MoD clears Seabird as displaced suffer

The Ministry has now sought time till September 10 to file its report and has also informed the state government that instead of an Additional Secretary, it would be a Joint Secretary who will join an inspection team to Karwar, where the Navy8217;s prestigious Seabird project is coming up. The Ministry officials, accompanied by state government representatives, are expected to visit Karwar around August 30 andthen report to the NHRC about implementation of the rehabilitation projects.

The recommendation for the Ministry to furnish an up to date8217; report on implementation of rehabilitation schemes for the 4,444 displaced families was part of an order passed by the NHRC on June 18. The order asked for an 8220;immediate rectification8221; of all deficiencies noted at Karwar and a joint visit to the project site by state government and Defence Ministry officials for 8220;immediate8221; execution of all rehabilitation and resettlement measures.

The state government officials who are handling the rehabilitation work at Karwar say the Ministry has informed them about the delay on account of the Kargil operations. Karnataka Principal Secretary Revenue K L Negi says that the Ministry wanted no further delay in signing the agreement with the Indo-Dutch construction consortium because this would mean issuing fresh global tenders and an escalation of costs.

8220;If fresh tenders had been called, the project cost could have gone upfrom Rs 500 crore to maybe Rs 700 crore. That is why the Defence Minister has taken personal interest in the matter and hurried things up. We are now trying to do everything to honour the NHRC8217;s recommendations and I am sure that report will ready by September 10,8221; Negi said.

The intervention by the NHRC followed a complaint by former Union minister Margaret Alva as well as other pleas sent by the displaced people themselves. Alva had written to the NHRC asking for help in rehabilitating the locals 8220;whose right to life and livelihood is denied to them in the name of national security and the naval base.8221;

The approval for setting up a new naval base there had been given in 1985, adn since then the controversy over rehabilitation of the displaced families has been raging. While the original plan was to acquire 12,350 acres of land, eventually a decision was taken to acquire 8,320 acres of which 2,495 acres was private land.

The NHRC8217;s report points out that while the rehabilitation centres constructedby the state government were mostly ready, some of them were at inaccessible locations and lacked civic amenities. The 8220;immediate8221; steps the NHRC wanted the Government to take was shifting of the transit sheds to higher levels, construction of toilets and ensuring the operation of a bus service. It also proposed that a study be conducted for setting up industrial units near the rehabilitation centres for making items like fishing nets and construction material.

State government officials say that after the Memorandum of Understanding signed between them and the Ministry of Defence around two years ago, almost Rs 100 crore had been spent on the rehabilitation projects. While roughly 2,000 families living in the core villages had been relocated, an equal number are to be given resettlement packages, though most of them may not be shifted from their residences. There are some 1,000 more families who had illegally encroached upon land where Project Seabird is coming up and a decision has been taken to givethem some ex-gratia settlement.