THARPARKAR: Speakers at a dialogue at the Tharparkar Press Club have said the draft Thar coal Resettlement Policy Framework does not reflect the seriousness of the issues involved and offers little for the sustainable development of the area.
The dialogue on the Thar coal Resettlement Policy Framework was organised by the Marooara Coordination Council, a network of civil society organisations in Tharparkar. Speakers said that at the end of the Thar coal project, the land must be restored and returned to its owners in the same condition in which it was taken over.
They called for an inventory of damages to be recorded and the required policy to be formulated on a priority basis. They urged the Sindh government, and especially Thar’s elected representatives, to take timely notice and save the future of Thar.
“There should not be permanent resettlement of the population living in the Thar coal area. Coal authorities should lease land from indigenous people, and at the end of the project the land must be restored and handed back to its owners in the same condition,” said Ali Akbar Rahimoo, a researcher on coal issues.
He said that out of the district’s total area of 19,638 square kilometres, the coal area covered 9,100 square kilometres, nearly 50 per cent of its geographical area. More than 0.7 million people and 2.2 million livestock would be displaced by open-pit coal mining in Thar, which would be a catastrophe, he added.
Social activist Ashok Majrooh Suthar said several projects had been planned, including lignite mining, coal gasification, open-pit mining, coal bed methane (CBM) exploration and development, and power generation, transmission and associated infrastructure. These would cause hazardous air emissions, excessive noise and the deterioration of water sources, he said. He said none of these major concerns had been properly addressed in the proposed framework, and that the wildlife and forest departments and environmental organisations had not been consulted at any stage of drafting it.
Environmentalist Bharu Amrani said: “Tharparkar district is prone to food and drinking water shortages, but it is rich in biodiversity and has a unique ecology, including a Ramsar site, a wildlife sanctuary and a protected forest area.” He said national and international organisations should take notice that the wildlife and forest departments and environmental organisations had not been consulted.
Social activist Gotam Rathi said the Resettlement Policy Framework was meant to guide the project’s land acquisition, compensation and resettlement process, but under the proposed policy, resettlement would be handled on a project-by-project basis. Civil society must take notice of the gaps in the draft, he said.
Advocate Vasand Thari said there should be a clear action plan before work began. He said the proposed framework carried risks of landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, loss of resources, ill health and social disintegration. The resettlement and rehabilitation process must be fair and transparent, he said.
Teerath Kumar Jhangi said that because of the low literacy rate and poor communication, locals would lose their traditional sources of income, and there was a dire need to set up vocational and technical institutes.
Sajan Charo, Prem Shivani, Gulab Rai, Partab Shivani, Mumtaz Nohrio, Karim Samejo, Abdul Ghani Bajeer and others also spoke on the occasion.