In 25 years, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has introduced an alternative development discourse in India. ON the full moon night in October, hundreds of people from all over India gathered at Bhilgaon, one of the many tribal villages in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, in the foothills of the Satpura mountain range and on the banks of the river Narmada. The place resounded with jingles, revolutionary folk songs and strains of...

The joint committee on the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has termed the implementation of the Act in the state as extremely poor and recommended that it should be enforced in the state and not confined only to the tribal areas. It is of the firm view that there should be no diversion of forest land till the FRA is enforced fully. Disagreeing with the general perception on the part of the government...

When India’s Forest Rights Act was passed in 2006, it was criticized by environmentalists who were concerned that it would undo the country’s wildlife reserves. On the flip side, tribal rights advocates were concerned that the people the law was really meant to help wouldn’t benefit. Since it came into effect in January 2008, India has blocked at least one megaproject – Vedanta’s bauxite mine in Orissa – on the grounds...

Vedanta, Posco and Sindhudurg. The issue is the same — the need for a well-thought-out policy relating to extractive and resource-based industry. The government’s withdrawal of mining permission to Vedanta on the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa’s backward Kalahandi district; the divided verdict by the Gupta Committee on the Posco iron ore project; and the environment ministry’s concern on 49 mining licences issued by the Maharashtra government for bauxite and iron...

The fate of South Korean steel giant Posco’s project in Orissa will be decided by early November. The decision will be taken before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Seoul for the G-20 meet in the second week of November. The environment ministry-appointed committee headed by former environment secretary Meena Gupta will submit its report on October 18. Sources said that there are indications that the panel will not be submitting...