British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka -Richard Hyde to visit Karwar on March 7

British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka, Richard Hyde, will visit Karwar on March 7, according to a press release from the British Deputy High Commission, Bangalore. He will meet senior government officials and those well-known in media and business circles and prominent citizens in Uttara Kannada.

According to the release, he will hold discussions on regional issues, political and social aspects of Karwar in general and Uttara Kannada in particular. This is to improve his understanding of the region's social, economic, cultural and political trends and developments. Officials of the British Deputy High Commission in Bangalore have visited Karwar and completed the formalities. They met the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police and the zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer of Uttara Kannada and held discussions about the visit of Mr. Hyde.


News in SahilOnline and The Hindu


Earlier in The Hindu and in Times of India - British Deputy High Commission established at Bangalore

Bangalore: The city now has a new British Deputy High Commission which was inaugurated by Governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Thursday. British Deputy High Commissioner Richard Hyde told press-persons here that Bangalore and Karnataka, more widely, have greatly increased in importance to the U.K. “We have retained a strong trade relationship, but we also now enjoy wider and deeper academic and cultural links. The political economy of Karnataka is of tremendous importance to the wider bilateral relationship, and the State is well represented in the Union Government. A key part of my role will be to engage with political leaders and commentators of every persuasion throughout the State,” he said.

The U.K. had recognised the importance of Bangalore long before the others and invested in developing a strong commercial relationship. “But the wider political economy, culture, academic, science and technology communities in Karnataka are the key to Britain’s relationship with India. In the coming months, the British Deputy High Commission will focus on engaging with these groups,” he added.

About the High Commission’s Climate Change Programme in India, he said that the programme was focussed on promotion of a “low carbon, high growth” economy. “This includes supporting development and expansion of renewable energy, energy efficiency and enabling policies. We are assessing the feasibility of promotion of renewable energy in several States, including Karnataka. We hope to work with civil society organisations, think tanks and businesses to look at ways of using industrial innovation to mitigate the impact of climate change,” he said.

The British Deputy High Commission, he said, would organise more outreach events in cities across the State, including Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore. “We will be holding a British event in Mangalore in October, the first of what I hope will be many outreach events,” he added.

Later, the Governor welcomed the opening of the new Deputy High Commission. “The relations between India and the United Kingdom are historic. We are similar on various counts. For example, our legal system and civil services are gifts of the British. We also speak the same language,” he said.

Richard Hyde, British deputy high commissioner to Karnataka, visited Mangalore and met officials of the deputy commissioner’s (DC) office on Wednesday March 25 2009. - Daiji World

Uttara Kannada is ideal for tourism and health projects

Uttara Kannada district has several scenic spots that draw tourists. There is good scope for investors to invest money on tourism and health-related projects, said Richard Hyde, Deputy British High Commissioner to India. He was speaking to media persons on Sunday night during his visit to Karwar to explore the business opportunity in Uttara Kannada. 
- Sahilonline.org

Coast Guard cautions people against trespassing near Karwar beach Land transfer

Coast Guard cautions people against trespassing near Karwar beach Land transfer

The action of the Uttara Kannada district administration of handing over the middle part of the Karwar beach to the Defence department has kicked up a new controversy. The Defence department has put up a board restricting entry to the beach.

Fourteen acres of revenue land on Karwar beach was handed over to the Coast Guard to build an office there, said K.. Narasimhamurthy, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada.

What surprised people was the secrecy maintained by the Revenue Department officials on the whole process, said Rajesh Nayak, president of the Karwar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit. After acquisition of the major part of the beaches in Karwar for the Seabird project, the people of Karwar were left with a small stretch of the beach. The Revenue Department officials should have consulted the public, fishermen and the social and political organisations before handing it over. What was the reason for secrecy that they maintained in the whole deal, said Mr. Nayak. Gaja Surangekar, a fishermen leader, said the district administration had cheated the fishermen who had been using the beaches for fishing for centuries. He said that the people came to know about the transfer of land only on Tuesday when the signboards were put up. “We will launch an agitation and never allow them to snatch our right to use the sea shore,” he said.

Ratan Durgekar, a morning jogger on the beach, criticised the officials of the district administration. He said when thousands of acres of land acquired for project Seabird still remained unused in Karwar, what was the necessity to hand over a new piece of land in the civilian area to the Defence department? He said the people living around the Seabird project area faced several restrictions. A Defence office in civilian area would create more problems for the citizens of Karwar. The Tourism Department was showcasing Karwar beach to attract tourists. About Rs. 5 crore project was prepared by the district administration itself to develop the beach. Officials of the National Highway Department, who worked on the four-lanes highway that passed through the same area were unaware of land transfer. The area where the signboard was put by the Coast Guard covered forestland.

A senior Forest Department official pleaded his ignorance about this. He said that part of land on the beach belonged to the Forest Department and survey no. 108 on the beach was a forest as per records.

The projects like “green wall” on Karwar beach was taken up by the Forest Department to stop the sea erosion, sea breeze and sand accumulation on the road. Now the Defence area in forestland might create problems to implement these projects, he said.

Many beach lovers, environmentalists and fishermen organisations have threatened to launch agitation against the district administration for handing over the beach area to the Coast Guard.

Demand for a new Kadwad-Sunkeri Bridge

This Bridge built in the year 1963 is the only nearest connecting Link to the Villagers  of Kadwad to Sunkeri and Karwar town. Now it is in a very Dilapidated Condition. A demand for a new bridge was put forth by the people, but so far the Government has not acted upon it. The  bridge is now dangerous even for two and three wheelers, and the people, including school and college Students, fishermen, pensioners, patients and employees, have to take a round-about route of Ten Kms to reach Kadwad from Sunkeri, which is just 300 metres across the Kali backwaters, a stone's throw away.

The anger of the villagers has now acquired a new magnitude, as they have reliably learnt that the present District-In-Charge Minister - Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has diverted the Rupees Eight Crores meant for the new bridge to his Sirsi Constituency.
 The near-disqualification of the Karwar Constituency has silenced the voice of the Kadwad villagers in the Assembly, and they have no voice to vent their demands.

The visit of the Chief Minister Dr B. S. Yeddiyurappa to Karwar Constituency to hand-over the houses to the victims of the Maadibag Hill Landslide after over a year of the incident, had kindled some hope in the minds of the local people, that the bridge could be newly constructed after all. But now it is also learnt that the Chief Minister may not visit Kadwad at all to hand-over the houses to the land-slide victims, which has again enraged the local people.

 
The apathy of the Government to respond to the needs of the people, combined with the alleged discriminatory approach of the District-In-Charge Minister, to favor his Sirsi Constituency, at the cost of the other taluks of the District, and the hasty decision of the Karwar Constituency MLA Anand Asnotikar earning his dsqualification, has watered down the hopes of the people of this Region, to see any developmental works in Karwar. The very own BJP party of the Minister is dis-illusioned about his attitude as per this Report    

Naval Base at Karwar - The Untold Agony in the Achievements...

India is finally going in for a major expansion of its newest naval base at Karwar in coastal Karnataka, which provides it "strategic depth" on the western seaboard and will house aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines in the future.

This comes after a long delay since the ambitious `Project Seabird' to build the futuristic Karwar naval base was first approved by the government way back in 1985 at an initial cost of Rs 350 crore. Budgetary constraints derailed the project for a decade before a truncated Phase-I was approved in 1995, with the work finally commencing in 1999 with a Rs 2,500 crore fund allocation.

"Phase-I is now fully complete. We have 10 warships based there. Now, the detailed project report for Phase-II is in the final stages. After approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security, construction will begin next year,'' Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told TOI. Navy will be able to berth 25 to 30 big warships at Karwar after Phase-II gets over by 2017, he added. The base will also house a wide variety of smaller ships, including 10 of the 80 fast-interceptor craft of Sagar Prahari Bal, the specialised force being raised for coastal security after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai.  
Source - Times of India

INS Kadamba

INS Seabird

Project Seabird was a program to establish a new Naval Base, the INS Kadamba. This base would be India's first base exclusively for naval ships and the largest. Prior to its existence, naval ships shared space with commercial vessels at the two major ports in Mumbai and Visakhampatnam as well as smaller enclaves in Kochi, Goa and other small ports. A new Naval Base on the western coast was sanctioned in 1985 primarily on strategic consideration for completion by 1995 to provide additional infrastructure for the growing Naval Fleet. Karwar in Karnataka was chosen as the location of this base. The base would is under the jurisdiction of the Western Naval Command.

The Naval base was inaugurated by Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee on 05 May 2005. The then Prime Minister Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation stone on 24 Oct 1986. The project was originally conceived by Admiral OS Dawson (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, ADC, who was Chief of Naval Staff from 28 Feb 82 to 30 Nov 84.

The West Coast was chosen for the location of the new base since the eastern base at Visakhapatnam, which could berth 50 ships, was considered adequate for India’s security needs in the east. Mumbai, on the west coast, was too congested due the substantial number of merchant vessels that docked there regularly, often forcing naval ships to wait a day before they could dock. Shallow waters along the channel in Mumbai prevent the berthing of aircraft carriers, which would have to lie in anchorage. Expansion of the Mumbai base was impossible and nearby buildings such as the Bombay Stock Exchange presented a security risk. Furthermore, Mumbai was a mere 580 nautical miles (900 kilometers) from Karachi whereas the Karwar base would be around 900 nautical miles (1,450 kilometers) from Karachi, thus being further away from potential attacks such as via missiles. The topography of the Karwar base was also considered valuable by the Navy. Features include sufficient and even water depth permitting easy berthing and navigation, hilly forested terrain to camouflage ground installations and the low occurrence of siltation.

The project was beset with abnormal delays. Despite revision of completion schedule from 1995 to 2005, the execution of marine works commenced after 14 years in 1999 raising doubts about the completion of the project even as per the revised schedule.

The cost of the project estimated at Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) in 1985 increased to Rs 959 crore in 1990 on finalisation of detailed project report and further escalated to Rs 1294 crore in 1995, though the scope of the project was considerably reduced. The Ministry accepted consultancy services for supervision, contract management and quality assurance at higher rates than that quoted by foreign consultant in July 1990, resulting in extra expenditure of Rs 7 crore. Incomplete and inadequate studies by Central Water Power Research Station entrusted with site selection studies prolonged the studies for more than eight years. Tardy progress in implementation of approved rehabilitation package for the affected families despite budgetary allocations for this project led to its revision time and again and ultimately its financial impact increased by Rs 78.20 crore. Investment of Rs 2.64 crore on creation of assets, established to match the proposed commencement of marine works in June 1998 remained unproductive due to non-acquisition of land and conclusion of marine works contract.

The Ministry sanctioned in July 1986, acquisition of 6933 acres of State Government revenue and forest land and 5421 acres of private land at a cost of Rs 22 crore. But subsequent developments like (a) minimising human displacement (b) restriction on construction within 200 metres from high tide line, (c) planning of Konkan Railway line through the station and (d) reduced scope of the project necessitated reassessment of land to be acquired. Out of 8175 acres land decided to be finally acquired, 324 acres had not been acquired as of January 2000.

The INS Kadamba was commission on May 31, 2005. As of then, Project Seabird was being executed on 4480 hectares (11200 acres) of land, which was a mix of forest, revenue and private land. More than 4000 families living in 13 villages have been relocated to seven Rehabilitation Centers. Out of the acquired 3500 hectares of forest land, only 400 hectares have been used for construction. As per the existing policy, 800 hectares of compensatory afforestation has been done. In addition, about 900 hectares of afforestation has been carried out within the Naval area after taking over. Some sources have estimated the cost the total project cost at US$800 million.

Due to budget limitations, the Navy halved the original Phase I of Project Seabird. Phase II which will last from 2005 to 2010 will double most of the existing facilities. In addition, a naval air station will also be constructed where large ship-based helicopters will be stationed. The Navy ultimately plans to berth 50 vessels at Karwar.

Currently, the Navy plans to station the operating fleet of the Western Naval Command at Karwar while sending ships for repair and maintenance to Mumbai.

One of the unique feature of the base is the ship-lift and ship-transfer system for dry docking of the ship at the Naval Ship Repair Yard. The ship-lift is capable of lifting upto 10,000 tonnes and measures 175m x 28m. A ship-lift is a large elevator platform that can be lowered into water and lift a ship vertically to the yard-level so that the ship can be moved onto a dry repair berth on land. The ship-lift will be able to lift all other Indian Navy vessels except aircraft carriers and supply vessels. Currently there are 2 jetties available for ship-berthing. Ultimately, 11 piers will be available which will be able to accommodate 42 ships. Ships will be placed by end 2005 to enable the Western Naval Command with operational flexibilities.

Source

Land Acquisition/Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons

The land required for execution of Project Seabird was approx. 4480 hectares, which was a mix of forest, revenue and private land. Over 4000 families living in 13 villages were required to be rehabilitated. The rehabilitation of the project affected families commenced in 1995 and this process went through various stages of negotiations, agitations, resistance, discussions and meetings with the involvement of local, state and national level political level leadership, including the High Court of Karnataka and National Human Rights Commission. Finally, at a meeting between the then Raksha Mantri and the CM of Karnataka in 1999, a comprehensive rehabilitation package was settled at a cost of Rs 126 crores as opposed to the original estimate of only Rs 9 crores. The actual work at site was to have been completed within 10 years (1995-2005), but could only commence in 2000 after the project affected families were rehabilitated in seven Rehabilitation Centers. The Project is being executed in a holistic manner with the involvement of all agencies. 

Source

Non-payment of Compensation – Movable Assets of Govt Office Attached

The court personnel attached the movable assets found in the office of the special land acquisition officer of the Seabird Naval Base here, located in the office of the district deputy commissioner, on Monday March 8. The court had ordered for the attachment of the movable assets of the office, as per an execution petition filed by the persons aggrieved at the non-payment of compensation for their lands acquired for the naval base.
Land belonging to the late Vishnu Siddappa Naik, the late Datta Siddappa Naik, and their brother, Mohan Siddappa Naik, located in Chendia Aligadda village, had been acquired by the land acquisition officer in the year 1989.  The land owners, dissatisfied with the price offered for their lands, had approached the court for enhancement of compensation, which was granted by the civil court here. Thereafter, the government had filed a special leave petition in the High Court to approach the Supreme Court against the court order, which was declined. The appeal filed by the estate officer of the department of defence in the court against the court order, is yet to be admitted by the Supreme Court.
The court bailiffs took away chairs, tables, fans, Xerox machine, and cupboards found in the office. Employees of the office, who initially resisted the move, had to move out of the office as they could not function in the office that was being emptied. Advocate for the displaced persons, P S Bhat, said that the court took this step, as the land acquisition officer failed to pay compensation as per the court order, even after several requests were made to him on this issue.
Source - Daijiworld.com

Compensation, a mirage for Seabird land losers in Karwar - Deccan Herald
It is 24 years since the government acquired 2,500 acres of private land from people in Karwar and Ankola taluks to build ‘Seabird,’ the biggest naval base in Asia.
However, compensation has become a mirage for the people who lost their home and hearth for the naval base. The land acquisition process for the project costing Rs 25,000 crore began in 1986. But the compensation distribution has run into a controversy. As a result nearly 25,000 people of 8,000 families have become homeless.

These people had sacrificed their land to strengthen the defence system of the country. However, they are yet to be compensated. The Government had paid just Rs 150 per gunta. Those who lost the land went to the court saying that the sum was too meagre.

The Additional Civil court (Senior Division) directed the government to pay Rs 11,500 per gunta. According to the court order, Geethabai Dayanand Naik, who had given up her land, was given a compensation amount of Rs 4.90 lakh.  However, the Defence department appealed to the High Court against the lower court order stating that it was not possible for the government to give such a huge amount. The High Court upheld the order of the civil court. The Department has now filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. It will take a long time for the hearing to come up in the Supreme Court.

The majority of the families who have lost land either belong to the fisher community or are farmers. As the seashores are a part of the naval base project, the fishermen are worried about their future. The farmers rehabilitated in a barren land are not able to continue with their agriculture activities. 
Source - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/61202/compensation-mirage-seabird-land-losers.html
More - http://onespot.wsj.com/india-news/2010/03/30/a/603926757-compensation-a-mirage-for-seabird/
Despair of the displaced

The displaced families complain that the land in the rehabilitation centres is not fit for cultivation and that the government has not been able to provide them an alternative livelihood.

PROJECT SEABIRD has, by and large, overcome its initial setbacks, but many of the families that lost their land and/or livelihood as a result of the building of the naval base are yet to find their feet.

According to revenue records, 4,111 families, including 3,315 engaged in farming on less than one acre of own land and 856 of fisherfolk, living in 12 villages have been affected by the project. However, Prabhakar Rane, a former Karnataka Minister who is honorary president of the Seabird Naval Base and Konkan Railway Evacuees Forum, disputes the figure. He says there are more than 10,000 project-displaced families, comprising around 40,000 people.

The 11-year delay between the final land acquisition notification in 1989 and the actual shifting of people from the project site added to the problems associated with rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R). During this period of uncertainty, families expanded and land prices climbed. The displaced families were unhappy with the R&R package that the Karnataka government offered initially. In 1989, many of them approached the Karnataka High Court, which forbade the evacuation of people until "proper rehabilitation measures" were undertaken.

In August 1998, the Defence Ministry and the State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a Rs.126-crore rehabilitation package, and the court allowed the project to proceed. Under the package, the head of every displaced family received Rs.50,000 and a house site in one of the newly created rehabilitation centres (RCs), while two adult sons and one unmarried daughter above the age of 35 got Rs.70,000. (The site was in addition to the compensation plus 30 per cent solatium and 12 per cent interest received for the extent of land lost.) Seven RCs were created - at Chittakula, Amadalli and Harwada for fishermen and at Todur, Hattikeri, Belekeri and Mudageri for agriculturists.

The displaced families want the R&R package to be extended to all sons and a maintenance allowance for the 12 years that they remained without their lands and jobs. The families are unhappy with the RCs, most of which do not have proper roads and a regular water supply system. Most important, the families want the State government to provide an alternative livelihood, which even government officials agree they have not been able to do. The few government-sponsored employment generation schemes (like carpentry, poultry and mushroom farming) have not found favour with the displaced people. They hope the government or the Navy will provide them with jobs as security guards, drivers or secretaries.

Said Nagubeechu Gowda, whose family lost land in NK Bail, Berede and Bavekeri villages and has now been rehabilitated at the Belekeri RC: "Earlier we cultivated paddy and even cash crops like coconut, groundnut and cashew, but here the land is not fertile, we cannot cultivate anything. There is no water either for drinking or for irrigation. Many of the wells have dried up." Added Sukri Gowda, a farmhand who has also been rehabilitated at the Belekeri RC: "There is hardly any agricultural activity close to the RC. We cannot even collect firewood because the Navy has taken over most of the forest areas."

Source - Frontline

Seabird officer issued notice

The additional civil court (senior grade) here has issued a showcause notice to the land acquisition officer of Seabird Naval Base project, asking him why he should not be arrested for not complying with the court order.

A case was filed about 10 years ago by one Janaki Teka Naik of Amadalli village, asking for more compensation for her land acquired by the naval base. But after her death when the court case was still in progress, her son Devidas Naik continued with the case. On February 7, 2008, the court ordered the land acquisition officer to deposit 25% of the amount of the additional compensation to be paid to Devidas.

As per the direction of the court, the officer presented a cheque of Rs 29,57,928 in the court on October 18, 2008. The cheque was sent to State Bank of India's Bangalore branch for realization. But due to the negligence of the bank staff, the cheque was not realized even after nine months, according to a written statement issued by Pradeep Naik, the advocate representing Devidas in the case. Repeated requests of Devidas and his family made to the land acquisition officer, bank officials and defence officials did not yield any results. Considering this as a serious offence, the court issued the showcause notice to the land acquisition officer.

Source - Times of India, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_8012/is_20090716/ai_n39597262/

The NPC Kaiga Incident - From the Frontline

Misplaced trust - T.S. SUBRAMANIAN Source - Frontline

Once again a “mischief-maker” is able to expose colleagues to radiation doses at an Indian nuclear power plant. The Kaiga Atomic Power Station, where 65 NPCIL employees were found to have received radiation doses in excess of prescribed limits in November.

ON April 17, 2004, three employees of the Waste Immobilisation Plant (WIP) of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Tarapur, Maharashtra, were exposed to radiation doses when they used, at different times, a particular chair in a room at the plant. Embedded in a fold of the cushioned seat of the chair was a vial of liquid waste containing caesium and strontium, both radioactive substances. The vial should have been sent to a “counter” for “counting” its radioactivity. Instead, it was found lodged in the chair. Top officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) laid the blame for the incident on “mischief” by a “disgruntled” WIP employee, who was dismissed.

Tarapur, about 130 km from Mumbai, then had two nuclear power reactors. (It has four now.) Liquid waste from these reactors is stored in underground tanks. Liquid waste is categorised as high-level and low-level. Solid waste is vitrified (converted into glass) and stored in capsules.

Five and a half years later, on November 24, 2009, at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station on the banks of the Kalinadi river in Karwar district of Karnataka, bioassay tests of the urine samples of 65 employees working in the first reactor building revealed that they had received radiation in excess of the prescribed limits. They were all employees of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which designs, builds and operates nuclear power reactors in the country. They had drunk water mixed with tritiated heavy water from a water cooler kept in the operating island of Unit-1. Tritiated heavy water is a radioactive fluid in the heavy water. The three operating reactors at Kaiga use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as both coolant and moderator.

Two of the 65 employees received radiation doses above the annual limit of three rem (or 30 millisieverts) set by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the watchdog organisation that monitors safety in nuclear installations in India.

A top DAE official blamed the incident on “an insider’s mischief”. He said “an insider had mixed tritiated heavy water in the drinking water kept in the cooler in the operating island of the reactor”.

S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, NPCIL, also called the incident “possibly an act of mischief”. He explained that there was heavy water in the reactor’s moderator system and primary heat transporter. During the reactor’s operation, a part of the deuterium in the heavy water gets converted into tritium. (Deuterium and tritium are isotopes of hydrogen.) While light water contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen (H₂O), heavy water contains two atoms of deuterium and one atom of oxygen (D₂O). Tritium oxide, or super-heavy water, contains two atoms of tritium and one atom of oxygen (T₂O). “Trained, qualified workers” took out vials of tritiated heavy water from the sampling points in the reactor building to the chemical laboratory (which, in this case, was situated outside the building) for analysis, Jain explained. This is done every day. When urine samples of 250 workers were tested on November 24, it came to light that 65 of them had received tritium radiation. Investigation revealed that water in the water cooler had been contaminated with tritiated heavy water. “Preliminary inquiry does not reveal any violation of operating procedures or radioactivity release or security breach,” he said.

Jain was confident that since the “computerised access control system has a record of all the personnel who have entered the operating island”, it was only a matter of time before the mischief-maker would be identified.

The DAE/NPCIL do not seem to have become wiser after the incident at the WIP at Tarapur. No closed-circuit cameras have been installed in the corridors/passages leading from the sampling points in the reactor buildings to the chemical laboratories, which are generally situated outside the reactor building.

With touching naivete and implicit faith in their staff, top NPCIL officials explained away the absence of closed-circuit cameras. Their unanimous argument was: “The workers are our staff. Their antecedents were checked before they were appointed. So there is no need to monitor every movement of a worker.” Besides, they argued, it was not feasible to install cameras all over the nuclear power plant “from end to end”, and that cameras had been installed in what they called “strategic areas”, “sensitive spots” or “vital points”.

But all of them declined to reveal what were the “strategic areas” or “sensitive spots” where closed-circuit cameras had been installed. An AERB official frankly admitted: “The closed-circuit cameras have been installed at strategic locations so that nothing is removed without authorisation. But who would have thought a fellow would go out of his mind and mix tritiated heavy water with drinking water?” One NPCIL official said that the vial containing tritiated heavy water would not be detected by radiation-monitoring counters if it was covered with a piece of cloth.

A top DAE official said, “There are a large number of places where closed-circuit cameras have been installed. There were no cameras here because it was a corridor [in Unit-1 at Kaiga]. The cameras were not installed then because the decision at that time was based on a [particular] scenario. Now you have to factor in this scenario [of an employee spiriting away the vial containing tritium and mixing it with drinking water in the cooler].”

The AERB sent two of its officers to Kaiga. They concluded that a drinking water cooler was the source of the tritium contamination. The water tank of this cooler, like other water coolers, was kept locked. “However,” said Om Pal Singh, AERB Secretary, in a press release, “it appears that a mischief maker added a small quantity of tritiated heavy water to the cooler, possibly from a heavy water sampling vial, through its [cooler’s] overflow tube.”

Officials of NPCIL and the AERB also played down the gravity of the ingestion of tritiated heavy water by the 65 employees. An “update” on the incident from Jain on November 29 said: “Any contamination caused by heavy water inside the human body is quickly flushed out through natural biological processes like urination and perspiration. These processes can be hastened through simple medication. The contamination detected in this incident has been brought down quickly and one worker is currently close to the limit specified by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.… No worker is hospitalised.”

Om Pal Singh argued that the “administration of diuretics accelerates the process of removal of tritium from the human body by urination” and said the personnel who ingested the tritiated heavy water were referred to hospitals for the administration of diuretics.

But according to an article in Science and Democratic Action, published by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, United States, in its August 2009 issue: “As radioactive water, tritium can cross the placenta, posing some risk of birth defects and early pregnancy failures. Ingestion of tritiated water also increases cancer risk.” These observations form part of the lead article, “Radioactive Rivers and Rain: Routine Releases of Tritiated Water from Nuclear Power Plants”, by Annie Makhijani and Arjun Makhijani. They observed: “The problem of routine tritium emissions is, in our opinion, underappreciated, especially because non-cancer foetal risks are not yet part of the regulatory framework for radionuclide contamination and because tritium releases constitute the largest routine releases from nuclear power plants.”

Although the Kaiga incident came to light on November 24, it was not before November 30 that the Kaiga station officials “formally” requested the Mallapur police for an investigation. Notwithstanding the NPCIL top brass’ confidence in the computerised access control systems, biometrics and the list of 250 employees who work in Unit-1, neither the State police nor the Central intelligence agencies had zeroed in on the “mischief-maker” as of December 7.

Hankon Thermal Power Plant - 5 - Fiery like the Kali - Article by Arun in Indian Express

Article Source

Time: Around dusk

Place: Hanakon in Uttara Kannada district

The plot: Jyothi Maruti Savant and Sunitha Suresh Naik are chatting. Hanakon gram panchayat secretary Syed Adam asks the two housewives to work at the site in their sleepy little village for clearing “unauthorised structures” constructed by a Hyderabad-based company that is launching an energy project. Next morning, Jyothi and Sunitha are among the 50-odd men and women who have gathered at the place where Ind-Barath Power (Karwar) Limited is setting up a 450-MW coal-based power plant. But Syed is nowhere to be seen. As whispers of Syed having taken ill spread, Jyothi and Sunitha decide to return home.

All of a sudden, they are battling the blows that the police are raining on them. Everybody starts running, screaming for help. Police round up the villagers, thrash them and bundle them up inside a van. Villagers are picked up at random and produced at the magistrate’s house around 3 am. Jyothi is angry and wants to tell the magistrate in no uncertain terms what she had gone through. But she is not allo wed to get off the van. Both the women, along with several others, are taken to the district prison in Bellary, 400 km away.

The charge: Attempting to sabotage the site of a proposed private thermal power plant.

Footnote: After the two are released from prison on August 2, Hanakon readies itself to become the Nandigram of Karnataka.

This drama in Hanakon is just one of the many theatres of the absurd playing out in the state. In the mining town of Bellary, villagers are performing the painful urulu seve (rolling bare-chested) on the road — for about 15 km and blocking traffic almost every other day. They say that agricultural land is being taken over for a greenfield airport — which will perhaps serve only the high and mighty of the area — by notifying it as barren land. In Uttara Kannada’s Tadadi, the government had to bow to public pressure and convert the proposed coal-based power plant into a gas-based one. The proposed hydel project in Gundiya earned the wrath of Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh when chief minister B S Yeddyurappa laid the foundation stone even before receiving the mandatory clearances. The list is endless.

Karnataka’s hunger for power

One doesn’t have to look too far to see why the state government is running at breakneck speed to sanction power projects. Karnataka’s unrestricted power demand is 10,500 MW while it generates only around 6,000 MW. The deficit is being managed through load-shedding. But with its inability to bridge the gap soon, the first Bharatiya Janata Party government south of the Vindhyas faces the prospect of losing power in the next elections.

Why Hanakon matters

With a population of just around 1,400 (1,284 according to 2001 census), Hanakon, on the northern bank of the estuary of the Kali River, has managed to stand up to the giants.

And the blanket of protests is getting stitched up with help from the nearby villages as Kali is their lifeline and a rise in the river’s temperature will have a devastating effect. Fisherfolk of the Gabit community have also joined in. Recently, they returned the palanquins donated by their MLA and fisheries minister Anand Asnotikar to the local deity for his ambiguous stand on the issue. During the 2008 elections, Asnotikar had assured fishermen of protection of their interests. “But he failed to do so. It became inevitable for us to return the palanquins,” says Uday Poshe, the leader of the fishermen.

Balakrishna Pai, an advocate leading the protests and exploring legal options, sounds a more defiant note. “If the authorities do not stall the project,’’ he says, ‘‘we will launch an agitation on the lines of the people’s protest against the Nano project in Nandigram. We are ready even for bloodshed.”

What is at stake?

The project is proposed to be located a few metres from the Kali estuary. The state’s forest department has identified 49 mangrove species, 93 herbs in the vicinity apart from a floristic composition of 133 species of trees, shrubs, creepers and climbers in the adjoining forest (most have medicinal value) which will be affected. Bisons, spotted deer, porcupines, and various birds and reptiles are at threat as the proposed project lies within 5 km of the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa, and less than 12 km from the Dandeli-Anashi Tiger Reserve. The project is expected to consume 3,200 tonnes of coal each day generating not less than 800 tonnes of fly ash.

And that makes the threat of acid rain in this bio-reserve a distant reality. Since only 65 per cent of the heat is used for power generation the remaining 35 per cent heat will be discharged in the Kali, and that will affect the aqua-fauna in the estuary. This is where the sea fish come to breed in the mangroves.

Which begs the question: All this for 450 MW of power? And the government is not even sure if it will come to Karnataka. And even if it does, at what price?

Lack of transparency

In Bellary, the government pulled the wool over the villagers’ eyes. In Hanakon, however, it was ignorance that did the villagers in. Since most of the area is at a level lower than the high-tide level of the Arabian Sea, saline water gets into the paddy fields every month.

The Khar Land Bund constructed along the banks of the Kali adjoining the village is unable to stop the backwater getting into the paddy fields. Many families found a better calling in Goa and their land turned fallow after they migrated. Villagers allege that the power company has exploited this situation.

In 2006, during the annual fair at the Sateri Devi temple, somebody said a pharmaceutical company was planning to set up shop in Hanakon. Soon enough, agents of the company started buying land at a very attractive price of Rs 2.6 lakh per acre and acquired around 100 acres. Villagers claim they did not know that a thermal plant was coming up even when Ind-Barath obtained an NoC on October 4, 2006, from the Hanakon Gram Panchayat to set up a plant with installed capacity of 140MW. By June last year, panic set in when they got to know what was happening. The Hanakon Ushna Sthavara Virodhi Horata Samithi (a committee to fight against thermal power project) was set up and the villagers decided to oppose the project after a public hearing in October. Accordingly, the Hanakon Gram Panchayat withdrew its NoC.

Protests and the aftermath

After the handful of protesters managed to turn the issue into a big controversy, the district administration asked the company not to take up any work on the spot without getting clearance from the Karnataka Pollution ControlBoard. The National Environment Appellate Authority in New Delhi, based on an

appeal made by the people of Hanakon, ord ered a status quo. The Forest Department closed the cul de sac, the only pathway to app roach the project site from the Londa- Sadashivagad State Highway (locally called as Karwar-Kadra Road) by fencing it.

In the meanwhile, a committee of the Union ministry of environment and forests headed by the Chief Conservator of Forests of the regional office in Bangalore K S Reddy recommended that the Centre order a comprehensive impact assessment study of the site. It found more than 20 lacunae in the Impact Assessment Report prepared by the power company.

Meanwhile, Jyothi and Sunitha — and several other villagers of Hanakon — are awaiting the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission chairman’s report after the local police enquiry gave a clean chit to the officials.

Hanakon villagers have won a few battles but if they manage to win the war against the misplaced priorities and the might of the corporations, they will end up showing the way to protesters in Bellary, Hassan, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bijapur and countless other areas in Karnataka. In the end, it will prove that the “individual does matter”.

The backbone of the protests

He is better known as “Green Swamiji”.

Gangadharendra Saraswathi Swamy of Sonda Swarnavalli Mutt, earned the sobriquet for his fight against activities detrimental to the environment in Karnataka in general and Uttara Kannada district in particular. He has been a source of inspiration to villagers to protest against the thermal power project. During his visit to the spot last October, he called upon the people to participate in large numbers in the public hearing that was held on the last day of that month.

Environmentalist Ananth Hegde Ashisara, who has attended several such public hearings, says he never saw so many people attend a public hearing like when he did that day after the Swamiji’s call.

Swamiji is worried about the greenhouse gases and the impact that the project will have on the local environment. He says that Uttara Kannada district does not need another project, over-burdened as it is with seven large reservoirs and hydropower projects, one atomic power project (at Kaiga), the Seabird naval base and mining activities in addition.

— arun@epmltd.com

Hankon Thermal Power Plant - 4 - Events 30th July 2009 onwards

Population Data for Hankon Village - Source Total Population - 1,284 Male Population - 596 Female Population - 688 This village population consists of poor agriculturists and land-labourers, and most of the village folk have migrated to Cities and towns seeking employment. What happened in this small village on July 30th, 2009, in the backdrop of the Coal-based Thermal Power Plant, has left villagers and the local peace-loving citizens of Karwar shell-shocked.... Teargas shells lobbed to disperse agitating villagers in Karwar Source - Sahil Online News Service, Thursday, 30 July 2009 - 18:06:38 IST Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse Hanakona villagers who indulged in violence to protest the demolition of their huts near here today. The villagers had allegedly put up on land meant for Hanakona power plant. The trouble started when workers, on behalf of Ind Bharat Company, which had proposed to install the controversial Hanakona Power Plant, arrived in the morning and started demolishing the huts put up in the proposed plant premises. Additional forces were rushed to the spot and the demolition work was stopped. The situation was stated to be tense but under control. Also Reported at Mangalorean.com and Daijiworld.com with Pictures.... Villagers Subdued... The Crowd was mostly made up of women.... Three police personnel sustained injuries when police resorted to lathicharge as a protest against thermal power plant turned violent in Hanakona village of the taluk on Thursday. Three buses have been damaged in the incident. More than 500 people took to streets demanding removal of the shed and materials stocked for construction of a thermal power plant by Ind Bharat Power Company. As the authorities concerned delayed to arrive at the spot, the protesters resorted to rasta roko. Efforts of the DySP Babu Kolekar to pacify the irate protesters went in vain. The police have arrested 38 people in connection with the violence. Ind Bharat Power (Karwar) Company has allegedly constructed a shed and stocked materials for the work on the proposed Hanakona thermal power plant. The Gram Panchayat has issued three notices calling upon the company to clear the area and the company reportedly, did not comply with. Ultimately, the Gram Panchayat, with police assistance, attempted to demolish the shed constructed unauthorisedly and more than 50 labourers had also arrived for the job. However, the GP secretary Sayyad Sheikh was admitted to hospital on complaint of chest pain. The activists of anti-power plant committee who grew suspicious over the sudden hospitalisation, went to the hospital itself and asked the secretary on further course of action, who reportedly maintained silence. The activists then approached the Taluk Panchayat executive officer seeking action. He refused to act in the absence of any instruction. Enraged by the turn of events, the activists started a protest, accusing the officials of complicity. - Daijiworld.com Hundreds of villagers had gathered to protest against the power plant in their village and to witness the shifting of the construction machinery, but were angered when the Panchayat Secretary Syed Sheikh, who was to oversee the process, did not turn up. Sheikh had reportedly got himself admitted to a hospital on grounds of ill health, police said. The villagers then asked the local MLA to join the demonstration but the MLA was not available as he was in Bangalore. This reportedly enraged the villagers who started pelting stones and set on fire a bus. The villagers said that they were protesting because government officials and people's representatives are hand-in-glove with the company. The thermal power project will also pollute the village and rob them of their livelihood too, they said. Source - Mangalorean.com

Villagers flee, FIR logded against protesters in Hankon

S.O. News Service, Sunday, 02 August 2009 - 12:05:20 IST Karwar: Erie silence prevails at Hankon village, 15km from here, following Thursday's incident in which an agitation against the establishment of a thermal power project in the village turned violent leading to a clash between the villages tuned violent leading to a clash between the police and agitators. The villagers are afraid of coming out of their houses. Most of the villagers have fled fearing arrest. The police searched many houses on Thursday after the incident to apprehend the agitators. However, most of the agitators did not belong to the village, it is said. According to sources, an FIR has been filed against 200 people. The entire incident had been video graphed and the people who had participated in the agitation have been identified, it is stated. The police are looking out for them. The police have framed an FIR against some leaders, including advocates who allegedly provoked the innocent villagers. These leaders have moved the court for anticipatory bail, it is said. According to Deputy Commissioner NS Chennappa Gowda, 47 people have been arrested in connection with the incident. They have been sent to Bellary jail. No more arrests have been made, he added. He admitted that the villagers were afraid to come out of their houses. Police atrocity condemned Committed on villagers agitating against the establishment of a thermal power project at Hankon on Thursday. False charges had been framed against the agitators. Forty-seven villagers arrested on Thursday had been shifted to Bellary jail. Women agitators were handled by male constables. This amounted to violation of human rights. They alleged that the government had been thrusting the project on the people without taking people into confidence. They regretted that District in charge Minster Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and Fisheries Minister Anand Asnotikar did not come to Karwar to discuss the project had created. They said that the state government had failed to convince people about the necessity of the project. Source Pictures of the Police Atrocities here :- Most of the pictures are from the local Daily - Karavali Munjavu, published from Karwar. Talking to reporters, Ganapati Tikkam said he was continuously tortured by three sub-inspectors on Friday night and was beaten with lathis and kicked by the police. He named the three sub-inspectors, an ASI and a constable for his condition. He said he was produced before the DC and SP on Saturday night, but before that, the Chittakula police threatened him and asked him not to show his wounds or tell anything to the DC or SP, saying they would implicate his parents and family members in criminal cases and torture them. He said there was pressure by police on doctors to issue certificate saying that the injury was caused by falling on hard and rough surfaces and not due to torture. So, he went on a hunger strike to protest this manipulation. News Source - Times of India Several organizations jointly staged protests to show their solidarity for victims of police atrocities who were protesting the construction at the proposed thermal project at Hanakon near here. The victims mostly women who had sustained injuries met the Deputy Commissioner Chennappa Gowda and narrated their horrifying experiences in the jail. They alleged that the policemen kicked them with boots and beat with canes. Advocate Dhanalakshmi Haladankar, one of the arrested women, said that the police kicked them and tore their clothes. Police had arrested 16 women and they were shifted to Bellary jail. They were later released on bail and arrived here on Sunday night. The DC has ordered medical checkup on them. News Source - Mangalorean.com Nearly 1,000 people, a majority of them women, took out a procession in the town and held demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Monday to protest against the alleged police atrocity on villagers of Hankon, including women on July 30. The committee also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner urging him for an early action against the police officials responsible for the incident. The memorandum stated that the police were responsible for the violent incident at Hankon on July 30. It was alleged in the memorandum that the police themselves set many two-wheelers on fire on that day to implicate innocent people in the case. The police had videotaped the entire incident at Hankon except the one in which the vehicles were set ablaze. This clearly indicated that the police were involved in it, they alleged. The memorandum stated that the order for lathicharge and bursting of tear gas were issued in the absence of either the taluk or sub divisional magistrate. Further the police authorities deliberately recommended the court to lodge the arrested people inBellary jail citing security problems. The police had arrested many innocent people, advocates and social workers although they were not present at Hankon on the day when the agitation was held.Source - Indian Express Refuting superintendent of police Raman Gupta’s claim that there was no police atrocity on those agitating against the Hankon thermal power project on June 30, 16 women, who were arrested at Hankon following Thursday’s violent incidents in the village and released on bail on Sunday from Bellary jail, narrated their tales of woes before the deputy commissioner on Monday. All of them, mostly middleaged, said they were tortured mentally and physically by the police. Dhanalakshmi Haldankar, a lawyer, pointing to an injury on her thighs caused by the police assault, said police used vulgar language against her. She said the police kicked some women with their shoes, causing injuries on the knees, arms and the stomachs. The beating continued till they reached Chitakula police station from Hankon, she said. Sunita Suresh Naik, showing injuries on her shoulder and stomach, said police ignored her pleas to let her go to give medicines to her husband suffering from a heart ailment. Another woman Pragati Naik, who suffers from a kidney ailment said that though she had a tumour removed recently, police dragged out of her house at Hankon and took her into custody. Meghana Manoj Bandekar, who has a swelling on the legs and hands, said she was on her way home when the police picked her up. She said she was beaten with batons before being pushed to police van. Dhanalakshmi Haldankar warned that if the police officers responsible for the attack on women are not punished, a hunger strike would be launched in front of the deputy commissioner’s office. The deputy commissioner said a medical test of all the 16 women would be conducted in the district hospital and a report would be sent to the government. He said a report had been sent to the Human Rights’ Commission too. Source - Indian Express News Another incident of alleged police atrocity, Ganapati Tikkam, a functionary of BJP Fishermen Morcha, who was allegedly beaten up by the police at Chitakula police station near here, is convalescing in the district hospital now. According to Tikkam, he had gone to Chitakula police station on July 30 to offer bail security to BS Pai, a lawyer who was arrested in connection with the violent incident at Hankon the same day. He said that he was taken aback when the police began to beat him with lathis without any provocation. Then he was arrested and jailed. On Saturday, he was admitted to the district hospital by the jail authorities after he complained of severe pain in the leg. Tikkam alleged that he was handcuffed and locked in a room in the hospital. He said the next day police wanted to send him back to the jail by getting a discharge certificate from the duty doctor that Tikkam had recovered.However, a few BJP leaders, including Jagdish Birkodikar, taluk BJP president and secretary Nagaraj Joshi, insisted that he be kept in the hospital for further treatment. They sought blood and urine tests and x-ray before the hospital authorities certifying that Tikkam had no health problems. The x-ray revealed that Tikkam has a fracture in his leg.However, the police denied that they had manhandled Tikkam at the station. They said Tikkam might have fallen on some hard surface from a height and got injured. News Source - Indian Express Sources at Uttara Kannada district administration said that DC Chennappa Gowda has submitted a detailed report on Hanakon violence and its aftermath to the government on Monday. In a separate report to the Home ministry and the State Human Rights Commission, the district administration has also sent a detailed account of the violence and the reasons behind it. The report recommended disciplinary action against three police sub-inspectors, Manjunath Gowda of DCB Karwar, Channesh of rural police station of Karwar, and John D'Souza of Chittakula police station in Karwar, in connection with the "alleged" torture of BJP worker Ganapati Tikkam in police custody. The report also recommended action against Bhaskar Rai, inspector of Ankola police station, and Babu Kolekar, DSP of Karwar, the sources added. The officials face charges of violation of human rights and women's rights. It is said that though Tikkam was sent to Karwar jail after the "alleged" torture, the DC was informed that he was shifted to Hindalga jail in Belgaum. Various organizations have demanded action against the police officials for the atrocities committed "allegedly" by them, the sources said. The police had also sent a 17-year-old boy to Bellary jail, instead of a remand home. Realizing their mistake, they also withdrew the cases filed against him. Sixteen women, who were sent to Bellary jail and given bail later, arrived here on Sunday night. Advocate B S Pai was also granted bail. Headquarter assistant to Uttara Kannada DC said he had directed district surgeon to issue medical certificates to the injured. Advocate Pai said they are waiting for medical report of all women to file complaints in Chittakula and Karwar town police stations against the police for "allegedly" torturing women. Different sections of IPC, ranging from attempt-to-murder and molestation to threat to life, would be filed against the guilty, he added. News Source - Times of India Accused says Minister responsible for violence Source - Hindu Online edition of India's National Newspaper Sunday, Aug 02, 2009 Madhav Nayak refuses bail saying there was threat to life Karwar: The president of the Shanashakthi Vedike, Madhav Nayak, whose name appeared in the second FIR filed by the police relating to the Hanakon violence on July 30, surrendered in the court of the First Class Judicial Magistrate on Saturday. The court granted him bail but Mr. Nayak preferred to remain in jail alleging that he had threat to life from the Fisheries Minister Anand Asnotikar. Talking to the presspersons after he appeared in the court, Mr. Nayak alleged that Mr. Anand Asnotikar was responsible for the Hanakon violence. He said Mr. Asnotikar wanted to take revenge against the leaders who were opposing the proposed thermal power plant. Mr. Nayak said that he was not present in Karwar and was in Mundgod when the riots broke out in Hanakon. He had enough evidence to prove it. But he was implicated in ‘trumped up’ charges because he had opposed the private check-post set up by the followers of Mr. Asnotikar at Baleguli and export of sand to Maldives. Meanwhile, police sources said they were watching the videos to identify the culprits who had indulged in violence on Thursday. Till Saturday, 129 people were named in the FIR. Of them 59 persons were arrested. The police said over 500 people would be taken into custody in connection with the violence. Eighteen people, including 16 women and a minor and advocate B.S. Pai were granted bail on Saturday. The women were granted the bail on humanitarian grounds because most of them had left their children behind in Karwar. Excessive force - “Police brutality in Karwar is inexcusable.” The protesters were reportedly kicked, beaten with canes. There were several elderly women, even toddlers among the injured. Opposition to the power plant at Hanakon has been building up for some time. Many locals are opposed to it as the project is likely to displace thousands of fisherfolk and their families. Environmentalists too are up in arms against the project as it is expected to destroy the biodiversity in the region. It is said that many of the local villagers are angry that neither project authorities nor elected representatives have been responsive to their grievances. The brutal response of the police to their protest demonstrations last week will have fuelled their anger further. The police have alleged that they used force because the protest was not peaceful. The demonstrators had pelted stones apparently. Still, beating up protesters, especially elderly women and children, as savagely as they did is not the way to deal with demonstrations. It is the duty of the police to control public disorder and violence. But in discharging this duty they need to be more circumspect. For one they need to bear in mind that peaceful demonstrations are a legitimate form of protest in a democracy. Besides, they cannot wield their batons, burst teargas shells or shoot into crowds at the first sight of a large, noisy crowd. The use of force has to be the last resort always. And even this cannot be excessive. There is no doubt that the police action in Karwar was excessive. A full probe into why it happened is essential. Local villagers have alleged that the heavy-handed police response to the demonstration was prompted by vested interests. There have been several instances where mining companies and manufacturing units have used the local police to evict tribals and villagers from the land. In the process, largely peaceful protests quickly escalated into angry armed struggles. The protests in Karwar have their roots in genuine grievances which need to be addressed. Failure to do so will aggravate the situation. Source - Deccan Herald This post will Continue......