The development model of the country post liberalisation has failed. It has handed over 95% of the wealth of the nation to a few politicians and industrialists and important rights and rules such as Forest Rights and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) are being flouted to benefit the multi-national companies, alleged civil rights activist Prof. G. Haragopal.
He was speaking at the inaugural of the three-day seminar on CRZ organised by the Struggle Committee Against CRZ here on Saturday.
“If the development model was right, then why did 3 lakh farmers commit suicides in the last two decades?” he questioned.
“Farmers believe in the land that they till and fishermen believe in the sea where they sail out everyday for a living. If land is taken away from farmers in the name of projects and building capital cities and fishermen are ousted from their villages without sustainable livelihood, how can it be called development and for whom?” he asked.
Prof. Haragopal equated the present situation with the erstwhile fascist regimes in Latin American countries like Bolivia and in Africa, where countries were reduced to graveyards with overexploitation of resources and suppression of native population by the fascist regimes who danced to the tunes of multi-nationals.
Risky proposition
Former Union Energy Secretary and civil rights activist E.A.S. Sarma faulted the development model and flouting of CRZ norms. Citing the example of Kovvada Nuclear Power Plant, he said, “The proposal for the plant was turned down by the Gujarat government and now it is coming up in A.P. at Kovvada, which is a fragile zone ecologically.”
The plant was a risky proposition, as it was being handled by Westinghouse Electric Company, a company that had gone bankrupt, he said.
According to him, local population, be they fishermen or tribals, were being displaced due to projects that were short-sighted.
Citing the example of Dalapalli in Paderu in Visakhapatnam agency, he said, “The government is coming up with a tourism project without taking the consent of the tribals through a gram sabha.”
