OtherIndia.org

 "Agya, unnoti boile kono?" ("Sir, what do you mean by development?")

- Bhagavan Majhi, Kond leader of the Kashipur  movement.

  Development, and the lust for mineral wealth, is destroying the environment and shattering the lives of indigenous tribals who have lived for thousands of years in the forests of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. From the hills of Bailadila, which houses among the best deposits of iron-ore in the world, to the coal rich areas of Bastar, the indigenous people of India are facing a peril that threatens their very existence. Private mining coporations like the Tata's and the Essar groups have started to occupy their lands for the setting up mines and ore processing units.

 These operations use enormous quantities of water, which is a scarce commodity in Chattsgarh, and also destroys the environment. Nowhere to turn, the indigenous people cling on helplessly to the only life they know. But terror stalks them every day. It is the terror of the state sponsored private militias which they have to contend with, militias that were supposedly formed to control the armed Maoist insurgency in the areas, but also have the implementation of the 'development plans' of the mining interests in its agenda. They kill, rape and burn extire villages, leaving the survivors of the massacres to scatter and run where they can. 

 The backdrop of the situation described in this site is set in newly formed state of Chattisgarh, 70% of whose Bastar region is populated by tribals. This region is also rich in iron, gold, tin, diamonds, coal, uranium, bauxite, cassiterite, among other minerals what the developed world craves for. With 35,000 million tonnes of coal, 2,336 million tonnes of coal, 3,580 million tonnes of limestone and 29 million tonnes of cassiterite, Chattisgarh accounts for 13% of India's mineral production, worth around Rs 4000 crores ( 8 billion US $) per year.

 This is the story of unbridled lust for the mineral wealth, and the death and destruction that it leaves in its wake. For more details, read here.

Click here to read Caterpillar and the Mahua Flower [PDF, 849 KB] »