Madhu Ramnath - Local politics on the rocks: Tribal people pitted against granite miners in Andhra Pradesh

The direction given by the Union minister of tribal affairs and Panchayati Raj, V Kishore Chandra Deo, to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in a similar context is clear: “You are also aware that the Alienation of Land Transfer Regulation Act (ALTRA) strictly prohibits a non-tribal from purchasing any land or even getting it on leases within the scheduled area.....There are several such cases where tribal land alienation has been adversely commented upon by esteemed High Courts and Supreme Court.” This direction by the minister and the above mentioned amendment are important landmarks. More than 8 panchayats in Seethampeta mandal–with 80 to 90 per cent adivasi population – have been left out of PESA. Without the proper enforcement of the said amendments, these villages and forest areas will be vulnerable to exploitation by mining companies. As mentioned earlier, this mandal was the headquarters of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and, of the 24 panchayats, only 16 were under Schedule V. Going by the special provisions quoted above, the rules of PESA & the recommendations of the gram panchayat should apply. Proper implementation of PESA is what would protect the region from devastation – there were about 186 quarry leases pending up to December 2012 in Srikakkulam itself. Otherwise the Savara and other adivasi people will be driven out of their hills for no reason other than the greed of a few powerful men. 

The Kannedhara is a medium-sized hill in Srikakulam district of Andra Pradesh. The hill sprawls across the Puliputti panchayat of Seethampeta mandal and is neither spectacular nor very high – it is dotted with podu patches and tall fish-tail palms – but it is sacred to the Jatapa and the Savara peoples of the entire region. For about 14 adivasi villages that surround the hill, it is a source of sustenance, providing them with wild food, some medicinal plants and fuel wood. The waters emanating from the hill fill up 14 tanks in the plains and helps raise about 2,000 acres (one acre equals 0.4 hectare) of paddy. It is believed that the local deity, Mukkidi Polamma, lives there; Mukkidi Polamma and the Kannedhara Konda have both been worshipped by the people for many generations. 

Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh is located in the north-eastern part of the state. A large part of the district lies along the Bay of Bengal; inland, it borders Odisha, a region of small forested hills inhabited by the Savara people who are known for their unusual shamanic culture, focused around female mediums. Most of them practice shifting cultivation on the undulating terrain, and though the forest seems degraded, the diversity of plants is quite high. The people traditionally grow a variety of pulses and millets and more recently have included jackfruit, bananas, hill-brooms, pineapple, oranges and lemon among their crops. Most of the region is rather dry and receives less than 1,050 mm of rainfall annually. A striking feature as one drives through the district–especially Tekkali division–are the devastated hills that have been blasted for granite, the world famous Srikakulam Blue! Officially, there are 200 granite quarries in the district, all working overtime to help get this valuable stone out of the hills. At present, there are 1,966 mining leases and 8,959 quarry leases in the state, spread over an area of 50,220 ha.

A little background

The word granite is rooted in granum, a reference to the coarse-grained structure of the crystalline igneous rock; a fifth of its volume is quartz and it also has mica and feldspar.

Since 2007, The director of mines and geology (DM& G) in Hyderabad has been receiving applications from companies with a single-minded focus on the Kannedhara: granite! Between August 10, 2008 and May 5, 2010, as many as 19 applications were received and rejected. But the application submitted on May 7, 2010 was recommended by DM &G, Hyderabad. This last application was submitted by Virgin Rock (Pvt) Ltd, with an intention to mine colour granite from the hill for a period of 20 years. The managing director of Virgin Rock is Ram Manohar Naidu, son of Dharmana Prasada Rao, the buildings and roads minister of Andhra Pradesh. When the application from Virgin Rock went to Hyderabad in 2010, Rao was minister of revenue. 

The company sought an area of approximately 20 acres and intended to dump the waste within the leased area and to export the granite in its raw form to Italy, Germany and China. However, this area was that part of the Kannedhara already being occupied and cultivated by the Savara people. In 2005-06 the government, under the Land Distribution Programme, had given pattas to 501 families in Survey No. 289 (the number of the entire Kannedhara Hill which comprises 1,995.85 acres; there are five panchayats and 14 villages under this. The sarpanch of Pulliputi panchayat, Mukkalingam Savara, was well aware of the problems that would befall his people if the hill was mined. Under his leadership, the people were able to come together and resist the company... read more:
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/mining-diaries-andhra-pradesh