His Excellency Mr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India Room No.148 B South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India‐110 011
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His Excellency Mr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India Room No.148 B South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India‐110 011. Heidelberg/Germany, 20 December 2012 Honorable Mr. Prime Minister, FIAN International, the international nongovernmental organisation for the right to adequate food, would like to first of all express its gratitude for taking measures upon our letter addressed to you on August 2, 2011. In this letter (attached herewith for your reference), FIAN had expressed its grave concern about ongoing violations and threats of further violations of the human right to food of about 1000 inhabitants living in the village of Kusum Tola in the North Karanpura Valley in Chatra district of Jharkhand. FIAN was informed by victim groups in Kusum Tola that massive expansion of open cast coal mining by Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in the Upper Damodar watershed will devastate Kusum Tola and other villages, situated in a richly forested and agricultural landscape with hundreds of ancestral villages. Upon the affected people’s request FIAN has been working on the issue since 2010. According to information FIAN received, your office had directed the local authorities of Chatra District to look into the matter. On 16 November 2011, the Sub‐Divisional Magistrate, Chatra District, Jharkhand declared an absolute order under section 133 of IPC (Indian Penal Code). The Sub‐Divisional Magistrate passed the order with the following five conditions (summarized based on the Hindi original) to be met: - Blasting is supposed to be done in such distance so that no house structures will be affected and no danger of life and property is caused to the people; - The coal reservoir (which is a danger due to self oxidization and continuous burning) is to be removed within a period of two months (till 16 January 2012); - For reduction of thick dust, water has to be sprayed in the area on a regular basis; mining work with heavy machines rsp. blasting can only take place in a 2 km distance from the village /cluster; only after lawful migration of all villagers mining work can start; - It has to be assured that the impact of dust on agriculture and property is minimized, and that reviews are undertaken to protect the citizens from breath related diseases; - Mining work has to be done far from water sources and agricultural land, so that citizens will not have to struggle for food and drinking water. The order mentions that in case Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) ignores this order, the Sub‐Divisional Magistrate will be forced to take further action against Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) under section 143 of IPC. In spite of this provision, the order has not yet been followed by CCL; in contrary, mining operations continue and allegedly, people of Kusum Tola are living under constant threat due to their impacts. The villagers of Kusum Tola are still affected by blasting, with the cracking of their houses, and by increased dust and water pollution having negative impact on agriculture and endangering the access to adequate food of the people. As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, India, and therefore the state of Jharkhand, is duty‐bound under international law to respect and protect the human right to food. Article 11 of this Covenant clearly states the obligation of the state to recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food. As mining activities continue to destroy resources needed by the villagers in Kusum Tola to realize their right to food and water, it can be stated that in this case the Government of India is still lacking compliance with its international human rights obligations. FIAN International acknowledges and appreciates the above mentioned order issued on November 16th 2011 by the SDM of Chatra District as a step forward towards safeguarding the right to food of the villagers in Kusum Tola. However, the order is still to be duly followed by CCL. I would, therefore like to ask you to take action towards ensuring the implementation of this order. We would be grateful to hear from your office of measures to be taken in this regard. Yours sincerely Dr. Flavio Valente Secretary General FIAN International Cc. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, President of India; Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Rural Development; Mrs. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister for Environment and Forests; Mr. Sriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of Coal; Mr. Salman Khurshid, Minister for External Affairs; Mr. Inder Singh Namdhari, Member of Parliament; Mr. Arjun Munda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand; Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of Jharkhand; District Magistrate, Chatra District, Jharkhand;Sub‐Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Chatra, Jharkhand; Home Department, Ranchi, Jharkhand; Additional Chief Secretary, Joint Secretary Mines and Geology Department, Ranchi, Jharkhand; CEO Chief Executive Officer, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Mr. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Food; Mr: James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Ms. Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing; Mr. Walter Kälin, UN Representative of the Secretary‐General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Attachment: FIAN International letter of 2 August 2011 His Excellency Mr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India Room No.148 B South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India‐110 011. Fax: 011‐23016857. Email: [email protected] Heidelberg/Germany, 2 August 2011 Honorable Mr. Prime Minister, FIAN International, the international nongovernmental organisation for the right to adequate food, would like to express its great concern about violations and threats of further violations of the human right to food as well as the threat of extinction of the village Kusum Tola in the Northern Karanpura Valley in the Chatra district of Jharkhand. The news submitted to FIAN by victim groups from India indicate that the massive expansion of open cast coal mining in the Upper Damodar watershed is going to devastate Kusum Tola and other indigenous villages, situated in a richly forested and agricultural landscape with hundreds of ancestral villages mostly belonging to Adivasi people. According to the latest information that FIAN obtained from affected communities and their supporters in June this year, Kusum Tola is supposed to be reached by the mining activity very soon, as it is located at the Purnadih mine site, operated by Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) where mining operations are progressing. The neighboring hamlets of Dembua and Baseriya have already been dismantled, and villagers of Kusum Tola are affected by blasting, with the cracking of their houses, and by increased dust and water pollution. This negatively affects agriculture and endangers the access to adequate food of the people. Destruction of their village would mean the destruction of their livelihoods, which would imply violations of their right to adequate food, as they will lose their major source of livelihood – agriculture. Water pollution is also affecting their human right to water. I would like to remind you that Kusum Tola is only one village out of 200 villages affected by the 23 coal blocks present or planned in a small area. There is an imminent threat of massive violations of people’s economic, social and cultural rights, in particular the right to adequate food, of pollution of rivers, destruction of water sources, irreversible environmental devastation, as well as an eclipsing of a precious cultural heritage. Being part of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, India is obliged to respect and protect the right to adequate food and in general the right to an adequate standard of living (Art. 11 ICESCR). The obligation to respect means that the State shall not interfere in the realization of the right to adequate food that people traditionally have. The obligation to protect means that the state shall adopt all possible measures to avoid that private actors and enterprises abuse of people’s right to adequate food. The analysis of the denounced situation leads to the conclusion, that the Indian state is not complying with its international human rights obligations in the mentioned areas and with regard to the respective affected communities, allowing that mining activities destroy the access of people to the resources they need to feed themselves and to clean water and other resources they need to live in dignity. There is also a unique palaeo‐archaeological stone tool evidence of Early Man known as the Damodar Valley Civilization, as well as prehistoric megalithic sites, and one dozen rock art sites, the pride of Jharkhand, dated to over 8,000 years back which have been recommended to UNESCO as a Threatened World Heritage Site by INTACH. In addition, there are also important elephant corridors which would be destroyed if the planned projects would move ahead. The possible destruction of cultural heritage and the environmental impact would be also a breach of international law. As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, India, and therefore the state of Jharkhand, is duty‐bound under international law to respect and protect the human right to food. Article 11 of this Covenant clearly states the obligation of the state to recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food. The Right to Adequate Food is interpreted through General Comment 12 of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights1. In addition, referring to articles 11 (the right to an adequate standard of living) and 12 (the right to health) of this Covenant, the right to water, which is recognized as a human right by the UN General Assembly2, is defined through its General Comment 15.