Thursday, December 29, 2011

High Voltage stories from God’s own Country - III

Strange Winds on a Golden Land

“For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.” - A Red Indian Chief

Land was always a problem in India post liberalisation. Since we don’t seem to have a policy similar to Hitler’s Lebensraum (invading neighbouring countries to get more living space) but are more seen to be losing land to enemies, scarcity of land is really a concern. The problem ails power sector too and land allocation has always been a tricky and controversial issue.

Now what will happen if another ingredient comes into the field – gold. Then land becomes more valuable and will invite dubious characters. We need not go further than the history of our Nation itself – the invasions from Arabian Peninsula and Britain were all targeted at the wealth of this Nation. 

This is yet another story of land, gold and greed – a dangerous combination.


The Big Plans

"Suzlon Energy rose nearly 7 per cent to Rs 1,532.70… The traded volumes increased four-fold from the two-week average of 2.2 lakh shares. The stock surged on reports that the company, along with Vestas India, has signed an agreement with the Kerala government for a 15 MW wind power project.” – Business Standard, 28 June 2007

The idea was to install wind turbines in Palakkad district and sell them to potential investors. In Suzlon’s business model in India, turbines and land are sold to clients/investors. Suzlon undertakes only operation and maintenance of the turbines. Accordingly 31 wind turbine generators were installed in Attappady – a tribal area in Palakkad, and also a part of Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. Investors included Poppy Umbrella Mart, Anna Aluminium, Bhima Jewellery, Kerala Steel Associates and Mumbai’s Asian Star Company.


The Alleged Land Scam

Sarjan Realities is a Pune based associate company of Suzlon which buys land and installs windmills for Suzlon Energy. In the second half of 2010, reports began appearing in media that middle men bought the land from tribals at cheap prices by misleading them and then they sold the land to Sarjan Realities. 

Following the allegations, Attappady’s ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Project) officer conducted a preliminary inquiry and submitted a report to the district collector on 17 May 2010. This report stated that Suzlon was buying and encroaching upon tribal land. Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Lands to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1999 prohibits such sale of tribal land to non-tribals.

The report also mentioned that more than 60 hectares (ha), where the company has put up 12 windmills, belonged to 36 tribals who were paying tax for the land. In many cases, the tribals were made to believe that they were giving their land on lease. Some of them got Rs. 12,000 for giving land for what they were given to understand as widening of panchayat roads.

A subsequent inquiry by Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) also revealed forgeries in connivance with officials of the Revenue and Registration department and Attappady Hills Area Development Society (AHADS), an autonomous institution of the Rural Development Department. In many cases, fake documents were prepared to bypass the Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Lands to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1999.


Truth Comes Out

The agitations against Suzlon intensified after the opposition Congress took up the issue. Initially the ruling Communist Party tried to save Government’s face and justify Suzlon. But later, they too changed their stance.

Kerala Government asked the district collector to make a preliminary enquiry and based on that report, the government appointed a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary to conduct a probe and prepare a detailed report. The high-level committee in its final report demanded stringent action against Suzlon Energy Ltd and Sarjan Realities Ltd. The committee recommended the dismantling and removal of all the windmills and related accessories from the site. The committee observed that since it was a clear case of trespass, conspiracy, fraud and cheating, the case should be taken to its logical conclusion.

On 10 November 2010, Kerala government ratified the recommendations of the high-level committee and decided to remove Suzlon Energy’s windmills and other establishments from the Attappadi tribal area of Palakkad district. The “evacuation” was to be completed within three months and the land distributed to tribals. The Govt also directed vigilance probe against officials of the revenue department in this regard.


Flip-Flops

Government’s clock has its own pace, which a snail usually manages to challenge and win. Nothing happened against the wind turbines till May 2011 when election results were announced. In the usual Kerala style, people decided to vote Opposition to power, and hence Congress became the ruling party.

While in Opposition, Congress were vociferous in their agitation against the scam and had demanded that the turbines should be dismantled in accordance with the recommendation made by high level committee appointed by the then Govt. But on 24 August 2011, in a major climbdown from its stand during the opposition days, the Congress in Kerala decided not to dismantle the turbines. Instead, the Govt proposed that the wind turbine owners would have to give a share of their profit to the tribals. Strangely, the decision was taken without any discussion with the tribals. The move obviously led to protests from various sections.

On 21 September 2011, Govt tried to correct its mistake and end the land row by putting forward a new proposal. The State Cabinet decided to take over and return to its original owners the 85.21 acres of tribal land in Attappady village of Palakkad district, in possession of Suzlon.  The Govt plans to hand over the operation of windmills to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and pass on a share of the profits to the land owners. But it was decided that a final decision on this would be taken only after getting the consent of the land owners and major tribal organisations. 


The Golden Land

The solution adopted by Government seems to be a fair one in the present circumstances. But there are a few questions that are left unanswered.
  • Suzlon is not some small player which can engage in fraud and get away with it. It has a significant long term presence in India. Isn’t it strange that such an organisation will take such a risk in Kerala when there are no similar complaints in the case of its projects in any other states?
  • Was Suzlon and Sarjan Realities duped by middlemen or were they willing accomplices in the scam?
  • The final investors of the wind turbines - Poppy Umbrella Mart, Anna Aluminium, Bhima Jewellery, Kerala Steel Associates and Asian Star Company don’t have anything to do with power sector. Did they have any other motive?

A plausible answer lies in a now forgotten article written by Shahina KK which appeared in Tehelka in 10 July 2010 –

“A Geological Survey of India study of 2005 revealed that Attappady has rich gold deposits. The natives suspect this sudden love for wind energy might be an early sign of a gold rush. Judging by the number of jewellers who have acquired land in the region, there may be some truth in this. Bhima Jewellery owns two windmills built by Suzlon… Asian Star Company, which is in the jewellery and diamond business, also bought three Suzlon windmills.”

Even though this is a serious allegation, no enquiry seems to have been conducted in this aspect. Strangely, the media is also silent on the issue now. Forget the gold, media does not even care to enquire about the investors of the project and their intentions. So for now, only Suzlon and Sarjan Realities are in the dock. So what was the scam all about? Was it just a land scam or was it a precursor to a Gold Rush? Only time will tell…


References
 
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