Ship Ahoy!

Fact or Fiction?

Ganga Prasad G. Rao

Today, I shall don the cap of a rabid cynic of capitalism and politics as practiced and opine on a grand conspiracy.

I call this the Narmada monstrosity. Remember the familiar refrain "This has happened earlier and will happen again" in Peter Pan stories? So it is with Narmada. When the urban masses seek a quick and dirty way to riches, it must be the poor and the environment that must bleed and give way. Gujarat, with its ship-breaking yards, produces many thousand tonnes of scrap iron that must be remelted. Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs) that melt scrap in to metal soak up electric power like a dry sponge soaks up water. These 'shops' must economize on power to stay competitive in the cut-throat iron and steel ingot business. They cannot afford the high prices that their power company charges them. Nor can they set up expensive cogen-plants that larger plants do. The days of living in the shadow of 'T&D losses' are fast coming to an end. With plastics and composites eating away at the margin, markets (and profits) can be sustained and expanded only if large quantities of power can be found at low, low prices.

Enter the Narmada valley. A secluded, forested region inhabited by tribals through which flows the river Narmada. Pardon me, it is not a river anymore. It is more a chain of water storage and power generation structures. There is a word for such wanton destruction of natural environmental systems; we call it 'development'. It is such 'development' that that will provide low-priced hydro-power for EAFs and other power-hungry refining firms. It is such 'development' that will provide water for farmers sited near far-off deserts so they may produce sugarcane at controlled prices and pass it on to sugar companies whose stocks clock a meagre 400% rise annually. It is such 'development' that obtains the billion litres of water necessary for soft drinks bottlers to profit off the ever-thirsty populace. What could be wrong, you ask? Isn't it a booming economy?; Isn't everybody happy making money? Alas, no! What about the tribals of Narmada valley who lived off the river and the forests surrounding it? Oohhh, you mean them? Didn't the government give them money to move away? Yes and No. The government gave the tribals, the original inhabitants of the land, no choice but to move, and that too on its terms. Uprooting them from their mother's lap for a pittance, moving them to parched land that does not support their lifestyle, the government denied them the promised compensation after they cooperated. A booming economy you say? The tribals never heard of it! Jobs for everyone you say? Yes for everyone ('cept them 'no good' tribals). Out of the forest that nurtured them and in to ugly jungle of modern civilization, these tribals find themselves with no compensation, no resources and no opportunity. Little wonder they'd rather die than move.

But wait, that's not all. Now, the government seeks to raise the height of the dam again. Again? Yes, again. The Tamils have a saying "patta yedatthil padum" (you'll get hurt in the same place as you did the last time). After all, it is easier to increase the reservoir and displace a few more tribals than to build a new thermal power plant or seek a new hydro project! Besides, we are used to the protests; they are not headline news anymore! And, they certainly do not influence public opinion or voting at the booth (sic – we can deny them rations and force them to sell out if necessary)! What's in it for the political parties? Well, nothing if you discount the reins of the state government, the 'occasional' monetary support to electoral candidates, a few positions on the board of companies and the like....! Why, even the Supreme Court judges have learnt to stay away after issuing their decree! Death threats don’t go well with coffee, you know! What about international opprobrium? Oh, Don’t you worry, we’ll let them in to our stock market. That should keep them quiet! But don’t you have any morals? Ethics?......Are you even listening?
Uh? What? ....."Ship Ahoy"!

Epilogue:
When the tribals, deprived of their home and forest, seeking food to feed hungry mouths unaccustomed to pepsi, trudge down the hills, snaking their way through the plains to the beaches of Gujarat, to break down ships in to iron scrap – scrap to be melted with power produced from a hydro-project that drove them out of their homes, that’s when the irony strikes, the final insult........when owners of the resource become slaves of its exploiters! When it comes to exploitation nothing beats our ‘desi’ brand of capitalism. Indeed, no one is poor enough to escape it!

Cruelty, thy name is (Government-authorized, Court-endorsed) Development!

Sarve Janaaha Sukhino Bhavantu!