Once again people in Chauranga village have come on roads to fight against the might of industrialists in collusion the state. In 2006, due to opposing the Sponge and Power Ltd. in their village, 23 poor people from Chauranga, based in Raipur District of Chhattisgarh state, were convicted under the murder charges of industrial goons belonging to the same village. The session court awarded life term imprisonment irrespective of the fact that it was a mishap for which most of the people in Chauranga agree. The villagers sentenced are very poor of which majority are women aged 45 and more. These people cannot even afford to file a case in higher court against the session court verdict.
Today, when the local people of Chauranga are still recovering from the shock of 23 fellow villagers getting the life sentence, another blow to their lives came from Mr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal, owner of Sponge and Power Ltd. In a press conference held on 22nd December, 2007 , he declared that the High Court of Chhattisgarh has given a 'No Objection' to re-open the plant. He also declared that the 90% work on the factory costing Rs. 9 crore is almost over. He blatantly stated that the villagers of Chauranga are very keen in re-opening this factory and they are in support.
There has been a repeated attempt from the factory owner to re-open the plant. In August 2007, there was news about the factory opening and some construction work being done in the factory in response to which villagers got together and filed a complaint at the police station. The police intervened in the matter and stopped work on the factory site. The villagers, in order to prevent a recurrence of such event, submitted a memorandum to the District Collector and Police Commissioner and asked them to look into the matter.
Noteworthy is the fact that previously on 9 th May, 2005, after clash between villagers and factory goons, a special Gram Sabha was called and an agreement was made between the villagers and Mr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal with a clause that he will never open the factory and also it will be moved to some other location.
But on 12th December, 2007 work started again on the factory site by 50-60 labourers brought by the industrialist. The people of Chauranga are feeling cheated by the State and also by the industrialist. Recently on 22nd December they held a Gram Sabha meeting to decide about the matter and anonymously a resolution was passed against re-opening of the factory.
Demanding the closure of sponge iron factory in Chouranga around 700 people gathered at Simga (Tehsil headquarter) on 04th January 2008. They all marched together with slogan of "no more factory on agriculture land" and "stop polluting our lives", from town police station to Tehsil office. People from adjacent villages under the banner of Nadi Ghati Morcha & Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha handed over a memorandum addressed to Governor to the SDM (Bhatapara), demanding forfeiting of company's effort of reopening closed factory. The public meeting was addressed by representatives of various people's organization and farmer's organisation. They all called in one voice to close down the Chouranga factory from village land.
Support Group People of Chauranga are not alone in this struggle but several other neighbouring villages are supporting in fighting against the factory and might of the state.
Nadi Ghati Morcha (NGM) based in Raipur , also actively working on sponge iron industries issues, has been constantly supporting the struggle in Chauranga. They have not just helped in highlighting this issue all over, but even helped poor villagers in fighting the case filed against them.
Now that the issue has resurfaced again, the NGM is trying to mobilise opinions and support in favour of Chauranga people protesting against the factory. The request is to extend support to:
1. Pressurize the State government to not allow the upcoming factory in Chauranga and respect the sacrifice people have already given for the cause. ( Pls send appeals in support of protest on addresses given below)
2. Demand accountability from the Government for denying Gram Sabha's decision and overlooking constitutional legitimacy given to Local Self Governance
3. Financial support to file the case in higher court against the verdict of session court to save the 23 villagers from getting convicted for a crime which was an accident and not a planned action.
Chauranga Village and Struggle Against the Sponge Iron Industry - Background Note in English and Background Note in Hindi
In Solidarity,
Ganesh Ram Varma,
Sarpanch Chourenga
Contact- 09926948528
Gautam Bandhopadhyay
Nadi Ghati Morcha
Contact-9826171304/
Alok Shukla-9425485030
Rifat Mumtaz
National Centre for Advocacy Studies
Contact-9970363452
Addresses:
1. Dr. Raman Singh
Cheif Minister,
Chhattisgarh State ,
Email: cmcg@nic.in,
Phone and Fax: 0771 – 2221000/ 0771- 2221001/ 0771 – 2331001
2. Mr. Rajesh Munat,
Commerce and Industry Minister,
Government of Chhattisgarh
Email: pwmin.cg@nic.in
Phone and Fax: 0771-2221104/0772- 2535423, 2236100
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rifat mumtaz
ncas (national centre for advocacy studies),
serenity complex,
ramnagar colony,
pashan, pune-21
ph.020-22952003/4
m-9970363452
rifat_at@yahoo.co.in
rifat.mumtaz@gmail.com
