Fertile Land Acquired for Bellary Airport

July 2, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

Farmers who have been protesting the acquisition of their land in Sangankal, Siriwar and Chaganur villages for a greenfield airport in Bellary, claim the government has described their fertile land as dry in the gazette notification, in a deliberate move to mislead public opinionMinister for tourism and infrastructure development, Janardhan Reddy who is firm on the new airport for Bellary coming up on the site chosen near Chaganur and Siriwar on the outskirts of the city, despite the protests, recently told reporters that a gazette notification had been issued to acquire 1,250 acres in Chaganur and Siriwar villagesFarmers who have studied the gazette notification, claim it has falsely classified their fertile agriculture land as dry (kushki)They point out that the seven acres belonging to one Nemakallappa, which bears the survey No 290 A/1, has been notified as dry although the Land Record of Rights says water is being supplied to them from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra damFarmers also dispute the claim made by Mr Janardhan Reddy on the floor of the Legislative Council that the land identified for the airport did not have an irrigation canal, natural drainage or a lake. They point out that revenue department records show that agriculture land here gets water from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra dam and is served by a natural drain, Chagalamma Halla, which feeds around 500 acresLeader of the Chaganur farmers Mallikarjun Reddy says if the 1250 acres notified by the government are acquired, irrigation canal water supply, currently routed through them, will be cut off for some 4,000 acres, turning them barren“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisition. It is being dishonest with usWe have decided not to give up our land at any cost and to continue with our agitation,” he said.
----------------“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisitionIt is being dishonest with us.” — Chaganur farmer leader-advocate Mallikarjun Reddy

Andhra Pradesh ‘permits’ Karnataka mining

July 8, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

As controversy swirls over whether the Bellary mine barons will get their comeuppance in the Assembly session that opens on July 9, where the Congress and the JD(S) have vowed to take up the issue, reports from Karnataka’s iron ore rich districts indicate that permits were issued by the department of mines and geology in Andhra Pradesh to illegally transport minerals excavated from reserved forests and leased mines in the Bellary-Sandur-Hospet belt to different ports in Karnataka and GoaIn other words, some mine owners seem to have been consistently bending the rules by availing of a mining license from Andhra Pradesh but mining in Karnataka, that is, the daylight robbery of the state’s mineral wealth in reserved forests and leased minesDeputy director of mines and geology, Hospet, Siqander Basha, when contacted, claimed illegal mining on revenue patta land and in forests had been curbed in the district and only genuine state permits were being used for mineral transportation“It is wrong to say that Andhra permits are being used to transport state mineralsAs far as my knowledge goes, everything is being done in compliance with MMRD Act. I don’t know who is using AP permits to transport mineral from the state,” he saidBut according to industry sources, the modus operandi of this illegal mining mafia was to obtain permits given for lower grade ironore mines in the Kadapa, Kurnool, Veldurthi, Pellimari mining belt in Andhra Pradesh, and use them to transport minerals illegally excavated from reserved forests in Gangalapur, Vittalapur, Rajapur, Appenahalli, Ubbalagundi and other areas in Sandur-HospetIllegal movement of iron ore lumps from mines on the Karnataka border to crushing units in Malapanagudi and Siddapur villages in Andhra Pradesh is as rampant, sources said. In the absence of check-posts of the mines and geology and forest departments, the lumps sent to Andhra Pradesh for powdering return to Karnataka with Andhra permits, entitling the AP government to the royaltyA mine owner who did want to be named,claimed that apart from Andhra permits, the politically strong mining mafia sometimes raise contracts of mining leases only to encroach on adjoining mineral rich leased areas or reserved forest landThey then get permits in the names of fully excavated mines for transporting the excavated mineral. The mafia is reportedly active in the Ramanadurga hill range which has high quality iron ore and is allegedly also looting the virgin blocks or unexploited mining areas in the Kumaraswamy hill range“The mining mafia loots the reserved and virgin block mineral deposits in connivance with forest officers and the police,” sources maintainedIn July 2007, Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde is said to have written to the secretary, mines and geology, Mahendra Jain informing him that bulk permits issued by his department were being misused. A top official of a public sector mining company, who referred to the letter, said although the Lokayukta had suggested that the officers at the border check-posts should endorse the routes and also the quantity of minerals that were being carried, no action was taken.

The letter that sparked the Reddy brothers’ rebellion

The letter that sparked the Reddy brothers’ rebellion and rocked the B.S. Yeddyurappa government, is in DC’s possession.
Addressed to “Dear Kapil Sibalji’ the minister for science and technology in the previous Dr Manmohan Singh government, the Chief Minister wrote to the Centre in February ’09, asking for a survey of the “disputed border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh” in the mineral rich Bellary Reserve Forest.
The letter, said to be behind the move to bring down the BSY government that the clearly annoyed mining barons-turnedpoliticians initiated, has Mr Yeddyurappa saying, “There were allegations of mining companies in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, indulging in illegal activities, taking advantage of the dispute.”
There is an apprehension this has resulted in a huge loss of revenue to the state.
Mr Yeddyurappa's letter dated February 2, 2009 requests the union minister to instruct the director general, Survey of India, Dehradun, to jointly survey the disputed boundary line passing through BRF in Bellary, Karnataka and Ananthpur, Andhra Pradesh.
He adds, “Although this matter was taken up with Andhra Pradesh government, the required co-operation has not been forthcoming.
Lokayukta has drawn the attention of the state government to this dispute and has advised to approach the Indian government for an amicable settlement...” Much to the embarrassment of revenue minister G Karunakar Reddy, his own department principal secretary, D. Thangaraj, wrote to the director general, Survey of India, on January 16, 2009 appealing for a joint survey of the disputed area.
The government’s stand is different from that of minister Mr Reddy who, in his writ appeal filed before the high court of judicature in Andhra Pradesh, argued that directing the Survey of India at this stage to verify the existence or re-fixation of the GTS points to determine the boundary line was “unsustainable”. He claimed the GTS points had lost their relevance as an Andhra Pradesh high level committee had already fixed the vil lage boundary between Obulapuram and Siddapuram.
The Dr U V Singh Committee report on illegal mining said the GTS points at Sugglammagudda hillock ( in Andhra Pradesh) and Timmappanagudda hillock (in Karnataka) were destroyed in mining.
Tapal Ganesh, co-owner Tumati Iron Ore Mines company, says only re-fixing of the two original GTS points can help assess the actual extent of encroachment.

Will Sushma taste victory through Shanthi in Bellary ?

By Shivakumar G Malagi

April 2009

Bellary mining lords-BJP Reddy Brothers say they have fielded Joladarashi Shanthi, sister of their lieutenant- health minister B Sriramulu from the ST-reserved Bellary Lok Sabha constituency to gift the `victory’ to their `Amma’ Sushma Swaraj who unsuccessfully fought against AICC chief Sonia Gandhi from the same seat in 1999 and succeeded to sow Saffron seeds in this Congress fortress.
Over the ten-year period, the boom in iron ore mining industry has changed the political scenario in this mineral-rich district turning the strong Congress party bastion into a Saffron citadel. Reddys emerged big from the dusty iron ore mine fields to lead the Saffron brigade towards one after another electoral victory in the district, no doubt with their money power. The Reddys money has got arms to hit into the Congress citadel with the support of popular mass leader-Walmiki community strongmen-Sriramulu.
Now, the Reddys have again relied upon Sriramulu by fielding PUC II year passed house-wife Shanthi against Congress candidate-retired chief justice of High Court N Y Hanumanthappa to sustain their political hegemony that is most required for them to rule the money-minting mining industry in district.
Sushma Swaraj in her campaign in Bellary tore into Congress’ ‘GenNext’ leaders, saying they had become leaders by virtue of being born into rich, political families, even as Bellary’s powerful mine baron and state tourism minister Janardhan Reddy anointed Ms Swaraj the BJP’s next prime ministerial candidate, after Mr L.K. Advani.
Speaking at the last election rally for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in the state, with Ms Swaraj by his side, Mr Reddy said, “It is because of her annual Varamahalakshmi pooja in Bellary that the party has grown into an unbeatable political force. Sriramulu (health minister) and I campaigned for her on our bikes in 1999. Today, we own two-three helicopters.
That’s why we decided to field a woman candidate as a way to say thanks to her.” Ms Swaraj took a dig at Congress’ young leaders — Rahul Gandhi, Jyothiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Jatin Prasad and Priya Dutt — saying they had been made leaders on “compassionate grounds” after the death of their fathers.
She told voters not to vote for the Congress because it had removed anti-terror laws and had denied that Lord Ram had existed.
While, Shanthi, the youngest child of a railway employee and farmer mother Honnuramma, 70, who still tills the family land, says, “I come from a very poor family, I’ve worked in the fields, and there are days when we have starved, when my mother had nothing to feed the eight of us. I know and understand what poor people feel.”
Shanthi in her campaign in the Valmiki-dominated township of Devinagar, where Telugu is the lingua franca and the family’s tiny home is no different from hundreds that open out on to the foul-smelling street, everyone knows this 36year-old mother by name and face.
“I have come in the name of my brother,” she says, as she knocks on these doors. Blessed with the gift of the gab and an unerring political instinct, the smooth-talking Shantha cuts away to visit the home of a young mother who has lost her ninemonth-old baby. She admits she’s learnt at the feet of the master. She ran her brother’s campaign less than a year ago during the assembly elections and before that in 2004, when the popular 38-year-old won hands down, stepping into the vacuum left by the Congress, which clearly has no stomach for a fight.
Some residual Congress support lingers, even in Sreeramulu’s domain, with one old-timer saying “if Indira’s grand-daughter stands, I will vote for her.” Shantha is unfazed. “I’m doing this because my brother asked me to. I ran his campaign so I know the ins and out of running an election. After he became a minister, he had no time to meet the people from the constituency. They are so used to running to him with every problem, now they come to me.” The question is whom will they turn to, if, or should that be when, she goes to Delhi?
Will Sushma taste victory through Shanthi in Bellary after ten-years –is the question to get answer on May 16, 2009, when the results out.

Sriramulu’s clarion call for sister

By Shivakumar G Malagi

Bellary/March/2009

In the epic,“Mahabaratha,” charioteer Sri Krishna blew the Panchajanya, a conch to stir Lord Arjuna into performing his duties in the battle of Kurukshetra. Health minister B. Sriramulu did a repeat on Monday in Bellary by blowing a conch to stir his sister, Shanthi—the BJP candidate—into fighting and winning the battle for the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Ms Shanthi began her election campaign on Monday from Yerrithatha temple in Chellagurki, near her native village, Joladarashi on the Karnataka—Andhra Pradesh border. She, accompanied by Mr Sriramulu and her mentor, tourism minister G. Janardhan Reddy performed pooja at a temple before addressing a huge public meeting.
Blowing the Panchajanaya modelled conch amid applause by a nearly 10,000 strong crowd, Mr Sriramulu signalled the start of the poll battle against the rival Congress and JD(S) which are yet to announce their candidates. Mr Janardhan Reddy, probably inspired by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, has launched a “Ratha Yatra” hinting at a a high-pitch campaign in the constituency. Accompanied by Ms Shanthi and Mr Sriramulu, Mr Reddy climbed on a specially manufactured chariot to blow the Panchajanya.
Ms Shanthi who has done her PUC, read out a written speech in Kannada and said, “I will work for the upliftment of the downtrodden and women following in the footsteps of my brothers, Sriramulu and Janardhan Reddy. I seek votes to strengthen their hands and work for the full fledged development of this constituency.” Lashing out at former Prime Minister H.D.Deve Gowda and the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, Mr Janardhan Reddy said, “Bellary has become a citadel of the BJP today from the panchayat level to Parliament. Hence, we need your blessings to continue the BJP’s winning spree. I am confident Shanthi will create history in electoral politics by winning with a record margin.”

Pigeons to get votes for BJP: Aye mas-sakali massakali, udd mattakali mattakali

By Shivakumar G Malagi

Bellary/March / 2009

“Aye mas-sakali massakali, udd mattakali mattakali, aye massakali masa masa massakali, udd mattakali mattakali,” a popular song from the Hindi movie “Delhi 6,” seems to have inspired BJP leaders in Bellary including the powerful Reddy brothers to use homing pigeons for the Lok Sabha poll campaign.
Ms Joladarashi Shanthi, sister of health minister B.Sriramulu, is the BJP candidate for this constituency Pigeons were used extensively by the British Army during the Second World War. They were handed over to the Indian police before independence in 1947 and succeeded in carrying messages in monsoon conditions when modern communication devices failed.

The breeding of homing pigeons is common in every locality in this district with many people having hundreds of pigeons in their backyard.

Betting on homing pigeon races is also popular in Bellary.

Aware of the craze for homing pigeons, BJP leaders have decided to use the birds to make Ms Shanthi, hitherto an unknown face in the district, popular among voters.

Pigeon breeders who are friends of Mr Sriramulu— himself an avid keeper of the bird— have gifted as many as 1,000 pigeons to the BJP . “We plan to paint the BJP symbol, Lotus and stick the photograph of the candidate on the birds. We will then let them fly to villages and urban localities in the constituency.

This will help us reach at least 3 lakh voters by March end,” said district BJP spokesperson Sanjay Betageri.

BJP leaders assert that this will also help ensure that the tradition of breeding pigeons does not vanish. “These pigeons are excluded from the Wildlife Protection Act. So they can be used for the campaign. We use them as trusted messengers to reach every voter but we are also opposed to cruelty against animals and birds,” they claimed.

Other poll campaign modes of BJP:

* 10 dance and musical troupes from Bengaluru with noted artistes will perform during the campaign.
* magicians of the state will demonstrate the developmental works of the BJP governments with their “jadoo.”

*Voice recordings of party national leaders seeking votes for Bellary candidate Ms Shanthi and video recordings of developmental works will be played at village meetings.

UNESCO rejects in Hampi Master Plan

By Shivakumar G Malagi
March / 2008/ Hampi

After saying ‘no’to the reconstruction of the collapsed bridge here, Unesco has found the Rs 42 crore Hampi master plan unfit for the orderly growth of the World Heritage Site.
Minja Yang, Unesco Representative to India along with a team of experts, was here to work with the staff of the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA) and chalk out a plan for the orderly development of the World Heritage Site.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Ms Yang said on Wednesday that the team which included experts in architecture and town planning, was here to work with the local staff and suggest to the authority the need to conduct a sectoral study to ensure orderly growth in Hampi.
Unesco, in association with GTZ, a German-based company, had been making a study on the architecture and designs that suit Hampi, the availability of material and so on. Ms Yang said that while the Master Plan had already been notified and was being implemented, the authorities also need to make a conservation plan for the core zone. “The state government is yet to conduct studies on transport, housing, waste disposal, restoration and other areas.
They have prepared the Master Plan without sectoral plans. I think, they wanted to finish the work on the Master Plan very fast,” She remarked.
She raised objections to the government building social houses in the hillocks of the Hampi area. “The natural landscape of Hampi will be ruined in ten years because of the construction of social houses every year, mushrooming of illegal hotels, the felling of trees and the absence of toilets and parking lots,” Ms Yang explained.
She suggested that the government should build low cost social houses outside the core zone. “By converting these social houses into traditional restaurants and lodges with the partnership of house owners, the government could promote cultural tourism. Not everyone wants to stay in star hotels when they visit places like Hampi,” She said.
When asked whether vested interests were preventing Unesco from bringing about changes in Hampi, she maintained, “We wanted to conserve Hampi and its rich heritage for the sake of locals here and not conservation for the sake of conservation. Individual interests and public interest do not go together; hence we have decided to safeguard public interest while making conservation efforts for Hampi.”
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