A few years back, a UK based non-governmental organization, Global Witness, started the work of preparing an annual report by collecting all the published data on the killing of those who raise their voice against the destruction of the environment. According to the report recently published this year, more than three environmental protectors are killed every week in the world. A total of 164 environmental protectors were killed across the world during the year 2018. The highest number of such murders were 30 in the Philippines, 24 in Colombia and 23 in India.
In India, our constitution has given us the fundamental right of a clean environment as a citizen of India under Article 21. Even international organisations like the United Nations have been advocating this for a long time. While among these very idealistic sound facts, stories of illegal mining, cutting of forests, voicing against dams, police repression on those demanding clean water and clear air, atrocities of land mafia and industrialists also exist parallelly. That’s why according to statistics our country is ranked third in the list of casualties striving for environmental protection around the world.
According to figures mentioned in the report, 13 people were killed in police action during the agitation against Sterlite Copper in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. On May 22, 2018, police opened fire on people protesting against Sterlite Copper in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu and according to media reports, 11 people died on the spot and 2 injured died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
Before this, the local people had been continuously agitating for several months about the pollution caused by Sterlite Copper, but it did not matter to the then government and the opposition parties. People complained that the air of the entire area is not worth breathing, the rivers have become poisonous and the groundwater is also not worth using. Still, Vedanta-owned Sterlite did not pay heed.
All such projects or industries come into existence only after getting clearance in aspects related to environment and pollution. Look at the irony, while writing this article, a friend studying from a well-known government institute in Delhi said that the proposed hostel in his institute is still stuck in government files for decades only because it could not get environmental clearance before construction.
According to this report of Global Witness, the total number of 164 murders is not the actual data. The actual figures are much higher than this, but every time the news is not reported or the media is managed by influential convicts.
Recently, the massacre of 10 farmers belonging to a tribal community in Ghoraval tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district is a live example of corrupt governmental mechanisms engaged in benefiting land mafias and ignoring environmental rules and regulations. Land belonging to farmers from the tribal community was misappropriated in revenue records. According to reports in the media, the price of this land was up to Rs 48 crores.