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The Movement of India July-August 2010 The Vol. 5, Issue 2 September-2010 Movement 2010 Bi-Monthly of India Rs. 20 EnergyEnergy PolicyPolicy SpecialSpecial Questionable Integrated Energy Policy Pro-People Energy Alternative Fact Finding Report on Sompeta Power Project Firing Environmentally Destructive Athena Power Project Cleared People Owned Power Plant in Jharkhand People's Victory Against Mega Power Project in Chamalapura Kashmir Needs a Permanent Solution POSCO Update Tributes: M J Joseph and Advocate B M Masani 1 The Movement of India July-August 2010 Subscribe to the Voice and Vision of India Subscribe to The Movement of India Appeal for Subscriptions, Sponsorships, Donations, and Reports/ Articles We are currently in the process of streamlining various activities required to bring out MoI with good quality and in time. 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Rates are: Regular page Rs. 5000 Rs. 3500 Rs. 2000 Back cover inside Rs. 10000 Rs. 7000 Rs. 4000 Articles, Reports, News and Analysis We welcome articles, reports, news and analyses relating to people’s issues of livelihood, com- munities’ right over natural resources, democracy, human rights, justice, sustainability, ecology and the environment. We publish articles that raise concern against injustice (struggle) and those that present alternative experiments and models (reconstruction). Send in subscriptions, sponsorships, donations, and articles to: The Movement of India c/o Clifton D’Rozario, 122/4, Infantry Road, Opp. Infantry Wedding Hall, Bangalore - 560 001, Karnataka (India) Email: [email protected], Phone: +91 97317 38131 Contributions can be made through Cheques in the name of The Movement of India 2 The Movement of India July-August 2010 EEditorial Team 1. Editorial - 4 S.R. Darapuri Joe Athialy 2. The Integrated Energy Policy :Many Questions- 5 Madhuresh Kumar Mukta Srivastava 3. Need to Shift the Politics of Energy Economy- 9 C. Balakrishnan 4. A Non-Displacing, People-Owned Energy System- 12 Clifton D’Rozario Siddharth Narrain 5. People’s Victory against Thermal PowerPlant- 13 Rahul Pandey Adithya 7. Public Hearings on Power Projects- 15 Adithya T.K. Dayanand Doddatti 8. How the US Government is Funding Mega Fossil Fuel Projects in India- 18 Advisory Team 9. Politics of ‘Power’ and ‘Energy’- 20 Medha Patkar 10. Independent Fact-Finding Report on Sompeta Firings- 22 Aruna Roy Sister Celia 11. Karla SEZ Scrapped: People’s Movements Emerge Victorious- 25 S.G. Vombatkere Gabriele Dietrich 12. NAPM Condemns Threats to Shri EAS Sharma- 27 S.R. Suniti Sandeep Pandey 13. Kashmir Needs a Permanent Solution- 28 U.R. Ananthamurthy 14. Clebrating Diversity & Inclusiveness in the Age of Consent- 30 Trilochan Sastry Ajit Sahi 15. Illegal Land Acquisition in Gadakujang Panchayat for Neelabh Mishra POSCO Project- 31 16. Tribute: Remembering M.J- 33 Administration Support Kalpana 17. Tribute: Masaniji- 35 18. News & Notes from People’s Movements- 36 00 19. A Rare Show of Solidarity- 43 00 - Send us your comments on the articles publishe d and your suggestions for improving the quality o f MOI. 3 The Movement of India July-August 2010 energy technologies need to be developed that permit people to harness local resources in a sustainable manner. There are three types of energy related ar- ticles in this issue – those that critique the present energy policy and outline broad al- ternative paradigm; those that report the an- tidemocratic way in which current power projects are being implemented (taking as examples administration’s repression of lo- cal people threatened by Nagarjuna Construc- tion Company’s thermal power plant at I ndia’s energy policy and its implementa- Sompeta, AP, and environmental clearance tion form the main theme in this issue. The granted to Athena’s thermal power project present energy policy is characterized by capi- in Chattisgarh); and those that report cases tal investment-driven, electricity-focused, of hope for the people, a case of small-scale centralized, large-scale power plants that thermal power plant owned and managed by uproot local communities of tribals, landless tribal village people in Hazaribagh district and farmers and destroy the environment and of Jharkhand, and another of how villagers biodiversity. Benefits of such large scale in and around Chammalpura (close to projects go largely to the middle and upper Mysore) got together and ousted a mega ther- class populations in urban areas and to big mal power project that was to occupy 2000 industries. Displaced families are neither re- acres of agricultural land and displace 20,000 habilitated adequately nor given any benefits people. of such projects. Most are pauperized. Besides, this issue contains articles on In addition, large scale power generation POSCO, Kashmir, and NAPM’s statements technologies like coal fired thermal plants on some important events like expressing directly contribute to global warming and concern over Azad’s murder and harassment nuclear power plants result in unresolved of Shri EAS Sharma, and celebrating first safety hazards. The workers in these facili- anniversary of historic Delhi High Court ties and economically weak populations who judgment declaring Section 377 IPC uncon- live in proximate regions are the immediate stitutional and scrapping of Karla SEZ near victims of terrible health impacts without Pune under pressure of the people. The receiving adequate healthcare services. POSCO article updates on continuing land The need of the time is to replace this large- acquisition and people’s growing resistance. scale, people-displacing and nature-annihi- The article on Kashmir problem argues that lating paradigm of energy planning with a the only solution to end vicious cycle of vio- small-scale, people-empowering and sustain- lence is for India to help work out Kashmir’s able one. This, in turn, requires replacement autonomy in agreement with the people of of centralized and autocratic processes of J&K and with approval of Pakistan. decision making with decentralized and Finally, we offer heartfelt tributes to two com- democratic processes which involve local passionate compatriots who recently passed communities in decision making as a matter away – M. J. Joseph and Advocate B. M. of routine and let the communities gain con- Masani. Both aligned their lives with the trol of local resources like lands, waters, for- struggles of the ordinary and disadvantaged ests and minerals. Small-scale and renewable people. - Editorial Team 4 The Movement of India July-August 2010 capita by 2031 from the level of 439 kgoe in he Planning Commission’s Integrated T 2003. Energy Policy report – the key document that As far as electricity is concerned, the con- lays out the strategy for meeting India’s en- sumption will have to be raised from 553 ergy needs for the next 25 years – begins with units per capita in 2003 to 2471 units per a clear articulation of its basic approach to capita by 2031 for the same growth. To meet energy. this requirement, the report suggests that “India needs to sustain an 8% to 10% eco- India will need to create a total installed ca- nomic growth rate, over the next 25 years, if pacity of 778,000 MW, up from the current it is to eradicate poverty and meet its human (2010) level of 161,000 MW - close to five development goals. To deliver a sustained times the existing capacity. growth rate of 8% through 2031-32 and to To meet this level of energy and electricity meet the lifeline energy needs of all citizens, needs, even some of the best scenarios out- India needs, at the very least, to increase its lined in the report require the full develop- primary energy supply by 3 to 4 times and ment of hydro resources – 150,000 MW – its electricity generation capacity/supply by and creating 63,000 MW of nuclear capacity 5 to 6 times of their 2003-04 levels.” in addition to huge amounts of coal power. In other words, it begins with the assump- And, as per the report, in the least coal-domi- tion that the 8-10% growth rate is necessary nated, highest energy efficient and to eradicate poverty. It then projects the en- renewables scenario also, coal will still have ergy and electricity that will be required to to provide for 41% of our primary energy achieve this rate of growth. It finds that to supply and oil will have to supply 22.8%. achieve 8% economic growth every year for In effect, the need to maintain 8% growth is 25 years (from 2006 to 2031), the total pri- the basic justification for building hundreds mary energy supply will have to be raised to of large dams, including in the sensitive Hi- 1250 Kilogram Oil Equivalent (kgoe) per malayan region, many nuclear facilities and thousands of acres of Shripad Dharmadhikary coal mining and ther-