Ekta’s Chhattisgarh Yatra

Julius Reubke, the founder of Friends of Ekta Parishad in Cologne, walked with Ekta Parishad on this march to draw attention to the social and environmental disasters of rapid industrialisation in Chhattisgarh. This is his report to European supporters.

In May 2005 Ekta Parishad began a sit-in against the Ind Agro Synergy Ltd company who have set up a mega plant near Raigarh in the state of Chhattisgarh to manufacture steel products. In this part of central India industrialisation has badly affected people’s livelihoods. Power is firmly placed at the top and eradicating poverty is a constant struggle.

Villager’s land is either being transferred to, or being grabbed by, such industries. Now the people of this region are facing increasing pollution, exploitation, their forests being destroyed and reduced production due to losses in farming land. In Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, Ekta Parishad began their protest against the industries and the bad policies of Chhattisgarh government who are encouraging rapid industrialisation.

The revenue officers do not have any record of how many acres of land are being held by these industries legally or illegally because the land was given to the industries from a higher authority than the revenue department. Ekta Parishad started a foot march on May 20 to mobilise people and record their grievances in the region. On May 25 a public hearing heard how Ind. Agro & Synergy Ltd had grabbed the land of 17 Dalits.

All the mining companies are using heavy vehicles to transport minerals and this is the cause of many accidents in this region. In Manuapalli village, in the Raigarh district Ekta heard how the legs of five youths had been burned by hot iron scrap at the M.S Plant. Instead of compensating the youths, the M.S. Plant accused them of theft at the local police station.

The villagers said 2000 people had died in heavy vehicle accidents and uncountable animals had been killed. The surrounding water, soil and air have become totally black because of the pollution, and villagers are now suffering with diseases like tuberculosis and coughing.

But the government has taken no action against the work of these industries, and it seems to villagers the industrialists are governing the region. At the meeting in Manuapalli, the villagers requested Rajgopal and Ekta Parishad to help them combat the problem. After that meeting, Ekta Parishad decided to begin a sit-in against these industries and the protest began on the evening of May 26. Many supporters from Uttarpradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh came to participate in the satyagraha Ekta Parishad submitted the memorandum to the government about the sit-in, and included a list of 14 demands.

Among others they wanted compensation for 15 Dalit families whose land had grabbed by the Ind. Agro & Synergy Ltd. They also lodged a preliminary report against them, based on a report from the irrigation committee, on the illegal supply of water to the company. Ekta Parishad demanded the water be accessed by farmers for irrigation. They also to demanded a stop to the increasing the height of the Sapanyi Dam and to compensate the young victims of Manuapalli who had been burned and to drop the case filed against them.

Ekta Parishad also demanded the government publicly show how much land has been given to the industries in Raigarh and impose an immediate ban for those industries who are not following the norm and rules of the pollution control board. Ekta Parishad had given the copy of this memorandum to the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, the State Human Rights Commission as well as to the managers of different industries.