Name: Rijul Sharma

ID: 21080062
Assignment 12

Problems with Land Acquisition

If a large, viable deposit of iron discovered in neighbourhood where your family lives,

would you be willing to uproot your family and move in the name of the “greater good”

of the country

No, I would not be willing to uproot my family and the whole neighbourhood in the name of

“greater good” of the country. It is quite ironic to speak of “greater good” and “development”

of the country, for, there are a lot of drawbacks (not just ecologically but socially) which have

got an upper hand as compared to the benefits in the whole process of extracting the iron ore

through mining. It is a myth that, mining is development. (1)

The area where I live, in Hisar, one common source of water supply is ground water and,

mining is known for creating havoc with water resources, not only in consumptive use- but in

altering the hydrological profile by polluting and breaching the groundwater table. About 40

per cent of large-scale mines of the country have breached the groundwater table. (2) Besides,

the tonnes of waste it produces (3); the fugitive dust it generates, which not only affects health

of workers but also the agricultural productivity and the impacts on wildlife etc. cannot be

neglected.

Even if the idea of mining rehabilitation - which demonstrates idea of afforestation or

restoration of the mined land - is taken into consideration, it is just a mere formality in our

country i.e., the mining closure plans are weak. Though there are several legislations made

regarding this, but they have not been codified properly. Even the institutions like IBM and

SPCBs – which are responsible for mine closure plans don’t have enough manpower to

monitor over large-scale mines in our country. (4)

Name: Rijul Sharma
ID: 21080062
Assignment 12

I doubt whether my decision in land acquisition even matters. For this, the case of conflict of

Jagatsinghpur District of Orissa (2005) is the best example (5), in where the state government

exercised its power and functioned to alienate decision making from marginalized groups

comprising more than 22,000 villagers (who were against the idea of their displacement), and

instead misused the emergency provisions for land acquisition in the name of development to

allocate the land to POSCO, a Korean based steel company, in building up a steel plant on

coast of the district, handing them over many strategic advantages. Even after protest shown

by the people, there were multiple attacks by police and even threat by paramilitary troops via

the state government.

If such things can be done against more than 22000 villagers, then I must question the

consideration of my decision by government of not uprooting my family, as it is quite clear

how this major decision was one sided. Recent research has shown that the judiciary in India

has largely failed to protect people, specially poor farmers ( usually farmlands are targeted

for land acquisition) from the onslaught of forcible land acquisition by the government.(6)

If I only take into account the idea of government providing appropriate monetary

compensation- I am not quite willing to trust their promises although I do have a right for it

according to constitution. (7)

The value of land to be acquired is usually determined by an average of the land sale data of a

particular area over the past 3 years which is the historic price of the land (8)

So, if a viable deposit of iron is present, the value of the land would clearly increase, and

would be way more than the market value price at which the government would provide the

compensation monetarily. Also, it is difficult to challenge against the eminent domain of the

state in a court of law for appropriate compensation.

Further, in case if I accept the compensation money, I don’t believe that it can overcome the

emotional connection I have with my home where I have been living for 14 years, and which
Name: Rijul Sharma
ID: 21080062
Assignment 12

itself has been there for about 20 years. Neither it can overcome the social connections I have

with the neighbourhood.

It is not to claim that mining should be completely stopped. It is because of the loopholes we

have in our system- improper legislation, lack of proper institution for monitoring mining

sites, improper management for millions of tonnes of waste produced, lack of provision of

proper compensation, forcible displacement, problem with mine closure plans, ignorance of

sustainable development and of course corruption- I would not be willing to uproot my

family, for the so called- greater good of the country which is ironic to speak of, except for

monetary profit which will add up to GDP of country.

Notes

3) In 2005-06 alone the total waste generated from some major minerals amounted to as much as
1841 million tonnes in India.
4) Most of the mine closure plans today are nothing but huge pits disguised as water bodies and
massive overburden dumps disguised as plantations.
7) The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and
Resettlement Act, 2013

References:

1. C., 2007. CSE on Mineral policy draft-GOM. p.32.

2. Bhushan, C., 2008. Rich Land, Poor People: The socio environmental challenges of

mining in India. p.6. 5.Agarwal, G. and Mandavalli, A., 2012. Partners In Crime: Land

Acquisition by POSCO and the Pliant State. 2(3).

6. & 8. Guha, A., 2013. The Macro Costs of Forced Displacement if Farmers in India: A

micro level study. p.37.