When Basanti Devi entered the village of Bachwadi in Uttarakhand's Takula block on one of her routine visits, she knew that something was wrong. Instead of the normal hustle, groups of men stood about talking quietly. She asked them what the matter was.
Sitting down with the men, she collated all the reliable information they had about the plant. Most of this was what had been published in the local newspapers. Then, she asked each man to write down what he felt would be the pros and cons of this plant and sign it. Of this compilation, only two entries listed any pros and they were to do with the rumoured jobs. So far, Basanti-di had not contributed to the conversation but had only served as a moderator. Then she asked one question.
"What do the women think?"
This threw the men into a tizzy because the women had not been consulted even once. They very rarely read the newspapers, and none of the men had taken it upon himself to inform a woman.
"We have protected our forest and brought it back with hard work", said one. "Who are these people that they can destroy it now?" Another brought up the topic of the Mansa Nala. The Mansa is a sparkling, singing tributary of the Kosi and a lifeline for the villages of Aadar Sailkudi, Bachwadi, Azauda and Nakot. With the setting up of the plant, it would be transformed into a polluted, muddy, sluggish stream. This was unacceptable.
"What do you want to do?", asked Basanti-di. It was the women who responded. "We will stop it", they said.
And stop it they did. And how!
However, to dismiss the Mansa gherao as an isolated incident is to understimate the matter. It demonstrated to womens' groups and Van Panchayats in the state that they are within their rights to veto a change in the land use of their Panchayat and forest lands. It caused the district and state governments to take notice of the peoples' needs and to take the issue of public hearings seriously. At a Janata Darbar (a public meeting) after the Mansa protest, the women met the District Commissioner and put forward their story. He assured them that the consent of the villages would be obtained.
However, our current government apparently does not empathise with these sentiments. On July 30, 214, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a Memorandum (No. J-IIOI5/30/2004-IA.I1 (M)) stating that a public hearing is no longer required for the expansion of coal mining upto 5 Mega Tons per annum. This could well be an ominous sign of a state where the concerns of big industry override the concerns of the rural people of India.
Are the Mansa's days numbered?