If we are to talk of development projects, there is a drastic divide with Government agencies and the corporate sector being seen as sheer villains with community people as the sufferers or victims. This divide comes mostly because development projects in the country and the state are often pitched and implemented without involving people at the grass roots. On the other hand, people who are asked to shift out of their homes and living environment would not be too happy to be asked to pack up and go. The tussle between community resources and Government control over land often leads the later to literally bulldoze all or any sort of opposition to have its way.
Yes, developmental projects are the need of the hour for the generation of power, expansion for urban townships and other institutional set ups, for building roads and railways and this would inevitably mean taking over people`™s lands as increasing population density levels mean that there is a shrink in available land area. But to do it with brute force and to drive out people to bring in private players for profit would mean growing antagonism between Government agencies and the people on the ground. Developmental projects come along with inbuilt mechanisms of environmental clearance and impact assessment studies but the trust deficit on Government agencies and the very nature of their functioning is such that till community stakeholders are involved, there will always be suspicion and defiance.
Aiding this lack of a public and a more inclusive debate is the lack of the attention of the national media on delving deeper into the behemoth of development projects vis a vis nature, people`™s rights etc. While small media outlets are burdened by lack of resources to dig into such issues, the lack of access to information, lack of expertise in the area all contribute to not being able to look into a sustained coverage of the `development v/s nature/people`™s rights`™ issue and given the final nail in the coffin that small media outlets are limited in who they reach out to; the discomfort of the national media in going beyond the development buzz that the government dresses up its actions means that there is no mention of people who lose their homes and livelihood, no mention of ecological imbalances. The media mention happens only when there are mammoth disasters taking place and preferably in the region beyond the north eastern states.
The national media in general gives its attention and engagement to the issue of `development v/s nature/people`™s rights`™ only in the aftermath of disasters or when there are protests taking place. We saw this cursory engagement in the form of the all too brief media buzz on the national scene following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffering major damages after a 9.0 richter scaled earthquake and subsequent Tsunami hit Japan leading to radio activity being released. News reports carried coverage of the nature of destruction and the kind of efforts on the ground in terms of evacuation in Fukushima. The disaster in far away Japan also led to a brief media interest in Indian`™s own nuclear power plant, which has been under construction at Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu since 2002. But more than in depth reportage on the safety mechanisms or the lack of it at the nuclear power plant site, the media attention was on the protests by people in the area and activists of the People`s Movement Against Nuclear Energy group. Disasters or anything else for that matter taking place in the north eastern region do not get the amount of brevity, engagement or sustained coverage in the national media.
The added factor of the resources of the region being used to supply various outputs like power, oil and other minerals for the consumption of the people n the rest of the country subsequently puts on the veil of silence and sight on what is happening in the region. In such a context, what is needed is for environmentalists and subject experts to step forward, make studies and then share their thoughts. One cannot leave it to Government agencies who will give it the `development`™ spin or to the NGOs whose very nature, especially in Manipur is to only oppose the take of the Government.
Leader Writer:Chitra Ahanthem