Indian Police Kill Farmers at Water Abstraction Protest

Wed Sep 7 22:28:45 BST 2011

Water Pipelines in India, Police Repression of Farming Communities
Cops kill 3 as farmers protest water project, land seizure near Mumbai
by Rady Ananda - Global Research, August 18, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26060
On August 9, police shot nine farmers, killing 
three, who were part of a mass protest against a 
water pipeline project in Baur Village, 50 miles 
east of Mumbai, India.  Police also smashed cars, 
fired tear gas and threw rocks at farmers as they 
fled the violence.  This was all caught on video:

Maharashtra cops shoot to kill?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O97L9rpp1gU
On camera, a group of policemen, many in 
anti-riot gear and armed with weapons and sticks, 
charge down a road; one fires from his revolver. 
Then, a cop goes to the edge of the road, takes 
aim at people running helter skelter beyond and 
fires. He looks for another vantage point and 
fires again. More policemen gather around and 
throw stones at the people running.

Kantabai Thakar (age 40), Moreshwar Sathe (40) 
and Shyam Tupe (29) were fatally shot by 
police.  Over 100 others were injured, and nine 
vehicles damaged in the lethal attack on 
protesters, report several news outlets in India.
The next day, the Pune police registered a case 
of attempt to murder and rioting against 1,200 to 
1,400 protesters, although no one has yet been 
arrested.  None of the officers involved in 
murder and excessive use of force have been charged or suspended.
Farmers from over 60 villages in Pune District in 
the state of Maharashtra have protested the 
pipeline project since its announcement in 2008, 
objecting to land takings and the potential for 
pollution of their water source.  Around 4,500 
hectares (over 11,000 acres) of farmland are threatened by the project.
The pipeline would draw 140 million gallons of 
water a day (525 million liters) from the Pavana 
Dam to be used for industry and a growing urban center.
Overseeing the project are three government 
agencies: Maharashtra Industrial Development 
Corporation (MIDC), Talegaon Municipal Council and Dehu Road Cantonment.
The MIDC has long promoted industrialization of 
this primarily agricultural state.  Its main 
objective is to rapidly develop 
 the 
underdeveloped parts of the state, by 
redistributing land and providing infrastructure 
like roads, lighting, water treatment and supply, 
communication, and police and fire services.
Lands seized are then leased or sold to industry.
Though the MIDC promises to compensate those 
displaced by the pipeline project, it has been 40 
years since the Pavana Dam was built and 75% of 
those displaced still have not been compensated, 
reports Times of India.  For those lucky 300 who 
were given other lands, their name is not on the 
titled deed.  Nor have promised jobs materialized for displaced villagers.
Providing water to industry is a unique 
specialty of the MIDC, which also manages the 
toxic liquid waste from industry.
But locals dont trust the government, and for good reason.
Lack of effective oversight of industrial 
pollutants has led to soaring cancer rates and 
other health problems in Bathinda, located in the 
northern state of Punjab.  Forty percent of that 
population requires medicinal inhalers in order 
to breathe.  Many of the waters are so toxic that no life survives.
State-sanctioned violence directed at farmers and 
tribes is common for India, including murder, 
torture and destruction of villages.
Indias state governments have signed hundreds 
of [Memoranda of Understanding] with corporate 
houses, worth several billion dollars, all of 
them secret, for steel plants, sponge-iron 
factories, power plants, aluminium refineries, 
dams and mines, explains activist Arundhati 
Roy.   In order for the MoUs to translate into 
real money, tribal people must be moved.
Maharashtra is the second largest state in India 
both in population (115 million) and land (308 
lakh sq. km, or about 120,000 sq. 
mi.).  Forty-two percent of the population is 
urbanized. The scheduled castes and scheduled 
tribes  officially recognized populations seen 
as historically disadvantaged  make up another quarter in the state.
Maharashtra farmers cultivate cereals, pulses, 
sugarcane, soy, cotton, oilseeds and onions, as 
well as mangoes, grapes, bananas, pomegranates and oranges.
The Pune District is one of several major 
industrial sectors planned by the MIDC, which has 
so far developed 233 industrial parks on 160,000 
acres, with another 80,000 acres planned.
Deregulated sectors now open to foreign 
investment include the biotech seed industry, 
mining, pharmaceuticals, chemicals & fertilizers, construction, and oil & gas.
Driving the destruction of tribal and 
agricultural lands is trade liberalization that 
began in earnest since 2000.  As a result, 
foreign direct investment (FDI) in India ranks 
third in the world, with Maharashtra bagging a quarter of all of Indias FDIs.
Officially, the Republic of Mauritius is the 
largest foreign investor in India, but a closer 
look reveals that through an indirect investment 
scheme, the U.S. is actually the top foreign 
investor.  Advisors explain that because the 
India-Mauritius tax treaty removed capital gains 
tax, its more lucrative for foreign firms to 
invest in India indirectly through Mauritius.
As part of the G20, the World Trade Organization, 
and a signatory to international trade agreements 
including GATT and TRIPS, India ranks 51 in 
overall competitiveness in a field of 139 
nations, according to the World Economic Forum.
State-sanctioned violence increases as resistance 
to globalization grows.  People are left 
landless, jobless and sickened by industrial 
destruction of the biosphere. Episodes like these 
confirm Derrick Jensens 20 premises from his book, Endgame.
Industrial civilization destroys landbases. 
Thats what it does, writes Jensen in his new 
book, Deep Green Resistance. And it wont stop because we ask it nicely.
Rady Ananda specializes in Natural Resources and 
administers the sites, Food Freedom and COTO 
Report. To obtain a full copy of this report, 
including all Sources Used, click here.
Rady Ananda is a frequent contributor to Global 
Research.  Global Research Articles by Rady Ananda

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