 "Villagers protest")
On July 25, the area in front of the office of the Chitradurga deputy commissioner in Karnataka turned into an animal farm. Hundreds of villagers from Challakere town in the district had landed outside the office to protest against the government's move to acquire the kaval, or common pasture land, on which their sheep and cattle grazed. They had come in tempos and trucks. And along with them they had brought about 4,000 sheep and some donkeys. They had walked the last half a kilometre after a massive police force - among the largest the district has seen - interrupted their cavalcade.
The villagers are up in arms against the government's decision to turn Challakere into Karnataka's future science city. Near the town, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has a second campus. Other institutes like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plan to set up facilities. Land has already been acquired for them. The protesting villagers say thousands of residents from 70 villages in Chitradurga district's Holalkere taluk area will be affected. They are determined not to allow this to happen. It is early days yet, but some fear that a Singur-like situation might be brewing.
It's a 28-km drive from Challakere to Ullarthi village on a remarkably smooth road. But none of the villagers appears happy about this new road. They view it as a road to their ruin and would rather use it for protest marches against the projects for which it has been laid.
Ullarthi abuts the boundary wall of the BARC facility. This riles the villagers. The wall and the one coming up around the DRDO facility have cut off their pasture lands. As a result, sustaining the sheep and cattle has become tough.
Now, led by Doddaullarthi Kariyanna, an activist who belongs to Doddaullarthi, one of the affected villages, the villagers have taken up cudgels against the government. There has been some relief since the National Green Tribunal (South Zone), Chennai, ordered status quo on all projects proposed in the Amrit Mahal Kaval Grassland ecosystems of Challakere. The tribunal said: "The directions were issued on the interim applications which complained that DRDO, IISc, ISRO, BARC, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, Karnataka Housing Board, Sagitaur Pvt. Ltd. have commenced project activities in these ecologically-sensitive areas in violations of laws protecting the environment, wildlife, forests, people's rights, among others." The tribunal has directed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to review the pending applications for clearances sought for the projects over the next fortnight. The tribunal has reportedly said that the work can restart only after a no-objection certificate from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. The case will come up for hearing on September 17.
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The pastoral lands, which are spread over more than 12,855 acres, sustain the hardy Amrit Mahal cattle breed which is known to go on without water for long. The huge chunk of the land is named after this breed: Amrit Mahal Kaval Grasslands. These pastures have a history of over 400 years, dating back to the Vijayanagar empire which later came under the Mysore kingdom. Their genesis can be traced back to the 17th century when Chikka Deva Raja Wodeyar of the Mysore kingdom reserved 240 kavals spread over 413,000 acres for grazing of special breeds of cattle.
Today, the lands are owned by the state and continue to be used only as pastures. Villagers also rely on them for firewood and medicinal plants. Once spread across the state, these pastures are now confined to only a few parts.
The government started acquiring the land in 2009-2010. In 2012, as the pastures became inaccessible, hundreds of cattle and sheep were sold in distress, says a woman who sold some of hers. "We came to know that the lands had been acquired only when walls began to be erected," laments Kariyanna.
Some 8,932 acres of land has already been diverted for the strategic projects. Only 2,923 acres are now left. Villagers Kenchamma and Lakshmamma recall how they would get several medicinal plants from the grasslands to treat people for seizures, pains, sores, rabies, malaria etc. "Now we have no access to these plants," rues Kenchamma.
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DRDO has already built a runway here and BARC has built a 28-km-long compound. Rajanna, the vice-president of Ullarthi village panchayat, says, "We will continue to protest and take the law into our hands if the government doesn't listen to us." Since the Green Tribunal's order, the workers have reportedly been asked to go on leave for 15 days.
Activists allege that about 10,000 acres of the pasture land, constituting the largest remaining contiguous stretch of semi-arid grasslands in Karnataka, have already been committed to these projects. "It is likely that more land would be diverted, for more such projects and their expansions in Challakere," says Leo Saldanha of Environment Support Group, a non-governmental organisation. "It could include densely-populated villages." About 39 villages depend on Kudapura and Varavu grasslands. Ullarthi kaval supports 34 villages.
None of the government agencies agreed to respond to any of the queries on the allotment of land. The matter, they all said, is in court. A DRDO official, who does not wish to be named, says, "The matter is, in fact, settled. There's not much to be said about it."
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A senior Congress leader, who does not wish to be named, says that because these lands belonged to the government, it is at liberty to do as it pleases with them. He says for projects related to strategic matters, like defence or atomic energy, it's the Centre which takes a decision. "No one can have a say in it."
The topography of the area is best suited for the kind of work undertaken by ISRO, which has been allotted 1,500 acres, BARC and the DRDO facilities, which it is believed will also be used for testing drones, the Congress leader explains. The part of the country has been chosen because it is a plateau and a rain shadow area, he adds.
Some of the institutes have expressed their inclination to treat the area with respect. The Biodiversity Survey of The Kudapura Campus conducted by IISc's Centre for Ecological Sciences says: "We should ensure that we do not play the role of thoughtless destroyers of so precious a heritage."
BARC is setting up a technology deployment facility - the Special Materials Facility - here. "The technology [that will be employed here] has been developed through in-house research and development. A technology demonstration project has been operational at Mysore for the last three decades," says T K Bera, director, Chemical Technology Group, BARC. Till now, only pre-project activities like geo-technical investigations, compound fencing, base-line data collection and getting power and water supply to the project site have been taken up. Environmental clearance from the environment and forests are awaited.
About the fears of radioactive discharge from the facility, Bera says, "The project at Mysore has demonstrated the efficacy of the zero-discharge concept adopted and post-project survey has shown no effect on the surrounding air, water, soil or health of the public." The enrichment process produces very little active industrial chemical waste which is collected, processed, packaged and stored within the premises.
The facility, he adds, will cater to the increasing requirement of enriched fuel for India's nuclear power programme.
