For the first time, a company in India will have to pay compensation for damage occurring during a natural disaster: the NGT imposes a fine on GVK for aggravating the impact of the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand.
THE June 2013 floods in Uttarakhand wreaked havoc in the Kedarnath valley and in Srinagar town in the State’s Garhwal region. The floods, which killed thousands and destroyed property worth hundreds of thousands of rupees, were indeed a natural disaster, but various manmade factors aggravated their impact. While the devastation in Kedarnath hogged headlines because it ravaged the shrine and killed thousands of pilgrims from across India, the devastation in Srinagar got comparatively less attention because it was limited to a specific geographical area of the town and involved only the people living there. But the impact of the tragedy was no less horrendous: while the gushing floodwater swept away entire areas, a huge amount of silt came down the hill slopes and buried everything that came in its way, houses, institutions, hotels and restaurants. The local people said at that time in hushed tones that the GVK power company, which is executing the Shrinagar Hydro Electric Project in the area called Alaknanda Hydro Power Co. Ltd (AHPCL), was responsible in a big way for the disaster because it was dumping huge amounts of muck and silt on the hill slopes and on the riverbed without taking adequate precautionary measures. This allegation has now been proved conclusively by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It has imposed a fine on the company for the environmental damage, an unprecedented move in India, which has a history of companies operating with impunity and paying scant attention to the environmental degradation they cause.
This story is from the September 30, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 30, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
