A relentless ‘Satyagraha’

C Jamsheel

“If you ask what our political affiliation is, we would like to say that we belong to ‘anti-thermal power plant party’ workers.” These words that came from Madini Raghavulu, the vice president of Pariyavarana Parirakshana Samithi are enough to understand the protest of people of Sompeta against NCC (Nagarjuna Construction Company). “This fight is not against government, but it is for our freedom. We are not ready to forfeit our right to breathe fresh air, to drink pure water and to live in untainted soil”, Madini continued.

The proposed NCC thermal power plant at Sompeta of Srikakulam district could not even get off the ground because of the people’s agitation. The one and half year agitation is being termed a ‘Satyagraha’ initially called Pariyavarana Parirakshana Sangam, the movement was registered Pariyavarana Parirakshana Samithi in 2008.

“The authorities have been saying that the ignorant inhabitants are dissenting against the thermal power plant for nothing. We are not against any developmental activities, but we are not ready to give up our peaceful life for anything. We are really happy to be called as anti-development buddies, if you call this development” while sharing their grievance to Vantage the eyes of Beena Delhi Rao, the General Secretary of the Satyagaraha Movement turned moist.. Why the responsible department is propagating lies among the public is that it wants to create a favorable atmosphere. They are arguing that the bela (people of Sompeta usually call wet land as bela) is not wet land and it is waste land. How will the characteristics of a land change overnight? The government officials certified that the land is not bela, and hence it was all for NCC. “This should not be tolerated”, says, raising his jist.

“A Police firing took place at Sompeta against the protestors on July 14, 2010. Two people lost their life in the firing that took place while the populace gathered in a paddy field to protest against the thermal power plant. Gonapa Krishnamurthy (60) from Lakkavaram outskirt and Gunna Joga Rao (36) from Plasapuram are the living memories of that revolt and brutality”, says EAS Sharma, President of the Satyagraha Movement.

“We are not accepting any financial assistance from outside. Since we are getting good support from the public we can carry forward our agitation smoothly. We, the leaders of Satyagraha, don’t belong to a particular political party. We are the victims of development” said T Rama Rao, the vice president of the people’s movement.

It is a completely mass based protest. They have a monthly time table for the relay agitation to make sure that there will not be any break in the agitation. Based on this table they will allocate the dates for each protester. Most of the court proceedings are handled mainly by EAS Sharma with the help of some good advocates to assist him.

“The Government must trust the people of Sompeta. At least they should show the patience to listen to the voice of the common masses. We too have something to say. We don’t want to be like the NTPC (National Thermal Power Plant Corporation) victims. It is better to raise our voice before we get into the trap”, Rama Rao pointed out.

This is not the first such agitation in India. The number of protestors is increasing day by day. The Sompeta protesters also want the world to hear their grievances. They realized the socio-environmental impact of thermal power plants that even before the plant came into reality. As the Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen said ‘Development is Freedom’.