Justice, a word whose meaning is difficult to fathom, or a dream which gets further and further away from reality, does elude the villagers of Sonshi.
Justice, a word whose meaning is difficult to fathom, or a dream which gets further and further away from reality, does elude the villagers of Sonshi.
Unexpected bottlenecks come in the way of some closure to their fight for clean air and water.
It is clear that the Pollution Control Board which conducted the inspection of the ambient air quality in Sonshi, prima facie found dust in the air and violations of conditions led down in the Consent to Operate granted to the lessees.
This is not surprising.
However, the villagers point that the trips are not less than 8000 per day, which according to locals and local activists, transport almost one lakh tonnes of ore daily.
The Pollution Control Board had initially observed that the mining lease holders have violated the pollution norms while undertaking transportation of iron ore at Sonshi village.
And yet, the file containing these findings, needs a formal vetting by the Chairman Pollution Control Board.
What happened in Sonshi should also be a lesson for all those in the business, that you cannot delink the locals from the effects of mining operations.
And this time, even time in jail won’t be deterrent for those who want cleaner, healthier villages.