehabilitation of the persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas. A statement showing the dates of consultation with the concerned Gram Sabhas and the decisions taken, may please be sent to us in a tabular form.
(4) The cost of Rs.117.74 crore indicated in the resettlement and rehabilitation plan may need upward revision as the same does include the cost of land for land compensation to the PAFs in lieu of their acquired land.
3. Since the setting up of a major irrigation project within a Scheduled Area resulting in large scale submergence of tribal lands and displacement of a large number of Scheduled Tribe families is a matter of crucial importance to the tribal people living in the State, it would be advisable to put up the matter along with detailed information on the points mentioned above, before the Tribes Advisory Council of the State for its views.
4. Since some of the Scheduled Tribe PAFs will be in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, it may be indicated whether the rehabilitation being provided to them is the same; if not, the kind of rehabilitation being provided to the Scheduled Tribe PAFs in those States may be indicated.
5. The clearance of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the R&R Plan will be considered only after receipt of the above details and the views of the Tribes Advisory Council. The clearance will be granted subject to the Government of Andhra Pradesh obtaining the mandatory forest clearance and the clearance under the Wildlife Protection Act from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Needless to say no displacement of PAFs should take place till the final clearances to the R&R Plan is conveyed and the mandatory clearances from Ministry of Environment and Forests are obtained. |
